The Brookings Institute is one of the leading economic analysis firms in the World. They have a report out about the cause of the current economic crisis. They are not blaming the now former president.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/29/economic.crisis.explainer/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Now knowing what caused it, we know how to fix it? No there are no suggestions there. I guess we just have to ride this storm out. And use good common-sense lending principles. Back to the basics.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Big Thank You
I have to send out a big...
Thank You
...to all three members of Utah's House of Representatives delegation for voting against the "porkulus" bill. It took much more courage, however, for Jim Matheson to vote against his party. But at least he did not vote against the wishes of his constituents.
Thank You
...to all three members of Utah's House of Representatives delegation for voting against the "porkulus" bill. It took much more courage, however, for Jim Matheson to vote against his party. But at least he did not vote against the wishes of his constituents.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Orrin does it again.
Mr Hatch voted to confirm the President's choice for Secretary of the Treasury. Yes, we understand that there are mistakes and oversights, but when you financing is the business that you are in, some oversights can not be overlooked.
...
More about why budget cuts should be across the board. Misery like the State of Utah is experiencing should be spread out. If someone is spared a budget cut, someone else will have to receive more than his fair share of the misery. The members of the legislature should ignore the parade of people that they are getting asking that their department should be spared budget cuts for whatever reason. If a lobbyist were to come to me to ask for a department to be spared, I would say, "Perhaps they should fire you and that would same them some money."
...
Obama has told Republicans not to listen to Rush Limabagh. There are, believe it or not, Republicans that think that Rush is an old windbag. As I told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter last year, I think that I am smart enough to make my own decisions. I think that most intelligent people don't parrot something that they heard on talk Radio. It would be wrong to over or under estimate the effect that Rush and freinds have on the overall electorate. If Rush had his way, Obama would not be President.
...
More about why budget cuts should be across the board. Misery like the State of Utah is experiencing should be spread out. If someone is spared a budget cut, someone else will have to receive more than his fair share of the misery. The members of the legislature should ignore the parade of people that they are getting asking that their department should be spared budget cuts for whatever reason. If a lobbyist were to come to me to ask for a department to be spared, I would say, "Perhaps they should fire you and that would same them some money."
...
Obama has told Republicans not to listen to Rush Limabagh. There are, believe it or not, Republicans that think that Rush is an old windbag. As I told a Salt Lake Tribune reporter last year, I think that I am smart enough to make my own decisions. I think that most intelligent people don't parrot something that they heard on talk Radio. It would be wrong to over or under estimate the effect that Rush and freinds have on the overall electorate. If Rush had his way, Obama would not be President.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Beginning of the State Legislature.
The Utah State Legislature session begins on Monday. Here are my thoughts going in.
1. No one should be immune to budget cuts...no one! It's a tough economy out there. Many of us have needed to make sacrifices. I think that we all need to make sacrifices.
2. The private club requirement for bars in Utah is a nuisance and not a deterrent. People who do not drink alcohol usually do not patronize those establishments.
3. Get rid of the sales tax on food. Don't look for just one source to make up for that revenue. Use a variety of different sources. Raise the sales tax on everything else. Raise the tax on tobacco products. Put a tax on legal services...make the plaintiff pay the tax. (That would be a deterrent to law suits.)
4. Make the fuel tax a percentage of the sale rather than a per gallon tax. This will keep money for road projects coming as higher fuel prices force people cut back on driving. This will take away a financial road blocks to the promotion of higher fuel efficiency.
5. Make our governor look good.
1. No one should be immune to budget cuts...no one! It's a tough economy out there. Many of us have needed to make sacrifices. I think that we all need to make sacrifices.
2. The private club requirement for bars in Utah is a nuisance and not a deterrent. People who do not drink alcohol usually do not patronize those establishments.
3. Get rid of the sales tax on food. Don't look for just one source to make up for that revenue. Use a variety of different sources. Raise the sales tax on everything else. Raise the tax on tobacco products. Put a tax on legal services...make the plaintiff pay the tax. (That would be a deterrent to law suits.)
4. Make the fuel tax a percentage of the sale rather than a per gallon tax. This will keep money for road projects coming as higher fuel prices force people cut back on driving. This will take away a financial road blocks to the promotion of higher fuel efficiency.
