For decades whenever a serious attempt at economic planning, referred to as Industrial Policy, has reached the point of debate on a national stage, the opposition would cry out "We don't pick winners and losers in America. We have Private Enterprise and a Free Market. Our economy is based on Capitalism, not Socialism!"
In this Great Recession of 2007-2010, take a look around at this "market."
Who is winning? Those who started out with the most gold, the most land, the best inheritance, the legacy education. With lobbyists to burn, with a congress beholden to them for successful election campaigns, the elites on Wall Street and in Country Clubs across the land, now have the opportunity to acquire more property at a discount - for the taking. Empty storefronts and abandoned construction sites dot the landscape. Foreclosed housing everywhere. Their winnings are manifold and their enterprises truly have become TOO BIG TO FAIL. Financial enterprises that are more than banks and more than insurance companies. Global corporations that set the rules we live by.
We the People have "picked' these winners. Don't tell me we haven't. What we haven't done has let them thrive.
The title of this blog is "Deregulate This!" On or about 1980 the idea of "Deregulation" was taking hold on a national scale. Lessons learned in the Great Depression had faded from the national memory. First it was "deregulate the airlines," then telephones, and other public utilities - gas, electric, water. Without pesky regulators, free marketeers could compete freely and lower costs; create new efficiencies for the greater good.
Yes, but it was the greater good of the owners, not as it turned out, the good of customers or the workers.
So who have we picked as losers? Wage earners, military service personnel, the disabled, less educated, immigrants, those caught in cycles of poverty and criminality, the sick.
In New York harbor there is a statue that bears reading once more. Let's pick again.
Pick some new winners this time. What can be more revolutionary than the United States of America?
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Who made your trousers?
It's all about jobs. "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!" said the DFL Gubernatorial Guys from the Iron Range.
Today, Monday, November 30th, NY Times Columnist Professor Paul Krugman urges the President to do another economic stimulus right away to put people back to work.
For the one out of ten adults still looking for work, the available jobs that do open up have six applicants for each opening. And the number of long term unemployed in the U.S. is the largest since the 1930s.
How did this happen? And what should be done about it? Your answers depend on where you sit. Or "where you stand."
This retiree on a fixed income has a stake in the lengthy and partisan health care debate that has taken a year so far, in our Congress of Millionaires. The shame of death due to "a lack of medical coverage" seems only to concern those "bleeding hearts" who don't understand how the American Free Enterprise System delivers its blessings, for which we have just given thanks.
Examples from this "System" can be found on the labels of my sturdy L.L. Bean trousers, my birthday present this week. Made in China. And seen on a tee-shirt mailed last year from Prickett's Fort in West Virginia? Hecho en Honduras.
I did not choose this "foreign merchandise." I did not vote to terminate the organized United Garment Workers of the United States. I didn't even shop around to see where I could save a few bucks. The pants were mailed from the American Headquarters in Maine by this company with a reputation for "Down East" quality. The tee-shirt carried the logo of my pioneer heritage from the 18th Century.
No, some Bean Counter, some Wise Guy CEO from a business school, decided for all of us, that his "Return On Investment (ROI)" would be higher, his bonus for short-term Profit would be greater, if he gave the jobs to poor Chinese farmers rushing to the new factories that Americans were developing in Asia. Shame on us. All of us, for letting this economy go to hell in shipping containers.
So, what now? Well, Paul Krugman says "Trickle down didn't work." We can't spend our way out of this, when mortgages are still foreclosing and unemployment payments keep running out. People are scared and not spending, if they don't have to.
The government needs to create about a million public works jobs.
Roosevelt did it, and it did a lot of lasting good.
In Minnesota we need to follow the advice of the noted bank robber, Willie Sutton. You go where the money is. In his case, it was in the banks. In our state, the place is the Individual State Income Tax. Before we allow the desperately poor to be kicked off of General Medical Assistance March 1st, by Tim Pawlenty's grab for no-taxes power, we need to act in St. Paul.
