NEXTREVOLUTION

Modified: 1-1-06

 

Feel Free to email an idea to  greyghost@qwest.net If you wish to have your idea posted under your name let us know and we will do so, if not it will be posted as a general idea with all $ saved {except for fee as mentioned on the main page to maintain this web site} from the use of your idea going back to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, $ for education, & so on as the main page states should your idea be accepted and any $ saved from that idea.

 

The following thoughts & ideas are from Gerald Spencer, emailed to me 6-4-09. There are a few Americans who care enough to voice their opinions & share their ideas.

Hello Scott:

I got your e-mail address from
www.nextrevolutuon.net

I agree with most everything that website says.

I am a 70 year old engineer still working because I think that engineering
is fun.  I have always been interested in economics since Texas A&M 
required this course for engineers, along with business law and accounting in the
1950's.  The Economics lecturer taught preposterous lessons to the effect
that no one had to work as long as we just manipulated the economy.  The
business law and accounting courses also benefited me greatly in by 
career.

I also cashed in my investments in the spring of 2008 and avoided the loss
of assets that most folks endured when they listened to their professional
financial advisors.

I am worried about the future generations of Americans that will follow 
me. I have been espousing these Ideas since 1992.

If we are of like mind, we need to stop preaching to the choir, and 
convince folks that there is a problem.  Most of my (college educated)
acquaintances believe that there is not a problem.

 Sincerely Yours,

 Gerald Spencer

 

Below are Gerald's thoughts & ideas. I emailed Gerald back suggesting that after

recently observing Memorial day, I feel every American should be required to spend

at least a half hour a week on our nation's problems contributing ideas in an open

discussion. This would be nothing compared to what those we pretend to honor for all

they sacrificed, giving US the right, freedom to do so while we also enjoy a day off.
 

 

 

Economics 101 - We are losing the Economic War!  We are losing the
Technology leadership war!  We are becoming bankrupt!

1.Economic Principles:  Economics, Trade Deficit, Government
Spending Deficit, Jobs for Americans, and the Buying Power of the Dollar 
are all interrelated and very important.  These subjects need to be understood
by the General Public.  Economics is not that complicated.  It is
interlocked with understandable cause and affect principals of various
economic action options.

 2. National Wealth:  Economic value is created only when you grow
 something in the earth, extract something from the earth, or make
 (manufacture or construct) something that is consumable (or useful).
 Transportation/distribution/warehousing/tax/sales/delivery/packaging costs
 are added to the value (cost) of the product that was initially created by
 these basic creative efforts.

 2.1. Industrious nations like China grow wealthy and secure by
 making enough products to support their needs on their farms, factories 
and mines, plus earn additional currency by creating additional wealth by
 exporting products that they manufactured.  The health of every other
 business depends upon these productive industries.

 2.2.Do US farms, factories, and mines manufacture, grow or mine
 enough products to maintain us?  NO!!!   Could They?  YES!   Do we need to
 import additional products and increase the current trade deficit if we do
 not want to work to make whatever we want to consume?  YES!!!

 2.3.Borrowing money from China and other wealth generating  nations
 to pay US citizens for raking leaves, environmental cleanup, mortgage
 bailout, union retirements, TARP, wars, business failures, government
 payrolls, and etc. to stimulate the economy just makes the existing money
 have less value and less buying power, but does nothing in the long run
 solution to the foreign trade deficit problem.

 2.4.The US Federal Reserve publicly received bids of almost 4%
 interest for $100 billion of freshly printed paper US Treasury securities
 issued in May 2009 public auctions.  This was about double the rate 
expected by the Treasury Department.  The US government will need to
"borrow" $6 trillion more US dollars from the industrial manufacturing countries 
before the end of this year by conducting more of these US Federal Reserve
auctions. Who knows how high the interest rates will be bid at these
auctions. China, and other wealth generating nations hold a large portion
of all US federal debt securities, and they are exchanging these 
instruments for title to US real estate, farms, agri-businesses, food supplies, 
dairies, forests, industries, breweries, hotels, factories, casinos, financial
 institutions, retail businesses, and most other assets located in the USA
 that they do not already own, since the US government does not redeem 
these dollars for gold.

 3. US Trade Deficit:  The USA has created a situation that US 
gold; US currency; and title to US property and other assets are leaving the USA
 in amounts of annual value that are greater than they would be if US
 citizens were manufacturing the things that US citizens consumed.  We must
 change this situation or we could become a post WWI Germany economically,
 and this could happen overnight.

 3.1.A Trade Deficit is created when the USA importing,
 transportation, distributing and retail sales companies such as WalMart,
 Home Depot, NTB and etc. pay companies and individuals in foreign 
countries with US dollars to manufacture the things that these US businesses import,
 distribute, and then sell to the US consumers.  Manufacturers such as GM,
 Ford, GE, Chrysler, GE, Westinghouse and etc. manufacture vehicles,
 appliances, and equipment made with imported parts that they paid the
 companies in the foreign countries with US currency to manufacture these
 parts for assembly of the finished product in the USA that is then sold to
 US consumers.  What is the dollar value percentage of USA manufactured and
 assembled products that are made with imported foreign manufactured parts
 and/or sub-assemblies?

 3.2. The US government also "borrows" US dollars (actually they
 sell freshly printed-paper T-Bills, US Government Bonds, and other US
 securities at public auction to China, private individuals, and other
 industrialized countries that earn US dollars mostly by manufacturing 
things for international trade) to pay US government expenses including negative
 balance of trade, wars, military jets with active duty military USAF 
pilots
for the personal use of specially privileged members of congress (Pelosi),
 employee payrolls, government retirement checks, courts, federal police,
 failed business bailouts, cash bonuses to the various Wall Street forgers 
of SEC documents that contributed to political campaigns, Las Vegas 
corporation junkets for failed corporation employees, house mortgages for big
spenders with bad credit, new multi-million dollar French manufactured personal
 corporate jets for political contributor's bankrupt corporations, pork
 barrel projects, research contracts, welfare, social security, Medicare,
 Medicaid, SSI, expensive corporate vacations, new infrastructure, wealth
 re-distribution, mental health, imported consumer goods and etc., and any
 other thing that congress and the president decides to use taxpayer money 
to acquire, build or just give to their political contributors and various
 other privileged individuals with borrowed US dollars.  If taxes taken in
 each year are not sufficient to pay these expenses, then the government 
just prints more paper T-Bills, Government Bonds, etc. and borrows US dollars
 from people who are holding US dollars (foreign manufacturers) in exchange
 for these freshly printed T-Bills, Government Bonds, etc.

 4. The US government does not go to banks to "borrow" US dollars.
 The US government just buys some paper and cranks up the presses to print
 more T-Bills, Government Bonds, etc. and then conducts US Federal Reserve
 auctions with these securities for public bid sale in exchange for US
 dollars to deposit into banks and then pay for the US government checks 
that they pass out to pay for US government expenses.

 4.1. Why does anyone with US dollars earned by making things for 
US consumers buy these freshly printed-paper US securities if they cannot be
 redeemed for gold?  Because these freshly printed-paper US securities can 
be redeemed by foreign entities for title to US real estate, farms,
 agri-businesses, food supplies, dairies, forests, industries, breweries,
 hotels, factories, casinos, financial institutions, retail businesses, and
 most other assets located in the USA, instead of redeeming these dollars 
for gold.  Some US government sources estimate that the title to 25% of our
 assets with recorded deeds and titles are now listed as foreign owned
 (
http://economyincrisis.org/articles/show/1072
 <
http://www.economyincrisis.org/content/ownership> ) and this percentage 
is increasing rapidly.  Our payments to foreign oil, manufactured assembly
 parts, and foreign raw material suppliers are handled in essentially this same
manner.

 4.2.Why can't the US government just buy some paper and print 
more money (faster and faster) to pay our expenses?  Every time that we print
 dollars, the value and buying power of each printed dollar reduces
 proportionately.

 4.3.Why do we have to borrow money from the Chinese, and not our
 own financial institutions?  The Chinese are the only people with a large
 stash of US paper dollars that they have available to purchase our freshly
 printed paper T-Bills, US Bonds, etc. at Federal Reserve auctions, for 
less and less than face value as the confidence of our economic system fails, 
and as we run out of property and other things in the USA to sell to those
people in return for the wealth that they created by working to
manufacture the things that US citizens consumed.

 4.3.1 How did China and other foreign countries get so 
much of our US currency, Dollars, T-Bills, Bonds, and other government
 securities?  The USA importers and distributors (WalMart, Home Depot, NTB,
GM, Ford, GE, Chrysler, Dell, and etc.) paid the Chinese Companies with US
 currency to manufacture the things that they imported and then sold to the
 US consumers.

 4.3.2.China already is the USA's biggest foreign lender
 (creditor) of US Dollars to the US Government.  China owns an estimated $1
 trillion of this U.S. government debt consisting mostly of freshly printed
 US T-Bills, US bonds, US securities and etc.  If China wants Gold instead 
of printed-paper currency, a weaker dollar will result.  If China wants to 
only pay pennies on the dollar for any of our future freshly printed paper
 T-Bills, Bonds, Securities, currencies, etc., this will cause great
 inflation in the USA, and/or also cause great reduction of the buying 
power of the US dollar within the USA for imported products.  If the foreigners
 will only pay 5 cents on the dollar for our freshly printed US T-Bills, US
 bonds, and other US securities, then the USA will have to print up twenty
 times as much paper money, and the inflation could then be astronomical, 
ala Mexico.

 4.3.3.Chinese Premier Wen Jerboa stated, "Of course we 
are concerned about the safety of our assets.  To be honest, I'm a little bit
 worried." Wen said at a news conference Friday (13MAR09) after the closing
 of China's annual legislative session.  "I would like to call on the 
United States to honor its words, stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of
 Chinese assets."  This message is unlikely to be misunderstood at the 
White House.  The USA government is counting on Beijing to help pay for our TARP
 and economic stimulus packages by buying our U.S. bonds (at hopefully 
close to face value) with the US dollars and currency that they earned from the
 USA population by manufacturing the things that the USA imported and then
 consumed.

 4.4.The US Government essentially became bankrupt when the US
 stopped redeeming our currency for gold from our gold reserves at Fort 
Knox in 1972.  The US government then declared that the dollar is backed by the
 "full faith and credit of the USA" instead of gold (aka Junk Bonds).  We 
now allow the exchange of title to US property, instead of gold, to redeem
 foreign earned dollars.  If we stopped this exchange, the buying value of
 the US dollar would diminish to the point that it might take a whole day's
 wages to buy one loaf of bread.  Foreigners know that the US currencies 
that they earned by making the things that the USA population consumed can not
 redeemed in gold, so they are purchasing title to our real estate, farms,
 agri-businesses, food supplies, dairies, forests, industries, breweries,
 hotels, factories, casinos, financial institutions, retail businesses, and
 most all of the other valuable assets located in the USA with the hard
 earned US dollars that they acquired my manufacturing the things that US
 citizens consumed, instead of exchanging their dollars for gold which the 
US government does not do (allow).

 4.5 The USA is committing economic suicide.  When and if foreign
 individuals and governments stop buying our freshly printed US paper
 T-Bills, US paper bonds, and other paper US securities at slightly less 
than face value, and/or start buying these items at the foreign currency 
exchange equivalent of a few pennies on the dollar, the government checks, social
 security checks, government payroll checks, and private paychecks will 
then not buy very much food or anything else that we consume.  Your life 
savings might only sustain you for a couple of weeks.

 4.5.1.After we have sold title to all of our US assets to
 foreigners as required to settle our foreign trade obligations, there will
 not be anything left for the foreigners to buy and then US government not 
be able to raise any funds for any re-industrialization of the USA, and the 
US citizens will not have any possibility of employment in their future.  The
 money passed out to the financial industries did nothing to create any 
jobs or eliminate the foreign trade problems with the US economy.

 4.5.2.Foreign entities will very soon own everything of
 value in the USA and then become the major (or only) source of employment
 for US citizens.  The USA population will then become employees; possibly
 indentured servants; or maybe even beg to become slaves owned by the 
foreign countries and/or foreign individuals that will own everything of value in
 the USA in the very near future.

 4.5.3.US citizens might have no options if they want to
 feed their families?  Our children and our grandchildren might also have 
to change to the religion (probably not Christian) of the business owner if
 they want a job.

 4.5.4.We are selling of our children's legacy to foreign
 owners, and the US government calls it "Investing in America".  We are
 racing to print money and then sell title to everything in the USA in
order to keep from working.  This is sort-of like selling our body parts to keep
 from working!

 4.6.What will be the buying power of the US dollar when there 
areno remaining US assets that the foreigners want to exchange for the US
 dollars that they earned by manufacturing the things that US citizens
 imported and consumed?  The USA will very soon run out of title to assets
 that foreign manufacturers will want to purchase with the freshly printed 
US government currencies and securities that they earned.

 4.6.1. The USA needs to direct the funds derived from the
 sale of the few remaining US assets toward investing in activities such as
 technical education that will get the Gold and the US dollars from these
 foreign countries back into the USA via re-industrialization.  Wall Street
 and Banking Business bailouts will not accomplish this.  (Will the Chinese
 buy title to Dogpatch?  I think that the US government declared Dogpath to
 be the most worthless property in America!)

 4.7.Other countries view the United States of America as 
printing and spending huge amounts of paper money with the careless abandon of a
 drunken sailor on shore leave.

 4.7.1.This is very disturbing to those very same 
foreigners that the US government hopes will buy some more of our freshly printed US
securities (hopefully at not too much of a discount) to pay for our 
economic stimulation, trade deficit, and other various government expenses.

 4.7.2.The discounts offered at public bid for our freshly
 printed US securities by manufacturing nations that have acquired US 
dollars will depend and reflect upon the confidence that the USA instills these
 foreigners by our economic actions.

 4.7.3.Many countries are losing confidence in the dollar 
as the benchmark for world trade and currency values.  Other currencies, like
 the Chinese Yuan with a more stable value, are now being talked about as a
 replacement for the US Dollar as the benchmark for international currency
 values.

 5.Free Trade:  Free World Trade of products and commodities means
 that every US business must compete internationally based mainly upon 
price (or bribing foreign government officials).  Labor cost is normally the
 greatest cost component of most products and commodities.  The country 
with the lowest labor cost normally gets the product sale, the manufacturing
 jobs, and the foreign exchange currency to manufacture these products. 

 Free Trade does benefit the US importers and US distributors of foreign made
 products for US average citizen's consumption with less expensive 
products but at the cost of losing jobs in the USA to make these products.  If the
 USA had innovative products that foreigners did not have, then the USA 
could get higher prices for those products, until the foreigners copy the US
 inventions.

 6.The only thing that will create/save US jobs, preserve/restore
 the buying power of the US Dollar is reversing the trade deficit, reducing
 government borrowing, reducing government spending, and then re-building 
theUSA gold reserves.  Only a positive balance of trade will restore the 
value of the dollar, and we must accomplish this by any means possible, or 
accept third world poverty for the majority of our citizens.  The only way to do
 this is to produce and export more (dollar value of) things than we 
import.
 The only way that we can accomplish exporting US made products is to
 re-industrialize and make these products, hopefully with mostly US 
materials & Labor.  The only way that our products will be sold abroad is if these
 products are either technologically superior, or cheaper.

 6.1.What is preventing the USA from re-industrializing?  The US
 citizens do not want to work for the extremely low wages that are paid in
 foreign countries to manufacture the things that US citizens consume. 
This is the main reason why the US manufacturers have closed their US 
factories,
 and relocated the manufacturing facility to a country with less expensive
 labor.

 6.1.1.US tire manufacturing companies closed their 
plants, sold the tire manufacturing equipment to foreign citizens who relocated 
this tire manufacturing equipment to their foreign countries where labor costs
 are very low compared to US labor costs.  These foreigners re-constructed
 and re-started these plants using foreign workers that are paid only a 
small fraction of the pay that US citizens would accept.  As a result, these
 foreign companies now manufacture most all of the tires consumed in the 
USA.This is typical of how free trade affects our industries.  There are not
 very many industries remaining in the USA.

 6.1.2.The USA importers and distributors pay the foreign
 manufacturers in foreign currencies with US currency (Dollars) for these
 products, and these foreign countries do not buy very much of anything 
fromthe USA because our products are much more expensive than foreign made
products.

 6.2. Scientific & Technology Education Option:  If US citizens 
are not willing to work for lower wages than the foreigner workers employed in
 foreign countries are paid, then the USA cannot compete based upon lower
 labor costs.  If we cannot compete on lower labor costs, then we need to 
be competitive internationally through other areas such as superior 
technology.


 6.2.1.We could make our educational system reverse course
 and re-emphase science and engineering to create many more medical 
doctors, engineers, scientists, and educators as they did until the 1980's.  The 
USA medical doctors, engineers, scientists, and educators must also become 
much better educated, much more intelligent, and otherwise much more superior 
to any foreign educated scientist and/or foreign educated engineer in order 
todesign, create, innovate, and produce new technical products that 
foreigners do not have, so that the foreigners will then buy these new products from
the USA, in exchange for their foreign gold and currency which will be 
sent to the USA companies.

 6.2.2. Only if our products are technically superior can 
we export these products in return for their foreign payment (gold and US
 dollars) to the USA.  We must also prevent foreign countries from pirating
 and/or copying our new innovative products.  We might need to use the 
force of law and/or the force of our military might to prevent this pirating of
 our technology.

 6.3.Our computer programming technology and expertise (ala
 Microsoft etc.) helped our balance of payments considerably in the past, 
but the lack of technical education in this country today has reduced and will
 soon totally destroy this export capability.  The foreign countries have
 become better than the USA at creating new computer software programs, 
sincethe USA has chosen to de-emphasize technical and scientific education in 
our universities.

