Steve's barking we don't use leaches anymore

We don't use leaches anymore when some one is sick, why do we use outdated economic models?
I've read stuff (whole reports) from the Cato institute and the Heritage foundation that are so incomplete they wouldn't pass the mustard of a fifth grade class yet the conclusions are relegated to facts. Are we that lazy?
I saw a debate between Ron Paul and Paul Krugman on You Tube with Ron Paul. Ron Paul stated that the Byzantine Empire lasted as long as it did because it didn't debase it coins and didn't have a large fighting force. I believed this Bull Sh*t  till I did a little research and presto nothing could be further from the truth. The Byzantine empire many a time change the gold and silver in it's coinage. The empire expanded and shrunk many times during it's existence and it fought a lot.
The people of my great, great grandfathers day believed in a lot of things and they were the norm of the time, but now we have to move on.

Steve's barking at those crazy 70s and the change of economic reality

Do remember how economic was taught, inflation occurred with full employment, recessions were due to too much manufactured goods. We could always fight inflation by reducing employment and having a mild recession. We could always end recessions by government spending. The Fed could always help lowering interest rates and make it easier for the private sector to borrow to help with hiring and raise interest rates forcing the private sector to into layoffs to lower inflation. Now came that crazy decade of the 70s with that new lexicon stagflation. High unemployment and high inflation at the same time.This was the start of high oil prices, that caused inflation with prices so high that too many people couldn't afford goods and services.
This should have been the turn around the way we think of inflation and employment, but we have a hard time changing the way we think.
Too many economist think that the FED ended stagflation when in truth the end of stagflation was due to the Iraq, Iranian war, with defence build up thrown in.

The decade of the 70s should have shown us one thing we must controll our energy and natural resources.

Steve's barking Santa moves to the South Pole due to climate change

This past year Santa Clause had to move to the South Pole due to the melting ice in the North Pole due to climate change. He and Mrs. Clause were afraid that his home and the heated barn that kept the Reindeer would fall into the ocean. After last year delivering the toys to all the good children of the world he took his team of Reindeer and Mrs. Clause to an abandoned weather station in the South Pole. It's so good to be on solid ground Mrs. Clause told her husband, of which Santa agreed.
Santa couldn't bring the elves's but he feared not for his advisers told him that he could outsource the making of the toys to Penguins of which there are plenty in the Antarctic. His adviser didn't realize that Penguins don't have hands limiting there use in making toys. In case anyone was wondering what the laid off elves were doing, the answer is simple, they went back to work for Santa at half the pay to gather the letter that the children of the world would be sending to Santa because it was felt that it was more expedient in privatizing the gathering and delivering of the children's wish list for Santa. Unfortunately the Elves weren't trained very well and the majority of the letters weren't delivered to Santa. This might have been a good thing because Santa had to buy all the toys from the letters he received from the children at Walmart because of the Penguins fiasco. Santa this year wasn’t tracked on radar as he was in the past because Santa's agents forgot to tell NORAD that he had moved his operation to the South Pole from the North. NORAD tracked Santa and his sleigh as a hostile. Fortunately Santa and his Reindeer come from the planet Krypton so they're faster then speeding bullets. When senator Know Nothing from the state of Obstruction found that air space was violated from the south he had a hissy fit and screamed that illegals found another way of getting into this country.
Perhaps that why there was as many presents in the stockings and under the tree this year.

There has always been a question of how Santa is paid. The answer is simple, he's paid with love and good will and everybody knows that is worth more then all the Bit coins and the gold in Fort Knox. ( Of cause if your Ran Paul you just know there is no gold in Fort Knox).

Steve's barking, so ya think congress can change?

So you think that congress can change, especially when all the incentives are to leave every thing in place or to make things worse. What insentive does one have, to make American democracy democratic, when it's easier to get money to buy your job from those who want you to write laws in that are pointed in favor of them. If the congress person should lose his or her position to some one else who will sell their soul for the job of congress person, and or make more money then they thought possible by working as lobbiest.
Do you really think things will change by the will of the people?

Steve's barking why Amazon

I don't understand why Amazon ( not the river but the company) is trading around $395.
It pays no dividends. It's profit margins are wafer thin, and if it succeeds in it's business model the government will break it up because it would be pretty close to a monopoly.

Steve's barking at monitary inflation

What is monitary inflation? It's when the cost of money goes up.
At the present time in the US we are living in a great time to borrow money (exept if you are borrowing money via a credit card). There is a hugh supply of money.

Steve's barking at supply and demand inflation

It seems to me that there is too much worrying about monitary inflation.
The real worry that we have to worry about is not enough supply.
I see this in the place that I live New york City, the lack of supply of rental apartments is causing housing inflation. The funny thing is that some people see this as a good thing.

Steve';s barking minimum wage is not all the same

There's been talk that the minimum wage should go up to $15 a hour.
That may be outstanding in Biloxi Miss. and very good in Youngstown Ohio but what about high maintenance Cities like New York, Boston, and San Francisco.
15 dollars an hour times 40 hrs a week equals 600 dollars a week. times 4.33 weeks equals 2598 dollars a month minus 8.7 percent for FICA equals 2372 dollars a month with the rent being so damn high one has to get married to some one else making at lest minimum wage to afford to live in a semi decent place. Lets not forget transportation, hopefully the worker(s) live with in walking distance. Haven forbid if the full time job like mine was only 36 hours and the 4 to make it 40 is overtime comp time.

Now I'm going to look at this in a business manner, in high maintenance (and even in low maintenance) cities if you believe that workers are an intricate part of the business the business owner would want to make sure that the worker has a decent place to live, family is well taken care of and there is enough food on the table.
Now why would i be making this outrages statement after all the only reason that a(for profit) business exists is to make money. Why should the owner care? Because the worker is the face of the business and if you take studies of school children who come from unhappy homes and or go to school hungry they do poorly, one would think the same holds true for adults. The product that they put out would not be up to snuff.
customer satisfaction would suffer, and the business will suffer. At the same time one doesn't want to see profit margins diminish too much.

We have a paradox of business.

steve's barking water runs down hill

Water runs down hill, what does that mean?
Water seeks in own level, what does that mean?
Why are we building up instead of letting the water flow down?

I may not be a scientist but I do remember from some old classes that I took that water flows down. Now what I've been thinking about is there are certain places in this wold were it might be a better idea to build ditches that would open up just before flooding happens. The ditches would lead into large tubing that would hold the water.
Our farm land every few years get flooded, suppose we were to build build reservoirs under our farms so during droughts we could pump the water up to water our crops.
Lets take a city like New York, wouldn't it be better to have the water from the ocean and the flooding of the rivers go under the trains the electrical and communication wiring, and under the tunnels from water of the reservoirs. The water could be used for energy (the hydrogen) and some desalted for drinking.


Of cause the negative would be the collecting of water underground possibly would bring environmental havoc.
There wouldn't be enough water evaporating. Less cloud covering, thus heating up the earth Less evaporation less rain, thus less water in places that may need them with out rain from the evaporated water. ( Of cause a new industry might pop up, the transferring of water).

There tends to be a negative and positive to all things.

Steve's barking I pissed on myself

I peed on myself.
Yes when I was a baby I pissed on myself that's why I wore diapers.
Don't you just hate those teases that don't deliver what you expect, like the local news and the Huffington Post.

There are other teases that report to be news that really aren't. They are the ones that tell you half the story, generally there about some bureaucrats gone wild.
They go something like this girl stopped from selling lemonade to help buy an a wheelchair for her crippled sister because she's violating some child labor law. Of cause there are no stories of the abuses that happen because of the failure when the worker looks the other way.

I remember the stories from my fellow bureaucrats who were in the business of inspecting daycare centers, and every once in a while they would come in and find hazards such as drunk workers, no way for the children to get in case of fire and they would order the center closed immediately. They were cursed out and threatened by the parents of the children in the centers, we bureaucrats ruin everything.
The worst are bureaucrats that would look the other way and everybodys happy until tragedy strikes.

Steve's barking at economic statistics vs reality

 I keep hearing (actually reading and watching business news on cable) about turn around in x country and in y country for the better.
I heard about the Brazilian miracle before they raised the bus fare and the rioting started showing the world that how good the statistical the Brazilian economy hadn't reached the average Brazilian on the street.
I keep hearing about countries in the European Union making turn around (counties like Greece, Portugal, Spain and Irland) except those counties statistics forgot to tell those youths who are unemployed and the average citizen of those countries that can't make ends meet.
What about how great Germany is after all the unemployment is the lowest of the low. What makes me think that the majority of the German citizens arent too happy even though poles don't show it. Is it because the ruling party didn't get a clear cut majority? Maybe I'm getting the vibe that pensioners aren't very happy with their pension and too many of the workers are not happy with their pay (maybe that's why the German government insists on dracanion mesures for the rest of Europe). I don't know why I feel this way statistics aren't telling me this but the government of Germany is.

Steve's barking Alfed E Neuman said

Recently in a local paper a letter writer complained about the glorification of Nelson Mandela because Mr. Mandela was a communist and a terrorist and as proof of this he quoted some obscure historian in some obscure publication.
It seem to me that it's very common to justify the way one thinks by quoting some other persons writings or work.  Me.... I look at the world that I was born in and at a very young age I just knew I was going to be vaporized by the Soviet Union and their atomic bomb, but then I started reading this very informative magazine MAD and it's great philosopher Alfred E Newman so I began to say to myself What Me Worry.

