Government for the Government
If Abraham Lincoln were delivering his Gettysburg Address today, he
might feel compelled to conclude, “… that government for the
government shall not perish from this earth.” He was “Honest Abe”
after all.
Let’s take a look at how Sacramento really operates.
Those in power in the Capitol — as well as many local politicians
— make skillful use of those who rely on government services to
advance their spending agenda. They use children, the disabled, the
elderly, and others who appear vulnerable, to justify increasing
taxes. When reasonable arguments are made that higher taxes in an
already high-tax state could lead to fiscal ruin and less for
everyone, politicians and bureaucrats use these dependent classes as
human shields.
It’s Official Now – US Recession Is Nearly a Year Old
Like we needed to be told. The gurus of such things, the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) announced yesterday, finally, that the US has been in a recession since December 2007. The Dow promptly celebrated by dumping nearly 680 points in a day’s trading, shedding some 7% of its total value, giving up all the gains of the five ‘up’ days and the manufacturing statistics are simply horrible. Way to state the obvious!
The NBER defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP growth, real personal income, employment (non-farm payrolls), industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.” Alternative ways of telling when a rescission is afoot is a decline for two or more successive quarters of a year in gross domestic product (GDP), or negative real economic growth – others believe this is to simplistic. Most say this will be a doozey, rivaling those in the early 80’s or even worse.
Make Your Wildest Dreams Come True at the Waste Management Board
As I throw my name in the ring for an appointment to the Integrated Waste Management Board, I am inspired by Homer Simpson’s slogan during his run for Springfield’s Sanitation Commissioner: “Can’t someone else do it?”
Some of you may prefer Pedro Sanchez’s line in Napoleon Dynamite (the Citizen Kane of Generation Y political thrillers), “vote for me, and your wildest dreams will come true.” I like that one, too, but have never figured out what the movie is really about.
I must confess that I was not interested in this job until I read about IWMB board members being compensated $132,178 for only 12 days of meetings per year.
Come to think of it, I already know something about waste management. I have a compost bin at home and use it to dispose of garden and food waste every few days. Each time, I like to take a minute and watch the bugs eat my old banana peels and yard trimmings before I pour another bucket full of food waste in there.