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Restore Our American Dream More on Conservative opposition to our
American Dream Washington State’s 5 Major Needs · Federal Funding for Health and Education · Substituting
a Progressive Income Tax · Replacing BIAW Conservatives · Replacing
Conservative Legislators Quote of the Week Success is only another
form of failure if we forget what our priorities should be. Harry
Lloyd
Calendar of Events
Saturday, August 15 at Noon on Phone -- Learn
about Twitter from Democracy for America
Saturday, September 19 at 6:30 at Lita Spratt’s home
(7633 West Green Lake Drive North, Seattle) ----- inSPIRe Potluck and
Discussion of Global Population Growth
Communication
with Our Members
Finding Webpage
Addresses to Make Links
Through trial and error, I have found an
efficient way to find the webpage addresses for newspaper articles to which I
want to provide links. I Google the name
of the newspaper, comma, name of the author, comma, a distinctive two or three
word or longer phrase from the article’s title.
For example: usa today, john doe, cash for clunkers. If that doesn’t work, then use a distinctive
three word or longer phrase from the article’s contents instead of from the
title. I haven’t found any other search
strategy that is nearly as effective.
To make the link,
·
Write and
highlight a short description of the linked article
·
Click on Control
K. Copy in the webpage address and
enter.
To link from the table of contents in
our newsletter to a commentary within the newsletter.
·
Go to the commentary
·
Highlight first
word of the commentary’s title (or another) if you have already used the first
word
·
From Insert Menu,
select Bookmark, and type in the first word
·
In the table of
contents, highlight the description of the commentary
·
Click Control
K. Click on the bookmark.
It’s simple and quick, once you do it
several times.
Opportunities
Useful
Websites: contacts, maps, community organizing tools, and more.
Access
to jillions of political cartoons.
Download
Sightline Institute’s climate policy primer ‘Cap and Trade 101’. About
Sightline.
Conduct your own home energy audit.
See all of President Obama’s
weekly (Saturday) addresses.
Download a
Health Reform Fact Check Card
Petitions
Pledge
to retain Washington’s domestic partnership law.
Tell
your state legislator to decriminalize marijuana.
Tell
your senators to support stronger clean energy legislation.
Tell
the United Nations to investigate and hold accountable Myanmar for crimes
against humanity.
Commentaries
From Our Members
David Spring: Boeing Asks Unions to Give Up the
Right to Strike.
In
2003, Boeing used the threat of outsourcing jobs to blackmail our legislature
into giving them billions in tax breaks. The legislature caved…and Boeing still
outsourced thousands of the jobs anyway. Those tax
breaks were supposedly to “save jobs.” But that same year Boeing announced
another thousand layoffs. So we lost the money and the jobs. Nor was the tax
break needed to make Boeing profitable as Boeing had been making over $3
billion a year for the preceding several years. A Boeing Lobbyist called it
turning our State legislature into a “Cash Cow.” Boeing union workers have
referred to it as the “Disappearing Boeing Airplane” because outsourcing of
high paying jobs has been going on for many years. Many legislators privately
refer to it as Corporate Welfare. In
reality, it is nothing more than blackmail. Boeing has a long history of
failing to keep their promises. But no one has held Boeing accountable.
Now Boeing is trying to use
the threat of outsourcing jobs to blackmail the Machinists union into giving up
the right to strike (which is the only tool unions have to protect working
class families). The problem with rewarding bad behavior is it only gets worse.
Thankfully, the Machinists have resisted pressure to cave in to Boeing’s
outrageous demands. The union's political director, Larry Brown, said, "We
already have a no-strike clause. It's called a labor contract.” What also needs
to be said is that union workers never
want to strike, but management failure to negotiate in good faith often
forces unions to strike. For example, in the 2008 strike, Boeing was having
supply problems caused by outsourcing. Management needed a delay to get caught
up. So they forced a strike. Those harmed most were the workers. So remember:
Most strikes are caused by management and not by workers.
Equally important, the right
to strike is a basic human right. Workers have died to protect their right to
organize. Giving up that right is like asking Americans to give up the right to
vote.
My own grandfather, William
Gunnerud, helped start Machinists Union 751 in the 1940’s.
In 1949, my grandfather and
his union brothers went on a six month strike to protect their union’s right to
exist. Boeing management told them that, if they went out on strike, none of
them would ever get their jobs back. But Boeing eventually realized that
without highly trained workers, they could not build planes. Eventually, they
reached an agreement. Their strike, and others like it, led to the economic
security and expansion of middle class families in the 1950’s. So remember that
strikes and the increased wages they bring can benefit the entire economy.
