High Cost Domestic Cars Must End

They cite National Security as a reason to save the big three. Leftists denounce Republicans for NOT saving Capitalists… topsy Turvy, Cambalache!!!! Craziness… Passenger cars can be built by the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Germans, Swedes… I do not care. Quality, a good price is what I need. National Security? Let GM build the Humvees that get blown up because the lack bottom armor. No big deal, specialize, I said it before. It is a good thing. I will not pay for UAW bloated hourly wages just so they can keep these jobs. Efficiency will bring better cars.

Why do we not have Green Cars? Why? Is it just the stupid ass executives fault? American Motors died owing to worker intransigence, will it happen again? Will it be the Tri-fecta?

Bookies and your Stock Broker, What is the Difference???

Bookies and oddsmakers do not really undergo training that provides them a certification, they learn to analyze odds based the many transactions they have engaged on very human factors – injuries of a key player, ability to play in a snowstorm, etc… A Broker undergoes trainings that are required by the SEC and sometimes their employer if they happen to work for an “investment house”.

The differences aren’t much except that gambling is “illegal” in many states when it comes to betting on Sports, events, etc and “investing” is allowed in every state of the Union. I would be curious to know the return rates for somebody that actually had an investment account vs somebody that had a betting account. Both expenditures are not guaranteed, one has a veneer of sophistication, the other that of shadiness. The economic downturn has exposed many charlatans in the financial industry while fueling others. Our bailout is in the hands of glorified bookies trained by Goldman Sachs, but with the way the system was built, they are still perceived by many to be above the operations in Vegas or Atlantic City. Now let me ask you something, who is in the black?

Is it really that different?

Tired of the Lying – Automobiles for the Masses is a Privilege

The Big Three can be Big Again

Nardelli and company show up to beg for money. The Big Three… Mind you, I grew up in awe of the iconic power of Ford, Chevy and Dodge. My dad only owned on japanese car as far as I know, he has owned Studebakers, Ford Galaxie 500s, a Chevy Impala Coupe and then a pretty suite Buick LeSabre… moving on to his fetish for Jeep Wagoneers… My first car was a Dodge Aspen (lame), and then I embraced a series foreign cars until buying my beautiful yet fragile Dodge Nitro… I love American Machines… yet it is the same love that I profess for toxic women, with their demonizing eyes, curvaceous hips,  but so needy to a point my wallet is decimated…

The American automaker has made a living whining about the Japanese and more recently the Koreans. Perhaps Americans should go the way of the Harley and specialize? It may be time to scale down – get rid of all the artificial divisions and get back to basics with 4-5 models each. Reduce the amount of dyes and toolings and resets. Will jobs be lost? Possibly. I say possibly only if those being displaced are ready to earn reasonable market level salaries, not union-bloated wages that we the consumer have been paying for.

Union worker, have you provided us with quality? Not really. Your cars have sucked compared to foreign and even domestic assembled cars *(by Japanese automakers)> Unions are leeches. You got your Presidential candidate, hopefully he won’t cave and continue to subsidize mediocrity. Jobs must be preserved, yet preserved in efficient businesses. Pack your bags, it is time to move south… (again!)

Titles and Such

I sometimes think of great movie titles or even book titles… my thought this morning was that a book entitled” “The Teabagging of America” would illustrate the depths to which our system has fallen since the Boston Tea Party took place. the recent bail out and the sham voting process displays that we are beyond a bi-partisan system It is time for a strong 3rd movement to come forward.

Both parties require urgent reform – yet I ask myself, why are we caught in this false dichotomy? The forces that be have us voting for two undesirables. Abstention is actually the higher percentage amid the obscene expenses that we are forced to endure.

Criminal Behavior Must Be Punished Accordingly

As the country submits to the Goldman-Sachs way of doing things and Paulsen fumbles around, very little has been said or done by the countries top Execs except pick our pockets.

These people are criminals. The AIG bailout followed by a bacchanal where our money was spent on spa treatments, golf packages and every conceivable luxury should be reimbursed to the United States and those at fault for holding the event put in disciplinary leave while a full investigation is conducted. This cannot be another news item that slips by. I get the impression that the American Public is getting angry, yet our USA TODAY reading attention span is not getting us to ACT.

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Edit-100908

Where are the Business Leaders in this Whole Mess: The War on Terror Begins in the USA

Great Blog post on Bail Out

One of the biggest questions is that CEO’s of major companies have evaporated in the middle of this media frenzy and mess. The opinions of political candidates are worthless – the pols like Pelosi cause mayhem; yet she helped out those of us that oppose this indiscriminate bail out of thieves.

It reminds me of the terrorist methods used by many of enemies – hold innocent children in front as shields… now the subtext is we will sink the average Joe is this bailout does not happen.

All along our most dangerous enemies have been running our economy… We must hold these people accountable. A bail out cannot be made with out provisions for accountability. Blaming the Sarbanes-Oxley act for a mis-valuation is simply wrong. The very Act was implemented to prevent the type of crap we are seeing. This is a dismal failure. The failure of regulation. Not to prove its futility, rather that we focus on the wrong things, jumping through hoops, without noticing that when we get to the end, the building burned down…

Angry Obama Good for the Dems

Obama displaying anger and playing the Bait and See game is starting to gain traction on the gullible area of the electorate. It is shocking to see the display of swaying in the polls given that WORDS never won a War that kills people with bullets and definite actions. Obama’s populist message is now being countered by McCain’s populist message since hell, Obama started off by copying McCain and selecting an Angry White Man (Biden) as his mate, you can run the math and see that Obama realizes that his intellectual professor type stuff does not work out.