 6.4.Visit the Texas Medical Center (mostly MD Anderson Cancer
 Center) and witness the percentage of women wearing Burkas to get a clue 
or to estimate the percentage of foreign medical service income currency that
 is received at the Texas Medical Center.  I do not believe that any of 
these women wearing Burkas are US citizens.  Foreign currency paid to our US
 located Medical Doctors, Laboratories and Hospitals improves our foreign
 trade balance.  Most foreigners believe that US educated medical doctors 
are superior to their own in-country educated medical doctors.

 6.5.Engineers who are working in Foreign Countries and sending
 (most of) their dollars home to the USA improves our balance of trade.  In
 the past, foreigners believed that US educated and trained Engineers were
 superior to their in-country educated Engineers.  This advantage has 
almost disappeared since the USA stopped emphasizing engineering, science, and
 technical education in our Universities.

 6.5.1. I have been the engineer of record for the
 construction of projects in Asia, Europe, Middle East, Caribbean, and 
South America.  US citizens are unaware of the lifestyle advantage that we are
 accustomed to and take for granted.  If our economy collapses, we can 
become a third world country overnight.

 7.It does not matter how we reverse the balance of trade as long 
as we stop the flow of gold, dollars, T-bills, Government Bonds, title to US
 located property, and other US assets from this country to other countries
 in payment for the things that they make and we consume.

 8.Knowledge Workers in a Post Industrial Society:  Some "economic
 experts" think that we can become a "post-industrial" society of 
"knowledge workers" consisting of software developers, data analysts, technicians,
 editors, scientists, lab technicians, teachers, doctors, nurses, 
architects, accountants, engineers, inventors, lawyers, etc, and still somehow 
continue to pay foreigners to manufacture the things that we consume.  How can we 
get foreigners to pay for (buy) the services of these "knowledge workers" so
 that we can stop the net foreign flow of dollars, gold and title to US
 properties out of this country?  How can we also earn enough money to pay
 for the import of the products from foreign countries that we consume?  We
cannot stop consuming the things that foreigners manufacture for our
 consumption, unless we start making these products in the USA.  We cannot
 make the products that we consume unless we re-industrialize and 
manufacture these things ourselves, or just stop consuming these imported products.

 8.1.Our "knowledge workers" would have to be much smarter and 
much more knowledgeable than foreign "knowledge workers" in other countries or
 the foreigners would hire their own local home grown "knowledge workers".
 Maybe in the future we could produce better "knowledge workers", but only 
if we totally overhauled and changed our educational system to emphasize
 science, engineering, and technical education instead of the other various
 degree majors that most of the US citizen students study today.

 8.2.We are losing the technology war to China, so China will 
verr soon become the source for "knowledge workers" when other nations need
 technology, not the USA.

 8.3.Nations grow wealthy and secure by making enough food and
 products to support their needs (real or perceived) on their farms,
 factories and mines, with an excess to sell abroad to pay for the imports 
we need or want.  The health of every other aspect of our economy depends on
these principals.  It is silly to speak of a "service economy" without
 presuming some one else will work to create the food, clothing, energy,
 transportation, and other products that you consume.

 9.China is winning the War for Scientific and Technical
 Superiority!  "China is going to achieve tremendous progress in the world
 science and technology in the next 30-40 years."  This is a remark by
 eminent scientist and Nobel laureate Chen Ning Yang in his speech on
 "Science and Technology of the 21st Century" delivered at the opening
 ceremony of the 6th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention in Nanjing on
 September 17.  In his speech, Yang said that modern science and technology
 were introduced into China only in the 20th century.  Within a time span 
of just one century with efforts by merely several generations, China has
 started from scratch to having attained the level of being able to launch
 and recover its Shenzhou Spaceship, an incredibly rapid development with 
no precedence in history.  So he believes China's scientific and technical
 level will surely reach the foremost front of the world advanced level by
 the year 2030 or 2040.

 9.1. China is stepping up research of particle accelerator on its
 own, according to reports from the ongoing 2nd Asia Accelerator 
Conference. It is said that the Institute of High Energy Physics under the Chinese
 <
http://www.cas.ac.cn/> Academy of Sciences is making an active effort in
 design and research of positive-negative electron impinging machine in
 Beijing <
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/province/beijing.html> , 
and hopes for a 100-fold increase in the brightness of the machine.

 9.2.The US government elected to cease construction if the super collider at
Waxahachie, Texas a few decades ago, but spend many times that
 cost to pay for Wall Street failures.  As China increases their Nuclear
 Research, China will soon surpass the USA in Nuclear and other advanced
 scientific technologies and capabilities.

 9.3. If we lose the scientific and technology lead to China or 
any other country, the USA will rapidly decline into a third world nation, and
 our citizens will have to work for the Yuan equivalent of pennies per hour
 after the total collapse of the buying power of the US dollar.

 9.4.The USA is no longer the scientific and technical leader 
that it once was just a few decades ago.

 10.Science Educations in the USA are needed:  There is very little
 economic incentive for US citizen college students to major in any of the
 science or engineering fields at this time, and this needs to change for 
the benefit of the US economy.  I believe that most students today want to 
study business and/or economics to become one of the wealthy Wall Street (master
 criminal) tycoons.  No person in his or her right mind would major in
 science or engineering since the pay scale has eroded so much in the last
 several decades and the study is so demanding compared to other major 
fields of study.

 10.1. This economic reward erosion is partially due to the import of
 (H1-B visa) foreign engineers who will work for just slightly above 
minimu wages and a Green Card Visa.  The Foreign Engineers might be much less as
 productive as US educated engineers, but they are willing to work for such 
a small fraction of the pay that US educated engineers are paid (or used to 
be paid) then it is much more economically effective to employ foreign 
educated engineers when compared to the total cost of employing U.S. educated
 engineers, except for the additional legal liability of their design
 failures.

 10.2.The USA needs to create a demand for and provide more financial
 incentive for US students to major in the medical, technical, 
mathematical, engineering and scientific subjects that are needed to create the 
technical capability intelligence bases required to re-industrialize the USA and
 improve our economy.  We need to demand a return to scientific and 
technical excellence in all levels of our education systems that we essentially and
 purposefully destroyed in the past few decades.  It is necessary to
 re-create the technology bases that are necessary before
 re-industrialization can occur in order to correct the US balance of trade
 payments.

 10.3.We can only export technology if our products and technology
 services available for export are superior (or cheaper) to those available
 anywhere else in the world, and/or at least superior to the services
 available in that particular foreign country.  This will first require 
that our best and brightest students study science instead of other 
non-essential subjects in our education system beginning in elementary school and
 continuing through graduate school.

10.4. According to the National Science Foundation and the National
 Society of Professional Engineers, only about 5% of the current college
 students in the USA studying for a degree in science, medicine, 
mathematics or engineering are US citizens.  In the Asia the vast majority of the
 college students are majoring in science or engineering.  We need to
 increase the percentage of USA citizen college students studying science 
and engineering from 5% to more than 60%, in order to emulate the economic
 industrial successes of the Asian countries.  We must emulate China, 
India, Pakistan, and other Asian countries or the USA will die economically.

 10.5 The USA needs to replace our current dumbed down "equal 
outcome" educational process with a "weeding out " process in order to select the
 best and the brightest to qualify for technical educations.  We must 
provide financial incentives for these students to study science and technology
 instead of less difficult pursuits.  The financial rewards in the 1950's
 made science students respected by other students, and this
 inducement/reward needs to be re-introduced.  Resources should be spent on
 this endeavor rather than borrowing money for Wall Street bailouts and
 government payroll expenses which return almost nothing that benefits the 
US citizens.

 10.6. The USA must somehow create superior engineers, medical 
doctors, and scientists so that the USA can regain the technological edge that we
 have lost and/or purposefully destroyed in the last few decades.  This 
will not be easy, but it must be accomplished immediately before the last
 remnants of our technological capabilities are gone.

 10.7.We could export scientific and engineering services to foreign
 nations in return for the foreigner's currency, US dollars and gold in 
order to improve our balance of trade, except that both India and China have
 surpassed the USA in the technological capability race.  US services would
 have to be provided by doctors, scientists and engineers who are very much
 superior to any foreign educated doctors, scientists and engineers, or the
 foreigners will use their home grown (or some other foreign country's)
 medical, scientific and engineering talent and not buy the services of US
 doctors, scientists and engineers.

 10.8.Student loans should be available for only those fields such as
 science, engineering, education, and medicine that do contribute to our
 industrial base and will help our international trade balance by 
re-creating our technical knowledge base necessary for re-industrialization.

 10.9. Most of the large engineering firms outsource the CADD drafting
 and the detailed engineering to India or Pakistan.  There will no 
technical design jobs when US graduate engineers are not trained as engineers by
 performing detailed engineering and CADD drafting under the direction of 
an older and experienced engineer.  We need legislation to impose 
prohibitively high import duty tariffs to prohibit the import of technical engineering 
and CADD drafting services.

 11. How could the USA re-industrialize and also pay decent wages to US
 citizens to manufacture the things that we consume?  We could provide
 extremely high import tariffs on the products that we desire to begin
 manufacturing in the USA.  The tariffs would be high enough to prohibit 
the import of these selected products.  This would allow the US manufacturer 
to employ US citizens at some pay scale several times higher than foreign
 country citizens get paid.  The US government could select one product at 
a time for prohibitive tariffs.  The US government might start with steel,
automobiles, auto parts, tires, washers, dryers, refrigerators, computer
 chips, building materials, computers, data processors, and then other
 selected manufacturing industries.  The USA should repeal all free trade
 legislation and international trade treaties.  Our consumable products 
will cost several times as much as they cost now, but this is necessary.
 Otherwise the USA will become a third world nation of unemployed street
 beggars.

 11.1 Is there anything made in the USA anymore?  When you go to
 anywhere in the USA to buy anything, look to see where is it made?
 Nothing is made in the USA anymore.  When you buy $1,000.00 tools, parts, 
materials, etc at Home Depot, they send a large part of that purchase money in cash 
to probably China in order to purchase these products from the people who
 actually worked to manufacture these items.  This is how the US dollars
 leave the US economy, and essentially never return.  The USA only makes a
 few things that people in other countries want to buy in order for the US 
to earn some of the US currency back into the US economy and banking system,
 but off hand, I cannot think of one single thing foreigners would buy from
 the USA.

 11.2. How can we preserve the economic miracle that has given US
 citizens one of the highest living standards in the world?  The 
Agricultural and Industrial Base that won WWII and gave us today's bountiful way of 
life created the standard of living that US citizens enjoy today.  This
 industrial and agricultural base produced the food, goods, services and
 other items that we consumed, plus an excess of these goods & services 
that were produced and then sold to other foreign countries in order to
 accumulate the US gold reserves at Fort Knox through a positive balance of
 trade surplus payments has been purposefully destroyed in the last few
 decades.  It must be re-created at any cost.  Wall Street financial
 manipulations, innovative "financial products", Junk Bond Creations, did 
not contribute to this economic miracle.  It was created by the agriculture,
 mining and manufacturing sectors of our economy during and after World War
 II.

 11.3. Paying people to pave roads, build infrastructure, plant trees,
 dig holes then refill the same holes, rake leaves, write poems, paint
pictures, environmental cleanup, etc. with money borrowed from China is
 nice, but these jobs will not be useful or contribute anything to 
correcting
 the US economic problem.

 12.Riots and insurrections are predictable, ala the French 
Revolution, when the people find their situations economically hopeless.  Future 
federal nationalization of foreign owned assets, ala Mexico, Venezuela, etc., is
 another discussion topic for another day.

 12.1.  In the 1960's the USA was worried about surviving a Russian
 nuclear attack.  I took a U S Army course called "Environmental
 Engineering".  The Army course was not about the earth's environmental
 quality, but about administrating the environment within a nuclear fallout
 shelter during and after an atomic war.  This included foraging outside of
 the shelter after the radiation levels reduced to levels that would allow
 short duration forays out of the shelter, and how to re-establish
 civilization after radiation levels decayed to allowable levels.  The
 instructor taught us that the course material believed that human beings
 would compete with each other (like animals) for the scarce amount of
 remaining canned goods and the other few remaining resources, and that 
these competitions for resources would result in death struggle animal behavior
 between the remaining human beings for available remaining resources.  The
 course material stated that only the strong and most resolute (the most
 evil, ruthless and determined) would ultimately survive.  The Officer
 teaching the course stated that his personal belief was that human beings
 would rise to the occasion and take care of each other, in lieu of the
 deathly competitive behavior predicted by the Behavioral Psychiatrists who
 wrote the course material.  I also look for the best in human behavior, 
but I have deliberated over this question ever since, and have not really made
 up my mind as to who might be the most correct.

 12.2.  I believe that human behavior after an economic collapse might 
be similar to human behavior after emerging from a nuclear fallout shelter.

 12.3.This was an era when people in Pasadena, Texas said that their
 refinery pollution smelled like jobs and money to them.  They were 
thankful to have a job.

13.US Economic Stimulation Plan:  The current US government economic
 stimulation plan is to print up a bunch of new paper currencies, T-Bills,
 Bonds, and other similar paper US securities for bank deposit to cover
 checks issued to US contractors to re-build and expand the US 
infrastructure (Pork Barrel Projects) in order to reduce unemployment.  This money will
 probably be spent on imported earth-moving machinery, imported materials
 (Steel, Equipment, Pipe & Wire), new imported private jet airplanes, 
illegal alien labor, outsourced engineering, outsourced CAD drafting, etc., and 
the US workers will still be mostly unemployed.  Any Economic Stimulus 
Spending should also prohibit any imported products (even if we no longer 
manufacture those products) from being purchased with these funds, and also prohibit 
all outsourcing of the Labor Required.  What happens after the project ends?
 Close the manufacturing facility?  This is a short term solution that will
 only economically benefit foreign manufacturers of industrial and consumer
 goods, salesmen of the foreign manufactured equipment, materials, 
airplanes, etc., and the other people working in the distribution of the imported
 things for our infrastructure improvements, but the balance of trade will
 still require sending US dollars overseas to pay for these things that we
 import.  The current US government plan will still require sending more 
and more US dollars overseas in exchange for purchase of the things that we
 import for our infrastructure rebuilding.  After we have sold title to all
 of our US assets to foreigners as required to settle our foreign trade
 obligations, there will not be anything left for the foreigners to buy and
 then US government not be able to raise any funds for any
 re-industrialization of the USA, and the US citizens will not have any
 possibility of employment in their future.  The money passed out to the
 financial industries does nothing to create any jobs or eliminate the
 problems with the US economy.  Maybe it helps pay for the commissions of 
the US salesmen for the expensive new French manufactured private Jet 
Airplanes
 with the bailout funds.  The French people making these (Dasault Falcon
 20-25) airplanes are probably very thankful for the US government's
 generosity.

 14Spencer's US Economic Stimulation Plan:  Instead of just passing 
out free TARP money to the incompetent financial wizards at various inept and
 possibility criminal wall street organizations and hope that some of this
 free money will trickle down, maybe the US government should build
 manufacturing plants to make consumer products like refrigerators, washing
 machines, clothing, TV's, tires, auto parts, and eventually all of the
 consumer goods that we import with that money.  We should then impose
 extremely high import taxes that are high enough so that these US made
 products are less expensive that the same imported product.  Without
 extremely high tariffs, US workers must compete with foreign workers at
 foreign wage scales.  These plants should periodically and/or constantly 
be for sale based upon periodic open public competitive bidding, but at a
 minimum sale price at least equal to as much as the government investment,
 and with terms of cash only.

 14.1.There should not be any leveraged or creative financing for
 purchase allowed by the government.

 14.2.The management should know about making the products, not
 creative financing.

 15.It is not the foreign manufacturer's fault that this economic
 condition exists:  US citizens created this condition.  US citizens
 purposefully destroyed most of our industries and fired all of the 
employees that were located in the US for various economic and environmental 
reasons.

 Our recent leaders decided that we could get people in other countries to
 work and make these things for our consumption if we paid them with 
freshly printed-paper T-bills, US Bonds, and other types of freshly printed-paper
 securities that they could redeem for title to any of our assets.  Our
 Stupid Legislators of both political parties, Importing Companies, 
Ignorant Government Employees, Self Serving Corporate Managers, Wall Street 
Financial Genius Master Criminals, Enron/Arthur Anderson type management, NAFTA, 
EPA, WTO, OSHA, and the buying public just to name a few, have created this
 situation.

16.Re-Industrialize Now?  How can we ever possibility restart our
 industries (re-industrialize) to generate a positive balance of trade that
 will restore our economy?  Most of the people who knew how to operate the 
US basic industries and factories were fired decades ago and are probably now
 long dead and buried.  There are no books that completely tell everything
 about how to do most of the things that we knew how to do years ago when 
we created the industries that won WWII and then gave us this bountiful way 
of life.

 16.1.The USA need more technical and science oriented citizens that
 will create many new innovative products and services that we can sell or
 exchange for foreign owned currency and/or Gold.  We need to import 
foreign owned US dollars, foreign owned foreign currency, and foreign owned gold 
in return for purchase of the products that we export, not export our dollars
 and gold in exchange for imported products.  When the time comes that 
people in foreign nations no longer accept our freshly printed paper dollars to
pay for our imported products (and our government activities), we will be in
 deep trouble with no quick way out.  We must act now while we can still 
buy foreign made materials and foreign made equipment for the
 re-industrialization of the USA with the remaining purchasing power of the
 dollar before we have redeemed all of the exported currency for title to 
all of the remaining existing US assets.  The buying power of the dollar will
 become zero when there is nothing left for the foreigners to buy with the
 dollars that they earned by making our consumer goods.  I do not have
 confidence that the USA citizens still have the knowledge and technical
 education to re-create our factories for manufacturing, innovating and
 designing new products for export as required to reverse our trade balance
 and restore the value of the dollar.

