America's Great Depression, Then Versus Now.& Solutions

     Most people acknowledge we are in a recession and many will even say a bad one.  They say history repeats itself.  I see it as being more and more like the Great Depression.  Even the way it is being reacted to.  There have been several cycles in American history.  I hope to show you how the one leading up to the Great Depression happened and I am sure you will be smart enough to figure out where we are headed.
     At the turn of the century the automobile and the airplane revolutionized travel and industry.  It was growing and changing world markets at the start of World War I.  By the end of the war much of American farming was switching to tractors instead of horses and plows.  Suddenly things were changing on the farm.  A tractor put many horses out of business.  The guy who was farming forty acres with a mule could not keep up.  Land prices fell sharply in the late teens and early twenties.  Also demand for saddles, buggies and horses dried up. Some of the saddle and buggy makers adapted and moved into the automotive industry.  However as the demand for horses dried up so did the demand for grain to feed them. Which put more grain on the markets pushing down prices. Suddenly with the increased production from tractors the commodity prices fell off.  The collapse hit the rural areas first.  Rural land prices fell sharply in the early twenties.
     This was all masked by the increase in automobile manufacturing and aviation growth.  As things moved into the twenties people were investing in stocks and all seemed rosy in the cities.  The stock market was growing based on blind optimism and not on the reality of what was happening in the rest of the country. Much like today.  When the market did finally collapse the Hoover administration passed it off as a fluke and did not want to get the government involved in private industry problems.  Much like today.  The fed did not feel the unemployment problem was a government issue.  However as the downturn continued attitudes changed, but it was too little, too late.  From Oct 1929 till May of 1932 unemployment rose to over 25 % and in some big cities and certain groups like minorities the rate hit over 50%.  With national tax revenues falling almost 40% governments both state and national were having difficulties.  Much like today.  Cities like Detroit that had been boom towns turned in to poverty stricken areas when auto sales dried up. Much like today.
     Remember at the same time all this was happening the revenue from liquor taxes was also drying up.  All the people who had worked in alcohol related industries were put out of work.  Sort of like the automotive industries today. Much like today. Bootlegging became an underground empire for people who wanted to party and those who needed jobs.  Much like drugs today which is where criminal money went when prohibition was repealed.  The attempt to legislate morality was a big part of what tipped the nation into depression.  It failed and supposedly in some cities more people were being arrested for public intoxication than had been the case before prohibition.  The program was a failure just like the drug war.  Eventually they got smart and repealed prohibition and taxed those who wanted to party.  Supposedly at the turn of the century alcohol taxes had made up 70% of the Feds income.  Remember that was before the income tax. Which was passed so supposedly the government could get by without alcohol taxes. Alcohol taxes started as a revenue making system during the Civil War and by 1864 supposedly 30% of government income was from alcohol taxes.  The difference now is that they are not taxing drugs.  They are spending billions and billions to fight a war they will never win.  The irony is when prohibition ended the alcohol tax was restored and the government kept collecting income taxes.  So the only winner was the government.
     With the incoming of the Roosevelt Administration an attitude change took place and the government got involved.  With people starving all over the country the government adopted a plan to raise prices by destroying excess crops and products.  They slaughtered cattle, dumped milk and burnt grain in an attempt to push up prices. All while Americans were starving all over the country. With all that failing they finally started some works projects like the Hoover Dam and the TVA  plan to provide electricity to rural areas.  Roads, bridges, damns, memorials and roads were built.  Youth were sent to plant trees and reforest areas in national parks.  These programs seemed to help as jobs and work started picking up some.  The government decided in early 1937 to scale back government spending and triggered another dip in employment.   The situation never really recovered till World War II started and America started building things for the countries already at war.
