Russian Promise Not a Surprise, but Scary

The president’s off-mike suggestion that he would have more flexibility after the election to make certain concessions on nuclear agreements with the Soviets is very alarming, but not surprising. We already know that he has a propensity to punt controversial decisions into the future and after the election. Like the Keystone pipeline project, this is yet another series of decisions that must be negotiated, but he is more concerned that his position on the issue will not match that of the people or our elected officials, so his choice is to act now and risk re-election or hold off the decision so he can do as he pleases regardless of the will of the people after the election.

What other issues are treated in the same manner. How many promises has the president made to other groups that he knows the American people would never support and therefore hurt his re-election effort.  His base is certainly expecting a lot from him. He and they know the majority does not agree with many of the left wing socialist,  secular and progressive agenda, so they have to conceal their true agenda and play the game in a manner that enhances their re-election potential.

One can only hope that the majority of voters will see through this destructive strategy and cast out this very disturbing method of managing the people’s government.  The President and his administration seem not to care what the majority expect from their government. They see their agenda as being supreme and they will do whatever is necessary to coerce the people by disingenuous means into supporting them though deception. They seem willing to hide their true intentions until elected.

We can only hope the American people will see through this and vote to remove the president and all of his Czars from office as soon as possible.

Where Do People Turn For Facts.

And they wonder why we do not  trust ABC, CBS, CNN and particularly NBC and MSNBC  to provide the news that is important to us. It is this simple. When ideological bomb thrower’s like Ed Shults  and Bill Maher are allowed, without criticism, to make  the  most vile comments imaginable while most other media outlets are openly criticizing Rush Limbaugh and others for making controversial yet not nearly as vile comments, trust leaves the building.

Hypocrisy is becoming so common in the mainstream media that they do not even try to hide it anymore. They don’t care how obvious it is because they believe their audience is too loyal to them and their ideology  to even consider looking for news anywhere else. Maher and Shults are two of the same.  They fire up their audience (however small) with ridiculous comments that no open minded person seeking only truth and facts could ever support.  Like many politicians, they are playing to their base. Even talking about them in the real reliable media adds some weird since of credibility to their existence which is undeserving. What is sad is that all of this only serves as a smokescreen to keep the public from focusing on the real issues.

Ever increasingly, the general public is becoming more informed on some levels and want more facts and informative detail on the more important issues. Most would rather hear about something other than what any of the aforementioned persons have to say about anything. Nor do we care what the media thinks about it. We want hard facts about hard issues. Take any subject, and for now let’s start with “jobs”.

Big issue. The left says we need to borrow more money from China and others to stimulate the economy with more government spending.  The right says we need lower taxes and provide for less regulation.  What neither are saying is how it all will work and why.  They must think we are too stupid or too lazy to learn the facts and make a determination as to what makes the most sense.

On the subject of jobs, the American people need to consider the real facts from each prospective: For example, let’s begin to talk about how lower taxes improves economic growth, and how less regulation will improve efficiencies without creating new risk. Just the facts please. Not philosophical viewpoints.  Then let’s talk about how it makes since to borrow billions or perhaps trillions of dollars in order to create jobs and explain how we are going to pay the borrowed money back with interest. Again, just the facts please. Not philosophical viewpoints. Oh, just to be clear, and since we are already borrowing 42 percent of what we need to fund the current budget, 100 percent of any stimulus would have to be from borrowed money.

I admit that I don’t fully understand how more government spending will do anything but raise the national debt and help the very few who reap benefits from stimulus programs (mostly politician). We have at least two previous rounds of stimulus to draw from and the record seems clear so far. It  did not work before, so why and how is it going to work this time and at what cost and who is paying for it?  I will wait for others who understand this to provide answers. Real answers to these very precise questions.

As a former businessman, I think I understand the other side of the argument a little better, but will continue to look for supporting data as time move forward while keeping an open mind as we navigate through the debate. In order for American companies to grow and create jobs for Americans, they must be competitive in a global economy. That part is uncontested.  So, the question becomes, “what makes American business non-competitive”?  Specifically, what are the elements that a nation of people can provide to our American companies so they can maintain competitiveness and therefore grow the domestic job market.

First point, giving a company a tax break for hiring someone doesn’t encourage hiring. It just creates more paperwork. There is only one reason any company hires an employee. Only one. That is that it needs help to provide to the market a product or service. It really is that simple. So, if politicians want to help business create jobs, then we need to figure out how to assist companies to create markets for their products in which they can be competitive.  To create markets for American products, we have to be competitive, not only in price, but in quality as well. I think Americans win on the quality part of the equation.

We already know that Americans are paid more and have more benefits than some of our most competitive challengers.  I doubt anyone is prepared to argue that we should make the American worker more competitive by lowing wages. So what other elements could have a significant impact? Well, we have more lawyers and more lawsuits and as a result require more insurance than our competitors. All at a cost to productivity. In this respect, our competitors enjoy a significant advantage. The EPA has put more stringent regulation on companies that add significant cost to provide products and services. Our competitors make comparable products without the cost of similar regulation, another advantage for the other side. The SEC requirements on companies is extremely costly which other nations do not impose at the same level (Sarbanes-Oxley for example). The IRS taxes our companies at higher rates, OSHA compliance is expensive and our competitors are not subject to the same rules and the list of government intrusions into our corporate and personal lives continues on an on. These are but just a few.

At some point, the American people need to be engaged in the discussion. We need a voice out their asking the right questions and demanding the answers necessary so that we the people can make decisions about who our future elected representative will be.  We need facts and real answers as to how we get this county moving again.

Currently politicians and the media only talk in general ideological terms which doesn’t  mean much.  We should demand more.

If It’s the Economy Stupid, Then it’s All About Energy Cost.

Most are aware of how dismal the economy was during the Carter administration.  Yet not many point to the cost of energy which at the time, was very high, as the primary reason.  Remember the lines to get gasoline for your car in the 70’s? It was clear then that the OPEC nations had more control over our economy than any of us wanted to believe. Today, it is no different. The cost of energy is what is stagnating our economy and few officials want to tackle this issue head on.   

Just as Carter was blamed for the bleak economy during his administration, Reagan was often given credit for the recovery during his. Perhaps both are justifiable, but not for the reasons most talked about.  Through a number of strategic maneuvers orchestrated by Reagan and his administration officials, the price of oil began to drop during the Reagan years. Oil first, then gas and coal became less expensive. Once energy costs began to drop, the economy got better, businesses began to grow again, all of which instigated a drop in unemployment.

Too often the Clinton administration is given credit for the 1990’s boom economy.  I can’t think of a single Clinton economic policy that had any impact. However, Oil and gas prices continued to be at low levels during the 1990’s. Add that to the tech revolution and you have and economic powerhouse. Everyone lived better because they were not spending as much on energy. Businesses were delivery products at good prices because their energy costs were low.

So, it is simple.  To help the most American people do better, we need to find ways to lower the cost of energy. Not one single thing can do more for the most people than that. How? That too is simple .  We need to build pipelines, drill wells, and create more energy infrastructure here in the good ol’ US OF A.

We need a network of natural gas fueling stations. We need access to taxpayer lands for drilling. We the people own the land and should therefore have access to it and quit allowing the environmental groups to hold the rest of us hostage.

 So, what’s the recipe?  We could cure a lot of what is hurting the American people by considering the following:

We have the reserves in North America to virtually eliminate OPEC as a factor in the future.

Many jobs and economic growth can be created by the energy sector if government got out of the way. 

Lower energy prices, more jobs and less or no dependency non OPEC would support generations of American families. 

Sounds like we need to get this moving now.