The ground continues to shift under the feet of the fossil fuel industry with the U.S. / China deal having a massive impact.
What the fossil fuel people have refused to consider for over a century is, people have used their products in the past for percieved convenience, in spite of the cost and the obvious pollution.
Now that the Chinese people are experiancing some of the highest rates of cancer of all types in the world, and are virtually not able to breathe thanks to over reliance on coal power, they are past starting to wake up to the dangers of fossil fuels as an energy source.
Combine that with their ability to process scientific data in regards to climate change, and their openess to act when presented with the opportunity to do so, by a phenomincal leader like President Obama, results in initiating a drastic change in energy policy. This becomes a sudden reality the fossil fuel industry finds they are unable to control.
The fossil fuel business is so used to being the only game in town that they don’t know how to compete. Worse yet for them, clearly they are loosing their ability to fool people through advertizing, that their technology is anything but old, dirty, dangerours and unmarketable to the truly informed consumer.
This is the second leg of the stool the fossil fuel monster has counted on that is collapsing under them, the consumer leg, the government leg being the first.
When the informed consumer unites with the worlds largest governments to leave the fossil fuel paridigm by adopting solar, energy efficiency and electric vehicles, the monster goes into high gear to buttress the first leg.
Attempting to strengthen the ever present, historically powerful first leg involves the outright purchasing of politicians to suppress competition. These overt actions are a futile attempt to prop up fossil fuels declining market share.
That will only work, with limited results, for a little while longer, as more and more people suffer at the hands of mass polluters.
Consider Nebraska’s rejection of the KXL pipeline and West Virginia’s recent victory against Peabody's (MTR) Mountain Top Removal coal mining.
These are both extremely conservative red states, who are waking up to the environmental havoc and destruction the fossil fuel beast has imposed on them for so long.
It turns out West Virginian's, who are desperately poor in many cases, and have lived off the land for hundreds of years, don't like seeing their entire ecosystems, that they have literally relied on to support their families, blown off the face of the earth by big coal.
Nor do Nebraskan's have any desire to see one of the nations largest and most pristine water tables subjected to oil spills from a pipeline that will surely leak. A spill from KXL would permanently destroy drinking water for a massive section of the United States mid-west and western states.
Now we are seeing the degredation of the third leg the fossil fuel industry that has been used to wield it’s dominance world wide, the finnancial leg.
When finannce figures out the fossil fuel industry represents the physical destruction of the earth, and they have as detailed in the link below, it’s just a matter of time before the monster falls.
Along with all of the fossil fuel industries challenges, they now find themselves in a battle against former allies.
With Saudi Arabia's recent decision to continue production at current rates, in spite of the price per barrel impact, shale and tar sands oil producers in the U.S. are now in the fight of their lives.
With current prices at 68.00 a barrel and dropping and 80.00 a barrel being the minimum price required for profitability in the mining of shale and tar sands, the Saudi's have initiated what they obviously feel is a production / price war shale and tar sands cannot win.
I'm sure oil commodity brokers see what's going on and are looking very seriously at Citi's Global Commodities reports.
Last year it was Barkley's warning investors about over exposure in the fossil fuels business.
This article is too good to just provide a snippet. I highly recommend reading the entire post.
http://bit.ly/1rXx8nX
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
The Never Ending Battle Against Enemies of the Social Safety Net
Social Security is NOT going broke!
Social Security has a surplus of 2.76 trillion dollars and can pay out benefits to all eligible Americans until 2033.
Passing legislation that I wrote, which would lift the cap on taxable income above 250,000.00, would extend Social Security solvency for 47 years. And that is exactly what we MUST do!
- Senator Bernie Sanders ( I-VT)
I have several observations to share on this but before I start I have to say this.
My Father was a wonderful, loving man, but like all of us, he was complicated and in retrospect, not right about a number of things. I suspect my kids will say the same of me when I'm gone and that is fine as I'm human, far more human than my Dad ever was.
That said, being raised by a republican man who had a very low opinion of FDR, it was drilled into me at an early age that Social Security was a pyrimid scheme that would never be there for him when he retired. It would especially not be there for me as the pyramid would collapse around itself due to it's wishful thinking design.
