When tax dollars are involved, and our country is going deep in debt, it’s time to re-evaluate what we are investing in.

I can already hear a few readers saying the government shouldn’t be involved in education at all, and I can hear others complain about our failure in Ohio to come up with a legal funding model for K-12.

The real question may be: Do the jobs of the future require more classroom education or is on-the-job training a better solution? After all, you don’t need a culinary degree to work in chain restaurants.

The lengthy article in the New York Times today discusses the questionable practices of many 2-year for-profit trade schools:

One fast-growing American industry has become a conspicuous beneficiary of the recession: for-profit colleges and trade schools.

At institutions that train students for careers in areas like health care, computers and food service, enrollments are soaring as people anxious about weak job prospects borrow aggressively to pay tuition that can exceed $30,000 a year.

But the profits have come at substantial taxpayer expense while often delivering dubious benefits to students, according to academics and advocates for greater oversight of financial aid. Critics say many schools exaggerate the value of their degree programs, selling young people on dreams of middle-class wages while setting them up for default on untenable debts, low-wage work and a struggle to avoid poverty. And the schools are harvesting growing federal student aid dollars, including Pell grants awarded to low-income students.

via The New Poor – For-Profit Schools Cashing In on Recession and Federal Aid – NYTimes.com.

Considering that the middle class is all but disappearing (unless you work for the government) should we reconsider government support of these programs?

In the last 20 years I’ve watched tuition outpace inflation at every single school except our crown jewel, Sinclair Community College. However, they too have forgotten their mission- expanding out to provide the services we invested in to communities that are stealing from our tax base.

There has been much talk about education reform in this country, but most of it is pure lip service. We’re still operating on a 180-day school year- a hold-over from our days as an agrarian state. We’re still not mandating computers for every student- even though every job known to man in this country requires computer literacy these days. Instead of chasing after better post-primary education, maybe our goal should be improving our K-12 first?

For today’s Dayton Grassroots Daily Show, Greg Hunter and I discuss this issue- including the role “Trade Unions” used to play in building the workforce of the future.

Enjoy:

An interesting thread started in the comments of the post asking if Congressmen should recuse themselves from votes where there is campaign cash involved- and it came down to business vs. union.

Jeffrey of Louisville (former publisher of the much missed Daytonology blog) contributed this comment after we’d already taped today’s Dayton Grassroots Daily Show- on the very topic. Greg and I aren’t near as well informed on the history of Dayton’s union movement:

The Dayton business community had a very successful history in crushing unions. In the 1890s about 40% to 50% of the workforce was unionized. The business community was able to organized and destroy these unions, rendering the city mostly union-free by 1910 or so (the industrial sector). Then the streetcar union was busted (but not without some violence, riots on West Third Street at the carbarns). So the city was virtually union-free. The only problem is the workers started voting for socialists. This was busted via municipal reform government.

It took the CIO organizing drives in the 1930s to bring unions back to Dayton. This only worked because of two things…the CIO union active here, the UE, used disciplined and committed CPUSA cadre to organize, and there was a big influx of briars from the coalfields of Appalachia, who were favorably disposed to unions due the UMWA and John L Lewis. It was this Appalachian workforce that signed those cards and brought the unions back to Dayton.

That era is over now, the private sector union has had its day. The unions that need to be busted today are the public employee unions, which includes the FOP as well as the NEA and AFCSME. People don’t want to touch the cops and firefighters but public safety payrolls and pensions are the big line items in local government budgets.

via Congressman, recuse thyself? NEVER..

The reality is that some of the benefits that unions expect like pensions require the business to continue and grow- just like the base for Social Security- or the funding system breaks. When the car manufacturers reduced skilled labor due to automation, or sending jobs offshore- the backs of the existing labor force were made to carry a heavier load to support the pensions promised.

Also, pension plans are hugely tied to the Wall Street Casino- which means the crash also wrecked a lot of pensions.

As Jeffery points out, the public employee unions are creating an even greater drag on the system- since they are backed by the government, not by companies that actually have to make money. Who ends up paying the price? All of us, as our debt responsibility to these pensions grows, it creates an even greater tax burden, which in turn, drives more jobs overseas.

There are huge arguments in Europe going on about their retirement plans: Germany raised its retirement age by 2 years to 67, while being asked to bail out Greece which still has 60 as the checkout age. As life expectancy gets older, the costs continue to rise.

The old model is breaking- and the unions don’t have answers either. With the adversarial model of unions vs. management, no one seems to be winning. One thing is for sure, the only guaranteed retirement plans these days belong to government workers and the CEOs of the Wall Street Casino ilk.

The rest of us- well, try to get a government job?

Here’s our show for the day- watch at your own risk.

Note- these shows aren’t pre-scripted or discussed before we start. We pick a topic and go. Sometimes we’re just bouncing ideas as they come- and are here for you to share in the discussion. We value your input, and hope that you find something stimulating in the discussion.

How many Senators does it take to screw in a lightbulb? First you have to teach them that the power is out and changing the light bulb won’t make a difference.

We have an epidemic problem- band-aids aren’t doing anything to stop the spread of the virus.

That one Senator was able to hold this up- while no real solutions are being offered is a sign of the total and complete break down in Washington:

The Senate ended a politically charged impasse over unemployment pay on Tuesday night, voting to allow jobless Americans in danger of exhausting their benefits another month of aid.