 16.2. After the American revolution, the USA instituted high import
 tariffs to encourage the industrialization of the USA, and it was 
successful in establishing a positive balance of trade, accumulating Gold reserves,
 creating a manufacturing base, creating a technical data base, and making
 the USA independent from England for technology.  One way or another we 
must stop the selling of title to everything of value in America as required to
 pay for government expenditures plus things that we import and then 
consume.

 We must create a positive balance of trade by any means possible.  If not,
 we will destroy the purchasing power of the US dollar.  Without import
 tariffs, most all products will be purchased for less money if they are
 manufactured in foreign countries where labor costs are minimized.  The US
 labor force has no future without high import tariffs to prohibit foreign
 imported products.  Without high import tariffs, US workers must compete
 with foreign workers at or below foreign wage scales for employment in the
 USA.  Most USA citizens do not want to work for wages that the same job in 
a foreign country would pay.  Until we re-industrialize and correct our
 foreign trade imbalance, and eliminate our federal government borrowing to
 pay expenses, we cannot afford to have free trade because it will destroy
 the US Economy.

 16.3. Until we re-industrialize and correct our foreign trade
 imbalance, and eliminate our federal government borrowing to pay expenses,
 we cannot afford to have free trade because it will totally destroy the US
 economy.

 17.Many Services are Required to support Agriculture, Mining and
 Industrial Production:  Civilized nations have always taxed the productive
 (agricultural and industrial) population to pay for providing National
 Security, Crime Prevention, Education, Fire Prevention, and other similar
 items that are necessary to assist, support and protect the agricultural 
and the industrial production bases that supplied the things that the 
population> consumed.  Our Industrial and Agricultural Bases could not exist with
 foreign invasion, rampant crime, protection rackets, corruption, sabotage,
 etc., so a portion of the money earned by this producing base has always
 been taken by taxation by all civilizations to pay for federal, state, and
 local governments to prevent these occurrences.

 17.1.Maybe we can no longer afford to spend our hard earned taxes 
and borrowed money on National Service, social entitlements, welfare,
 environmental clean-up, pork barrel projects, free education, free 
medicine, subsidized housing, humanities, art, writing poems, make-work schemes,
 entertainment, digging holes then re-filling the same hole, etc., until we
re-establish our economic base.

 18. Recently created financial products such as CDOs, SIVs, ABSs, 
SPVs, VIEs, CPDOs, SiVs, derivatives, and other similar new products created by
 financial master business administration geniuses that create paper
 securities out of the thin air should require separate application and
 license by the SEC for their existence, and the SEC should grant license
 only to any of them that have intrinsic collateral value, are easily
 understood, transparent, forthright, and not deceptive in their sworn
 financial statements.  Most of the recent financial innovations are 
similar to cancer, because they grow and destroy the economic foundations of the
 economy as if it were destroying your body.  The SEC should also require a
 study to justify the need and safety of any new derivative type instrument
 created, similar to an Environmental Impact Statement.  When the 
investment risks are several generations or several layers removed from the 
instrument that has the actual collateral value (like a mortgage), and this 
instrument is insured from most of the investment risk, how much due diligence will 
an investor perform before he will commit to purchase, as compared to the
 investing into a primary mortgage or similar instrument that is
 collateralized for the event of failure?  If I were driving a car without
 insurance, I would probably drive more carefully than if I had insurance
 since my exposure for loss is lessened with insurance.  Maybe we would be
 better off without any of these recently created new financial products.

 19 Financial Institution Bailouts:  The industries that employ people
 to produce actual products and commodities for consumption and plus an
 excess of these products for foreign export in exchange for foreign 
currency contribute to the basis of the purchasing power of the US dollar, and the
 wealth that should be created for future US generations.

 19.1.These inept Wall Street financial genius failures are spending
 the TARP bailout money so that they can continue their reckless behavior
 without any penalty for any of their past or future financial failures. 
The federal government TARP economic bailout money is currently being wasted 
to pay for the golden parachutes, private parties, expensive vacations, new 
jet airplanes and bonuses to these same highly paid incompetent and maybe
 criminal executives that caused these problems.  These incompetent,
 arrogant, stupid, and selfish executives took so much money from the
 financial markets that they caused the systems to fail.  The lowly paid US
 citizens is paying his hard earned taxes to them to continue their bad,
 inept, stupid, and maybe criminal business policies that caused this 
crisis?

 Should taxpayer money pay off the bank loans that occurred when these
 financial geniuses borrowed money to pay stock dividends, in order to
 artificially drive up the stock prices, which personally enriched 
themselves through their stock option plans?  How can we get rid of these financial
 geniuses that caused these problems without costing the taxpayer any more 
of his/her hard-earned tax money?  They are still on the job when they should
 be unemployed and living under a bridge.

 19.2The financially astute and highly successful Arthur
 Anderson/Enron groups here in Houston, with Jeff Skilling, Ken Lay, and
 Fastow as their leaders filed false financial statements with the SEC that
 they swore to represent the truth.  They perjured themselves when 
testifying about financial facts, and generally lied about almost every document that
 they filed with the SEC.  They have suffered very little penalty when they
 finally did get caught and subsequently convicted.  They all need to rot 
in prison until they die as a deterrent to other future prospective Financial
 Geniuses.  Their prison sentences should be somehow proportionate to the
 amount of money stolen and the number of lives wrecked.  I am sure that
 these Enron and Arthur Anderson type Master Criminals are studied and
 emulated by the current crop of Wall Street Financial Geniuses who studied
 their successes and how they got caught.  I believe that they then studied
 how to avoid themselves from getting caught while creating their new
 financial empires.

 19.3. The AIG management is apparently the most inept and the most
 stupid, and not the brightest and the best that they claim to be.  They
 should mostly all be fired, especially their CEO and leaders.  This 
bailout is rewarding these incompetent managers with continued employment and even
 large cash bonuses.  Why should these managers work hard to investigate
 anything to do with their financial decisions and/or investments if the US
 taxpayer will pay for their mistakes?  Did their friends get commissions 
for selling these bad investments to AIG?  Were there any kickbacks to AIG
 employees who approved these transactions?  Why are the AIG personnel that
 made these bad decisions still employed at AIG?  Why is it necessary for 
AIG not to become bankrupt?  Why does the taxpayer have to pay for these bad
 judgments and stupid actions?  If they went bankrupt and all of these
 managers were out of work, it would be an incentive for managers of other
 companies and other future managers (and individual investors) to become
 more cautious of what they buy in the way of mortgages, securities, bonds
 and other investments.

 19.3.1. TARP and other bailouts using taxpayer money should not
 have ever been paid to anybody, as AIG apparently did with some of their
 TARP money.  It should not have mattered how many dollars in political
 contributions AIG and others gave to either and/or to both political
 parties.  Some of these political contributions were even "donated" to
 various politicians after these same companies received TARP money.

 19.4.None of the other Wall Street financial firms should have ever
 gotten any of the free taxpayer bailout money.  The US government rewarded
 their irresponsible, stupid, inept, careless, and maybe criminal actions
 with free taxpayer money.  A financial failure and loss of investment 
would be an incentive for these and other future investors to become more 
cautious of what they buy in the way of mortgages and other investments.  A 
financial failure would cause the investors to become more skeptical concerning
 anything that the financial experts have to say (usually lies).  We need 
for this financial penalty to happen.  A financial failure would cause 
investors to be wary of and question anything that any stockbroker or any other
 financial genius has to say.  They are spending the TARP bailout money on
 bonuses for themselves and new larger (foreign manufactured) private jet
 airplanes so that they can continue their reckless behavior without any
 penalty for failure.

 19.5. The Stock Markets are just gambling Venues for the public to 
make gambling wagers (investments) in ownership of publicly traded companies,
 securities, loans, and other investment vehicles.  Investors just lost 
some of value of their investments, and there is nothing wrong with this loss
 since the value was speculation over and above the Balance sheet value of
 the companies.  The investors should not have believed anything that their
brokers told them about those or any other investments.  If you review
 almost any of the SEC filings (on the EDGAR database) you will find almost
 all of the sworn information filed with the SEC is extremely false, most
 especially when you get away from the "Blue Chip" stocks.

 19.6 US Corporations should abandon Wall Street, trade their company
 stocks themselves, and allow

19.7. It irritates me when someone refers to Banking, Stock Trading,
 Insurance and other financial businesses as industries, since they do not
 create anything.  The Wall Street Stock Exchanges and Banks are 
essentially corrupt and should be allowed to close in Bankruptcy.  Wall street is too
corrupt and inept to be salvaged.  Stocks should be delivered to the
 registered owners.  The various public traded corporations could buy, sell
 and/or trade their own stocks until new trading exchanges evolve, 
preferably in other cities with less of the prevalent criminal culture.  New stock
 brokerage firms could be created and evolve with tighter regulation and 
more penalties for criminal activities.  Houston might be a clean new location
 for a new start.  New stock trading exchanges could evolve in some other
 city with new and different rules and regulations that would prohibit the criminal
excesses of the Wall Street Master Criminals.

 19.8.We need to legislation to make one single individual 
(President, CEO, Chairman, etc.) in each corporation criminally responsible for any
 false or misleading company financial statements that are filed with the 
SEC whether intentional or not intentional.  This person needs to go to jail 
if there are any intentional or un-intentional false statements sworn to as a
 part of any SEC filing.  Many more crooked CEOs need to be in prison for
 long periods of time.  We also need to legislation to re-create the
 Glass-Steagall Act (GSA) that President Clinton repealed, or something 
very similar.  If George Bush was president, he probably would have also 
repealed the GSA if his political contribuitors requested that he repeal GSA.  This
 country does not need more Enron Type Master Criminals and Arthur Anderson
 type criminal accounting firms that will submit more perjured SEC filings 
to create more economic miracles. 
 
The Glass-Steagall Act (GSA) was enacted
 during the Great Depression in 1933.  It protected bank depositors from 
the additional risks associated with security transactions.  The act was
 repealed in 1999 by congress and approved into law by President Clinton.
 President Bush would also probably have listened to his campaign
 contributors and signed it into law like President Clinton did.
Consequently, the distinction between commercial banks and brokerage firms
 is not distinct, and many banks own brokerage firms and provide investment
 services to their customers.  The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repeal eliminated
 the restrictions against affiliations between commercial and investment
 banks.  Furthermore, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allows banking 
institutions to provide a broader range of services, including underwriting and other
dealing activities.

 19.9.  Incidentally, why does the US Accounting standards allow
 "Goodwill & other Intangibles" to be placed onto a financial balance 
sheet. These are almost as bad as listing Enron (un-audited LLP's) as assets by a
 CPA that is supposedly stating the financial value of that particular
 company.

 19.9.1. Maybe a company whose customers tattoo company logos 
onto their bodies (ala Harley-Davidson) could claim some Goodwill, but I cannot
 think of any other situation where brand name or goodwill has any value at
 all.  (well maybe Coca Cola, Tide, and a couple of others).

 19.10.General Motors Bailout:  I believe that GM should have gone 
bankrupt last fall before their previous gift of free money from the public money
 trough.  I guess that GM will not give back any of the money that the US
 Government took from me previously and gave to GM.  Is there anything of
 value going to be left after the auto industry executives and the auto 
union members have bled their companies to death (bankruptcy)?  The banks 
probably have mortgage lien on the title to most of the remaining factories and 
other assets anyway.  If they are allowed to continue to go to the public feed
 trough again and again, they will never stand on their own two feet.

 19.10.1. Should we continue Auto Industry bad behavior and outright
 theft of company money with taxpayer funds?  Who is going to buy a vehicle
 from a bankrupt auto manufacturer when the bankruptcy court will allow the
 manufacturer out of their warranty contracts with the vehicle purchaser? 
It is too late for Chapter 11 reorganization.  The additional $50billion of
 Taxpayer funds proposed to be given to the US Auto Industry will only
 encourage the continuation of the arrogant, stupid, and selfish bad 
business policies of both the US Auto Industry executives and the UAW members.  Why
 are these same highly paid incompetent executives and the overpaid union
 workers continue their featherbed deals, job banks, perks, private jet
 airplanes, stupid business decisions, and etc. with taxpayer money.

 19.10.2. These are the same selfish people that are responsible and
 should be fired, unless they know something about making cars instead of
 finance.  Let other parties buy their assembly plants and re-start these
 plants.  Maybe we have to let the GM Executives disappear with the large
 amounts of money that they took from the US Auto Industry, but do not let
 them have another $50billion of Taxpayer Funding to continue their bad
 business practices and personal thievery.  GM is probably already in debt 
up to their ears.  Let GM disappear, especially as a lesson to all of the 
other financial geniuses that caused these problems.  If these financial 
geniuses that caused these problems disappear then the UAW feather beds that they
 created will also disappear with them.

 19.10.3 Are these Taxpayer Billions for the Auto Industry going to
 fund the golden parachutes and bonuses of the auto industry executives 
that caused the crisis?  Should taxpayer money pay off the bank loans that
 occurred when these financial geniuses borrowed money to pay stock
 dividends, in order to artificially drive up the stock prices, which
 personally enriched themselves through their stock option plans?  How can 
we get rid of these financial geniuses and the UAW feather beds that caused
 these problems without costing the taxpayer some of his/her hard earned 
tax money?

 19.10.4. They do not need any more Financial Genius Master Type
 Criminals to manage their affairs.  Are there any more Lee Iacocca type
 people in that industry that could revive these sick Auto Manufacturing
 companies from their impending deaths?  Is Lee Iacocca still alive?  Can 
Lee Iacocca be drafted into the military and be assigned to head GM by the
 Government?  Lee Iacocca was a mechanical engineer that knew how to 
design, market, and manufacture automobiles.  He supposedly fought the Ford
 financial management tooth and nail to let him build the financially
 successful Ford Mustang.  Later in his career he was credited with saving
 Chrysler from their financial geniuses.  I believe that GM is managed
 financial geniuses that know how to drain company assets into their own
 pockets, and know very little about making automobiles.

 19.10.5. I guess that the US Government will not get the previous
 taxpayer billions of money out of the GM assets before all other 
creditors. The US taxpayer should have had priority over union retirement contracts,
 union benefits, union medical plans, bank mortgages, bond holders, 
preferred stock, medical benefits, etc. and other claims.  But maybe it is like the
 financial institutions and banks that got TARP money depending upon their
 political contributions to the congressmen controlling the distribution of
 who gets the free taxpayer earned money.

20.Home Mortgages:  Many people got loans for houses they could not
 afford, and these people should lose their houses in foreclosure.  The
 Federal Government might have pressured the Mortgage Markets to give
 mortgages to people with bad credit histories.  Financial Managers 
combined multiple numbers of these low quality loans into packages (of low quality
 loans) and sold them to investors at (almost) face value.  These Financial
 Managers got multi-million dollar (non-refundable) bonuses for their
 efforts.  As more and more of these sub-prime non-credit worthy mortgagees
 defaulted, the value of these packages of multiple mortgages diminished
 drastically.  The US Taxpayer is now being asked to pay for these 
financial
 mistakes.

 20.1. The California real estate values should plummet to a fraction 
of their present sales prices.  The $500,000.00 South LA crack house with a
 $495,000.00 mortgage, roof leaks, no air conditioning, and no plumbing 
owned by an unemployed person (i.e. crack cocaine supplier) might now sale for
 $15,000.00 and that might be closer to the actual retail market sale 
value. No more "Flipping Houses".  No more real estate financial geniuses.  No 
more get-rich-quick real estate seminars.

 21. Our Future:  We have met the enemy and it is us.  There is nothing
 more saddening or devastating than mass unemployment such as exists in
 countries such as Mexico or India.  I have visited Asia many times on
 Business.  Crime, family abandonment, divorce, selling your 12 year old 
(and younger) daughters to brothels, selling your 12 year old sons to rug
 weavers, and other bad things increase during these periods of 
unemployment.

 Our basic industries such as steel, computer chip manufacturing,
 petrochemical refining, appliance manufacturing, tire manufacturing,
 automobile parts manufacturing, aircraft manufacturing, textiles, and etc.
 have been decimated and/or totally eliminated from this country by
 government edict.  The North American Free Trade Agreement has almost
 eliminated the remainder of the basic industrial manufacturing jobs from 
the
 USA.

 21.1. The USA must re-industrialize.  Even if we started to
 re-industrialize today, it would take many decades to re-create the
 scientific, engineering, manufacturing and industrial production bases 
that we destroyed in the past few decades.  New environmental cleanup jobs
 created by the EPA are nice, but they are about as economically useful to
 our balance of payments and our industrial base as paying people for 
raking leaves, digging holes and re-filling the same holes, flipping hamburgers,
 selling insurance, etc. since they do not produce anything economically
 useful that we can consume or export.

 21.2. The arts are less important than food & shelter.  The arts are
 less important than security (Army & Police).  The arts are less important
 that the balance of trade that affects our value of our dollars.  The arts
 are less important than manufacturing products for export that will
improve our balance of trade position.  The arts must take a back seat to
 necessities.  We must set our spending priorities upon the basis of what 
is necessary, not what is nice to have.

22.     Selecting our political leaders:  I remember a guy named Ross 
Perot that looked like Alfred E Newman from Mad Magazine and talked through his
 nose.  He ran as a third party candidate against President Bush 41 and
 president Bill Clinton, I think that it was 1992 and he got almost as many
 votes as either of the major party candidates.  He had the right message 
but he was the wrong messenger.  He was also not attractive, and I sadly 
believe that a lot of the American people vote based upon looks more than
 intelligence or policy.  He had a lot of graphs and charts to indicate his
 points.  I remember him saying that "NAFTA will suck the remaining jobs 
out of the USA".  He might have been the last chance to preserve the US 
economy.


