The Economy

Saw Ben Bernake on 60 Minutes.  Smart guy and knows his stuff, but he doesn't say why the economy is in the tank.  He talks about symptoms, but not the cause.  Same with the other politicians.  Either they don't know or won't say.

People love to talk about samll business generating jobs.  Think about it--small businesses service large business.  We used to have a robust manufacturing base in the U.S., and those companies were the customers of organizaitons like the one I used to run.  The base is gone.  If we ever expect the economy to recover, we have to start making things again.

The 'what' we can make is wrapped up in the green economy.  The U.S. must take the lead in this area by subsidizing companies that make green products and promoting those products to the world.  It will take a couple of generations, but maybe the day will come when 'small business' doesn't mean the KFC on the corner--it means a machine shop turning out parts for wind turbines.

Any middle class American who swallows the tripe put out there by conservatives needs to have his or her head examined.  Their interests have little to do with building the economy, but much to do with making the rich richer and the poor poorer.  Many of them deny climate change and wouldn't support green technology if their reelection depended on it (I take that back--politicians will do or say anything to get reelected).

Legislative gridlock

Republicans have announced plans to gridlock the lame duck session of Congress unless they get their way on extending the Bush tax cuts.  Does anyone besides me think this is an unreasonable position?  The past two years have been the most divisive in my memory with an incredible gap growing between liberals and conservatives.  Had liberals followed similar policies between 2000 and 2008, the outcry would have been deafening.  Saying 'no' is not a policy, it is demagoguery, and voters should recognize it as such.

There are people of good will on both sides of the aisle, but their voices are drowned out by hard line politicians.  Getting reelected appears to be the only purpose our representatives recognize.  Enacting laws that reflect the will and the well-being of the people is not a consideration.  In 2010, Republicans ranted about changing the guard in Washington, and Obama did the same in 2008, but it looks like the same old thing to me.