Sh*t or Get Off the Pot

It's time for the United States to figure out which way we want to go. This is not an easy decision, but the central debate of our government and our society is really very simple.

Do we want government to provide services for our society or do we want the private sector to take care of these things?

It comes down to this, we can't keep trying to have both. We want our taxes to be low, hell we don't want any taxes at all. We want to keep all of our money. At the same time, we want good roads, good schools, a strong military, safe foods to eat, a cleaner environment, etc...Things that you need taxes to pay for.

There has been a return to an old trend in government. It is called deficit spending. You pay for what you want, and you just take on debt, instead of using tax funds for it. This makes the people happy. You can cut taxes and at the same time provide all the services that the people demand we get from our government. Here's the real trick of it, you then pass down that debt to the next generation. Let them worry about the mess. Reagan was a master at this. Thanks to the mess that he left our nation's finances, George H.W. Bush-a generally decent President, lost re-election to Bill Clinton.

When the 1st Bush took office, he had made the famous pledge of "read my lips, no new taxes." The problem was that our government owed the rest of the world a ton of money. They didn't want to loan us anymore until we started paying down our massive debt. So he had no choice but to reneg on his campaign promise. This effectively killed his presidency.

Well we are in another one of those times (Clinton lucked out with the economy getting moving in the right direction, and having increased revenue from the Bush tax increases that they were actually able to pay down some of the debt). Junior has left us with a mess. Instead of acting like the fiscal conversative that he portrayed himself to be, he spent like a drunken sailor and did nothing but give out tax breaks to the richest Americans (did you know that if you make over $500 million a year, you pay a smaller portion of your income to taxes than people who make $50k-$100k? Pretty disgusting eh?). So now Obama comes in with our huge stimulus package. A major part of that bill is $288 billion in tax cuts. It is supposed to go to the lower income people like myself, who have been paying the lion's share of the taxes for the past 8 years.

Where are we going to get the funds to pay off all of the debt that our nation has incurred over the Junior Bush years, and the debt we will incur with Obama's stimulus package? We have to cut spending and raise taxes. Two things NOBODY likes to do (even a grumpy jerk like me). The government only gets revenue from taxes. So if they don't raise taxes, they won't have the money to pay for the things that we consider vital (like $1,000 hammers, and $50,000 toilet seats in the defense budget).

So why don't we borrow some more? The only country that is really in a borrowing mood right now is China, which manipulates its monetary system so that basically, all loans are like the $5000 line of credit offers that we get in the mail. And China is not exactly our ally. They are not our enemy, yet, but they definitely aren't a friend either. Do we really want to owe a militarily aggressive, totalitarian country trillions of dollars? Not sure that is in our nation's best interest, or protects our country very well....

I myself am willing to pay more taxes to make sure that the services that most consider important to government continue. But I also believe that if we don't have the revenue for it, then we shouldn't sponsor a program. I think the defense budget can be reallocated to be smarter with our money such as sponsoring programs to build robots and drones that can defend our country without the risk of losing our most important assets, our young people versus sponsoring replacing the Air Force fleet with Raptor F-22s that cost $50 million apiece and yet aren't trusted to be used in high-leverage situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh, and I don't want to hear about how the IRS accepts donations. An extra $2000 from me isn't going to make a damn bit of difference. But an extra $2000 from 1000 people like me adds $2million to the pot, enough to get started on a school reconstruction project or a bridge repair, or many of a million important things.

If we don't want to pay taxes anymore, then its time for private enterprise to take over the roads, schools, military, everything. But we saw how well private enterprise did with rebuilding Iraq, and how well it did with running the United States Postal Service (reducing service, laying off thousands, AND asking for a government bailout). Not to mention people from CT remember how well that private company that took over the schools in Hartford did....ugh! I'm all for private business, but government and business have been tied together for so long in this country, that I just can't see it succeeding without a lot of growing pains (also known as corruption). If someone can really draw out a scenario where we pay minimal taxes and still private enterprise takes care of all of our needs, I'd really love to see it.

So I say that it might be time to raise the taxes. I don't like it, but I will be even more unhappy when China looks to collect our debts during my lifetime. I'm not ready to see the US become the puppet of another country (which would happen if China demanded we pay our debts ASAP). The people of my parents' generation made this mess, but I'm ready to start helping fix it. So instead of a tax cut, how about an old fashioned tax hike? That would not be business as usual in Washington, it would show real promise of change and real courage out of the Obama Administration.