If you are jobless, an income tax increase is not a big problem. But your medical care sure is. If the necessities you buy are taxed at 6.875% or higher, a sales tax increase is a real added burden. We have known about a "Progressive" tax rate on incomes for a century. The rate progressively increases as one's taxable income rises.
All this hue and cry about "Taxes," comes largely from those well up the prosperity ladder. Kill the idea of any tax, damn the cost of any government. Make users pay "fees for services." For two decades the wealthy haved walked off with larger and larger shares of our economic pie.
So teachers, nurses, and firemen are losing jobs. The harsh public policies harm our children, the sick, and the newly needy.
With Chinese workers making our clothes, our refrigerators, our lawnmowers, our toys, and shoes and electronics... we need a New Industrial Policy, a Jobs Policy.
President Obama has called a Jobs Summit in Washington this month.
Let's pay attention.
Today, Monday, November 30th, NY Times Columnist Professor Paul Krugman urges the President to do another economic stimulus right away to put people back to work.
For the one out of ten adults still looking for work, the available jobs that do open up have six applicants for each opening. And the number of long term unemployed in the U.S. is the largest since the 1930s.
How did this happen? And what should be done about it? Your answers depend on where you sit. Or "where you stand."
This retiree on a fixed income has a stake in the lengthy and partisan health care debate that has taken a year so far, in our Congress of Millionaires. The shame of death due to "a lack of medical coverage" seems only to concern those "bleeding hearts" who don't understand how the American Free Enterprise System delivers its blessings, for which we have just given thanks.
Examples from this "System" can be found on the labels of my sturdy L.L. Bean trousers, my birthday present this week. Made in China. And seen on a tee-shirt mailed last year from Prickett's Fort in West Virginia? Hecho en Honduras.
I did not choose this "foreign merchandise." I did not vote to terminate the organized United Garment Workers of the United States. I didn't even shop around to see where I could save a few bucks. The pants were mailed from the American Headquarters in Maine by this company with a reputation for "Down East" quality. The tee-shirt carried the logo of my pioneer heritage from the 18th Century.
No, some Bean Counter, some Wise Guy CEO from a business school, decided for all of us, that his "Return On Investment (ROI)" would be higher, his bonus for short-term Profit would be greater, if he gave the jobs to poor Chinese farmers rushing to the new factories that Americans were developing in Asia. Shame on us. All of us, for letting this economy go to hell in shipping containers.
So, what now? Well, Paul Krugman says "Trickle down didn't work." We can't spend our way out of this, when mortgages are still foreclosing and unemployment payments keep running out. People are scared and not spending, if they don't have to.
The government needs to create about a million public works jobs.
Roosevelt did it, and it did a lot of lasting good.
In Minnesota we need to follow the advice of the noted bank robber, Willie Sutton. You go where the money is. In his case, it was in the banks. In our state, the place is the Individual State Income Tax. Before we allow the desperately poor to be kicked off of General Medical Assistance March 1st, by Tim Pawlenty's grab for no-taxes power, we need to act in St. Paul.
If you are jobless, an income tax increase is not a big problem. But your medical care sure is. If the necessities you buy are taxed at 6.875% or higher, a sales tax increase is a real added burden. We have known about a "Progressive" tax rate on incomes for a century. The rate progressively increases as one's taxable income rises.
All this hue and cry about "Taxes," comes largely from those well up the prosperity ladder. Kill the idea of any tax, damn the cost of any government. Make users pay "fees for services." For two decades the wealthy haved walked off with larger and larger shares of our economic pie.
So teachers, nurses, and firemen are losing jobs. The harsh public policies harm our children, the sick, and the newly needy.
With Chinese workers making our clothes, our refrigerators, our lawnmowers, our toys, and shoes and electronics... we need a New Industrial Policy, a Jobs Policy.
President Obama has called a Jobs Summit in Washington this month.
Let's pay attention.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Multi-Tasking - Not Easy, but Required
The President is in China. Now South Korea.
The FAA or somebody has screwed up the airline scheduling, causing delays.
