The U.S.A. Needs a Mission!

This United States needs a focus on something that will make our country thrive in the 21^st century. We need a mission. We need to be focused on the future. That is what companies do and this nation’s leaders should adopt that philosophy from private enterprise. Defeating Al-Qaeda should not be our national mission. That course would be surrendering to terrorism.

I am prompted to this idea by two occurrences and one interview. First the mass NASA layoffs at Cape Canaveral in Florida that Businessweek recently described as amounting to an astonishing 9,000 people. That layoff will disperse the people who can help this country go to new heights that only the likes of Gene Roddenberry and Ray Bradbury could imagine. Second an article in today’s Los Angeles Times titled “Astronauts send home a whole new worldview” describing “Earthlings are seeing their planet in a whole new light…”

The interview was presented by Diane Sawyer of ABC News on her trip to China this past week. She interviewed Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce website. Ma said he believes that American ingenuity is a model for the Chinese. “Innovation is a culture. When I see the American culture, the American culture is very innovative,” Ma said. “To have a culture of innovation takes about two or three generations.” Further in the interview Ma said “Always think about the mission, and the mission drives you.”

The rest of the world is advancing while the United States is arguing about budget cuts, high unemployment, airport security, and other less important issues. We need a vision. We cannot afford the loss of two or three generations. Remember it was President John F. Kennedy who enunciated the goal of putting a man on the Moon within ten years. We did it and we opened new technologies that were only dreams back on May 25, 1961.

We can and must do it again!

A New Strategy Against Terrorists

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were mistakes. We never should have entered either of those countries with armies. Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction which was he justification for attacking that country. Afghanistan was protecting al-Queda and that terrorist group should have been the target of our government not the Taliban. The result of those two invasions has been a high cost of life and a high cost in dollars. Neither of those countries will become the democracies we would like to see in those nations.

Iraq had parliamentary elections last March and still has not be able to seat a ruling government. Afghanistan held an election that was riddled with fraud and now has a president who objects to American and Russian effort to destroy the poppy farms that supply the drug trade.

This week’s discovery of bombs being shipped in aircraft bound for the United States from Yemen, and recent plots against America that have roots in Pakistan and here in the United States, tells me that we have to develop a new strategy against al-Queda and its splinter groups. That ought to be a spy network that works to subvert terrorists. Armies are good at fighting wars with defined lines. There are no defined lines when the terrorist network is spread under cover through out the world.

Will the President have the courage to withdraw our forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries to save money and lives in favor of a new strategy? Frankly, I doubt it. Politics will probably define his decisions. That will make the United States more vulnerable to attack. After all, if you keep throwing darts at a target you will finally hit the bull’s eye.

U.S. Federal Government in Disarray

Peter Morici, a professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland School and occasional guest on CNN posted an article on the Logisticstoday website starting with the following words:

The Tea Party is winning big, because the U.S. economy is failing. Voters are disgusted with a mess instigated by Washington spoiling Wall Street and kowtowing to China, and leaders of both major parties appear clueless.

Mr. Morici goes on to point out that the departure of industry and R&D to China and other Asian nations has resulted in the export of all the jobs that those industries provided American workers. He sees no events that will change this course of events. He further argues that disputes over income tax rates is just a diversion from the real issues surrounding the economic well being of America. He argues that the United States is following the path of the U.K. that has resulted in an economy that never recovered from “excessive state intrusion in the private economy.”

AOL’s Senior Correspondent, Joseph Schuman, says that Barack Obama’s pitch for relecting Democrats this Fall will be 1. The Economy Is Better Than It Was When We Found It. 2. Tax Cuts for the Middle Class, Not the Wealthy. 3. 3. Republicans Are Playing Election-Year Games.

I wonder if the Barack Obama has read this piece in the New York Times?

While all the fighting over the economy is going on there is a fierce battle over social issues from mosques to immigration reform, and rights for homosexuals.

My question is who will be the presidential candidates in 2012?

545 vs. 300,000,000

This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be – read it!!

The article below is completely neutral, not anti republican or democrat.

Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day.

It’s a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!

545 vs. 300,000,000

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.545 PEOPLE–By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them..

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits….. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red….

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it’s because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power..