The bipartisan 78 to 19 vote in favor of the extended compensation came after Senator Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky, dropped his objection to extending unemployment compensation in exchange for a largely symbolic vote on paying for the aid.

via Senate Ends Impasse Over Extending Jobless Benefits – NYTimes.com.

How about a total suspension of trading on Wall Street until unemployment drops to 7% Extend it to a halt to all foreclosure proceedings, an instant cap on interest rate hikes on consumer credit for missed or late payments, and an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and cessation of “nation building” activities overseas until we’ve built our own country back?

Now is the light bulb flickering?
And before you say it can’t be done, remember that in war time- anything is possible. We had rationing in WWII. Trading stopped after 9/11 Life can go on, but we can’t with this aimless leadership.

It’s time to put Americans back to work and pay them well. It’s what a great nation does. A third world country lets its people slip into poverty and despair.

Where is our leader?

When General MacArthur made political statements, he lost his job.

Times have changed:

The military will have to do its part when Washington makes decisions on how to reduce the nation’s growing budget deficits, the commander of the Air Force Materiel Command said Monday, March 1.

“At some point, we’re going to have to start addressing debt. We’re on an unsustainable path as a country,” Gen. Donald Hoffman told the Dayton Rotary Club during a speech at Sinclair Community College. “As the military, we’re part of that.

“Right now, we’re at war. The funding is there to support the war.”

If the war on terrorism should abate, the military would have to closely examine its spending priorities to reduce operating costs wherever possible, said Hoffman, a four-star general who oversees the AFMC, its acquisition, sustainment and research and development missions and its $52.5 billion annual budget and 79,000 employees. The 10-base command has headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

via Military will have to help reduce nation’s budget deficits, general says.

With the recent statements from the generals about gays in uniform- and the knee jerk reaction from John Boehner, are we seeing a move to an activist military? This is a totally new landscape and we made it the main subject of today’s Dayton Grassroots Daily Show- with a bit about Thorium reactors as well.

And, I don’t know what Greg was on today- but, I think we all need some of it.

On NPR this AM, I heard something about the “Middle Class Task Force” run by Vice President Biden. I’m trying to envision this task force? Will it include soldiers coming to rebuild schools and roads with private contractors like in Iraq and Afghanistan? With billions to spend- just like our military?

As far as I can tell, it’s going to do nothing like that. Here’s the link?

the Middle Class Task Force

The Task Force is a major initiative targeted at raising the living standards of middle-class, working families in America….

Goals of the task force:

• Expanding education and lifelong training opportunities
• Improving work and family balance
• Restoring labor standards, including workplace safety
• Helping to protect middle-class and working-family incomes
• Protecting retirement security

via About the Middle Class Task Force | The White House.

The only problem? There are very few “middle-class and working family incomes” left.

While Washington has waved the fear of terrorists (whose main weapon is fear- not much else) at us for years- and siphoned a trillion or two off our balance sheet to pay for the wars and “Homeland Security” they’ve forgotten about the people who pay for it all who want “job security.”

Our politicians are so enamored with their friends who contribute to their campaign war chests (many of whom make their money by building war machines) that they don’t realize what 11% unemployment means these days.

Things have changed since the last time unemployment was this high. For example, we still had people making things in this country other than items that are sold with the line “do you want fries with that?” Our manufacturing sector has been decimated. The last time unemployment was this high- Apple actually manufactured computers on this continent, and GM still owned over 51% of the car market. We also weren’t paying people exorbitant compensation for firing Americans. And, that’s the root of the problem.

There is no reward for hiring Americans anymore.

You’ll get paid more by laying off the factory worker in Dayton, Ohio, and sending your manufacturing to China. You’ll get paid more for figuring out how to cut your payroll by sending your “back office” jobs to India. You’ll get paid more for not making things at all- but playing games with things like “Credit default swaps” and short-selling stocks with money that’s not yours in the first place. And you’ll make huge bucks by driving up the costs of health care which is primarily funded by business- as less and less people in this country have jobs that come with health care.

Note to task force: there isn’t much of a middle class left to protect or save.

In fact, some would say we only have three classes of people left: the wealthy, the poor and those who work for the Government.

If we want to see a return to prosperity in this country, we have to restore rewards for hiring Americans. We need to do it NOW.

While we have American soldiers fighting for our safety half-way round the world, we have an entire society fighting for survival, while bankers still collect billions in bonuses after we had to bail them out. It’s a rather sore point- one that the members of Congress don’t seem to get.

The people who paid for those bonuses (both with tax dollars, and by being screwed left and right as the Wall Street Casino has gone roller coaster on us) are not too happy about the prospect of facing higher crime- as people resort to stealing to survive- and with less cops on the streets (because we’re more concerned with peace in Iraq than peace here).

How do we fix it?

Tie the prime rate moves to everyone, not just the players on Wall Street. The prime rate has dropped 6 points- yet credit card rates and penalties continue to climb. If you have the power to create money- as banks do, it’s time to do it responsibly.

If you don’t own it, you don’t get to take wild compensation. This applies to any non-founder running a publicly traded company. Shareholders must come first. If you want to protect pensions and retirement funds- you have to make sure the money goes back to those who have skin in the game- not just the pied pipers at the helms. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates built empires and deserve compensation- idiots like Bill Nuti of NCR walked in and cleaned out the pantry, without any skin in the game. If you want to get paid more than $500K a year, during a time of war when others are willing to die for their country- you best be responsible for paying a lot of Americans.

