Political

I'd be asking some serious questions about this "bailout". Saw a news flash that said if they just took the bailout money and gave it to the unemployed…

Just think, there are 8.9 million people unemployed in the United States. The figures come directly from the U.S. Department of Labor. That's the average figure for 2008, but do a little math. They want $800 billion for a bailout. 800 billion divided by 8.9 million is somewhere near $90,000 per unemployed person.

Now let's be honest here folks. If you were unemployed and you got a check for $90,000 for no reason (other than the fact that you don't have a job and providing a roof over your head, and food for your family, etc.) I am sure as breathing that you would spend that on something. Something would be gas for your car, food for your family, some new shoes and clothes, contributions to charities, a couple of movies (with popcorn and drinks).

You probably see where this is going.

OR, the government (that's us (you and me) by the way) could hire you for $40,000 (the other $50,000 would cover the employer's contribution to your health benefits, Social Security and the 10% to run the program (ha! none of you would get the jobs to do that!). Then we could clear weeds, clean streets, mow lawns in parks and at schools (water it too), clean graffiti off walls and light poles, pull down old posters – in general, make our neighborhoods and parks better places. Maybe we could even have some wash BART trains, commuter busses, police cars.

There is a problem with this approach – those jobs would become permanent and probably Union, so they would never go away.

Just give'em $40,000 to tide them over (and then NO MORE) and send the balance to the rest of us – we'll either spend or invest it. None to any elected officials.

Wait a minute! Where's the money coming from in the first place? Isn't this how we got in this hole?

Having watched my 401(k) drift off the side of the money cliff, I had hopes that our new President and his Democrat friends would try to make some difference. Not going to happen!

Got a report on what is in the new $1.7 trillion (with interest) Stimulus Package, and we all need to be worried. Search for it on the web so you can see for yourself, but here are some of the "don't make any sense" items:
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<li>$400 million for research on global warming. What happened to the regular federal budget, and how many "regular people" will that put back to work?
<li>$2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere. Again, how many "regular people" (blue collar) will that put back to work?[more]
<li>$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion. If you are working, you can afford to get your own $40 coupon (already funded), or if not, keep sitting on your backside while those other people get your jobs – after all, you were not an environmental scientist, so you definitely can't take one of those jobs.
<li>$75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking. This is a little ridiculous, given that many states have health care programs for children that use the taxes from the sale of tobacco products. If we fund "stop smoking programs", where will the money come from for the health care?
<li>$21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration. My guess is that if you got 10 people to work for 2 months (8 weeks) at $1000 a week, that would be $80,000, then double it for benefits and Social Security. You are now at $160,000. Throw in $100,000 for rental of equipment to dig up the old lawn and $100,000 for seed. Give them 3 weeks to dig up the old lawn, roto-till it and reseed. Since the sprinklers are already there, just reuse the existing watering system. Throw in another $100,000 for "just in case", and you have a total of $460,000. Round it off to $500,000, and we just saved ourselves $20.5 million. Better yet, let the prisoners from Gitmo come up and do the work while they eat everyday in the Congressional Cafeteria and sleep in mobile homes set up on the streets around the Mall.
<li>$4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. This section allows nonprofits to compete with cities and states for parts of the money. Why should anyone have to compete? Let's just tell the banks to not foreclose, and then figure out how to spend the money. Why make it so bureaucratic? Besides, what non-profits are in the mortgage lending business, and if they are going to help, why not have a working program going first?
<li>$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments. Sure fire way to give a boost to the auto industry, but this will only get cars off the dealer's lots. Course, that's helping them to pay their bills and keep their employees busy getting the cars delivered. How about something about letting car dealers service those government vehicles – now that's recurring income.
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There is some mention that this package will require 32 new government departments, and based on at least 4 regional offices and 50 employees per office, you have over $600 million a year in pay and benefits (at $1000 per week). Knowing the way government works, there will probably be more offices and more employees. So…$300 million back into the economy. Maybe that's how they will make it work.

The Inauguration of Barack Obama that is. Not sure what the next four years holds for us, but he is President. Perhaps in the first 6 months he will learn a lot. Seems that some of the things he talked about while campaigning have changed already (much to the chagrin of some Democrats).

In case you are wondering, I did not vote for him, figuring we needed someone else in the job – not to continue Bush policies, but to provide some political separation from Congress. To me, this is kind of like some foreign countires where a party runs the country. Actually, I'm tired of career politicians who have never done anything in their adult lives except work for public agencies and non-profit organizations. I don't think they understand how hard it is to earn a dollar off something they have to "sell" to live off of.
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I was proud of the fact that he invited African-American heroes to be at there, like the Tuskegee Airmen, and others who struggled for civil rights. Kind of sorry that he did not take the opportunity to recognize them during his speech.

It was an interesting choice of words when he said "…we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."

Then too, there was "Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history."

Mr. Obama, we are watching. Watching to see how you will change our nation to make it better. To make us more free under our constitution.