The American public is ill-informed, they fell for the stock market, why should they not fall for Obama’s promises of Middle Class entitlements?

Health Care Issue Must Be Addressed

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/05/AR2006040502348.html

It is tough to speak to this problem eloquently, however the issue is that it keeps getting brushed under the rug and this will not go away!

Culprits:

a. Practicioners overbilling: I look at what it cost to bring my baby in so the “doctor could have a look” – she billed the insurance $350.00 for a 3 minute looksie. There was nothing wrong, but yeah, the fear game and my wife being a new mom allowed for this.  Many doctors have made the human body a profit center – extirpating parts that may be deemed cancerous, at risk etc. If it is a woman’s breast the chances are that a great deal of fuss will go into it, and why not take out both? How many men get their penises or testicles amputated? What is the ratio of female to male doctors doing this? Unnecessary hysterectomies – another profit center. The list goes on and on…

b. Hospitals overbilling, double billing and just out of control: One can pay $3500-5000 for a midwife, however my wife was not into that – so we go the hospital seeking “natural birth” – end up with a C-Section – the anesthesia (applied in a shitty way) was $4500 plus, overall the cost was around $20K for a three day stay at Mt. Auburn. Was it necessary? Not the point of this particular blog – but many are not – they make more money for the hospital and the practicioners involved.

c. Insurance companies trying to fight back with negotiated solutions. then being accused of chintzing on health care. The public relations nightmare.

d. Ambulance chasing attorneys - lawsuits galore. A separate blog could be dedicated to them, for now I will dedicate two more words: John Edwards.

• How many doctors are going broke?
• How many insurance companies are going broke?
• How many people are enslaved to medical bills or going broke? Aha.

Some solutions -

a. State-sponsored ambulatory care – not necessarily run on the state budget – I envision clinics run by interns, doctors awaiting their license to practice in the U.S., nurses, etc, hired by larger companies. A bucket of sorts.

b. Regulation – this has failed miserably owing to the people regulating. They are inept and powerless if they are not inept.

As you can see – I am unable to provide clear solutions – but a farmer’s common sense approach needs to be adopted and we need to stop helping out so many people from overseas for free. This only spreads the burden on us. We must be able to address this problem, as in everything in life, it is a choice – let’s choose to have a healthy nation.

Mass Transit- Addressing Limiting Factors

I still do not see a massive use of the trains in the Boston Metro area. One issue is that parking lots are brimming with cars and those that want to use it cannot find a space. Building more lots is not a great idea.

While not the most ideal – I suggest that feeder buses be established to bring people from their homes to the stations. Routes established along the main streets in neighborhoods can be established to ferry people from (for example) Shrewsbury, Holden, West Boylston to Worcester; Wayland, Natick, Wellesley to the Framingham Station and so forth – adequate schedules, regular service will cut down on the amount of cars on the road. Rising fuel costs are having an unexpected environmental benefit and this is great. I certainly hope that the MBTA is hopping on this opportunity and should rightfully contemplate a way to recoup investments be it through advertising revenue as well pricing the service in a way it makes sense.

DART-ing in Dallas!

I had a chance to ride the DART train (It’s electric!) in Dallas and truly enjoyed the quiet ride and the incredible on-time scheduling. I took the DART from Richardson TX in the north, was able to jump on the connecting bus to Love Field and make my flight on time. No stress, only about $3.00 total!!! I was the ONLY person on this bus. It was definitely a loss to the transit authority. We have such a long ways to go. A taxi would have cost me $50.00 plus tip.  (It was about 35 miles all told). With the amount of traffic in Dallas, I am surprised more people are not using DART. We need to invest more in these solutions that will make cities more livable and free us from our cars.

More Trains - Expanded Schedule Must Contemplated

UK: Benefits Reform – Could this make it across the puddle?

Benefits Shake-Up

Not a chance. Not in an electoral year. I cannot picture Senators McCain nor Obama telling welfare recipients unemployed for over 2 years that they need to clean grafitti, pick up trash and basically “make themselves busy or useful to society”. LBJ’s gift to those needing assistance has long been abused by scores of people that simply are unwilling to work. People that are unable to pay the rent but have a Nintendo Wii prominently positioned in the living room, people that sit around all day listening to music on expensive sound systems that I cannot afford to even look at – oh, it is not anecdotal, I happen to own rental units and have seen it all through the lives of my tenants.  Some have used this to simply stay home and pursue their favorite hobbies. Those of us that pay taxes and incidentally work and create benefits for our society really do not take kindly to this. Part of the “immigration reform” message has been that immigrants come to the U.S. to get on welfare. B.S. I realize some of the locals do not want the newly arrived to cut in on their action, but the ones playing that game are hardly from across the border, rather smarter Eastern European immigrants (for instance) used to being on the Soviet dole, and those numbers have dwindled or generations of welfare recipients born and bred in the USA. Most of these gremlins are not hopping the fence my friend.

I have not had a chance to examine what is being called “the increase of middle class entitlements” by Senator Obama were he to be elected, but cringe at the thought of an already bloated system going beyond heartburn and into cardiac arrest. I demand accountability for my dollars, and bums need to be put to work. The truly disabled and indigent do not need these leeches sucking their funds. I like the idea of community service in exchange for the free ride. It won’t be free, they might find some self respect and we get some value for the taxes we pay.