     So how is this like now. Everyone knows about the housing crisis.  The problem is it keeps dragging on.  It was a series of things starting back in the late nineties that led to the 08 Crash.  There were the fuel shortages not to mention the Internet Bubble.  Just as computers were becoming popular they put companies out of business like typewriter and carbon copy manufacturers to name a few.  Yes many jobs went overseas, but a big part of the collapse was caused by innovations in manufacturing.  Computerized inventory and shipping not to mention robotic machines replacing workers on assembly lines.  Many of the jobs that left will never come back.  They do not exist anymore. They were eliminated by the increased productivity of robotics and computers.  As many of the long term unemployed slide off of the unemployment rolls their houses will go into the abyss of the housing market.  The government is doing everything but creating jobs.  They do not want social welfare programs.
     Creating a program to rebuild infrastructure and put people to work is not a social welfare program.  It is creating a program that should have been in place for the last two hundred years.  When the Founding Fathers created the government one of the first things they did was establish infrastructure programs building the Capitol and the White House.  They did not hesitate to spend on America.  When the British burnt the Capitol and the White House in the War of 1812 they rebuilt them.  They spent more money to keep up the infrastructure they had created.  Investing in America is not social welfare, it creates jobs that pay taxes to keep the government growing.  Which is not what the food stamp and unemployment programs do.  They just dig the hole deeper and deeper.
     If we are not in a full blown depression I can guarantee one thing.  If Congress does not get off its ass and do something.  America will not survive four more years of anybody.  It will not matter if it is Obama,  Gingrich or Romney.  None of them are proposing programs to get America working.  My blog of 4/16/11 offers Seven Radical Solutions to Americas problems.  They would all help get America moving in the right direction.  They also can all be done with existing technology. If something is not done soon there will be no saving the situation.  Yes taxes need to be raised and spending needs to be cut, but if America does not start working nothing will help.  The debt ceiling is a moot point if Americans are working.  It can be turned around.  If it continues the way it is, no amount of cuts will save the situation.
    Here is one simple solution which would help and could be done by private enterprise not government Power plants do not maximize their energy usage.   If they built greenhouses in proximity of their facilities it would create jobs. The heat that goes up their stacks could heat steam to heat green houses. They would not have to use more energy, they would use what they do  use better.  Tomatoes would not have to be hauled from California to New York.  Give the Energy Plants a major break on taxes for investing in America.  Private enterprise can run it.  It moves America toward energy independence.  It puts people to work and all the government does is the paperwork to improve and promote it.  There are tons of solutions and somebody better convince Congress to start pushing some of them.  Obama needs to invite all the energy and power company operators to Washington and lay out the plan for them.  Ask them what help they need to get it moving and start it moving.  It could create hundreds of thousands of jobs almost overnight, but it takes someone or a bunch of someones sending this to Washington and the White House  Saying get off your ass and do something besides lining your pockets at taxpayers expense.
     Increased productivity means increased wealth for the rich.  It is time for them to get off their asses and do something for America besides their trickle down economics.  Which is nothing more the the rich, peeing on the poor in America.  If the poor did not work for them and purchase their goods.  They would not have their wealth.  There are not enough rich people for them to keep each other rich.
     If you agree with me get off your ass and kick this to your Congress, Your President, Your local Power
Company.  Stand up and be part of the solution.  In the Army we always said, "You are either part of the Solution, or part of the Problem." Which are you?  Bitching and doing nothing makes you part of the problem.  Get off your ass and make a difference.  Will this make a difference.  Don't know but I am putting it out there.  I can send it to my politicians but if hundreds or thousands send it, Maybe they will get the message.  It worked with Bank of America.  There is power in making your voice heard especially in unison.
 