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees…

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it……… Is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren’t so darned true.

This might be funny if it weren’t so darned true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he’s fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won’t be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He’s good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he’s laid…
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom…’
When he’s gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax..
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago & our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What in the hell happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?’

Forced to Retire, Some Take Social Security Early

In an AP article “Paul Skidmore’s office is shuttered, his job gone, his 18-month job search fruitless and his unemployment benefits exhausted. So at 63, he plans to file this week for Social Security benefits, three years earlier than planned.” “Like Skidmore, 63-year-old Jan Gissel of Tustin, Calif., also was forced into retirement early. She turned to unemployment benefits when her technical support business failed and filed for Social Security last September. Together, the checks are keeping her afloat.”

I can relate to their situations. It was three months until my 65^th birthday when my employer sold out to a competitor. I received a very modest severance package and they extended my health insurance, employer paid, until my birthday. I applied for unemployment insurance. The official date for my social security would not occur until age 65 years and four months. You are allowed to apply for Social Security up to four months prior to your first benefit check. So I applied for that option. However I continued to search for a job. After all, living on Social Security alone would be a shock to most people.

Congressman John Boehner, appearing on Meet the Press, hinted about extending eligibility for Social Security to age 70. If you find yourself unemployed at age 60 or later you will not easily find employment except as a greeter at Wal-Mart.

MR. GREGORY: And so you favor raising the retirement age?

REP. BOEHNER: David, there are a lot of options about how you solve this, but I don’t want to get the cart before the horse. I think it’s important to have this conversation. It’s going to be a difficult conversation, but it’s time to have it and it’s time to come up with some solutions that are done in a bipartisan way to help address these problems.

Todd Purdum in Vanity Fair

Quoted on today’s Meet the Press

“The modern presidency–Barack Obama’s presidency–has become a job of such gargantuan size, speed, and complexity as to be all but unrecognizable to most of the previous chief executives. The sheer growth of the federal government, the paralysis of Congress, the systemic corruption brought on by lobbying, the trivialization of the `news'” by the “media have made today’s Washington a depressing and dysfunctional place. They have shaped and at times hobbled the presidency itself.”

Happy Independence Day!

More Jobs is Job 1!

July 8, 2010

A Dow Jones news report issued today, July 8, started with the words “In a hopeful sign for the labor market, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by more than analysts expected.” That is a totally misleading statement. New claims dropped into the 400,000 to 500,000 range in the week of November 21, 2009. The number has never dropped below 433,000 claims in any week since then. So while the latest number is less than the previous week, what is hopeful about new claims of 454,000?

July 2, 2010

The unpleasant reality is that new job claims are continuing at a rate that will cause more people to vote for Republican representatives to the Congress and Senate. The following graph demonstrates the unending recession. Click the graph to see a better view. It’s not a pretty picture.

Both congressional Republicans and Democrats don’t seem to get it. The United States is in serious economic trouble. While the monthly unemployment report seems to be improving there really has not been an improvement in this economy.

Look at these quotes from Businessweek magazine.

The improvement in jobless claims in the U.S., however, has stalled above the 400,000 mark, including today’s surprisingly weak report.

Yet, claims since then are stuck in a range of 440,000 to 490,000 this year. Today, the government said claims rose to 472,000 in the week ended June 26.

“To get the unemployment rate going down you need 200,000 plus jb growth,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “If that doesn’t happen by the end of the year, then this will go down as another jobless recovery.”

This week’s employment report may move the U.S. further away from hitting Zandi’s job growth target.

If payrolls grow an average of 100,000 a month, Bloomberg calculations show, it would take six years for the U.S. to return to the peak in employment of 138 million people set in December 2007.

From Bloomberg.com Almost a year ago, economic strategist Dan Greenhaus of Miller Tabak & Co. in New York told his clients the U.S. economy would recover while job growth would be scarce.

His prediction for a so-called jobless recovery, derided by some clients when he made the forecast last July, may be coming true.

From the United States BLS: In June, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was unchanged at 6.8 million. These individuals made up 45.5 percent of unemployed persons.

The graph shown here really speaks louder than words. It is provided by the U.S. Department of Labor.

My question is what is congress doing? Unless I have missed something the answer is NOTHING!