As I grew up, my mother
reminded us children that it was because of the union and the 1949 Boeing
strike that we had a good place to live and food on our table. In the 1960’s, my mother, Darlene Jensen -
Hohl followed in my grandfather’s footsteps by joining Machinists Union 141 at
United Air Lines. In the 1970’s, my mother was elected to be one of the first
female chairpersons for United Airlines Machinists Union 141. In 1980, my
mother led a strike to protect pensions and health care benefits. United told
the strikers that they would all lose their jobs if they went out on strike.
After a two month strike, United finally settled. My mom is now retired and
gets by because of the pension that strike helped to protect.
The debate should not be
about whether unions should have the right to strike, but whether Boeing should
have the right to bleed our whole State dry – and rob our children of their
future - in the pursuit of short term greed. If we all work together, we can
not only insure a better future for working families and their children, but we
can send a message to Boeing blackmailers that they will finally be held
accountable for their grossly irresponsible conduct. David
Spring For
more.
Boeing can avoid strikes by agreeing
to fair union contracts. Boeing’s
attempts to force unions to forgo strikes must be motivated by intending to
impose unfair union contracts. Unlike
Wal-Mart, Boeing
needs its trained experienced workers.
Norm Dicks discussed the value of Boeing to our Puget Sound. I thought that he was suggesting that the
Union should give in to Boeing’s demands.
Dave Thomas
David Spring: a Red, White,
Blue, and Green Coalition Is Needed
Earlier this year, a group of
progressive legislators formed the Blue Green Coalition, merging legislators
who support labor with those who support the environment. This Coalition is
about 7 votes short of a majority in the Democratic House caucus. If the
Coalition expanded to include health care (Red) and education (White)
advocates, we could become a red, white,
blue and green majority.
There is good reason for
these groups to work more closely together in the face of attack from corporate
power brokers. In 2009, the legislature not only failed to vote on the Workers
Privacy Act, but they passed bills gutting a billion dollars in funding for
public schools and another billion in funding for health care. At the same
time, the legislature protected billions in tax breaks for major corporations
such as Boeing, whose irresponsible behavior has harmed health care and
education just as much as it harms unions and the environment. For example, the
$3.2 billion in tax cuts to Boeing was achieved mainly by gutting funding for
our public schools. As a direct result of these massive tax give aways, our
public schools are now among the lowest funded and most over crowded schools in
America.
One of the first
steps in solving any major problem is building a team of folks who care enough
to bring about the change needed to solve the problem. The intent is to create
a common vision, a common goal and a pathway to success. Most folks realize
that there is a strong connection between public school funding and our economy.
But good public schools are also an important part of solving the health care
crisis and our current and future environmental challenges. So there is a good
reason for us all to work together.
All too often,
folks see their problems as not being connected to the problems of their
neighbors. Some folks worry about the economy and jobs and taxes. Given the
current recession, we should all be concerned about our economic future. Other
folks are concerned about the health care crisis. They often see health care
and other social issues as “competing” with school funding for limited State
dollars. But it is morally wrong to force a child to choose between having a
good teacher or a good doctor. The truth is that children and their families
need both. Our goal is to find win-win solutions so that we are working
together for a better future rather than fighting against each other.
Finally, we will
not be able to solve our environmental problems without providing our children
with the problem solving skills to seek more creative solutions to these
problems. So, as the teacher said in my Environmental Science class: Everything
is connected to everything else. The best solution to any one problem is the
solution that also addresses all the rest.
Boeing’s public relations con
artists are trying to frame the debate as unions versus jobs … much as they did
in 1949. Sadly, the public does not understand the crucial role that unions
have played in creating good paying jobs and protecting middle class families.
But the public does understand the importance of funding our public schools. It
is not only in the State Constitution, but also in the Party Platforms of both
political parties. My hope is that unions will change the debate and support
rolling back Boeing tax breaks in order to restore funding for public
schools. If unions stood up for public
school funding and pointed out the role of Boeing tax cuts in gutting public
school funding, we can reframe the debate to a discussion of evil Boeing
lobbyists versus protecting the future of our children. David
Spring
Ross Gooding: Public
Health Care Insurance is Worse than Private
Does anyone really think the government is
capable of efficiently running a healthcare program? Until "The
Man" can show us it can run other of its large programs with greater
efficiency, higher quality, less waste and corruption, and more attention to
fairness without regard to minority, ethnic or economic status, I am not
convinced. Please, someone tell me a business as complex as healthcare,
or a business at all, that the government runs well.