It’s time to limit executive pay by formula based on average paycheck, number of employees and amount of personal investment. You hire a lot of Americans and pay them well, you take care of your shareholders, then, and only then, can you make a ton of money- and, btw- you have to take at least 50% of it in long-term notes, since we’re not playing for quarterly results anymore- it’s got to be for a much longer time frame- 10 years or more.

If you don’t like these rules- simple: Take your company private. Either it’s an Employee Owned Stock Plan, or privately held. Have at it.

It’s also time to stop government from being responsible for “economic development” with “incentives” to lure business. Having the clerk at Piggly Wiggly in Georgia who makes $8 an hour- have her tax dollars go to subsidize Bill Nuti’s $2K per hour salary is criminal. The $100 Million Georgia “invested” in moving NCR not only took money out of the clerk’s wallet- it left Dayton, Ohio, without a pants pocket to hold the wallet.

While the whole health care debate has moved away from actual health care to “health insurance” it’s been the straw that’s been killing the American employer and an awful lot of Americans literally, for too long. Unhealthy people can’t work and then can’t pay taxes. It’s to our government’s advantage to have a healthy productive workforce. The sooner we move to a single payer, the better off we are. Eliminate the entire health insurance industry and move directly to outcome based compensation for doctors. Reward doctors who keep their patients healthy, and turn medicine back into an honorable profession.

I don’t expect anyone in Washington to see these ideas, because, they seem to be convinced that this is still a Democrat vs Republican thing.

The longer they keep it up and they’ll find it’s an us vs them thing, and they will quickly realize that they are grossly outnumbered.

We don’t need a task force, we need a revolution. It can either start in Washington, or when the people rebel against Washington.

Anyone want to lay odds on which will happen first?

Evan Bayh bailed at the last minute on the people of Indiana. Two days before the petition turn-in date, he surprised them all by saying he wouldn’t run again for the Senate. Of course, by sitting on a huge campaign chest he’d already sent a “don’t run against me” message to all.

Right there is the root of the problem. We don’t encourage debate, challenges or the questioning of our leadership anywhere near the level we should. In a day of instant communication- where transparency should be easier- it’s actually gotten harder to nail down exactly what these jokers are saying. It’s so complex- some of them don’t even know.

And why is that? We’ve got the best politicians money can buy.

Bayh is kidding himself if he doesn’t think that he’s just another pawn of the K St. lobby contingent. Until we take the huge money out of politics- we’ll never elect our best thinkers- because they rarely have the dashing good looks that being a sound bite politician requires these days.

Abe Lincoln would never have made it in today’s political environment- too ungainly and plumb ugly.

Bayh gives a good swan song in today’s New York Times- which some read as a set up for him to run as a “centrist,” third-party candidate in 2012. Bad news Evan, if Michael Bloomberg decides to do the same thing, your campaign chest is rounding error.

Of course, we can blame the voters for being apathetic to the screwing we’ve been given by these puppets of corporate America, or we can blame partisanship, or the rules of filibusters, or any number of things as he does in his piece:

Of course, the genesis of a good portion of the gridlock in Congress does not reside in Congress itself. Ultimate reform will require each of us, as voters and Americans, to take a long look in the mirror, because in many ways, our representatives in Washington reflect the people who have sent them there….

Our most strident partisans must learn to occasionally sacrifice short-term tactical political advantage for the sake of the nation. Otherwise, Congress will remain stuck in an endless cycle of recrimination and revenge. The minority seeks to frustrate the majority, and when the majority is displaced it returns the favor. Power is constantly sought through the use of means which render its effective use, once acquired, impossible.

What is required from members of Congress and the public alike is a new spirit of devotion to the national welfare beyond party or self-interest. In a time of national peril, with our problems compounding, we must remember that more unites us as Americans than divides us.

via Op-Ed Contributor – Why I’m Leaving the Senate – NYTimes.com.

But maybe it’s way beyond that. Maybe the world has changed faster than our vaunted system. I find it almost criminal that our local elected officials feel a need to hire lobbyists to represent our interests to those who are supposed to represent us. But, I’m in the minority- as most voters have no clue this is going on.

Maybe we’ve gone wrong from the git go? Maybe the parliamentary system with its ability to call an election at will is a more viable solution these days? No more long planning horizons, no more spending a third of your time in office planning for the next election. Maybe we shake things up to stop the buying off of our elected offices- until the system devolves back into larceny.

Today’s Dayton Grassroots Daily Show talks about Evan Bayh and his swan song. Greg calls for a return to the original electoral college system. I call for complete elimination of cash in politics. Take a look- and weigh in.

In case the name Joe Stack doesn’t ring a bell, read about his kamikaze attack on the IRS building in Austin.

And while some will say he’s deranged and others will question whether this could be counted as “domestic terrorism” – I’m inclined to believe that in the modern age of instantaneous journalism and a 24-hour news cycle- he’s just the start of a string of acts of frustration we’ll see over the next few years.

You didn’t know who Joe Stack was on Feb. 17, 2010 – but you do now. His message, as difficult as it is to accept by some, is that this is what people think they have to do to be heard.

