Responsibility to Protect

One member of the news panel tonight was bemoaning the disaster unfolding in Libya and said how much better it was when Moamar Gadhafi was in charge and wondered why we removed him. It was only four years ago when Samatha Powers and Susan Rice proposed the “Responsibility To Protect” Doctrine. This meant that The United States had to intervene when there was imminent danger to civilian populations. It was said that Gadhafi was going to murder thousands of his own people and the US had to get rid of him to protect the innocent. That is why we got rid of him. How could this person not know that? The strange part is when the same danger to innocents happened in Syria these same people sat silently by and are still sitting idly by. It is no wonder that people do not know what our foreign policy is!

Management Grid

In our conversation last week you asked if I wanted to come to 3M to hear your presentation on women in management and that got me to thinking about the management grid. Picture a baseball infield with a different kind of manager at each position. The catcher is a 1-1 manager, the pitcher is a 5-5, first base is 9-1, third base is 1-9 and second base is 9-9. A 1-1 manager is usually found in the government bureaucracy. He is a low level supervisor who believes if he never does anything, he will not make any mistakes and will make it through to retirement. There cases reported where a middle manager had 1-1 subordinates and didn’t know the guy even worked there until months after he took charge. The 5-5 is a manager who goes the way the wind blows. The 1-9 is so concerned about people’s feelings that he cannot point out areas where they can improve. People do not grow under his supervision. The 9-1 manager is the all production guy who demands that everyone be busy all the time. People fear him and he gets short term results but long term the people work against him behind his back. A 9-9 manager has the proper balance of people skills and production skills and this is what all managers should strive to become. For most of the 20th Century American business varied somewhere between 1st and 2nd base. In the early years very close to a 9-1 production and in later years a slight move toward 2nd base. While women were late getting into business they often times were too close to 3rd base and lacked the skills to push production. Over the last 20 or 30 years this has changed and women now bring strong production skills with them while holding on to the people skills. This is why America which is the greatest country on earth is headed for even greater heights. If you are a manager some believe you have to choose between being liked and being respected but that is not the case as a 9-9 manager is both liked and respected. Women will move both business and government toward 2nd base. There has always been a lack of good managers and women will help to close that gap.

Judgment

The recent controversy of the football player who knocked his wife unconscious has spawned another problem. A sportscaster suggested that the woman may have provoked the man. He is getting crucified in the press over this comment. I have discussed this in the past in a way that is not anti-woman. Suppose a lady, dresses in a provocative manner and goes into a bar known for catering to scum bags and she gets attacked. The question then is she in some-way responsible for the attack. Let’s get away from the gender aspect and say a man in a $2,000 suit and $500 shoes goes into a bar on the south side of Chicago at 2 AM and gets mugged. In both of these cases the muggers broke the law and were at fault. Did either this man or this lady act in an inappropriate way? Should they have used better judgment?

Guns and butter

In Economics 101 the phrase, “guns or butter” is used to describe spending on defense versus spending on social programs. Politically conservatives favor defense and liberals lean toward social spending. The argument is presented as an either or and that is a false picture because in an expanding economy both areas can be increased. The discussion generally centers around a static economy and which of these two areas is more important. If money for social programs is cut then people suffer. Recently money for food stamps was reduced and that will hurt. That is when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits are set to fall for more than 47 million lower-income people -- 1 in 7 Americans -- most of whom live in households with children, seniors or people with disabilities. Barring congressional intervention, the maximum payment for a family of four will shrink from $668 a month to $632, or $432 over the course of a year. While this will make life more difficult for these people cuts in defense can also be damaging and one example occurred just after WW 2 ended. After 4 years of fighting ended the country was in no mood to talk defense so the budget was cut. Five years later the United States once again was at war in Korea. Soldiers were sent off to war using WW 2 tanks and they went up against Russian build bigger and better tanks. The US tanks were destroyed before they got close enough to fire their weapons and when they did hit a Russian tank the shell could not penetrate the armor. There is no accounting for how many lives this cost. Because underspending on defense creates such danger for the troops the tendency is to overspend and with push from congressmen in districts where defense plants operate there is further wasteful spending. Another instance happened after the end of the cold war. The theory was that any future wars would be fought with hi-tech equipment and not with boots on the ground so expenditures were adjusted accordingly. When the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq started there were not enough troops and many extra tours of duty were needed to make up for the short fall. Equipment was not available and many troops complained that their vehicles were not properly armored. Once again people died. They did not suffer the discomfort of going hungry, they died. It is easy to see why there is always pressure to spend more on defense.

Energy politics

Here is a quote from Paul Ryan who is very knowledgeable when it comes to the budget. If you took all of the income from every millionaire in America today, it would run the government for about four months. Since the budget is 3.6 trillion that means it would take 1.2 trillion to run the government for four months. Since there are 300 million non-millionaires in America that means that if we took all of the income from all of the millionaires each of us would get $4,000. It is not difficult to see that you cannot solve the problem of income inequality by taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor. It is the same today as it has been throughout history and by that I mean, there are too many non-rich and too few rich. The best way to improve the lives of the non-rich is to grow the economy. A job is first and foremost and especially a good paying job and the way to do that is staring us right in the face. We here in the United States are sitting on a 200 year supply of oil and a 500 year supply of natural gas. The government should immediately open up federal lands for energy development and then get out of the way and let private investment take over. We are already in the process of replacing coal with natural gas and this process will continue in spite of the government. As we accumulate excess oil we ship that to China and allow them to replace their coal with oil. The same is true for India and Africa. As time passes the world will replace coal and oil with natural gas and this will go a long way toward reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Recent development show that when natural gas is extracted from methane hydrate on the ocean floor, it can be replaced with carbon dioxide which means we can use this natural gas without increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As good as that is, the long term future using hydrogen is ever better. By expanding the energy industry we create millions of high paying jobs, reduce our balance of payments to foreign countries like China and reduce the world wide threat posed by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This will be done at no cost to the government. The only thing keeping the country from moving in this direction is politics.