Steve's barking the US has the most incarcerated in the world and

I've heard it again, the United States has the more inmates then any other country percentage wide and total number.
Why is this? Are other countries too lenient? Is the US too hard? Is the US just plane raciest after all a huge majority are black, followed by a large population Hispanic inmates? Is the US jailing  people for the most minor of offences? Is the United States the most Lawless country in the world? Does the US need jobs so bad that it needs prisoners for prisons to give jobs to jailers?
I heard some one the other day complain that we have too many prisoners in this country and two minutes later complained that how come the bankers and other fraudsters that almost brought about the collapse of
the world economy are getting off.
The truth be told I have no answers.    

Steve's barking at imaginary runaway news

Wire service URW reported today that Transylvania's PM was stabbed in the heart today by assailant unknown.
Picking up the wire service report stations 1234 - 2341 and 4321 put their own spin on it.
Station 1234 stated that the Prime Minister of Transylvania had killed a steak through the heart by a disgruntle citizen because there wasn't enough blood to keep everybody undead.
Station 2341 had two story spinners debate the stabbing.
Harry stated that it served the Prime Minister right after all he was a blood sucking parasite.
Tonto took the side that he had reliable sources that the Prime Minister didn't like to suck blood and in fact was a vegetarian.
Station 4321 reported that the Prime Minister had a steak through his heart and the cows of the world were going to protest by releasing methane gas into the atmosphere.

I apologize to the people of Transylvania and all the bovines in the world for being so silly.

Steve's barking at chasing Unicorns

The unicorn is a mythical animal, yet men claim that it actually exist and they are forever starting expeditions to find and capture this animal.
There is a group of people that actually believe that reducing and eliminating the public is the course to go and that the elimination or at least greatly reduce it will save all mankind for future generations to come.
The problem is no one alive has seen a debt free country and the only time in the the history of the United States that we had no debt is when the first economic panic in America and at that time we were a largely agricultural nation then as compared with a largely manufacturing nation that was true during the latter part of the twentieth century.(Today were largely a service and intellectually property nation).
I'm making a claim right now that the monetary debt and the reduction of it is as foolish as chasing after Unicorns.


The way we perceive to be the national debt is like putting part of our pay check in a checking account and part in a savings account and then borrowing mostly from our savings account and then claim that  what we take from our savings account is putting us in a hole for the money all the money that we borrowed from out side sources and ourselves.

For those who don't understand what I've just written take a good course in logic.

Steve's barking saving in America or not

Now everybody knows that the saving rate for people of the United Stated is very low.
As they say when doing the Limbo, how low can you go.? But of cause that's been the story in America since the late 60s. The government has tried to increase the saving rate by creating this thing call an IRA with deferred taxation until a person reaches the ripe old age of 59.5 rears of age.
Of cause this didn't help that much with savings because they also included in the program investments. Those of us who bought mutuasl thought we were saving for our old age but some government economist still say we're not saving enough. I've been told that this is very bad because there are a lot counties that the saving rate of there citizens is so much higher and we'll be forced to borrow from them. Our corporation would then be holding to foreign banks, kind of like how our railroads came into existence in the early 18 hundreds. Now I'm not sure how this is a bad thing but I'm sure some economist can tell me.
Now it would seem to me that if banks needed more money to lend out they would raise their dividends. May be this this country doesn't need anymore money for borrowing? Remember in the 70s dividends were going through the roof. Now I believe that when a thing called a certificate of deposit was created, with it's double digit interest rates. Now again I thinking that this saying instrument was invented out of necessity, the banks needing the money to make more money, then some altruistic part on the banks. So after all is said and done the saving rate of none investments *
would go up.

*Many a person who puts money into stocks and bonds believe that this is a form of saving.
 There are people out there who believe the only way to save is by putting money under the mattress.
Putting money under the mattress must make some lumpy mattresses.

As I said before good ideas are some times bad, deferred comp such as a 401k is a great idea as long as it doesn't take the place of a pension.  If I was starting out to day I would want a pension in the form of an annuity for it would force the employer to put into it a portion of my pay, and I'd have that in my contract. For the honest employer it's a good idea for the cost is fixed and it's a good way of retaining good people.

Steve's barking oops there is. no superman

The statement I'm sure there is no supermen should state I'm 99.99999 sure there is no superman, good thing I'm not a rocket scientist, the rockets would never get off the ground.

Steve's barking; there is no superman ( obscure reasoning)

There is no superman, that I'm 100% sure of because of all the empirical evidence.
The fact of the mater because I like to think I'm an intelligent guy therefore I'm really not 100% positive there is no superman just 99.0000001% positive there is no superman but because my reasoning shows that I'm that I'm almost positive to the  .0000001% I can claim that I'm 100% sure there is no superman. Only a truly closed minded individual can claim an absolute 100%, no room for doubt that something truly doesn't exist.

Steve's barking working in retirement

I’ve been asked how life is like after retirement. My answer is I didn’t retire from work; I just retired from getting paid for work. Now that I don’t have a nine to five I can devote more time to my real jobs. I’m a chauffeur, a low grade handy man, a wife’s secretary, a male escort, a date calendar and reminder for my wife, an ATM machine (honey I left my wallet at home) a dishwasher, a porter, my wife’s administrated assistant,physiologist, A dying cat (family says where’s the dying cat when I sing to the tunes on the radio), and last but not least comedian.

Why does it take a husband and wife to screw in a light bulb? The husband to screw in the light bulb and the wife to criticize.

Steve's barking our founding fathers in no new slaves

My research has shown that just about all the important founding fathers have written extensively against slavery in their time. None of the southern important founding father with the exception of George Washington ( his slaves were freed after his death as decreed in his will) freed their slaves.
It is hard for me to believe their statements how appalled they were at slavery in this country. Those who justify certain reading of the Constitution by proclaiming this is what the founding fathers of America meant when the Constitution was written and justify their interpretation by quoting some obscure document of a particular founding father. Those who make these interpolations have some explaining to do, as too how trust worthy these interpolations are when most of our southern founding fathers wrote how appalled they were at slavery and most claimed they wanted to end it, yet still kept their slaves.

Steve's barking is the economy like a lungs?

Is the economy like lungs takeing in money and spitting  out jobs?
Do people really believe that urban myth that government borrowing money takes money out of the private sector?  Let's just say my unlearned friends, that government borrowing can and usually does increase the money supply. For you who believe that the money supply is finite I have a bridge that spans the East River that I want to sell you.
What happens to the money that government borrows?A good portion is placed in banks untill actually needed. The money in the banks is then turned around and lent to the private sector, who then puts part of that money that isn't needed into the bank who then lends that money out again, presto the money supply increases, proving once again that public sector borrowing doesn't always squeeze out the private sector.


Warning! This blog hasn't been proof read.

Steve's barking don't complain with the presidents vacation.

Those who didn't like the Bush presidency would complain that the president was always on his ranch.
Those who don't like the Obama presidency complain about his vacations and his golf game.
Hay if the president isn't in Washington how much trouble can they get the country into?

Steve's barking is 5 times a charm (boring) or does a bear (blank) were he sleeps?

If in economics you do A and B happens, and you do if at least 5 times does that mean every time you do A, B happens is that a true course and effect? What happens that you unwittingly do Z all the five times?
What  if looking at cause and effect you missed a time when doing A, B doesn't happen?
What if government had not done A and B happens, does that really mean A be is going to happen?


In the past one can see that on certain occasion when government pumped money into the ecomoy there was inflation, that doesn't mean that by pumping money into the economy is a cause of inflation, one has to look at all factors to determine the exact causes of inflation when the money was pumped into the ecomomy.

Steve's barking it's probably wurst

A month ago I thought that Germany loved Merkel, today I'm not so sure. I had no idea that the Christian Democrats had a partner in crime and that partner was rejected by the citizens of Germany.It only goes to show that this foolish American doesn't know that much about our European friends(?). I under the foolish notion that Europe would be the greater beneficiary of a new trade pack, when the leader of the European Union (that being Germany) is saying that because of American ease dropping on her phone calls that means sanctions on America. Now I'm thinking if you have sanctions on a country that you want to have a new trade agreement, that would defeat the purpose. The irony of this situation is those in America who are afraid of a new European trade pact wins. Those in Europe who need the trade pack lose. I do believe that's called cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Doesn't all counties, even allies spy on each other?

Steve's barking 17 trillion in present day debt equates to 30 or 40 trillion dollars in future debt, How?

I heard some financial genius on the boob tube the other day stating the nations nearly 17 trillion dollar deficit is really 30 to 40 trillion dollar deficit, of cause this genius some how equated the deficit to Enron. This being the a financial network no in dept explanation was given. After I heard this financial wizard it was on to the next segment like any late night variety talk show would do.
Now I might not be Mensa but I'm not that dumb. Like I've stated in prior blogs we really don't have less  a 16.8 trillion dollar debt (The allocation of funds that aren't, etc), so as I see it debt talk starts out on the wrong foot. Now unfortunately in 15 to 20 years no money will be owed to the Social Security trust.
2.4 Trillion no longer on the books. Now we come to the Feds Quantitative Easing, I guess one believes that the Federal Reserve is going to keep buying bonds after it hits three trillion dollars. The Feds are going to sells their bonds or demand higher interest rates? I haven't looked at other monies that the government owes itself, they might be disappearing too, vanishing in to payments.