So that’s the meme conservatives started since the inception of Social Security in 1935, 79 years ago!
To repeat, that simple but now proven false meme, has carried the day in conservative republican circles for nearly 80 years in spite of literally millions of lives being saved and millions more kept out of abject poverty in their retirement years.
Let that fact sink in for a minute.
Now consider what it takes to debunk that simple, devastating falsehood, to try to get people to understand the importance of this program and the non-stop threat it has been under by republicans across generations since 1935.
This false meme, forwarded as "enlightened thought" came in spite of my Dad actually witnessing old people dying, literally from poverty, during the 3rd great depression starting in 1929. The first being in the 1780’s, and the second in the 1850’s.
In my development as a man, many times I heard this meme repeated over and over again, “Social Security will never be there when I retire”.
I heard it as a child, then watched while my Dad received his social security checks on a regular basis with no problems.
We all heard from Ronald Reagan how Social Security was going broke, then watched as payroll withholding was increased to cover the future of the program. These increases were projected at the establishment of social security but great fanfare was made by the republicans when they actually just did what was projected as the responsible thing to do in the ongoing management of the program.
How long did Social Security last for my Dad?
21 years and he never a missed check! He retired at 58 and passed away just short of his 86th birthday. He collected his first Social Security check at age 65.
So my Dad worked for 40 years and collected Social Security for 21 years. That’s wonderful and great for him. He was blessed with a long healthy life. The system he predicted would never be there for him, was there, consistantly and solidly as it was designed to.
My Mom just turned 90. She's still collecting a percentage of my Dad's Social Security 9 years later. So make that 30 years of payouts to my parents without a glitch.
Here's the really sad thing. Every time she votes, she votes republican all the way down the ticket. If they have an (R) behind their name, that's all she needs to know. And yet, she literally has FDR (D) to thank for the check she gets automatically deposited into her checking account every month. My mind can hardly process this as I write it.
So in the 1980's republicans carried the torch for FDR's enemies but ultimately gave in and administered the program the way they were supposed to. In the 1990's, I still had it embedded in my consciousness that I would never see a dime of social security. All the way into the early 2000's I bought into this made up myth, propogated by descendants of FDR's enemies.
Then I started to realize I had not seen the predicted collapse of the system in the '70's, '80's, 90's or 2000's.
I started to wonder, with forty years of evidence in front of me to the contrary, the enemies of social security were still spewing their venom about its demise... and yet social security was starting to look like a real possibility, even for me! Imagine that.
That's when I finally looked into the details. I may be a bit slow but even I’m able to see when something is working decades beyond when it’s critics predicted it’s downfall.
I ran across Thom Hartmann's brilliant analysis of the 80 year war on everything FDR worked and fought for, simply because FDR thought of it and they didn’t.
Sound familiar?
Yes, this nonsensical partisanship has tormented us for a lot longer than most people imagine.
I started to listen to Bernie Sanders, a Congressman at the time, that the program was fully funded but was being undermined by an inexplicable cap on income.
I learned that those with incomes above 100,000.00 of yearly income actually didn't pay a dime into social security beyond this crazy cap!
Really?
A cap?
Why?
The people who can most afford it, are somehow given a pass beyond a certain income level while the rest of us pay on our entire incomes?
So the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Bill Gates and many others pay their “fair share” into social security in the first few minutes of their earning year, then pay nothing for the next 364 days because, what? They can’t afford it? Are you kidding me?
Who came up with this and why? Well it was actually built into the system from the start to limit the introduction of volatility. The risk of that volatility disapeared decades ago, hence the ever increasing cap to cover the cost of managing payouts.
Since I learned all this, I go way beyond where even Senator Sanders is.
I say eliminate the cap! Completely!
If you make a billion dollars or even millions, you can handle the 7%, or 14% if you’re self employed. I say, if you make that much, it's your patriotic duty to build and grow this program for everyone in the pool. So what if you won't get out of it what you put into it. You'll get to sleep better at night knowing you still have your billions, while your tens of millions goes to help older Americans live comfortably in their retirement years. And if you’re so greedy that the thougt of that bothers you, I actually find myself feeling sorry for you and your inexplicable levels of greed.
