I wish we could look deeper into the structures that have brought about this mess. I like the idea of small and local-global for most things as I don't cotton to the idea that whizz-kids know much other than how to use and hide insider information. Obama was sliming up to the ghastly Blair yesterday and this makes me wonder whether he just has a sharp eye to what sounds good rather than policies. Capitalism readjusts itself as a rule and I think this will be the problem - the same old stuff will emerge again when we really need deeper change towards more justice in law and reward.
On 5 Feb, 14:51, gruff <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