My flu vaccine just arrived at the local hospital - the regular kind, not H1N1. I'll be age 74 next week, do I need the Swine Flu Vaccine also? Why do we have the vaccines made abroad, with ancient technique, and by only one company?
What's happening with financial reform in Congress? Why not bust up those monster banks that got TOO BIG TO FAIL. We need Teddy Roosevelt back to life to be a Trustbuster again and lead some more Conservation in this country!
And Climate Change/Clean Energy Legislation. Didn't Congressman Waxman get a bill through the House with his name on it?
Can't the United States Senate do anything at all, except talk and stall? Maybe 60 votes this weekend will bring the Reid Bill onto the floor for a debate.
Before President Obama went to Asia he was all set to announce his decision about Afghanistan-Pakistan and the war over there. The General on the scene wants boots - more boots on his ground. But where will more troops come from, that aren't already burned out from too many and too frequent deployments?
Doesn't the shooting at Fort Hood give us any clues about being sent into a nine-year-old war zone? Is anybody listening to our shrinks? Or have the military all gotten head trauma?
And what about universal military service? Draft the kids of the upper classes, and see how long these military campaigns will continue to escalate.
Did America ever need more "nation-building" .... at home? The Civilian Conservation Corps would be a great idea for 2010-2013. An economic stimulus towards a recovery, with useful paid work.
Next week, November 26th is a day to give thanks. I am thankful for the love of family and friends, for food on our table with a birthday cake for me and my sister, and for a president who thinks before he speaks.
In my opinion, he's leading us towards a more secure and hopeful future. And multi-tasking awfully well.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Everyone!
The FAA or somebody has screwed up the airline scheduling, causing delays.
My flu vaccine just arrived at the local hospital - the regular kind, not H1N1. I'll be age 74 next week, do I need the Swine Flu Vaccine also? Why do we have the vaccines made abroad, with ancient technique, and by only one company?
What's happening with financial reform in Congress? Why not bust up those monster banks that got TOO BIG TO FAIL. We need Teddy Roosevelt back to life to be a Trustbuster again and lead some more Conservation in this country!
And Climate Change/Clean Energy Legislation. Didn't Congressman Waxman get a bill through the House with his name on it?
Can't the United States Senate do anything at all, except talk and stall? Maybe 60 votes this weekend will bring the Reid Bill onto the floor for a debate.
Before President Obama went to Asia he was all set to announce his decision about Afghanistan-Pakistan and the war over there. The General on the scene wants boots - more boots on his ground. But where will more troops come from, that aren't already burned out from too many and too frequent deployments?
Doesn't the shooting at Fort Hood give us any clues about being sent into a nine-year-old war zone? Is anybody listening to our shrinks? Or have the military all gotten head trauma?
And what about universal military service? Draft the kids of the upper classes, and see how long these military campaigns will continue to escalate.
Did America ever need more "nation-building" .... at home? The Civilian Conservation Corps would be a great idea for 2010-2013. An economic stimulus towards a recovery, with useful paid work.
Next week, November 26th is a day to give thanks. I am thankful for the love of family and friends, for food on our table with a birthday cake for me and my sister, and for a president who thinks before he speaks.
In my opinion, he's leading us towards a more secure and hopeful future. And multi-tasking awfully well.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Everyone!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Crunch Time - Stand Up, Be Counted!
Health Care, Health Insurance Reform, Universal Coverage, Affordable and Cost-Controlled. Whatever the name, the "issue" is now in the form of a bill in Congress to vote on.
Millions and millions of dollars have been spent to influence your opinion. Every night on the tube some pathetic elderly person pleads for her "Medicare Advantage."
Months of debate, Tea Parties, Town Meetings, demonstrations, talking heads and opinion pieces in every media format have told us about the "Health Care Crisis."
Number One on President Obama's domestic agenda, it has taken Spring, Summer, and Fall to reach this decision point. By Veteran's Day the Speaker of the House plans to bring the debate to a vote. The Senate Majority Leader has a companion bill looking for sixty votes to override those who would kill this reform measure.