 22.1. I remember presidential candidate McCain stating something to 
the effect that he was not interested in economics during the first part of 
the 2008 presidential campaign after he was nominated, so I voted for 
President Obama, I respected McCain, but there was no other choice for the country.

22.2. Both political parties are responsible for the enormous foreign
 trade deficit, the even larger federal spending deficit, and for the Wall
 Street creation of our economic business mess.  Neither of the major
 political parties seems to understand the problem, and the solutions are 
so simple.

 22.3. Years ago engineers, medical doctors and their people also 
became politicians.  Jimmy Carter was probably the last engineer president.  Ron
 Paul is a MD.

 I have never participated in journalism, except for an occasional letter 
to the editor.  I am concerned that the political leaders of both (maybe all)
 political parties are leading this country to become a third world 
economy, if action is not taken rapidly.  Journalists must learn about economic
 principals and then become the saviors of this nation by publicizing,
 educating and/or preaching sound economic principals to the general 
public.Who else has the capability to disseminate this information to the general 
public?  Our political leaders are talking as if they never studied or 
readanything about economics.  It is not that complicated.  It is only
 interlocked with understandable causes and affects of various economic
 actions.

 I am a 70 year old engineer still working because I think that engineering
 is fun.  I have always been interested in economics since Texas A&M 
required this course for engineers, along with business law and accounting in the
 1950's.  The Economics lecturer taught preposterous lessons to the effect
 that no one had to work as long as long as we just manipulated the 
economy. The business law and accounting courses also benefited me greatly in by
 career.  I also cashed in my investments in the spring of 2008 and avoided
 the loss of assets that most folks endured when they listened to their
 professional financial advisors.

 Many of my (college educated) friends tell me that this modern economy 
needs the consumers who do not produce anything but sit idle and consume the
 things that the workers produce.  This is like saying that a slave needs 
an owner to sit idle and consume the things that the slave works hard and
 produces for the slave owner's consumption.  I believe that the slave does
 not need his owner.

 I thought that US citizens were special and that other people in other
 countries would happily work to make the things that we consume while we 
sit idle and consume the things that they made for us!

 When the people in foreign countries who are working to make the things 
that we consume stop taking the US paper dollars from WalMart, Home Depot, NTB
 and etc. to pay for the foreign imports that we consume, maybe the foreign
 manufacturers will take a bunch of plastic credit cards.  The US Indians
 exchanged some colorful beads for Manhattan Island.  The USA could create
 some brightly colored credit cards that might be attractive to the 
producers of the things than we consume.

 Why can't we just print more paper dollars, T-Bills, bonds and other paper
 securities and sell them to people in other countries that work to
 manufacture the things that we consume?  We can remain idle and refrain 
from working while our children work hard later to pay off these bonds and 
other debts at some later date when they become due.  Our children should be 
happy to work and pay for our privilege of not working.

Our Political Leaders must lobby loudly and become persistent in their 
quest for implementing at least an extremely high import tariff on all imported
goods, and repeal of the NAFTA, WTO, IMF, and maybe complete withdrawal 
fromthe United Nations.

If we want to rebuild our industries, we will need the funding to do it. 
Do you really think that China and Japan (our leading creditors) or any one
else will really give us loans to re-build our manufacturing capability?
Will Chinese entities become loan sharks after we sell all of our assets 
to the foreigners in return for our trade imports of the products that we
consume?  I just hope it is not too late already.

To restore America to economic health and prosperity, huge changes are
 needed in the very economic system that has created the problems.


 Gerald Spencer

 

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

END AUTOMATIC PAY RAISES FOR OUR REPRESENTATIVES!!! www.cagw.org

Posted by 5775:9-18-05

SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY

     In 1983  Social Security tax was increased to ensure solvency, every penny of the $1.5 trillion raised through that tax has been BORRWED & spent by our representatives. Social Security is suppose to be a trust fund yet there is not one cent in an account accruing interest.  This idea would benefit everyone who posts an idea or follow up on an idea as any money saved by any idea accepted would contribute to Social Security. This fund is suppose to be some sort of bonds, treasury bonds, but what are they worth? What is the dollar worth when it’s value is dropping around the world? The world is losing faith in the U.S. dollar and our economy!

 

     Maybe if enough people signed on to file a class action law suit against our government employees, past Presidents, Congress, U.S. Senate who have been in office from the time Social Security funds were first tapped into, including the $1.5 trillion from the 1983 tax increase we could save Social Security. End all retirement due to those who failed and they could collect Social Security instead of the retirement funds they get, the retirement portfolio Dubya compares with his privatization scam!

                

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

ELIMINATE FARM SUBSIDIES!

Idaho Statesman, 7-3-06, Land Yields federal payments with or without crops:

Crop subsidies to people who don't farm at all total $1.3 billion since 2000."They give all this money to land-owners who don't even farm while real farmers can't afford to get started. It's wrong.

Like the dairy industry: In the seventies & eighties small family farms were bought out with your tax $ due to corporate dairies contributed to your representatives. When the small family farms were gone the large dairies grew to pollute your water/well & air while sucking up your tax $ in subsidies.

Large dairies also sue power companies over stay voltage claiming it reduces milk production. This drives up power cost for the customers who pay taxes through subsidies, customers/taxpayers who pay representatives who give our tax $ away! Large dairies force power companies to work endless hours fighting law suits claiming losses due to stray voltage while dairies such as Dairgold, {pictured on the home page} dump thousands of gallons of milk on the ground, in many cases milk which had up to twenty days shelf life when brought back to the dairy! When I first started at this dairy we delivered milk with total 14 days shelf life, wholesalers now receive milk one day, two days later send it back for credits with twenty days shelf life remaining.

That's your money being dumped on the ground while large milk operations who get your tax $ in subsidies sue power companies driving up your power costs & dairy operations which supply milk to stores where you buy milk at never before prices. Deliver, pick up, then dump milk on the ground! Look at the home page. Are you being represented?

 

End the $190 farm bill, agricultural industry such as dairy have been wasting billions of tax $ for years. The dairy industry has forced many family farmers out while

 

Idaho Statesman, 8-11-05 Grain growers get the biggest serving of federal subsidies.

     In Nextrev.'s Chapter  on subsidies I show unbelievable waste in the highly subsidized dairy industry. It’s far worse than anyone realizes, while I show waste at one dairy, every dairy in the nation has the same problems and we’re, {taxpayers-homeowners} paying for it in more ways than one. These guys get the subs individual taxes pay for, waste billions as I show in America: Empire or the Greatest Lie Ever Lived, get the tax cuts & incentives individuals absorb, then don’t pay near the property taxes individuals pay. Corporations, Agri-business, & our representatives are making out like a bandit and we’re paying for it in so many ways we’re too broke to support the economy. Our representatives are failing and it’s costing U.S. a fortune. America is a mismanaged mess! Is it any wonder we have an $8 trillion debt? Why do we continue to pay these clowns {mis-representatives}to fail in every phase of the game? If you look at everything I’ve pointed out in this book you have to be an idiot to not realize what a mess our government has U.S. in!

  

Idaho Statesman: 9-4-05, Idaho leaders, milk producers oppose subsidy program. Idaho’s milk producers have received $39 million in federal subsidies under a three year old program scheduled to expire Oct. 1.

Who does your representatives really work for? Taxpayers or campaign contributors!

Posted By5775 on August 01, 2004 at 23:45:10:

     Before any politician can run for public office they must be bonded or insured at a minimum of $1 million on a city level, $10 million on the state level, and $100 billion on a federal level.

     You wouldn't hire someone to roof your house if they weren't insured or bonded! These $ amounts could be adjusted by individual cities, counties, states, or the federal is the people of the corresponding entity so decide. Why would you allow someone to represent you through the White House, Congress, U.S. Senate, State Legislature, or any city, county, state, or federal branch of government without some kind of protection? The very people you elect to represent you should pass bills and laws which protect the U.S. taxpayers-citizens against any mis-representation, accidental or otherwise resulting in misappropriation of funds resulting in waste, fraud, theft, or influence due to campaign contributions, gifts through the Washington lobby, or any outside influence!

     It should be written in the constitution to protect the interest of We the People & America as a nation. The Vietnam war & now the war in Iraq with no exit plan or plans for natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina prove We the People cannot sit by and let our representatives fail with a safety net.

     As individuals we are forced to have insurance for our cars, homeowner insurance would be a costly mistake should some one break their neck on your doorstep. Why do we allow our representatives to enter into public office with the support of campaign contributors who expect & receive tax cuts in return which taxpayers absorb? Taxes individuals absorb which force property taxes up, individual income tax, sales tax, & most all the taxes we pay while the corporations which contribute to campaigns to  our representatives,  {pennies on the dollar} enjoy the luxury of tax cuts which turn into huge profits. How many of our representatives invest in companies who's stock rise due to those tax cuts?

     I don't know of any insurance companies that cover this but I'm sure if enough people backed an idea such as this we could convince Congress to pass such a law to enact some sort of financial security put down by any politician before they can run for office. Any insurance would not be taxpayer funded as this would defeat the purpose.

    If I'm not mistaken, many of our representatives are rich with millions of dollars in properties and other assets. Bush &Cheney are millionaires who could no doubt come up with enough $$$ to be bonded! It is ridiculous to believe any millionaire would run for public office while spending millions of his or her own $$$ on a campaign when the office they run for offers far less a year in salary. While it is true our representatives accumulate a retirement and health care unmatched by their employers this is not the motivating factor for public office.

     Campaign contributions and gifts through the Washington lobby play a significant roll.  How much $$$ would a corporation willing to donate $1,000,000 to the republican party while $500,000 to the democratic party in the same election stand to gain in profits and would that be a benefit to any Congressman or U.S. Senator who had knowledge of the benefits a corporation would secure through such tax cuts or incentives? Pennies on the dollar, the price paid through a democracy evolved into a democratic dictatorship while young Americans die in Iraq in the belief they are promoting democracy while un-American corporations such as Halliburton with political affiliations with the White House & several of our mis-representatives. The sons and daughters of those representatives are NOT in Iraq, they don't work for minimum wage which our representatives hold down in the interest of the same corporations which contribute!

     Idaho is a good example of why this idea should be supported by the taxpayers. Boise, Idaho's former Mayor Coles and his sidekick, unlucky Lyman were removed from office for misuse of public funds. As it turns out they were traveling around the country on tax $$$ while entertaining female co workers.

     The Idaho Governor as well as legislature have failed miserably costing the taxpayers millions of dollars. The Boise Tower and University Place are just two examples! While being promoted by these representatives the taxpayer are continuing to pay in legal and other ongoing expenses. State Senator Noble in the following scandal.

     The latest in scandals in Boise is a really good one, true colors by one of our mis-representatives. Kuna, State Senator Jack Noble introduces a bill to change the way the 300 foot distance between schools and liquor distributors is calculated. This would allow the Jacksmart store, Noble owns in Melba, ID., to sell liquor. Currently the distance is property line to property line and Noble’s bill would have it measured from building to building allowing Jacksmart to have a liquor license. This was brought to the attention of the world by Dan Popkey in the Idaho Statesman and eventually brought before the ethics committee at which time Noble LIED through his teeth. After further investigation it came to light that Noble owed more than $10,000 to the state in sales and use taxes and $934 in unpaid unemployment taxes. Later it came to light that Noble is fighting a bank’s efforts to foreclose on assets for allegedly defaulting on $724,412 in loans. I could go on but I think it is clear what is going on in Idaho.

     There is obviously a conflict of interest in the Idaho Legislature. Term limits ring a bell? How long are the American people going to continue to allow themselves to lose money by elected officials who fail miserably through gross, proficient  incompetence & self gain at the expense of the taxpayer?

    Noble resigned! The ethics committee didn’t have the stones to do their job and only censured Noble. After it became clear he would be expelled as 25 votes were amassed, with more than the two-thirds of the 35 member Senate needed Noble handed in his letter of resignation. What I find interesting is the attitude of some of Idaho’s Senators. Some comparisons to the U.S. House of Representatives were made: 22 cases in which U.S. representatives have been censured, selling of military academy appointments, assaulting another member, bribery, & payroll fraud.

     It’s pretty damn clear to this taxpayer that the Senators of Idaho are shirking their responsibility!  This entire process has made it clear, term limits are in the best interest of the citizens of Idaho who voted for term limits! Voted in three times and upheld by the courts yet repealed by Idaho's honorable representatives?

     This all comes back to full disclosure! We the People need to demand full disclosure by our representatives, who they accept campaign contributions from, gifts from the Washington lobby, tax those as the $20 tax for every $1 contributed idea suggest. Next an investigation into how they vote and how those votes apply to contributors as well as how they are invested in the market. Is there a conflict of interest and is there insider trading? Had Jack Noble been a little more patient he could have worked his way up and been in a position to really make the bucks. A state legislator is child’s play, a stepping stone to wealth and a place among the POWER ELITE! You blew it Jack and you opened the door as Nextrev will use this to help expose the truth about politics in America. That is if the American people have the stones to back these ideas. I DOUBT IT BECAUSE THAT WOULD GO AGAINST THE GRAIN! That would be like standing up for yourselves and we all know the America people have it better than anyone in the world. This is the greatest country in the world. If for just one minute the American people would realize they could have so much more, you know, like what you pay for in blood, sweat, $$$, and tears!

     We're losing more everyday. Jobs, health care, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, $$$ for education, $$$ for veteran's health care, and more yet our representatives live a life unparalleled in that they are compensated whether they fail U.S. or not. Great salary, health care, retirement which we are losing as a result of their failing.

 

Two Ideas posted by Linda E on May 29, 2004 at 16:09:09:

  The first idea I have and have been writing and researching about is to IMPEACH Mr. Bush. I do not understand how our governmental body could go through the process for Mr. Clinton when all he was being accused of was lying about a sexual indiscretion. Well Mr. Bush has lied about much more than that and yet our governmental body does nothing?

: The most important thing I think we need to do besides that is get rid of the electoral vote. If every American knew that their vote actually counted. You can bet your American bippy that everyone would be lining in to do just that.

: I keep thinking about our forefathers and what they did prior to the Revolutionary war... like say the Boston Tea Party. It was a means of deliberate resistance and it did indeed get the governments attention. What if every single person in American called in sick and didn't go to work for a day. If we all just stayed home, didn't drive anywhere, didn't spend any of our hard earned money. Just shut the country down. I mean it turn off your radios and tvs and just stay home. But alas, with all the letters I have written to my Senators, and while they tell me they share my concerns, the latest legislation passed proves otherwise. At least I am thinking and pondering and sharing ideas.

: Linda E.

Posted by 5775 on August 17, 2005

   Investigation into our representatives, who contributes to their campaigns, and full disclosure as to our representative’s investments and relationship to their votes in Congress and the U.S. Senate!

     Included in this idea would be a law against all tax incentives, city, county, state, or otherwise so corporations would choose a location for reasons other than those tax incentives which are absorbed by the people who don’t work for those corporations!

     Idaho Statesman, 8-10-05: Dan Popkey commentary. Kempthorne feeds at firms’ campaign troughs. Dan writes, As we learned in May when I reported Kempthorne bounced checks to his hairdresser, Kempthorne struggles to live on $98,500 salary & $54,000 housing allowance. In 2003, he charged $22,356 to the campaign, $33,169 in 2004, & $15,079 in the first six months of 2005, a total of $70,604.

   In the past decade, Idahoans have seen their total property taxes grow from less than $700 million to $1.1 billion. Income taxes raised $979 million, $878 million from individuals, $101 million from corporations!

     Property taxes: $461.3 million from owner-occupied residential homes. $327.2  million from commercial & industrial properties & equipment. $240.9 millions from rentals & other residencies not occupied by their owners. $50 million from utilities, railroads, & others with “operating property.” $47.4  million from agriculture. $10.6 million from timber. & $3.4 million from mining.

     I find it interesting that corporations, agriculture, timber, utilities, and all the other subsidized industry pay less in taxes while enjoying profits in the millions & billions as CEO salaries too often reflect. Contribute to campaigns, get tax cuts & incentives along with subsidies, then pay as little per hour wage as possible to the individuals who absorb the tax cuts & incentives, individuals pay the wages of the representatives who award these corporations tax cuts and incentives.

      Insider trading would be the conflict of interest I believe as damaging as any when it comes to our representatives. How do our representatives invest and do the companies they invest in contribute to campaigns or through the Washington lobby. America needs to do a very in depth investigation into our representatives, where they invest along with how each one votes on bills and laws & how these companies they invest in profit from those votes. Would Congress investigate and would they find anything? HELL NO!! What are the American people going to do about it? NOTHING???!!! “There’s nothing you can dooooo.” I can almost hear the laughter coming from the White House, Congress, U.S. Senate, & every industry in the nation making a fortune while we, {taxpayers} lose our ass paying for it all.

      Do terrorist have an ally in this democracy? Our President started a war while no doubt heavily invested in oil, making a fortune along with Cheney & corporate buddies at the expense of Americans dying in Iraq and paying for it all here in America.

      Tax incentives, local and federal government are all about tax incentives to bring manufacturing to where ever. While this may seem normal or business as usual simply because it’s done everyday it appears a little corrupt to this taxpayer. Who contributes to campaigns and who gives gifts such as vacations to our representatives? Corporations! When our representatives, local or federal give tax incentives so that businesses locate in the U.S. or a certain city what are the real benefits and who pays? Who absorbs the taxes when incentives are given to a corporation for coming to town? These companies and our mis-representatives spout out about job creation but what are the consequences?  