Sportswriters are a joke!

Most people will be very bored by this post. Another sports post. But I have a beef, and I need an outlet, so here goes.

The sportswriters covering the Alex Rodriguez steroids scandal make me sick. These men (and a few women) have taken the holier than though approach with him. He has admitted more to them and the public than ANY active athlete in ANY sport. These are the same sportswriters who turned a deaf ear and ignored all of the warning signs for almost 10 years while the sport of baseball was overwhelmed with performance enhancing drugs. So now they have decided to hammer away at the only man willing to come up front and admit his folly. Everything he says, they judge and analyze without recognizing that this is more than anyone has given them.

It is very clear Alex Rodriguez has not admitted everything, and has stretched some things. But how many of us know exactly what we did, exactly what we ate, and exactly where we were 6 years ago? Well the sportswriters of America want Rodriguez to know all of these things. They aren't happy with his reasons for taking the PEDs. Well you know what, we all have our own reasons for doing things. Barry Bonds (it appears) took steroids out of jealousy. Rodney Harrison took HGH to "heal faster". If A-Rod took them because he felt inadequate, why should we not believe him? He has demonstrated over and over again that he is very insecure in himself as a person and in his talent on the baseball field. Why wouldn't someone who is insecure and just been given the richest contract in sports feel tempted to try performance enhancers?! Rodriguez seems like the prime candidate in that regard!

And why is no one questioning that the person who received the leaked test results, Selena Roberts, is also the person about to write a book that slams Rodriguez?! Doesn't this seem a little suspicious?! If that person leaking the info was truly leaking a big story, wouldn't they have dropped a few more names? Or did Ms. Roberts decide A-Rod was the only story that was worth covering and kept the privacy of the other players? Sportswriters across the country jumped to her defense when A-Rod said that she had been "stalking" him for the past several years. They said that she was a well respected writer and had never done anything controversial in her life. But they conveniently forget that she spewed some pretty venomous garbage in the Duke lacrosse scandal. After the Attorney General in North Carolina admitted that they had no case, that the woman that had accused the lacrosse team of rape had actually made it up, she continued to harangue about the athletes getting let off the hook. So she doesn't seem to be a great investigative reporter to me, if she still didn't get the story right, after the attorney general dropped the charges. So this seems a little convenient to me, that she was the person who received this information......

Alex Rodriguez has already admitted that he is sorry for his actions. Maybe he doesn't mean it. Maybe he is just sorry that we all found out. But all we can take him for is his own words. He has admitted that he took performance enhancing drugs for an extended period of time. This is something no other athlete has done. All of them have said "I only tried it once, to help me get back from an injury." or they have vehemently denied it. Rodriguez told us what he took, how he got it, how he took it, and how often he took it. He has apologized to baseball, his teammates, his fans, and everyone else. He has pledged to help prevent children from making his mistake (even going so far as to have Don Hooten, the founder of an group that is trying to educate children about the evils of steroids). The only thing he didn't do is admit he cheated. And here is the rub. If he was facing pitchers like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, who it seems to have used performance enhancers, was it really cheating, or was he merely keeping up with the Joneses? And if amphetamines are considered performance enhancers, there were an awful lot of other players playing at that level for 40+ years.

So maybe the sportswriters need to back off a little bit. They are starting to make Alex Rodriguez a sympathetic figure. And as big as an asshole as he is, if they start making us feel bad for him, then they are REALLY are not doing their jobs!

So Jayson Stark, Mike Francesa, Howard Bryant, and the rest of the moronic media, CALM THE FUCK DOWN. We're all sick of this already. Most people have already forgiven A-Rod or don't care either way. Let A-Rod play baseball. You all ignored the problem 10 years ago, so get off your high horse and look in the fucking mirror.

PS--These are the same assholes that glory in the fact that Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford are in the Hall of Fame, despite much evidence that both doctored the baseball to get hitters out. That is a clear example of cheating that they don't seem to care about.

Stimulating Reading....

Well I guess my researching skills need a bit more work. Here is the most recent version of the Stimulus Plan. I still think someone in the Obama Admin needs to take this and put it on a website for the newspeople and American people to readily access it. Most wouldn't dig too far at the US Sentate website....