5. Make our governor look good.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Congratulations to President Obama
And something that we do not need...
The African American community has every right to celebrate the last two days with the inauguration of the first president of African descent. I am certain that had Mitt Romney won, then we Latter-day Saints would be equally ecstatic. This is your moment, you deserve it...enjoy it.
I was disappointed to see one of my neighbors, about three blocks west of where I live, flying a White Supremacist flag. We do not need this reputation in Davis County. We have so few non-whites here. I welcome anyone of African, Asian, Australian, Polynesian, Hispanic, Aleut or Amerindian decent to this community. Please do not be offended by the lack of courtesy and know that only very few of us feel this way.
The African American community has every right to celebrate the last two days with the inauguration of the first president of African descent. I am certain that had Mitt Romney won, then we Latter-day Saints would be equally ecstatic. This is your moment, you deserve it...enjoy it.
I was disappointed to see one of my neighbors, about three blocks west of where I live, flying a White Supremacist flag. We do not need this reputation in Davis County. We have so few non-whites here. I welcome anyone of African, Asian, Australian, Polynesian, Hispanic, Aleut or Amerindian decent to this community. Please do not be offended by the lack of courtesy and know that only very few of us feel this way.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Brainstorming
If marriage were a right...
I think that in the country we have confused rights, duties and privileges. A right is something like the freedom to worship. I can worship who and when I choose, or I can choose not to worship at all. That is a right. An example of a duty is paying taxes. A privilege is something that you have to ask the permission of the government before you can do it. For example, driving a car and practicing medicine are privileges. If I were to abuse my driving privilege by driving intoxicated, that privilege can be revoked. The permission of the government to perform such an activity is called license.
Because marriage is a privilege and not a right, the government grants a license to a persons to get married. This license has nothing to do with love or sex or the ability to breed, but it is a license to form the business relationship of marriage. Some states recognize common law marriage, when two people can move in together and if they can stand each other for a length of time, then they are married in the eyes of the law.
If marriage were a right, the government would have no business issuing a license to couple who want to get married. All that they would need is a certificate recognizing the marriage.
If marriage were a right, it would be unconstitutional for people to file their taxes with "married filed jointly" or "married filed separately" declared. If would be unconstitutional for the government to even ask. You could still use "head of household" if you had children under the age of 18 living with you, but otherwise, we would all have to file our taxes as individuals.
If marriage were a right, your company would have to offer benefits to individuals and not to families. If would be unlawful for them to discriminate.
It would be unlawful to favor married couples for adoption, housing, schooling or anything. There would be no perks from the government or from your place of employment for being married at all.
Marriage would be like voting. You would register your marriage, but there would be no perks from the government or from the work place or in real-estate whatsoever.
I think that in the country we have confused rights, duties and privileges. A right is something like the freedom to worship. I can worship who and when I choose, or I can choose not to worship at all. That is a right. An example of a duty is paying taxes. A privilege is something that you have to ask the permission of the government before you can do it. For example, driving a car and practicing medicine are privileges. If I were to abuse my driving privilege by driving intoxicated, that privilege can be revoked. The permission of the government to perform such an activity is called license.
Because marriage is a privilege and not a right, the government grants a license to a persons to get married. This license has nothing to do with love or sex or the ability to breed, but it is a license to form the business relationship of marriage. Some states recognize common law marriage, when two people can move in together and if they can stand each other for a length of time, then they are married in the eyes of the law.
If marriage were a right, the government would have no business issuing a license to couple who want to get married. All that they would need is a certificate recognizing the marriage.
If marriage were a right, it would be unconstitutional for people to file their taxes with "married filed jointly" or "married filed separately" declared. If would be unconstitutional for the government to even ask. You could still use "head of household" if you had children under the age of 18 living with you, but otherwise, we would all have to file our taxes as individuals.
If marriage were a right, your company would have to offer benefits to individuals and not to families. If would be unlawful for them to discriminate.
It would be unlawful to favor married couples for adoption, housing, schooling or anything. There would be no perks from the government or from your place of employment for being married at all.