     Idaho Statesman: 8-7-05 Drug researchers leak secrets to Wall Street firms. Some firms gave key clients data and stock advice.

     This article makes it clear we have a problem. Trade secrets, just doctors and Wall Street? Sorry, it runs a little deeper. If doctors and financial groups are making $$$ in the market you better believe you representatives aren’t giving tax cuts and incentives just so you can have a job! Read on, the idea about drug research and your tax dollar idea should make the average taxpayer think. Your tax $$$ gets the ball rolling and then the research is handed over to drug companies like Bristol-Meyers.

     Idaho Statesman: 7-29-05, Bristol-Meyers profits up; AstraAeneca CEO retires. Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co.’s profit soared 91 percent in the second quarter helped by a one-time tax benefit, while sales growth helped push up earnings at rival drugmakers AstraZeneca PLC by 50% & GlaxoSmithKline PLC by 7%. Bristol-Meyers said it’s earnings rose to $1 billion, or 50 cents a share, in the April-June period from $527 million, or 27 cents a share, a year earlier.

     91%, give me a break! Who made money on this scam? Tell me it wasn’t any of my representatives. This is too easy to track, too easy to investigate. If I weren’t working 55 to 60 a week driving truck for the dairy industry which is subsidized up the wazzoo with tax $$$ while I write of waste and what looks like scam after scam in waste, kickbacks, transportation, & warehousing with pictures of  dairy products sitting next to garbage on 100 degree days & in contaminated trailers I would do an investigation myself!

     Idaho Statesman, 8-16-05 Price of wholesale drugs rises twice as fast as inflation. Pharmaceutical industry says AARP uses ‘fuzzy math.’

     Recently the CEO of Micron, Steve Appleton in Boise, ID., made the pitch to local government for tax incentives or Micron may locate in Europe or Asia. American taxpayers are fighting terrorism all over the world yet these companies would suggest they move out of country if they don’t get tax incentives to stay. The same Americans who pay the taxes these un-American companies evade are fighting terrorist, dying to make America and the rest of the world a safer place. Why would any American support a corporation that would locate out of country for profit if they don’t get tax incentives which that same American taxpayer absorbs while fighting terrorism?

     Every penny every taxpayer in this nation spends goes to job creation just the same as Appleton’s claim. I buy gas, it creates jobs in that industry which has reported profits by Exxon up to 44%. State workers with the dept. of roads have jobs due to the same spending and it flows throughout the nation in other related fields. I buy bread, milk, food of any kind and it crates jobs throughout the agricultural industry which as a taxpayer my tax dollar supports through subsidies. Do I need to go on?

      Do you suppose terrorist see the irony or unpatriotic profiteering by these U.S companies? Do terrorist love the allies they have in U.S. corporations who bleed the American taxpayer while sending U.S. to war? Do terrorist love the allies they have in our mis-representatives? This is a double edged blade for American taxpayers, we can’t win. We work for companies who buy our representation and if they can’t make enough money they leave the country which in turn hurts America again by taking jobs and money with them. We buy the products these companies produce which translates into profit for these companies. Outsourcing promoted by our mis-representatives. We support the nation through taxes we pay, including taxes these companies don’t pay, do the work, buy the products, pay our mis-representatives, and in all reality prostitute ourselves out to the same people and corporations who are ripping us off.  We send our loved ones to fight and die so these companies can exist and make billions of dollars.

     Idaho Statesman, 3-30-05, Micron earnings up, employees to get bonuses.

     Recently Micron went begging the Idaho legislature for tax breaks, incentives or they may not build a new facility in Boise, ID.  Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron in Boise made the pitch shortly before 3-3-05 when this article came out knowing Micron was predicting a 14 cent per share increase which actually turned out to be 17 cents a share, or $118 million according to this article.

     Now you have to ask yourself WHO has shares? Does the governor? State Legislators? Employees? Steve Appleton???!!! Other Micron Officials???  Read on.

    Just after legislature passes the bill Micron announces a bonus to employees, $12 million worldwide! Micron’s  11,000 Treasure Valley employees could get bonuses averaging more than $600 which could help the Treasure Valley economy? Idaho chief economist Mike Ferguson predicted some of that bonus money would find it’s way into the retail sector of the local economy. I wonder how much MORE the other half a million people living in the Treasure Valley will have to pay in property taxes to offset Micron’s buy out of our representatives who WE PAY-THEY PAY OFF???

     I could go on forever but would anyone catch on. Insider trading by our representatives in return for tax incentives and tax breaks, taxes We the People absorb while going to war based on lies. War in which our own president and vice president promoted based on lies and then gave no bid contracts to corporations they either once worked for or are invested in. Tax incentives and tax breaks to corporations that contribute to the campaigns, {both parties}to ensure their man wins the election. Where does your president and vice president invest their money? Wouldn’t be in companies who not only contributed to campaigns, sent your representatives on vacation through the Washington lobby, or gave information as to how stock would do should tax breaks or incentives came to be would it? Maybe America needs a full blown investigation.

     I once read that Alan Greenspan doesn’t invest in the market to avoid the conflict of interest it would pose. His wife invests in the market but not the chairman of the Federal Reserve. How is it that our representatives, including the president and vice president are allowed to invest and if they do invest why aren’t We the People demanding full disclosure? If our representatives are making money in the market after giving tax breaks and incentives to companies they’re invested in while taxpayers who aren’t invested in these companies absorb the taxes evaded through this insider trading We need to have that investigation!!!

     Micron isn’t the only company benefiting from the tax incentives, all told the tax incentives to billionaires adds up and We the people absorb those taxes! Chris Thompson of Nampa, ID. has the right idea as he wrote in an editorial.

      Micron, go to Korea! Thompson points out that these large businesses are resource hogs-water, sewer, power, landfill, and millions of vehicle miles over inadequate local road systems. Citizens get shorted on capacity and later we have to develop more capacity to serve our private needs.

     Corporate America has a much larger responsibility than it’s own bottom line, no matter what they say. If they can’t make it on merit, then they failed. That goes for Micron, Simplot, and the government all sacking the American consumer hard for profits/taxes. The limited local resources have been inadequate for everyone for years, with no infrastructure improvements and reservoirs empty every year. This is playing too close to the line from our leadership.

     How large are Boise and Southern Idaho going to have to be before these vitally important needs are addressed? If Mr. Appleton has his way, it’ll be a lot longer.

     It’s good to see someone who cares a little bit about the community in which he lives and knows the politicians and un-American corporations don’t give a damn about U.S.!!! I only hope Chris finds this book and gets on Nextrev. in support of ideas I know he would agree with. As far as I’m concerned all the corporations who don’t like America and can’t make it without begging and placing the tax burden on the same people who go to the wars based on lies by the same representatives who give tax incentives while investing in those corporations. They can all go to Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, China or hell for that matter because they would send America to hell along with the American people through their greed!!! Go then Micron, you'll be replaced & we’ll elect real Americans who will tax you to death should you want to import your product back into America!

End all retirement for past and present government representatives. They aren't willing to save Social Security and the
only way they will is if We The People put them in a positions of saving their own retirement as it will be Social Security!
Repay all the $ borrowed from Social Security with the 50% of taxes saved from ideas.


1. About $1.4 trillion was counted in the trust fund and OWED to Social Security by the government in 2003.
2. Social Security's projected shortfall over the next 75 years is $3.5 trillion.
3. The Social Security Office neglected to state in this letter just how much gov. owed Social Security at this time or just how gov. plans to pay back the money it owes!!! Is the money gov. owes included in the $7 trillion deficit and if so why NOT??? Does the U.S. gov. use the same creative bookkeeping Enron did and are the American people being misled as were the employees of Enron who lost their savings?

 

my 2 ideas

Posted ByBilly on June 03, 2004 at 01:21:24:

1) Nothing will change in this country till we terminate our relationship with the zionists. Confront the Christian Right with the Karaite Jews who hold to the Tanach (the God inspired OT) who emphatically reject zionism and consider the nation state of Israel to be illegal. The zionists use the Talmud (traditons of man). I don't think the rapture crowd knows this (Taalmud v Ot) and it should make a difference to them.

2) Get everybody to agree to not show up to vote!

The Impending Crash

Posted By Glen on June 03, 2004 at 01:19:55:

While our government and the ultra rich manipulate the stock market, the working man (or woman - must remain PC) is about to see another Enron-style crash in his hard-earned 401K. The baby boomers are retiring and the transfer of wealth is taking place. Our future, if the present course remains true, is bleak. Mounting national and personal debt are financing a paper mirage that grows thinner each day. The great depression that began soon after the stock market crash of 1929 will be paled by the economic nightmare that lingers over the near horizon. The government has used the interest rate reductions, war and other economic stimulus to push the problem into the future and thus force a future administration to deal with the mess. We are all to blame for allowing our elected officials to patch up problems now without regard for the future consequences. At some point we are going to have to face the crisis. And at some point we are going to have to change our ideology and doctrines to make decisions not just for today but for tomorrow.

Problems to work on immediately

Posted By Mimi on June 03, 2004 at 01:16:29:

Problem one: The corrupt voting machines. Who cares how the people vote as long as
they get to count them.

Problem two: Why did NORAD fail on 9/11 and why was the head of NORAD promoted
instead of court-martialed?

87 billion dollars

Posted By Jose Romero on June 03, 2004 at 01:13:43:

It just really pisses me off to see that our government can come up with 87 billion dollars for a shit hole country. When there are millions of people in this country with out health insurance, jobs, a decent education and a million of other problems which are stacked up in a pile and forgotten. Now its starting to stink and people are noticing. Don't be afraid to speak your mind! I WILL NOT BE QUIET ANYMORE!

 

Re: 87 billion dollars

Posted By Peter on June 03, 2004 at 01:14:54:

In Reply to: 87 billion dollars posted byJose Romero on June 03, 2004 at 01:13:43:

: It just really pisses me off to see that our government can come up with 87 billion dollars for a shit hole country. When there are millions of people in this country with out health insurance, jobs, a decent education and a million of other problems which are stacked up in a pile and forgotten. Now its starting to stink and people are noticing. Don't be afraid to speak your mind!!! I WILL NOT BE QUIET ANYMORE!!!

you're right

Posted Bysky on June 03, 2004 at 01:12:58:

You're right. No one speaks out because they are scared. It's sad. I wonder where the true men are, like in centuries past who would rise up and do something when situations get out of control like this. Like our forefathers and the Boston Tea Party. They risked life and limb. But now our men are too busy watching football and other sports and sitting in front of the TV, totally brain dead after spending long hours slaving in the corporate system I guess. I hope some of them come out of the TV induced coma soon or all will be lost.

 

 

Posted by 5775 on 8-17-05

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM: $20 TAX ON EVERY $1 CONTRIBUTED!!!

     Tax campaign contributions and all gifts from corporate un-America and the rich who buy our representation through the Washington lobby $20 for every $1 contributed or gifts such as vacations. This may not stop the sell out of America but we may as well set a price on our representation. Who do those politicians work for?

     Idaho Statesman, 11-18-04: Counties want to limit aid to illegal immigrants.

     This article makes it obvious that our representatives are failing and have been failing far too long when it comes to our nations borders. There are too many miles of border to patrol, that’s the line our representatives use to cover their loyalty to campaign contributors. The Idaho Association of Counties is working on a bill for next year’s legislative session that would allow county governments to reject applications for indigent medical care or reimbursement when they are made by undocumented immigrants.

     How stupid is this? How many years have the American taxpayers been footing the bill for illegal immigration. Wasn’t the WTC attack bad enough along with the promotion of illegal immigration by our mis-representatives to create cheap labor for campaign contributors? Now the fact that we’ve NEVER had any legislation preventing benefits and services for illegal immigrants adds to the 9/11 failures by our representatives. If our representatives were so irresponsible to let our borders open I would have thought they would have had some laws against allowing our taxes to take care of every illegal immigrant who needs health care while bleeding the taxpayers to death. Health ins. cost and prescription drug cost out of control, 45.8 millions Americans without health insurance. How many of our representatives take $$$ in campaign contributions from drug companies? What kind of person accepts $$$, a fantastic salary from their employers and makes a fortune doing the worst possible job by promoting illegal immigration, outsourcing, allowing 9/11 by doing nothing when the warning are brought forward years earlier, and then goes to war blowing Iraq to hell based on lies???

     The bottom line here is that our mis-representatives are failing, have been failing for years and not only have NO ideas as to how to stop illegal immigration or cover cost created by it but are profiting by it! These so called representatives have created this immigration problem along with the un-American corporations who contributed to their campaigns and sent them on nice vacations because they didn’t want to pay a living wage, promoted illegal immigration to the point it has become a burden on the American taxpayer whose jobs were stripped in favor of those illegal immigrants !!! It’s way past time for those who are responsible to foot the bill!

      Joseph W. Felts has opinion about NAFTA and other free trade agreements as written in editorials upcoming but what good are they. What good does it do to have that opinion, write an editorial, call your representative when your representation can & has been bought?

     If anyone reading this doesn’t have the intelligence to get online and support this idea, send email to the White House & your representatives referring too this site then I suggest you send information allowing a direct deposit from your payroll to these mis-representatives as it would save a lot of hassle. They sure would appreciate it if you just send your money, quit whining, bend over, & take it like a man!   Terrorist would also enjoy the support in financing their cause!

     It’s finally happening, too late but they’re trying.  Minutemen, www.minutemanproject.com  will try to plug holes in U.S. border! It’s almost unbelievable that after all the years of job loss and tax $$$ lost that these people would finally get together and try to stop illegal immigration. I hate to break it to them but they are wrong! Not wrong in what they’re doing or trying to do but wrong in the way they are going about stopping illegal immigration. Just think for a second as to why we have illegal immigration and who brought it on. The rich, corporate un-America and our mis-representatives! If the Minutemen want to do something about illegal immigration go to the source of the problem. Going to the border won’t stop it. The profit from illegal immigration will drive the flow just like illegal drugs. How long has America had a war on drugs? Stop it in Arizona and it will move to New Mexico, stop it in New Mexico and it will move to California. These 500, 1,000, or however many people, minutemen, would be time & money ahead to get on Nextrev., support this idea and or go to Washington and start something. Protest and bring others from all across the nation on board. Turn that 500 into 5,000, 5,000,000, and make the rich who created this problem & our mis-representatives who sold out the American taxpayers pay in other ways. Cut their pay and retirement!  Make those responsible pay for a solution and restore good paying jobs to Americans!!!

     I respect their ideas and plan but they can’t win. They’ll waste time & money and never get the results they want while corporate un-America will continue to promote illegal immigration because it saves them a fortune and our representatives won’t help because it isn’t in their best interest either. What’s best for We the People isn’t what’s best for the power elite and the power elite have a damn site more influence in Washington than We the People!

   

     Idaho Statesman, 7-11-05, Vasquez’s latest tactic could set trend. If using RICO Act helps stem illegal immigration, others could try it. Sue local businesses that hire illegal immigrants, using a federal law that was created to fight the Mafia.  RICO-{Racketerring Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act.}

     This taxpayer finds it damn strange that not one of our representatives in the White House, Congress, the U.S. Senate, state legislators, or the INS has come up with this idea. I guess if I were taking campaign contributions and gifts from the corporations who hire illegal immigrants I would be a little reluctant to suggest suing my contributors.  If I were also being paid a fine salary along with health care and that fine retirement as mentioned earlier I might also be a little reluctant to bring this up also as it would spoil the other very lucrative part of the equation I have going for myself. Corporations who I invest in through the stock market & who I’ve made a fortune in the stock market on wouldn’t be very appreciative and I would be losing $$$. Who cares about those taxpayers, idiots!

     Well guess what, I think the gig is finally up! If the American people have the stones! People dumb enough to say something stupid like, “there’s nothing you can do” or “it’s worked for over two hundred years” won't get it done. We the People will continue to lose our ass & the world now knows, it’s all out in the open. Republicans & Democrats along with their corporate buddies can explain it to U.S.! Lie if you want, lie to the taxpayers, lie to yourselves, lie to the world, lie to your wives, but don’t lie to me! I Know what is going on & I’m not about to fall for any lies as the book is written & I’m standing on my experience as an American taxpayer who has paid for this crap for the past 30 plus years. I watched my parents struggle through life raising seven kids and I’ve watched this entire country struggle. Vietnam killing 58,000 Americans, then struggle through one scandal after another while the American people still say, “there’s nothing you can doooooo!” Bullcrap! I’m doing it and in the Nextrev. book,  America: Taking on the Corporation & The Best Representation Money Can Buy. In the epilogue of America: Empire,  I’ll print the first few pages of the next book, you’ll find it entertaining and interesting as I stand up to the corporation I work for! I won’t be working for this company long as corporations can’t have someone willing to stand up to their abusive bullshit. Power trip, control freaks who brown nose their way up the corporate ladder abuse the American taxpayer,{employees} through our employment while our representatives stand by and allow it. I won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect and through these books and Nextrev., with the help of the American people we’ll set this country back on track!

 

The WasteBasket: A Weekly Bulletin on Government Waste

 

Vol. VII No. 5 February 1st, 2002


IT IS TIME FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

Anyone serious about cutting wasteful spending and subsidies should support reforming our campaign finance laws. This is a leading way to reduce the influence that wealthy special interests have over Washington.

The heart of this reform is limiting the impact of "soft money" on elections. Not directed to one specific candidate, each year millions of dollars are donated by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals to the national and state party organizations and on independent issues advertising campaigns.

The current soft money system benefits only the special interests and punishes both middle-income and lower-income Americans. Soft money is at the core of the corporate welfare giveaways that cost taxpayers billions of dollars. The pernicious influence of big money permits special interests to advance their agendas in Congress and at the White House -- too often at the expense of ordinary taxpayers.