*The government show no willingness to shore up Social Security, it does show a willingness to rob the recipients in some fantasy that it reduces the debt.



     

Steve's barking some of my best friends are not politicians

I've met several politicians and most seemed like nice and intelligent people.
I have nothing against an assembly person who wants to fund the local senior citizens center and the daycare center down the block. I have nothing against the senator or congressman who fights for money for public transportation systems so that those who needed it the most can afford it. I just wounder why do these same people that I'm saying nice things about when you put a microphone in front of them sound like an idiots?
Is it because they need an extraordinary amount of money to run for office and they have to dumb down to the dummies to get their dough, maybe but they turn off.
Can one state that politicians are an abused minority?
I see on the boob tube some congress people talk about letters that they get from their constituents complaining that they are losing their health care because their insurance company stated they don't meet the standards for the affordable healthcare act. If the congress person was honest he (or she) would state that the constituent was lucky, the lowest tier on Obamacare is lame and probably not worth the money so one can only imagine a plan that doesn't meet those standards.
There are over 330 million Americans with ancestry from all over the world, I'll bet that our founding fathers couldn't fathom that.

Steve's barking Americans want freedom of choice, maybe?

The urban myth states that we Americans want freedom of choice, that's why we don't want to change the way we receive our health care. The truth be told we don't want to change the way we get our health care is just the opposite, we have a hard time making decisions. There are two big arguments for the way health care is delivered in America. The first is we don't want the government to tell us to were we can get our health care from even it it means we have choices. The other just as popular we are satisfied that our employer tells us what insurance company to take and we don't want change that. Now taken as a whole I kinda get the impression that most of us don't like change even if it means no freedom of choice and of cause we make excuses.

If we like Coke and we have hundreds (well maybe not hundreds) of similar brands would will be willing to go for a cheaper brand? Some of us will at of necessity will but most coke drinkers will not. Is this out of brand loyalty or because we don't like change?
We have advertising to help us change our minds on things like the cars we buy among other things.

I guess those who are complaining about the wait they have to get on the health exchange aren't husbands who go shopping with their wives.

Steve's barking statistically speaking

How is the study of political science similar to the study of economics?

They both depend highly on statistics.

The problem with too much dependency on statistics are conflicting statistics.

Last week on the boob tube a boober stated that when Social Security when it was conceived life expectancy was only 65 and now it's 78. something. This was stated for the need to curb the entitlement know as Social Security. The true statistic is that life expectancy since 1938 for people hitting the age of 65 is only 4 years not the 13 years as this boob implied.

In this present day of watching and listening to baseball statics are becoming more and more important.

How many times do you hear a pundit state a certain pitcher is on a roll, he had a 1.9 ERA and he be hard to beat in the playoffs. The more important statistic might be how did this pitcher do in April when it's almost as cold as Oct when he can't be as limber.

*boober = (made up word) some one who uses misinformation to prove a point. May be smart and is trying to get over on persons that he feels aren't very bright , boobs (Ted Cruz?).

A not to bright person (boob) who proves it over and over again by stating misguided facts.

Steve's barking better a single payee then payer for American Health Insurance

Heath care in the United States stinks. The Affordable Health Care Act at best will take care of one of the woes, lifting at best 10 percent of the problem (coverage of most of the Americans with some form of health care). It doesn't address the cost of health care that states shell out which is around 30% of their budgets.
No were in America's health care is the failure to replace doctors that are leaving the health care profession with the cost of training new doctors so there will be less of a shortage of doctors. Our businesses are at disadvantage that America is one of the few counties that have it's employers pay for health insurance.
( Unless there is a dollar for dollar tax break it's a big disadvantage).
Hospitals are closing all over the country, if there is a pandemic were in real trouble.
The argument that America's health care system is the top because people come here to be treated, doesn't hold much water when you consider that  more* American citizen leave the US for health care then come here for medical reasons.
Now we come to how the crux of my blog today, how to improve the American health care system, weather to have a single payer or a single payee?
The difference is taxes collected should go to a government run program or money collected should be given to the citizens to buy their own health insurance .Medicare gets a cheaper rate from hospitals and doctors then private insurances do. My problem with government setting the prices after the screw up that congress has been going through and the crazies in our government bureaucracies I'm very afraid of what can happen to our health care system My other fear is I don't want some crazed elected or government official telling the females of my life if they can have birth control and if they can have an abortion. I don't want any elected or government official to tell my doctor how to handle end of life question.
A single payee option would be all citizens of the United States would be get a voucher for private health insurance which would be more expensive then the single payer option but the people would have a choice, and those who do want women's health issues on their issuance can find one that does and those that don't can chose one that doesn't. The standard would be the health insurance that government employees get now.
If you are a citizen and don't pick a health insurance you'll get it by random lottery.

I believe that a dedicated tax of 5% of income including capital gains (reducing what goes into the general funds by that 5%) should cover the cost of insurance plus the cost of training new doctors and even giving grants to hospitals to stay open. It may even be possible to cut the tax rates for general purposes.
States and Cities would have more money, because they no longer have to pay health care cost  for now and into the future. ( The health care time bomb will be defused).

* Indonesia, Panama, Thailand and India have hospitals dedicated to Americans and Canadians and Europeons for medical purposes. Those who go there are called medical ( or some times called health care)
tourist.

Steve's barking at Stalinst Americans

Ok, what the f*** are Stalinist Americans? Let me start over , who the f*** are Stalinist Americans?
To answer that question let's start out with those blokes who complain about that woman or man who they claim was buy candy and soda ( beer, cigarettes) with food stamps. Let's do away with food stamps because there are people who misuse the system. That statement goes along with Stalin's statement better nine innocents be jailed then one guilty be free.
Who else can be called Stalinist? How about those people who keep say a big lie over and over again till the lie becomes excepted as the truth, kinda like those anti Affordable Healthcare Act people.
Would you believe that I heard on the boob some capitalist sound like Stalinist. How may you ask can a capitalist be a Stalinist? Well if they say the same lie over and over again they too can be a Stalinist. If you want to do away with most rules because a few rules are wrong and stupid, then you too can be a Stalinist.
If you bully your way to get what you want (like some Tea Party favorites) politically then you too can be considered a Stalinist.

Steve's barking at Woolie Bullies

In America we now have a war on bullying of youths against other youths, unfortunately we don't have this same anger of adult bullying. We do frown upon the bullying that's called sexual harassment, but what about the person who sits next to you and makes your life a living hell. Or what about the boss who's constantly berating you. What about in school were a few adult teachers bully a few of their students. When was the last time one heard of adult bullying yet it happens all the time?

In American politics there's bullying all the time, the Tea Party just recently tried to bully the country to do things that the majority in the upper house felt was wrong. Then blamed everyone else for not bargaining in good faith.

What about those bullies on television who have (masochistic) people come to their shows and berate them and their viewers love it.

Question of the day; How do we stop our children from bullying when the adults all around them are bullying?

Steve's barking, US budget deficit going down----bad

I've been reading some bad news US budget deficit is being reduced in the time of the great sequester.
Any time a budget is reduced on the back of people, that's not good. I can not rejoice, the budget deficit is going down the budget deficit is going down, were spending less and the the private sector isn't picking up the slack and there's less money in the economy.Now I don't know what economist thing that's a good thing. Maybe the economist who doesn't put his money in a bank, for banks run the same kind of deficit spending that the government does only they can't print (?) money the way the Federal Bank can.
Now in case a person reading this doesn't understand how I can compare the US deficit to a bank, think of it this way, the bank borrows my money as a depositor and lend it out with interest hoping there aren't too many defaults, the government (lends?) out money to people such as farmers, the poor in the form of food stamps and housing subsidies. ( Some of you who read this may not comprehend, for this is an abstract idea). The government can make up this money in the form of higher taxes and or inflation.

Question: Did the great sequester hurting the housing market and perhaps the banks?
Question: Was borrowing from credit cards going up due to the sequester
Question: Are delinquecies in paying on time cable and telephone bills going up due to the sequester?
Question: How are car sales, especially in areas with high government worker and in areas with companies that have government contracts?

Steve's barking the co-pays too high

Observation at the US health care system. If your a lower middle income person and you chose or given a high co-pay your not very likely going to go to the doctor, they have a hard time paying the bill. Now even if they got this plan from work or got from the exchange these insurance holders are just wasting their money.

I remember in the old days when I first started working (minimum wage) if I needed to go to the doctor it would;d cost me just a days wage, I didn't have health insurance that paid for doctors visits. Later as I moved up in the world I was given hospitalization insurance, with a health professional in the office. My how times have changed in the past 40 years.