Here is a brief segment from Princeton Economics Professor Paul Krugman's Friday column in the New York Times:
"For this is the moment of truth. The political environment is as favorable for reform as it's likely to get. The legislation on the table isn't perfect, but it's as good as anyone could reasonably have expected. History is about to be made - and everyone has to decide which side they are on."
How about you? Tell Jim Oberstar and both our Senators what you want them to do.
Millions and millions of dollars have been spent to influence your opinion. Every night on the tube some pathetic elderly person pleads for her "Medicare Advantage."
Months of debate, Tea Parties, Town Meetings, demonstrations, talking heads and opinion pieces in every media format have told us about the "Health Care Crisis."
Number One on President Obama's domestic agenda, it has taken Spring, Summer, and Fall to reach this decision point. By Veteran's Day the Speaker of the House plans to bring the debate to a vote. The Senate Majority Leader has a companion bill looking for sixty votes to override those who would kill this reform measure.
Here is a brief segment from Princeton Economics Professor Paul Krugman's Friday column in the New York Times:
"For this is the moment of truth. The political environment is as favorable for reform as it's likely to get. The legislation on the table isn't perfect, but it's as good as anyone could reasonably have expected. History is about to be made - and everyone has to decide which side they are on."
How about you? Tell Jim Oberstar and both our Senators what you want them to do.
Friday, October 16, 2009
HARD WORK AND HOPE
Seen in the Brainerd Dispatch 10/16/2009:
When a friend loses a job I cannot help but feel the pain.
There was a time when my future looked bright. I wore sun glasses with a crew cut and an aviator's confidence. With advanced degrees and strong references, there wasn't much that my shipmates and co-workers couldn't attempt.
Back then our nation was promised Better living through chemistry. Salaries of young scientists and engineers were rising. What a shock, on my first research job, when the team I had joined two years earlier was eliminated. Corporate budgets were cut; high-priced talent was fired. We scrambled to find work - moving to different states. We changed direction - heading for tobacco companies, software start-ups, and college faculties. Our skills in mineral processing were scattered from the laboratory we had founded in northern Illinois.
The recession of 2007-2010 will turn thousands of promising careers around and will influence those preparing for their dreams. From a worker's perspective of 50 years I have read the local newspapers filled with foreclosures on failed mortgages. Many commercial buildings are listed for sale or auction. Highway billboards are blank. For the rich there are bargains to be snapped up. For the rest of us there is spreading sorrow.
This week in the Aitkin paper I read about nearly $8 million in federal stimulus money coming to Aitkin County. By far the largest share of these new funds is going to transportation projects that were shovel ready. County Engineer John Welle deserves great credit for guiding these paving and bridge-building contracts to local workers.
For individuals on edge at their workplaces and classrooms, there can't be too much preparation. A new skill, a new language, a network. Practice, study, hard work, and hope. Recovery is possible. More government stimulus certainly will help us all.
Gordon Prickett, P.E.
Aitkin
When a friend loses a job I cannot help but feel the pain.
There was a time when my future looked bright. I wore sun glasses with a crew cut and an aviator's confidence. With advanced degrees and strong references, there wasn't much that my shipmates and co-workers couldn't attempt.
Back then our nation was promised Better living through chemistry. Salaries of young scientists and engineers were rising. What a shock, on my first research job, when the team I had joined two years earlier was eliminated. Corporate budgets were cut; high-priced talent was fired. We scrambled to find work - moving to different states. We changed direction - heading for tobacco companies, software start-ups, and college faculties. Our skills in mineral processing were scattered from the laboratory we had founded in northern Illinois.
The recession of 2007-2010 will turn thousands of promising careers around and will influence those preparing for their dreams. From a worker's perspective of 50 years I have read the local newspapers filled with foreclosures on failed mortgages. Many commercial buildings are listed for sale or auction. Highway billboards are blank. For the rich there are bargains to be snapped up. For the rest of us there is spreading sorrow.
