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Again With the Debt Ceiling?

Written By: tbean - May• 19•12

Tim Bean

5/19/2012

 

So, we are back to what has become an annual event, it may even happen more frequently than that on some occasions; and that is our government’s need to feed its heroine like habit of spending money.  I am of course referring to the need to once again raise the so called “debt ceiling,” which is very much like us mere mortals calling Master Card and/or Visa and asking them to increase our credit limits.  Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, Master Card and Visa typically meets those requests with a denial.  However when it comes to our country’s debt ceiling and the need to raise it, a denial is rarely given.

The reason for a credit card company’s denial to raise one’s credit limit is because they have all sorts of risk models to determine whether or not you are a worthy enough credit risk for such an increase.  All that simply means is that they want to be absolutely sure that should they allow you a bigger shovel for you to dig a deeper debt hole with, that they still have a very high likelihood that they will get the money you owe them.  While during the credit binge that pretty much everyone was on during the last 10 to 15 years where these credit card companies, banks, and other lending institutions tended to loan money to anyone, and their occasional family pet, some level of sanity has returned to the lending industry these days.  Sadly though sanity is seldom seen in the halls of government; it is so rare that the real world and the physics that govern it are seen as some sort of mass hallucination being had by those who are not in government.

The long and the short of it is quite simply this.  The debt ceiling will be raised, and more than likely it will be raised again, and then again, and again.  Quite honestly I believe that the debt ceiling will continue to be raised right up to the point where our government is completely broke (if it isn’t already) and then it will continue to be raised some more.  Yep, I doubt that there will ever come a time where our government (and maybe any government) actually displays enough sanity to evoke the phrase, “when you find yourself in a hole, it is wise to quit digging.”  If you need proof of this all I ask you to do is to look at Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain.

To rein in spending, and actually live within the means of the revenue taken in through taxes means that a government is more than likely going to have to make some difficult cuts in their budgets.  In Europe they call these budget cuts “austerity measures” and the institution of them has not been met very well by many of their citizens.  To institute budget cuts, enough so to where the national debt can actually be paid down, means that the government may have to essentially take away the punch bowl; meaning that certain budgetary sacred cows will have to be scrapped (at worst) or radically overhauled (at best).  These sacred cows are what we have dubbed “entitlement” programs.  They are things like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, Federally Subsidized Student Loans, as well as other programs.  These are programs that no elected official is willing to touch, for fear of losing their cushy job.  Again, if you don’t think that touching these so called sacred cows in even a remotely negatively perceived fashion would result in an equally negative reaction by the public, I give you the Greeks.

Athens has damn near been under a perpetual riot of its citizens who are protesting against these austerity measures because it greatly reduces the amount of free stuff that they receive from their government.  So, yes ladies and gentlemen, the debt ceiling will be raised again, whether you want it to be or not, because it is easier to do that than it would be to actually attempt to fix a problem that will definitely piss many people off; but rest assured eventually those people and many more will get their chance to be as pissed off as their Greek brethren, so at least we have that to look forward to.

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One Lonely Voice in the Bureaucratic Darkness

Written By: tbean - May• 18•12

Tim Bean

5/18/2012

 

How many of us are thoroughly disgusted with the present state of the state of politics in this country?  Notice that I didn’t say our political system, this is because that I still believe that democracy, in whatever form it could be, is still the best form of government.  Democracy is far from perfect and that sentiment can best be summed up in the immortal words of Winston Churchill, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”  Democracy is really quite an ugly system of government because it allows the people to see how the sausage is made, and by electing their leaders, the people can be a participant in its making too.  All other systems do not have such transparency, rather there is a person, or group of persons, who cast forth decrees at their whim, and in spite of the people.  So, if you are tired of our political system then there are plenty of countries in this world, I am sure one might have a system that you like.