Steve's barking: It's not my grandfather's concervatives

When my ancester came over on the Half Moon and discovered New Amsterdam with Henry Hudson  he was considered concervatives.
Ok my ancester didn't come to the New World on the Half Moon he came over with the Dutch West India company and those business men were considered concervatives. I'm not really sure that my long lost ancester came to the New World with the Dutch West India company, but I'm pretty sure that I had a relative who fought in the Civil War and he was from the Dutch side of the family. He fought for the North making him a Northern concervatives trying conserve the nation.
What are modern conservatives? Do they believe in high taxation like that great collonialist Alexander Hamilton? No, I guess their not Hamilton conservatives.
Do they believe in a small military as the conservatives in the beginning of  the nation till World War II. No, I guess there not old time conservatives.
Are they anti Israel as Jessie Helms? No I guess their not Helms conservatives.
What kind of conservatives are these new wave conservatives are they?p

Steve' barking at world wide defaults

While no one has ever written or talks about it countries that lessen their pensions that are taken from taxes that the workers pay are in a technical default. Those counties that pay their bond holders first, broke an implied contract with their workers. If you pay your taxes we will give you x amount per month when you retire not the lesser amount y. Even though bond holders might be paid in full counties that lessen their pensions are in default.
 The US is even worse, the pensioners better know as Social Security recipients paid a. dedicated tax for expected payment of  Social Security (pension) which actually bought bonds.
Retirement age when I started working was 65, when I retired it was 66, and now there's talk of changing the  formula for cost of living adjustments, I may not be the brightest guy in the room, but I know when a implied contract isn't being payed, and yes the US is in default to its Social Security recipients and even it's present ones.

Steve's barking at Hurrcane Debt Ceiling

Us of the Northeast remember Hurricane Sandy and how we laughed at it before it hit shore, after all wasn't it just the year before that a Hurricane called Irene turned out to be a dud. We were warned that this Hurricane was going to be a disaster, but many of us just laughed and said remember Irene. Now that we were under water and led a miserable life of which some of us still do.
Now were being told by many that a terrible financial storm is coming called the debt ceiling. There are many among us who say no way this will be very  damaging, just like those persons in the Northeast stated that Hurricane Sandy wasn't going to be very damaging. There are those people who make financial decisions who say hay that thing called the sequester was to bring this country to it's knees, didn't happen. No budget no big deal, were muddling through. Raising the debt limit is something we don't have too,after all were taking in enough money from taxes each month to pay our debts. What is not being said is that we will not have enough money to pay our employees ( including our Arm forces, our boarder guards, congress people (hip hip hooray) and the people who make the payments for our debt. Of cause these people can work for free, yea right their going to work for free.


Treasury can make a billion dollar radium coin and sell it to the Federal Reserve negationg the need to raise the debt ceiling.
Then again the President can invoke the 14 amendment to the constitution to pay off the counties debt by any means possible with the on going fight in the supreme court if this is what the writer of this amendment intended.

Steve's barking at democratic minority rules

One would think that in a democratic society that the majority rules.
I'm not so sure about that. The fact of the matter I know that in a parliamentary system with many parties, majority rule gets the short shift unless one party wins a solid majority. Think of Israel, don't those  extremist parties have way too much sway?
What about that well oiled machine Germany? Even though the Christian Democratic took much more of the vote then any other party ( possibly at the expense of their previous coalition partners) they have to make deals to govern(?).
Now we come back to the good old US of A, which isn't a parliamentary government yet the Republican party has too make deals with the lower house to stay in charge, thus the undemocracy of the great democracy of the United States. Unfortunately for the Republican Party (re Tea Party) the lower house doesn't rule like in European Parliaments were no confidence votes can change the government.

There are people in the US who are nostalgic for James Buchanan and the weak ineffectual presidency.

Question: Do democracies want democratic really want democratic rule in other counties, especially when the citizens of that county what things that may be at odds with those countries?

Steve's barking It's a budget stupid

I maybe not know that much about budgets, but I do know that a counties budget has everything to do with money that a the counties government is going to spend. Question; how do you hold up a budget on money that you're not going to spend. Maybe I'm putting it wrong let's ask how can you insist on not paying for something that your not suppose to pay for anyway?
Now in case anybody is reading this I'm writing about the affordable health care act. Now I'm no lawyer but you can't insist that on refunding or holding up a portion of a law that the government isn't funding.
Now I haven't seen the funding bill, but if my gut feeling is right the senate could except the money part of the bill and change the wording.
Now I know that the budget bill is a zillion pages long and nobody really knows what in it anyway, but (and g-d forgive me) if medicaid spending is X plus Y (for the affordable health care) don't fund Y.  Even if that money is from saving on the amount of money not being paid to doctors and hospitals, just deduct the savings.


Thank goodness progressives don't read my blog and neither do the fruitcakes.
A person must take this particular blog with a grain of salt, for I get all my information from the news.

Steve's barking at welfare for the wealthy

In America only the poor get welfare, that and other myths have been circulating in this country since I was a young lad more then 65 years ago.
Funny thing this country has square miles upon square miles of land that is ready to be used, but when was the last time you heard of an auction  for federal land? I've heard of Federal lotteries that were rigged. I've heard of the selling of federal land (for the good of the people) but never an auction.
I've heard of special tax breaks that only the wealthy can use, one can say that the wealthy are getting welfare by tax codes.
What about those wealthy corporations who low bid on government contracts and are paid cost over runs, isn't that welfare for the wealthy?
What about those wealthy corporations that get land, tax breaks perhaps a road, and sewage system that others pay for.
Is it a good thing  corporate and wealthy welfare? Perhaps, but it's not better then then keeping a fellow human being alive and  giving a little dignity.

Steve's barking when did I miss the vote

I didn't know they had a vote on  the topic of do the American people want Obama Care.
There must have been a vote. The Republicans keep saying that Americans don't want the affordable healthcare act and are willing to distroy the US as we know it, just to prove a point.

Steve's barking at partimers losing healthcare because of the Affordable Healthcare Act

It's been reported in the papers that several companies (including Trader Joe's) are no longer  giving their part time employees health care. Now just looking at the headlines one would imagine that this is a bad thing.
After reading the headlines one finds out that the form of health care that these companies were giving their employees were not the very good and the reason that they were taking away their employer sponsored health insurance is that it didn't pay for doctor appointments that didn't relate to emergencies (in other words the health insurance didn't pay for checkups).
The affordable health care act at least gives a minimum standard for health insurance. And some of those minimum health care insurance policies proves that government intervention to set standards was needed.
I almost forgot, some of those companies that no longer give their part time employees health insurance are giving money too buy from the government health exchange (including Trader Joe's).
 In reality the Affordable Healthcare Act isn't really taking away health insurance from part time workers it's giving them a chanmce of something better.

Steve's barking at winning national elections by beggering thy fellow counties

The German elections are over. The Christian Democrats have won.
Merkel did a great job in making the Greeks, Spanish, Portuguese and Irish poorer.
The German people rewarded her and her party with the largest number of seats in parliament because she stood her ground and made the Southern tier of the Euro Zone and Ireland pay with austerity.
Now I know that Germany has low unemployment, but my gut feeling is that Gernany is in an employment bubble that's on the verge of blowing up. I don't see how businesses can keep exporting to counties that can't afford their exports, and no I don't believe that there is an export pixie that will help the German economy in the next three years.
The German economy is the economy that the United States should emulate. How do I know? I heard a pundit on the boob tube say so.

My suggestion to all countries out there, there is no country that can be your guide as to handling your economy, as we all do screwy things.

Steve's barking it's not what you know

In America we have this myth that the more you know the better the your chances to land that great job.

This maybe the case in many jobs but I've noticed that it's better to be in the know with the hiring person and or have an in with the company.I used to pride myself that I was a civil servant and I had to take a test to get the jobs I had, unfortunately that is turning into a myth by default. It's the default of outside contractors. It's the default in some parts of civil service like the New York City Fire Departments Legacy rules were having a relative in the fire departments gives you extra points on the test.*

I ask the question, would someone have a large edge if they belong to right fraternity or sorority then the person with the right resume?

Doesn't the person from the Ivy league school with a lower GPA get the nod over a state school alumni?

Doesn't the person who has connections with the board generally get the position in the firm over the person who doesn't?

How many times have I heard of wavering of requirements in civil services and even the private sector to do some one a favor?**

* In my opinion doing away with legacy points would do away with discrimination in the fire department in New York City.

** The waving of requirements to do a favor brought Kathy Black to the board of education which was a disaster. Mayor Giuliani had several heads of agencies who were not qualified including a police commissioner.

The general rule to get the right job is to go to the right school, the fraternity, sorority or being born to the right parents.   

Steve's Barking Putin on the Ritz

The other day Russian President wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times.
At the end of this op-ed piece the President of Russia complaint that President Obama of the United States shouldn't call America exceptional. Now just who does Putin think he is? An American?
Well you know he can't defect now and run for any office in America..
Now I've said that some times America ain't that special, but nobody gives a sh*t what I say.
Now I'm sure that many of President Putin's country men think that he's special for writing that in an important American Newspaper.
I have no idea what the pundits on the cable news networks were saying for they all sound like chirping birds.


Let me put my two cents in on Syria.
Neither sides is our friend. Even our friends our not our friends.
I fell sorry for the refuges, but an attack on Syria will not help them.
Assuming that the Syrian government used gas on its civilians (which is the most despicable act that they could do) how is a limited attack going to punish a war ravaged regime?
I maybe wrong but the best we can do is all pray for the civilians in Syria.

Steve's barking at the best healthcare in the world "not".

 America has the best health care system in the world. How do I know? I just heard the speaker of the house say so as he repeated the call that congress should repeal the affordable health care act.
Now as I said before, I don't give a damn if we think that America's health care is the best in the world or not, it's just not good enough for Americans.
Americans deserve a health care system that helps train more doctors then we our losing due to retirement.
America deserves a health care system that  one third of states budgets are not going for the cost of health care.
America deserves a better health care system that businesses are at a competitive disadvantage because they supply the money for their employees health care.
America deserves a heath care system that doesn't have three times as many citizen seeking heath care in a foreign country as foreigners seeking health care in the good old US of A.* Let me repeat that 3 times as many US citizens seek health care in foreign counties as foreigners seek heath care in the US of A.