Over the past several decades, the use of soft money contributions has snowballed out of control. Special interests often spread money around to all sides so that they can guarantee their voice in the legislative process regardless of who wins the election or which party holds a majority in Congress.

A quick look at the soft money contributions during the 1999-2000 election cycle reveals that 980 organizations gave $100,000 or more to the Democratic and Republican parties. Countless special interests hedged their bets by contributing equally to both parties. For example, Enron, whose political influence has come under serious scrutiny of late, gave $532,565 to the Democrats and $1,138,990 to the Republicans. Northwest Airlines, who has recently knocked on Congress' door asking for a bailout contributed just short of $1 million dollars, splitting it evenly between the Democrats and Republicans.

These contributions buy special interests a disproportionate amount of influence over the lawmaking process. At the very least, a $100,000 check does an excellent job at opening the door to a one-on-one meeting with a powerful lawmaker during which special interests can advocate irresponsible spending.

Each year, industries benefit from billions of dollars in handouts from the federal government. The energy sector contributed nearly $65 million in individual, PAC and soft money donations to federal candidates and parties in 1999-2000. Coincidentally, energy legislation passed in the House in 2001 included $62 billion in subsidies to these same corporations that financed the campaigns of the lawmakers who wrote the subsidies into law. During the 2000 election cycle, agribusiness made over $20 million in soft money investments, and stood to receive more than $170 billion over 10 years from the Farm Bill passed by the House last year. That's a better investment return than an Enron executive selling off their options.

Last year the Senate passed a landmark campaign finance reform bill, which is a positive step toward limiting soft money contributions. On January 24, the final four signatures were added to a discharge petition to force House leadership to stop blocking campaign finance reform legislation from coming to a vote on the floor. This step brought our country closer than ever to real campaign finance reform.

Reforming our campaign finance system to stop wealthy corporations and individuals from having a disproportionate amount of influence is long overdue. Passing a strong campaign finance reform bill that limits soft money contributions is a step in the right direction.

 

 

 

www.whitehouseforsale.org

     Look at this site and do the numbers. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters? Why? The president of the United States of America can do more for anyone willing to contribute than any old ghostbuster! This & the following information is off the White House for sale site, you decide if it’s fact and if so would a $20 tax on every $1 contributed do anything to ease the burden on the American taxpayer who is absorbing every penny evaded by the people and corporations including foreign interest who buy our representation through contributions.

     The next pages include a partial list of Super Rangers, contributors, & other information about breaks given to special interest. Give me a break, I pay 40% and more of gross income but as a U.S. citizen I have to watch my government sell me out to anyone with the $$$ to buy my employees who I pay very well! The next few pages add to the situation. If www.whitehouseforsale.org  is a legitimate site and the numbers are fact We the People need to get on line and support them & a $20 tax on every $1 contributed!!! Look at the partial list of bundlers??? Bundlers my ass, liars, cheats, and thieves! That includes Bush and Kerry!

     Contributing to both parties as I have pointed out before, in an election to ensure their horse wins! If that fact doesn’t tell the American taxpayer something I guess nothing will. Why would anyone contribute $2,300,000 to Kerry and $6,100,000 to Bush as Elected Officials/Civil Servants did? Does the fact that elected officials and civil servants, our employees if I’m not mistaken contribute to presidential candidates tell the taxpayer anything?

     It makes this taxpayer wonder if my tax dollar is being contributed by my elected officials & civil servants to my elected officials, including the president to ensure higher wages, health care, & retirement for those employees while they piss away all the same pay & benefits, Social Security, Medicare, outsource jobs, jobs lost to illegal immigration, and so on for their employers-US?!

     It appears obvious that our politicians, all the way to through the White House are giving away everything We the People are dumb enough to let them! We do nothing while being taken, worse, we send young Americans to die while the power elite profit!

Bush Rewards Rangers and Pioneers with Recess Appointments

Throughout his first term in the White House, President Bush has consistently rewarded his biggest financial supporters with special favors, insider access and prized federal appointments at home and abroad. Last Friday, President Bush quietly appointed major fundraisers as ambassadors to the Bahamas and Estonia as well as to two positions on the board of directors of the Inter-American Foundation.

The four Rangers and Pioneers were among 20 “recess appointments” announced by the president on July 30. By making these appointments while Congress is not in session, Bush bypasses the Senate confirmation process. All the appointees will serve until the end of 2005.

According to analysis by Public Citizen, nearly one of every five of Bush’s elite fundraisers in the 2004 or 2000 elections has received a presidential appointment. At least 173 Rangers and Pioneers (or their spouses) received appointments ranging from jobs in the executive branch to positions on federal advisory boards to spots on the Bush-Cheney transition team. This tally includes four cabinet secretaries and 29 ambassadors.

 

Bush Appointees Gut Air Quality Rule and Give Congress

False Information about the Consequences

The Bush administration has gone to great lengths, even so far as giving false information to Congress, to gut a clean air regulation opposed by electric utilities – an industry that funneled $4.8 million into Bush’s 2000 campaign, according to Public Citizen’s new report EPA’s Smoke Screen: How Deception of Congress, Campaign Contributions and Political Connections Gutted a Key Clean Air Rule.

Documents and discussions with former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials reveal that Bush appointees made untrue statements to two Senate committees when asked if a weakened New Source Review (NSR) rule was expected to jeopardize lawsuits against electric utilities accused of modifying coal-fired plants in violation of NSR. Contrary to what senators were told, EPA staffers had concluded that the new rule would undercut enforcement cases that had the potential to reduce air pollution from  U.S. electric utilities by 50 percent annually.

As early as May 1999, the electric utility industry’s trade association had urged members to make bundled donations to the Bush fundraising machine. That arm-twisting bore fruit in August 2003, when the EPA issued a new NSR rule that could shield electric utilities from billions of dollars in fines and compliance costs at their coal-fired plants.

 

 

 

 

Bush Profits from the Medicare Drug War

In the final push for Medicare prescription drug legislation, the pharmaceutical industry, HMOs and related interests spent more money and hired more lobbyists in 2003 than ever before, according to The Medicare Drug War, a new report by Public Citizen. The pharmaceutical and managed care industries spent a combined $141 million last year. Drugmakers and HMOs hired 952 individual lobbyists in 2003 – nearly half of whom had "revolving door" connections to Congress, the White House or the executive branch.

Drug industry and HMO executives and lobbyists also rank among President Bush’s elite fundraisers. Twenty-one executives and lobbyists achieved "Ranger" or "Pioneer" status. These Rangers and Pioneers have collected at least $3.4 million for Bush so far. In addition, two of John Kerry’s biggest backers were lobbyists on the drug industry payroll in 2003.

Corporate Cronies

The Bush administration, on behalf of some of its biggest financial backers, has worked to delay and debilitate a reform measure that would hold CEOs and corporate boards more accountable to their shareholders.

On October 14, 2003, after a series of corporate scandals, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally introduced the so-called shareholder access rule, a modest reform measure that would make it easier for concerned investors to place their own nominees on a company’s board of directors. More than a year later, the rule still hasn’t been approved by the SEC.

Fifty-three senior executives from corporations opposed to the rule qualified as “Rangers,” “Pioneers” or “Super Rangers” – the honorary titles given to big-money bundlers who have collected at least $200,000 or $100,000, respectively, for the Bush campaigns or $300,000 for the Republican National Committee (RNC). These rainmakers personally rounded up at least $8.3 million – probably much more – for Bush campaign efforts in 2000 and 2004.

     If these people, CEOs, corporations, & politicians We elect and pay very well to sell U.S. out through corporate influence worked half as hard at making the economy work for We the People, save Social Security, Medicaid, make health care affordable, keep prescription drug cost down, and so on We the People would have more money to spend on the economy resulting in profits for these dead beat companies. Un-American corporations who have all but eliminated the American work ethic for easier $$$ through the corruption of our political system. These companies would see all the profits they need if they quit cheating the taxpayers who pay the elected representatives who We pay very well! Corporations and elected officials who take an oath to this country yet America is in a war based on lies so these companies can make billions more, not only off the America taxpayer but the very countries they claim to be saving from themselves. The world is not as stupid as the American people, they can see the truth as they are not so close and they can see the manipulation the American people are lulled into through the very democratic form of government we would shove down the throats of others.

     I’ve written quite a bit about trucking milk and other products from one state with the same products back and for between each other. Does it occur to anyone in this country, while the U.S. is the largest consumer of oil, {while at war in what many believe is all about oil} that we have allowed the transportation industry to all but eliminate the rail system in favor of trucking? A rail system which could haul  millions of tons of product from one end of the country to the other and back while eliminating thousands of trucks form a highway system overloaded with unnecessary hauling if managed in an organized, efficiently run system rather than profit for corporate un-American sell out of the American people by our employees, {representatives.}

     The government of this nation is controlled by corporate un-America to the point we are at war half way across the world while these corporations who buy our elected officials, {White House all the way down to local government} can profit and do so at the expense of the American people who are literally dying in Iraq, patriotically???

 

Abolish The Federal Reserve

Posted ByDenise M. DiPasquale on June 04, 2004 at 13:55:33:

Abolish the Federal Reserve which has a strangledhold on Americans and American wealth.

The Federal Reserve is NOT a government agency but a private entity owned by a few very wealthy families and their practice of fractional reserve banking has put a choke hold on ordinary Americans.

Usuary interest rates keep them fat and rich and ordinary Americans in poverty. We don't need the Federal Reserve - we don't need usuary interest rates.

I Say It's Time for Folks To RISE UP in the name of Righteousness!

Posted ByRC on June 04, 2004 at 13:54:56:

I know that not everyone believes in God. I don't have a problem with that. We each have that right in this country, to believe in whatever faith we choose, or to choose not to believe in anything at all.

But as a Christian, as someone who believes in & follows Jesus Christ, I get more & more pissed off every day at the so-called Religious Right, so I'm calling them out here & now.

Conservative Christians, who have dominated nearly all public discussion of faith & God in this nation for the last 2 decades, whose representatives occupy our Congress & Senate, whose pundits can always manage to get their faces on t.v. to complain about QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY or other equally meaningless aspects of America’s leisure viewing habits, who are forever pointing their judgmental fingers at anyone whose behavior they regard as 'sinful' or 'ungodly' -- none of these so-called Christian leaders have said A SINGLE WORD about the wickedness in high places that is rapidly leading to the economic collapse of this country. The Pat Robertsons haven't said boo against the greedy bastards at Enron who nearly bankrupted CA by manipulating electricity prices last year. The Tony Perkins/FRC crew hasn't spoken a word about the demons running WorldCom, who put thousands of people out of jobs & destroyed their pension funds (ditto for Enron on those counts as well). If these robber-baron corporations ever actually get fined, the politicians in Washington will simply pass laws that allow them to write off their fines as business expenses. The rich White men who did this should be in prison, but to date, they are still free even though they are de facto criminals; “Even a child is known by his deeds, by whether what he does is pure & right” (Proverbs 20-11). Yet no one in the Christian community has stood up to denounce them.

None of these so-called Christian cronies of Bush’s has called him out for what is about the be the largest single transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in U.S. history, once Congress hands him $87 billion of OUR MONEY -- YOUR MONEY!! -- which Bush will then to pass on to Bechtel, Kellog, Brown & Root & Dick Cheney’s old employer Haliburton to ‘rebuild iraq.’. (BTW, according to the Congressional Research Service, Haliburton has already overcharged the U.S. guvamint $250 million for gas purchased from foreign countries for distribution in Iraq. Yeah, that’s the way them Texas good ol’ boys do thangs. You can read more about it here: http://www.commoncause.org/action/action.cfm?artid=85&topicid=17 ) ALL of these companies were MAJOR COMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS s who paid Bush’s way into the Whitehouse & paid his cronie’s way into the House & Senate, so they could make sure that $87 billion gets approved.

WAKE UP, AMERICA!! 9-11 WAS NO ACCIDENT -- it was the power elite's opening salvo in their final war against the American people & poor people all over this planet! 9-11 was Bush's justification for all the steps he & our so-called leaders have taken to hijack our constitutional rights, then rob us blind, all under the guise of "National Security/the war on terrorism/rebuilding Iraq/making the world safe for decocracy”.

And the corporate-controlled media merely served as Bush's message-bearers, banging the drum in lockstep rather than questioning the status quo & reporting on what was happening behind the scenes. Rather than serving as the Watchdog of Government that the press was created to be.

It’s all of a piece, you see. Every time you turn on the news, another huge corporation announces plans to lay off thousands of workers, so it can ship those jobs overseas, while unemployed American’s are facing financial ruin. And these companies are NOT in financial difficulty – THEY HAVE BEEN ENORMOUSLY PROFITABLE FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS! Sheer greed is the only justification for their actions. And our Congress, rather than fining corporations for every job they send abroad, allows them to import foreign workers under H-2A visas so they can take the jobs that should be going to Americans!

Do you think all this things come to be by accident? It’s all of a piece. Call it NWO, call it the Illuminati, call it the Power Elite – it’s all the same scheme. And it’s about to roll over all of us like a big-ass Humvee.

God warns against such avariciousness repeatedly in the scriptures:
“He who impresses the poor to increase his riches & he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty.” (Proverbs 22:16)

And God admonishes Christians to be at the ready to fight against such evil: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephasians 6:12-13)

Yet these so-called Christian leaders don’t seem to have a word to say about the “rulers of the darkness’. And it pisses me off, big time. I say it's time for folks to RISE UP IN THE NAME OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Actually, Bill Moyers interviewed someone the other night who says it much more eloquently than I ever could. You can read that interview here:


http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_hough.html

Posted ByJoe Sixpack on June 04, 2004 at 13:57:11:

1. IF 90% OF ORDINARY TAX-PAYERS REFUSE TO PAY IN 2003, WE WILL HAVE A BLOODLESS REVOLUTION-THE GOV. WILL BE FORCED TO LISTEN.

2. IF 90% OF THE POPULATION IS ORGANIZED IN EVERY STATE WE CAN END THE POWER OF THE LOBBY IN WASHINGTON. HOW? BY CAMPAIGNING AGAINST SENATORS REPRESENTATIVES IN EVERY STATE THAT REFUSES TO REPRESENT THE VOTERS INTEREST.

 

 Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

END AUTOMATIC PAY RAISES FOR OUR REPRESENTATIVES!!! www.cagw.org

Posted by 5775:9-18-05

SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY

     In 1983  Social Security tax was increased to ensure solvency, every penny of the $1.5 trillion raised through that tax has been BORRWED & spent by our representatives. Social Security is suppose to be a trust fund yet there is not one cent in an account accruing interest.  This idea would benefit everyone who posts an idea or follow up on an idea as any money saved by any idea accepted would contribute to Social Security. This fund is suppose to be some sort of bonds, treasury bonds, but what are they worth? What is the dollar worth when it’s value is dropping around the world? The world is losing faith in the U.S. dollar and our economy!

 

     Maybe if enough people signed on to file a class action law suit against our government employees, past Presidents, Congress, U.S. Senate who have been in office from the time Social Security funds were first tapped into, including the $1.5 trillion from the 1983 tax increase we could save Social Security. End all retirement due to those who failed and they could collect Social Security instead of the retirement funds they get, the retirement portfolio Dubya compares with his privatization scam!

                

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

     PUT A CAP ON CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES! 6% with 1% going into an account to help reduce health insurance & prescription drug costs.

 

     The amount of interest paid on many credit cards is 18 to 22%! Why??? Who owns these credit card companies, banks, insurance companies, & other un-American black holes responsible for most of the bankruptcy in America? Who are the major investors in these companies? Are your representatives investors? Reading the newspapers it’s obvious the American people are overextended, bankruptcy is the reward for hard work and paying your taxes in America!!!

Credit card companies sent out 6 billion solicitations through the mail in 2005, 27 to each adult in the US. The average American has eight cards & the average household in many states has a $10,000  credit card debt. The US Post Office is funded by US, taxpayers, not Visa, Master Card, or Capitol One. Postal rates are on the rise with more junk mail everyday.

Capping credit card interest rates would benefit the taxpayer in more ways than one. Most working Americans don't get paid holidays postal workers get & I'm sure if researched there would be other advantages to capping credit card interest rates, bankruptcy for example.

Campaign contributions are a direct benefit to terrorist & our mis-representatives an ally!

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

PAID HOLIDAYS: EVERYBODY OR NOBODY!

 

     Why do we the people as employers pay employees several holidays we the people as employees don’t get? Across this nation there are millions of people working for city, county, states, & Federal government who enjoy holidays the of U.S. don't get yet our tax $ pays for these holidays.

     With billions of $ going to a war based on lies with no exit strategy, & failure by the same administration in shortsighted leadership as with hurricane Katrina we need to make some adjustments!

 

     The 2005 inauguration is a perfect example of government waste and government employees being paid when not working. I read somewhere that the inauguration will cost the taxpayers $66 million dollars. Does that include everything? Why would we inaugurate a president when he is re-elected? As if Bush was elected the first time! Look at all the money we would save in eggs not being thrown at the President should we forego this elaborate waste of time and money while America is going bankrupt!

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05                                                      

END FEPP PROGRAMS AS WELL AS OTHER GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS STARTED YEARS AGO AND NEVER ENDED.

     The FEPP program I worked at while employed by the Nebraska Forest Service through the University of Nebraska is a perfect example. This federal excess property program started in the early sixties had outlived its original purpose years ago but was and still is kept running at taxpayer expense. This program is kept running to siphon tax $$$ by using a budget which could be eliminated but like so many budgets spent to get the same amount appropriated the next year!