Abuse

Another athlete is in the news for abusing his wife. Most news people do not want to investigate the cause of this behavior because it gets them involved in race and that is enough to scare them away. Starting in the late 60’s and continuing untill today the problems of single mom’s was part of the war on poverty. These young women, most of whom did not finish high school, were abandoned by the fathers and left in many cases destitute. The government stepped in and said that any young mom with no visible means of support would qualify for a free apartment, medical care, food stamps, WIC, help with utility cost and other lesser benefits. This meant that they were self-supporting and did not need financial aid from the father. These young men reacted to this new independence by making it popular to mistreat these mothers which became known on the street as dissing. The more you dissed your woman the more manly you were perceived to be. Because this was happening most notably in the inner city areas that were predominately black the press stayed away. The number one killer of African-American females, ages 15 to 34, was homicide at the hands of an intimate partner or ex-partner. Bureau of Health Statistics, 1994, Sullivan and Rumptz, 1994. The African-American community experience domestic violence at greater levels than White Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos. (Rennison & Welchan, 2000, Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000) Black women comprise 8% of the US population, but account for 20% of the intimate partner homicide victims. (Homicide Reports, 1976-1999) Just one more example of the unintended consequences of good intentions.

From a distance

I have never liked the term, “bleeding heart liberal” but I have wondered why many of these people think the way they do and yesterday while listening to the radio a possible answer came to me. They were playing the song, “From A Distance” and as I listened to the words I began to understand. From a distance There is harmony And it echoes through the land It's the voice of hope It's the voice of peace It's the voice of every man From a distance We all have enough And no one is in need And there are no guns, no bombs and no disease No hungry mouths to feed From a Distance We are instruments Marching in a common band Playing songs of hope Playing songs of peace They are the songs of every man From a distance You look like my friend Even though we are at war From a distance I just cannot comprehend What all this fighting is for From a distance There is harmony And it echoes through the land And it's the hope of hopes It's the love of loves It's the heart of every man It is only when you get close under the hood and get your hands dirty that you see the real world. I believe that some people are uncomfortable doing this.

Campaign energy

Many commentators are questioning why The President is going to fund raisers instead of concentrating on the various problems happening around the world and here at home. I feel that he is overwhelmed by the pressure and does not know how to handle it. I further feel that he loves the adulation from all the adoring fans at these events and needs that to assure himself that what he is doing is the right thing. Campaigning is his strong suit and he loves the roar of the crowd when he uses his sarcastic humor to put down those who think differently than he does. On those occasions when he talks policy he seems almost uninterested and certainly not emotionally involved but when he adlibs his little digs at the opposition and the crowd reacts with pleasure you can see the enthusiasm well up in his demeanor. He is in his element. I believe when historians write about him they will conclude that deep down he really did not like governing and felt uncomfortable in the leadership role. In the meanwhile the country is paying for electing a person with so little experience just because he could talk a good game. My democratic friends are not saying their vote was a mistake but they no longer express the same enthusiasm about the man, although after six years in the white house I would expect some drifting away.

Proportionality

The new word used to describe the Israeli/Gaza conflict is proportionality. Since the war started 800 Palestinians and 30 Jews have been killed. This is deemed unfair meaning that if 800 Jews had been killed everything would be better. This is the fourth time in the past 8 years that we have seen this type of war. Each time Hamas starts a conflict and the Jews respond and the press warms up to condemn the deaths of innocent civilians. After a period of time Hamas relies on the world press to show enough pictures of dead children that Israel will finally with draw but each time Hamas gains some benefit by sacrificing the lives of a few thousand of their citizens. They mix their military in the civilian population knowing they will be killed in an Israeli attack. It is very easy to do because the Jews call up the people in the target area warning them to get out so Hamas sends them into that area with cameras ready. The biggest complaint that Hamas has is that they must pass through Jewish check points to get in and out of Gaza. This is time consuming and a huge expense for Israel. Since Hamas has avowed in their constitution that their goal is to wipe Israel off the map, the Jews have check points to search for weapons such as the rockets that are now raining down or Israel. This process will likely continue until Hamas agrees to the presence of a Jewish state which is not likely to happen until the younger generation grows up and maybe not then. Some people say the Jews should not respond to the rocket attacks since the rockets are unguided and most times fall in non-populated areas. I wonder if these people would be so nonchalant about it if they lived in Israel.