*I took at what  three counties Indonesia, India and Panama claimed were coming from the US to their hospitals that specialize in tourist health care and compared it to the numbers that were claimed coming into the United States for health care.

Steve's barking taxing the rich too much?

Will the rich leave if you tax them too much?
What is too much?
New York City is a very high taxed city yet billionaires haven't been fleeing.
Will the rich flee for a small increase in their taxes?
If they do I would say they are luckier then good.
Do the poor need the rich more then the rich need the poor?
Think about that. Do the rich need the poor more then the rich need the poor.?
If tax  that the rich pay doesn't help the poor then the poor don't need the rich man's taxes.
Do the taxes help pay the poor pay their medical bills?
Do the taxes the rich pay help with housing the poor?
Do the taxes help with feeding the poor?

Who would clean the toilets if it weren't for the poor?
Who would work in fast food restaurants if it weren't for the poor?
Who would look after the rich person's children if it wasn't for the poor?
Who would clean the cars if it wasn't for the poor?
Who would the rich feel better then, if it wasn't for the poor?

Who needs the rich man's taxes, why the city worker, and those million dollar (leaches) vendor, contractors.

The rich can leave but then so can the poor.

Steve's barking the economic rollercoaster

 If you think this blog is about the ups and down of the economy press the dislike button now.
I see a major role that the government must play the economy is just like the start of a roller coaster ride.
The seats are pulled by a very strong chain to the top of the first decline (this is not the same as a decline in the economy) when the seats hit the top of the decline it start a fast decent, carrying it through the ups and down of the ride till the seats of the ride slow down and the breaks are applied. And then it's started all over again.
The economy in employment inertia must be pulled by a strong influx of capitol that is so great that it pulls the employment over the first incline so that the employment seats can coast the ups and down of the economy.


* That strong influx of capital by the government must be used for hiring by the government and or by it's vendors that pay more then a living wage creating demand for private sector goods and for savings creating enough momentum to take the employment over the inclines and down the declines.

Steve's barking that idiost trumps morons

I see on the boob elected official or at least one time elected officials.
I say to myself how did that idiot get elected, than I look up the morons who ran against the politician and I can see why idiot trumps moron every time.

Look at the New York mayoral race Anthony Wiener was just an idiot when he entered the race, then it was revealed that he continued to sex text after he left congress putting him in the moron class.

Eliot Spitzer took up with call girls and manipulated money to do so,making him an idiot, borderline moron.
His opponent Scott Stringer's add accused MR. Spitzer of using offshore accounts to pay for the hooker, unfortunately the adds are wrong it was the RICO statue that Mr. Spitzer violated(?).
Now after looking at some of the TV ADS it appears that Mr. Stringer is appealing on sentiment of some of the things that were written into law when he was in the Assembly which have zip to do with the job of comptroller. Border line Moronic.

Even some of the voters it appears can be moronic, it has been written ( I'm probably getting this a lot wrong) that some fellow down in Tenn.  was able keep his child on his health care and wrote to his local paper please don't let Obama care take this away.

Steve's barking, females have over taken males in

There are more females graduating college then males  and you wouldn't say that 10 years ago.
There are more females writing best sellers and at one time in the not to distant pass kit was extremely hard for a woman to be published except for a a few specialty types.

Steve's barking one of the troubles with congress

One of the troubles with congress is they make the rules.
What the incentive to have spending limits for a run for political office when they can receive millions in (bribes) campaign contributions?
What's the incentive to have a ruling that you can't work at lobbying or in the industry that you set the rules for when you were in congress for at least 3 years?
 There is an incentive to make laws for companies and people who don't have the best interest of America and it's people. Just think of the two questions above.
Let's face it, us peons are screwed.  

Steve's barking why are economic sidebars important?

Economics should be easy.
You start with a seed.
I believe that the seed being the desire and the ability to pay for that desire.
The water and the nutrients are products that are wanted and the ability to produce those products.( Money, Factories, Ideas, Land for Agriculture, etc).
The sun light one can equate to money going into the product and one can even say the oxygen is the money made from the product.

Sidebars or what is the best way for growing (the economy).
 One can easily use statics and  what has been used before.
They can be a good source if they were honest. I believe them but like President Reagan use to say trust but verify.
Now I watch (sometimes as I hold my nose) Television economic commentators say thing like how we need a better educated work force in the sciences ( maybe true). How the government is screwing up the economy, or just the opposite, the government isn't doing enough. Sometimes I even hear the same people making say too much government interference, not enough is being done. What the government does or doesn't do is important as long as you remember the first paragraph.

I  like to read  economic articles and blogs as long as they don't mention a third party, that is generally a turn off unless it is written in jest. 

Steve's barking at zipperheads

What are zipperheads?
Zipperheads are smart people that in order to get ahead in life have a zipper in the back of their heads and take their brains out. Think of elected officials in the good old US of A.
I wonder if it's true of politicians all over the world?

Steve's barking who's speaking up for the Isrealis who come from Arab countries

I hear on the boob tube and read in the paper about this group and that who want to boycott Israel because of what they call Israel and the occupation of Palestine land. There is even an ex-president who calls what's happening in Israel apartheid. It seems that everybody speaks for the Muslim Arab, the Christian Arab, and every other Arab who has a religion except the Jewish Arab.
Now the Jewish population of Israel is over 50% of those coming from Northern Africa.
Didn't they come because they were second class citizens in their old countries?
Didn't they come out of fear for their lives?
Weren't they afraid of what happened in Nazi Germany would happen to them?
It would appear to me that those who criticize Israel are really talking about European Jews (Askenizey) and when you take sides in a conflict were you're not involved one should look at the whole story.

I used to hear the stories of the Russian Jews, very rarely did I hear of the Iraq Jews, or Syrian Jews or for any of the Arab countries. I heard some stories after they escaped.
I read about them now from the Jewish agency only when they what to rebuke the claims of the Palestinians.
There should have been  ongoing information blitz from the beginning of the state of Israel till now.

I have the desire to boycott the boycotters of Israel because of there ignorance of the plight of the Arab Jew and if they didn't call Jordon and Egypt occupiers.

If Aljzeera wanted to win points on honest reporting they would report on the Arab Jews of Israel and how they were treated in their counties of origin.

Steve's barking privacy and an open government?

Why are those who a complaining that government is listening in on American secrets are in general the same people who demand open government?
In a democracy they say there should be no secrets from the people.
In a free society government shouldn't know what the people are saying to one another.
Question is a free society exclusionary from a democratic society?
Question does a majority rule society a free society because those in the majority hold back the rights  of the minority ( think of the old segregation in the south)?
Question how can a press question the government about privacy of it's citizens when at the same time dumpster dive and hound celebrities ( who just so happen to be private citizens) all in the name of freedom of the press?
Why do some people complain about violation of the fourth amendment for listening in on conversation and even government reading e mails and think it's alright to stop some one on the street
and frisk them ( which by the way we have the fourth amendment according to most American history books is because the British employed stop and frisk in colonial times)?
Maybe the US government should use the Terry ruling to explain why they can legally obtain e mail records and telephone conversations.

There is a Motown record of the way I feel- Ball of Confusion.

Steve' barking Why do news shows talk about rival networks news show

What has become of my world, why in the heck would a so called news show talk about a rival networks news show? Oh look how stupid they are? Oh she or he is such a bozo? Back in the day it was unheard of to  mention an other networks work and reporters.
Today all the shows on the so called cable news channels think they're the daily show.

Steve's barking the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning of American austerity?

Stop the presses, Macy's, Walmart, and even that new great innovative retailer Amazon had a down quarter( Amazon actually lost money).
Now I am personally sadden by this but I'm not surprised. If you'r taking money out of consumers pocket books a reasonable person can expect less spending by these very same consumers.
Now in case anyone doesn't follow what I'm writing about, the United States is going through what we call a Sequester. A Sequester is the US version of a European austerity budget.
Now if my mind isn't playing tricks on me the Sequester started about the same time as the beginning of this retail quarter. A logical person can make the assumption that some one who is furloughed losing a days pay once a month is going to have less money to spend ( or to save) cutting into buying power of the federal consumer (worker).
Will the counties top retailer persuade congress to end the Sequester?
Assuming that they can't persuade congress to end the Sequester will they start laying people off?
If these great retailers start laying off people wouldn't the President be blamed even though it's not his fault?
Would China, Japan, European Union head for an economic down turn?
If those counties have an economic down turn, wouldn't that hurt economically all of the Americas and Russia by curtailing much of their exports?  
Is the next great depression around the corner?  

The American consumers are paying down their dept,and that's being herald as a good thing by many.
I find it a scary thing, and it's a better indicator that consumer confidence is waning then any survey.
Could it be that an invisible hand is showing the federal workers to batten down the hatches for the stormy economic times ahead.

I'm looking for a deficit spike at the beginning of next year do to the spike in money being returned to the federal workers on their tax returns, and tax receipts  being lower do too fewer workers and lower profits.

Steve's barking money doesn't talk it shouts

Despite the fact that money in itself doesn't have a mouth, those who have money do.
Money when trying to convince doesn't talk, it shouts.
The higher the amount of money the loader the shouting.
Money shouts so loud it can drown out all other voices, as if those voices don't exist.
Money can shout so loud and so long that it can convince other wise intelligent people to believe really stupid stuff.
Money can be so loud and convincing it can( for the lack of better definition) brainwash the people.
If we let too much money into our democracy, we can kiss it good bye.

