I Can Tell.....

I can tell by the outline of the next (maybe not) post in my head that some people aren't going to take kindly to it. Thinking I should write using the 3rd person and Deacon Adams to keep the passion rational - there's no way I'm keeping the passion out of this one, though.

Okay

Okay, I'm working on something with a bit more content, but this is a thought that goes through my mind often. Does anyone realize that AT&T has systematically rebuilt what was once considered a monopoly, without a peep from regulators? Also, see, this is my problem, I could throw a bunch of facts out there, links to them, or, you could learn something and find it for yourself. You're welcome.

Eh, the Evolutution

Obviously, I haven't perfected what I want this blog to be yet. There's the fact that I prefer writing in the 3rd person as Deacon Adams because it allows me to think outside of myself, but there's a mindset that others don't take that type of thing seriously. There's evolving it from a rant/op-ed blog into something with more content, but, as I've said in other posts, links are not only lazy on my part - giving me a break from original thought - but, if you're the type of person who is going to take what I say as The Word and not go and do your own research on the topic, then I don't care what you think of the blog. Sure, links are informative, but I found them and so can you. Life's not easy. It's Hobbsian.

As for what is written about, it will always be eclectic but tends towards politics, and always be about the people. After all, it is Friend of the People (Amicus Populorum) - granted, the real Deacon Adams signed his letters "Amicus Populi," but that's not proper Latin.

Don't Believe the Hype

If anyone tries to tell you that the AIG bonus payments have anything to do with Democrats, do yourself favor and don't believe it. Do the same if you hear someone say the government is going to tax your bonus. These bonuses were paid with your money, you don't want it back?

What Needs To Happen?

So, the first "Uniter" pays little to no attention to what was going on. The new "Uniter" seemingly pays too much attention and props dieing industries up with bailout after bailout - using our money.

Uh, the first bailout happened before 11/04/08, so who is to blame for that? Liberal socialist commies, or Conservatives letting things run amok, spending rather than providing oversight? Both parties talk about reigning in spending, then load a bill with pork projects to make themselves look good back home. So, when you're upset with the amount of money being spent, look to your Congressional leaders as to why it's happening.

Are they paying attention? Do they care? Sure, they'll tell you they are, that they can see and feel it, then go back and do it again. I consider myself a Republican, but I don't fall under the current definition of the party. Some consider me a moderate Democrat - or, what a section of the Democratic party morphed into to survive. I can't stand, though, how much Democrats look to make everyone happy, nor how right Conservatives think they are.

Well, how do we stop it, the constant partisanship, the giddy Dems who hopped on a rock star, and foolishly believe they can do anything, and the conservative radio shows driving paranoia?

Start pushing them out.

I'm not talking about voting in different Ds or different Rs, I'm talking about people outside the parties, pushing them past the bullshit and into office. Too hard to do? Not enough money? Not enough support? Too many roadblocks? If they ran as hard as they whine, we'd already have 3rd party candidates in office, but they are oh so disadvantaged. Forget Bull Moose, we need Roughriders, now.

The Key Phrase

Now, I'll start off by saying I am a fan of Chuck Hagel, and wanted him to run for President.

Last night, Hagel was on the Rachel Maddow show, mainly to talk about U.S./Russian relations.



I had thought that Obama made a mistake by picking HRC as his Secretary of State instead of Hagel, but who seems more important right now? Supposedly, the Administration asked Hagel to be the Ambassador to at least three countries, not taking the hint after the first time, when he said he didn't want to move his family. Think they wanted him out of the country? I'm glad now that Hagel is not SOS because he can say what he wants when he wants without having to serve at the President's pleasure.

Everything Hagel says in the video makes sense, and there's more to his feelings for Cheney than just this clip, but there's one thing he says towards the end which makes you realize why someone tried to send him to Britain, China, or Japan - "I'm a Republican." Now, there are plenty of conservatives who will disagree with that statement, perpetually confusing the fact that a Republican and a Conservative are two different things sharing some things in common, and differing on others. Hagel is a Republican, though, as were Eisenhower and T Roosevelt. Country and people before party - always.