Let's talk about why is Social Security not a pyramid scheme. I thought this through and the answer came to me clear as day.
When my Dad retired he was considered solidly middle class. What was that in the early '70's? 20,000.00 That's right, 20 grand. Now go back and figure out what his contribution to the system was over his working life with his income being somewhere around a dollar an hour in 1938 and 10.00 an hour in 1978. . Did he put into the system what he got out of it over his 21 year retirement? No way and the creators of the system knew he would never be able to.
Now let's look at one more very important fact. One generation later when I retired what was I making? Nearly 5 times what my Dad made. Was I rich? Not by a long shot. I did well but I lived in the Silicon Valley in a 1,240 sq. ft. home. Middle class like my parents but my contributions, along with all in my economic strata, were contributing at a far higher rate than my parents did. That is just great in my view as I feel quite privileged to have done so.
So that's the dirty little secret the FDR haters never want you do know. The program is not funded exclusively by the recipients. They put some money in and it earns interest exponentially beyond what a personal retirement plan would due to the sheer size of the pot.
The real secret is the new workforce contibuting to the pool plays a much more significant role that continually builds and grows the system.
In a healthy democracy, every generation does a little better, simply due to the way western economies with progressive tax codes grow.
Ironically, where the whole thing can come under tremendous stress is when the super wealthy suppress wages, especially the way they have in the last 20 – 30 years.
Even with wage suppression, removal of the cap, or increasing it significantly like Senator Sanders proposes, fixes things for a long time.
Remove the cap altogether and it's fixed permanently in my opinion.
What's it going to take for everyone to wake up the way I did?
I don't know.
Are they going to have to see another great depression with elder Americans dying in the cold and in the streets like they were in the 1930's, to bring people back to reality and revolt against the oligarchs that have taken over our democracy?
I sure hope not….
Social Security has a surplus of 2.76 trillion dollars and can pay out benefits to all eligible Americans until 2033.
Passing legislation that I wrote, which would lift the cap on taxable income above 250,000.00, would extend Social Security solvency for 47 years. And that is exactly what we MUST do!
- Senator Bernie Sanders ( I-VT)
I have several observations to share on this but before I start I have to say this.
My Father was a wonderful, loving man, but like all of us, he was complicated and in retrospect, not right about a number of things. I suspect my kids will say the same of me when I'm gone and that is fine as I'm human, far more human than my Dad ever was.
That said, being raised by a republican man who had a very low opinion of FDR, it was drilled into me at an early age that Social Security was a pyrimid scheme that would never be there for him when he retired. It would especially not be there for me as the pyramid would collapse around itself due to it's wishful thinking design.
So that’s the meme conservatives started since the inception of Social Security in 1935, 79 years ago!
To repeat, that simple but now proven false meme, has carried the day in conservative republican circles for nearly 80 years in spite of literally millions of lives being saved and millions more kept out of abject poverty in their retirement years.
Let that fact sink in for a minute.
Now consider what it takes to debunk that simple, devastating falsehood, to try to get people to understand the importance of this program and the non-stop threat it has been under by republicans across generations since 1935.
This false meme, forwarded as "enlightened thought" came in spite of my Dad actually witnessing old people dying, literally from poverty, during the 3rd great depression starting in 1929. The first being in the 1780’s, and the second in the 1850’s.
In my development as a man, many times I heard this meme repeated over and over again, “Social Security will never be there when I retire”.
I heard it as a child, then watched while my Dad received his social security checks on a regular basis with no problems.
We all heard from Ronald Reagan how Social Security was going broke, then watched as payroll withholding was increased to cover the future of the program. These increases were projected at the establishment of social security but great fanfare was made by the republicans when they actually just did what was projected as the responsible thing to do in the ongoing management of the program.
How long did Social Security last for my Dad?
21 years and he never a missed check! He retired at 58 and passed away just short of his 86th birthday. He collected his first Social Security check at age 65.
So my Dad worked for 40 years and collected Social Security for 21 years. That’s wonderful and great for him. He was blessed with a long healthy life. The system he predicted would never be there for him, was there, consistantly and solidly as it was designed to.