Steve's barking Mayor Mike Bloomberg fails 5th grade reading comprehension test

On August 12, 2013 took a reading comprehensive test.
There was only one question. on a single paragraph.
Paragraph :
The right of the people to be secure in their person, house, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but on probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.
Answering the question is it alright for the police to stop and search a person to prevent crime after reading that paragraph he answered of cause it is. It's an important tool in fighting crime.

*The question with stop and frisk and the Terry decision of the (Liberal) Warren Court states that stopping an individual can be constitutional if the police have a reasonable suspicion of a crime and in order to protect themselves they may pat down and use as evidence any found.
Much has been written about the Terry Supreme Court decision and the general rule is that stop and frisk should be used for a police officer's protection not to gather evidence.

The other question for Mayor Mike can you do the math. 88% of the over two million stop and frisk involve nothing being found. That does not equal what the Terry decision warrants. 

  

Steve's barking Can this be the end of the nation state?

The large nation state and even some of those smaller nation states seems to be in danger of imploding. Some for the reason that they seem to think that having draconian measures put on their people to enforce the rules of outside forces ( think Greece, Ireland and Portugal ect).
Some because of what those pesky talking heads like to call sectarian violence.
Is the world going back to prehistoric times that instead if the nation state we had a loss confederation of tribes?
The end of the rule of nations can be looked on as a call for freedom and the tribes of the world demanding that they be ruled the way they want to be ruled.

The reason that makes the United States different from most nations is the tolerance of  the differences of the different tribes, even though we don't quite understand this. Though out the United States' history we've had conflict because of intolerance of some of our tribes and their demand that
their intolerance be the rule of the land, all this in the name of democracy.

*I look at the Middle East and see nations of minority rule, even when with a democratic process that happened in Egypt before the latest upheaval. The democratic elected government didn't think of the other tribes and truth be told they are a minority.
In Israel  a truly minority of the populace runs the government and they don't even get a very large vote.

** Hopefully those who read this blog have a understanding as to what I've just written.
It's not the usual.

Steve's barking calling Dr. Quack in Bush

This week on of the fittest ex presidents of the United States had a stint put in because his doctor found a blocked artery.No fatty he.
Another ex president had physical problems so he has become a vegan, says he never felt heather.
I've sen recent pictures of the ex-pres, and he doesn't look good. My impression of a strict vegan diet is that one has a harder time fighting disease. So if President Clinton thinks he's heather with a  vegan diet, one can only hope that he's not the healthiest person in the cemetery.

Can a person like me on medicare get a stint or only those who can afford Rolls Royce medicine either by paying for it or by position in life are the only ones in the US of A who get stints?
Speaking of health, just how healthy is mayor Mike?
I understand that I'm not the healthiest person in the world because I'm (to put it mildly) fat, but how much more unhealthy am I then anybody who is on medicare? How much is this obesity health obsession due to ascetic prejudice?  

Steve's barking entitlements good, curbing entitlements bad

Entitlements are a good thing for the economics of a country.
Look at the United States. How prosperous this country is when poppy and mommy can take care of themselves in there old age.
Now I do recall that as a youngster several of my friends parents would take care of their grandparents. It was a good arrangement when my friends were young, mom and pop could go to work, and my friends were looked after by their grandparent. As they got older this arrangement wasn't so good anymore. There became a strain on the household. Especially if  the grandparent got sick. Then of cause Medicare came along, and the family budget wasn't so confined. A new car could be purchased every five years., or borrowing for college wasn't such a hardship as the parents could help the child.
In days gone by the last liberal president ,Nixon got through congress passed a permanent cola for Social Security, unfortunately presidents that came after him kept increasing the percentage that Medicare recipients had  to pay for their doctors insurance ( Medicare part B) kept rising along with the actual cost of what the doctor was allowed to charge Medicare, so in some years the Social Security beneficiary would actually lose money.
Getting back to the original premise, food stamps help those in need (of which there are too way too many) buy food, in some cases helping the small farmer and in other cases helping the big conglomerate, in either case more work is created.
Let's assume that the cost to the beneficiary goes up, wouldn't the clients see the doctor less there by lessoning the need for a large staff in the doctors office, cutting jobs.
Let's get back to Social Security. I'm making the statement that the more money the bottom rung of the retires have the better for the bottom line of American business.
Does anybody in congress understand the preamble to the constitution that the country must promote the general welfare and that includes food stamps, Medicare,Medicaid, and Social Security in the modern world.
Those who would cut entitlements are very Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, for all those religions believe in taking care of the less fortunate. (It wouldn't surprise me if Hinduism and Buddhism has the same tenants to them).

Steve's barking at cheating ( athletes) risk, reward

Oh no baseball is doing the unthinkable, they're going after player who used performance enhancing drugs.
They're doing it for the best interest of the game. The fans want it, or so the commissioner believes.
I kinda thought that professional sports are star and winning driven.
The bigger the star the more money the star makes. What does that mean in economic terms?
The greater the reward, the greater the incentive to cheat.
Bankers did it, and we got the public get punished, athletes do it and they get punished.
Heck even now I understand that Goldman Sachs is cheating by manipulating the price of aluminum.
I believe that those fellows who call themselves economist call this risk reward.
To many of us humans this cheating risk reward is in our DNA. How many of my peers cheated to get a better grade?

Armature sports has just as much cheating as professional sports, I guess it must be the need to win.
Is the need to win in the human DNA. How else can one explain a person who has more money then he or she needs, demands and get more money just because the guy or girl down the block doing the same job gets more money, that person believes that they should make more justifiable or not.


* Baseball is risking loosing fans, especially those who are in towns that have no chance of making the playoffs, they come out to see the stars.
**Baseball has had cheating since the first paid ball player. Players spiking other players, throwing illegal pitches (hall of  fame pitcher  Gaylord Perry caught with a emery board to scuff up the ball comes to mind).
*** When one is caught cheating blame some one else, and or ignorance. ( I thought it was acne cream said the star athlete) ( The government wanted me to give the non credit worth loans said the banker).

Steve's barking when is 3% more then 3%

When is 3% more then 3%? When it's compounded.
Current rate of return on 30 year treasuries are over 3%. This is extreamly low rate of return.
Assume that the interest is used to buy more treasuries for a pension, those who claim that pensions can only get 3% returns are wrong.

Steve's barking Oh no I didn't write that or I really like being a curmudgeon.

I've been reading from some libertarians due to the disclosure by Snowden of domestic ease dropping they quote Ben Franklin.
Those who would give up liberty to purchase safety deserves neither liberty or safety.
The actual quote is
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty or safety.
With those 3 extra words the quote by Ben Franklin does not have quite the same meaning.

I don't have the same worries as some have about income inequities, I worry more about life inequities.
Too many of those high money types worry that the poor will get enough to eat, have a decent place to live and heaven forbid cable television and smart phones, like it's going to change the life style of the rich and famous.
Some times I suspect that there are people in the world who would be happy if the less fortune in the world turned into cows.

  
Why are we so worried about athletes who cheat when our bankers have a greater percentage of cheaters then baseball?

Steve's barking I don't know much about much about global warming.

Climate change (some times know as global warming is here to stay.
I read in one of my e periodicals that I subscribe too in one hundred years Miami, Boston, and my hometown New York City would no longer exist. The oceans will rise 17 feet. I assume that means that all the Arctic Ice will melt. I don't know much of science nor  math but I guess that means that all the Arctic Ice will melt with the resulting melting ice from two opposite places at the ends of the earth equals a displacing all the ice with 17 feet of water times the whole of all the oceans. To be quite honest I don't know how many mega tons of ice there is out there and what the ratio of melted ice turning to water but I kind of think that no matter how much ice there is at the top and bottom of the world the rising of the ocean levels to 17 feet is quite an accomplishment by mother nature, especially if evaporation ratio goes up do to the excess heat.

Now I read in another e periodical from some one with a strange idea that we're having rather server storms due to the lack of floral carbons in the air. What are floral carbons one may ask, those are the things that were banned in the early seventies because they were creating the new ice age. The floral carbons in the atmosphere prevent the heat of the sun from coming down to earth, hence creating a very cold earth.
The writer of this article because nothing is stopping the sun from heating up the oceans at any given time the storms tend to be stronger. Is that true? I have no idea.    

What I do believe we have created so much carbon  gas in the atmosphere were trapping the heat from the sun like a greenhouse. It takes years for this gas to dissipate. Despite what  the top scientist are telling us we have crossed the Rubicon and the only the only way to stop carbon gas from going into the atmosphere is to end the way we live. An other way is to try to counter balance the trapped heat. As far as floods and droughts perhaps ( this will sound like science fiction) store flood water and move excess water to parched places on earth.

Steve's barking Fla and Arizona hurt by Detriot's bankruptcy

Arizona and Florida will be hurt by Detroit's bankruptcy and Detroit's not even in those states.
Arizona and Florida are prime retirement areas for Northern retiries
Assume that pensions will be reduced due to backruptcy, there is a claim of underfunding by new wave actuarials. Reduced retirement income is not out of the question ( see Southern Europe).
If Detroit can reduce retirement income can other city and states be far behind?
Reduced retirement income from Northern civil servants would make it harder for the retiries to live in retirement states hurting those states.