The law

When Obamacare was being designed by democrats behind closed doors the question came up as to what would happen if states refused to set up programs to help people sign up and thus the plan included a provision which stated that states that do not set up such a plan for those who sign up through the federal plan would not be eligible for subsidies. The idea was that this would force states to set up such a plan so they could receive government money. The thought in the minds of these democrats was that no state would be so foolish as to turn down federal money but wrong oh. Thirty-six states chose not to set up state plans and turned down the money. After the law was passed and politician decided to read it a discovery was made that could threaten the entire law. Since the majority of those who signed up for Obamacare expected to receive subsidies and that is now in jeopardy they may decide that they cannot afford to pay for the insurance on their own. This problem was brought before the courts and one court said it is clearly written that only state plans can pay the subsidy and federal plans are not eligible. The second said that the law states that federal plans do not qualify but it is clear that the intention of the law was that both state and federal plans qualify. It is this kind of legal stuff that causes people to get turned off by the law. Does it matter what is said or what was meant to be said. We are allowed this kind of flexibility in our everyday speech but to find out it is also allowed in the written law is a surprise to most people.

Too late

For those who don’t remember the run up to WW 2, it began slowly with Nazi Germany taken over German speaking areas of adjacent countries and then Poland which triggered England to go to war. Russia today is following a similar path. They took over Crimea and now are threatening all of Eastern Ukraine. Neighboring countries like Belarus and Moldova also have Russian speaking minorities and they may be next. The Europeans could place severe sanctions on Russia and bring their economy down but they are so dependent on oil and gas from Russia that it would also cause them severe hardships, so they are hesitant. If Russia expands into the above mentioned countries, not much will be done but if they then move toward the Baltics, which were part of the old Soviet Union, the United States will be forced to step in since the Baltics are part of NATO and both Europe and the United States have obligations to protect their members and the Baltics are members. This move would be the equivalent of the Nazi move into Poland. The question keeps coming up as to what NATO can do about it and the answer is very little. But looking back just a few years exposes a situation that could have been prevented, if President Obama had seen the world differently. Recall when Candidate Romney said that Russia was our biggest threat and the President along with most of the press ridiculed him. If at that time President Obama had been interested in expanding our oil and natural gas industries, we would be huge exporters by this time and could have replaced these fossil fuels that Europe now depends on Russia for and thus this whole conflict may well have been avoided. President Obama’s hesitancy once again has led to a situation where our hands are tied. The same thing happened in Syria when The President declined to help the rebels and is now considering it but too late. It happened in Iraq when we were warned that terrorist were moving into Iraq from Syria but we watched and waited. It happened at the border where he was warned in advance of a pending crisis but chose to ignore it. On a lesser bases, we were late getting to the embassy in Benghazi when they asked for additional protection. On each of these problems people all ask what can be done about these various troubled areas and the answer is nothing less than threatening military action and the people do not want that. This absolves The President from doing nothing because it is too late. I once again quote Dwight Eisenhower when the said that every battle lost can be explained in two words, too late. Our President is a following instead of a leading on too many occasions.

Putin

One of the less reported facts about the plane shot down in Ukraine is that Russia no longer has a free press. Putin’s approval rating is 83%. I think as more people find out all of the facts about this case via social media this number will fall. It is so much like the old USSR where they knew that they have to keep people ignorant of the facts in order to maintain control. I recall that during the cold war I had friends who did not see the evil in the Soviet Union and actually considered it a credible type of government. The fact that they had to erect a fence to keep the people in did not discredit their beliefs. For some reason there have been people throughout history who believe in a benevolent government. Our forefathers knew better

Attitude

On the radio this week they were discussing the problems that young men have when they get out of prison. The guest was just such a young man. He had just finished a three year term and could not find a job. Later that day I stopped by McDonalds and talked to the manager about this and she said that if an applicant meets their requirements a past conviction will not interfere with their being hired. This man was 22 years old and in good physical condition. He spoke in a clear and concise manner and seemed reasonable intelligent. He had been living for the six months since he got out of prison getting public and privates assistance along with help from friends. He had been damaged both emotionally and spiritually from events in his growing up years. He was suffering from low self-esteem and needed a change in attitude. If he could be made to see the opportunities awaiting him his life would change for the better. He could start by getting part time jobs at a dozen different fast food places and working 80 hours per week he could net $500. In a short time he could have a nice clean comfortable sleeping room. He could government subsidized health care and buy a used car. At the end of a year he could start at the local vocational school or community college depending on his interest. In many places around the country there is a need for plumbers, pipefitters, electricians, welders and truck drivers. If instead he was interested in more formal education he could sign up for 6 hours per semester and 3 yours in summer and in 8 years he could graduate. He would be a healthy 30 year old man who had learned the value of work, who knew how to deal with the public and was educated. That along with living in the greatest country in the history of the world means that the sky is the limit for him. This is doable for him but someone must show him the way and help him to see the potential he has.

Change

Back in the 1950’s when you pulled into a gas station an attendant would run out and fill your tank while he washed the windows and checked the oil but if you went into a bank the teller never looked at you and the rest of the people at the desk, all men, glanced at you with an inquisitive look saying what are you doing here. Fast forward 20 years and now you drive into the gas station and there is no one around and you fill your own tank but the banks were offering gifts like electric blankets and toasters enticing you to come in when you got there the people, mostly women, greeting you with friendly smiles. Something similar to that but on a more personal basis has happened with students these past 20 years. Former Secretary of State Condi Rice, a black lady from the south, was told by her parents that she just couldn’t be good she had to be great. She followed their advice and it was said about her that she was always the youngest and smartest person in the room. Today things have reversed. My grandson knows that he can’t be just good he has to be great because he is not a minority, not a woman and not disabled. He is the infamous white male. If he wants a chance at scholarships he had better be at the top of his game and he is. Get ready, the world is changing and for the better I might add.