 

     This program was one of the reasons that made me decide to start www.nextrevolution.net While employees were ripping off the taxpayers and hundreds of thousands of tax dollars were lost, stolen, sold, while employees sat on their asses or worked on personal vehicles the representatives of Nebraska including State Senators, U.S. Congressmen, U.S. Senators, USDA, University of Nebraska, Nebraska State Auditor, Nebraska Governor, and the list goes did everything in their power to keep the taxpayers of Nebraska from finding out the truth! It made the lead story on channel six news only to have a follow-up which helped cover up the whole mess!!!

 

The boss was stealing gas, driving his personal vehicle forty miles one way to work on Monday, leaving his vehicle sit all week while driving a state vehicle, burning taxpayer fuel and then driving his personal vehicle home on Friday with a full tank of taxpayer provided gas. Employees sat on their butts for 3 to 4 hours a day watching TV while being paid along with benefits. Employees working on personal vehicles while at work being paid by the taxpayers. Employees, at home drawing pay as if at work. Banking sick pay which theyreceived 25% of at retirement. Stealing and selling federal excess property. Using state equipment, semi & ten thousand pound forklift to move personal property from one family farm location to another for relatives over fifty miles from the FEPP shop. State employees being paid by the taxpayers to move property with state equipment for the supervisor’s relatives! If an accident would have happened and someone would have been killed or injured the state, taxpayers would have been sued!!!

 

     Two complete 6x6 trucks, federal property disappeared and had to be written off. Employees of similar programs in Iowa and Kansas were prosecuted and sent to prison for similar offenses in their programs according to my boss who was doing the very same thing.

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

PASS LAW TO TRACK U.S. CORPORATIONS EXISTING & EXPANDING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES! Tax them accordingly to offset the taxes they evade along with the $20 per $1 tax on campaign contributions and gifts through the Washington lobby!

     If these corporations don't appreciate what Americans do in fighting for the freedom we enjoy in America, leave!

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

SEND ADDITIONAL $400 PER CHILD TAX CREDIT TO EDUCATION!

     With property taxes ever on the rise send the $ parents enjoy in the addition per child tax credits to education. I work with a guy who is single, no kids who pays thousands more in taxes than married couples and more yet than married couples with children. Why does a single person pay more while using less in tax supported programs such as public education.

     I also work with a guy who has nine kids, this guy pays far less taxes than the single guy yet his nine kids use tax supported programs to the tune of thousands of $ every year.

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

     DEMAND A FAIR PRICE FOR TAXPAYER FUNDED RESEARCH FROM DRUG COMPANIES, DISCLOSE STOCKHOLDERS, WHICH COMPANIES, AND HOW MUCH THESE COMPANIES CONTRIBUTED TO WHOM IN THE FORM OF CAMPAIGNS AND THROUGH THE WASHINGTON LOBBY!

 

The American people need to get online and support sites like Taxpayer for Common Sense. They are fighting to eliminate government waste and need your support. Bring these sites into public education to make people realize how they can generate $ for education.

 

The WasteBasket: A Weekly Bulletin on Government Waste

SEARCH ARCHIVE BY ISSUE : BUDGET

Vol. VIII No. 24 June 12, 2003
NIH PHARMS OUT PROFITS

Taxpayers invest tens of billions of dollars in drug research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) each year. It's generally a wise investment because NIH researchers can undertake the cutting edge and risky research that drug companies don't have the guts to do on their own dime. When NIH makes discoveries, it hands over its research to the private sector to develop and market the drug, but unfortunately gets little more than peanuts in return.

When researchers from the National Institutes of Health developed the cancer-fighting drug paclitaxel, they were doing more great work to save lives. However, scientific success turned into fiscal failure when pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb was allowed to charge exorbitant prices for the product it would market under the name Taxol, while paying just a pittance back in royalties for the taxpayer-funded research.

The story of Taxol, as told in a recent General Accounting Office report, is achingly familiar to observers of NIH. Researchers, heroes really, begin testing plant species for anticancer activity as early as the 1950s. They notice that extract from the bark of the yew tree works against tumors, and other scientists eventually isolate the paclitaxel and figure out how it prevents cell divisions. NIH conducts the clinical trials and proves that paclitaxel has potential. But since NIH cannot legally produce or market drugs, it enters into a transfer agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1991, after 30 years of research. Under the deal, the corporation takes all of NIH's research, finishes the clinical trials, markets the drug, and prices it autonomously. NIH ignores its own rules that require the company to show evidence the drug would be reasonably priced. For their troubles, NIH and the taxpayers get a measly 0.5 percent of sales as royalties, even though NIH's rules allow royalties of 5 to 8 percent.


Then Taxol takes off, becoming the highest-selling cancer drug in history and earning $9 billion for Bristol-Myers Squibb off of its $1 billion investment in development. People afflicted with breast, ovarian, and certain lung cancers as well as AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma benefit from the new treatment… if they can afford it. In 2001, Bristol-Myers Squibb charges between $1,000 and $2,000 per dose for Taxol! America's taxpayers lose twice, because NIH receives only $35 million in royalties for its $484 million investment in research, and Medicare pays $687 million for Taxol from just 1994 to 1999. Even though taxpayer money funded Taxol's discovery and much of the research that would make it marketable, Bristol-Myers Squibb charges Medicare roughly $500 more per dose than it charges private doctors.

NIH claims that it was not in a good position to negotiate with Bristol-Myers Squibb because paclitaxel could not be patented, was not guaranteed to work at the time of the agreement, and was very specific in the way it targeted cancer. Nevertheless, Bristol-Myers Squibb could and did receive a five-year monopoly on the drug-which it extended for more than three years through a series of lawsuits against generic manufacturers, for which it was ultimately sued by 29 U.S. states. As evidenced by its subsequent enormous success, there was clearly a market for Taxol. The negotiations failed largely because NIH is overwhelmingly concerned with esoteric research to the detriment of concern for the bottom line.

This is the process of technology transfer, where federal taxpayers subsidize drug research for multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies, and get minimal financial returns. NIH has the dual mandates of conducting research to develop necessary medicines by undertaking the expensive and wide-ranging research the private sector won't touch and to get the drugs on the market at a reasonable price. In the case of Taxol, it failed at the latter. It also has an obligation to the taxpayers to recoup some of its expenditures in royalties. There is no reason why NIH should not profit from its research on an incredibly profitable drug. That money could be reinvested in more NIH projects to develop groundbreaking new drugs and would save the taxpayers valuable money in these lean budget years.

To date, NIH has only recouped seven percent of its initial investment, while Bristol-Myers Squibb and its investors have enjoyed a 900 percent return. NIH also failed to ensure that the drug would be priced fairly and that all federal programs would receive a discount. Clearly, NIH didn't push as hard as it should have in negotiations and the result is its investors, the taxpayers, are stuck paying more than they should for a drug they developed.

For more information, contact Keith Ashdown at (202)-546-8500 ext. 110 or keith@taxpayer.net

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA & TAX IT!!!

     While alcohol is promoted throughout the U.S. it is reported that drunk drivers kill someone every 32 minutes. How many people were statistically listed as killed by pot last year? Our tax $ pays police to patrol, arrest, jail, a court system, and supervise convicted drunk drivers by the thousands costing billions of dollars.

     Tobacco has caused countless people to die & or have health  costing U.S. billions of $ while individuals are awarded millions in settlements in some cases. Second hand smoke a major issue in America yet another legal killer.

     We also see our police, courts, & society spend billions as nonviolent crimes involving pot cost U.S. billions with no way to recoup any of that $. Medical Marijuana is an argument in itself.

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

DON’T TAX OVERTIME!

 

     Tax people for the hours they work at their hourly wage, $8 an hour for 40, 50, 60, or however many hours they work and let people keep the half time paid in overtime. This would allow people to keep and spend more of their own $$$ which in turn would bump the economy.

At $8 an hour, time & one half would be $12 an hour, tax people only on the $8 an hour allowing them to keep the other $4 an hour after 8 or 40 hours. Minimum wage is below poverty level and holds America down. Government holds minimum wage down using the excuse small companies couldn’t make it if minimum wage is any higher. This is a bold lie promoted by rich, corporate un-American companies who are moving out of country for cheap, slave labor or promoting illegal immigration. Our mis-representatives have been promoting illegal immigration for years in return for campaign contributions which has brought poverty & crime to America while these companies pay their CEO’s millions of $$$. Once again I wonder how much our mis-representative make from stocks they’re invested in by holding down minimum wage, giving tax breaks, and promoting illegal immigration so corporations and the rich can make more $$$.

     The economy would get a boost from people spending $ they work over time to earn, ease the burden on people earning lower wages by allowing them to keep more of what they earn. If we need to make up for it tax the corporations and CEO's who have been evading taxes for years, taxes these same hourly wage earners-taxpayers have absorbed!

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

ELIMINATE THE 10%, WHEN PEOPLE HAVE TO CASH OUT OF RETIRMENT FUNDS BECAUSE THEY’RE LAIDOFF OR UNDER OTHER HARDSHIP SITUATIONS!

 

     Allow people who are laid off or have family emergencies to draw on their 401k or other retirement funds without paying the 10% penalty. Many layoffs are due to NAFTA or outsourcing, {U.S. companies moving out of country for cheap labor.}

Don’t allow this for voluntary or seasonal layoffs.

     President Bush and the rest of our so called representatives do more for people of other nations then for the American taxpayer whose tax dollar is the aid our representatives give away. It was recently reported Social Security will be available to illegal immigrants along with amnesty while the American people who pay into Social Security may never see a dime. Billions are spent on foreign aid while 37,000,000 Americans live in poverty & 45.8 million Americans have no health insurance.

      While employed we’re a valuable asset, as a taxpayer government makes money off of U.S. but are forgotten, or worse when our job is lost due to government selling us out. Paying 40% of gross income is no different than paying protection or your pimp. Americans are prostituting them selves out to our mis-representatives, corporate un-America, the power elite!!!

 

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

END TIPPING AND RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO A LIVING WAGE!

 

     People who work in food & many other service areas depend on tips while wages may be as low as $2.25 an hour. Many tips go unclaimed and who can blame these people as in slow times the tips aren’t there and their check isn’t enough. Promoting tax evasion is foolish as it is also promoting poverty. The average American doesn’t understand the process and doesn’t have any way to fix the problem, until now. www.nextrevolution.net!

     I wouldn’t really expect some poor bastard making $20,000-$40,000 a year to care. It’s called survival. What choice do the American people have? I’m only trying to make a point by bashing these poor fools who are manipulated into poverty while supplying the best for their elected sellouts and allowing corporate un-America to bleed you out through lies! The American taxpayer is conned into becoming a liar. Corporate un-America and politics are the model. Other wise honest Americans are forced to cheat on their taxes in order to survive because they are absorbing corporate un-America's tax evasion through the representatives of people those same taxpayer provide a fine salary, health care, & retirement while those same taxpayers lose more of the same every day!

This ideas suggest eliminating tipping and setting a wage according to what people in service worked claimed  in the previous years as income. If someone was cheating on taxes, not claiming all their tips their wage would be less than they actually made the previous year.  However many 401k retirement plans these people can contribute to are based on $2 or $3 an hour wages, tips not included. In many cases there is no 401k & Social Security is the retirement plan.

What I suggest along with this ideas is to continue to allow tipping should a patron feel the service was deserving. NO taxes on those tips! Realize many people wouldn't tip but any tips would no longer be tax evasion and people in service work would be making a consistent wage, no weeks or months without a descent check. Employers would also have to guarantee a 35 to 40 hour week. No free ride to employers by taking advantage of loyal employees.

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

Tax income from private parties which make millions & promote illicit sex. 

     Does anyone think the money that passes from these private parties is taxed? If so just how do they report the income? Tips? An hourly wage? Services rendered? Does anyone reading this have any idea what goes on at these parties? It ain’t a church social and there are big bucks, {pardon the pun} involved! There isn’t a fraction of the money in strip clubs and private parties spent and earned in Idaho, Nebraska, or most states as compared to Nevada. Nevada, if I’m not mistaken doesn’t have state income tax due to gambling yet states like Nebraska and Idaho are tapping into the Native America casinos for money. Nevada was one of the top ten states in bankruptcy per household, 1 in every 42.9 house holds files bankruptcy! Gambling but No state income tax, bankruptcy and tipping up the wazzoo! As if We haven’t stolen enough from the Native American people we have to tax them when they come up with new way to make money, {gambling} but do we tax the billions of $$$ lost through good times in Nevada? Don’t get me wrong, I like bars, beer, strippers, and good times as much as the next guy but I’m tired of paying the taxes everyone else evades. I’m like most Americans, I don’t mind paying my taxes but not four times my share so others don’t have to or can profit XXX 10!

 

     You have to give these people credit, they’re making a living the best way they know how and making a fine living at that. I have nothing against these people & they’re no different than anyone else who evades taxes, our government forces them into it. Our government makes otherwise honest Americans crooks by overtaxing the average working class into bankruptcy while giving tax breaks to corporate un-America in return for campaign contributions and gifts through the Washington lobby in return for inside information in the stock market. Look at the construction business, billions lost through illegal immigration as contractors cut corners, hire illegal immigrants no differently than meatpacking plants and the entire agricultural industry. The $190 billion farm bill verses government susidized training programs in the fast food industry while the turnover rate negates any training. TAX dollars given in return for campaign contributions!

 

     It’s all over the place and the average American taxpayers, honest Americans doing the right thing pay the taxes evaded by corporate un-America, strippers, construction workers, back yard mechanics, body shop workers who also scam insurance companies, service workers who don’t claim tips, and the list never ends. It’s all to blame on our mis-representatives who are living like royalty on our time while pissing away our Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance, prescription drugs, wages, jobs, well hell, AMERICA! That’s right, our mis-representatives are pissing away the entire nation and We the People are letting them do it. We’re so apathetic that we cheat on taxes rather than stand together and put government in their place, working for U.S.!!!

 

 

 Posted by 5775: 9-18-05

TAX BOOZE AT A HIGHER RATE &TEST PATRONS BEFORE THEY ARE SOLD ALCOHOL!

      For some reason government has jumped all over tobacco but booze is OK, Wrong! We had our war against alcohol and lost the first time but it doesn’t have to work that way this time. Tax it like cigarettes! People are driving drunk all the time, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people every year. Some people compare cars to guns, and some people make the argument that more people are killed by cars than have died in Iraq. Ted Kennedy ring a bell? Good arguments to raise taxes on alcohol. Lobbyist from alcohol companies throw a fortune at our representatives, in return innocent Americans die everyday! There’s your representatives again making $$$ on the death of taxpayers.

Some states have control of alcohol dispensaries, Idaho for example was reported to have increased sales by over $7 million a year through state run dispensaries. Conflict of interest? How is it the state along with city and county  pay police to patrol, arrest, and pays the courts to prosecute drunk drivers and then jails convicted drunk drivers? Who is paying for all this while the state claims to be making $ to offset taxes from the sale of booze? Like religion in politics the state has no business selling booze while taxpayers pay to arrest and penalize people who drink the booze sold by the state.

Idaho Statesman, 2-22-06 Oregon approves liquor discounts. Liquor Stores can offer discounts to customers who buy more by the bottle, state legislators have decided.

Does this headline say anything to the mother of a child killed by a drunk driver? Was the tax relief created through state regulated dispensaries worth the sacrifice? Ignorance doesn't discriminate. Allowing our representatives to create cash cows at the expense of taxpayers in the belief they are getting tax relief is a joke. Poor management by our representatives is the only reason we need more $ to run city, county, state, & federal agencies.  Government is failing and compounding their failures with foolish liquor discounts which promote drunk driving while the taxpayer pays for police, jails, courts, & more. DEATH!

How much $ is contributed to our representative's campaigns by the alcohol industry? Why is tobacco targeted while booze is promoted? Colleges, universities are a breeding ground for alcohol abuse while second hand smoke is labeled the killer!

Jim Clark of Boise, ID. recently wrote an editorial, Idaho Statesman, 12-13-05.

Raise alcohol taxes. Jim explains the last time there was any change to Idaho Tax code to impose a higher tax on beer was in 1961. The rate is 1.4 cents per 12 ounce can.

The time a change on the tax of wine was 1971. This tax varies with alcohol content. Jim also explains why there has been no tax code changes. In his opinion our lawmakers are in the pocket of brewers/wineries.

According to Jim Idahoans consume 27.1 million gallons of beer & over 5.3 million gallons of wine annually. Jim suggest raising taxes by 5 to 10 cents per can of beer and 30 to 50 cents per bottle of wine to be directed to be directed toward education.

While Jim suggest this would help with education funding & teacher salaries he doesn't take it as far as I would. I imagine a two hundred word limit in the Statesman's editorials has a little to do with that. Jim also suggest calling our representatives and demand an increase on alcohol tax as with cigarettes.

Something  Jim doesn't get into is property taxes. Idaho as most states has the problem Jim points to in lack of funding for education. Idaho like most states has another problem and that is out of control personal property taxes while the breweries /wineries/ & all business which contribute to campaigns evade taxes we as personal property owners absorb. This is why the American taxpayer & our economy are losing. Our representatives who we pay a fine wage, retirement, & health care we as their employees are losing more of everyday are giving US away to the highest bidder.

If booze is taxed at higher rate & that cost is not passed along to the consumer taxpayers will benefit! The people and corporations making money need to pay their taxes just as we the people pay our taxes. Booze is way over priced, cut the cost to the consumer and make the amount cut from the cost the tax paid. Distribute it to city, county, and state to ease taxes paid by the people, many who don't drink. Education would be a good place to send this tax as it would ease property taxes which have gotten way out of hand.