Steve's barking let Snowden go

If I was the Pres, I would issue an order that Snowden could go to any country that we don't have an extradition treaty with. We would give him a 48 hour temporary passport and not interfere with any flights out of Russia.
Let's face facts, he's the fourth person from the NSA who has stated the same thing about the US government listening in to our personal conversations. The other three were charged with the same crimes as Snowden, and only one of them got anytime and that was one year.
By not letting him go to any country that would take him we've turned him into a martyr and an embarrassment for our friends and trading partners.

Steve's barking at a nation of law breakers

We in the United States are a nation of law breakers.
We (I) think nothing of driving at 65 miles in a 55 mile zone and think that it's alright.
When I was a smoker I would smoke in bed though it was dangerous and in New York City against the law.
Governments (city, state and federal) like to play fast and lose with the fourth amendment (that amendment stating that the right  of the people to be secure in their persons, houses and effects against unreasonable searches searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall be, but upon probable cause.
Does New York City have the right to stop and search anyone with maybe the exception is saving life and limb if one believes in the wording of the fourth amendment.
The sixth amendment specifically the right of the accused the right to a speedy and public trial. I can't recall a speedy trial.
The eight amendment clearly states excessive bail shall not be required. How many times have I read about million dollar bail for simple prostitution?  How many times have I read about bail for simple marijuana possession were the accused had no means to meet bail?

Steve's barking that Congressman Ryan opened the door for a European style healthcare system.

Congressman Paul Ryan opened the door for a European type healthcare system in the United States.
To be more specific the German Healthcare system.
Now how can that be?
He proposed that in the future (those who are now 55) seniors in the US would get vouchers which would be used to buy health insurance on the open market. Now as I recall the voucher would pay the amount that is equal to the second lowest health insurance in the local area.
What would happen if some brave public official would say that they agree as long as every American no matter the age should be entitled to the same style healthcare. Wouldn't this start a debate as too a truly universal healthcare in the US.
This program wold be similar to the Universal healthcare in Germany, and I say why not. We stole Social Security from them why not their healthcare system.  

Steve's barking Why I'm voting for number nine

I'm voting for Elliot Spitzer for comptroller out of loyalty.
As a former New York State worker I have to vote for the governor who gave decent raises (perhaps a little too much) that when all is said and done allowed me to retire without too few money worries.
He was also the governor who saw that state workers are partners in government not adversaries as the present governor does. As governor he wanted his auditors to be proactive as compared to what too many in government want and that's to be reactive ( if enough people make a complaint  we'll have our auditors look at it).
Was Elliot Spitzer too aggressive some times, and not showing enough compassion to people who broke the letter of the law but not the spirit? Yes.
Hopefully in his future endeavors he will show a little more understanding.

If we only elect candidates who never broke the law, then we would have almost no electable candidates.

My only worry about Elliot Spitzer as Comptroller of NYC is that this is a company ( Two major industries) town, and the finical heads can be very spiteful.          

Steve's barking at being duped again

Yesterday while looking at one of the many news blogs that I have an apps too an article stated Samsung was paying Apple was paying a Billion dollars in nickels for the patent infringement case it lost. Sending the nickels by 30 trucks. Like the idiot I am some times and also being tired I believed it and was trying to put the article on my Facebook page. Just to be on the safe side I check for other sources. The other sources showed me that it would be impossible to pay a billion dollars worth of nickels  in with only thirty trucks and it would take 20 billion nickels to make one billion dollars. That's probably more then all the nickels in circulation. Of cause I should have known better the picture net to the story was of pennies being dumped out of a truck.

 

Steve's barking at the importance of velocity

I was doing my surfing on the tube the other day when I believe I heard an ex-governor of the FED say that velocity in the money supply is unimportant because it's not constant. I most be from another world or I didn't hear right, velocity in my word is exceedingly important.
High velocity is can generally a precursor to inflation, slow velocity generally means deflation and high unemployment. In my world velocity is almost if not more so in this day and age M1, M2, M3, and M4.
Strangle the velocity murder the economy.   

Steve's barking let's zap the children

The way teaching children is going in the US education systems with standardized test and standardized teaching I can see in the future that all children will be taught from a interactive computer. A monitor who will be making minimum wag will strap the child into his or her seat putting earphones on their heads so as not to disturb other children. when it's time to find out if the child has learn the lesson an interactive test will be given. A wrong answer would be given a warning, a failure on the test the child would get a mild shock.
Children will understand that they must pass the test or be punished. The fear of being zapped will make them better students. The school system will become highly cost effective as there would no longer a need for teachers and their high salaries and pensions.
  

Steve's barking at giving up my privacy

I started  many years ago to give up my freedom by opening a back account.
I used direct deposit., my bank then knew were I worked. Now my bank knows that I'm on social security. I have cable telelivision, the cable company can know what I like to watch.
I use a google, aol, safari, and what ever micrsofts Internet gateway to the net is.
Guess what, I get pop ups advertisements tailered to what I'm looking at.
Lets not forget facebook, I now have more adds then I then I do friends posting.
If anyone wanted to know what what I made my last year of work and what my pension is they can look it up on the net the benifit of some private and non profits. There are even some firms that for a fee can tell you what kind of car I drive including my license plate numer, how long I lived at every place I have lived at. They probably can tell what kind of breakfast food I eat in the morning.

Now if I was a person of some notariotaty I would have reporters going through my trash, and photographers showing pictures of how heavy I've gotten in the last thirty years.

Am I worried that my government can and maybe has peek at my privacy? The answer is no.
Am I upset that my government violates the constition? The answer to that question is yes.
I also realized from the time of the our second president, the constition has been ignored and misinterpreted.

Steve's barking those who should thank Snowden

Those who should thank Edward Snowden.
All those American Union guys who don't have to fight for their jobs because of another free trade deal that negotiations may fall apart because of Snowden blowing the whistle.
All those European heads of state who continue to unleash unrealistic economic hardship on the population of Europe who now have a place for the people to look at that's not them.
All those foreign leaders who can now say look in the mirror to the United States.

There are a lot more would be terrorist in Europe, do you think that listening to there conversations helped.
Did they have another country help them out?    

Steve's barking, I'm shock there's gambling in the back of Ricks

I'm shocked there's gambling going on in the back of Ricks, or as the EU might say America is bugging our conversations, we're shocked. Germany taking the lead saying US you g ot some (ex)plaining to do.

I always thought it was the right of passage between nations, even ones that are allies to spy on one another.
Hay look at the US and Israel. Every five or so years we throw a Russian diplomat out of the country and they do the same to us for spying. We want to know what our NATO allies are doing and I'm sure they want the same from us.

In the late fifties and early sixties the CIA had so many goofs that some one gave them the nickname certified incompetent agency, what will the NSA be called? The not (very) smart agency.

We had Bradley Manning in the Army and Edward Snowden volunteering to do the glamorous yet tedious work of looking at  and or ease dropping on telephone conversation and e-mails. They knew what  they were doing yet they were shocked ( were they naive) at the carrying on of the government.

I was in the park the other day and this child maybe 9 or ten starting to annoy this senior citizen. The senior got angry and the child laughed at her. The senior started to chase the child, which made the child taunt the senior more. This incident made me think, perhaps these leakers were going after there iner-child and if we    ignored them that would be there greatest punishment.

Steve's barking getting a round peg into a square hole

I'm barking at one of my favorite topics again. Think Tanks!
I've read some stuff from The Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and The Manhattan Institute.
Their findings are audit reports. I just happen to know a little about audits and every one that I've reads are incomplete at best at worst the're out and out frauds.They seem to have the conclusion first, then they try to find facts that justify their conclusions, or even worse make up the facts. You don't have to know much about auditing to know that these reports are garbage and many of the facts are suspect.
There are two problems with political economic think tanks, they have to justify there findings by those who pay them and those in the media who take their findings as fact are too lazy to do their own research.
Because of my readings of conservative think tanks I take all think tanks with a ton of salt.    

Steve's barking conservative think tank is an oxymoron

Here we go again, another unable to think tank has stated were all going to go to hell in a hand basket because of the unfunded government pensions. Or is it underfunded government pension. This hold especially true for city and state pensions.
Now ladies and gentlemen  if this being true sell all your stocks in insurance companies especially the ones who have annuities. Well the reason I say that because aren't annuities based on the same bonds and stocks as the pensions are?  Of cause the governments can always raise taxes. Wouldn't that send businesses away. The workers would leave. I guess all the jobs in California have left for no tax states.

Now this same institute in Manhattan claims that New York Housing Authority is three Billion in the in the red for repairs. That selling off airspace is a good idea.
The Housing Authority has a billion dollars in the bank, and repairs are not being made.
New York has one of the nations best public housing if not the best. Why would you mess with the formula.

I remember when the middle class would move if they thought a housing project was going up in their area, now the city wants to place expensive housing in the middle of the projects. People think the acceptance of gay marriage was a big deal.  

Steve's barking as good as isn't good enough.

We ought to hire more (name your gender, race or ethnic group) for top executive positions for they are as good as White Males.
Now with the idea that I may sound prejudice, I wouldn't hire ( name your unrepresented group) if there only as good as, I would hire them if they had a chip on their shoulders that they had something to prove. If they were more hungry then those White Males or they had proven to be better then. Because that what I want to run a company or even a lesser entity called a country. I want better then the rest.