Marriage would be like voting. You would register your marriage, but there would be no perks from the government or from the work place or in real-estate whatsoever.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Don't Ask Don't Tell No More
According to Military.com, President Elect Obama has pledged to end the don't ask don't tell policy and force the military to accept people that are openly gay. I was serving in the Air Force at this time. I always believed that with the social stigma on homosexuality not being what it used to be that if the military was ever to draft again, they would have to admit openly gay persons sooner or later. Homosexulity could become an easy out for draftees. Yes, even though there are ways of outing the truth, a buddies agreement may go a long way.
Having secrets, especially secrets of a sexual nature is not good for the military life-style. This is more true of those soliers, sailors, airmen and marienes that have access to some of our nation's most closely garded secrets. So if we must end, "Don't ask, don't tell" here is what we should replace it with.
If you want to be in, you're out (of the closet). In other words, on the application to join the military will be two questions...as far as you know, are you homosexual? Follow up...if you are, do your parents or guardians know about your sexual orientation? If the answer is no, then the recruit will be required to tell their parents before they will be allowed to join. Beyond that, the recruit needs to be assured that his drill sergeant or training instructor in basic training will not be told and during that time every precaution will be made to protect him. Every recuit will be told that there will be serious consequences for persecution of any other recruit for any reason including sexual orientation.
This type of questioning may help the draft board to out the truth.
Now, getting that off of my chest...I think the current policy only needs to be tweaked a little bit for an all volunteer military.
Having secrets, especially secrets of a sexual nature is not good for the military life-style. This is more true of those soliers, sailors, airmen and marienes that have access to some of our nation's most closely garded secrets. So if we must end, "Don't ask, don't tell" here is what we should replace it with.
If you want to be in, you're out (of the closet). In other words, on the application to join the military will be two questions...as far as you know, are you homosexual? Follow up...if you are, do your parents or guardians know about your sexual orientation? If the answer is no, then the recruit will be required to tell their parents before they will be allowed to join. Beyond that, the recruit needs to be assured that his drill sergeant or training instructor in basic training will not be told and during that time every precaution will be made to protect him. Every recuit will be told that there will be serious consequences for persecution of any other recruit for any reason including sexual orientation.
This type of questioning may help the draft board to out the truth.
Now, getting that off of my chest...I think the current policy only needs to be tweaked a little bit for an all volunteer military.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
THE BCS Gone!
The following is pure fiction.
I just got out of my time machine and here is what I saw. I traveled to the holiday season of 2016 and 2017. The financial crisis of 2008 is a memory, but we are quickly approaching the next storm as the country and world prepare for the impact of deaths of the baby boomers. A republican is preparing for inauguration day. There was a rather large and deadly earthquake somewhere in the Pacific Rim. But there was one spectacle that reminded me of March and it had nothing to do with Global Warming.
Brackets...yes it was a dream come true...the College Football Champion of 2016 was finally decided by a real playoff. Here is how it worked.
The 16 teams were chosen by each of the 11 FBS conferences having one automatic qualifier with 5 additional at-large bids. In the first round, the higher seeded team hosted the lower seeded team. All eight first-round games were sold out and took place on December 10, 2016. There were two upsets in the first round including a MAC team beating a Pac-10 school out on the coast. The game was the water-cooler talk on Monday...and generated more blogging than the new controversial Secretary of Commerce nominee.
The next weekend provided some consternation for many retailers as two rivals met in a second round game in prime time on December 17 th. One Wal-Mart in a Houston suburb puts a 3-d television at every rfid checkout and at strategic points in the store as a ploy to keep holiday shoppers from leaving to catch the overtime thriller. The other three games that Saturday were nail-biters as well.
The playoff take a week off for Christmas eve, but there is still plenty of college football. The playoffs do not end most traditional bowl games. Sure, the Insight.com bowl and the Humanitarian Bowl and six others are history, but the biggest bowls continue. The Rose Bowl matches the best Big-10 and Pac-10 teams that do not make the playoffs. The Orange, Fiesta, Sugar and Cotton bowls have their games as well. Of course, since New Years Day, 2017 is a Sunday, most of these games take place on January 2 as Sunday is left to the NFL playoffs.