Organ transplants

During the debates on Obamacare the phrase, “death panels” came up and was roundly discredited but those who understand how health care works know that rationing, which is a euphemism for death panels, is a necessary part of any health care system. If you take a minute to think it through you will quickly come to the understanding that not all people can have all care all the time so rationing is the answer. I have pointed out on several occasions how a government program like Medicare can ration care. Private companies find this more difficult because they are subject to competition. One example of rationing is organ transplants. Patients who need organ transplants are dying even while viable organs are being thrown out, as government regulations have forced centers to focus on overall post-transplant survival rates instead of the well-being of individual patients. Medicare rules determine who gets a transplant based on one year survival rates. This means that higher risk patients are passed by so as not to lower the success rate That has prompted many centers to choose healthier patients and higher quality organs to transplant. High-risk patients that could pull down a center’s overall survival rate are often unable to get on the transplant list, or end up dying on the waiting list as centers pass on marginal but still usable kidneys, livers and lungs.

Natural gas to Europe

The situation in Ukraine once again shows the problem with Obama always coming late to the dance. The Europeans are hesitant to join the US in placing restrictions on Russia because they are dependent on natural gas from Russia. If the US government had been emphasizing our capability to produce oil and natural gas instead of pushing things like wind and solar we would have the capacity to ship natural gas to Europe to replace their Russian sources. If the Russians knew that Europe had another source of natural gas they would be behaving in an entirely different manner. We can still do that but we are behind in getting geared up. The US needs to fire up the energy industry which would in turn fire up the economy with the added benefit of increasing our exports. Within a short time the US could be the Saudi Arabia of oil and be producing more natural gas than the rest of the world combined. China would buy up all the excess oil we could produce and that would reduce their dependence on coal which would go a long way to clean up their air. This is a win, win, win and yet The President sits on the side lines handing out money to friends in the wind and solar business. It looks like we are going to have to wait for another president before we can capitalize on the natural resources we have. The road to clean air is coal to oil to natural gas but The President does not see it that way. Private industry will take us there but with government assistance in allowing drilling on government property we would get there a lot faster.

The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage the wealthiest people in the world to make a commitment to give most of their wealth to philanthropic causes. The campaign specifically focuses on billionaires (or those who would be billionaires if not for their philanthropy) and was made public in 2010 by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. The Huffington Post reported in April 2012 that "81 billionaires committed to giving at least half of their fortunes to charity".[1]As of May 2014, 127 billionaire or former billionaire individuals and couples have signed the pledge.[2] While I find that interesting I am more concern with the money they don’t give away. There are only two things they can do with it and that is either save it or spend it. In Economics there is a rule that says savings equals investment meaning that the money that banks have to lend out for investments purposes comes from savings. So if the rich save their money it is used for investments in other new and or expanding businesses. If they spend their money it adds growth to the economy. Even those who spend lavishly on themselves create jobs for people to make the things they buy. Building huge homes is a waste to me but if I am in the construction business it is a good thing. You could say the same for yachts and Rolls Royce. I am not sure where the animosity toward the rich comes from but I believe back in the days of the Robber Barons when most people had hardly enough to eat would be a likely place. Of course if you go back to the days when Royalty lived in fine castles and the peons were almost like slaves that could be another starting point. I am sure there are rich people who are despicable as is the case with any group but there are also many rich who are sharing and caring. What would you say is a proper amount for them to give or save or invest? It is difficult to answer a question like that.

Billionaires

Senator Elizabeth Warren who is sometimes considered a candidate for the presidency is the quintessential populist as her main theme is to take money from the rich. In a recent speech she was upset with the government charging too much interest on student loans. She wanted to lower the interest rate to 3.9% but that would cost the government 66 billion dollars over the next 6 years. When asked how she would cover the deficit she responded by taxing billionaires. Here is what she told the young people at a recent rally. Though the proposal is currently dead, Warren advised the young crowd to push lawmakers to bring it up again.“Ask them why they think they work for billionaires instead of young people trying to build a future,” Warren said. This hit the rich is always popular with most people but not much thought was put into the idea. Specifically there are 490 billionaires in the country so this would require that each of them put up 20 million dollars each year for the next 6 years. I am sure they could afford this but I am equally sure that Senator Warren had no idea what she was asking. It just sounds good to go after billionaires and people just eat it up.