Government Conspiracy To Kill Off Citizens and Cut Social Security Costs

     With the current Corona Virus epidemic, I thought it might be time to dust this old post off and update it. There have already been theories put forth that the whole thing is a man made biological warfare test. Consideing China's deaths have stopped growing it might make one wonder. China would benefit a lot, as a nation that kills off newborn baby girls and only allows one child per family, they certainly have the mindset to do such a thing.

     When you consider most of the technology available today is geared toward making people more sedentary you might wonder if it is all a conspiracy to kill us off.  It is a fact if people live a healthy life they can live much longer in this day and age.  So maybe the government knows the average citizen does only as much as they absolutely have to.  They also know if people sit around and get no exercise,  eat according to the government health guidelines they will increase their cholesterol, weight and coronary risks and probably check out much earlier in life.  So maybe there is an ulterior motive to their inventing all this technology.
 
    I mean the government is not above doing tests on its citizens.  In the 50's and 60's they did LSD tests on soldiers and did not even tell them they were doing it.  They put a mild virus spray in tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to see how the virus would be spread around the country.  They also sprayed stuff off the coast of San Francisco and let the wind carry it to shore to see how it would effect the population.

    The government did intentional exposure of citizens and soldiers to nuclear tests to measure the effects of radiation.  Most people have heard of the Tuskiegee Experiments where they did syphilis tests and did not treat the victims.  Who authorized all this crap is the good question and what kind of minds in the government would allow it to happen.  All of the stuff mentioned above is documented and can be proven. 

     When they developed the atom bomb in World War II several of the scientist felt it would start a chain reaction and turn the earth into a miniature sun.  The really scary part is that knowing that, that might be a potential outcome they dropped the bomb anyhow.  You have to wonder if anyone is really in charge of the government.  Or is it one big nut farm that just keeps morphing into the next big piece of stupid.

     So a simple thing like developing programs to intentionally make Americans lazy and shorten their life expectancy might be intentional. If the government can keep the money and not pay out  Social Security payments it would be a way to cut the national budget. I left out the possibility of brain tumors from cell phones.  Microwaves and plastics are under suspicion of causing cancers also.  If you think it is not possible to get money from the government to do crazy stuff.  Read the book, Charlie Wilson's War, about how he single handed got the American government to fund the secret war in Afghanistan against the Russians.  It is a much better read than it was a movie.  They left out a lot and if you really want to know how the CIA and the government work you should read it.  It will scare the average person to question anything the government does.  Then you will see that the whole thing is not as far fetched as it sounds.

       Yes I loved Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts.  Enemy of the State and The Pelican Brief are also very good thrillers that might make you wonder how the government operates. There is always a little nugget of fact behind the fiction.  Hope you enjoyed this.  Been wanting to do something crazy like this for awhile.  Like I said it is all based on documented facts anyone can find if they look on line.    Did you know the United States government conspired with Britain to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953 because of worries about oil in the Middle East.  It it any wonder that Iran does not trust us or like us. Type "Iran" on the search bar and you will find several blog articles with more details if you are interested in such things. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.  It is not always that far out, though it may seem like it.

America What is Wrong and How to Turn It Around.

