Who pays?

Government does not, and can not, create wealth. Wealth is only created in the private sector by leveraging capital with productivity, innovation and risk. The result in a successful enterprise is profit, and accumulated profits generate wealth. We may not all agree with this, but it is the way I learned it in school, so we will run with it. After all, it is my blog.

Our government has been in the business of redistributing wealth for years. Since the time of Johnson's "Great Society" programs of the early 60s, we have been working hard at it. President Johnson, to be fair, did not invent redistribution of wealth, but he did put it on steroids. We fund this redistribution through our "progressive tax" system. The more you make the bigger the percentage of each dollar you pay in taxes.

You with me so far? OK, so how do these 2 fit together in my mind? Well it seems to me that the government has decided open the gates of the Great Society wide open, as a matter of fact it looks like we have removed the gates entirely. Banks can't make it on their own, Uncle Sam will put you on the dole. Insurance companies, sure come on in. Car companies, steel factories, newspapers, the Stat of California - - -the list seems endless. Borrowed money you could not afford to pay back to buy that big house, doesn't seem fair to Uncle Sam. "Free" health care for everyone - -why not. Government always thinks it has the answers to our problems. That generally translates into throwing fistfuls of our earned money at any problem that arises. Maybe the government intervention can do for all these groups what it did for the Post Office! Now there is a model of success.

If Johnson's vision of the Great Society had worked, maybe I could see it working on this grand scale. The fact is it did not, and will not. The government can not make unproductive companies productive. It can not keep us as individuals from making stupid financial mistakes. It can't make us all smart or productive. It can't make us willing to take the risks required to accomplish great things. In short Uncle Sam can not deliver us from the hard cold facts of life, or the realities of free markets.

The only way that the government can level the playing field for us, be it on a corporate level or personal, is by lowering standards for everyone not raising the masses up.

For a while, the government can print money to try and cover up the problem, but it can't fix it . The government can not create wealth. So the question remains, who pays? I think in our heart of hearts, we all know the answer. One way or another we all do. It is easy to say "sock it to the rich", but the truth is more and more that "the rich" is anybody holding a job in the private sector.

Some of us will see our tax rates go up. I believe that every one's taxes will have to be raised to pay for this frenzy of spending. I don't think anyone really believes otherwise. But even if I am wrong about that, the inflation that every economist agrees is coming because of all the money that was printed out of thin air, well that will savage all of us equally.

So in the end who pays? Every single one of us! So much for "sock it to the rich."

Citizen of the World

My dictionary (dictionary.com) defines the word citizen as follows:

"a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection (distinguished from alien )."

Webster defines it as follows:

"a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it"

I have heard our president speak of being a "citizen of the world". Like many of you it bothered me on some gut level when he said it, but I could not put my finger on why. It bothered me , but not enough so that I did any research. At the time I did not sense the broader picture of where we might be headed with such attitude.

As I was driving to work today, I heard a story on the radio about Italy turning away boat people from Libya. It seems they have adopted a new policy that says if they do not reach shore they will be towed back to Libya. This is not unlike our policy on boat people approaching our shores. The commentator was saying that this was unjust, because as "citizens of the world" they were entitled to unrestricted immigration! I was taken aback by this statement, and wonder if this was part of the new political correctness of the 21st century. If it is I am about to be politically incorrect yet again!

I do not feel like a citizen of the world. I am a really good citizen with my neighbors, I think I am a good citizen in my city and state. I hope I am a good US citizen, but beyond that - - no thanks.

Looks like to me being a citizen of the world is cover for complete open immigration with no responsibility of allegiance to anything. I am a big tent kind of guy, and I favor a fairly liberal immigration policy for our country. I believe all that want to come here and become Americans are welcome. I define an American as someone who has allegiance to this country, learns to speak it's language, and is willing to invest in it through hard work and taxes. You have to be willing to be part of the mix that is America, and not a subculture who happens to reside on the same Continent. We pledge allegiance to the flag for a reason. If you can not do so in good conscience, then you should be a citizen in another country. If they will have you that is.

We the citizenry have a right and an obligation to defend our borders and our way of life. There are always those that want to blur the lines on what is right. Our citizenship in this country is our greatest treasure. Let us not blur it into something that no longer has value. If being a citizen of the world is any real value, why is so much of the world trying to get here?

I think we should be good neighbors to the world. We always help when other are in trouble, as good neighbors should. We should keep our "neighborhood" tidy and not make trouble. We should be friends and coexist, but that is about as far as it goes in my book.

Me a citizen of thew world - - -not so much. How about you?

Green Jobs

There is a line in the movie "It's A Wonderful Life" that goes something like this: "The teacher says every time a bell rings, and angel gets it's wings"
It was a catchy line that has survived the test of time. I am afraid the term "green jobs" may not. It was great for an election, but I am afraid that it was mere cannon fodder for the masses.

A little history lesson here. Forty years ago electricians started putting in resettable breakers panels instead of throw away fuse panels. It was a pretty big technology change and most electricians had to learn how to do it. Once they had mastered the task, we called them "electricians". Thirty years ago ground fault interrupters were introduced by companies to keep us safe in our bath rooms and other wet places where electricity was present. Electricians had to learn how to wire them and what circuits needed to be on them. Once they learned how to do this task, we called them "electricians" This is how it has been through history, and not just with electricians, but with plumbers and other trades as well.

As I was driving to work today, I was listening to NPR and they were interviewing some bureaucrat that is running a $40 billion dollar green jobs program for the current administration. I don't remember his name and it is just as well since he is likely to be remembered just about as well as the guy that ran the bomb shelter program for government in the 1950s. At any rate this wizard explained that when an electrician had been trained to install a solar panel, that a green job had been created. What! That is right, and when a plumber learns to install a solar hot water heater what do you think happens? That's right we just created another green job. And a carpenter that learns to install thermopane windows, you guessed it another green job. Sounds like our government caught a big sell on Easy Buttons at the Staples store doesn't it.

Green jobs are important to us. It sure would be nice if our politicians could be honest about it. It is in the same vane as when a politician tells us he is cutting a programs funding or other spending, when what they are really doing is cutting the rate of growth increase. In my house when we cut spending, we actually spend less money.

We sure could use some straight talk.