Jerry Seinfeld Super Bowl Commercial

This was clearly the best commercial on the Super Bowl

In the newly released extended spot, Seinfeld lusts after the 2012 Acura NSX very badly, but is told he is the second person on the waiting list. So he launches an extremely intensive campaign to bribe the man who is the first one on the list to give him his spot. Seinfeld’s tactics include: cash, use of the Soup Nazi (“I own all the characters”), small talk with the omelet guy, stand-up at the man’s house, re-enacting reality TV using sock-puppets, showing the man an alien, and much much more.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Super Bowl ad without a big celebrity twist at the end.

A Time to be Optimistic

The stock market had a very good run up during January (Dow Jones increased almost 1.25% and the S&P 500 was up by almost 1.5% today alone) and unemployment dropped by .2% in January. Both are hopeful signs that our economy is in a recovery mode. Along with those two events there were others that support the notion that our economy is on the mend.

Let’s go with this and be happy. We all know there are many negative indicators but optimism can be contagious. If the public believes that the nation is on an upswing they start behaving positively and that is reflected in behavior. Car sales are up, retail sales are up, and even credit card spending is up (that might not be so good for individuals).

Don’t listen to politicians and don’t watch the 6 o’clock news. Those people offer a string of negativity.

No matter who wins the Super Bowl the advertising will be just as much fun as the game. After all this is reportedly the warmest winter in 30 years. Know that spring is just six weeks away.

When the Courts Provide a Solution

For most of us going into court without a lawyer is a daunting thought. A Southern California woman who challenged the legal status-quo by filing a small-claims action against Honda won her lawsuit. Her complaint was that her hybrid Honda had not provided the promised fuel economy that had been advertised. She won!

This event will induce others to go into small claims courts all over the country. Companies and people should be held accountable for their actions and promises.

A Society Run by the Rich!

The American system of opportunity is broken. There is nothing and no one on the horizon that will change our destructive trajectory.

The American model of capitalism and the opportunity to become very wealthy and has become the goal of almost every other nation in the world. Like so many other successes in this world our leaders attempted to fine tune our system. That led to our undoing and a focus on the inequities that unlimited capitalism creates.

The Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party groups have highlighted the problems that most of us have known about for decades. Most of us just chose to ignore the issues. We took a “don’t rock the boat” attitude. The obvious condition of our economy, and its bleak future, has forced us to re-examine this situation. More of us will now be forced to think harder about the choices we make at the ballot box.

The average American family has an income of less than $50,000 per year. At the same time there are millionaires whose income is so large that they earn an annual income that is 340 times as much and more. Yes, John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo Bank made $17.6 million in 2010. Mitt Romney’s income for the past two years has exceeded $20 million per year. At least Mr. Stumpf had to work for his money. Mr. Romney has not worked for at least six years and is living off of his investments.

Irking to most of us is that many millionaires have income based upon capital gains and qualified dividends. Their income tax rate is 15% or less while those drawing a salary are taxed at rates up to 35%.

These are not isolated individuals. One percent of all Americans equal 3 million people. They have no concept of living on $50,000 per year.

If you believe that either Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich (holder of a $500,000 revolving account at Tiffany’s) will be interested in improving the opportunities for the average American then you really are delusional. They will do everything in their power to sustain the system that has made them rich.

Meanwhile the rest of us are fed the line that all of us are owners of American businesses through our 401(k)s and IRAs. So we dutifully go to work hoping that someone will recognize our talents and give us the promotion we believe we deserve. For most of us those promotions never materialize and we end up retiring with a savings account of about $100,000 and a reliance on Social Security.

G. William Domhoff, a professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, has been conducting an ongoing review of wealth and income in America. He has posted his study on-line. Included is this summary of our condition.

“As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers).”

If you think this is just an American problem take a good look at your own country. Canada has high rise condo projects in all of its major cities and lots of well to do people. That can be extended to the nations of Western Europe,Latin America, and Australia too.

The historic reality is that 20% of the population of any nation owns 80% of the wealth. It is the Pareto Principle or the 80-20 rule. This is the out come of a study done by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who in 1906 observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He soon found that the 80-20 ratio applied to many other aspects of society and business.. So no matter how much we try to void this situation it continuously re-appears.

My complaint is that 1% if our population has grown so powerful that most of the rest of us cannot control our society. Look at the current Republican campaigning in Florida. Mitt Romney is leading in the polls but is spending money for negative advertising against Newt Gingrich at a rate of four times as many dollars. It’s a rich man losing to a very rich man. Our country is being bought by the rich.

There is little hope that this situation will change any time soon. Barack Obama chose not to accept federal funding for his campaign (in 2008) and instead raised millions more on his own. Thus both political parties are being run by the influence peddlers. A third political party would be faced with the same conditions.

Is there a solution? None that I know of!

We Need a Third Political Party!