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:4:./temp/~c111I5CxRU::

I'll try to read this either this afternoon or tomorrow and provide more feedback. But I have another issue I gotta get off my chest first.....

I'll give you something to stimulate.....in my pants!

Our country is not in good shape. We need lots of help on many levels. So the Obama Admin is pushing forward a stimulus package. This sounds like a great idea. It is exactly what we need.

I decided to do something novel. I decided to actually read whatever copy of the Stimulus Package I could get my hands on. I had to do several searches before I could read the actual plan that our lawmakers are debating through the news media. I'll be honest, from my impressions from the media accounts, I was pretty down on it. That was how I started this post, was to rag on the damn Democrats for screwing up a good thing. Here is what is as close as I can find to what the House passed,

http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/PressSummary01-15-09.pdf

Some of the projects that Republicans have condemned as being pork seem to have more value, upon further inspection. For example, I saw on Fox News they were criticizing there being something related to Clean Water in the plan. Here is what the plan says:

Clean Water
Clean Water State Revolving Fund: $6 billion for loans to help communities upgrade wastewater treatment systems. EPA estimates a $388 billion funding gap. The Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators found that 26 states have $10 billion in approved water projects.
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: $2 billion for loans for drinking water infrastructure. EPA estimates there is a $274 billion funding gap. The National Governors Association reported that there are $6 billion in ready-to-go projects, which could quickly be obligated.
Rural Water and Waste Disposal: $1.5 billion to support $3.8 billion in grants and loans to help communities fund drinking water and wastewater treatment systems. In 2008, there were $2.4 billion in requests for water and waste loans and $990 million for water and waste grants went unfunded.

So I guess nobody is going to get paid to upgrade wastewater treatment plants. No one stands to gain financially by making sure water can get to the American people. There are no engineers who need to bring home a paycheck? There are no construction workers who need to work on building or improving these facilities? No, nevermind, what was I thinking. If we're not talking about tax cuts it really isn't a stimulus plan.

Another segment talks about replacing the federal fleet of vehicles:

GSA Federal Fleet: $600 million to replace older vehicles owned by the federal government with alternative fuel automobiles that will save on fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions.

This has been criticized as well by Republicans and pundits. Because you know, we aren't in the process of propping up the auto industry. Those people don't need jobs. Why would we want to help our investment succeed, by rewarding those companies that offer alternative fuels/fuel efficient options. Those assembly-line workers didn't really need their jobs. They don't have families to feed. The car companies don't need any pushing to make more fuel efficient/alternative fuel vehicles right? Because American car makers have been at the forefront of this thought for the past 20 years?! Government deals like this provide strong encouragement to take that technology to another level. And when companies make that commitment, the general public gets better, more advanced products as a result.

Ok, so I could go on and on. There are a lot of things in this bill that seem sketchy at first and then when we realize the implications of what these items are designed to do, it makes a lot more sense. There is a lot of grandstanding going on about wasteful spending and sattling our children with an incomprehensible debt. But here's the catch, for 8 years the Republicans have been cutting taxes without increasing services, and ringing up quite a debt for my generation. Now its time for decisive action. It is going to take something massive to get the economy moving again. And sadly, my very much unborn children (many years away), will probably be paying for it. Unless the end of the world comes and they're living in a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome world...

In conclusion, none of us should be believing anyone's story in what the Stimulus Package is until we've actually read it ourselves. The Obama Administration needs to do a better job making this public, so we can all read and decide for ourselves. They spoke of change, that would be a refreshing change, making the entire plan available for review on a daily basis. I am CONFIDENT that there is pork in the plan. There are way too many Washington DC lifers still in Congress for there to not be. But the presumption that this entire plan is full of pork is completely erroneous. Every dollar spent in our society directly or indirectly influences the ability of someone to have a job and make payments on their mortgage or feed their family or pay for their kids to go to college. It may have been a better idea to divide up the Stimulus Package into smaller pieces of legistation, to make them more wieldy, more easily debated, more easily compromised on. But we're a little too far in the tank now to change that. This bill ain't perfect, but it seems to address an overwhelming number of needs that we have.

I'm a shitty blogger

Sorry it has been so long. When I work in CT it seems like there is no time for the Internet. Wonder what I'll do when we finally move back to CT?

I will post something later today, I promise. I've got a lot of anger/frustration building up.