It is the politics in this country that have run amuck, and these politics are endangering our political system.  I suppose it can be argued that the politics already have ruined our political system, but I will leave that to historians, and philosophers to debate.  Now, obviously you cannot have any political system without politics being involved, because the two words are quite obviously related.  What is wrong with our current state of politics are our two illustrious political parties.  Sure, many out there will argue that it would be the special interest groups that are the problem, but who do you think listens to these special interest groups?  None other than our two illustrious political parties.

I have written about the fact that our two political parties are federally subsidized on many occasions; which is an egregious conflict of interest.  It shouldn’t be too hard to understand how, or why this happened; the current system was put into place by none other than our two illustrious political parties, thus ensuring that it would be next to impossible to dethrone them (the parties) from their very cushy seats of power.  For example, how many of you out there know that both parties get federal money for them to put on their increasingly elaborate, rock concert-esque, national conventions?  How much money?  How about $17.7 million dollars to EACH party (that’s $35.4 million total) just for their conventions, and then each party can expect to receive an additional $630,000 (another $1.26 million total) to cover inflation.  Paltry numbers to be sure when it comes to the entire federal budget, but that is beside the point.  It is all of our tax dollars going towards propping up these to ensconced institutions.  That’s right, regardless of which political party you might have registered to vote under, be it either of the big two parties, or any of the multitude of other political parties out there, you are essentially paying to keep these parties in power.  None of the other political parties receive such federal funds, and as such they can never get noticed, which is just what the big two want.

There does appear to be one lonely voice in the bureaucratic darkness, and remarkably he is a member of one of the big two political machines.  He is Republican Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma; and he would like it if both the Democrat and the Republican Parties would return the federal funds they have received because he doesn’t believe that tax payers should finance what essentially amounts to week long parties for each political party and their big wigs; saying, “To demonstrate that both of our parties are committed to fiscal discipline, it would be a great act of statesmanship to return these funds.”  Sounds like a reasonable request, and a very sound argument doesn’t it?  Well, neither party seems to think Sen. Coburn’s proposal is a good idea at all.  A Republican spokeswoman said that if Sen. Coburn has other ideas on how to finance future conventions then, “he should address them through the legislative process.”  That statement really kind of misses the point, because I don’t think tax payers should be on the hook to finance any conventions; rather the supporters of each and every political party should be.  Well, not to be undone, a Democratic spokeswoman had this to say about how her party uses the money, “to fund the functions necessary to renominate the president and vice president.”  Isn’t that nice, if you are an ardent opponent of the President and the Vice President, you still get to contribute towards his renomination.  Again, I say leave it to the party supporters and other donors to fund these week long sports arena leased displays of megalomaniacal self-aggrandizement; and then maybe we can take the asylum back from the lunatics – maybe.

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Don’t Like it Here? Then Leave, But We Will Still Tax You.

Written By: tbean - May• 17•12

Tim Bean

5/17/2012

 

We hear all the time about how those who are here illegally are somehow being exploited, or being treated unfairly in some fashion or another, and to fair I am sure that is true in some respects.  And for these reasons and many, many others there is a movement here in America to grant those who are here illegally amnesty, and thus essentially making them US citizens, with all of the rights that any other citizen of this country enjoy.  While I am against the outright deportation of every single person who might be here illegally, I am also not entirely on board with granting amnesty to every one of those individuals either.  It is a tricky situation to be sure, and there is no obvious easy answer as to how to resolve it.

Unfortunately with this issue, and with many others, it has been turned into a political issue that our elected officials like to use to garner votes from their constituencies.  The illegal immigrant issue has been, and is being used by both the Republicans, and the Democrats to try and garner votes.  One party is against amnesty, and the other party uses that to paint their competitors as uncaring racists.  Whether that is right or wrong I will leave up to you, but by playing the race card you can damn sure guarantee those candidates who support amnesty will certainly get more of the Hispanic vote (simply because most of the illegal immigrants are from countries south of the border); and there is a not so insubstantial number of Hispanic individuals in this country, with roughly 25% of the population having some sort of Hispanic heritage.  All politics aside though, there is no doubt that there are still many, many people out there who are quite literally willing to risk life, and limb to immigrate to our country; but what about those of us who wish to emigrate FROM our country?