The NCAA playoffs begin again on New Years Eve. These are the semi-finals. The games are played in New Orleans and Glendale, Arizona. One of the final four teams is from a mid-major conference and comes a dropped "Hail-Mary" away from the championship.
The championship game on January 7, 2017 at Dolphin Stadium in Florida and features a team from the SEC conference vs a team from the Big XII conference. Many pundits comment about the irony of a championship between the same two teams that would have played for the championship if the BCS had been allowed to continue. The debate about weather or not the playoffs were a good idea ends when the network that covers the championship announces that the advertising revenue for the 15 playoff games is more than the projected revenue for the coming Super Bowl. Somewhere in Peoria, someone pays a holiday credit card bill with his office pool winnings.
The president in the inauguration speech uses the playoff as a metaphor for his new economic stimulus plan stating..."this plan makes as much sense as a college football playoff, but people are too afraid to break tradition for something that in the long run is much better."
I just got out of my time machine and here is what I saw. I traveled to the holiday season of 2016 and 2017. The financial crisis of 2008 is a memory, but we are quickly approaching the next storm as the country and world prepare for the impact of deaths of the baby boomers. A republican is preparing for inauguration day. There was a rather large and deadly earthquake somewhere in the Pacific Rim. But there was one spectacle that reminded me of March and it had nothing to do with Global Warming.
Brackets...yes it was a dream come true...the College Football Champion of 2016 was finally decided by a real playoff. Here is how it worked.
The 16 teams were chosen by each of the 11 FBS conferences having one automatic qualifier with 5 additional at-large bids. In the first round, the higher seeded team hosted the lower seeded team. All eight first-round games were sold out and took place on December 10, 2016. There were two upsets in the first round including a MAC team beating a Pac-10 school out on the coast. The game was the water-cooler talk on Monday...and generated more blogging than the new controversial Secretary of Commerce nominee.
The next weekend provided some consternation for many retailers as two rivals met in a second round game in prime time on December 17 th. One Wal-Mart in a Houston suburb puts a 3-d television at every rfid checkout and at strategic points in the store as a ploy to keep holiday shoppers from leaving to catch the overtime thriller. The other three games that Saturday were nail-biters as well.
The playoff take a week off for Christmas eve, but there is still plenty of college football. The playoffs do not end most traditional bowl games. Sure, the Insight.com bowl and the Humanitarian Bowl and six others are history, but the biggest bowls continue. The Rose Bowl matches the best Big-10 and Pac-10 teams that do not make the playoffs. The Orange, Fiesta, Sugar and Cotton bowls have their games as well. Of course, since New Years Day, 2017 is a Sunday, most of these games take place on January 2 as Sunday is left to the NFL playoffs.
The NCAA playoffs begin again on New Years Eve. These are the semi-finals. The games are played in New Orleans and Glendale, Arizona. One of the final four teams is from a mid-major conference and comes a dropped "Hail-Mary" away from the championship.
The championship game on January 7, 2017 at Dolphin Stadium in Florida and features a team from the SEC conference vs a team from the Big XII conference. Many pundits comment about the irony of a championship between the same two teams that would have played for the championship if the BCS had been allowed to continue. The debate about weather or not the playoffs were a good idea ends when the network that covers the championship announces that the advertising revenue for the 15 playoff games is more than the projected revenue for the coming Super Bowl. Somewhere in Peoria, someone pays a holiday credit card bill with his office pool winnings.
The president in the inauguration speech uses the playoff as a metaphor for his new economic stimulus plan stating..."this plan makes as much sense as a college football playoff, but people are too afraid to break tradition for something that in the long run is much better."
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New issues for 2009
The proposed cigarette tax.
I agree with Governor Huntsman's proposal to raise the cigarette tax in Utah. But we have to be careful not to go too high. Our current cigarette tax rate is 69.5 cents per pack. The highest in the nation is New Jersey at 257.5 cents per pack. On the Doug Wright show today, they said that New York has the highest rate. The state of New York does not, but it allows counties and cities to add an addition tax. The state tax is 150 cents per pack and the city of New York adds an additional amount to allow the taxes rate well above 3 dollars per pack.