       Watched the State of the Union speech and learned a couple things.  Some I already knew, but got a new perspective on them. The first thing I learned was how proud Americans are of those who serve our country, but found it is unanimous as both side rose to their feet.  Only a few things managed to get both sides to their feet and some real hand clapping.  Every one should get a fair shot and play by the same rules was pretty popular.  America  still believes we can succeed and all we need is a level playing field.  That is one thing I have personally always felt was true.  Most Americans support the idea of ending subsidies for the oil companies and spending the money to make America energy independent.  Fixing the tax code and passing the tax break for lower income Americans got a real good response also.  The one that really got a strong response was the comment for government to do only what the people can not do for themselves.  We can achieve anything if we work together as Americans was a double sided hand banging success. Our freedom endures because of those who defend it. Having spent thirteen years in the military and ten years overseas I really appreciated that one and it feels good to know America is totally behind the servicemen and women of America.  The final one I noted both sides rising on was the statement that We rise and fall as One.
     The basic thing one can take away from all those comments is that Americans are proud to be American's. I have always known that.  All you have to do is ask one and he will tell you in no uncertain terms that America is the greatest. The problem is there is a very fine line between proud and pride.  God hates prideful people. With all that positive attitude why can't America get things turned around then.  It is turning but very slowly.  We need some form of stimulus to get it moving faster.  There is nothing wrong with the work ethic in America.  American's still can and do work hard when given the opportunity.  The problem is the lack of opportunity.  It is not all foreign countries fault.  If you look at all the foreign car and manufacturing companies that have plants in America that becomes very clear.  One problem in America is we have invented ourselves out of our jobs.  This is something that happens on pretty regular cycles.  It some times takes a while to see it happen but looking at history will prove it.  The civil war stimulated industrial growth and it kept going so good that by 1873 America went into a major depression.   Then came the railroad expansion into the west and a series of economic turn downs running through 1897.  Then started the automotive and aviation expansions they carried us to the great depression with just a couple slowdowns along the way.  So the ups and downs are nothing more than normal cycles.  Eventually America adapts and moves forward.
     The problem this time comes in two areas.  First America is becoming a service economy.  Construction and factory jobs are being eliminated and may never come back because they are being eliminated altogether.  The question is how many service jobs can be created.  The second area is the collapsing infrastructure in America.  Infrastructure creates jobs that are temporary in nature, but the nature of repairing infrastructure is that it is ongoing.   It must continually be addressed.  Let me address them separately.
     The first deals with the so called Free Trade problem.  Which is another way of saying jobs being shipped overseas.  American industry has found they can get many things done cheaper overseas and make a bigger and better profit.  Does that make it right.  As an example I would like to use the Apple computer company.  Mainly because they have been in the news lately in two ways.  One is that their plant in China has been having a lot of employee suicides.  That is not Apples problem but China's for tolerating the exploitation of their citizens.  China has not set a high enough income standard to keep the employees happy.  The problem is they are more concerned about keeping the people busy than making profits.  At the same time Apple has become the richest company in the world.   How did they do that?  They did it buy exploiting conditions abroad that they could never use in America.  They could build the computers and phones in America, but it would cut into their profits.  The question is, is it right for the American government to turn a blind eye to actions by an American company abroad that they would not tolerate in America.  I argue they should place an import tax that would make them pay an equivalent price to what they would pay if they made them here.
     The argument is that they are not American workers.  Are foreign workers somehow subhuman when compared to American workers.  The argument that they do not need as much money to live in China is a flimsy justification.  Wal-Mart has many of its products made overseas for the same reason.  It increases their profit.  Is the bottom line all that matters to American business.  America claims to be a Christian nation but it is not practicing Christian concepts in business. Wealth gotten by vanity or being to proud will diminish a person, business or nation.  However that which is gotten by honest labor shall increase.one.  So is the reason America is suffering because of the unscrupulous practices of her business class. That is in Proverbs 13:11 and proverbs 16:18 says it even better, "Pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
I had to look haughty up but it sure fits the attitude of most American business companies. It means having or showing great pride in ones self and contempt for others.  That is the attitude of most wealthy Americans toward the poor.  The Constitution says it is the duty of the government to look out for the welfare of the nation.  If you read it closely enough you will find infrastructure comes under the title of welfare.  That is what was quoted when they built the Capitol and the White House.  They quickly rebuilt them when they were destroyed during the War of 1812 so upkeep evidently is a responsibility of the government.  So from my point of view the government is failing America because they have not created a means or way of taking care of America's infrastructure problems.  Some kind of program needs to be set up.  It would create jobs to take care of the problems.
       I can hear the screams now that we need to cut the deficits and reduce spending in America.  That is true, but if you do not stimulate the economy at the same time you will fail.  If the tax base is not there the system will not work.  Could infrastructure work be considered some kind of service work.  That is not the issue to me.  What is the issue is that the wealthy Americans need to reinvest their money in America.  If all they are going to do is sit on it and put it in off shore banks maybe their taxes need to be tripled if not more.  At one point taxes on the wealthy were almost 90%, maybe we need to return to that system and get the money flowing.
     The mega millions being spent on elections to buy favor with the government could create hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs.  The problem is not that there is not enough money in America.  Or that the money is not being spent.  It is how and on what it is being spent on that is the problem. There are many ways that American business could work to make America energy independent. One of my blogs has "Seven Radical Ideas" to get America back to work and energy independent.   America could be energy independent tomorrow if the right legislation is passed.  The technology already exists.  The problem and road block is government red tape and regulations that can be changed with the stroke of a pen.  However Congress needs to step up to the plate and accept and implement the changes to get it done.