Believe it or not, there are those out there who no longer wish to be American citizens, and have taken the legal steps required in renouncing their citizenship.  There are no official statistics kept on this, but according to estimates there have been roughly 5,000 or so people since 2008 who have decided they no longer want to be Americans.  While there have been news stories that have mentioned this and how there are more and more people who are going this route, because of the small numbers it has largely been ignored by our illustrious elected do gooders; until now.

Unless you have been living in a cave then you probably know at least something about Facebook.  Well, Facebook will become a publicly traded company tomorrow with its initial stock offering (IPO) and it will make some very wealthy people even wealthier.  Speaking of Facebook, wealthy people, and emigrants, one of the founders of this very famous company, Eduardo Saverin, has renounced his US citizenship to instead become a citizen of Singapore; and that has finally pissed off some of those in Washington DC.

Saverin is actually from Brazil, and has maintained dual citizenship between there and here; until now of course, but he is also a multibillionaire, and there is the crux of the matter for our political friends.  Sens. Chuck Shumer and Robert Casey have introduced a bill that will force ALL ex-Americans who have renounced their citizenship in the past 10 years to be liable for ALL of their back taxes.  The bill will also bar reentry into America by people like Saverin.  Yes ladies and gentlemen if you are rich, and decide that you find some little corner of the world that you would like to live in more than here, then you are no longer welcome to come back here; even just to visit; but you will still be required to pay your taxes.

The accusation here is that Saverin is doing this to evade paying taxes, and that may be true – to an extent.  Under the current set of laws he is already going to be liable to pay what is called an “Exit Tax,” which isn’t exactly cheap; but at the same time by renouncing his citizenship he will likely save himself some $67 million in capital gains taxes.  That is a lot of cheddar to be sure, but in an economy as large as ours it is a drop in the bucket.  I think the most pressing thing is that this is another attempt of the government to reach out and tax someone.

Currently if you are an American citizen who happens to work overseas somewhere then you are required to pay federal income taxes here in the United States and more than likely in the country where you are working.  Meanwhile, if you are an American corporation which operates in some capacity overseas, and makes a profit from those operations, then you are not liable to pay taxes on those overseas profits until you repatriate those dollars.  Obviously if you are one of those companies then you are never going to repatriate those profits, and thus avoid paying taxes on them.  Who do you think makes more money overseas; the guy who is teaching English as a second language in Chile’, or any corporation with global operations?

So, since our fantastic country seems to be hell bent on getting as much tax revenue from all of its citizens, whether you are living, dead, working abroad, and now even those who are former citizens, then through simple extrapolation we can assume that one reason there is a push for illegal immigrant amnesty is not out of any sort of humanitarian belief; it is instead another simple money grab, because currently many of those illegal immigrants are not paying income taxes.  Yep, freedom surely isn’t free is it?

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Greece and the Imploding PIIGS

Written By: tbean - May• 16•12

Tim Bean

5/16/2012

 

We all know that PIIGS don’t fly, but did you know that they can implode?  If you are at all interested in the world of finance then you are more than likely aware of the looming, and more and more imminent financial crunch coming from our friends and neighbors in Europe.  Right now, as this is being written, Greece is teetering on the brink of a financial abyss, as that country’s exit from the Euro is becoming more and more likely.  The other members of the Euro Zone (read Germany) have insisted that they will not approve, endorse, or send any more financial aid to Greece unless the newly elected government there continues to enact and enforce so called “austerity measures,” which is a high falutin way of saying living within its means.

Many people wonder how or why Greece’s economy going into the toilet is such a big deal; because its economy is really quite small when compared with much of its Euro partners.  Well, honestly it probably shouldn’t and wouldn’t matter what the Greek economy does, or doesn’t do if it weren’t a member of the European Union, but since it is then its default is like pulling a loose thread on a sweater; eventually the whole thing unravels.  If Greece defaults and either exits or is escorted out of the European Union then that spells the eventual doom of that well intended confederacy of countries.

