Chris, the President definitely has a disconnect with Congress -- even in his own party there is Reid and Pelosi to contend with and they are both 'over the edge' from my perspective. I'm familiar with both of them (though I don't know them) since I spend many years in Nevada and watched Reid climb the political ladder and spent a few years in the Bay area where I got to watch Pelosi in action. Neither one are what I would call respectable, honest and forthright politicians and I'd get rid of both of them if it were possible. I think Obama is trying to take a rational approach to the problems we face but he's got the Republicans which don't appear to be inclined toward bipartisian politics and then Reid and Pelosi trying to be the most liberal Democrats they can be.
There's no doubt that an influx of government money is needed, not only here, but in every developed country around the world. The only problem we have here in the U.S. is the argument over how the money is to be spent and who it is given to. The first $350 billion that went to the banks went straight into their vaults as a hedge against the unknown amount of toxic risk they have still out against them, so they want to shore up their assets as a hedge against a complete blowout. I don't think this is a bad thing because if the banks all fail, then we all go down. Your thoughts on the SBA (Small Business Admin.) are good and I hope it gets a bundle of those billions, but to date, the SBA's llong history has been one of doing much of nothing. You have to be a saint with deep connections to get a decent loan from them to start a business and they've never been known to lend money to a business that is ailing. On Feb 4, 1:12 am, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > After a spirited round of spitting and hissing on my comments, I posted this > on my Facebook profile. Since the audience (with a couple of notable > exceptions) is so different here, I thought I'd post here as well, just to > get a feel for how different the feedback is: > A few thoughts on economic stimulus by an infamous know it all... > > When the signs of impending economic distress became impossible to ignore > last year, the various heads of government agencies overseeing such things > gave a shopping list of reasons for why this crisis had occurred. In the mad > rush to "do something about it", they passed a bill which began at 750 > Billion in the House, and swelled to over 800 Billion by the time it cleared > the Senate. It was signed with grand flourish by a grinning President, who > with extraordinary hubris, declared "Good Job, Brownie!" once again to the > American people, while passing out incomprehensibly large checks to his best > friends in the industry on his way out of office. > > Now, four months later, a new President is championing a new bill which > contains many of the same types of barrels of pork as the last one. Although > the madcap grin has been replaced by a sense of grim determination, and an > impressive mechanism for oversight, there still exists within the hallowed > halls of Congress a certain disconnect with reality that this oh so earnest > President is not doing anything to counter: > > http://patriotroom.com/article/pelosi-the-stupidest- > thing-any-politician-has-ever-said > > It's easy to forget that our elected representatives are not economists. > They rely on others for data, opinions, input. Each of us has the ability to > research, study, theorize and quantify, and based on recent voting > commentary, if you read the entire contents of the legislation that your > representative voted on in the last full session, you actually did more work > than your average representative. > > With that in mind, here would be the key points in legislation tentatively > titled, the Chris Jenkins Economic Stimulus Plan from the Common Man of > 2009: > > 1. The 'Breather Period' - This all started with the mortgage industry, > Fannie and Freddie, et al. Any Stimulus package passed now should make a > final action on that root cause of the crisis, since all previous action > have failed to have any substantial impact on the housing market and banking > industry. Money given directly to the banks has been squandered in bonuses > and expansion and lobbying efforts by the banks, providing zero relief to > the consumers. Therefore, my plan sets forth funds to guarantee the primary > mortgage payment of all owners of one home up to $1000 per month for a > period of six months. This will provide a temporary guaranteed security on > mortgaged based bonds, and will provide a six month respite from what is > typically the most expensive bill in the house for middle class families. > This portion of the plan will stimulate both retail and savings sectors, and > will shore up lending institutions while providing immediate value to > securitized instruments. At the end of the six month period, financial > institutions who have not successfully purged toxic assets will be expected > to bear the financial responsibility for their poor stewardship, as will > consumers. > > Projected Cost: 240 Billion based on 40 Million mortgaged properties. > > 2. The 'Real Small Business Administration' - One of the most effective ways > that Microsoft was able to corner the networking market was to personally > sponsor the growth of Microsoft trained engineers via the Microsoft Career > Loan Program. It created a trained and ready workforce able to support the > products that Microsoft was rolling out to a new market. President Obama has > proposed a series of large scale, long term infrastructure projects which > could bear fruit, but it takes far less resources, and returns dividends > much more quickly, to invest in the American small business infrastructure. > The current SBA loan structure qualification rules are here: > > http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_ > sec_15_00000636----000-.html > > I'll make it easy for you to understand. You don't qualify for a small > business loan. With layoffs and unemployment at record highs, startup small > business, freelancing and consultancies are natural channels for skilled > workers to continue to participate in the economy. I propose funding be > disbursed to the States to provide resources for skilled workers including > enhanced funding for SCORE (they are never open, impossible to get an > appointment with, and don't have anyone there who understands the internet, > much less Web 2.0), low interest long term lines of credit for > infrastructure and inventory purchases (secured by inventory), and other > "collective" type small business resources. Proposed disbursedment: $10 > Million per Representative > > Projected Cost: 43.5 Billion > > 3. Passage of HR 5842 and HR 5843 followed by passage in the Senate and > adoption into law - This one's a no brainer. Ron Paul and Barney Frank have > some common sense legislation sitting in committee right now to take the > cannabis issue out of the Federal government's hands, and put it back in the > State's hands, where it belongs. Pass the bills, send them to the house, set > up the appropriate Federal tax stamps, watch the money roll in. > > Projected Cost: 0 > > Projected Immediate Savings: Nearly $10 Billion per year > > Projected future tax revenue: from $3-30 Billion per year > > 4. Emergency Family Aid Services - many community based social services such > as the Basic Four program are straining to carry the load right now. These > programs are critical to the working poor and under-employed, and are > running short due to the high demand. I propose funds be disbursed to shore > up community services which provide survival level services such as > groceries, utility vouchers, emergency rent vouchers, etc. Proposed > disbursement: $15 Million per representative > > Projected Cost: 87 Billion > > 5. 'The 100 X 100 Social Benefit Grants' - With the proceeds of point 3, > this act will pay for 100 grants of 100 Million dollars each, 10 apiece in > each of the following categories: > > Urban Renewal > Agriculture > Sustainable Development > Alternative Energy > Telecommunications Infrastructure > Mass Transportation > Educational Technology > Arts and Culture > Biomedical Technology > > An oversight board would be appointed with principals in each field to > review the grant applications based on feasibility, rapidity of deployment, > total jobs created, and total social benefit. Because these are tax payer > funded social benefit grants, the desired end result would be a social > benefit which would be free or of inconsequential cost to the taxpayer. > Examples include Google's nationwide WiFi network plan, seamless > improvements to existing power and telecom infrastructures with no pass > through cost, public museums and libraries which provide technology > resources, etc. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