The question is how high of a tax rate will cause people to bootleg cigarettes. Here are the facts about bootlegging to consider
First, they are highly addictive. It is doubtful that someone would drive an hour in either direction and be able to last the entire journey to wherever just for a pack of cigarettes. To really be effective, it would have to be done by the carton.
Second, our neighboring states have taxes on cigarettes as well. If Utah's tax were 3 dollars per pack, you would save 2.40 per pack by driving to Wyoming.
Most of Utah's population is quite isolated. The drive to Evanston is about 70 miles. The average car gets about 20 miles per gallon on the highway. So, a person would use about 7 gallons of gas for the round trip. It would take about 7 packs to pay for the trip.
Utah has the lowest smoking per capita in the nation, that would make the opportunity for a black market on cigarettes less likely.
It would only take a box or two make the trip highly profitable. It would be a difficult temptation to avoid.
Perhaps a more modest increase would be in order.
To eliminate the sales tax on groceries, why not a restaurant tax. People who prepare the food they eat at home are generally healthier than those who do not. Almost everyone goes out to eat every now and again.
I agree with Governor Huntsman's proposal to raise the cigarette tax in Utah. But we have to be careful not to go too high. Our current cigarette tax rate is 69.5 cents per pack. The highest in the nation is New Jersey at 257.5 cents per pack. On the Doug Wright show today, they said that New York has the highest rate. The state of New York does not, but it allows counties and cities to add an addition tax. The state tax is 150 cents per pack and the city of New York adds an additional amount to allow the taxes rate well above 3 dollars per pack.
The question is how high of a tax rate will cause people to bootleg cigarettes. Here are the facts about bootlegging to consider
First, they are highly addictive. It is doubtful that someone would drive an hour in either direction and be able to last the entire journey to wherever just for a pack of cigarettes. To really be effective, it would have to be done by the carton.
Second, our neighboring states have taxes on cigarettes as well. If Utah's tax were 3 dollars per pack, you would save 2.40 per pack by driving to Wyoming.
Most of Utah's population is quite isolated. The drive to Evanston is about 70 miles. The average car gets about 20 miles per gallon on the highway. So, a person would use about 7 gallons of gas for the round trip. It would take about 7 packs to pay for the trip.
Utah has the lowest smoking per capita in the nation, that would make the opportunity for a black market on cigarettes less likely.
It would only take a box or two make the trip highly profitable. It would be a difficult temptation to avoid.
Perhaps a more modest increase would be in order.
To eliminate the sales tax on groceries, why not a restaurant tax. People who prepare the food they eat at home are generally healthier than those who do not. Almost everyone goes out to eat every now and again.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Wow, it has been almost a month.
I had one of the first cases of the flu in Davis County in Davis County this year. If you get it, you can blame me. It has been a tough couple of weeks. Due to budget cuts my shift was canceled and I will be demoted in January, but I have not been forced to take a pay-cut and I will not be laid off. So I have not been in the best of moods. Needless to say that being the highest paid person on my team is not a comfortable feeling right now. It makes me an easy target for the next round of layoffs. I will be getting my resume out.
Today, the Arena Football League announced that there will be no 2009 season. I suspect that in two to three months, it will be announced that there will no longer be an Arena Football League. Rumor has it that the WNBA will be next. (That is Women's National Basketball Association, for those of you not in the know.) I suspect that some independent baseball leagues and semi-pro leagues and perhaps some rookie leagues if not all of them will go away as well. I am hopeful that the Pioneer League will continue, but doubtful. (The Gulf Coast League seems like the low-hanging fruit, followed by the Arizona Summer League.) I am certain that the NBADL will not last the entire season. I am also concerned that Major League Soccer may not be around for 2009; but I think that there may be a contraction of at least two franchises, but not the whole league. Chivas USA is the most likely candidate for contraction. San Jose and Kansas City have unresolved stadium issues. I am confident that there will be soccer at Rio Tinto Stadium in the spring. But a lot of people are not. If all of this holds out, we will not have a pro team in Utah that is not owned by the Miller Family. (That is just the Jazz and the Bees.) The Blaze are all but gone, the Flash will be next. I am not hopeful for the Owlz or the Raptors this year. I am confident for Real, but not a lot of people are. That is 1 gone, 7 remaining and 5 in trouble.