The GOP conundrum in selecting their candidate will soon be one for all Americans. We have a choice of

A. Sticking with Barack Obama who has been a divider rather than a uniter. The president now has the experience but the government is in grid lock.

B. Selecting the GOP contender. The leading contenders are 1) an insider who left the House of Representatives in disgrace, has worked for lobbyist groups and has a $500,000 revolving credit account at Tiffany’s or 2) a man who has an annual income of over $20 million and is in the 15% tax bracket.

In other words we stick with a failed president or choose one that has no idea how the average American family lives on less than $50,000 per year.

I am ready for a third political party.

Debate About Everything Except the Economy & Jobs

I do not know if CNN agreed to avoid talking about the number one issue in America or if it just turned out that way. Wolf Blitzer certainly knows what is the number one issue on the minds of most Americans. At least one of the candidates in tonight’s debate pointed out that the unemployment rate for Florida is an official 9.9% and most likely is closer to 18%. Despite those facts there was no discussion about creating jobs in Florida or anywhere else in the United States.

It was most opportune that Cisco had a cartoon ad showing a factory that had no human beings. The robots were so smart that one was able to repair the other without any human interaction. Is this really possible? Today’s Los Angeles Times had a report on drones that are smart enough to land on an aircraft carrier. Those drones are so smart they can select their targets without human participation.

The candidates spent 15 minutes talking about illegal immigration. Thanks to the high Latino population of Florida there was discussion about Latin America,Cuba, and Puerto Rican statehood. Of course “who can claim the Reagan mantle?” was time-wasting exercise. The question of “why your wife would make a great first lady” was another time waster.

Issues that should have been discussed are America’s AA+ credit rating, the lack of decent paying jobs, the deterioration of our industrial base, the state of America’s infrastructure, and Iranian nuclear ambitions. Those are real issues that require real thought not sound bites.

All the candidates want to become president but none were acting presidential.

We are Creating Jobs Somewhere

We are creating jobs in China. Well to be more accurate General Electric is creating those jobs. To accomplish this effort GE is moving their facility from Waukesha, Wisconsin to Beijing. This is Waukesha biggest employer. It’s only been there for 115 years. In addition to moving headquarters, the company will invest $2 billion in China and train more than 65 engineers and create six research centers.

This is the same GE that made $14-billion in the United States last year, but paid no taxes – the same company that employs more people overseas than in the United States.

So let’s get this straight. President Obama appointed GE CEO Chairman Jeff Immelt to head his commission on job creation (Job Czar). He is supposed to help create jobs. I guess the President forgot to tell him in which country he was supposed to be creating those jobs.

State of the Union Address is just Words

President Obama is an outstanding speaker. Tonight’s State of the Union speech was no exception. His presentation was flawless. Since this speech was the start of the campaign season it will be difficult but not impossible for the Republican nominee to win November’s election. After all, the economy is in terrible distress. We need to blame someone and that person is almost always the president.

Because Mr. Obama is such an excellent speaker the GOP will need someone with outstanding debating skills. That person is Newt Gingrich. He is able to duck the questions reporters ask and turn the question into an attack on his opponent. Mr. Romney lacks that skill.

The United States is in serious economic trouble. Words alone will not be enough. Obama has not delivered results. If the Republican nominee can convince a majority of us that he has a workable plan there will be a new president in the White House on January 20, 2013.

Presidential Race = Reality Show

Did anyone really take Herman Cain as a serious candidate for president? His 9-9-9 plan for taxation was a perfect take off of the pizza for $9.99. His appearance with Stephen Colbert confirms what we all knew. He is the text book example of self promotion.

Mr. Cain has been reported to be the person who will offer a Tea Party response to the president’s State of the Union address. Are Tea Party leaders serious or are they also part of a self promotion agenda?

When Newt Gingrich attacked CNN’s John King and the entire media for his second wife’s interview with ABC it was a perfect example of utter nonsense. Neither ABC nor other media outlets put the words into his second ex-wife.

“Oops” it has all been great fun. $10,000 bets that only a multi-millionaire could really afford tells us that few people really take the race for president seriously.

Seriously, does anyone believe that the next four years will be any better no matter who wins the election? I don’t!

Politics Above Jobs

Today’s Associated Press headline reads “Obama rejects Canada-Texas oil pipeline -for now.” It’s all about politics not about what is the right thing to do.

Barack Obama has made the environmentalists happy but not the country. Those environmentalists are viewed as an important support group for re-election. So the gamble is we will all forget about this issue by next November.

However, if the number of unemployed Americans is still high in November the GOP won’t let us forget. Those supporting the pipeline are furious and they should be.

A $7 billion pipeline from Canada to our gulf coast will result in thousands of jobs. That pipeline will help reduce our dependency on Arab oil. Concerns about water pollution can be over come with some re-routing of the pipe.

This project was originally proposed when George W. Bush was president. To contend now that the government has not had sufficient time to review possible side effects is ludicrous. Barack Obama is on the wrong side of an important issue. He deserves to be attacked for this decision.