You wrote: “Our major challenge is to get the
basics right. But not let our disagreements over less important details
become obstacles to passage. Like Social Security and other major legislated
programs, the health plan will be modified every few years as new realities and
opportunities appear. Let’s commit to progress, not
perfection. Dave Thomas”
Dave, a disregard for the details and fine print
are exactly what brought down our financial system, so you should know better
than recommend a rushed decision for such a massive and costly entitlement
program. Also, your “bulletin” from last week included a number of
reckless and inaccurate assertions regarding the quality of and American’s happiness
with our existing healthcare system—the recent polls suggest 70% of Americans
are happy with their healthcare, contrary to your statements, and also much
higher than the president’s approval ratings, and why Obama’s plan is in
trouble.
Finally, a number of low cost health insurance options
exist which your members should be made aware of, if want them to be well
informed—do a little research and you’ll find the local Regence policy (which I
personally use for myself and two children –wife has policy at her employer)
covers us for $325/month—very reasonable in my humble opinion.
PS: Last time I checked, Social Security is in
pretty serious trouble—are you sure you want to use it as a model of efficiency
for handing over healthcare to the government? Ross Gooding
My very different understanding
of private health care insurance was presented several issues ago. My experience with private businesses and
government agencies is also different.
Most of my hassles are with private businesses, concerning defective
products, credit cards, rebates and more.
I have rarely had hassles with public agencies. Dave Thomas
Marianne Wilkins: US and OECD Health Care Spending Countries Compared
How does our health care
system compare to other countries? I have found this report from the
Congressional Research Service dated September 2007 to be very
informative. Your readers may find it helpful too. The report compares health care for 30
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) democracies around
the world. The OECD consists of 30 democracies, most of which are considered
the most economically advanced countries in the world.
The data from this report shows the United
States as spending twice the amount on health care as any of the other
democracies. No country emerged as a clear quality
leader. In 2004 our health care costs amounted to 15.3%
of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The average for the other democracies was
8.9%, the median was 8.8%. In 2008, our health care costs are expected
to have soared to over 17% of our GDP. This is 4.3 times more on health
care than on national defense.
This same report shows the percentage of health
care that is publicly financed. In the United States the percentage of
publicly financed health care was 44%. The average for all of the
OECD democracies was 72.9% while the median was 74.2% The United States
had the lowest % of public financed health care. We also have the highest
uninsured rate of the OECD Countries with over 44 million uninsured.
How do we provide quality care for all and
contain costs? We simply can not continue with the excessive costs
of our current system. I support a public option to help the
uninsured and help with cost containment. I hope you do too. Show us your new table dance. Marianne
Wilkins
Don Smith: Join
Eastside Progressives
Dear Dave, Several local
progressives and I have created a new social networking
site, Eastside Progressives,
because we were frustrated by the difficulty of communicating effectively
via email with fellow progressive activists. With email there's no standard
distribution list, one is hesitant to spam people, and tracking related
responses is difficult. Ning.com's website supports lots of cool features,
including a blog, an event calendar, photos, videos, and various add-on
applications. By using Ning's social
networking site, Eastside Progressives
should enable better content management.
We want this site to be open, meaning that any progressive can post and
no single person or clique owns the site. All progressives are
welcome, from both inside and outside the Democratic
Party. We also want this site to be polite. The need for such a website is particularly
urgent in view of all the activism surrounding health
care reform. If we want to organize rallies, meetings, protests,
letter-writing, or canvassing, this site can be useful to enable better coordination.
Click here to join. Thanks, Don Smith
Liberals
and Democrats
Government Watch
Also go to Whitehouse.gov.
Media Pundits Fail to Recognize President Obama’s
Successes
President Obama
is on a roll. Maria Sotomayor joins Supreme Court. (By opposing her appointment, Republicans
kiss Hispanic vote goodbye.) Bill Clinton’s visit to North Korea may
open the way for negotiations. Cash for Clunkers is a big
success. Through
opposing its expansion, Republicans kiss auto dealers’ vote goodbye. Max Baucus says the Senate Finance Committee
(the last of six congressional committees which are creating health care reform
bills) will pass a health reform bill by
September 15. The Republican Party is
changing to a (Tea Party) Hate
Party. Drone
kills top Taliban leader, causing leadership turmoil. Various economic
indicators are up, including stock market indexes. If Democrats must choose between using
reconciliation (requiring 50 Senate votes) and failure to pass health care
reform, they will choose reconciliation.
But, listen to
the commercial media pundits and even public television pundits and you get the
impression that the Obama administration is on its last legs. For
example. They are creating a tempest
in a teapot. Fiddlesticks.
Health Care Reform
Our present health care system
allows 22,000 unnecessary deaths per year. To Download
a Health Reform Fact Check Card, which counters lies told by
opponents. President Obama’s New Hampshire
town meeting. Various
businesses now support health care reform.
Afghanistan
Watching
Richard Holbrooke discuss our Afghanistan strategy, I am impressed again at the
number of extremely competent people that President Obama has delegated to
various roles. What a contrast with the
incompetent people that President Bush appointed. I am convinced that our Obama Administration
has the right Afghanistan strategy.