Money, How You Get The Free Car

      My last blog was on how to get a free car.  Here are some more details on the best and cheapest way to get it. First of all the catch is that you have to wait five years.  However it is a worthwhile wait.  Also it will happen quicker if you are one of the people who "was" driving a 15 to 20 MPG vehicle.  It is not really free, but it technically is.  Because if you keep driving the gas sucking hogs you will keep spending tons of money you do not need to spend.  The trick is saving the money by not spending it.

      First thing to do is pick out your car and find it.  There are several ways to go about it.   First thing is if you want a loaded, all the bells and whistles car you are wasting a lot of money.  Unless you drive around 50,000 miles per year you can probably do without most of that stuff.  From my experience I do recommend air conditioning and a radio.  That is it.  I prefer manual window cranks and locks.  They do not usually quit working after a year or two like the power ones.  If you have ever been trapped in a powered car one time it will cure your love for electric.  Especially if it is sinking in water or on fire.  Just something to think about that most people do not worry about, but that can happen.
    

      Now how do I get my absolute best deal.  Try to buy a model you like but last years model.  Dealers discount new cars when the new models come out. Especially if it is a discontinued model.  If it gets into the model year that the car actually is the price does not go down anymore till the next one comes out.  I am going to explain how I did it when I wanted one.  Several members of my family had Dodge Colts.  The manual 5 speeds got right at 40 MPG and that impressed me and this was when gas was around a dollar a gallon. I live twenty miles from anything so it costs me to go anywhere.  Well in March 1995 I went to the Dodge dealer looking for a Colt.  They tried to sell me a Neon.  

    I did not want a Neon and made it clear if they could not find me a Colt they were not going to sell me a car. I had my own money and financing and if they could not meet my needs they were not going to sell me a car.  Dealers hate to see money walk out the door.  Well 1994 was the last year for the Colt and the dealer had a hard time finding one.  Finally he found one two hundred miles away in St. Louis.  In the fall of 1993 that car was just over $12,000 dollars.  Then in 1994 it went down to $11,000 dollars.  When the 1995's came out in September 1994 it went down to about $10,300.  When I went to buy it in March of 1995 the price had fallen to just $8900. 

     Patience and waiting and demanding to get what I wanted saved me $3100 dollars up front.  Well they drove the car from St. Louis with my permission and it had about 250 miles on the odometer but I could live with that.  They had a couple of dealer used cars that had been used for customers who had there car in the shop and they had less than 4000 miles but I took the no bells and whistles car.  The dealer cars were automatics and I did not want an automatic. 

      It had no radio, no air and manual windows.   That was okay for me.  I was interested in the MPG and that was my only reason for buying the car.   Did have to settle for a manual 4 speed.  I wanted the manual 5 speed.  Kept the car for ten years and it was right at the 200,000 mile mark when we gave it to my niece who needed a car so she could get a job.  She drove it for three or four years and then she sold it.  I still see it occasionally when I go to my home town.  The only thing I spent on that car beside gas and oil which I changed regularly is a couple sets of tires and some windshield wipers.
  

   So I had my "new" car to drive.  I was blessed enough and shared the blessing.  Over the years I have given away over ten cars.  Mostly to family, but it was always to someone who really needed a car and a break.  Not bragging, but that has come back to many times over.  Hopefully this will help some other people understand how to get the best possible deal on a car.  So in conclusion here are the tips.  1. buy last years model.  2. If you can live with it take one with a few miles on it, if it is a dealers car. 3. Make sure it gets at least 30 MPG and try to find a 40MPG model.  4. As gas prices go up your savings will be magnified. 5. Try and not pay for a lot of bells and whistles you do not need.  Hopefully this will help someone who has learned how to be debt free to live a lifestyle that will help keep them that way.
 

