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mallorys_cameraI WUV Obama. But I still think his new stimulus bill is whack. Current stimulus approaches aim to fix the inherent Ponziness of money-as-debt by issuing more money as debt. How smart is that? The dark side of Keynesian economics.
Just looking at it on a practical level… I’m too lazy to do the research but I venture to guess that more than half of those 11.1 million jobs lost as of January 1, 2009 were white collar jobs. I’m not sure the people who lost those jobs are well suited for the physical labor of building and repairing roads and bridges. Not to mention the fact it’s a government initiative so we’ll be lucky to see any of those implemented before 2012.
Plus small business’s problem right now is liquidity. I’m not sure how decreasing small businesses' tax burden increases liquidity. I mean, sure, theoretically, you’re supposed to withhold the money you pay in taxes in a separate fund, but how many do? If you need to spend it and the money’s there, you spend it, figuring – or hoping – or praying – that there’ll be more there for taxes when you need to pay that bill. (If you think this is irresponsible, just look what the state of California did with the excess state income taxes it collected in 2008.)
The government deficit is truly alarming. Essentially we are trading the standard of living for future generations for a shot -- not a guarantee -- at greater economic stability in the present tense. Frankly, I think that’s immoral.
There is such an easy and obvious way out of the current economic mess! I’m really surprised that nobody’s proposed it:
Legalize marijuana.
In one fell swoop this establishes a potential tax revenue base of 6.2 billion dollars, gives the U.S. a hot export product, and shaves 7.7 billion dollars off state and federal operational expenditures. (These are 2005 figures – I imagine they’re considerably higher now.)
In other news I was saddened to learn of John Updike’s death. He was an amazing short story writer, and his command of language was amazing, though often it created a kind of cognitive dissonance because his favorite fictional subject matter – American suburban life in the second half of the 20th Century – is so extraordinarily banal.
Consider this one sentence plucked from the NYT obit: He was robed in this certainty: that the God who had lavished such craft upon these worthless birds would not destroy His whole Creation by refusing to let David live forever.
Context: shooting birds reaffirms teenage boy’s belief in his own immortality.
The choice of that deliberate verb robed echoes the sentiment of divine right which, of course, is the essence of the sentence: after all, kings wear robes and so do prophets; you and I do not (unless they’re bathrobes, and then we spill coffee on them like I just did.) Even Updike’s verbs are conscripted into telling the story. This is the best kind of writing.
Dropped B off at the airport – he is off to Hugo to doctor Ali the Camel who would otherwise have to be put down on account of he’s developed rheumatoid arthritis. We are all big Ali the Camel fans in this house – Ali is so sweet-natured when he’s not in rut, eats cookies out of your hand, gives camel kisses. (Camels have the most fetid breath imaginable which is odd since they’re not carnivores. Must have something to do with their fluid metabolism.) If B’s efforts are successful then Ali can retire to John Ringling North’s ranch.
I’m not looking forward to spending four days alone with the Resident Teenager…
Just looking at it on a practical level… I’m too lazy to do the research but I venture to guess that more than half of those 11.1 million jobs lost as of January 1, 2009 were white collar jobs. I’m not sure the people who lost those jobs are well suited for the physical labor of building and repairing roads and bridges. Not to mention the fact it’s a government initiative so we’ll be lucky to see any of those implemented before 2012.
Plus small business’s problem right now is liquidity. I’m not sure how decreasing small businesses' tax burden increases liquidity. I mean, sure, theoretically, you’re supposed to withhold the money you pay in taxes in a separate fund, but how many do? If you need to spend it and the money’s there, you spend it, figuring – or hoping – or praying – that there’ll be more there for taxes when you need to pay that bill. (If you think this is irresponsible, just look what the state of California did with the excess state income taxes it collected in 2008.)
The government deficit is truly alarming. Essentially we are trading the standard of living for future generations for a shot -- not a guarantee -- at greater economic stability in the present tense. Frankly, I think that’s immoral.
There is such an easy and obvious way out of the current economic mess! I’m really surprised that nobody’s proposed it:
Legalize marijuana.
In one fell swoop this establishes a potential tax revenue base of 6.2 billion dollars, gives the U.S. a hot export product, and shaves 7.7 billion dollars off state and federal operational expenditures. (These are 2005 figures – I imagine they’re considerably higher now.)
In other news I was saddened to learn of John Updike’s death. He was an amazing short story writer, and his command of language was amazing, though often it created a kind of cognitive dissonance because his favorite fictional subject matter – American suburban life in the second half of the 20th Century – is so extraordinarily banal.
Consider this one sentence plucked from the NYT obit: He was robed in this certainty: that the God who had lavished such craft upon these worthless birds would not destroy His whole Creation by refusing to let David live forever.
Context: shooting birds reaffirms teenage boy’s belief in his own immortality.
The choice of that deliberate verb robed echoes the sentiment of divine right which, of course, is the essence of the sentence: after all, kings wear robes and so do prophets; you and I do not (unless they’re bathrobes, and then we spill coffee on them like I just did.) Even Updike’s verbs are conscripted into telling the story. This is the best kind of writing.
Dropped B off at the airport – he is off to Hugo to doctor Ali the Camel who would otherwise have to be put down on account of he’s developed rheumatoid arthritis. We are all big Ali the Camel fans in this house – Ali is so sweet-natured when he’s not in rut, eats cookies out of your hand, gives camel kisses. (Camels have the most fetid breath imaginable which is odd since they’re not carnivores. Must have something to do with their fluid metabolism.) If B’s efforts are successful then Ali can retire to John Ringling North’s ranch.I’m not looking forward to spending four days alone with the Resident Teenager…