The primary
reason we are engaged in Afghanistan is to stop Al Quada from using it to
attack us. Instead of focusing upon
beating the Taliban militarily, our new strategy focuses upon winning the
support of the Afghan people through providing security and development,. Instead of destroying poppy fields, we are
presenting alternative forms of agriculture.
Working with the Afghan military and police, we are trying to obtain and
maintain a permanent presence in local villages. To help local villagers with infrastructure
and livelihood projects. We are trying
to reduce corruption by Afghan officials. Above all, we are trying to reduce civilian
casualties.
Foreign Policy
Following
Obama’s trip, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton tours 6 African countries to express support for their success.
Economic Recovery and Reform
Government
actions have turned our recession around.
IRS
lawsuit results in Swiss bank releasing information about secret bank accounts,
which may have allowed 52,000 U.S. account holders to evade $100 billion in
taxes each year. Bank also pays U.S.
$780 million.
Congress
includes 1,116 unwanted earmarks costing $2.75 billion into military
appropriations bill.
Senate votes 80 to 17 for 2010 agriculture,
food and nutrition budget bill.
Other Issues
Obama Administration
reforms of immigration detention don’t go far enough.
Chemical
industry leaders support increased EPA regulation, including releasing
information to allow regulators to assess chemical hazards.
Who Are our Tea Party Republicans?
My impression
is that Tea Party Republicans are about half of all remaining Republicans. They are devotees of Conservative hate
radio. They like Rush Limbaugh and Sarah
Palin. They are racist. They strongly support gun freedoms.
They appear to
be middle aged and older lower middle
working class White people (both men and women). Some of whom may have been
severely harmed by our current recession, including loss of jobs and
homes. Encouraged by Rush Limbaugh and
Fox Cable News, they feel resentful and threatened. They feel threatened by our government
instead of by the financial companies which caused their pain. I don’t see any evidence that their imagined
threats are real. On the contrary, our
Obama’s administration stimulus-recovery package is oriented to creating jobs,
which may employ them.
Egged on by
Conservative hate radio, our
Republican Party and health care reform opponents, Tea Party Republicans
are successfully disrupting
town hall meetings held by Congress members to inform and discuss health
care reform issues and proposals.
Washington Congressman Brian Baird has indicated he will have to change
to virtual town meeting (using conference calls). Tea Party Republicans are also threatening
physical harm to congress members and President Obama.
These
disruptions may work in favor of health care reform. Congress members who are attacked will be
less likely to be sympathetic to objections to health care reform. These disruptions may also create an image of
the Republican Party such that more Republicans leave and others become less
approving of them.
Washington
Congressman Rick
Larsen may have found the answer. He
held his town meeting outdoors at a sports field. Lots of people attended, with protesters
finding it more difficult to be heard. Dave
Thomas
Here’s the Beef
When
public health care improves, private health care also improves.
Democrats
and Republicans try to affect U.S. census procedures for partisan advantage.
Bill
Clinton will attend the fourth annual Net Nation Convention.
Karl
Rove lied when he said he didn’t influence firing of federal prosecutors.
State
and Local
We Should Reframe Our Major Obstacle
Our major obstacle to
maintaining and improving our state government’s services to our people has
been framed to be BIAW’s wealth. Efforts
have been made unsuccessfully to reduce this wealth through reducing the retro
payments it receives from the state.
Our major obstacle can be
reframed to be BIAW’s Conservative leadership, which directs the use of this
wealth. This reframing suggests that we prioritize
replacing BIAW’s Conservative leadership.
This may be much easier than reducing BIAW’s wealth. If we successfully replace BIAW’s
Conservative leadership, the use of BIAW’s wealth will be redirected from
destroying our state government’s capacity to serve our people. Even if not successful, our attempts to
replace BIAW’s Conservative leaders will distract them from their present activities. It is time for us to go on the offense.
Let’s Replace BIAW’s Conservative Leaders
We first define our vision
and mission. We next identify our major
opponent. We then expose and test our
opponent. We go on the offense to
degrade our opponent’s base of support.
Suppose that our opponent is
an association with thousands of businesses as members. Our opponent receives much of its political
and financial support from these members.
Degrading this base of support will harm both our opponent’s legitimacy
and resources.
President Obama provides two
examples. The American Medical
Association (AMA) opposes his health care reform proposals. Yet most doctors support Obama’s proposals. Even among the minority of doctors who belong
to the AMA, many support Obama’s proposals, rendering the AMA less credible.
The Chamber of Commerce
opposes Obama’s health care (and global warming and labor) proposals. But many Chamber member businesses support
Obama’s health care proposals, rendering the Chamber less credible.
