Romney, Ryan

The Bain Train has left Tampa. Mitt Romney was selected by the GOP to represent on November 6. I would have preferred a candidate closer to Teddy Roosevelt. I will likely vote for Gary Johnson and avoid the 2 party system entirely. Or another lonely Tuesday night in November, eating popcorn, watching returns on TV, playing Constitutional Roulette. I refuse to accept the choices are tax cuts to imaginary job creators or building a giant government that validates every aspect of American life. I cannot in good conscience vote for any candidate who supported or voted for TARP or the Patriot Act

Clint Eastwood:

I was amazed at the performance of Clint Eastwood. His speech was completely foreign in the GOP forum. If you anticipated another heart warming account from the revival tent you would be disappointed.

Following the endless week long list of boring speakers waving the flag, recounting past personal achievements made possible from first hand American Experience. Compelling stories of immigrants coming to America revealed in the first person. Lots of I and me Soap Opera testimony.

Eastwood spoke to the audience in the third person. Detached from party affiliation speaking from his own account. Revealing the same questions every voter must deal with when the curtain closes November 6.

Clint could have spoke of his own immigrant father and childhood in California. The stark contrast between politicians in Elmer Gantry mode and Eastwood who chose to expose hard facts regarding the past four years. Clint didn't miss the chance to denigrate attorneys and politicians along the way. In a true Hollywood delivery Eastwood spoke "this land belongs to you and me. We run this country and politicians work for us". He said later he didn't want an attorney in the White House, preferring a businessman. And of coarse one for the road "go ahead make my day" straight from Harry Calahan.

The Best Quote:

The best quote of the GOP Convention goes to Rand Paul who said " We have nothing to fear except our own unwillingness to defend what is naturally ours, our God given rights.We have nothing to fear that should cause us to forget or relinquish our right as free men and women.

The Biggest Embarrassment:

The biggest embarrassment goes to the 2 conventioneers who were expelled from the floor for throwing peanuts at a black CNN Camerawoman, chanting this is how we feed our animals. The mockery was reported by several news carriers although, none describe the conventioneers race, gender or political persuasion. Wait till the Reverends get a hold of these pictures. Which will surely surface at the Democratic Convention. Why would you attack someone with peanuts who is armed with a camera?

The Biggest Lie:

The biggest lie goes to Condolezza Rice for her comment "Education is a Civil Rights Issue".Political parties have a long history of building a platform around ideas that are without facts or merit. They then build logic around the fantasy at the core to prove their flawed agenda. The entire Bush Administration is an excellent example of this tactic. Little of anything Bush did in office had any purpose or accomplishments.

"Exodus" by Henry Mancini

Happy Birthday Kenny Rogers

August 21, 1938 is the official birthday of the Gambler

Kenny has made 74 successful trips around the Sun. Like everyone Kenny is right back in the exact same place as in 1938 though.

Shopping for a President

Shopping for a President is like buying a car. You start hoping to get a good one. Then find yourself praying not to get a bad one. Settle for a one that might be better than the old one. Grateful if he just doesn't embarrass the neighborhood...

Crime in America

Crime and criminals in America are always in the news. We teach our children right and wrong and what they should or should not do.

The Ten Commandments is a fine list of things we should not do. Things such as lie, cheat , steal and murder are a few. The thou shalt not's numbering 10 contain no references to thou shall do anything. I find it curious the almighty only instructs us against acts, not failure to act.

I by know means would attempt to include the 10 Commandments into accepted laws of our land. I am a firm believer in separation of Church and State. I happened to be familiar with the 10 Commandments being raised as a Christian. I assume other religions have similar mandates to follow.

One of our most infamous criminals in American history was Alphonse Gabriel Capone. Capone and his gang ruled Chicago during prohibition. The Capone crime family made most of it's income from bootlegging booze. Capone was a vicious criminal who dominated organized crime in his city. Alphonse was a very bad man indeed and we make no attempts to condone his illicit behaviors. We merely point out that he was never convicted of anything he did.

Anyone seeking to invade Capone's illegal trade would be exterminated. Because of all the money that could be made in bootlegging, Capone had many suitors. There were an endless run of those who would challenge the Capone domain in Chicago. The results were a lot of murdering of criminal challengers.

Adding to the complexity was Canada only a few miles away and accessible by boats did not prohibit distilling alcohol. Canadian Whiskey is still some of the best booze today. Most of the American distillers were forced out of business.