There are five countries that make up the so called “PIIGS,” and they are Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain; and people didn’t lump these countries together just because it would make a funny acronym.  Rather these countries are all lumped together because all five of these countries finances are in a shambles.  Greece, right now, is in the worst shape, but if they were to default, then there is a high probability that the other four nations would quickly follow.  This is because investors are like a school of fish, if one gets spooked, then they all get spooked and sprint towards safety.  So far Greece has received over €200 billion in bailout money from the IMF and the European Central Bank, though that money isn’t exactly free, the money is in the form of loans, and comes with the whole “austerity” strings attached.  Think about that for a minute, they are being granted loans (debt) to be used to pay off debt.  As anyone who has ever been deep in debt knows, using your Master Card to pay off your Visa doesn’t work.

So, it is really just a matter of time before Greece goes belly up, and given the easily spooked nature of investors then it will only take a little while longer before the next PIIGS nation falls, and then the next, and so on.  If and when that happens then it spells doom for the European Union, because (1) confederacies always fail, and (2) America will certainly feel the effects as well.

Confederations fail because when the crap hits the fan then members of the confederacy begin acting in their individual interests, not in the interests of the confederation; and I would say that a financial meltdown would certainly qualify as crap hitting the fan.  That European meltdown would be felt here in the form of deflation, and any economist will tell you that deflation is not a good problem to have.  Should we enter into a deflationary state then guess what; that will accelerate us towards our own debt crisis, which would then drag the Chinese economy into the fray, since they hold most of our debt, and so the meltdown continues along until eventually all of that $40,000,000,000,000  (using round numbers) in global public debt gets liquidated in some form or another. 

I know that sounds pretty simple and I know I have purposely over-simplified the process, but the thing is that should any of this happen it will not be even remotely pretty.  The simple thing to do would be to just let the debt liquidation run its course, like a cold; but unfortunately there will be no government that won’t be obliged to try and intervene in any and all ways.  That means we can expect the nationalization of not just businesses, but perhaps whole industries (more than likely the banking industry) and since we are talking about money here, there will be some countries who might get so peeved by this crisis that they would be willing to declare war against another country that owes them money.  In short Greece’s tiny little flailing economy could certainly wreak havoc throughout the entire globe.  This is obviously a worst case scenario, and I am not saying that it will happen, but there is the possibility nonetheless.

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How Do You Solve a Problem Like (North) Korea?

Written By: tbean - May• 15•12

Tim Bean

5/15/2012

 

How do you deal with a so called rogue nation?  I know that isn’t a question that most, if not all of us would ask at a cocktail party, but it is a question that has people falling into various camps of thought on the matter.  In this country the two most vocal camps couldn’t farther apart.  On one side we have those who believe that the best way to deal with a “rogue” nation is simply sending in the troops and toppling the government there.  On the other side of the argument takes a more peaceful approach and that is to simply levy sanctions against these countries.  There is a third group who says just let them be, but that group rarely is heard above the voices of the prior groups, so that is about all I will say about them.

Those who fall in the first camp, those I will call the “invaders,” do have a point, and war has been the historical way in which nations settled beefs with one another.  I mean aren’t we told from a young age that we are to attack a problem head on?  Unfortunately though for these invaders they fail to take into account that simply invading a problem nation costs a lot of money, and certainly could cost a lot of lives too – on both sides.  I am willing to bet that many of those who advocate invasion don’t and wouldn’t have anyone close to them who are in the military and thus could be killed in their invasion solution.  I would also be willing to bet that some of them would be the first to balk if the invasion didn’t go too well, and led to some sort of national shared sacrifice needed to keep it going; like the reinstitution of the draft, or rationing.

Then there are those who would prefer not risking national blood and treasure by invading a rogue nation and believe that sanctions are the answer.  The historical results on sanctions are that they really don’t work.  Let’s revisit a couple of countries in which we have levied sanctions against.  First let’s look at Cuba.  The US has held sanctions against this country since the 1950’s with the hopes that the inconvenience of these sanctions would eventually lead to the populous toppling the government.  Guess what; the government is still in power going on some 60 years now, and all that the sanctions have managed is to punish the citizenry by depriving them of such things as medical supplies and other humanitarian type things.  Then we have North Korea, and we get the same story.  The final example I would like to use is Iran.