Similarly, we should explore
degrading our opponent’s base. Since
most of its member companies are registered, we can identify and contact
them. We can poll some of them to learn
how much they support our opponent’s Conservative ideology, activities and the
results. To learn how we might encourage
their dissent.
We can then encourage members
to express their dissent, partly through providing less political and financial
support. Perhaps through changing their
leaders. Such a threat will weaken our
opponent. It will divert our opponent’s
attention from offense (attempting to negatively influence our state government)
to defense (attempting to maintain its base).
It may even influence our opponent to soften its Conservative ideology
and ideology-driven activity.
This approach has several
benefits:
·
It’s inexpensive,
such that we can afford to implement with our limited initial resources. The availability of financial and pro bono
support is evidenced by Citizens to Uphold the Constitution (formerly FairPAC), which
is supported by WSLC, SEIU, WEA, NARAL, Equal Rights Washington, Washington
Conservation Voters and our state Trial Lawyers Association.
·
Our opponent will
be hard put to stop us from implementing it. It will immediately notice what we
are doing, but its response can only be to compete with us to maintain its
credibility with its base while we are attempting to weaken it.
·
If successful, we
will immediately weaken our opponent.
·
We can spread the
word of any success to attract the participation of advocacy groups that have
been stymied by our opponent; thus building our own strength.
·
We will learn
much about our opponent, our own strategy and our cooperation, which will help
us create and implement additional strategies.
A member of our opponent
organization has informed me that he estimates that 75% of Seattle area members
dissent from its Conservative objectives and activities. I also learned that it will be easy to
identify and contact other members. Further investigation is needed and being
conducted. But even if an effort to
change BIAW’s leadership failed, it might distract them from their nefarious
activities.
We have previously identified
our basic obstacle to be our opponent’s wealth.
Instead our basic obstacle is BIAW’s Conservative Leadership. If BIAW’s leadership changes, BIAW’s wealth
would not matter.
Our Filthy Rich BIAW
The BIAW pays for serving its
12,800 members (up from 9,000 members during this decade) through dues and
fees, none of which can be legally used for political purposes.
For political purposes, BIAW
relies on significant Retro funds which are rebated from our surpluses in our
state Labor and Industries accident fund.
The average rebate is 18-20% of money paid in. An audit showed that since
1994 a coding error (which has since
been corrected) produced rebates which were $10 to $15 million per year more
than they should have been.
BIAW’s
retro program is the State’s largest. It takes 10% of rebated funds for itself
and another 10% for its 15 local affiliates as administrative fees before
forwarding the remainder to member businesses.
During July 2002 through June 2005, BIAW received $21 million, of which
it and its affiliates kept $4.2 million.
In recent years, BIAW may have received as much as $11 billion for
administering the accident deposits of its members and the rebates.
BIAW
and its affiliates can and do use this money for political purposes, including:
·
Contributing to
the campaigns of Conservative Washington State candidates and officials of both
political parties
·
Professional lobbying
·
Lobbying by
member companies
·
Development of
favored political candidates
·
Informing
supporters about their issues, actions and needs
·
Conducting policy
research in cooperation with the
·
Conducting law
suits
More
specifically, these Retro moneys fund the Washington state Republican Party;
candidates for Supreme Court judge, governor and both Republicans and Democrats
for legislative positions; and Tim Eyman.
BIAW spent $7 million to support Dino Rossi’s 2008 gubernatorial
campaign, more than was spent by the Republican Party. Without BIAW’s major expenditures,
Washington’s Conservative activities would be much less extensive.
An attempt
to audit and curtail these expenditures (SB 6035) barely passed the senate
and was not considered by the house. BIAW defended
its use of retro funds.
Adequate School Funding Requires BIAW Changes
Adequate school funding is
impossible without Washington state tax reform to increase state revenue and
spending reform to reduce business subsidies.
BIAW
leads the charge to reduce state revenue and expenditures, including
expenditures for state environmental, education, health and safety net
programs.
Educators should join with
labor unions, environmental groups, and others who are similarly harmed by BIAW
to enable replacement of BIAW’s Conservative leaders. Only then can we achieve adequate school
funding. Dave Thomas
Whom Do our Washington State Lobbyists
Represent?