Running for office isn’t an option- with the millions of dollars it takes and the hoops that are placed in front of people. Nope, much easier to blow things up. How many American’s had heard of Osama Bin Laden on Sept. 10, 2001- not near as many as after. It’s instant infamy.

Bin Laden said we had it coming. We’ve yet to accept that view- but, now, we’re starting to hear it from our own people- ones who’ve felt that the only option was to take things into their own hands.

I highly recommend you read the whole suicide note/manifesto- it’s only a few pages long- and consider his positions. Do you empathize at all with him?

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self- serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.
And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is…

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.
The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010) 02/18/2010

20100218-stack-suicide-letter.pdf (application/pdf Object).

While tens of thousands of Americans die from lack of proper preventive medicine each year, while health insurance CEOs take home hundreds of millions in “salary” Congress does nothing-

Yet, when a few Toyotas crash- it’s a major investigation.

Yep, Joe Stack will have copy cats. How Joe Stack figures in the history books all will depend on how much longer the American people remain gullible.

Here’s our Dayton Grassroots Daily Show discussing the Stack Attack:

When you were handed a textbook in school, did you ever question what made it in- and what didn’t? Probably not. Did your parents look it over to see if it was giving you the correct version of history? Math? Or even biology? Could your teacher substitute a different book?

All of these ideas are not something most of us think about- even our educators don’t get much of a say. In a strange twist of geography and demographics coupled with national perceptions of California being a little too out there- most of the decisions on what goes into your text books comes from one state, the same one that gave us George W. Bush: Texas

The state’s $22 billion education fund is among the largest educational endowments in the country. Texas uses some of that money to buy or distribute a staggering 48 million textbooks annually — which rather strongly inclines educational publishers to tailor their products to fit the standards dictated by the Lone Star State. California is the largest textbook market, but besides being bankrupt, it tends to be so specific about what kinds of information its students should learn that few other states follow its lead. Texas, on the other hand, was one of the first states to adopt statewide curriculum guidelines, back in 1998, and the guidelines it came up with (which are referred to as TEKS — pronounced “teaks” — for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) were clear, broad and inclusive enough that many other states used them as a model in devising their own. And while technology is changing things, textbooks — printed or online —are still the backbone of education.

via How Christian Were the Founders? – NYTimes.com.

In fact, 15 lay people who are elected to the Texas State board of education somehow get to set the standards for most of the county. You really need to read the entire NYT article to understand how borked this whole process is.

If you think that’s whacked, you should enjoy today’s Dayton Grassroots Daily Show: (note: Greg did the titles- and misspelled “Ohioans”- or maybe it’s just a Texas drawl slipping in…

State lawmakers are thinking about ditching the $20 late fee on license plates now that so many have complained. Now they posture and say they don’t want to hit us with “hidden fees.”

Yet, no one is screaming loudly enough about these “Rapid Outreach Grants” which are tax dollar giveaways to private companies. This is truly CRIMINAL.

Three companies are getting nearly $850,000 in Ohio help to expand in the Dayton area.

The State Controlling Board Monday approved a $750,000 Rapid Outreach Grant for Code Blue LLC — a Wisconsin-based third-party claims administration services firm — which is looking to open a facility in Springfield and hire more than 200. The money, administered by the Ohio Department of Development, would go toward new machinery, equipment and hardware.

Other state funds are going to:

Assembly & Test Worldwide Inc., a Dayton-based provider of custom equipment assembly and testing for a variety of industries, will receive a $75,000 Rapid Outreach Grant to expand and add 45 jobs. In November, city officials approved a $150,000 development fund grant towards the project. The company will complete exterior renovations and add a production line for coating solar glass; and Quickstep Composites LLC of Dayton, which will receive a $20,000 Rapid Outreach Grant toward buying of machinery and equipment. The company has commercialized a method for the rapid curing of advanced composites used in aircraft and high performance automobiles. This $900,000 project is expected to create 20 jobs.

via Ohio doles $850K to three Dayton projects – Dayton Business Journal:.

The State of Ohio is robbing the taxpayers of Ohio (of whom over 10% are currently unemployed) and cutting services, raising fees and fines, and telling teachers and other public servants to take pay cuts, or trying to weasel out of pension commitments, while claiming poverty- yet handing our tax dollars (that’s what a grant is) to select individuals. I’ve called it corporate welfare, but- what it’s become worse than that- starting a business in Ohio is more like walking into a casino- run by the mob with a cover charge.

Here is how you play this game: Cozy up to politicians or unnecessary bureaucrats (the entire Ohio Department of Development) by paying into campaign treasuries- or even just “promising jobs” (the new crack to politicians) and make a case that you’ll take your business elsewhere if they don’t give you a handout of tax dollars.

Take the money.

Don’t deliver.

Get sold, disband, reformulate the business- repeat.

Need a poster child for this corporate welfare- read the posts on this site about Qbase. They are only one example.

Now, imagine you are an honest, hardworking, Ohio businessman who has paid his taxes, employed people for years- and happen to be a direct competitor to “Code Blue” (even the name fits- as it’s a term used by medical staff when it’s time to resuscitate a dying patient). All of a sudden, a new competitor pops up- with a three quarter of a million dollar cost advantage. They can temporarily pay more, or undercut you enough to put you out of business. Is it fair- absolutely not. Do politicians care- not unless you are one of their campaign contributors. Yep- we’ve become no different than third world countries we mock where you have to pay off the local powerbase to do business.

