America’s Standing is at Stake

I wrote I would not spend time listening to all the talk about government shut down and debt ceiling but the talk and news reports are everywhere.

I am really becoming frightened by the threatened default of the U.S. government. You see reneging on its debt obligations would make the U.S. the first major Western government to default since Nazi Germany 80 years ago.

Germany unilaterally ceased payments on long-term borrowings on May 6, 1933, three months after Adolf Hitler was installed as Chancellor. The default helped cement Hitler’s power base following years of political instability as the WeimarRepublic struggled with its crushing debts. We all know where that led.

Today we are faced with have similar situation. A small group of congressmen (the Tea Party) have taken control of the Republican Party and consequently are holding the government hostage. They want to stop government borrowing and paying out only from the revenue received. The Tea Party members do not believe that there will be any consequences to a default. If only I could get away without not paying back my loans and meeting my commitments.

Will we see chaos in America that leads to a dictator in the name of stability? Dictators frequently need a scapegoat. Will it be the Jews? Perhaps they will blame Hispanics and specifically Mexicans as the result of the influx of illegal aliens.

I predict that a default on America’s commitments will reduce this country’s credibility. The world is on a de facto dollar standard, similar in some respects to the British pound sterling standard of the 19th and early 20th century. The U.S. dollar will not be the world’s reserve currency if there is a default.

Attempted Suicide

The G.O.P., America’s conservative pro-business political party, has decided it wants to stop the president’s health care program at any cost. Thus throwing 800,000 government employees of out of work is not too high a price to pay, in their view, if their goal is reached.

Here is a list of some of the departments and programs that will be affected.

Internal Revenue Service call centers will close
90 percent of Environmental Protection Agency
National parks and museums will be shuttered
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Export-Import Bank of the United States
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Trade Commission
National Science Foundation
National Labor Relations Board
US Postal Service Inspector General
USDA – Rural Development
Civilian military workers (Department of Defense) – 400,000 people or ½ of staff
Department of Interior – 58,000 people
Department of Justice – 17,000 people
Department of Labor – 13,000 people
Department of Commerce – 40,000 people

CNN provided their detailed list.

The U.S. debt ceiling will be reached on October 17. If the Republicans tie that limit to funding of the government I predict an impact on stock markets around the world.

While the United States will survive this self-inflicted wound, the country will be significantly diminished in the eyes of the world.

Military-Industrial Complex Equals Jobs

The 223rd and final C-17 cargo plane was delivered to the Air Force last week. The plane was manufactured at Boeing (the old Douglas Aircraft facility) in Long Beach, California. That’s the last airplane manufacturing facility in Southern California. The plant will be closed by 2015 and will result in the loss of 3,000 jobs.

Here is the problem. While Boeing cited sequestration, the Pentagon has made it clear for several years that it didn’t require more C-17s. However, lawmakers pushed through more orders to preserve jobs.

As reported in Businessweek, October 29, 2009, “Every year since 2006, the Pentagon has said that it has enough C-17s. And every year, Congress overrules the military and authorizes funds for additional planes. In October the Senate approved $2.5 billion in the 2010 budget for 10 more C-17s, which would bring the fleet to 215.”

The United States has created high paying jobs by ordering complex technology and other aerospace/biotech products from American companies. To a great extent the military-industrial complex has been the driver of jobs.

We give $1.3 billion of aid to Egypt in the form of military hardware. We even gave Russia $126 million in aid in 2010.

Top Recipients of U.S. Military Aid, FY2010

Country	$ U.S. millions
Afghanistan	6,800.3
Israel	2,799.5
Egypt	1,301.9
Iraq	1,006.0
Pakistan	913.9
Jordan	303.8
Somalia	204.0
Colombia	185.8
Russia	126.8
Sudan	104.9
Mexico	96.0
Poland	55.6

Is this the only way we can provide our citizens with good jobs?

Syria – Feel Good War Efforts Are a Waste of Life and Wealth

It is not just President Obama that is facing a dilemma about what actions to take in Syria. Almost every leading congressman and senator has mixed feelings over what actions to take.

The reason is that a win by the Assad regime or the rebels result in equally troubling consequences.

As a benevolent dictator Assad has kept a lid on sectarian hatred that has enabled Syrian minorities to live in relative peace. Assad has not been continuously at war with Israel but at the same time has provided the sanctuary to the leader of Hamas. He has permitted the transfer of weapons across his country from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In an Arab war or war with the United States, he would be allied with Iran.

The rebels are dominated by Muslim extremists (Muslim Brotherhood supported by Iran and al-Qaeda that are supported by contributions from around the world). They appear to be in agreement that Israel must be obliterated and continuing attacks on Western Europe and America by any means.