Mostly Commercial Mostly
Non-Commercial
82 Lobbying
Firm 116 Government
125 General Business
11 Public Employee
17 Commercial
Services 45 Environment (mixed Commercial and
Non-Commercial)
31 Finance 64 Education
8 Advertising
and Print Media 12 Teacher’s
Unions
13 Water
and Waste Utilities 46 Trade Unions
19 Electric
Utilities 77 Social Services
10 Telephone
Utilities 41 Social,
Civic and Fraternal Organizations
1 Nuclear
Energy 38 Law
and Justice
16 Petroleum
Energy 5 Religious Organizations
5 Air
Transportation 455 SUBTOTAL
28 Land
Transportation
11 Marine
Transportation 1202 TOTAL
(number of firms)
3 Mining
9 Fisheries
12 Forest
and Wood Products
20 Agriculture
23 Real
Estate and Development Source
of Information
25 Construction
22 Manufacturing
11 Retailing
17 Food,
Beverage and Lodging
4 Tobacco
55 Health
Care Facilities
39 Health
Care Products
80 Health
Care Insurance
35 Insurance
11 Recreation,
Leisure and Art
15 Recreation,
leisure and Outdoor (mixed Commercial and Non-Commercial)
747 SUBTOTAL
Here’s the Beef
Passage of Tim
Eyman’s Initiative 1033 would devastate our economy.
Republican
Attorney General Rob McKenna has
issued an opinion that workers have no right to privacy. Employers may force their workers to listen
to their political arguments. Labor argues that American workers shouldn't have to drop their First
Amendment and privacy rights at the workplace door.
Seattle
police experiment with new approach to drug dealers. Let’s hope it works.
Learn the penalties for
possessing marijuana in Washington state.
Seattle
food bank appears more like a grocery store than a commissary.
Conservation
can reduce Northwest power usage enough to achieve 85% of additional needs.
Light rail
is too noisy to go through Bellevue residential neighborhoods. Should use BNSF route.
Nation
and World
Norm Conrad: When Finance Rules, Economies
Crash and Burn
This is an ironclad law that
no one at the pinnacle of power and wealth wants to speak about too
loudly. But it is a truth that we dare
not ignore or our way of life dies.
This is what is
involved. If the finance sector achieves
preeminence, the real economy declines.
What is this “real economy”? It
is the stuff of economic sustainability, of a strong middle class, of the
wealth of nations – it is an economy that makes things. Making things uses a lot of people, who must
be paid, thus spreading wealth to many.
How is the finance sector
different? It is a paper shuffling –
stocks, bonds, derivatives, hedges, etc. – market; it has its place as a
facilitator to the real economy, not as the dominator of or stand in for the
real economy. Finance, when it reaches a
preeminent stage, steals resources from the real economy and distributes wealth
to a very few.
“Wait a minute,” you may
say. “If I invest in Company X’s stock
or bonds, surely this puts assets in the hands of the company and makes new
product development and expansion possible.”
Sorry, but it does no such thing in almost every case. When you and I buy stock, a bond, or a mutual
fund, we go to a firm such as Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Templeton, etc. They buy the paper for us from another
gambler in the market. None of that
money goes to Company X. After that
piece of paper is sold to an investment bank in an initial public offering
(IPO), all subsequent trades/purchases send Company X absolutely nothing. All that activity on the big exchanges that
“analysts” and commentators so breathlessly yell and rant about does nothing to
make better, newer or more products. It
only makes (or loses) money for the former owner of that piece of paper. That wealth is not spread out; it goes to
hiring no one; it builds no new factories; it produces no next big things.
What is that facilitator role
for finance that is its proper role?
That is primarily the role of the commercial bank and the role of
futures for producers and distributors of the real economy’s products. The role of commercial banks is to provide
loans for new and existing businesses, to make money available to those who can
put it to use by creating new capacity and jobs to meet growing demand. In economics 101, this is referred to as “the
multiplier effect”. Your deposit at the
bank is divided into two pieces – a small reserve and the rest is loaned out to
others; they deposit that loan in the bank, which is divided up; and the bank
loans out the large remaining chunk again and again, etc. Hence a deposit of, say, $1000.00 becomes
multiplied into economic activity of about $7,000.00.
Futures or puts and calls
also have a place in the real economy.
They are a way for a farmer, e.g. to make sure that his or her crop will
pay the bills by selling some of it well before the harvest for a price that
guarantees a decent return. In this way
the farmer “hedges” his risk of the market for corn or wheat or whatever
crashing by the time he can harvest it.
On the other side of the transaction, a bread baker or corn canner
guarantees that her price won’t go through the roof when she has to buy the
crop some months down the road.
The problem with these useful
financial tools is when we stop using them as originally intended. When banks stop loaning their deposits to
others who build plants to make things but instead start using your deposits to
buy currencies or stocks and bonds or already completed office towers for their
own gain, nothing gets multiplied.
Nothing gets spread around; no one gets hired; no new ideas get turned
into new products; no new demand is created.
When traders start trading futures among themselves, few farmers or oil
well owners or miners end up protecting themselves. As is the case today, only a very small
percentage of owners of futures contracts will ever take possession of any
wheat or Texas sweet crude or gold ore.