As Hagel goes along over the next three years leading foreign policy think tanks, investment banks, and teaching at universities, it will be interesting to see what the R party does if Obama falters. Will they change direction, embrace Hagel, and have a shot in 2012? Really, do they seem like they have the intellect for that? It's too bad because we need Chuck Hagel far more than we need a Conservative run Republican party.

AIG and $100 million in bonuses

So, reading other posts, you know that I think AIG should have been allowed to fail basically because that would be the nature of its business model - insurance/risk/catastrophe. If that had been allowed, well, AIG would have gone out of business, owed quite a bit of money, and people who are undoubtedly not good at their jobs would have been out of work. That's not how it played out, though. Based on the bailout, AIG now has to "contractually" pay out $100 million in bonuses, mainly to the people who caused this problem.

What are these people being rewarded for? Who the hell wrote up a contract that provided a bonus for failure, for costing not just the company, but the American people billions and billions of dollars? Why are we helping these morons!?! I read something that explained part of this happening based on part of the agreement in AIG's 2008 bailout. So, at some point, someone in the government rewarded the stupidity of rewarding stupidity and failure!

Obviously, there's a problem in this country. Some argue that we are being distracted from the problem by the Administration attacking people like the Oxycontin addict, but, really, isn't it that we are being distracted from taking care of these problems by being directed not to what (or whom) caused them, but rather the worry about how they will be fixed? Focus people, focus! We need to know what and how these problems were caused in order to fix them, not perpetuate the recession/depression by causing hysteria (believe it or not, it's reached that point in places).

The Way Things Are Right Now

I've got a big problem with the media and the people who listen/watch/read what they have to say. The media for the fear they push, the people for shutting down and buying into it. Blinders aren't really going to help us right now.

What brought this post about? Well, you have the speculators in the stock market, trying as hard as they can to bankrupt the country so they can get their way, the media saying, "hey, maybe they're right," and segments of the public believing it all. Then, there was the person I met who applied for a permit to conceal and carry because he thinks it's going to get that bad. In 2009? In the United States of America? I'd say one of the many problems of the past eight years is that the people were allowed to give up faith in their country - being told faith in an Administration or God would do just as well.

Now, conservatives will say that they have faith in the country, the Democrats just don't love "their" country enough to save it. The problem right there isn't a battle between conservatives and Democrats, it's the lack of a Republican voice, but conservatives will battle as hard as they can to make sure there isn't one.

Are people conservative? Sure. Are they conservative in the ways the Founding Fathers and Documents prescribe? Of course not. Did the definition change? No, people did. Believe it or not, that's possible, and happens over time.

So, what's happening? We ignored things that were set in motion years ago, and let them go unchecked until it was too late. We had Chuck Hagel back in 2005 trying to tear Fannie and Freddie apart and rebuild them, and they hired a lobbying firm to stop it! It became so bad, that you could get out of jail with a dollar in your pocket, and own 6 houses by the end of the week. Sure, language can taint validity, but read that last sentence again, and try not to say What the Fuck!

This could have happened to give the appearance of a strong economy, i.e., look at all the houses being sold, and the price!, or, because of some foreign idea to our country, a socialist ideal that everyone deserves a home. First, that has never been an idea in our country, that everyone deserves a home. Second, the only government involvement in this was to sit off to the side and watch. This whole situation was caused by greedy morons. Morons to the point that the only reasonable explanation for them not understanding what was happening is that they received their G.E.Ds, a correspondence course on home lending, and were given a job.

After the collapse of the home lending market, the banks fell. Bailout out the banks? Why!?! Here's how we should determine whether to bailout a bank or not: calculate the FDIC insurance the account holders would receive, and, if that's less than bailing the bank out, let it fall, if it's more than the bank asks for, allow it. There are few guarantees in this country, and a continuously operating business of bank has never, ever been one.

Then, we have the idiots at AIG. Insurance = risk. Catastrophy = $$$$. It was a catastrophy, you're done. That's it.