     Spending top dollar for the newest model when it first comes out with the big muscle car motor is one way to keep yourself in the debt cycle.  You have to decide if you like your financial freedom more than your ego.  Enjoy the ride.  If you put your gas savings in the bank and save them.   The next time you walk into a dealer you will have done your homework and you will pay for that car with money you saved by breaking your addiction to the gas sucking hogs America is famous for.

Money, Dump The Gas Hog and Get A New Car Free.

                                            Stop Slopping the Hogs

       This is an update to a 2011 post but it is just as relevant if not more so than when I originally wrote it. I started this blog in Mar 2012 and now have 260 posts on my blog and many deal with finances and how to handle them. Dig thru the sidebar and you will find them, or something else interesting.  My blog is on Faith, Finances and Trucking things that I learned the hard way in many cases and can save you from making the same mistakes. Pray you Enjoy reading them.

      Many people are still driving the 15 or less mile per gallon gas hogs.  That is real sad.  I understand some of us still need the gas suckers.  I do flea markets, farmers markets, yard sales and auctions as part of my way to generate funds to survive on disability pay.  I hardly ever buy anything new. Especially furniture and cars. Many people who are poor can not afford to pay the price for an economical car especially if they have to finance it and have full coverage insurance on it.  I know it is hard but they really can not afford to keep driving the gas hogs either.  I am currently looking for something that gets at least 30+ MPG for myself.  It has to be in my budget, meaning I can pay acash for it.  The thing is that it will pay for itself in a short while.  I did the math and if you drive 10,000 miles per year and by a 40 MPG car it would cost you $875 per year.  That is at gas prices of $3.50 a gallon.  If the price of gas goes to $5.00 the cost jumps to $1250.  That is compared to a cost of $2333 and $3330 respectively for the 15 MPG car.   A savings of between $1456 dollars and $2080  a year.  Does that sound a little crazy well keep reading and I will show you how I figured it out.

     If you have a 15 MPG car and drive just 10,000 miles per year, which is only 192 miles per week.  You will spend $2333 per year at $3.50 per gallon.  If the price hits $5.00 the cost to drive goes up to $3330 per year. If you run that out for five years which is what it usually takes to pay off a new car the total is $16,650 and that is with no payment, not figuring in insurance or maintenance like oil changes and a total of 50,000 miles over five years.  Over the same period and the same 50,000 miles a car getting 40 MPG would only spend $6250 on gas.   That would be a savings of 10,400 dollars.  Most people would consider that a good sized savings.

    Just to put it in perspective.  If you are one of the people who drives for a living. Maybe a paper carrier or some other job where you drive a lot, the amounts become staggering.  If you drive a 15 MPG car for 5 years and put 50,000 per year or a total of 250,000 miles on it, it will really pay to move to a cost saving car.  If you don't it is going to cost you $58331 over five years at $3.50 per gallon and if it goes up to the $5.00 mark the cost will climb to $83,325.00.  Those prices are just for the gas with no payment.

   So how much can you really save?  I was looking at the Ford Fiesta and the price was $240 a month. Full coverage insurance was $100 a month.  So an annual cost of $4080 or a five year cost of  $20400.  If gas stays at the $3.50 mark the fuel cost would be $21875 over five years.  That would be a total cost of $42,275 and if it went to $5.00 it would be at a cost of $51650.

    At the end of five years you will have paid $42,275 or a savings of $16056.   That savings will buy another $14400 Ford Fiesta and you will have change to boot.  If fuel goes to $5.00 you will have a savings of over $31675 dollars.  Remember these prices included the car payment and the car insurance as well as the gas.  The cost for the 15 MPG car did not include insurance or replacement costs of a new cars.