This week in the Aitkin paper I read about nearly $8 million in federal stimulus money coming to Aitkin County. By far the largest share of these new funds is going to transportation projects that were shovel ready. County Engineer John Welle deserves great credit for guiding these paving and bridge-building contracts to local workers.
For individuals on edge at their workplaces and classrooms, there can't be too much preparation. A new skill, a new language, a network. Practice, study, hard work, and hope. Recovery is possible. More government stimulus certainly will help us all.
Gordon Prickett, P.E.
Aitkin
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Shovel Ready, Prepared for Work
When a family member or friend loses a job I cannot help but feel the pain. There was a time when my future looked bright - yes I wore shades back then. Ray-Ban sun glasses with a crew cut and an aviator's confidence. With advanced degrees and strong references, lists of publications, there wasn't much that my shipmates, coworkers, and classmates wouldn't attempt.
Back then our nation was promised "Better Living Through Chemistry," and salaries of professionals in science and engineering were rising. What a shock, on my first research job after active duty and graduate school, when the team I had joined two years earlier was eliminated. Corporate budgets were cut; high-priced talent was fired. We scrambled to find work - moving to different states. We changed direction - heading for tobacco companies, software start-ups, night school teaching, college faculties. Our special skills in mineral processing R&D were scattered from the laboratory we had founded in Northern Illinois.
The Deep Recession of 2007-2010 will turn thousands of promising careers around and influence thousands more who are now choosing and preparing their dreams about the future. From a worker's perspective of over fifty years I have watched the daily and weekly newspapers. Every issue is loaded with housing foreclosures of failed mortgages from $40,000 to over half a million. Many commercial buildings are listed for sale or auction. Many billboards are blank. For the rich there are bargains to be snapped up. For the rest of us there is spreading sorrow and pain.
But this week, in the Aitkin Independent Age, I read the story of nearly $8 million of the $800 billion in federal stimulus money coming to Aitkin County. By far the largest share of our new federal funds is going to transportation projects that were "shovel ready." County Highway Engineer John Welle deserves great credit for guiding these paving and bridge-building contracts to our workers and businesses.
For individuals on edge at their workplaces and classrooms, there can't be too much preparation. A new skill, a new language, a network. Practice, study, hard work, and hope. Recovery is possible. More government stimulus certainly will help us all.
Back then our nation was promised "Better Living Through Chemistry," and salaries of professionals in science and engineering were rising. What a shock, on my first research job after active duty and graduate school, when the team I had joined two years earlier was eliminated. Corporate budgets were cut; high-priced talent was fired. We scrambled to find work - moving to different states. We changed direction - heading for tobacco companies, software start-ups, night school teaching, college faculties. Our special skills in mineral processing R&D were scattered from the laboratory we had founded in Northern Illinois.
The Deep Recession of 2007-2010 will turn thousands of promising careers around and influence thousands more who are now choosing and preparing their dreams about the future. From a worker's perspective of over fifty years I have watched the daily and weekly newspapers. Every issue is loaded with housing foreclosures of failed mortgages from $40,000 to over half a million. Many commercial buildings are listed for sale or auction. Many billboards are blank. For the rich there are bargains to be snapped up. For the rest of us there is spreading sorrow and pain.
But this week, in the Aitkin Independent Age, I read the story of nearly $8 million of the $800 billion in federal stimulus money coming to Aitkin County. By far the largest share of our new federal funds is going to transportation projects that were "shovel ready." County Highway Engineer John Welle deserves great credit for guiding these paving and bridge-building contracts to our workers and businesses.
For individuals on edge at their workplaces and classrooms, there can't be too much preparation. A new skill, a new language, a network. Practice, study, hard work, and hope. Recovery is possible. More government stimulus certainly will help us all.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Our Best Idea: National Parks
The week of September 27 to October 2 brought television at its best, in this columnist’s opinion. Ken Burns introduced himself to millions of public TV watchers years ago when he filmed a riveting special on the Civil War. In this new 12-hour feature Our National Parks, we saw the spectacular natural beauty of the United States. The cinematography, historical narration, and musical accompaniment combined to make a program noone should miss. If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure there will be PBS reruns.