Now, what has really been on my mind the past four weeks is the fate of our junior senator from Utah. My last couple of blogs pointed out that at least 40% of Salt Lake County voters did not vote a straight-party ticket last fall. They voted with for at least one person on each party in the top four races in the county. The success of Jason Chaffetz' campaign to unseat Chris Cannon from within the party has also sent shock waves throughout the party. That is why Mr. Bennett has began to campaign already. His real problem is at the grass-roots level of the Republican Party based upon his support of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act and of his yes vote for the Wall Street bail-out back in October. He has managed to anger both social and fiscal conservatives. This is a hard thing for a Republican to do in Utah. It all depends on who ponies up to run against him in 2010 and if the economy rebounds by then.
Why should Bennett retire? 1. There are several good candidates in the Republican Party here in Utah that would represent this state well in Washington DC if Mr. Bennett would only step aside. This men and women will not run against him. 2. His Seniority in the Senate means nothing when the other party holds such a strong majority. 3. He will get a strong in-party challenge from someone. 4. When the Donks are only 2 seats away from an over-ride proof majority, they are bound to find someone who is vulnerable and work for the next two years to defeat that person. Look at what happened to Ted Stevens. 5. He said that he would only run for two terms in 1992. He should have kept his promise and retired in 2004.
The economy needs to rebound, but that has been building for a long time. If you want to blame the Republicans...well you are correct to do so. If you want to blame the democrats...you are also correct. The fault lies with just about all of us. We are all going to have to sacrifice to make it work.
Today, the Arena Football League announced that there will be no 2009 season. I suspect that in two to three months, it will be announced that there will no longer be an Arena Football League. Rumor has it that the WNBA will be next. (That is Women's National Basketball Association, for those of you not in the know.) I suspect that some independent baseball leagues and semi-pro leagues and perhaps some rookie leagues if not all of them will go away as well. I am hopeful that the Pioneer League will continue, but doubtful. (The Gulf Coast League seems like the low-hanging fruit, followed by the Arizona Summer League.) I am certain that the NBADL will not last the entire season. I am also concerned that Major League Soccer may not be around for 2009; but I think that there may be a contraction of at least two franchises, but not the whole league. Chivas USA is the most likely candidate for contraction. San Jose and Kansas City have unresolved stadium issues. I am confident that there will be soccer at Rio Tinto Stadium in the spring. But a lot of people are not. If all of this holds out, we will not have a pro team in Utah that is not owned by the Miller Family. (That is just the Jazz and the Bees.) The Blaze are all but gone, the Flash will be next. I am not hopeful for the Owlz or the Raptors this year. I am confident for Real, but not a lot of people are. That is 1 gone, 7 remaining and 5 in trouble.
Now, what has really been on my mind the past four weeks is the fate of our junior senator from Utah. My last couple of blogs pointed out that at least 40% of Salt Lake County voters did not vote a straight-party ticket last fall. They voted with for at least one person on each party in the top four races in the county. The success of Jason Chaffetz' campaign to unseat Chris Cannon from within the party has also sent shock waves throughout the party. That is why Mr. Bennett has began to campaign already. His real problem is at the grass-roots level of the Republican Party based upon his support of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act and of his yes vote for the Wall Street bail-out back in October. He has managed to anger both social and fiscal conservatives. This is a hard thing for a Republican to do in Utah. It all depends on who ponies up to run against him in 2010 and if the economy rebounds by then.
Why should Bennett retire? 1. There are several good candidates in the Republican Party here in Utah that would represent this state well in Washington DC if Mr. Bennett would only step aside. This men and women will not run against him. 2. His Seniority in the Senate means nothing when the other party holds such a strong majority. 3. He will get a strong in-party challenge from someone. 4. When the Donks are only 2 seats away from an over-ride proof majority, they are bound to find someone who is vulnerable and work for the next two years to defeat that person. Look at what happened to Ted Stevens. 5. He said that he would only run for two terms in 1992. He should have kept his promise and retired in 2004.
The economy needs to rebound, but that has been building for a long time. If you want to blame the Republicans...well you are correct to do so. If you want to blame the democrats...you are also correct. The fault lies with just about all of us. We are all going to have to sacrifice to make it work.
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