Methane hydrate

The discovery of methane hydrate on the ocean floor and in the permafrost of the Arctic has opened the door to a new source of energy. All along the continental shelves located near the coast of all land masses lay large quantities of natural gas in the form of hydrates. The natural gas molecule methane is surrounded by water molecules and is in liquid form. This gas was formed by organic materials dying and sinking to the ocean floor where they piled up. The pressure of the water and the cold temperatures formed the hydrates. The decomposition of organic material in the presence of oxygen is called oxidation and forms carbon dioxide and water but without oxygen the process is fermentation and produces methane. This gas is found at debts of about a 1000 feet which is relatively shallow for ocean drilling. Although estimates of the amount of in situ hydrates vary considerably, even the most conservative estimate puts the amount of gas present as gas hydrates in the earth at 10 to the 15th power cubic meters. (KVENVOLDEN, 1995). This amount far exceeds all conventional energy reserves by as much as a factor of two and could provide for the energy demands of the planet well into the next century. Now here is the interesting part. It appears that the hydrate prefers carbon dioxide molecules to methane molecules so when carbon dioxide is pumped into the system the methane is released and the carbon dioxide is captured. This means that this gas can be burned without increasing the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Energy Wire: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Last Tuesday, Japan announced it had successfully produced natural gas from an offshore methane hydrates test well. A day later, the United States published significant new data outlining massive methane hydrate reserves along the Atlantic and Pacific shores. This will allow the world to move away from coal and oil and use only methane which means little or no nitrates, sulfates and other salts that cause pollution like acid rain. Since the carbon dioxide will be sequestered by the process there will be no further increase in carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The United States government should be encouraging the development of this valuable resource as it is much more promising than any wind or solar project. Perhaps if the next President is up to date on new energy developments this might happen.

Hilary Clinton

As the world anxiously awaits Mrs. Clinton’s decision it is pretty much agreed that if she runs her theme will be income inequality. Will she follow the lead of Senator Warren and go after the rich through taxation or will she look to the energy field to grow the economy. Will she push the concept that the best welfare is a good paying job? When it comes to the War on Women will she portray women as a group who needs more government assistance or will she point out that women are just as a capable of taking care of themselves as men as shown in their enrollment in universities across the country, their rise to middle management positions and some to upper management. Will she lay out plans helping women to achieve success in business and government or will she offer them more public assistance plans. In both of these, the basic question is will she rely on government to try and solve the problem or will she move government out of the way an let private business solve it.

Interstate Highways

When President Obama discovered much to his chagrin, that there were no shovel ready projects, I was reminded of the Interstate Highway project as an example of how government is supposed to work. In 1956 a Republican President Dwight Eisenhower with a democratic house and senate passed The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The vote in the senate was 89 to 1 and in the house it passed 388 to 19. At the time it was the largest peace time government project in history. It was paid for by a fuel tax. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (Public Law 84-627), was enacted on June 29, 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law. With an original authorization of 25 billion dollars for the construction of 41,000 miles (66,000 km) of the Interstate Highway System supposedly over a 10-year period, it was the largest public works project in American history through that time.[1]

Too big

I am beginning to believe that President Obama is a victim of fate. By that I mean he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is becoming more obvious each day that the government is too big to function properly. The latest news is how the National Institute of Health has allowed their procedures to go awry. Add to this the VA scandal and the slow painful losses of the war on poverty and the war on drugs and then toss in the waste and inefficiency throughout and you get the picture. It is possible that without some fundamental changes this type of government cannot deal with 300 million people. I feel with a change in administration the economy will get moving but changing the government is more than just getting a new president. The government is like the VA in that it requires fundamental changes and the elected officials have a vested interest in the status quo.

Health care cost

We currently have five separate types of health care in the United States. First is the private care that is privately administered and that would be the kind that most people have and most of those through their employer. Second is Medicare which is private insurance using private facilities and administered by the federal government using the Blue Cross system to collect premiums and distribute benefits. Third is Obamacare which is much like Medicare but for people under the age of 65. Forth is the VA which uses all government doctors, hospitals and clinics and also handles its own administration of benefits. Fifth is Medicaid which is administered by private care providers but is paid for by the federal government. All of these programs except the private care have something in common which will allow them to lower the cost of health care. They each determine the kind of care the patient will receive and they have little to no competition. In addition they determine the premium cost, co-payments and deductibles. Using Obamacare, here is how money will be saved. First when the government determines what care will be provided they can restrict or limit care. Since there is no competition this will not result in loss of customers. Second they can raise deductible to eliminate frivolous use of facilities and doctors. Private insurance cannot do this as customers would change companies if services were cut. For example if Blue Cross decided to limit coverage in certain areas customers would likely transfer to Aetna and vise-versa. Medicare on the other hand could limit services, which they have done and the elderly have nowhere to go. The same goes for Obamacare and Medicaid and it goes without saying with the VA. For the very poor who are on Medicaid and the lower income people on Obamacare raising deductibles and co-pays will have little effect on usage since their coverage is free but with higher income people where the average annual deductible is $12,000 most people will pay out of pocket for most of their healthcare and will thus use only what is deemed absolutely necessary. With fewer people making use of the system and with rationing of benefits these plans will save money. With high deductibles customers will shop around and start purchasing health care like they do other products they purchase and this will bring competition into the market and thus lower cost.

Income inequality

Populist democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, whose main theme is income inequality, uses the oil depletion allowance as an example of unfairness. When the oil industry was in its infancy there were laws past that recognized that the oil would not last forever so the government offered investors an incentive to expand. One of these was the oil depletion allowance and that is still in use today. Each year the government pays oil companies 4 billion dollars under this program. Senator Warren in her stump speeches demands that this practice be ended and most people would agree. The question is what impact will this have on the working people and the answer is very little. Once again if you do the math and realize that when you spread the 4 billion among the 140 million working families, you get $30 for each family. There is no reason to keep this program going but to give the impression that it will do a lot for income inequality is misleading at best and deceiving at worst. The same can be said for going after the big banks. This is definitely something that should be done but it will not solve the problem of income inequality. Throughout history people have been taken in by the promise of taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor but when the dust settles the poor are still poor. What a poor person needs is a good paying job and that comes from an expanding economy. Providence has given this country a gift in the form of oil and natural gas that could light a fire under this economy and provide the good paying jobs that would promote income equality.