In fact the total value of all these pieces of paper exceeds the total
value of the entire world economy many, many times over.
What we have now is a
finance-strong economy based on speculation.
A climate of speculation leaks over into other sectors of the economy
like housing. Heavy speculation leads to
bubbles. Bubbles burst unpredictably and
usually suddenly. When that happens, as
we have seen recently, people lose houses, college plans, all manner of savings
and retirement dreams. Jobs disappear. Credit cards can no longer be paid off. Bankruptcies skyrocket.
When finance rules the day,
the economy crashes and burns because we are speculating instead of
investing. Norm Conrad
AIG Bailouts Passed
Through to Bail Out Financial Companies Insured by AIG
Financial companies made risky speculative investments. They insured them with AIG, without
recognizing that AIG didn’t have the reserve to pay for claims. When their speculative investments collapse,
they made claims to AIG. AIG couldn’t
pay these claims, until our government bailed them out. Besides directly bailing out the large
financial companies, our government thus bailed them out more through bailing
out AIG.
When the financial companies pay the government back for the direct
bailouts, they don’t pay the government back for the indirect AIG bailout. I am not sure that AIG will be able to pay
back the bailout moneys our government has given it. Dave Thomas
Employment as Percentage of Population is Low.
Featured Advocacy Group --- National Unemployment Law Center -------------
A fundamental promise of America is that
work will be a ladder to economic opportunity and an anchor of economic
security for working families. But that promise has unraveled over the past
three decades. Globalization has combined with domestic policy choices to yield
an economy that creates too many low-wage jobs and not nearly enough good ones.
Lax enforcement of workers' rights increased subcontracting and
misclassification of employees as independent contractors, and failed
immigration policies have heightened insecurity for all workers. Inequality has
grown to historic levels, the middle class is imperiled, and many fear our best
days are behind us.
The National Employment Law
Project (NELP) responds by working to restore the promise of economic
opportunity in the 21st century economy. In partnership with national, state and local allies,
we promote policies and programs that create good jobs, strengthen upward
mobility, enforce hard-won worker rights, and help unemployed workers regain
their economic footing through improved benefits and services.
NELP works from the ground up to build
change. Our model is to develop and test new
policies at the state and local level, then scale them up to spur change at the
national level. We partner with strong advocacy networks, grounded in the full
range of stakeholders - grassroots groups and national organizations, worker
centers and unions, policymakers and think tanks. With our staff of lawyers,
policy experts and researchers, we provide the following:
In-depth
legal and policy analysis, developing innovative
strategies to create good jobs, improve working conditions and bolster economic
security;
Rigorous
empirical research, documenting key trends
in the economy and spelling out effective solutions;
Expert
legal advice and technical assistance,
helping advocates craft viable policies in light of legal restrictions;
Strategic
leadership in coalitions, bringing together
diverse constituencies to pursue common goals;
Communications,
public education and messaging,
shining a spotlight on the struggles of today's working families and helping to
increase understanding of key economic problems and viable policy solutions;
and
Capacity
building through dissemination of policy and
research reports, hosting conferences,
and student training.
NELP has offices around the country and
programs that touch the lives of workers across the economic spectrum. We
welcome your inquiries and participation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remote Area Medical Program Provides Inexpensive
Health Care
Remote Area Medical® (RAM) Volunteer Corps
is a non-profit, volunteer, airborne relief corps dedicated to serving mankind
by providing free health care, dental care, eye care, veterinary services, and
technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United
States and the world.
Founded
in 1985, Remote Area Medical® is a publicly supported all-volunteer
charitable organization. Volunteer doctors, nurses, pilots, veterinarians and
support workers participate in expeditions (at their own expense) in some of
the world's most exciting places. Medical supplies, medicines, facilities and
vehicles are donated.
The primary purpose of the Rural America Medical
Program is to provide vision and dental care for underserved areas of the
US. The vision care team of RAM provides people with eye exams and eyeglasses
to improve their present circumstances and better see the world around them.
For some, a pair of glasses may allow them to drive more safely, get a job or
better execute their present job. For others, reading glasses will allow them
to read more comfortably or thread a needle for the first time in years.
RAM’s dental
program offers emergency extractions, restorations, cleanings and fluoride
treatments.
High Speed Trains Are Cost Beneficial
Our
Transportation Department has identified 10 high speed rail corridors suitable
for development. The cost might be as
high as $100 billion, of which only $13 billion has been earmarked. We have invested $1.8 trillion in highways
and aviation over the past 60 years.
On
high speed rail corridors, there is no advantage to flying distances less than
300 miles. Rail will relieve freeway and
airport traffic, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For
more.
Food Companies Act Like Tobacco Companies
Just
as tobacco companies have extolled smoking and denied its dangers, food
companies are now pushing unhealthy food.
