Taking From the Poor and Giving to the Rich

I shouldn’t be complaining because I am currently living off of tax payer’s dollars. I draw a monthly Social Security check and my medical treatment and hospitalization is provided by the Veterans Administration. I do not work and therefore do not put any monies into the tax pool (except for Federal taxes on Tobacco and Alcohol).

I will say this for myself; I will not go on the Government dole until I reach 68.2 years old. This is accounting for a 6% benefit increase annually and the monies that I and my employers had paid into Social Security taxes (FICA).

I will also go on to say that during my last full year (1969) in the Army I earned $3719, whereas my civilian counterparts were earning three and a half, if not 4, times that amount per year. The civilians would argue that I got free room and board and medical care. This is true. I got a cot with a two inch thick mattress in a 14X16 foot room, in the barracks, shared with another GI. If I had been of a lesser rank, I would have been in a 32 man bay. The food that I rarely ate in the Mess Hall was free, but instead I paid for food outside of the Mess Hall, especially after I saw a local Pig Farmer picking up the leftovers. I guess that the pigs liked green beef liver.

However, I do feel a compulsion to complain when something truly appalling is in all of the online newspapers and the television newscasts 24 hours a day. There is story after story after story without any definitive answers.

Monday night, Steven Colbert said that it was time for us to pick up pitchforks and torches. Meaning it was time to go after the monster called AGI. At least that’s the way that I understood it.

AGI CEO Edward M. Liddy justifies the $165 million in bonuses, by saying that they were promised and that they were only going to “the brightest and the best” executives. Eleven of whom are no longer working for AGI. The best and brightest seemingly are like rats deserting a sinking ship; but they still want their full ration of Rum and Hardtack. It appears that the “brightest and the best” didn’t do that well in managing AGI. I say no more Rum!

Years ago my Dad told me that “promises were meant to be broken; just listen to any politician.” But CEO Liddy says that this promise should be kept so that AIG can keep “the brightest and the best”.

My solution is that our Government (since they – meaning the taxpayers - are now a major investor in AGI) should decide who, if anyone gets a bonus. If it were up to me, I’d scrub the entire executive staff and hire new people.

Maybe we can hire the Chimpanzees featured in the youtube video posted below. I'm sure that even they would do a better job and work for bananas and peanuts and not expect a Bonus.




The Beach Bum

Trickling Up - Part II

I enjoyed the Super Bowl yesterday – it was a very good game, for a change. However the Commercials were not as good as they are normally. The Halftime Show was good but not as good I had expected. And I’ve been a Bruce Springsteen fan since 1973.

Now let’s go back to Jon Stewart’s Trickle Up proposition. I’m sure that at least one person on President Obama’s staff watches the Daily Show. I’m also sure that the President himself has viewed the Gwen Ifill interview. This should give him something to think about when they re-hash (or should I say un-pork) the Economic Stimulus Bill.

Don’t bailout the large Corporations or the Banking Industry; give the money to the people. Give the money to the people is something that I have been saying for the past 7 or 8 months.

I have a simple plan and here’s how it works. And this plan will stimulate the Economy.

The first issue that I will address is Mortgages.

Many people bought overpriced homes between 2003 and 2005. They panicked because prices were escalating monthly. There was a construction boom here in Florida at that time. It kept a lot of Illegal Aliens of Spanish descent working. But it also increased the price of the used homes on the market. Real Estate Agents use a tool called comparables to judge the market value of a resale home.

At the same time the banks and mortgage brokers were loaning people money that were marginal credit risks at best.

For example – there is a house on the market (2 miles from where I am living), that was built in 1997, it has 3 bedrooms and 2 and ½ Baths, with a screen enclosed swimming pool, mahogany flooring, nearly 2000 sq. ft. of living space, sitting on a half acre plus of property. Assessed Value of $207,000 (Public Record) and an asking price of $132,905 (this is not a short sale).

The people that bought it in 2003 and paid $170,000 for the property went into foreclosure last year and the bank took it back and has listed it with a Realtor. It’s been on the market for 238 days. No nibbles no bites.

My proposal to use the Economic Recovery money wisely is:

1) The Fed would pay the mortgages down to the current fair market price of the property (For example; if you have a $200,000 mortgage and the fair market value of your home is $140,000 they would give $60,000 to the lender, reducing the mortgage to $140,000) This money would go directly to the lending institutions that are holding the mortgage. In turn these institutions (or others) would refinance the new loan at current rates. Thus lowering the mortgage payment.

This would only apply to people that have owned and lived in their homes for at least a year as of December 31st 2008. The homes must be valued at less than $750,000 to qualify (most of the homes over that amount have probably increased in value, despite the current economic downfall).