Star wars

When President Reagan was in office he proposed something called, “Strategic Defense Initiative” which was immediately derided by the press and called with a sneer, “Star Wars”. Experts all around called the idea ridiculous and went so far as to say Reagan himself was losing his mind. At the time I had no idea how it would work but I knew enough about science not to summarily dismiss it. Since that time the US has successfully launched test rockets that destroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missals and during the Gulf War Patriot missals knocked many Scud Missals down protecting Israel. Israel is currently using a modified version to knock incoming rockets out of the sky and a dozen countries now deploy Patriot Missals as part of their defense. These missals have led to a more sophisticated approach now under study that uses just a high speed bullet to knock out missals. Don’t underestimate what science and engineering can do given the proper resources. What interest me most is there is no mention of all of those who laughed and suggested that Raegan was not playing with a full deck. The irony is that they have been assigned to the ash heap of history where they predicted Reagan would go.

Border kids

The problem with children at the border has brought sex trafficking into the headlines and this would be a good time to point out a report from the state department. According to the Department of State's statistics from 2000, there are approximately 244,000 American children and youth that are at risk for sex trafficking each year. Of these children and youth, 38,600 were originally runaways. If all of these victims could be gathered together like those at the border perhaps Americans would take action but that is not going to happen but this gives one an idea of what it might look like.

Millions and billions

Labron James is going back to Cleveland and signed a two year contract for 40 million. A few years back Alex Rodriguez signed a ten year contract for 275 million and way back in the 80’s, the decade of greed, Barbara Streisand signed a 60 million dollar record deal. I mention this because these people did not start a new company that turned into thousands of jobs but I want to contrast this with a poor farm kid who spent his time in the military where he saved enough money to start a small business. He worked his way through college and grew his business which subsequently turned into Walmart. Today his family is worth 90 billion dollars and they employ 2.2 million people. It is said that the Walmart family has more money than the lowest 50 million American families and it is said in a way that makes the Walton’ s out to be greedy people. I won’t argue as to who should have how much in our free society but do some math and you will see that if we took their money and gave it to these low income families each family would get $1,900. I have made the point in the past and will continue to point out that the problem with trying to solve income inequality by taking from the rich and giving to the poor is that there are too few rich and too many poor. The way to help the poor is to create jobs. Bill Gates with his billions has created whole industries. The President pointed out that no one started a business on their own since they all used existing infrastructure as if that somehow negated what they accomplished. If that infrastructure was the big contributing factor how come we only get one Bill Gates per generation since we all have access to the same roads and bridges and power plants. What we need is a million people like Bill Gates and hope they all become billionaires.

Voter ID

The subject of voter ID is in the news again and many have pointed out that an ID is needed to sign up for Obamacare. They will accept a social security card but to get one of those requires two forms of ID. In the state of Minnesota a picture ID is required to collect benefits. Other states do not require a photo ID but all require some form of identification. In Minnesota to vote you fill out a form with your name and address and birthdate and you check the box that says you do not have a MN driver’s license, a MN ID card or a social security card. The final requirement if you have no ID is someone to vouch for you.

Corporate taxes

It is well known in business circles that the US has the highest corporate tax rate at 35% of all the industrialized countries. While this fact has been brought to the attention of the politicians in Washington nothing was done to lower the rate. The most notable aspect of this is that US companies are holding over 2 trillion dollars overseas not wanting to bring it home where it would be taxed. More recently there has developed a trend of US companies locating their home offices overseas to escape the high taxes. About ten years ago congress changed some laws to make this move out of the country more difficult but in the last few years companies have found ways to move and save money on taxes. The most common is to purchase a company overseas and move the corporation to that country while retaining most of its US operations. These are large companies and one recent example is a local Minneapolis company called Medtronic. FRIDLEY, Minn. (KMSP) - Medtronic will move its headquarters from Minnesota to Ireland as part of a $42.9 billion purchase of medical technology company Covidien. The merged company’s “operational” headquarters will stay in Fridley, Minn., along with the CEO’s office, but the legal headquarters will be in Ireland. The move to Ireland will save the company billions in taxes. The corporate taxrate in Ireland is just 12.5 percent compared to the 35 percent rate in the U.S This has resulted in lost jobs for American workers. The companies cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million, new data from the U.S. Commerce Department show.

Border Fence

In September of 2006 the “Secure Fence Act of 2006” was passed by the house with a vote of 283 to 138 and later that month it passed the senate 80 to 19. In 2006, the Mexican Government vigorously condemned the Secure Fence act of 2006. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that it had more than 580 miles (930 km) of fence in place by the second week of January, 2009. As of January 2010, the fence project has been completed from San Diego, California to Yuma, Arizona. This had the effect of reducing border crossings at the fence location but pushed the crossers to other locations mostly in Texas where crossing was more dangerous due to the desert. Several Texas border towns objected to the fence as they have many customers who cross over from Mexico to both work and to make purchases. Some Indian Tribes objected saying the fence cut their lands in half. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) announced in January 2007 that Congress will revisit the fence plan, while committee chairs are holding up funding until a comprehensive border security plan is presented by the United States Department of Homeland Security. And that is where the fence plan stands today, partially complete.