For
more. They produce hyper-palatable
combinations of sugar, fat and salt that not only appeal to us but have the
capacity to rewire our brains, driving us to seek out more and more of those
products. They make it cheaper to buy
fast manufactured food than fresh food.
The
result is that a record percentage of Americas are obese, increasing their
illnesses and the cost of treating them.
Like with cigarettes, warning labels on food will have insufficient
effect. Due to the large variety of
food, regulating food will be more difficult than regulating tobacco.
Here’s the Beef
It’s
now easy to decode DNA. But
using knowledge of DNA to find cures is very complex.
Eating
meat doesn’t cause greenhouse gases, if the animals are fed grains instead of
natural forage.
President
Obama’s agricultural assistance policy may be wrong. Need ecologically sensitive food production
instead of simply avoiding production which requires large resource inputs.
Unemployment losses
decline sharply. Why
unemployment will linger.
Major
airlines stop serving smaller town airports.
Our
U.S. needs an industrial policy.
Military spending should be
reduced. National Guard troops should
come and stay home.
Obama
isn’t making needed policy changes toward South America. For more.
China’s
incinerators release toxic emissions which flow around the world.
With
clever programs, Brazil’s economy is doing well, getting stronger and reducing
poverty.
Our
Liberal Spirit
New Possibilities, New Priorities
Calendars, Music, Books and Google
This
is the season of calendars. I’ve
received half a dozen from organizations I support. Especially environmental calendars with their
beautiful pictures of scenery or wildlife.
Unfortunately, looking at pictures is low on my list of priorities.
Similarly
with my many music CDs. My collection
includes early western songs, World War II songs, big bands, popular music from
the 50’s to the present, classical music, country western and some traditional
Christian songs. I seldom listen to
them. I listen to Easy Listening on
Comcast, or while driving, I listen to Easy Listening such as Montovani.
I
have more than 400 feet of books that I have read, all carefully arranged as my
offline storage. But they and the system
are mostly rendered obsolete by Google.
Instead of looking at pictures, listening to music or researching
through books I have already read, I now Google any question that comes to
mind. As I receive emailed commentaries
from many advocacy organizations, many questions come to mind. My little searches each day may total up to
several hours.
My Different Interpretation of Tea
Partiers
I am
bemused at how often the commentators and Liberal spokesman arrive a opinions
that seem very wrong to me. For example,
the impact of the disruptions of congress member’s town hall meetings. They seem to think the disruptions will harm
the passage of health care reform. I
don’t. I believe they will just offend
the congress members, who will continue to support reform.
Furthermore,
I believe the Tea Partiers will drive more reasonable people out of the
Republican Party, leaving a whining screaming party that is irrelevant to
American politics and policy. The major
danger is the potential violence (even assassinations) they may provoke. I am not sure how the resentments and anger
of the Tea Partiers can be reduced. I am
not sure where their itch comes from, or how to scratch it.
Bring On our Young People
My
faith in our future is especially buoyed by our young people of the ‘we’ or
‘millennium’ generation. They are
liberal on both economic and social issues, and skeptical of our Old Politics
of putting partisanship before serving our public interest.
Addressing Key Logs in the Log Jam
Also
concerning priorities. Many of us choose
one or several issues for which to advocate solutions. I pride myself in being one of the few who
try to find those issues that if resolved, will ease the resolution of many
others (the key logs in the log jam). My
key issues have been clean elections, income tax reform, and now, removing the
Conservative leadership of the BIAW. I
am bemused that some people wanting to make their contribution, start trivial
little groups, instead of joining with others engaged with viable groups.
Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals
William
D. Cohan, 2009, House of Cards. A Tale of
Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street
This book begins with a 150
page detailed history of the collapse of Bear Sterns. Too much he said, she said, they said. I don’t recommend it for understanding the
causes of our recent speculative bubble.
I recommend instead, the books on our reading list dealing with our Financial
Bubble Economy as one of our three major crises, the others being Peak Oil
and Global Warming, especially those that boldly highlighted.
Michael Lewis, 2009, Panic. The Story of Modern Financial
Insanity
A collection of detailed
mostly journalistic commentaries on panics as they occur.
Stephen Leeb, 2009, Game Over. How You Can Prosper in a
Shattered Economy
Leeb predicts
dire results of having reached peak oil.
Increasing carbon-based or alternative energies, water or mineral
commodities each requires increasing the other two, producing scarcities and
increased prices of them. So there are
limits to large scale production of alternative energies. The result will be price inflation for all
three. Based on this analysis, he
suggests an investment strategy.
I believe that Leeb doesn’t deal adequately with the possibility of changing our lifestyles to require less energy. I believe it will happen voluntarily or involuntarily. Dave Thomas