The Kennedy's of Massachusetts are reported to have made their fortune in bootlegged booze. They have many famous labels to their credit in today's legal booze markets.
I think it ironic, most of the crime committed by Capone would be legal today. After we passed the 21st Amendment 1933 to the Constitution, bootlegging all but stopped. To further the irony Capone was never convicted for anything he had done. Capone was convicted for something he had not done, paying income taxes. Income Tax is the 16th Amendment 1913 to the US Constitution.

The contrast of Capone who was a bootlegger and Joe Kennedy who was a bootlegger cannot be found in Income Taxes paid. I am certain Joe Kennedy never paid a dime of taxes on Old Grandad income during prohibition. Capone was tried instead in the court of public opinion from outraged citizens. Murder, prostitution and maybe gambling is the divide between Joe and Alphonse. We do have legal gaming in most states today.

The lesson here is our laws are only as good as those who support the rule. If people reject the law it will eventually vanish. More corrupt, are laws which the people do support but, find a government refusing to enforce.

At the top of this list is Immigration Laws that are ignored.
On the docket in the court room of public opinion are several laws in question. First is income taxes and collection. There is a vast number of jurors out there in America who do not support the current system. Everyone agrees we need a fair tax collection system to pay for services such as roads, bridges etc. Most of us agree our taxes should be earmarked for specific goals. We all are against creating a huge glut of money for politicians to use for slush funds for crony capitalism.

Another law punishable for not complying is purchase of Auto Insurance. We have laws that hold us accountable for liability on and off the roads. Insurance Mandates for any commodity is a conspiracy between the the authority of the people and private business.

The law in Florida provides for jail time if you don't have insurance. The law completely overlooks you may not have driven without insurance. Without any proof of having broken the law, the conspiracy between government and business assumes your guilty and revokes your tags and operators license. The result is prison for those who haven't enough money for the extortion.

They do not refund the tax paid on your tags or operator's license. Instead of credits they fine you additional penalties for renewals. The essence of the law seems to be the logic of assumptions. You will drive without insurance. You will have an accident. You will not pay for damages. You must have Insurance for coverage of things you may not and probably will not ever require. Even if you do have insurance; if the awards in court exceeds the coverage, you still owe the balance.

Today people are rejecting unfair taxes and other mandates to act, or prison time. These people are characterized as Extremists or Anarchist. They are largely people who do not commit crimes until they are forced to protect their freedoms to chose. Unfortunately when the two forces cross, the outcome can be horrific. I think we need to reconsider all laws mandating actions of free people. We never seem to have a problem agreeing on those who commit crimes. The divide seems to occur when we mandate people must act.

Two Tickets to Ride

Now that Mitt Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his running mate we have two complete presidential tickets for our selection.

On the Democrat Ticket we have Obama and O'Biden, who both voted for Bush TARP

On the Republican Ticket we have O'Romney and O'Ryan with O'Ryan voting for Bush TARP. O'Romney was not eligible to vote for Bush TARP but, has campaigned in support of the Pirate Legislation.

Does not look good for "We The People" in November regardless of the outcome of the electoral college. None of the candidates mentioned above supports repeal of the 1999 Financial Modernization Act.

BURMA SHAVE

Mitoosense

How much is your $4 Pizza?

I accompanied a friend on an outing to buy tires for his car many years ago. Probably 20 years plus or minus. Wasn't doing much so I agreed to go along for the ride. Dave my friend was going to the Tire King of Florida. We arrived at the Castle/Garage and met with a guy in the showroom. We was not wearing a crown and this was my first clue this could go badly.

Dave pointed to the tires in the advertisement and ordered 4 tires @ $25 each or $100 for the set. His car having 4 wheels.

The King quickly went to work on the computer and spit out a contract sale for Dave's signature. The total was now over $200 dollars or twice the advertised price. The number of wheels was unchanged.

I will never forget the words Dave spoke when he got the bill. He said, OK, "How much is your 4$ Pizza". I thought Dave's analogy was spot on since Pizza is basically toast with tomato sauce and cheese on top. If you want pizza that's another story.

The advertised price of Dave's tires did not include the following: mounting, balancing, valve stems, disposal fee, road hazard road taxes or sales taxes to name a few. When shopping for tires or pizza it's best to have all details covered before you buy. Really now, who gets tires to go?

Last week a Pizza King made a statement; Pizza would increase 14 cents per unit price when Obama Care began the mandatory insurance. For less than half the cost of sausage pizza topping the owner can insure his employees. Better Insurance and Better Pizza from the King was my thought thinking of Dave. I quickly realized the Pizza King had no intentions of absorbing the cost of the mandated tax. The King would pass the cost onto the consumer and he actually did nothing other than the accounting.