Like Cuba, and N. Korea, there have been some sort of sanctions imposed on Iran for several decades now, and the government there is still quite in control over their people.  Sure, as with Cuba and N. Korea, the sanctions have taken their toll on the Iranian economy, and thus its citizens, but there is precious little chance there, as with Cuba and N. Korea, that a popular uprising will topple the Iranian government, let alone pressure it to change its behavior (in this case abandoning its nuclear ambitions).  Remember in 2009-2010 the protests there over election results?  If you don’t, I can assure that the Iranians do, because those protests were met with a swift and brutal government response, which pretty much silenced all of those who dare to speak out against the government.

So, unfortunately sanctions do nothing but hurt the citizens of a country, and they are by and large simply innocent bystanders caught in the middle of two governments that just don’t like each other very much.  And invasion, while it might be the quickest way to solve a rogue nation problem, it certainly can lead to many more complex issues, like having to maintain troops over there until a more stable government can be formed, as well as and most importantly the loss of lives.  Maybe the correct response to a rogue nation is the less vocal and less popular third one, and that is to simply let them be?  But that raises a series of complex concerns as well.  I guess there is no right answer on how to deal with a rogue nation is there?

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Money is the Reason for Ron Paul’s Invisibility

Written By: tbean - May• 14•12

Tim Bean

5/14/2012

 

The Republican primaries, remember those things, well they are still going on, though at this point they are only a formality.  We all know that Gov. Mitt Romney has gone from front runner, to presumptive nominee and that has happened with all the glory of a collective yawn.  Throughout the early days of the primaries Mitt was the collective punching bag of pretty much all of the seemingly hundreds of Republican Presidential hopefuls and yet despite all of the jabs and uppercuts Mitt Romney was able to dodge and weave his way through each round letting his opponents tire out and eventually throw in the towel.  Mitt essentially pulled a political rope a dope, but unlike that famous fight, Mitt will not be credited a knockout; rather his victory will be a judges’ decision (not legal judge, but boxing judge).  However, just as in any sport, a win is a win is a win.

As I said eventually all of the Republican hopefuls had dropped out of the race and they are now changing their “Romney Sucks” tune into “Romney’s great” support, that is all but one Republican hopeful; and he is the congressman from Texas, Ron Paul.  Anyone who is familiar with Ron Paul knows that he is different, and yes I mean different in the decidedly ambiguous meaning of that word.  There are thousands of people who love him and his message, and there are thousands of people who loathe him and his message.  Those that love him do so because he is a different politician.  Those that loathe him do so because he is a different politician; and throughout the primaries he was different from the other Republican hopefuls, besides his message, because he was the one candidate who never really attempted to fully discredit Mitt Romney.

Paul’s lack of making personal attacks on Mitt has led some to believe that there might be a secret backroom deal between Mitt’s camp and Paul’s camp; and the speculation has been all over the map as to what that deal might be.  The rumors include a possible cabinet position for Paul, to having Rand Paul (Ron’s son) as Mitt’s running mate.  Personally I don’t care if there is a deal or not, and quite honestly I really doubt there is one; but it is just a little interesting that just as Mitt was consolidating his lead in the primaries coincided with Ron Paul essentially disappearing from the campaign trail.

One of the hallmarks of Ron Paul’s campaigns in the past was that he was tireless in getting out there and spreading his libertarian message, this go around though Ron Paul’s visibility has been decidedly less than it has been.  He has been so invisible that many people out there thought he has already exited the Republican primary race; well he hasn’t.  Though today he has taken one step closer to declaring his campaign over; today Ron Paul has announced that he will cease campaigning in states that have yet to hold their primaries.  In a statement released to his supporters he said, “Moving forward, however, we will no longer spend resources campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet voted. Doing so with any hope of success would take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have,” and that is, as they say, that.  In the previous election Ron Paul’s campaign was known for its fund raising capabilities, and money is what keeps a campaign going, apparently this time the money just isn’t coming in like it used to.  So, maybe there is a deal between Mitt and Paul, but I think the only reason Ron has been less visible is because he simply doesn’t have the money to do so.