This is what has the tea-baggers up in arms- although they can’t enunciate it clearly. Our tax dollars are not supposed to be spent on things that make it harder for us to do business. Yet, it’s happening all over the country- so it must be the way the game is played. We do it- but, when Georgia does it better- we complain (NCR).

When local government builds a brand new office building and calls it an incubator, or “TechTown” with your tax dollars, and then offers subsidized rent- we forget that right down the street is an existing business like DHC which owns the old Woolpert building on Monument that has to rent its space. Or when we build “public housing” and offer it cheap- private landlords have to match price- or lose out.

I’m sounding like a right-winger on this, but it’s getting obvious that our political system is severely broken if these kind of deals are being done with our money- while the State can’t deliver the things it’s charged by law to do: public safety, public education, infrastructure.

The Ohio Department of Development has handed out many more dollars than these three grants. Which one in the future is going to make you lose your job, or break your business to fund someone else’s?

Level playing fields aren’t optional if we want capitalism to work. We complain about foreign workers taking our jobs and blame third world countries for our loss of manufacturing jobs. Trust me, you don’t have to look to China to see government tinkering with cost structures to tilt the playing field- we’ve got it right here in Ohio.

Go ahead and fine me $20 on the license plates to pay for the State Patrol- just stop giving away millions to my competition please.

I’m not jumping up and down about Ohio building a 79 mph passenger rail system in 2011- especially since I was reading about Bullet Trains in Japan in grade school (that was in the 1970s, people). I’ve ridden on the Eurostar through the Chunnel. Engineering marvels. Been around for years. And, now, the best the most powerful nation can do is 79 mph?

Mussolini had trains that ran that fast.

I also don’t see it as a stimulus magic wand. It won’t do much for jobs- or make companies want to move to Ohio. Nope, on all accounts we’re looking like a third world nation if this is best we can do.

From the 3c is me website:

Ohio has received $400 million in federal stimulus resources to invest in passenger rail.

“With today’s historic announcement by President Obama, Ohio takes a major step toward modernizing our state’s transportation infrastructure,” said Governor Strickland. “The 3C Corridor will create economic development opportunities and serve as a model of environmental sustainability. Most importantly, it will put thousands of Ohioans to work over the next few years.”

The 256-mile 3C Corridor – stretching from Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati – would reconnect nearly 6 million Ohioans with 79 mph passenger trains for the first time in 40 years.

via 3C is ME.

However, this does get us started toward rail- and an eventual upgrade to high speed, and that is good. I’ve been hearing people complain all day in response to a post I put up on Facebook- about how it’s not going to be “economically viable” and require taxpayer support. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but trains and tracks require much less continuous care and feeding at taxpayer expense than anything resembling a road made out of asphalt. Roads are crap investments when you look at revenue. Trucking things is inefficient as all get out, as well.

This country needs to wean itself from the teat of cheap oil. This is a good step. And for those of you who have ridden real trains- you know how much nicer it is to ride a train than fly in a plane, or even drive a car.

Yep, there are people who think that trains are too slow, that they can get somewhere faster, cheaper on a tank of gas- but, they aren’t really thinking opportunity costs. I can work while on a train- I can’t while driving. Trains don’t get stuck in traffic. Trains don’t require me to stop to go potty. In civilized countries trains are the way business gets done.

Thank you, economic downturn- if that’s what it takes to get us to make smart moves like bringing back rail travel- great.

Here is our Grassroots Dayton Daily Show take on the train- coming soon to Ohio:

The Free Speech for People Amendment will overrule the Citizens United v. FEC case and return the First Amendment to its longstanding purpose as a guarantee of the fullest rights of a free people and the press. The Free Speech for People Amendment will overrule the fabrication by activist judges of a “corporate rights doctrine” to defeat democratically enacted laws, and will restore the First Amendment to its meaning and intent for two centuries. The Amendment will ensure that all people have the most robust freedom of conscience, speech and debate and that a vibrant, diverse press remains free and unfettered, thus strengthening, rather than weakening, democracy.

The Free Speech for People Amendment Campaign will work with others to develop specific language for the Free Speech for People Amendment. Here is one example of language for the Free Speech for People Amendment:

Amendment XXVIII

Section 1. The sovereign right of the people to govern being essential to a free democracy, the First Amendment shall not be construed to limit the authority of Congress and the States to define, regulate, and restrict the spending and other activity of any corporation, limited liability entity, or other corporate entity created by state or federal law or the law of another nation.

Section 2. Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed to abridge the freedom of the press.

via What will the Free Speech for People Amendment say and what will it do? | freespeechforpeople.org.

Go to the site- sign-up and spread the word.

“Sexting” is one of those things that makes me laugh- about how out of touch our legislators are- and the lengths that they will go to distract us from real issues. Like the Wall Street Casino- the wholesale exportation of our entire manufacturing base and the failures of our system of elections that have created auctions.

But, now, we have the Army charging a soldier in a war zone for having pictures of a niece in a swimsuit- and then, changing their tune- but not disclosing the evidence:

The family of an Illinois National Guard soldier said Friday that he’s been charged with possession of child pornography in Afghanistan over innocent snapshots of a 4-year-old relative in a swimsuit.