Let me first say that I personally am against all employer deductions including Social Security, Health Insurance, Income Taxes and Unemployment Insurance naming a few. No Scrooge when it comes to the benefits of retirement, taxes or health insurance. I simply object to the accounting process and subsequent slush funds it creates at the fingertips of the 112th Congress.

I think We the People would be better served if the employer wrote our checks for the full amount and force the Banks to deduct from our checks on our discretion. All money transfers in the US are funnelled through the banks computers anyway. The Banks are the fourth covert branch of government and sleeping in the comfort of the taxpayer's nest.

Gone is the employer's burdens of verifying citizenship, health insurance, IRS, Social Security etc. No more April deadlines, confusion at the Post Office and Tax Prisons. This also improves America's ability to compete on a global scale with cheaper overhead. The Bankster's are well equipped to handle the burden with record profits and bonuses.

Yes, I remember this story was about Pizza and the 0.14 cents of increase for each pizza. My original thought was it was lower than what I would expect.

Then I remembered back 40 years when Health Insurance was free. Free in the sense it was not a deduction on your paycheck. Nothing is free and the cost to the employer is built into his overhead costs of each employee. You must exceed this output number of overhead to keep your job. If not it's always curtains on Friday.

Because of the cheap price and a multitude of people paying in with a small amount who are sick, the entire price was absorbed by the employer. Streamlining his workforce and insuring against major medical Armageddon. Not only was the employee covered but, also family members in the household.

True, some people did not carry health insurance and those who did split the burdens with the uninsured. In the end it all comes out of the US GDP somehow. The current dilemma is about accounting and has nothing in common with health care or those who are ill. Many countries provide health care without the burdens of expensive insurance moguls collecting $100 million in annual executive pays. If they bleed you hard enough they claim a bonus for your blood.

Looking back to my youth I remember going to the family doctor. You went in and expected to wait at least 30 minutes for the Nurse to call your name. There was Dr McClaren who had 3 Nurses and a Secretary that scheduled appointments and called you if you had not paid your bill timely. It was very rare that you had paid and equally rare the Doctor would call on the balance. If you were a good patient the nurse would offer a sucker for your efforts.

Everyone paid eventually. In later years the doctor would still have 3 nurses and the secretary was still there but, there were 5 additional people filling out insurance claims meeting the needs of this gorilla third party. The greedy gorilla third party was causing heath care costs to rise to cover their own greed. A self full filling prophecy. Unchanged are the proportions of people who are sick to those who are not sick. The people covered has dropped, challenging the corrupt system. Highlighting the greed is Universities now offer a degree in medical billing to complicate the matrix further.

You weren't sicker and the Doctor was not getting richer. The entire cost was being inflated because of greedy health insurance. The insurance was usually provided by the employer and unchecked costs by either the consumer or the Doctor. The more expensive the coverage the more people dropped the insurance forcing the downward spiral further. The insurance underwriter was causing costs to rise from his administration fees but, also from the imaginary hoops the Doctor and patient must now hurdle to receive payments. During the same period Dr McClaren purchased a very expensive X-Ray machine for his office. After his purchase you could expect to get a sucker and an X-Ray which are now paid by insurance coverage.

The Greedy Insurance Titan is protected from fair competition from the states authority. I have seen the system work in the past and I know it can work again. The Pirate is Insurance and the rest of this discussion is political corruption.

As far as the .14 cents per unit of Pizza? It seems to me that those who were uninsured and receiving medical care free without Obama Care are now receiving medical insurance free from the .14 cent mandate or tax increase in the pizza. As I said in the beginning it all comes out of the GDP somehow. Obama Care merely includes the insurance underwriter's corruption into the loop. I would like to know how much does Pizza go up when he donates to his favorite Political Action Committee?

Culture Club

I was searching recently for the idiom "The Hand Writing Is On The Wall" and it's origins. Through the miracle of the Internet I discovered the quote is generally accepted from the Old Testament, Book of Daniel 539 BCE 5;25-28, should you care to read. The hand writing on the wall refers to imminent doom according to Daniel and drug store historians.

A more recent reference is found in a poem
"The Run Upon The Bankers".
Sounding as if it fell right out of the Great Depression. No says I. The Poem was written in 1734 by Johnathan Swift from Dublin, Ireland. One verse from the poem reads:

A baited banker thus desponds.
From his own hand foresees his fall.
They have his soul, who owns his bonds;
'Tis like the hand writing on the wall.

