Trump V Obama

President Trump should be given the same respect he gave President Obama.

Trump's main goal as president seems to be undoing all of the good things that President Obama accomplished:

Obamacare, relations with Cuba, Paris Accords

Feingold v Johnson

Ron Johnson has an ad out blaming Russ Feingold for terrorist attacks because Feingold voted against the Patriot Act.  This ad makes no sense because all of the attacks in the ad happened after the  Patriot Act was passed and happened while Ron Johnson was senator and head of the homeland security committee.  Who believes this stuff!

Role of Corporations

What is the role of corporations, what purpose do they serve?

1. Provide a return on investment for investors.
2. Provide goods and services to their customers.
3. Provide jobs for their employees.
4. Grow the economy of the region.

Emphasis is usually placed on the first and second of these but three and four are perhaps even more important.

Tolerance, Sustainability, and the Working Class: Branding for the Democratic Party

I was listening to public radio and they were talking about what the democratic party brand should be.  A caller suggested the "working class" should be the focus of the party.  I like this but it needs to embrace more ideas.  For me sustainability is one of the most important concepts for the future of the planet.  A third idea is the need to embrace cultural diversity through tolerance.  There could be more like education and science but it is best to limit your brand to three things.

Working class Americans
Tolerance
Sustainability

Political Survey

Just a quick survey to see where you stand on political issues.  Multiple choice.  Select all correct answers.

GMO
  a. Good
  b. Bad

2. Global warming
  a. Real
  b. Fake

3. Fox News
  a. Propaganda
  b. Only reliable news source

4. Vaccinations
  a. Cause autism
  b. Prevent diseases

5. Abortion
  a. Pro-life
  b. Pro-choice

6. Gun control
  a. We need less of it
  b. We need more of it
  c. We have just the right amount of it

7. Origins
  a. Evolution
  b. Creation

8. 911 was an attack on the US by
 a. Iraq
 b. Saudi Arabians
 c. Israel
 d. Afghanistan
 e. Iran
 f. the US

9. Lawsuits
  a. Should be illegal
  b. Are necessary

10. Gay marriage
  a. Should be allowed
  b. Should not be allowed

Boomers: The Selfish Generation

An acquaintance of mine recently called the Baby Boomers the most selfish of generations.  Certainly this is true so far. They will be the generation that burned up the fossil fuels by driving SUVs to work everyday with only a single passenger.  They will be the generation that straddles future generations with mountains of debt.  Do we (the Boomers) have an obligation to paying off this debt?  I say yes.  I worked for private companies for most of my career.  But when I look at the companies I worked for I realize that without the government deficit military spending our company would not have existed.  Reagan financed my job through deficit spending.  The company I worked for helped pay for most of the other jobs in town.

The reason I live a comfortable lifestyle now is because it was financed through debt to be paid by future generations.

Most Boomer jobs were financed through government debt which made them (us) prosperous. Now the debt is starting to really impact the economy but the Boomers are refusing to pay back what they borrowed and complaining about high taxes (taxed enough already).  I believe in paying my debts but neither liberals nor conservatives are willing to raise taxes to pay off the deficit.  The most selfish generation (Boomers) would have to commit to paying higher taxes to pay off the deficit.

Good luck with that.

Oh, and I heard someone say that we should pay off the debt by lowering taxes.  Reagan proved that theory was bogus.  It won't work.  Boomers and future generations will have to work harder, pay higher taxes and retire later.  The Xs and Millenials should not let the Boomers get away with screwing them over.

Recently others have been noticing the same thing:

Are the Boomers Screwing the Millenials?

The Screwed Generation

This will not end well...

On the Deficit

The deficit will be one of the major problems facing the United States as China becomes the largest economy in the world.  The US has been acting like an irresponsible teenager with a credit card who has run up a big debt and wants to just pay the minimum balance.  The US should make it a priority to pay off the deficit.  Yes, this will be painful but it is needed.

Many in the TEA party are calling for this but the main idea of the TEA part (Taxed Enough Already) is flawed.  Paying off the deficit will require us to increase taxes.  It will also require cutting back on expenditures especially the military.  We will also have to cut back on government spending for social security and medicare as unpopular as that sounds.  The least painful way to do this is to increase the retirement age.

Both democratic and republican administrations have voted for the huge deficit we are faced with now. It will be up to all Americans to accept the responsibility to pay off this deficit.  The Baby Boomers have been the most selfish of all generations.  If we fail to pay off this deficit then future generations will look back at us as the most irresponsible of generations.