The U.S. Army has charged Spec. Billy Miller of Galesburg, Ill., with possession of child pornography and a related charge of failure to obey an order that troops in Afghanistan not possess pornography.

via Billy Miller Gets Child Porn Charge In Afghanistan: Family Says Army Soldier’s Photos Are ‘Innocent’.

The Army is now claiming that it’s not the pictures of the relative- but won’t disclose the evidence: Army: Family photos not basis for porn charges

Any one of us could enter a site like www.chatroulette.com and end up viewing what would be considered “Child Porn” if we had a way to actually verify ages of people just by looking at them- but we don’t.

We live in a society that is imprisoning people at an astonishing rate- and then doing everything possible to slap them with a scarlet letter for life. Sex offenders’ registry, criminal records that can’t be expunged- criminalizing kids sending pictures of themselves naked to each other.

At some point the State has got to stop. We can’t all be criminals- while the crooks in suits rob our country blind. I’d rather hire a guy who sold drugs to support his family over a Wall Street banker who is whining about his multiple house payments and sub-million dollar bonuses.

The whole issue of legislating morality is not much different than trying to legislate a national religion. It would help if the people doing the legislating actually had any moral credibility. Allowing companies to pay CEOs millions while firing people and expecting unemployment to provide a safety net is criminal.

To the case of the young soldier- I say the real criminal action is sending our people and tax dollars over to a third world country that has no interest in our being there- failing to catch Bin Laden- and watching our people go broke paying for this travesty.

And if you need a reminder of what war looks like- in a picture that would now qualify as “Child Porn”-

Associated Press photograph that won the Pulitzer Prize for spot news. It was taken by Nick Ut on June 8, 1972.

Congratulations- you’ve just looked at “child porn” go to jail, go directly to jail.

The real crime is war. The real crime is a country that allows the people making $7.50 an hour subsidize the mistakes of those making $1,000 hr plus. The real crime is being asleep at the wheel as our country is being dismantled in the name of the almighty dollar. We’ve become a nation preoccupied with stupid issues- while the real ones get ignored.

There is nothing Spec. Billy Miller could do with a picture that is near as criminal as what a country can do with your tax dollars.

Wake up.

As long as we have a patchwork taxation system, we’ll have companies moving around for the best possible situation. Tax evasion/aversion shouldn’t be part of any business model, but, in these days of short term goals over long term plans- we see many such shortsighted moves (NCR to NYC and Atlanta?)

American Greetings Corp., the nation’s largest publicly held greeting card manufacturer, is exploring moving its global headquarters from Brooklyn to another community – maybe even out of state – with lower taxes.

In an internal memo sent to employees on Wednesday, the company said: “we are launching a study to consider whether or not we should move the company’s world headquarters to another location” because the City of Brooklyn last spring voted to raise the city’s payroll tax 25 percent, to 2.5 percent from 2.0 percent.

via American Greetings may pull its world headquarters out of Brooklyn, Ohio | Business – cleveland.com – - cleveland.com.

We saw Reynolds and Reynolds move to Kettering and win an instant .5% pay raise for non-Dayton residents employed at the firm long ago. It might not make much difference to you making $50K a year, but when you are earning $7mill like NCR CEO’s that’s big bucks.

It’s time to at least level the playing field locally- and have one local income tax county wide- with one collection agency. It would make business easier- and simpler. As to companies moving- let’s also stop tax-payer funded “incentives” and get back to sound business decisions- like how close to my workforce can I locate? A walk to work tax credit- would make a huge impact on stopping sprawl which costs our communities higher operating overhead due to the larger infrastructure footprint.

This argument about income tax has stopped the merger of Centerville and Washington TWP for years. They share schools- but, force the Sheriff to patrol the TWP- and cut income tax revenue from the Dayton Mall. It’s one more way we all get manipulated by a system that has sold out to the highest bidders.

You never know who is going to answer the call to “guest star” on the Dayton Grassroots Daily Show. Today, we present Tim Young, a standup comedian from Baltimore who is dating a lovely Daytonian.

We talk about the TSA and their full body scanners (Baltimore has 4 of the x-ray vision devices) the terrorist threat, profiling and his favorite places in Dayton including my fave- Taqueria Mixteca on E. Third Street and Greg Hunter’s favorite coffee shop- the Boston Stoker.

Enjoy!

The latest news is that pouring money into road construction as “stimulus” didn’t work the way it was supposed to. Of course, when at least 10% of the workforce is unemployed, it’s not a matter of buying your way out of the situation. We need systemic change, and we need it fast. It’s time to stop bailing out the millionaires who pay for election campaigns, and start looking at putting in place ratios that limit pay against how many employees you have- and what they’re paid.

Why? Because if they can’t find jobs- and unemployment runs out, we’ll have a big segment of our population ready to turn to crime to survive.

Hopefully- it won’t come to that.

But, to make it relevant- in a personal way- I’d like to introduce you to my friend Justin the goalie. He doesn’t have a degree, but has worked in hospitality, retail, light manufacturing and administration. He was working for a retail chain called InkStop until last October, when they suddenly closed up shop and stiffed all their employees:

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — InkStop Inc., a specialty retailer of ink, toner, consumer electronics and other supplies for small businesses and home offices, abruptly told its employees that it was shuttering all 152 stores nationwide as of Friday and laying off all workers until further notice.

via InkStop abruptly closes all 152 retail stores and lays off all workers | Business – cleveland.com – cleveland.com.