As David Duncan explains in the show, the National Parks, which now number at least 38, are America’s "Best Idea." Except for our democratic form of government.
A year ago in early August the Pricketts celebrated our wedding anniversary with an Empire Builder Amtrak train trip to East Glacier Park, Montana, and a week’s stay at Many Glacier Lodge in Glacier National Park. It was our "Best Idea in 2008," and it has been fun seeing these sights again with Ken Burns.
OLD GEEZERS NEAR THE BWCA
My love of wilderness lakes and woods was formed at age 14 when our Scoutmaster organized a two-week canoe trip with his neighbor who manufactured "Barnard Wilderness Tents." We paddled, portaged, camped, swam, and fished along the Canadian border in the Superior National Forest, at that time a roadless area, where flying was banned.
This year from late August to the Labor Day weekend, seven high school classmates came together up near Ely for our thirteenth "Old Geezer Canoe Trip." This is the scribe’s account:
BURNTSIDE RETREAT
After many trips into the wilderness the old guys settle for easier camping: a rented hideaway, dry and furnished on a rocky pine-bordered lake at the edge of Ely’s waters. Old stories are mostly repeated; friendships and rivalries persist since grade school.
Our leader Tony Andersen has died, who restarted us 26 years ago. Four of the living began paddling 60 years ago with Scoutmaster Elmer L. Now we ride in a power boat with electronic finder for fish and depth, zooming here and there at 25 mph to troll and snag, sometimes catching smallmouth and northern pike. A faithful few still paddle Mad River and Grumman canoes.
Sleeping bags cover mattresses in the cabin. Propane gives refrigeration, cooking stove, and lamps. Lake water is drinkable, mostly boiled. We reminisce, eat, and drink well; sing, smoke, and strum.
Just a handful of years remain for this declining gang. Once we could pull a lot of water and take portages in stride. Today we limp onto the dock stiffly, after hours in the boat. We tell each other how fun it is. We’ll do it some more, as soon as we can. September 2009
As David Duncan explains in the show, the National Parks, which now number at least 38, are America’s "Best Idea." Except for our democratic form of government.
A year ago in early August the Pricketts celebrated our wedding anniversary with an Empire Builder Amtrak train trip to East Glacier Park, Montana, and a week’s stay at Many Glacier Lodge in Glacier National Park. It was our "Best Idea in 2008," and it has been fun seeing these sights again with Ken Burns.
OLD GEEZERS NEAR THE BWCA
My love of wilderness lakes and woods was formed at age 14 when our Scoutmaster organized a two-week canoe trip with his neighbor who manufactured "Barnard Wilderness Tents." We paddled, portaged, camped, swam, and fished along the Canadian border in the Superior National Forest, at that time a roadless area, where flying was banned.
This year from late August to the Labor Day weekend, seven high school classmates came together up near Ely for our thirteenth "Old Geezer Canoe Trip." This is the scribe’s account:
BURNTSIDE RETREAT
After many trips into the wilderness the old guys settle for easier camping: a rented hideaway, dry and furnished on a rocky pine-bordered lake at the edge of Ely’s waters. Old stories are mostly repeated; friendships and rivalries persist since grade school.
Our leader Tony Andersen has died, who restarted us 26 years ago. Four of the living began paddling 60 years ago with Scoutmaster Elmer L. Now we ride in a power boat with electronic finder for fish and depth, zooming here and there at 25 mph to troll and snag, sometimes catching smallmouth and northern pike. A faithful few still paddle Mad River and Grumman canoes.
Sleeping bags cover mattresses in the cabin. Propane gives refrigeration, cooking stove, and lamps. Lake water is drinkable, mostly boiled. We reminisce, eat, and drink well; sing, smoke, and strum.
Just a handful of years remain for this declining gang. Once we could pull a lot of water and take portages in stride. Today we limp onto the dock stiffly, after hours in the boat. We tell each other how fun it is. We’ll do it some more, as soon as we can. September 2009
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