Taking a Break

I have decided to take a 30 day break to clear my head of the news and people who care about their individual issues instead of the country as a whole. From people who don’t understand that they have a right to a religion because our Constitution doesn’t allow the government to have one. Without a religion our government:

• Does not stop a woman’s right to an abortion or birth control (an opportunity brought on by medical progress since the beginning of religions). 
• Has decided (1879 Supreme Court) that polygamy is against the law (On June 1, 2012 I heard Utah prosecutors are not bringing criminal charges against the polygamist family made famous on the reality show Sister Wives.). 
• Does not prosecute for adultery, eating of any food, having a religious symbol, working on the Sabbath, and more. 
• Does prosecute those that hurt children via their failure to provide medical assistance, beatings, trafficking, and more. 
• Believes in a death penalty (too many states have twisted their laws to believe otherwise). 
• Has decided we are all to be treated equally. Blacks, Hispanics, Gays, Catholics, Baptists, Muslim, etc. (On June 1 a Boston federal appeals court found the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional; it’s finally going to the Supreme Court.).

There is so much more I am irritated with but I don’t want to go into those not wanting health or house insurance and wanting the government to foot the bill; or the $1.8 trillion in tax cuts given to the rich when there’s 15% of Americans that are poor and starving, or our freedom of speech that allows people to lie, foolishly demonstrate (not slaughtered like Syrians) or to teach children to hate and persecute while their so-called Christians churches get government tax exemptions (perhaps the tax code should be changed to disallow them). And, I truly don’t understand why so many Americans don’t comprehend why the Wall Street protesters are acting on their behalf. 

The Republican Beast

On May 24, 2012 Republican Joe Scarborough was on the View and said he doesn’t like Romney (he liked Huntsman) - he could find an issue of Romney’s that he does like but doesn’t know where he’ll stand tomorrow; he also said the only thing the Republican Party is trying to do is get back in power and that we need someone who talks about the future not the past – I think he has a point. 

Let’s look at our leaders starting with the Reagan Republican Presidency (81-89). From 1981-87 the House had a Democratic majority and the Senate was controlled by the Republicans. From 1987-89 both the House and Senate were controlled by the Democrats (last 2 years of Reagan). During the 4 years of George HW Bush’s term (89-93) both the House and Senate were controlled by the Democrats. From 1993-95 both the House and Senate were controlled by the Democrats (first 2 years of Bill Clinton’s 93-01 Democratic Presidency). From 1995-2001 both the House and Senate were controlled by the Republicans; we had a government shutdown (1995-1996) and they tied his hands on many issues. During George W. Bush’s Republican Presidency (01-09) we had a Democratic Senate and Republican House for his first 2 years (01-03) and then both the House and Senate were controlled by the Republicans from 2003-07; the Middle East wars were raging and the economy began to fall. From 2007–11 both the House and Senate were controlled by the Democrats (last 2 years of Bush and the first 2 years of Obama’s Democratic Presidency). From 2011–13 we have a Republican House and Democratic Senate; we had a budget fiasco last year and we’re probably due for the same thing this year.  

A Republican has been in office for 20 years of the last 32; they always tout the politics of Reagan but none of it could’ve occurred without the cooperation of the Democrats. During the 2 Democratic presidencies because of the Republican’s strength in Congress we had a government shutdown and a drop in our credit rating because of a near miss in meeting the budget deadline.  

Over and over again we’ve heard about the money the Republicans are putting into the campaign and we heard it again to May 19 so I believe Scarborough is right in saying they only want to get back into power. Trump can say he backs Romney now but he can’t say when there were more in the race that he always backed him; in fact he considered running himself. On May 25 Trump was asked if he would consider holding the Vice Presidency or any post if Romney offered and he said he would. Whoopi pointed out that if he were in any office he’d have to tone down (talked about his Twitter feud with Cher); Barbara pointed out (and he agreed) that he doesn’t turn the other cheek and he says get even – fire them; Joy pointed out that those in office shouldn’t make personal attacks on people. Romney wasn’t good enough when he first ran for the presidency and he’s not good enough now.

On May 13 it was said that 1.8 students would graduate this year and 94% will have outstanding loans and 3 in 10 would be moving home to live with their parents. A week prior to this Romney told students to shop around for cheaper (tuition) rates and on this date he’s agreeing that loan rates shouldn’t be increased; according to a recent study 93% of parents are providing their students with some form assistance (loans, car payments or rent). On May 24 Romney said American students are getting a third-world education and proposed a voucher style program; he says it’s the civil rights issue of our era. I want to know who will monitor his system to ensure a better education and no fraud is created. I also want to know why the Republicans are holding the student interest rates as hostage for extending the Bush-era tax cuts to the rich.

On May 22 a Washington Post poll showed 16% of Americans said their finances have improved while 30% said they’ve gotten worse since Obama; Newark, New Jersey Mayor Corey Booker didn’t help – on Meet the Press he said he didn’t like the continued campaign against Romney’s work at Bain Capital and now he’s angry because the GOP is using his words against Obama. I agree with the President that working in private industry is not the same as working in federal politics (Romney has never held a federal position).