    Even a 30 MPG car driven 25,000 mile per year, over a five year period would save the owner $14, 583 which would cover the cost of the car but not insurance and gas.  Each person will need to figure out what works for them.  read some of my other blogs to get an idea of the cost.

   So you can save way more than the price of a car if you switch to the better gas mileage car.  In essence you will get a free car.  Or more money in your retirement account.  The decision is up to you.  Can you really afford to keep driving a gas hog? If you would like to figure the cost of driving your car and know the miles per gallon of the car you are interested in my blog on The Cost of Driving from 10/28/11 has a chart that will give you a cost per mile to drive your car.

The Republi-can'ts versus The Dum-ol-crats= Economic Collapse Ahead

    The 2012 Election will take a major shake up if it is going to help anything.  The Republi-can'ts can not seem to produce a candidate with a chance of winning.   The Dum-ol-crats must be almost gleeful.  If something does not change the Pubs have no hope of winning.  The leading candidate can not get more than 50% of his parties vote because he has to many personal issues.  The main one being, no one likes him.  The second place alternative has so many skeletons in his closet he needs to start a construction program to make a closet big enough to hold them all.  Neither one will pull enough of religious rightwing base to win.  The third and fourth candidates are having a hard time getting recognition.  Regardless of which one becomes the nominee for the Rep Party they have very little chance of beating Obama.  That creates a very scary scenario of continuing on with the status quo as it now is.

     While I am willing to admit that Obama did not create the problems he finds himself in the middle of.  He also has done little to nothing to change or fix the problem.  The Solyndra Scandal will not help him and the one program he seems to be pushing, "high speed rail," does to little, at too high of a cost.  It does not create long term jobs nor does it produce benefit, except for the limited few who will be able to use it.  It is not cost effective or long term solutions.  My blog of 4/16/11 offers Seven Radical Solutions that not only create jobs, they help America achieve energy independence while using existing technology to do it.  The biggest thing the solutions need is promotion and changing regulations to enable private industry to put them into effect.  They are not pie in the the sky, they are doable  solutions that will produce long term benefit for America.  The real problem is that the leadership in America is to busy looking out for their own interests.  They do not care about the average citizen.   That only means we are going to keep going the way we are going and that means we are headed for an inevitable economic collapse.  The present way of doing business is not a sustainable way of doing business.  I was self employed most of my life,  I have been through bankruptcy and I have experienced hard times.  Unless America is willing to change their ways and their direction hard times are ahead.  At this point it is not to late, but time to change our ways is certainly running out.
 

    However American leadership is to busy trying to play an asinine game of brinkmanship with Iran that helps nothing or nobody. Getting Osama bin laden was a well thought out and planned operation that was lucky enough to succeed.  What is going on in the Gulf with Iran is not a thought out operation but a game with extreme consequences if it fails. Pushing Iran to react and give America a justification to attack and destroy their nuclear capabilities is stupidity at its extreme.  Risking 5000+ American lives to prove a point, not to mention the loss of a very expensive piece of equipment will prove nothing.  If Iran were to fire a missile and give us the self justified opportunity to attack them.  Is it worth the risk that Iran "might" get lucky.  The Persian Gulf limits the carriers ability to take evasive action that is afforded in the open ocean.  Focusing America's efforts on attaining energy independence would accomplish much more.  Then we could share that knowledge with the world and let Iran and the Middle East eat sand.  They would no longer have any power or be needed.  The seven ideas I proposed in my earlier blog all move toward that goal, which is far better than risking American lives.

    If we survive till the election without an economic collapse or an unneeded military action it will be a miracle.  An economic collapse is the only hope of winning the White House that the Reps have.  Hopefully it will not be a cause used to justify an attack on Iran.  America has a habit of getting sucked into wars, Remember the Alamo, or how about Remember the Maine,  or the Luisitania, Pearl Harbor ring a bell.  Could make you wonder about 9/11.  No wonder there are so many conspiracy nuts in America.  It is time to wake up and pay attention people and let your voices be heard in Washington.
  

  Maybe the only path back to sanity is a solid and Constitutionally based third party.