My Mom just turned 90. She's still collecting a percentage of my Dad's Social Security 9 years later. So make that 30 years of payouts to my parents without a glitch.
Here's the really sad thing. Every time she votes, she votes republican all the way down the ticket. If they have an (R) behind their name, that's all she needs to know. And yet, she literally has FDR (D) to thank for the check she gets automatically deposited into her checking account every month. My mind can hardly process this as I write it.
So in the 1980's republicans carried the torch for FDR's enemies but ultimately gave in and administered the program the way they were supposed to. In the 1990's, I still had it embedded in my consciousness that I would never see a dime of social security. All the way into the early 2000's I bought into this made up myth, propogated by descendants of FDR's enemies.
Then I started to realize I had not seen the predicted collapse of the system in the '70's, '80's, 90's or 2000's.
I started to wonder, with forty years of evidence in front of me to the contrary, the enemies of social security were still spewing their venom about its demise... and yet social security was starting to look like a real possibility, even for me! Imagine that.
That's when I finally looked into the details. I may be a bit slow but even I’m able to see when something is working decades beyond when it’s critics predicted it’s downfall.
I ran across Thom Hartmann's brilliant analysis of the 80 year war on everything FDR worked and fought for, simply because FDR thought of it and they didn’t.
Sound familiar?
Yes, this nonsensical partisanship has tormented us for a lot longer than most people imagine.
I started to listen to Bernie Sanders, a Congressman at the time, that the program was fully funded but was being undermined by an inexplicable cap on income.
I learned that those with incomes above 100,000.00 of yearly income actually didn't pay a dime into social security beyond this crazy cap!
Really?
A cap?
Why?
The people who can most afford it, are somehow given a pass beyond a certain income level while the rest of us pay on our entire incomes?
So the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson, Bill Gates and many others pay their “fair share” into social security in the first few minutes of their earning year, then pay nothing for the next 364 days because, what? They can’t afford it? Are you kidding me?
Who came up with this and why? Well it was actually built into the system from the start to limit the introduction of volatility. The risk of that volatility disapeared decades ago, hence the ever increasing cap to cover the cost of managing payouts.
Since I learned all this, I go way beyond where even Senator Sanders is.
I say eliminate the cap! Completely!
If you make a billion dollars or even millions, you can handle the 7%, or 14% if you’re self employed. I say, if you make that much, it's your patriotic duty to build and grow this program for everyone in the pool. So what if you won't get out of it what you put into it. You'll get to sleep better at night knowing you still have your billions, while your tens of millions goes to help older Americans live comfortably in their retirement years. And if you’re so greedy that the thougt of that bothers you, I actually find myself feeling sorry for you and your inexplicable levels of greed.
Let's talk about why is Social Security not a pyramid scheme. I thought this through and the answer came to me clear as day.
When my Dad retired he was considered solidly middle class. What was that in the early '70's? 20,000.00 That's right, 20 grand. Now go back and figure out what his contribution to the system was over his working life with his income being somewhere around a dollar an hour in 1938 and 10.00 an hour in 1978. . Did he put into the system what he got out of it over his 21 year retirement? No way and the creators of the system knew he would never be able to.
Now let's look at one more very important fact. One generation later when I retired what was I making? Nearly 5 times what my Dad made. Was I rich? Not by a long shot. I did well but I lived in the Silicon Valley in a 1,240 sq. ft. home. Middle class like my parents but my contributions, along with all in my economic strata, were contributing at a far higher rate than my parents did. That is just great in my view as I feel quite privileged to have done so.
So that's the dirty little secret the FDR haters never want you do know. The program is not funded exclusively by the recipients. They put some money in and it earns interest exponentially beyond what a personal retirement plan would due to the sheer size of the pot.
The real secret is the new workforce contibuting to the pool plays a much more significant role that continually builds and grows the system.
In a healthy democracy, every generation does a little better, simply due to the way western economies with progressive tax codes grow.
Ironically, where the whole thing can come under tremendous stress is when the super wealthy suppress wages, especially the way they have in the last 20 – 30 years.
Even with wage suppression, removal of the cap, or increasing it significantly like Senator Sanders proposes, fixes things for a long time.