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Is America An Empire?

Written By: tbean - May• 13•12

Tim Bean

5/13/2012

 

What is an empire?  According to Wikipedia an empire is defined as: “… a geographically extensive group of states and peoples (ethnic groups) united and ruled either by a monarch (emperor, empress) or an oligarchy.”  Anyone who has taken, or rather paid attention during their Western Civilization class in high school, knows that empires have been around pretty much from the beginning of recorded history.  Arguably the most famous of these empires would be that of Ancient Rome, which existed some 500 years before eventually falling to the pages of history.   To many, the Roman Empire was the last quintessential empire, but there are more recent empires that have come and gone since then.  Empires like the Holy Roman Empire (962-1806) and the British Empire (1815-1914) to name two.  However there are still countries more recent than those that could qualify as being empires, such as the former Soviet Union (1922-1991), which would have qualified as being an empire by applying the above definition.  Then there is a country that might qualify as being an empire, but doesn’t exactly fit perfectly into how an empire is commonly defined, and that country is the United States of America.

If you were to ask strangers on the street if America is an empire, I am willing to bet that the majority of those asked would say that it isn’t.  However, when you consider the fact that the United States maintains military bases all over the world, as well as controls territories that are outside its natural boarders, along with reading this article, then an argument could be made that the United States is in fact an empire.  The problem most people have with defining America as an empire is that when most people think of an empire they think of people being oppressed in some fashion or another, and America isn’t generally viewed as an oppressive country.  However most long standing empires weren’t necessarily oppressive either; they actually were rather inclusive of those that they governed.

In the above referenced article there are several quotes by people around the world talking about how, or why America hasn’t helped them or their country enough (those quoted actually refer to President Obama, but he is by default a surrogate for the country on the whole).  If peoples around the world look to America to solve their issues, and who are not themselves Americans, then it is hard to not at least ask the question, “Is America an empire?”  No other country is looked to by other countries to provide some kind of assistance for whatever ills they are facing; and quite honestly providing stability through external influence and money to areas that are not generally considered part of an empire is in fact something that empires do.  The Romans stabilized much of modern day Germany simply through its existence and the occasional “monetary infusion,” (bribes) and they (the Romans) exerted political influence over the Parthian Empire which is now present day Iran.  Neither of those territories was under direct control of the Roman Empire and yet the Romans had influence over them.  That is not unlike how America is viewed today.  America uses “monetary infusions” to exact influence in other sovereign countries, as exampled by those quoted in the article.  Unfortunately ,it is hard to fully make the case that America is an empire in this limited space, it is certainly a subject that would require a book length discussion on the matter, and there are several books out there that tackle this subject in one fashion or another.  There is one constant fact throughout history though, and that is that no empire lasts forever; knowing that it makes one hope that America is not an empire.

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A Study of Studies Requires Further Study

Written By: tbean - May• 12•12

Tim Bean

5/12/2012

 

We all have heard something or another about how big and bloated the federal government is, and most of us understandably go about our lives without really paying any attention to the fact that all of that bloat is a parasitic disease sucking countless dollars to keep the bureaucracy alive.  For those that may not know, a government does not make any money in the form of producing anything, it obviously does “make” the money via a mint and printing press.  The source of a government’s income is off of the productivity of its citizenry by levying taxes.  Now consider the fact that the United States government is the world’s largest employer (the Dept. of Defense alone employs more people than Wal-Mart the world’s largest PRIVATE employer), and all of those employees have to be paid through the pockets of “We the People,” then you can see that maintaining this vast “enterprise” is ridiculously expensive.  Now consider how hard, if not impossible it is to keep tabs on such a behemoth.