Assassination versus Annihilation or Political Incompetence At Its Extreme

     Is it better to kill one bad person by assassination or to kill thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions to accomplish the same goal by the virtual annihilation of a country.  America supposedly has high moral standards and does not allow the assassination of an evil or bad leader in another country.  Yet it has no problem with finding or creating a just reason to invade a country.  Over the years America has supported many leaders who in the long run turned out to be quite evil.  Then because of a turn of circumstances has chosen to invade a country to correct a problem they created by meddling in other countries affairs in the first place.  Just to name a few the Shah of Iran, Saddam Hussein and even Osama bin laden.  America's meddling created the situations that allowed these leaders to rise to power.
     If the people in the countries involved had been asked what should be done or how.   Would they prefer we assassinate their leader, overthrow their country or just leave things alone.  It is pretty reasonable to believe they would have said leave things alone.  Especially since they were probably going to be the ones who suffered the misery and pain of decisions that involved aggression.  It is the little guy on the street that is called on to pay the price of any choice.  Even if the leader is assassinated they are the ones that have to live through the turmoil and upheaval caused by any form of aggression.
     The war in Vietnam is a perfect example of the cost of incompetent decision making.  Especially leadership that is moved by slogans and fear.  "Better dead than Red"  "If one country falls it will start a domino effect and many will fall."  If the end result is all that counts or matters.  America blew it in Vietnam.  First let me say I am a Vietnam Vet 1967-68 and I would do it again, because at the time I felt I was doing the right thing and still do.  However time has shown me that if America had done nothing to meddle in Vietnam's affairs the outcome would still have been the same with one exception.  Millions of Vietnamese, almost sixty thousand American lives  and hundreds of thousands of others who were maimed would not have died or been mutilated for the rest of their lives.   Was the price worth the outcome.  Everyone has to make their own judgment on that issue.  What I find hard to take is that America still has not learned to weight the cost and consider the consequences before we get involved in foreign entanglements.  The liberation of Kuwait was necessary and justifiable.  The only thing we did wrong there was not finishing what we thought was a worthwhile undertaking.  Years later that decision came back to haunt America.  The decision to aid Afghanistan in throwing out the Russians was a worthwhile cause, but again we left a vacuum and did not follow up.  Failure to follow up created the situation that grew into Osama bin laden.   Years later we again paid for failure to weight the consequences of our actions.  Was the invasion of Afghanistan necessary and justifiable, Yes.  The problem and the failure was too not plan a course of action that would not entangle us in a ten year nightmare that it has become.  Had America spent as much time and planning on getting even as the terrorists did in planning the 9/11 attack it would have been over long ago.  We did not do that though.  We did it the same way we did in Vietnam.  We used the standard American tactic of  "Swatting flies with Sledgehammers" which is the way America solves problems.  We use money and power and very little common sense in dealing with our problems.  Which is part of the reason America is in the financial crisis it finds itself in today.
     There is no discourse or attempt to solve the problems facing America in a practical and sound way.  The leadership just keeps changing hands and stumbling forward.  America needs a third party that it guided by common sense, sound and thought out policies and long term direction when it comes to dealing with foreign affairs.  How many Americans know that America helped Britain overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran and place the Shah in power because it was thought he would be more friendly to western goals in the Middle East.  Considering it is not stressed or taught in most history classes and the fact that almost 75% of Americans were not even born sixty years ago when it happened.  The answer to the question is very few.  If you would like a short history of how all the events played out together I suggest reading my blog of 3/9/11.  Hope this inspires some to at least voice their opinions against America invading Iran which the stage is being manipulated and set up for.  America has a habit of making themselves or using their victim status to attack other countries.  The Spanish American War, World War I and World War II,  also the invasion of Afghanistan.  In all the cases a reply was necessary and justified.  It is the how that might have been changed of the actions that provoked the attacks in the first place.  History is an interesting subject, but sometimes ignorance is bliss.  Especially if you are a politician.