Wall

For those who don’t remember, just a few years ago cities throughout Israel were being bombed by suicide bombers and they stepped up and took action by creating a wall around their country. Between 2000 and 2007 there were 140 suicide bomber attacks. Since the wall went up there have been 8 such attacks. This wall is 500 miles long and if a small country like Israel can build this length we can cover the 2,000 border between the US and Mexico. Once the wall along our southern border is complete and guards are placed 4 to a mile with instructions to shoot anyone who comes over the wall the border will be secure. After that the 11 million illegals here can be given amnesty and a path to citizenship. These people will then become productive citizens instead of hiding in the shadows. The next step would be to have a controlled immigration program that will include many from countries around the world who have skills needed here. Laws would be changed allowing those who finish their education here could stay here if they wanted. The reasons this is not happening are political. By keeping immigration as a hot issue favors certain politicians. Which ones? Just ask yourself which group gains the most from the current situation with immigration?

Suicide bomber

Abu Dabba is a 20 year old from Pakistan fighting with the rebels in Syria. He is a dedicated Muslim and willing to give his life to the cause. He is contacted by the leaders there and given extensive training in suicide bombing. He is then sent to Mexico and crosses the border amid the rush of young people and goes to a designated safe house. Here he is provided with a suicide vest and driven to a large mall in Dallas and at the proper time he goes in and detonates the bomb. The building is partially destroyed along with the lives of 150 people and another 300 injured. Immediately terrorist web sites proclaim victory and say this is just the beginning. Americans are outraged and demand to know what happened and thus begins the blame game. The President says the congress refused to pass immigration laws which would have prevented this and the congress says The President refused to close the border. Thus we are back to where we are now awaiting the next suicide bomber. If this actually happened there would be a 20 foot wall going up along the border with a national guard member every 500 yards with orders to shoot anyone coming over the wall and that would be the end of illegals crossing the southern border.

CIA

Senator Diane Feinstein was investigating the CIA’s use of water boarding and found out the CIA was investigating her committee. Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) accused the CIA of ¬secretly removing documents, searching computers used by the committee and attempting to intimidate congressional investigators by requesting an FBI inquiry of their conduct — She then requested that the Justice Department investigate to find out what was going on. Her concern was the same that Speaker Boehner has and the reason he is suing The President. They both feel that the Executive Branch of government was infringing on the Legislative Branch. This resulted in the following: The most serious fight between the Central Intelligence Agency and Congress to erupt during the Obama administration went very public on Tuesday as the Senate’s top overseer of the CIA accused the agency of blocking an investigation into interrogation practices and possibly violating the Constitution. Since the CIA reports to the President and the Senate is controlled by the Democrats this did not look good for the administration so what happened. The Justice Department will not investigate claims that the CIA improperly searched Senate Intelligence Committee computers, McClatchy reported. Then what did Feinstein have to say about this decision? "I am pleased the Justice Department has decided not to open an investigation into Intelligence Committee staff Politics once again trumps country.

Small town

Why did the government choose a town like Murrieta, CA with population of 100,000 to send the children from the border? A place like Chicago with a much larger population could more easily absorb these kids. Chicago has many more public facilities including health care and schools. Would the people of Chicago be more welcoming? How about other big cities in Texas like Dallas and Houston?

Time

One way the government has of easing out of problems is to use time as Americans quickly forget. Here is a report to illustrate the point. WASHINGTON — A stinging report by the Senate Intelligence Committee released Wednesday concluded that the attack 16 months ago that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, could have been prevented, singling out the State Department for criticism for its failure to bolster security in response to intelligence warnings about a growing security crisis around the city. This whole episode is now considered in the past and not of any great importance. Note the part about 16 months ago. If Hilary Clinton was not considering a run for the presidency this thing would be completely forgotten. If the American people have forgotten why should politicians care?

Poverty

There is a group called Global Citizens who are putting on their annual festival today in New York. I had never heard of this group until I saw a piece on the news today about them. It is a group who works on global poverty in the area of education for girls, clean water and vaccines for third world citizens. These are admirable goals and I was particularly interested because the show just before that was pointing out that the war in poverty here in this country has failed because over the past 40 plus years we have spent trillions and the poverty level is much the same as it was in 1980. This group puts on this festival to collect money for their causes but perhaps they should take a closer look at what has happened here in the US and try not to make the same mistake of thinking that spending money will solve the problem. Too often spending money is congresses way of getting rid of a problem so The President just asked for 3.7 billion to solve the current problem at the border and that reminds me of how congress a few weeks ago asked for 50 billion to solve the VA problems. Neither of these problem will be solved with money.

Power

When President Obama recently said he would by-pass the do-nothing congress and use the power of his office by way of pen and phone to get things done, many asked just what can he do. Here is one small example: The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly floated a rule claiming authority to bypass the courts and unilaterally garnish paychecks of those accused of violating its rules, a power currently used by agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service.