All governments are notoriously wasteful, some are just more wasteful than others, and the amount of waste depends proportionally to the size of the government.  That being said, when you are the world’s largest “employer” which is simply a nice way of saying the world’s biggest government, then the amount of waste must be biblical; and it is.  Take for example this little tidbit.  The United States Department of Defense (DOD) was concerned about the number of studies it is constantly requested to conduct, so it did what any bureaucratic department would do, it embarked on studying how much conducting all of those studies actually cost.  Yes, the DOD decided to study the costs of studies – fantastic, however just like any infomercial, “. . . but wait there’s more!”

The study on studies was begun in 2010 and after two years (a model in efficiency right?) this study on studies hadn’t yielded any results, so Congress decided they would check-in on what was taking so long  (Yeah, because Congress knows how to get things done.)  Well, obviously a bunch of Senators and Representatives don’t have the time to go digging through what must certainly be a mountain of files, reports, data, and err, um “studies,” so they sicced the watchdog arm of the bureaucracy on the Dept. of Defense to see what the holdup was with this important study on how much studies cost.  Who is the watchdog you might ask?  Why it is none other than the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO “…is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress.  It is part of the legislative branch of the United States government.” (Wikipedia)  They are charged with ferreting out waste and thus improving government efficiency.  Nothing like adding another layer of bureaucracy (expense) in the name of making things run cheaper right?  Well, when the GAO arrived at the Pentagon they found that this study of studies only had  nine studies that it had studied (confused?  It gets better), and that this study failed to account for such basic expenses like the man hours each of these nine studied studies cost.  So, what does any good bureaucracy do in such a situation?  Well, they launch a study of course.

So now we have a study of a study, which is on studies, yeah that sounds like a fantastically efficient use of tax payer money.  And here is the kicker; the GAO was unable to report the cost of their study . . . That’s big government for you, it is the proverbial mystery, wrapped in a riddle, inside an enigma; and just like inside a black hole where the laws of physics cease making sense, inside a bureaucracy the laws of reality cease to exist.  I think we should maybe add another department that oversees studies, because obviously studies are becoming hard for the government to keep track of – by the way that is a joke, the last thing we need is an even bigger government.

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Missile Defense Shield Could Lead to Preemptive Strike

Written By: tbean - May• 11•12

Tim Bean

5/11/2012

 

“Star Wars” is still a decidedly controversial subject internationally.  Almost from its conceptual release back in the late 1970’s it has caused consternation between nations, as well as raised concerns over the militarization of space.  By now you are probably realizing that I am not referring to the ongoing argument between fans of the same named film and the fans of “Star Trek” as to which sci-fi franchise is the best.  Sure, the movie “Star Wars” was released at roughly the same time, but what I am referring to is the euphemistically named “Star Wars,” officially called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI for short.

The idea behind SDI was to launch satellites into orbit that are capable of shooting down nuclear missiles that were aiming for the United States and her allies.  Sounds pretty cool, but there were/are those in the international community who cried foul over this proposal; chiefly among them was then the USSR; claiming that to do so would violate a treaty signed between USA and the USSR in which both nations would not launch satellites with military capabilities in orbit – and that they (the USSR) thought it was unfair, because it would render their nuclear deterrent essentially worthless; I say boo hoo to that.

Well, while the idea of an orbital missile defense shield is still just that, an idea, because of the expense and technical difficulties in developing it; the development of a more “Earthly” missile defense shield is still ongoing, and the Russians are still none too happy about it.  Yesterday the US Navy successfully tested an interceptor missile by targeting and destroying a target missile off the coast of Hawai’i.  This was a test for a system in which the United States and NATO hope to deploy in Europe to serve a missile defense shield over there.  Because of this test, and the continuing research, development, and eventual deployment of this system a Russian military official has been quoted as saying that the Russian military has not ruled out the possibility of a preemptive strike, should NATO and America continue towards deploying this system – doesn’t that make you feel oh so safe?