Today’s Los Angeles Times has a front page article, More harm than good in strikes?, about the success of air attacks on nations that have defied American will or wishes. The resulting consequences of those attacks have been mediocre at best. The article’s words are “The type of campaign expected in Syria has a poor track record.” Sited are the two major bomb and cruise missile episodes against Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi government and the 1986 bombing of Muammar Gaddafi’s Lybia. While all the attack weapons hit their targets, those events had achieved little. Even the invasion and removal of Saddam Hussein from Iraq is in dispute (there are almost daily reports of bombings in that country).

Barack Obama’s mistake was drawing a “red line.” Americans are tired of war. We do not have the man power or the persuasive skills to change the behavior of any society. Just yesterday I read of Buddhists setting fire to the homes of Muslims in Myanmar (Burma). Should America march into that country? Of course our military-industrial complex will say, Yes.

As sad as the gassing of innocent people is to most of us, there is little we can do to stop the carnage unless we send troops into Syria. Then a few years later we will withdraw and the carnage will resume.

News Media – All About the Revenue

Just this past December everyone was talking about the killing at Newtown, Connecticut. Then there were the Marathon Bombers. And just two days ago there were hundreds of parades and demonstrations over the George Zimmerman verdict.

I was certain that “Justice for Trayvon Martin” would not be easily forgotten. But the birth of a new prince in England has pushed everything off the front page. Even “Hardball with Chris Matthews” devoted his entire program to the birth.

So my question is, How important are the daily stories presented in the news? The media wants us to believe that the current story really is the consequential event. They keep feeding us with a non-stop flow of tragedy and drama that suits their need to obtain advertising revenue. And what does the public do? We watch and listen to every bit of information no matter how trivial.

The newspapers are not much better than television and radio. Washington Post’s front page article “For some, a drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a harrowing experience” may be interesting to some people but is this a front page story? The Los Angeles Times Column One story “The NRA newest Sensation” tells of a Black man who is also a member of the organization. Both stories might be interesting to some people but is this front page news? To me it is trivial events that have little bearing on anyone other than their immediate families and maybe not even them.

Is it any wonder that so many of us have turned off the news broadcasts and canceled our newspapers?

City Mismanagement

In 1950, Chicago’s population peaked at about 3.6 million people. Since then, the city has lost nearly 1 million residents. Corruption, government bureaucracy, high taxes and a lack of a significant wealth-generating industry have all been cited as factors.

The city’s fastest growing industry is Business Products & Services according to a study conducted by city government. Seaton Companies, a headhunter firm is their largest fast growing company. While head hunting companies do create jobs, the numbers would be small compared to the more likely industries like finance and manufacturing.

On Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills – Panasonic DMC FZ28, f/5.6, 1/500 sec., ISO 100, hand held

Los Angeles seems to be taking a page from the Chicago playbook. Added taxes, added fines, and potential lost jobs are the consequence of surrendering to environmentalists. The latest decision by the Los Angeles city council is to ban plastic shopping bags at all stores and require stores to charge 10¢ for every paper shopping bag.

The Los Angeles County unemployment rate is 9.3%. To drive that number even higher the city council should consider new taxes at restaurants, hotels, and amusement parks. The reason would be we need more money to clean the streets or hire more police.

Of course this makes no sense. But who said City Hall is sensible?

There is the issue. The city councils of Chicago, Los Angeles, and many other cities are responding to pressure groups rather than doing the right thing. Of course they say they are doing the right thing. With high unemployment in Los Angeles and a falling population in Chicago, are they doing the right things?

The Joy of Sarah Palin

Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is rejoining Fox News. It’s a time to rejoice for liberal commentators.

The crew over at MSNBC has been in a funk. After all their major targets for ridicule have been Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin. The mockery has been well deserved.

Bachmann is famous for her accusations. She suggested that the HPV vaccine known as Gardasil had caused mental retardation in the child of one of her supporters. After a swift public outcry, Bachmann cautioned that she was not a doctor but still stood by her story. The there was the time that Bachmann told Chris Matthews on “Hardball” that the media should probe Congress for “anti-America” views.

Then there were the Katie Couric (when Couric was the CBS Evening News anchor) interviews with Sarah Palin. They were not meant to be disrespectful and the questions were what most would consider “softball.”

Couric asked Palin her opinion on the emergency economic bailout the Bush administration was proposing:

COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families, who are struggling with healthcare, housing, gas and groceries, allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That’s why I say, I, like every American I’m speaking with, we’re ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the tax payers looking to bail out, but ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping tho— it’s got to be all about job creation too, shoring up our economy, and putting it back on the right track, so healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as— competitive— scary thing, but one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

In another segment aired on September 30, 2008, Couric asked Palin about her taste in periodicals:

COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media, coming f—

COURIC: But like which ones specifically? I’m curious that you—

PALIN: Um, all of ’em, any of ’em that, um, have, have been in front of me over all these years. Um, I have a va—

COURIC: Can you name a few?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where, it’s kind of suggested and it seems like, ‘Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C. may be thinking and doing when you live up there in Alaska?’ Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.

And who could forget Palin’s comment that the difference between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull? Lipstick. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

Chris Matthews can hardly wait for Palin’s return to Fox News.