When I look around this globe I see health care that's not good enough, we tend to compare ourselves to other societies instead of looking at what is needed and making an effort to get it done.
All the counties of the world need better health care systems.

We tend to compare our education to other counties and all countries are lacking in some form or other.
I ask myself in the United States are we catering our education to what we believe would make us stand out (this being the most likely scenario)?
Our we trying to have our education meet what is believed the education needs of the future?
What were not doing ( an impossible task) is meeting the individual student's need.

If any country is trying to be as good as the United States, they are making a terrible mistake, that's not good enough, just as the United States keeps saying that were number one, that's not good enough. The countries of this planet have got to strive to be better tomorrow and even better the next day.

Striving to be better then the best is what it's all about.

    
 

Steve's barking Unions raising the white flag

Here in America our unions are are raising the white flag.
Now one reads about Walmart workers wanting to join a union, and Walmart just giving a big yawn.
One even hears that there was a one day strike at Walmart. Sounds like the United Autoworkers holding sit ins at the big three Automakers during the great depression.
Being a good union person from a union shop were one had to pay union dues I realized that in order to be a real good union person like most things in life you need enthusiasm. Why can't unions bring enthusiasm to a younger generation? Now I'm not just talking about young pups just getting into the work force, I'm talking about some middle aged far*s. Is because the unions have lost there way? Has the worker been brain washed, that its not good to have a contract that's the same as the person next to you. Why should a person worry about being brought up on charges, that person would never do anything wrong. Does the modern worker know any of those old Union songs or even know the history of the union movement in this country.
What's wrong with the leadership of our unions, are they more interested in keeping power and closed to new ideas? What new ideas can they come up with that would excite the workers in this country that they would want to belong to a union?

Today most unions in this country are but straw dogs being used by bullies to keep the worker down.

Steve's barking at Brazil's no bread too much circus

Remember from the history books how the Roman Republic kept the populaces happy with full bellies and entertained. Well it seems to me that the of  Brazil is trying to give the people of Brazil somethings that they could all be proud of, holding the world cup and the Olympics so why is there rioting in the streets? Perhaps the government forgot to keep the peoples belly full.
Now it seems that the rest of the wold is happy with Brazil and until yesterday or the day before it was a good place to invest your money after all it's GDP and it's GNP keep going up  and I was told on the tube that income disparity percentage wise was going down (what ever that means).Ah but even the reporter on the financial news network that I was watching stated that the poor (which there are many) in Brazil couldn't afford a small increase in the bus fare. One could say that it was lowing the poor's discretionary income but that would be a lie, the poor in Brazil have no discretionary income. Now it's also come to my attention through this same financial news network that a lot of people in Brazil are upset that the Government is spending all this money on the World Cup and the Olympics and 88 percent of the roads (and there are plenty of them) are unpaved. There are way too many shanties in Brazil why can't the government build new housing?
Now this rioting and calling the government corrupt is news to me, especially when the president of Brazil Dilma Rousseff rating in April was 65 percent called her good to excellent. Over night her government is corrupt and incompetent.


Now I'm in shock again, I'm usually in favor of Sports venue being built, after all new housing is needed for Olympic contestants and when the Olympics are over this housing should be turned over to the poor.
When planning to host World Wide Sporting events the host country normally improves it's infrastructure and creates hundreds if not thousand temporary good paying jobs.  

Steve's barking don't always trust statistics

I remember when I was in grade school the socialist Norman Thomas gave an address to to our assembly.
Now the only thing I remember about his address was the statement he made figures lie and liars figure.
Statistics are numbers (figures) that address on going or previous situations.
What good are statistics anyway? There great for graphs. They should be good for probability. It can even sometimes can make a case for cause and effect.
When we in the United States make the case for life expectancy and our health care system shouldn't we through out death by guns and auto accidents? Doesn't that screwier the system?
When economist make a case against pumping money into the system shouldn't they look at the system more closely and differentiate an agricultural society, from an industrial society and a mixed society.

When we use statistics in baseball is the whole picture being taken in? When they say so an so bat 320 against lefties and only 230 against righties, does that statement  show what kind of hitter the batter is against right handed curve ball pitchers and fastball pitchers and the same for left hand pitchers. Are all the variances taken into account?

During the great depression when Roosevelt took his foot off the throttle the unemployment rate was 20%.
Statistic don't show what would have happened if the wages were paid to WPA workers were more the subsistence giving a greater discretionary income and perhaps self starting the private sector.

A greater worry about statistics is if the number aren't accurate to begin with.
Why shouldn't they be accurate?
Numbers can and are manipulated for self serving purposes.      

Steve's barking poisoned food saves lives

Think about this, we poison our food with chemicals to kill off bugs that eat our food.
If we were to eat too much of the poison food surely we would get sick, that why it's a good idea to wash off your fruits and vegetables (without using soap or as we call it rinsing them off).
We use growth hormones on our chickens and coop them up, surely that's not a good thing for the chickens and us chicken eaters but if we didn't do that would there be enough wings and breast to go around?  What would be the price of chickens and there parts if we only had free range?
What about cows and sheep, lets not forget about pigs and other penned in animals, would we have enough to feed those who desired the eating of flesh for there nutrition if they didn't a little poison in them?

What would happen if we were all vegetarians would there be enough food to go around?

Modern Western men like myself eat too much. We also tend to waste enormous quantities of food. The common wisdom is that this food could be used to feed the starving in various places in the world were there is a shortage of food, the people are hungry and children are dying of malnutrition. My over the belly gut feeling is telling me that we have to be careful fixing this inefficient food distribution system or more people will starve.

Some people eat to live, I'm one of those people who live to eat.    

  

Steve's barking why did the government get telephone records of reporters?

If the government has a telephone monitoring system call Prism why did it have to subpoena the telephone records of reporters?

Steve's barking Snowdon hero or?

Is the leaker that the US NSA has been gathering information  on all the citizens ,telephone calls so that a computoter can monitor them a hero or villian?
I for one am confused, not at Mr. Snowdon but at myself. I'm so ambivalent to the  ignoring of the fourth amendment to the constition by my government.
 It appears that Mr Snowdon is a true believer in the constition, because that the only way to explain his mental. equivalent of a suicide bomber.
Here is a highschool dropout, working as a Secuity guard, then as a CIA analyst eventually working for a private firm earning 200,000 dollars a year in  Hawaii, ending it all to tell the world what it already suspected.  The US is just like any other country.
I know not if  it's. a. Good or bad thing. I s he a hero or villian. Would. I have done the same in my brilliant youth.

Steve's barking don't do your job IRS

In the past several days my elected government has been chastising along with a large portion  of the media the IRS.
Now as I recall from my audit days in New York State one would look for certain red flags to be a little more zealous looking into what should be given a closer look. Now if I'm not mistaken most audits are done this way. Experience should tell what words or expressions should be given a closer look.
So my government and those whom tell us what to think (media types) are telling the IRS not to do their jobs.
What next some billionaires start complaining that the IRS is picking on them and it's class warfare. What's the government going to say, take the billionaires word on what they put on their tax returns?
Congress writes the laws, if they don't want the names of those giving to a political group and want it to be tax exempt they can change the law.
I hope those congress people aren't the same one's who complain that government isn't open enough, for those a** holes would be full of S**t.

I must have gotten so jaded in my old age the NSA is looking at Verizon telephone records and all I can do is yawn though I kinda know this is wrong and I'm pretty sure unconstitutional even with a court order.    
    

Steve's barking, whats good maybe bad

Does something good create something bad?
Plastic containers made things easier to carry.
Plastic containers became a landfill problem.
Replace plastic with cloth and you have a bacteria problem.
Replace the horse which when defecating creates a health problem. With a gas driven carriage and you have an co2 problem.
Cut income of workers to make a grater profit and you have an ability to pay problem eventually cutting customer base. Reducing profits in the long run.

The electric companies need you to use  more electricity for greater profit. The electric companies can't supply the electricity telling the consumer to cut back. The electric companies profits sink.

Fish is a great food for nutritional value. Every body wants to eat fish(?). With the nets and sonar that we have today we catch more fish. This being a good thing except that we're over fishing so we might not have any fish tomorrow.

We need oil and gas so we developed this thing called fracking, we may have plenty of oil and gas and no water to drink.

We have developed pesticides that kill bugs that carry disease and eat our food crops. These pesticides maybe harmful to us.

Ect, ect , ect.

Does every good action have an equal but bad reaction? Is there such a thing Newtonian economic law?

Steve's barking, No one's taking the guns away.

No sane person in the United States believes guns are going to be taken away from citizens who own them.
There are over three hundred million plus reasons why that not going to happen and none of those reasons belong to the constitution. An amendment to the constitution can be taken away by another amendment, just ask the women from the temperance league and the eighteenth amendment.
The 300 million plus reasons are the number of guns in the hands of the citizens. Let's not forget between one quarter and one half of the citizens of the United States have guns.

Two of the school shooting tragedies could have very easily been avoided if the parents of the shooters had practiced gun safety. I put the blame squarely on the NRA for not preaching gun safety enough.

Too many of those worrying about a gun registry assert that there are law and order people, so why don't they want a simple tool that will help catch the bad guys?

For you who think that gun laws will greatly reduce the number of gun deaths in America, I believe that death due to guns would go down slightly less then 1 percent.
Gun violence is one of the things Americans will have to live with.