 

Eliminating Waste Within Schools

Posted By Nebraska Taxpayers on June 04, 2004 at 13:58:28:

The following suggestions were sent by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, {www.netaxpayer.org}. In the e-mail
Doug Kagan wrote they wanted no reward and to use their suggestions as I see fit. I'm posting this idea
to benefit the taxpayers of Nebraska should any or all the suggestions be acceptable
by the people of Nebraska and any other state in their efforts to cut cost in education.
If accepted the 5% savings from cutting cost in education would go to the taxpayers of Nebraska.
I leave distribution of those savings to the taxpayers of Nebraska through taxpayers suggestions
with www.netaxpayer.org and not Ne. Legislature, Gov., or any other elected representatives.
People have to realize these ideas don't make policy, people have to Post ideas, follow up on ideas,
send e-mail to their representatives in order to show support of ideas and force their representatives to
do the job they were elected to do.
Nextrev. can't work unless the taxpayers of this nation realize their responsibility doesn't
end at the voting booth. Our representatives in reality represent the people and corporations who pay
for campaigns and gifts given through lobbyist. These people realize the people of America are of
the mindset that there is nothing an individual can do about the way Government operates.
Nextrev. was created to prove otherwise, only the people can make it happen!

NTF Worksheet. OPS43.doc. 10-03.
NEBRASKA TAXPAYERS FOR FREEDOM WORKSHEET:
SUGGESTIONS FOR “PRIME CUTS” TO THE BUDGETS OF NEBRASKA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
.
1. end elementary school guidance counselor and student personnel assistant staffing. Historically, teaching staff served as counselors. OPS response: will consider this policy question.
2. eliminate career counselors in all schools.
3. end the school psychologist program. OPS response: needed for special ed classes. Rule 51 from Dept. of Education mandates this program.
4. have school districts share personnel, like superintendents or art teachers.
5. have 2 schools share 1 principal.
6. trim the number of assistant principals. OPS response: will consider it.
7. eliminate the job category of dean of students. OPS response: will consider it.
8. eliminate K-12 curriculum specialists and allow teacher teams to deliberate and decide on teaching materials.
9. reduce the number of teacher aides.
10. find volunteers to replace paid teacher aides.
11. use paraprofessionals instead of teachers in cafeteria duty.
12. consolidate secretarial staff into fewer secretarial pools.
13. institute an annual performance assessment audit system of business operations and administrative functions to pinpoint insufficient accounting, waste, and excess spending. Examine the cost, efficiency, productivity, service levels, output, and business practices of all non-educational support functions. Look for overly high costs because of overly generous labor contracts with benefits, excess use of supplies, underused assets, and poor management. Each dept. should have performance measures reported and evaluated monthly to see if performance is improving. Hold accountable managers of programs or departments that do not show improvement. An independent accounting firm could gauge how efficiently OPS budgets its funds.
14. perform budgeting and accounting in conformity with accounting principles general accepted in the U.S. in addition to reporting requirements prescribed by the NE Commissioner of Education.
15. examine budget trends to identify areas where expenditures have increased at higher than average rates. Determine reason(s) for the increase and figure out how to reverse the trend.
16. end the Student Assignment Plan, resulting in decreased teacher and support staffing levels. OPS response: the entire school board supports the assignment plan.
17. delay expansion of the elementary magnet school system. OPS response: will consider it.
18. curtail or end voluntary reassignment and magnet school busing to save on fuel and other transportation costs. OPS response: see item #9.
19. end the practice of busing kids all over the district and use the savings to supply academy schools with books, supplies, and teachers. OPS response: will consider it.
20. offer free transportation to only students who live further than 4 miles from school, the state mandate, instead of offering free transportation to students who live over 1.5 miles from their home attendance area. This suggestion would cut OPS and contracted services transportation costs. Contracted transportation rose over $300,000 for FY 2002-2003. OPS response: will consider it.
21. taxpayers see 1,2, or 3 kids on a bus. Examine the efficiency of bus routing.
22. require bus drivers to do pre- and post-route inspections and report small repair and maintenance needs in advance.1
23. sign longer term contracts for fuel, like the City of Omaha. OPS response: it buys fuel at lowest price, but only so much is available and only so much storage capacity available. OPS buys natural gas at field price.
24. lobby to end the state mandate that prevents school districts from expelling students in specific circumstances.
25. bargain tougher on collective bargaining contracts to gain more authority to hire and fire teachers and staff.
26. limit extended-year teacher contracts.
27. bargain tougher on employee contracts and make employees pay for a greater percentage of their health care premiums (most government employees pay at least 30%) and other benefits. Health and dental care is free to all full-time OPS employees. After 4 years of service, they pay only 40% of family coverage.2 Benefits FY 2002-2003 totaled 18.78% of the general fund budget (p.41) and rose 9.49% in 2003. OPS response: it is a state problem, because Commission on Industrial Relations sides with teacher unions at impasse or when an accusation that the district is not bargaining in good faith.
28. increase the deductibles on low-risk insurance policies.
29. compare insurance coverage with the fixed asset and controlled asset inventories and set coverage based on actual need.
30. cap school district contributions to employee health benefits.
31. investigate savings in managed health care insurance initiatives. OPS response: will consider it.
32. institute performance and merit pay programs for teachers and staff to cut the inflationary rise in salaries and benefits. OPS response: a CIR problem, because it ruled against Crete School District doing it.
33. provide incentive for high teacher attendance to discourage absenteeism, e.g., bonuses, item on performance appraisal.
34. pay substitute teachers less money; OPS payments are as high as those in California.
35. join a workers compensation coop with other districts to cut costs by reducing premiums.
36. lobby to terminate the Rule of 85, which allows teachers to retire sooner and take their pensions plus salaries and benefits from new jobs in the same field.
37. end or trim travel for staff enrichment programs. Such workshops, conferences, and meetings cost $547,309 projected for FY 2002-2003, a 15% increase. OPS response: will consider it; has curtailed travel, but staff will not keep current and need professional development. May send fewer people. Federal mandates involved: No child left behind.
38. pay staff development providers to come to the district to offer training, cheaper than paying employees to travel.
39. reduce teacher training days.
40. end or cut travel for board members to out of state meetings.
41. insist upon receipts for all reimbursements given staff and teachers.
42. compare administrator travel allocation with actual mileage.
43. offer superintendents new or revised contracts in accordance with state education regulations, e.g., no more than a 3 yr. contract. OPS board gave Supt. Mackiel a 5 yr. contract.
44. eliminate the KIOS Radio station. OPS response: will consider it.
45. eliminate drivers education courses.
46. eliminate school-to-work programs.
47. expel violent and other students evidencing extreme discipline problems and save on instructional costs.
48. use a portion of the $40 million (it varies) in cash reserves, an amount more than sufficient for emergency funding. OPS response: budgets this money for use until April (12 ½ % of general fund). This solution would be temporary; OPS could lower the percentage. Dept. of Ed rule prohibits spending cash reserves from year to year.
49. lobby to end Dept. of Ed rule prohibiting spending cash reserves from year to year.
50. invest reserve cash in higher-yield investments.
51. use restricted categorical funds to meet general fund requirements.
52. return to phonics and other basic instruction, cheaper and significantly better than whole language methods. Fewer students would have to enter special education classes. OPS response: provide documentation.
53. accept private advertising in printed materials. OPS response: already done in individual schools.
54. accept private advertising in buildings and on vehicles. OPS response: kids should not be billboards.
55. allow private companies to sponsor school sports teams.
56. contract with private companies for payroll processing services, if a vendor could accomplish this function cheaper.
57. outsource printing and other office work to private companies. OPS response: doing some now, but outsourcing is more expensive.
58. accept used computers from companies that are updating computer systems. OPS paid $3,000 apiece for new laptops, $1,350 per desktop computer. OPS response: already doing it in some instances.
59. pay a stipend to people at each school to do computer troubleshooting before sending techies to make repairs. Have staff who attend computer training train other teachers, saving training costs.
60. assign district web site development and maintenance to students, saving personnel costs.
61. consult private business volunteers, like retired business people, to advise on budget efficiencies that control costs and expenditures. OPS response: send OPS their resumes.
62. issue special cards to senior citizens in the district, entitling them to free entrance to all sporting and other events, then buttonhole them to volunteer.
63. standardize purchases of office machines, like photocopiers, and thus keep a smaller supply of parts and train staff to repair only 1 kind of machine.3
64. lease instead of purchasing office equipment.
65. examine all records management procedures to eliminate paper storage. Storage space is expensive.
66. share document managing equipment with other school districts.
67. distribute lists of special equipment needs to the PTA and community groups and businesses at beginning of each school year, asking for pledges of these items.
68. join other school districts to order textbooks, computers, and other higher-priced educational materials in large volume at discounted prices. OPS response: already doing it, as in joint email system purchases. Metro Omaha Ed Consortium.
69. textbooks represent a major investment for a district, so Internet ordering would allow for buying and delivering texts quicker while slashing shipping costs.
70. establish a computerized inventory system to identify the location of each textbook, using fewer employee hours.
71. joint purchasing with adjacent school districts for fuel and transportation equipment like tires.
72. join food-purchasing coops with neighboring districts to guarantee food purchases at lowest cost.
73. participate in state surplus property program to buy needed items at low cost.
74. establish a central warehouse for school districts as a depository for equipment and supplies. OPS response: doing it with Ralston School District; other districts fear annexation.
75. form inter-district agreements to purchase legal services, liability insurance, property insurance, trash removal service, and supplies and materials, as these costs have skyrocketed.
76. close examining use of custodial supplies will show major differences in quantities used by schools of similar size, meaning some schools are better at utilizing supplies than others. Manage better.
77. design a direct delivery process with vendors that reduces administrative time used to purchase supplies and cut delivery time to 1 day. As employees will understand that they can get quick deliveries, districts will not have to buy supplies far in advance and maintain huge inventories. In a typical district, ½ of supplies are directly used and ½ sit on shelves. A managed inventory and supply system could reduce the amount of inventory by thousands, releasing monies for other uses.
78. urge your lobbyist to lobby state senators to end unfunded state mandates and lobby the State Dept. of Education to end mandated regulations, e.g., budget, curriculum, staff training, and transportation requirements. OPS response: good idea.
79. use lottery grant money for basic curriculum needs instead of for school museums, etc. OPS response: must change law, because grant money cannot fund basic curriculum. Governor ended current grants.
80. budget monies to pay for classes that OPS must legally teach, excluding some or all classes outside this scope and unnecessary services like positive peer culture programs. OPS response: Dept. of Ed Rule 10 mandates some of these classes.
81. end unnecessary classes in sewing and crafts with accompanying teacher salaries and use this savings for core curriculum textbooks, supplies, and salaries.
82. end pre-school programs not mandated by state or federal law. OPS response: uses Title I federal grant monies.
83. end early childhood non-special education.
84. end all-day kindergarten.
85. end the summer music program and summer sports activities. OPS response: these classes self-paid. The state legislature mandates remedial summer classes.
86. eliminate classes with low student registration or hold such classes only in alternate years.
87. increase class sizes to shrink the number of teachers and staff required. OPS had a 15-1 student/teacher ratio in 2001.4 Dr. Eric Hanuschek has authored several treatises showing that increasing class sizes does not hinder learning. Now, there is 1 staffer for each 7.6 students in OPS.5 OPS response: will consider it; bring studies to board.
88. discover ways to attract home-schooled children to public school.
89. cut or end advertising costs that boast of OPS excellence. OPS response: show board an example of booklet.
90. end the OPS outreach marketing program that mobilizes support for public education. OPS response: not familiar with it.
91. end the employee assistance program. OPS response: it is a state mandate.
92. end membership in national school board associations. OPS response: will consider it.
93. sell for recycling old desks, chairs, equipment, and playground materials. OPS response: it does this through auctioning process.
94. conduct annual inventories to reduce loss of school property. Investigate missing assets and prosecute those who steal school property.
95. require employees to sign accountability forms for equipment assigned them and hold them responsible for missing items.
96. send home parent newsletters via email or post them on the school Internet web site, with paper copies mailed only upon request. Same with breakfast and lunch menus.
97. make sure only eligible children participate in federal school breakfast and lunch programs. The USDA estimates that $1 billion in free lunches annually feed children ineligible because of family income exceeding federal guidelines.6
98. conduct energy audits in every building and implement a comprehensive energy conservation plan.. Turn off display lights in vending machines. Buy energy efficient lighting and fixtures.
99. seek donated land from developers during the planning process for selection and purchase of sites for schools and facilities.
100. clean classrooms every 3 days instead of every day.
101. pay only fair market rates for renting properties and space.
102.lobby for and allow implementation of charter schools, which are cheaper to operate with lower per pupil cost.7
103.consolidate school districts in which per-student spending is higher than the state average, saving millions annually.
104. prioritize your budget cutting, cutting student programs last.

Research and documentation for this worksheet done by Doug Kagan and Lee Mimms. This material copyrighted and notarized by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, with express prior permission granted for its use by Taxwatchers, Inc., Citizens for Local Control, Dawes County Taxpayers, and other groups in the Tax Freedom Network. 10-03 C

 

 Consolidate government.

Posted by 5775, 1-31-06

We don't need representatives in every city, county, state, & on a federal level. Not that I'm promoting Nebraska's unicameral, a single house state governing body but why do most states require a two party, two house, government?

More times than not this creates delays& wasted time and $. A two party system is foolish in itself as it doesn't support democracy. With air travel,computers, the internet, and more the world is smaller than it was 50 years ago. Utilizethe technology and eliminate unnecessary cost.

Far to many government agencies overlap. Representatives in every city, county, state, & on a federal level are not necessary and create corruption. Too many of the same problems carry over and don't need to be hashed out time after time in every city, county, state, & on a federal level.

The dairy industry is a good  example in that every state has been influenced by agri-buiness, corporate farmers, & so on through lobbyist. Over the years small family farms have been pushed aside due to this influence costing taxpayers billions of $. The dairy industry has moved across the nation polluting air and water forcing small dairies out of business while reaping the spoils of tax $ in subsidies. After forcing the 20 to 50 cow ma and pop dairies under the large dairies which enjoyed our tax $ is now suggest our representatives eliminate subsidies which would force the 100 to 500 cow dairies under.

Far too often milk is being trucked from one state to another off loaded and reloaded only to be trucked back to the state it came from. Competitors pass each other on the road when dairy products could be traded, bought and sold rather than trucked. This would save $, gas, diesel, & possibly lives in Iraq & on the highways of this nation. America being the largest usurer of petroleum, with a war in Iraq in which Americans are making the ultimate sacrifice, billions in tax $ wasted and stolen, we need leadership in eliminating this sort of waste.

With an oil man in the White House we need to look at this conflict of interest in future elections. This gets back to full disclosure!

 

Certify and register anyone in web design & other computer repair.

Posted by 5775, 1-31-06

Far too many people claim to be computer techs with knowledge of web design and other services. I personally have had to deal with this scam. Incompetent and crooked fools claiming knowledge they don't have should be eliminated from the equation.

Idaho recently required contractors to register with the state to protect individuals from fly by night and crooked operations. The computer & electronic world is ever changing and requires more oversight to prevent scams no different than the construction or any other business. Everyone likes a better deal but many times the better deal turns into a raw deal.

This would require competent people to register with the state and pass certification to protect and clean up the internet world. We cannot control many areas due to world wide access but we should be able to ensure an honest & competent service here in America.

End Payday & Title Loans!

Posted by 5775 on 2-23-06

Another example of our representatives taking $ from organizations which profit to the tune of millions if not billions at the expense of the taxpayer who pay the same representatives. How is it America has millions, 37 million Americans living in poverty & 45 million without health care yet campaign contributors from these loan shark style organizations which contribute to our representatives campaigns are allowed to prey on the poor? Not just the poor but middle class Americans who are losing more everyday. How the hell are we suppose to pay for & patriotically fight a ridiculous war waged by a fool, a war based on lies when the same middle class & poor targeted by these organizations & pay mis-representatives are ripped off & absorbing all the taxes evaded by corporate un-America!

Idaho Statesman, 2-19-06, Oregon initiative aims to limit payday loan rates. Backers say a new state law is needed to protect people from lenders who charge more than 500% interest. A bill in 2005 approved by the Democrat controlled Senate died in the REPUBLICAN- controlled house. FEEL REPRESENTED AS A MIDDLE CLASS TAXPAYER OR ARE YOU STARTING TO CATCH ON?  Come on America, wake up!

 

End Tax Cuts & Incentives for Businesses &

Developers! Posted by 5775 on 3-3-06

     Let businesses locate according to the best site suitable to their business. Not according to tax cuts &

incentives which we as individuals absorb. Let developers pay for infrastructure before a subdivision is in

place. Building roads, electrical grids, sewers, & other public necessities after the money is made is just

another cost absorbed by taxpayers. Building infrastructure after developments are in place takes more time

 & $ while an inconvenience to homeowners who pay higher taxes to support the city, county, state, &

 federal government while developers who buy our representation make out like a bandit.

 

Increased property taxes are a direct result of tax cuts & incentives for developers. A good example is tax

exemptions such as in Idaho in which property taxes are on the rise while Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne

 enjoys a tax of approximately $6 a year on 14 acres near a resort he helped promote. Rather than eliminate

 the tax the honorable Gov. Kempthorne wanted to phase it out over the next five years. Is that the

 representation you're paying for?

 

     Let developers spend millions to make millions. Don't force taxpayers/homeowners to spend millions so

developers can make billions! Once again campaign contributions buy our representation in sweet deals

even our representatives take advantage of. How many average taxpayer/homeowners knew of  &

therefore took advantage of tax exemptions on farm lands set up for developers? How many taxpayer/

homeowners could afford to buy these lands when the property taxes on their present home is continuing to

rise because they have to absorb tax cuts & incentives developers & businesses receive in exchange for

campaign contributions?

 

 

 

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