Through out history there are many references predicting forthcoming misfortune. As well as many references made directly to "The Hand Writing On The Wall". Who knew in 2012 the wall was also a street. Wall Street certainly would not be a stretch for the prophetic words of Swift
some 278 years ago.

One cannot ignore the regularity of corruption that surfaces in the news every week. Wall Street has always been a breeding ground of deceit. In my own memory it occurred every 3 to 4 years in the last century. Since the passing of the Financial Modernization Act of 1999 the corruption has gone out of control. We are on the wrong path and can no longer ignore
"The Hand Writing On The Wall"

Mitt Romney's Flying Circus is Tampa Bound

Boy's and Girl's tell Mom and Dad the Bain Train is coming to Tampa with something for everyone.

The Star Spangled Elephant will parade about town with sequined rider's such a Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman.

The Elephant will be followed with Magicians at AIG and the uncomperable Ben Bernanke, making money vanish before your eyes.

The Banksters will hand out free cardboard boxes to the homeless en route. See Donald Trump blow birth certificate smoke up a monkeys butt. Watch John Boehner and Mich McConnell make pork appear from thin air as Chief Justice Roberts turns penalties and mandates into taxes.

No parade is complete without clowns. Marvel as the clowns Bush, Cheney and Paul Ryan emerge from a tiny Haliburton Car. Mystics Janet Napolitano will predict your future with crystal balls. Yes kiddies the greatest spectacle in the GOP is coming to town.

Ring Master Newt Gingrich will amaze the crowds with daring exhibits of political smoke and mirrors. Hyperbole will be everywhere. Wild displays of exaggeration's of facts and fiction to astound you. Outrageous claims with charts and graphs for the non believers. Not since Jose Gaspar's imaginary invasion of Ybor City has a show like this been seen.

The Three Ring GOP Convention should put the annual Pirate Festival to shame. All the audience members who can prove they have a lower tax rate than Mitt will be admitted FREEEE

Ticket Master Rick Scott will check all registrations at the door and offer random drug testing to suspicious looking citizens with a low waist line. In the far left ring Rick Santorum with chair and whip only will cause wild lobbyist to jump through hoops in exchange for special interest.
In the far right wing Michelle Bachman (recently back from a Swiss shopping spree) will defy logic, offering even further tax cuts to the wealthy.

In the center ring Herman Cain will explain his 999 plans in detail. High over the heads of all the people will be Romney himself dancing on the wire about taxes and who is running Bain Capital. Kids don't miss this show because you may never see another in your life.

Say Good Knight Dick

One of our vanguards in American investments took a hit this week losing $10 million dollars a minute. Knight Capital Group estimated losses to be $440 million dollars on Wednesday from what they defined as a computer glitch. Sources revealed new computer software recently installed at Knight went haywire before the melee could be stopped.

Knights own stock fell 75% from $10.33 to $2.57. The $440 million dollar hit is in stark contrast to Knight's second quarter earnings of $289 million. Several large traders poured over Knight books indicating a possible buy out. Knight was administering intensive care, many predict Knight will follow the MF Global scandal and slip into bankruptcy over the weekend

One of the stocks who benefited in wild swings was Wizzard Software who saw their shares soar $14.00 in minutes. There have been no ties to software bugs at Knight and Wizzard Software share up.

What Earl Needs?

Another rant about the election coming in November. The candidates are disappointing on both sides. Probably more disappointing is the candidates avoiding the issues that are important. Not wishing to alienate Gay Marriage, Chic fil a or foreign banking entirely, I would simply not place them as most important problem facing Americans. It's clear these are much easier to debate without losing costly votes come election day. Important yes but, largely distraction issues to avoid the gorilla in the room.

What Earl needs is a job. We know the government cannot create jobs. To create jobs you must first have an economy. The economy is where the fingers of government travel into a myriad of sub tittles, to often focused as the core problem. They're actually the product of the problem. Focus, focus, focus. The government does have controls over the economy in tariffs, immigration and environmental standards naming a few. Not surprising all these authorities translate into real dollar values. We should recognize by now, tax collection or tax deductions provide the same wealth either way. Conversion of these factors is a voodoo science known as accounting. The Government is relied upon to control some licensing for public good, such as Doctors and Medical Care naming a few. This is a function of qualifying competency, not to increase municipal revenue or isolate some from the competition.