Imigration

This is what President Obama said in 2010 when the Democrats controlled both houses of congress So the politics of who is and who is not allowed to enter this country, and on what terms, has always been contentious. And that remains true today. And it’s made worse by a failure of those of us in Washington to fix a broken immigration system. To begin with, our borders have been porous for decades. Obviously, the problem is greatest along our Southern border, but it’s not restricted to that part of the country. In fact, because we don’t do a very good job of tracking who comes in and out of the country as visitors, large numbers avoid immigration laws simply by overstaying their visas. In sum, the system is broken. And everybody knows it. Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special-interest wrangling -– and to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny and emotional issue is inherently bad politics. The bill he wants to pass today could have easily passed in 2010 but immigration is a strong political issue for democrats and remains so today but today it is also held up by some Republicans in congress who fear re-election if they pass reform before the borders are secured. They all realize that they could give amnesty to the 11 million illegals who are here today but unless they close the border there will soon be millions more. Once the borders are secure the bill will pass but then the issue goes away.

Border

Back in the 2000’s there were serious concerns about human trafficking and laws were passed by concerned congressmen to help minimize the problem. These laws were passed by unanimous vote of both houses showing that the members were compassionate in their concern for children. These are the laws: The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386), the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (H.R. 2620), the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (H.R. 972), and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 7311 These laws basically say that if a minor from a country other than Mexico or Canada comes to our borders they must be allowed to enter and go through an elaborate procedure to determine why they are here and that in turn determines what must be done. The country is now reaping the results of these kind and benevolent laws and this represents one more example of the unintended consequences of good intentions. There are 10 million children living in Central America and each one can offer a good case as to why they must be allowed here in the United States. After that there is South America with 100 million children. When these laws were written it is not likely that anyone thought these children would travel alone across 1000 miles of Mexican desert to get here but they did. They were encouraged by criminals who charge their parents thousands of dollars to bring them to the US border. This is why the children do not run from the border guards but to them as they no they have the right to go through the admitting procedures and they further understand that if they miss their court date they are likely not to be arrested.

Employment

Many people do not know that when your unemployment benefits expire if you find a job or if you don’t you are no longer counted as unemployed so when 1.3 million people lost their unemployment benefits in January the expected result was a drop in the unemployment numbers and this happened as the rate declined from 6.6% in January to 6.1% today. The 800,000 jobs created over the past 6 months were offset by this number of people no longer counted as unemployed so the labor participation rate remained constant at 62.8% which is the lowest since 1979.

Hard work

America is known as a place where if you work hard you can achieve a reasonably good life. Back in the 70’s I had a number of friends who were trades people. These guys were very talented and could do most things in the building industry. I recall one case where a guy who was single and about 30 years old, approached me and asked for some financial advice. He said he had older friends who suffered from knee and back injuries but had to keep working in pain because they needed the money. He said he didn’t want to spend his last ten or fifteen working years in that condition and wanted some suggestions. I asked him a lot of questions and told him I would write up a plan for him. Here is what I suggested. First of all you have to quit drinking and smoking. This guy smoked two packs a day and drank 15 cans a of beer everyday with more on weekends. I wrote that he should save that money for two years and then buy a fixer upper house. He should move in there and work on it weekends and winter. These guys were off three months in the winter when they collected unemployment. He could rehab one house each year and then either rent it out our sell it depending on market conditions. I did the calculations and showed how in ten years he would be self-employed with people working for him and how far he wanted to expand would be limited only by is ambition. This guy was about 6 feet tall and weighed about 300 pounds. He was somewhat typical in that regards because he would gain 20 pounds in the winter and then lose 10 pounds in the summer, so in ten years he gained a 100 pounds. I pointed out that with this new life style he should also adjust his diet and that along with no beer and no cigs would get his weight back to normal and improve his general health. As his business grew his attitude would improve which in turn would improve his outlook on life. I saw him a few days later and he thanked me for the information but nothing ever came of it. The hard work that I mentioned above includes a willingness to change attitude and life style and he was not willing to make those changes.

Ducks

These two articles indicate why many feel that government regulations sometimes are misguided. Seven oil companies operating in western North Dakota face federal charges of killing migratory birds that allegedly died when they landed in oilfield pits and wastewater disposal facilities. The charges under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act cite the losses of 28 ducks and other birds in oil waste pits between May 6 and June 20. Federal laws require pits to be bird-proofed with fences, screens and nets. In a bid to give alternative energy sources a boost, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has quietly granted a California wind energy farm a permit to kill a limited number of endangered bald and golden eagles that get sliced up in its giant turbines. But last week’s free pass is sparking anger from wildlife advocates and from free market advocates who ask why they don’t qualify for the same dispensation. Keep in mind that duck hunters kill 15 million ducks each year and because of conservation efforts by groups like Duck Unlimited the duck population is larger than ever.

Defense spending

The United States spends more money on defense than the next nine largest spending countries combined. Is it possible that is one of the reasons why the US economy consistently out performs all others? Defense spending means building things and provides high paying jobs along with research in high tech areas which flows over into the private sector, the Internet being the most notable example. While NASA is technically not part of the Defense Department it is a government agency and has spawned many new technologies and many new industries. The military provides a consistent flow of trained people who move into private industry, the best example is air line pilots. The military is and has allowed many to receive the benefits of higher education. The military takes young men and teaches them to be responsible, promotes teamwork and build self-esteem which allows them to move more easily into the private sector. Other things being equal, industry leaders prefer to hire Veterans.