At this point, we have a government trying new things to try and save our business system from collapse. Please, notice that I didn't say "our country" or "our economy." Along with this, we have people hoping they fail, and people who listen and believe those people. Excuse me, do you realize what the hell you're saying right there?

Go ahead, listen to the talk radio doomsday predictions, listen to the TV news shows telling you how bad investing is right now, read about money being spent, and what it's being spent on. Just know that by doing that, you're not helping. A country, any country, does not run without movement, and what we have right now is a complete lack of movement. We either start moving now, or we watch the greatest nation ever created dissolve into something inferior - all because of inaction, negativism, and an epidemic of idiocy.

This about sums it up....

I know I said I don't like to put links on this blog because it's lazy, but this about sums it up about how the 'real' people who think themselves Republicans feel. Notice, I didn't say "conservatives." Those are two different labels. Granted, this is also only about media.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-09/my-beef-with-ann-coulter/full/

Here, I'd like to talk a little about Rush. I agree that focusing on Rush Limbaugh right now is wrong for the country, but why do people take him seriously to begin with? They do know he was addicted to Oxycontin, forging prescriptions, right? And, did you see the way he was dressed at CPAC? Why, why would you take that seriously? The man doesn't even seem to know what decade it is. I just love fat men with slicked back hair and unbuttoned shirts; there's nothing more intellectual than that.

C'mon with the Earmarks!!!!

Hey, you morons in Congress, does it seem like a time in our history to throw a bunch of earmarks into bills? Can you please, please, just lay off for a year or two? Really, you may think you need to bring in some money to your district, but if it's pork, this time around you are only increasing your chances of strong competition next election.

During a Depression, when you're throwing money away in an earmark, forcing real people deeper into holes, where will your fundraising come from? See the bigger picture, take the pork out, and shut up! Or, start looking for another job.....

Credit Card APRs in the 3rd Depression

So, unemployment claims go up every week, not expected to stop for another month or so. Looking around, it's increasingly obvious that people to have money to do things as usual any more. What do credit card companies do? Raise your APR. Now, to make up for the fact that you probably can never pay more than you minimum payment, they'll just ensure they still make money off of you by generating more interest.

This, of course, is the way of a free market. It may look predatory, but it's business, and, somehow, we all were supposed to factor the current economic situation into our thinking years ago when we signed up for these cards. It is of little wonder why they call it a Depression.

Yes, I am saying we're in a Depression. As soon as the Chinese have to create a stimulus bill, the recession has sunk too far.

AIG Bailout #2

First off, this blog is about opinions, and you will rarely see a link to a story or another web page - that's just not fun. Also, the Deacon doesn't like to use exclamation points, but, sometimes, they get the point across.

Anyway, I can remember understanding that investments were something you did that involved risk (sometimes more than others) to make money - based on the risk - sometime early in high school. I'm guessing that most people who go into this industry do the same. I understood maybe even earlier that insurance is about protecting against risk, and that insurance companies always ran the risk of all of their accounts coming due for one reason or another at any time - which is why they look for as many safe things to insure as possible, to prepare for the possible catastrophe.

Now, I just wrote all that on the basis of common knowledge, not anything learned in a class, or in pursuit of a degree. So, what happened at AIG that their account reps made so many mistakes that they need another $30 billion to fix their problems? If I know better than to make risky investments, why didn't the people with degrees, being paid to do so, know the same?

I'm sorry, but 1 round of bailouts was bad enough. These people practiced in a free market economy, they should have to follow through with it. If it means they go out of business and people are screwed? Well, that's investment, risk, and the free market system, no one was unaware of this when it started, so allow it to end, don't save it! Jesus, please, stop giving our money to people who didn't know what they were doing, but should have!

Something Else About Twitter...

I understand what Twitter was started as, the "What are you up to" question to fill in your update was to let your friends know where you were and what you where doing. Now, though, how many people use it as that? It is time to update the "What are you up to?" Most Twitter posts are in line with Facebook status updates now, and the service should evolve to flow with that.

I'm not anti Twitter, I'm actually starting to like it a bit more, and can't wait to try and build a Tweetup.