Allowing tax cuts to the job creators does not create jobs, ditto for government spending on wasteful capital improvements. Only when proof can be found these investment efforts will benefit with the whole being greater than the sum of the parts for everyone. Tough task indeed. Hoover Dam and Railroads were capital projects that paid off many times over. The infamous bridge to nowhere and airports for no planes are pork projects detracting money away from paying down the debts, if nothing else. This divide in current ideology is useless. Past history indicate neither works and the rhetoric is usually the product of the special interest greed, either red or blue.
What Earl needs is an economy. Certainly, we should remember our not to distant past when America was an independent nation. The shirt you wore and the shoes on your feet were made in America. Likewise your cars, television and refrigerator were all made in America. It's irrelevant whether another country can produce goods cheaper in another economy. That's not rocket science and does not support a Harvard Degree to figure out. We all worked together is commonly accepted. Did we have poor people? Yes we did. It's important to understand the poverty line and how it works. The divide is not always a reflection of the individual or his or her work ethics. The supply and demands for goods and service is reflected in the demands for products produced. These demands change over time and often are eliminated entirely through new technology. Government manipulation of supply or demand is Un-American. We the People should come first over World Trade Organization, International Monetary Funds and the like. The gyrations of Wall Street have NO IMPACT on Main Street unless both streets are in the good ole USA. Currently Wall Street is not in the United States!

America should be about building a better mousetrap. Sometimes we lose sight of our free market system and how it works. Its all based on the Lemonade Stand models. You buy materials, manufacture product and sell to the consumer. The guy with the best lemonade for the best price should win. Should not be important his race, religion or gender. Unfortunately we had to pass laws to insure against bigotry. Things that are important to us is the Lemonade Stand does not throw out his waste into the street for others to clean. Also important is the lemonade not make people sick. We depend on our government to demand product safety and clean environment. Certainly we can understand using inferior product or avoiding cleanup will increase profits. It does not make better products or avoid the cleanup. See Chinese drywall! Someone will clean the mess and the cost is the same. In our closed economy the owner of the lemonade stand would buy lemons from his local farmer and acquire property through local real estate, either rent or own. The Lemonade Stand in turn invest it's profits back into the economy.

The Government has always been responsible for roads, bridges, sanitation through the miracle of taxation. For the government to work, "We The People" must empower the government with our authority. Here is where the politician is born. Power is money. Allowing the politician with more of your money will dinish your power and increase his. In a democracy we have no kings, we have elections. Everyone should be able to cast their votes. Who may vote should be based upon minimum age and residency only. To be eligible to vote you must be of legal age and a resident. It should never be the responsibility of the citizen to prove either. It is the responsibility of the government to know who is eligible and provide identification as required to the voter. It's a safe assumption the citizen did not allow for 22 million free ranging illegals in Covert Immigration. It's against our law and our laws were not enforced because of greed. Voter registration shares nothing in common with driver's ability or retirement information. We seem to have lost sight of many of our programs in America and their intended use. Your driver's license was issued as proof of your competency behind the wheel. It doubles as a tabulation to indicate your driving history. Those who may have abused driving from speeding or accidents will suffer revocation. Your Operator's License is not for Voter Identification, Check Cashing/Banking or Retirement Information. It should be used as public information indicating your ability to drive and NOTHING ELSE. The Insurance Underwriter evaluate your premiums based upon your driving record, not punish you for not having insurance in the last six months. Should you option not to buy liability insurance then you simply have exercised your rights to spend money based upon risk and reward. I stress all insurance should be optional. If you should have an accident without insurance it could be devastating to your checkbook paying for damages. If your a poor driver it should be the responsibility of the government to revoke your Operators Permit not the Insurance Underwriter. Conspiracy between the government and Insurance Underwriters must be stopped. Separation between government and commerce is an inalienable right. Allowing Insurance dominion over Operator's License and Tags is collusion between the peoples authority and private enterprise and inflates the value of insurance. Imagine that. If disputes arise from damages awarded we have our courts system to rely upon. Simply because you have insurance does not prevent the courts from judgments over the insured values. We all have been victimized by insurance underwriters who refuse to pay, pay a lesser amount or often just paying slooowly. Insurance claims quickly become your second job filling endless forms they will always lose and proof of loss is always your responsibility. In short its a scam to increase profits.

The points I have made above are some in the current national discussion. Make no mistake about it they all can be converted into money. The election is all about money and power and whom will have it. What is certain, regardless of political persuasion the bottom line is what Earl needs. Earl needs an economy and once he has it all the a fore mentioned will vanish. What is at stake now more than ever is the existence of the American Experience here and overseas. (1273)