If something happened to our world I would need hunters/butchers, farmers, canners, textile workers and others associated with clothes manufacturing, cobblers, general practitioner doctors and surgeons, antibiotics and other drugs, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, teachers, barbers, and more. I won’t need Wall Street, hell I’d rather have a toilet paper maker before a stock trader, speculator, or financial advisor and I won’t need greedy oil tycoons. In early May a Republican said risk takers and investors are worth more and are needed. I don’t think the rich are worth more than the everyday people who put in a real day’s work (at a low pay and without health insurance) to make them rich. I again say that if you really want change Obama needs to be re-elected. I also think the Republicans need to be booted out of Congress to prove the point that we are fed up with things the way they’ve been. If this would happen Obama would have a chance to implement the changes necessary to give people jobs, health care and education. I believe that all of these, not just an education as Romney has said, are human rights issues along with others that the Republicans don’t support.     

US Import/Export

On December 14, 2011 CNNMoney reported that the Commerce Ministry of China announced increased duties on US made sedans and SUVs, raising the cost of those vehicles to Chinese buyers by between 2% and 21.5%; the new tariffs will last for 2 years. CNN said the action could imperil billions in sales by Detroit automakers. Experts in the field said they don't expect the import duties and lost sales to be a significant blow to the US automakers since most of their sales there won't be affected; it's likely a move by the Chinese to try to block the US from filing any additional sanctions against its own exports here. "They're basically saying if the US tries to put tariffs on imported goods from China, they'll retaliate," said Rebecca Lindland, director of research at IHS Automotive. The US Trade Representative's office (the advocate in trade disputes) said it was "very disappointed in this action by China today" and would consult with Congress and US automakers about how best to respond.

On May 15 we heard that in the past 10 years (China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001) American exports to China increased 542%. I found this came from The Hill’s On the Money Report of March 27 that said - total US exports to China rose 542 percent to $103.9 billion in 2011 from $16.2 billion in 2000 making the communist nation the third-largest US export market). The On the Money report also said exports rose $102 billion to Canada, $86 billion to Mexico, $28 billion to Brazil and despite the substantial increase in exports, the US share of imports into China has fallen to 7% from 10% in 2000 making the United States only the fifth-largest source of Chinese imports last year. The report suggested that as part of President Obama’s plan to double exports by 2014 he should try to reclaim the 10 percent share of China’s imports. The US-China Business Council (USCBC – a group of about 220 American companies doing business with China; they’re charged with analyzing the business climate for companies who are doing or wish to do business in China) suggested that policymakers can bolster US trade to China by expanding capacity and resources for the foreign commercial service which helps small and medium exporters find more export opportunities. The USCBC is urging reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank (Congress so far has rejected proposals to provide funding for the bank) and call on the funding of the US Trade Representative's office so it can continue helping exporters understand and remove market access barriers. Okay, I’ll go with funding the US Trade Representative office but not the bank; let businesses get their money from the TV show Shark Tank investors or someone other than the government.

On May 25, 2012 Donald Trump was on the View. He said he likes what Romney is saying about OPEC and China ripping us off; Columbia $4 billion, China $350 billion and we have to do something about it. First, I think these guys should read my Oil 101 blog of May 23 to find out we get the majority of our oil from Canada, not OPEC. Now, let’s look at this rip off. In 2011 the US exported $129 billion in goods and services to China while it imported $411 billion from China; leaving a $282 billion deficit for the US. The largest imports from China are: electrical machinery ($98.7 billion), machinery ($94.9 billion), toys and sports equipment ($22.6 billion), furniture and bedding ($20.5 billion) and footwear ($16.7 billion). We also imported $4 billion in agricultural products such as fruit, vegetables, juices, snack food, and spices. (Our top exports to China are: transportation equipment/machinery ($12.2 billion), agricultural products such as soybeans, cotton, hides and skins, and coarse grains ($18.9 billion), electrical machinery ($10.1 billion), vehicles ($6.8 billion) and aircraft ($6.4). The latest data available for investments were for 2010. This data showed US investments were led by the manufacturing and banking sectors to the tune of $60.5 billion (up 21.4% over 2009) and China’s investment in US stock was $3.2 billion (up 171.6% from 2009) and led by the wholesale trade sector. What this means is that the US companies gave (they didn’t take) more business to China than to the US people.

The trade figures for January – March 2012 show that the US exported $27 billion to China while it imported $94 billion – a $67 billion deficit. We heard on February 22 that Neutex brought its LED light bulb business back from China to Houston, Texas and GalaxE (an IT firm that connects patient’s medical records) is going to Detroit, Michigan from India. But as long as businesses such as Apple (May 3 – Indifference our Downfall blog), Nike, WalMart and others choose to invest in the Chinese worker over the American worker, nothing will change. Romney and Trump can tout a change but since they support big business I doubt that they’ll do anything that will redirect work back to the US. And don’t forget about the infrastructure projects in Alaska, California and New York that went to Chinese workers to the tune of $7.8 billion (October 8 blog – Going Without).   

On May 25 we were told that the US and world economies are slowing down; in the US, businesses are cutting back on machines and computers; China reported a drop for the 11^th month in a row and Europe’s economy has hit the biggest low in 3 years. While American businesses slow down their spending on US products and workers the US House is planning a summer session to extend the Bush-era tax cuts to the rich. Yes, on March 30 Exxon Mobile lost its title to a Chinese company as the world’s largest oil trading company but it’s still a multi-billion dollar business. We’ve been doing things the rich man’s way; they got us into this mess – please stop listening.