Since then, he’s been applying like crazy. No luck.

We sat down today and had a brief talk about how hard working and willing to work people who can’t find work these days.

Justin needs a job. If you would like to hire him, here’s his resume PDF: Justin Sharpe Resume

Thanks.

The Dayton Daily News has broken a story about the executive pay at CareSource. Of course, yours truly is hanging his butt out for trouble- since I’ve actually done some work for Caresource in the past- but, let’s get real here.

“CareSource is entirely funded with taxpayer dollars, receiving money from the state-federal Medicaid program for each client who meets its poverty guidelines and enrolls in the HMO”

Translation: they are government workers posing as a private corporation- and paying top dollar to their CEO. She made 6x what the president of the United States made in 2009- all while pushing paperwork for the government. Understand that CareSource doesn’t actually treat anyone- they just take a scrape for administering the paperwork for treating people.

You’d be outraged if your tax dollars paid a trash collector $100,000- but it’s the American Way to let this “CEO” get paid as a millionaire with our tax dollars. Not only could we eliminate CareSource tomorrow- and put this money directly into health care for everyone, but we could hire people who actually deliver health care instead of process papers.

Unbelievably, the company has been allowed to be a for-profit for a couple of years when it suited them- and back to non-profit when it didn’t:

In 2006, no salaries were reported to the IRS because CareSource’s top executives were compensated through a for-profit arm created to expand the HMO’s business footprint into Michigan. And in 2007, CareSource reported that its top five executives earned a total of $3.2 million from its for-profit arm but did not provide individual compensation totals.

Nonprofits are required to file annually with the Internal Revenue Service. The form — called a 990 — is often the only source the public has on a tax-exempt organization’s financial information.

via CareSource changes how it reports salaries to IRS, showing CEO earned $2.9M..

There is also a question of ethics in having Tom Breitenbach CEO of Premier Health Partners on their board of Directors- since Premier is one of the primary providers of actual health care that CareSource contracts for services.

When people knee-jerk about a government run health system- it’s companies like CareSource that give them justification. Here is a “private company” playing with your tax dollars and paying execs big bucks.

We can afford health care for everyone- if we pay doctors to take care of people instead of paying “administrators” to push papers and approve or disapprove care.

Here is the Dayton Grassroots Daily Show on the subject:

Enjoy!

Reader Teri L sent a link to a post that sums up a lot of what I’ve been trying to say- but never as eloquently, that we’re in a class war, and as the economic divide widens, eventually, we’ll implode and kiss it all bye-bye.

America will be a third world nation, if we’re not already there now by many standards.

Read this post in its entirety- I think it’s worth a discussion here:

this is class warfare, and it is becoming worse in the US than at any time since the 1930’s. And the outcome of this will be a fundamental test of the US commitment to its republic.

The media stokes the viewing public into emotionally-based and virulently distracting arguments about liberal versus conservative, while the gentried class skins them all alive.

One only has to watch the “news shows” on American television to see the lack of real content and discussion, with diametrically opposed “strategists” hurling sound bytes at each other with all the depth of a schoolyard standoff.

It is comfortable to retreat into an “us versus them” view of the world, and the noble class in the States is all too ready to facilitate that appeal to the darker emotions. People know deep down that it is a scam, and believe that it is easier to go along and get yours while you can, than actually attempting to change a system grown corrupt in an aging empire….

“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Warren Buffett New York Times, November 26, 2006.

“The class warfare is over — we lost. I want to make that announcement today. Working people lost. The middle class lost.” Dennis Kucinich, 18 December 2009

And in the short term there will be quite a bit of jostling at the middle of the ladder, by those who fancy themselves, or their children, suited for the new nobility and so seek to perpetuate the status quo, with a lot of kicking and dog eat dog going on at the lower levels as the ladder shortens, trying to knock the immigrant, the less connected, off into the abyss, to feed the beast.

Out of all of this will come something different, and most likely something unexpected. It’s an old story, one that replays over and over. The remedy is sound reason and the Constitution, but these forces have been in retreat for the past ten years at least. Reform and justice have few friends while the looting of a generation is in progress.

via Jesse’s Café Américain: Class Warfare American Style.

With a failing fourth estate (the news media)- and a totally unregulated campaign finance system- there is little hope that the rich won’t be able to continue their dismantling of the middle class until the people rise up and try to put a stop to it.

I have thoughts of what that may look like- but they are too grim to share here. Our systems are so intertwined and interdependent, that even small disruptions can cause massive ripples. Look back to Katrina or 9/11 to see how our economy has reacted.

In these mid-term elections, it’s our duty as voters to start asking candidates hard questions about how much longer we’re going to tolerate bonuses for executives that robbed our pension funds and then taken a golden parachute ride. It’s time for clawback, prison and some serious payback.

The question is, will it be done in an organized fashion, or by a lynch mob.

If you question the possibilities of the latter- spend some time at a Tea Party rally looking at the signs- they should give you a good indication of how ugly it could get.