Remove the cap altogether and it's fixed permanently in my opinion.
What's it going to take for everyone to wake up the way I did?
I don't know.
Are they going to have to see another great depression with elder Americans dying in the cold and in the streets like they were in the 1930's, to bring people back to reality and revolt against the oligarchs that have taken over our democracy?
I sure hope not….
Thursday, March 13, 2014
How to Manipulate Corrupt Governments to Restrict Competition
To preface this post, many if not most things that happen around us, happen in the realm of politics. I have heard from several people recently of their weariness regarding politics and I completely understand that. The petty, corrupt nature of what goes on in the world of politics wears on peoples souls and causes many to just conclude, it’s not worth it, and walk away from involvement at any level or reduced levels at a best. The problem with that is, that is exactly the intent of the petty and the corrupt.
When good people decide they have had enough and they turn away in disgust, the people perpetrating the wrongs on society through their bad actions are left that much more free to do so. Hence, it is important to acknowledge one’s weariness, then put that weariness aside and engage the bad actors. It is critical in that engagement to send a loud message that we as citizens have had enough!
With that premise set, New Jersey just joined Arizona and Texas to ban non-dealership car sales in their states. The laws in all three states were written by the car dealership associations and given to state legislators in these states to dutifully sign. Arizona was first, Texas next and now New Jersey with other states considering these restrictive laws in their states. While these laws may not have been specifically aimed at an American car company, Tesla Motors, (in most recent cases, they are), the net effect impacts Tesla’s ability to compete fairly in these markets.
Tesla manufactures their award winning, highly recognized, technologically advanced Model S sedans in Fremont, California. They employ American workers and are committed to continuing to do so with a new 5 billion dollar battery factory in one of four western states currently under consideration.
Keep in mind, this will not stop sales of Tesla’s in these states. It will only make it more difficult for Tesla to compete in what is supposed to be an open, free market environment. The car dealership associations have no interest in an open free market and have demonstrated their ability to influence corrupt politicians in stacking the deck against Tesla and anyone else who would dare to sell their personal transportation products on-line.
Following this logic, one could imagine computer and electronics manufacturers who sell on line having laws written against them, effectively banning sales through anyone other than a local store. The same could just as easily apply for books and music. I would think Apple, Amazon, Yahoo and others might have something to say about that. Perhaps Tesla should approach Apple to consider a partnership. I’d love to see the car dealership groups take on Apple.
My question is, how can these blatantly non competitive, seemingly illegal practices be allowed in 2014?
This is the uncomfortable politics part. Republicans and Libertarians, stay with me while I review a bit of history. I would submit this all started when President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980's announced he was no longer going to enforce the Sherman Anti-trust Act. The result of ignoring this legislation resulted in the wholesale destruction of the family farm by the rapid development of what has become a massive infrastructure of modern Agri-business monopolies.
The destruction of Sherman, introduced in 1890 to combat Standard Oil and the Robber Barons of the 19th century also resulted in the devastation of small business all across America over the last three decades. Just look at any small town main street to see what I’m talking about. Your can get your building supplies, as long as you want to shop at Lowes or Home Depot. The same is true with groceries. Most stores are owned by giant distribution businesses that come under the umbrella of one or two companies. Look at what Wal-Mart has done to local businesses in every community they have entered. The same applies regarding where you buy your gas, there are basically five oil companies on earth controlling all oil and gas distribution. The examples go on and on. If you don’t agree with this summation, that is fine, it’s just my opinion demonstrating how this trend toward monopolies controlling willing politicians is comfortably dangerous to free markets. That’s my only point here.
Regulations implemented in years past as a result of terrible abuses by super wealthy “businessmen” had a purpose. Part of the purpose of these controls was to de-couple the influence monopolist felt, and clearly still feel, they have a right to exercise in concert with elected officials to accomplish their unfair business practices. Instead of operating legitimately in the free market system, they simply get legislators to write laws making it difficult or impossible for their competition to operate. By demonizing regulations, those who want to act on behalf of those powerful forces who have influence over them feel free to remove the regulations. The net affect is, the monopolists come right back to more than willing legislators to do their bidding, at the expense of the consumer.