The biggest issue that the Russians have is the same as the ones of the Soviets who came before them, and that is that such a missile defense shield would render their nuclear missiles as essentially obsolete, because they could no longer serve as a deterrent.  Meanwhile, NATO and the US have argued that such a missile defense shield is not intended to serve as a shield from Russian missiles, but rather it is meant to block missiles from an increasingly belligerent and eventually nuclear capable Iran.  Sounds like a valid excuse right?  But if you seriously believe that such a system is only intended to block missiles from one country and not another, then I have some ocean front property for you in Nevada.

Look, I know that the world of international diplomacy is a very complex place, but given that I still have to equate Russia’s beef with the deployment of such a system as that of a child who is pouting over losing a game.  Sure, the threat of nuclear annihilation isn’t and shouldn’t be equated to a game of any sort, but to decry the fact that your nuclear missiles may not be able to destroy cities and kill millions of people seems pretty ridiculous.  If anything the deployment of missile defense shields could actually help in reducing the number of nuclear missiles all over the world, because what would be the point in spending millions, if not billions of dollars on the development, and maintenance of a nuclear arsenal if they have less of a chance to reach their targets?  At the same time though I can see one thing about Russia’s concerns over this system.  If their nuclear deterrent is removed, then they are now vulnerable to attack from NATO and the United States, whom they (Russia) still views with a wary eye, even though it has been roughly 25 years since the fall of the Soviet Union.  And you thought the Cold War was over; when in reality it was simply put on pause; and may actually be thawing bit.

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The Benefits of Public “Service”

Written By: tbean - May• 10•12

Tim Bean

5/10/2012

 

Holding an elected position in the federal government is surely an accomplishment to be proud of.  I mean to do so means that you are one of only 537 people that are charged with the day to day running of our country and of course representing the wants of your constituency.  During election years the incumbent candidates will typically say at some point or another that they have dedicated “X” number of years to public service and we are supposed to be grateful for their sacrifice in serving us and their country.  Yes, there is more than a little tone of sarcasm there.

First of all there is precious little sacrifice that our illustrious leaders are making by holding an elected position in our federal government; and whatever sacrifice that is made is more than made up in the benefits they receive.  To me the public service means that you are as close to, if not completely, a willing volunteer as possible.  This means that you are doing a service to the public because you want to help in whatever fashion you can.  Unfortunately though our elected aristocracy are just another mouth on the teat of the tax payer.  I am sure that we all know that our congressmen, senators, presidents and vice presidents receive a paycheck for their time served in office, and I really don’t have too much of an issue with that.  Rather what I do have issue with is that the paychecks keep coming after they are out of office.  A member of congress only needs to serve 5 years to be eligible to receive a pension.  That means you can “serve” less than one complete term as a senator and be granted retirement benefits; though if you are a member of congress then you will have to run for reelection at least twice – bummer.  However if you are the holder of the highest office in the land, the Presidency, then you really hit the retirement jackpot.

As an ex-President you are entitled to receive an annual income of just a shade under $200,000 per year, AND an annual budget to maintain an office in whatever town you retired too, AND money to maintain a small staff, who I presume will work in said office, AND money to cover ancillary expenses; not to mention full medical coverage too; and all of this adds up to a hell of a lot more than their $200,000 pension.  Yep, you get all of that even if you are simply a one termer, not too shabby for public service huh?  Quite honestly those don’t sound like the benefits that a public servant gets, rather it sounds like what is referred to as a “golden parachute” in the private sector.  Sure, $200,000 dollars isn’t really a whole heck of a lot of money, but it is a whole heck of a lot more than a retired school teacher, police officer, or fireman receives.  Those are public servants, they are the ones who made the sacrifice by willing to volunteer for jobs that they know damn good and well would not lead them to financial riches.  Maybe if we reduced the benefits package of elected officials we would begin to see fewer career politicians and begin seeing people who actually want to volunteer their time and services to us and the country.  Yeah, that will never happen, because the people who would have to make that decision are the ones who currently receive those benefits . . .

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