Now this is an Economic Stimulus.

The Government would have to create about 5000 new jobs (knowing the way the government (HUD) works probably closer to 10,000 jobs) to work this program.

Now this is an Economic Stimulus.

What about people who rent? Shouldn’t they get a break? Yes they should.

For people paying less that $2500 per month (if you pay more than that for rent, you are either well off, insane or live in New York City) in rent, the Government should pay 6 months of their rent in advance. This is a maximum total of $15,000 per household. This program would also create new Government jobs.

And what are these people (home owners and renters) going to do with this money saved. They will spend it, invest it or bank it.

Now this is an Economic Stimulus.

Parts III and IV will follow shortly.

The Beach Bum

Trickling Up

I had originally intended to write this Blog last Wednesday, when the topic was fresh. I didn’t because I was suffering from one of my gastrointestinal aliments. I was in pain! I don’t use pain killers or analgesics of any kind. Therefore the thinking and reasoning part of my brain doesn’t function as well as it should. In other words - I cut back on my alcohol intake.

Last Tuesday night’s guest on the Daily Show (on Comedy Central) was Gwen Ifill touting her new book “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama”. Near the end of the interview, Jon Stewart (the Daily Show host and inquisitor) turned the subject to economic policies.

Speaking about the billions (or a trillion)of dollars for the bailout, Stewart said “Give us (meaning individuals rather than the banking industry) the money, but only for consumer debt and mortgages.”

Stewart called it his “Trickle up” theory of Economics. The people get the bailout money and give it to the financial institutions.

I had written several Blogs last summer and fall advocating that the Government give the bailout money to the people rather than to the Corporations that had raped us and put us in the economic crisis that we are currently facing.

Last week I was looking at the Economic Stimulus Bill that passed the House. I don’t see many of sections (of the bill) that will help stimulate our Economy. If you have a few spare hours to waste you can view H.R. 1 here.

Jon Stewart didn’t go into depth on his “Trickle up” proposal.

I have my own proposal for trickling up the Economy. I’ll Blog about that later.

The Beach Bum

Exponential Growth - Fishing for Readers

Years ago there was a television commercial (I believe it was for a hair care product) that stated that if you told two people and they told two people and they told two people etc. Shortly the screen was filled with 32 beautiful young women (Models), all with gorgeous hair. Just the thought of that commercial makes me horny.

This is basically the theory of Exponential Growth. The opposite theory is called Exponential Decay. It is taught in an abysmal course of mathematical science called Statistics. At one point in my life I knew the mathematical formula for Exponential Growth, but have long forgotten it. As well I should have.

However I do believe in theory, but with some addendum's, if it is applied to human behavior vurses bacterial behavior (both theorems work when applied to Bacteria, but not to Humans).

But bacteria isn’t cognizant and to some extent humans are – some less than others; which explains why our correctional institutions are busting at the seams.

The 2X2X2X2 theory doesn’t allow for Diminishing Returns. Diminishing Returns is a theory advocated by the British Economist Malthus in the late 1700’s. Nearly two hundred years later, in the 20th Century, The Club of Rome expounded on his theory in a treatise named “Limits to Growth”. Although I do not totally agree with the way Malthus or The Club of Rome applied the theory; it still has some validation when applied to human nature.

For instance, if I email 10 people and ask them to visited my Blog and in turn ask them to invite 10 people who are not in the CC: list of that email to visit my Blog. Then have these 10 people to ask another 10 people to visit my Blog – this equals 1000 potential visitors. Fat chance! Why? Because only 8 of them (at the most) will follow through; Diminishing Returns. And of the possible eight that do, only 6 of their friends will follow through; again diminishing returns. And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby (my apologies to Sly Stewart).

So here is my proposition to test these theories; let’s call it a test of behavioral science.

To all my 18 semi-regular readers (I had forgotten about Steve from Oregon when I had said that I had only 17 semi-regular readers in a past Blog). You should send the following email to 10 friends and ask them to past it on to 10 of their friends not in the To: or CC:. Who in turn should send it to 10 others on their email lists.

You can copy and paste the following (I will assume that everyone knows how to do this):

I read a Blog titled The Beach Bum Report (http://thebeachbumreport.blogspot.com/) on a semi-regular basis. It’s not a great Blog, but at times it has its moments. I thought that you may find it an interesting read. Read his Blogs and leave a comment (positive or negative) on any of his Blogs. And then pass this message on to ten people not on the To: or CC: list in this email.



This is an experiment in human nature.

Thank you for your (my semi-regular readers) support!

The Beach Bum