My hope is to coordinate with people of all political stripes to combat this illegal behavior and reinstitute rules of business that are both constitutional and fair to all who would legitimately participate in a truly free market.
This is a formal call to my Republican, Libertarian and Democratic affiliated friends to join me is raising our voices in opposition to these clearly corrupt actions, committed by dealership associations across the county, who have lined up against free markets as they should exist. I look forward to hearing from you.
When good people decide they have had enough and they turn away in disgust, the people perpetrating the wrongs on society through their bad actions are left that much more free to do so. Hence, it is important to acknowledge one’s weariness, then put that weariness aside and engage the bad actors. It is critical in that engagement to send a loud message that we as citizens have had enough!
With that premise set, New Jersey just joined Arizona and Texas to ban non-dealership car sales in their states. The laws in all three states were written by the car dealership associations and given to state legislators in these states to dutifully sign. Arizona was first, Texas next and now New Jersey with other states considering these restrictive laws in their states. While these laws may not have been specifically aimed at an American car company, Tesla Motors, (in most recent cases, they are), the net effect impacts Tesla’s ability to compete fairly in these markets.
Tesla manufactures their award winning, highly recognized, technologically advanced Model S sedans in Fremont, California. They employ American workers and are committed to continuing to do so with a new 5 billion dollar battery factory in one of four western states currently under consideration.
Keep in mind, this will not stop sales of Tesla’s in these states. It will only make it more difficult for Tesla to compete in what is supposed to be an open, free market environment. The car dealership associations have no interest in an open free market and have demonstrated their ability to influence corrupt politicians in stacking the deck against Tesla and anyone else who would dare to sell their personal transportation products on-line.
Following this logic, one could imagine computer and electronics manufacturers who sell on line having laws written against them, effectively banning sales through anyone other than a local store. The same could just as easily apply for books and music. I would think Apple, Amazon, Yahoo and others might have something to say about that. Perhaps Tesla should approach Apple to consider a partnership. I’d love to see the car dealership groups take on Apple.
My question is, how can these blatantly non competitive, seemingly illegal practices be allowed in 2014?
This is the uncomfortable politics part. Republicans and Libertarians, stay with me while I review a bit of history. I would submit this all started when President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980's announced he was no longer going to enforce the Sherman Anti-trust Act. The result of ignoring this legislation resulted in the wholesale destruction of the family farm by the rapid development of what has become a massive infrastructure of modern Agri-business monopolies.
The destruction of Sherman, introduced in 1890 to combat Standard Oil and the Robber Barons of the 19th century also resulted in the devastation of small business all across America over the last three decades. Just look at any small town main street to see what I’m talking about. Your can get your building supplies, as long as you want to shop at Lowes or Home Depot. The same is true with groceries. Most stores are owned by giant distribution businesses that come under the umbrella of one or two companies. Look at what Wal-Mart has done to local businesses in every community they have entered. The same applies regarding where you buy your gas, there are basically five oil companies on earth controlling all oil and gas distribution. The examples go on and on. If you don’t agree with this summation, that is fine, it’s just my opinion demonstrating how this trend toward monopolies controlling willing politicians is comfortably dangerous to free markets. That’s my only point here.
Regulations implemented in years past as a result of terrible abuses by super wealthy “businessmen” had a purpose. Part of the purpose of these controls was to de-couple the influence monopolist felt, and clearly still feel, they have a right to exercise in concert with elected officials to accomplish their unfair business practices. Instead of operating legitimately in the free market system, they simply get legislators to write laws making it difficult or impossible for their competition to operate. By demonizing regulations, those who want to act on behalf of those powerful forces who have influence over them feel free to remove the regulations. The net affect is, the monopolists come right back to more than willing legislators to do their bidding, at the expense of the consumer.
My hope is to coordinate with people of all political stripes to combat this illegal behavior and reinstitute rules of business that are both constitutional and fair to all who would legitimately participate in a truly free market.
This is a formal call to my Republican, Libertarian and Democratic affiliated friends to join me is raising our voices in opposition to these clearly corrupt actions, committed by dealership associations across the county, who have lined up against free markets as they should exist. I look forward to hearing from you.
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