This just in- our government is more concerned about bombs in underwear than anything really important- like your job, your mortgage being underwater, your credit card rates being jacked, your health care costs skyrocketing- but some clown, who shouldn’t have been on the plane in the first place- and we now have this:

All travelers flying into the U.S. from foreign countries will receive tightened random screening, and 100 percent of passengers from 14 terrorism-prone countries will be patted down and have their carry-ons searched, the Obama administration was notifying airlines on Sunday.

via U.S. tightens international air security – Mike Allen – POLITICO.com.

I’d say we’re going to have more problems with domestic terrorism as more people lose their jobs, their homes, the American dream. The real terrorists aren’t wearing bombs in their diapers- they are wearing suits and collecting millions in un-earned compensation each year.

Why do we need the largest military in the world- when 19 idiots can bring down our entire way of life with 4 of our commercial airliners and a little bit of spending cash?

It’s time to stop this stupidity- and look to start closing the gap between rich and poor- before the inevitable happens (study history).

I hate to say it- but, no matter how tight security gets on airplanes- even if we make everyone fly naked, there is still a way to blow planes out of the sky. Let’s concentrate on making the world a safer place by stopping the pillaging of the planet and the poor- for the sake of the new emperors of the earth.

And I’m sure this post will go over big with my regulars.

When I enlisted, it wasn’t for the money. Every month, the $540 odd bucks that hit my bank account weren’t near what I made selling stereo equipment- but, I also didn’t have to pay for food, housing or my daily fashion. I also had a comprehensive health care plan, and a great personal trainer that made me do a lot of push-ups, sit-ups and run 2 miles before most of you rolled out of the sack. Pay is slightly better now, many years later- but we still have young soldiers on food stamps to try to support their families.

If you think about it- the military is a socialist organization. The systems were fair, utilitarian, and the rules were clear. Do this- get a promotion. Screw up- get a demotion. It worked better than most civilian businesses I’ve been in.

In all my time in the service, Generals were people you saw drive by in a car with a flag on it, or on a parade ground. A Bird Colonel was as close to God as you wanted to get (I was in the Army- and when I first walked on base at WPAFB- at the BX- I thought I’d taken a wrong turn and ended up at the planetarium- there were stars everywhere).

I’d actually been pretty good friends with a Marine Corps Major when I was in high school, helping him coach pee-wee hockey. He came from money (his last name was the same as one of the big banks that’s too big to fail) but never seemed overly well off. He worked hard as the head of recruiting- and was driven to serve his country. He was the real deal- having done tours in ‘Nam- that left him unable to go through a metal detector without setting it off.

I move in different circles now, and have friends that hang out with Generals (not around here) and know how much they make. One four-star who used to be on TV a lot, is now pulling in several million a year, in addition to his pension. Something never sat quite right with me with this knowledge.

So now, we find out courtesy of USA Today, via the Dayton Daily News- that Generals have been working both sides of contracts right after retirement, to the tunes of millions:

The Pentagon and Congress are looking into whether retired senior military officers have a conflict of interest when they serve as paid advisers, or “mentors,” to the Defense Department at the same time they are being paid tens of thousands of dollars to help defense companies try to win military contracts. The investigations follow a series of reports by USA Today on the topic.

USA Today reported that it identified 158 mentors across the military services, including former Air Force Gen. Gregory Martin, a retired commander of the Air Force Materiel Command. Martin now is chairman of the Colorado-based Durango Group LLC, which provides paid “mentor” advisers for the Defense Department program that allows retired senior officers to participate with active-duty officers in war games exercises and share expertise.

via Former high-ranking military official limits his consulting work.

Sure is nice work if you can get it, but, when I think about how far removed these brass asses are away from the dirty work that’s being done by the grunts and jarheads who have their actual asses on the line, it makes my blood boil.

Greg and I talk about these double dipping criminals in today’s Dayton Grassroots Daily Show, but, I think we went pretty easy on them.

And while I don’t agree with bankers getting million-dollar bonuses after having to be bailed out, I think that if you “support our troops” and think that this chicanery should be stopped tomorrow, you should be sent to the front lines in Afghanistan on a GI’s E-3 pay and see how you like it.

There is a difference between serving one’s country, and serving your own interest- and I expect better from those who wear the uniform and especially those who have the stars.

How can an Army Spec-4 do a vasectomy on a solider, without 8 years of college and a medical degree, yet 3 stitches will set you back $1,400?

Is it that we’re demanding over qualification? And who makes the decision on when it’s ok to do whatever? Before we had unions, we had craft and trade guilds that required competence- now we have unions that just require membership.

America used to be known for making quality. Since WWII we seem to have lost that reputation to the very countries we beat. Germany and Japan both have a better reputation for quality.

An old post on this site recently started picking up comments again- the one on the cost of three stitches at Miami Valley Hospital. Greg had also sent me this post about the decline of the American economy that was interesting:

Decision makers focus on the only metric they care about—the cost and how to reduce it, not the only one they understand.

Ideally, companies exist to provide products and services to people. If the products and services are good, the companies prosper; if they aren’t, the companies fail. That’s risky, so American companies inverted this model. They fed the public the notion, which has rarely been questioned, that a company’s responsibility is solely the financial welfare of its stockholders. Products and services are no longer the goal of business; they are merely means to profit. That reducing quality leads to greater profits quickly became evident.

via The Long Decline of the American Economy.

We try to pull these things together in today’s Vlog edition of the Dayton Grassroots Daily Show v.36

Enjoy!