Some delayed observations about the Republican convention

So this entry is going to be a little short. I almost forgot the whole 30 in 30 days and it is only day 2. So here goes nothing. Many would argue that the best speaker of the Democratic Convention was Bill Clinton. I think most would agree that the Republicans are the party of history. So what about their recent history. Anyone wonder where Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Colin Powell were at during the Republican convention.

The party of history is going outside of its way to make us forget the most recent chapter of it. They want us to forget what happened to the debt under Bush, that we got attacked under a Republican President, that we went to two wars, "Mission Accomplished" , etc... They want to tell us President Obama hasn't done much. I am the first to say I am not pleased with a lot of things, but here is a short list of things that have been accomplished in four years under President Obama:

1. The American auto industry was saved.
2. Universal Health Care was passed
3. The Dream Act
4. Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed
5. Withdrawal from Iraq started 
6. Osama Bin Laden Killed
7. Ghadafi Killed 
8. Wall Street Reform Passed 
9. Stimulus Passed 
10. Asked Mubarak Publicly to step down and he did.

This was four years, two of which are perhaps the most stridently partisan years in recent history. But then again Republicans don't believe in recent history... 

NFL Referees

I had a post yesterday on facebook stating that this whole replacement referee thing is a little crazy, and a few people had responses. Steve Young said on MNF afterwards that as long the demand is inelastic it doesn't matter to the owners. I tend to agree if we keep watching, if tickets keep getting sold the owners won't have any reason to do anything at least not in an economic sense. The economics of it bring me to something I have noticed over the last few years.

The NFL owners are the 1% and in the large scale of things it makes little or no difference to them financially if they pacify the referee union. But, everything in our current climate is about the Rate of Return.We constantly hear about corporate greed, the 1% getting richer, the inequities in incomes growing, and the long list of financial scandals that have taken place.

Let me pose a question for you: Would you rather have a portfolio returning 12% annually where you know nothing about the underlying investments, or a portfolio making 8% where you understand the underlying investments? I am not sure what your answer would be but I am sure at least some portion of it has to do with your ability to lose money. Think of it this way if I am a billionaire and I am investing a $100,000 I would lean towards the higher return. If it is the last $100,000 I have, I might be more careful.For the 1% making investments they aren't investing their whole net worth, they won't lose their home, or not pay their bills. The game is just different.Also some of the largest investors are Mutual Funds, Pensions, etc ... who have to answer to secondary investors. For these passive investors the rate of return becomes paramount.

It makes complete sense on another level as well. If you own a company with 500 employees, there can at least be an argument that the employees are in someway your constituency. If you are on the board of a public company, your constituency are the shareholders. One could argue that in the case of a director not maximizing profits is the amoral decision.

Corporations are growing larger and larger, the investors tend to be passive and even in private companies the focus on immediate returns means that the only thing that matters is profit. I am not sure this behavior can be curbed unless there is a fundamental shift in America's love affair with corporations...

9/11/2012

On this day 11 years ago, I awoke to images that are the equivalent of Pearl Harbor for many in our generation. At the time I was working for the California State Assembly and immediately made my way to our office to see what if anything needed to be done. I was the only one that made it to work that day. Very shortly afterwards I was contacted by our Chief of Staff and told that after I took care of a couple administrative things I should head home and await further instructions. I provide this background not to suggest anything really, besides the fact that we were all, all in shock. Disbelief, angst, fear, a feeling of a lack of control, etc... were the feelings of the day.

The question that I think merits discussion now 11 years later is where have we come since then? 9/11/2001 was a test of our resolve as a country, a people, a community, and a democracy. Did terrorists and the prospect of terror change us into something entirely different? Did this change make us better or worse? The answers to these questions may seem obvious to some but proposing better alternatives seems harder.

We have Guantanamo and many agree we should close it. What should we do with the prisoners that can't go back to their own country and won't be taken in anywhere else? Obviously it would have been best not to have a Guantanamo in the first place... but in our moment of terrified fervor we didn't think that far ahead.

We went to Afghanistan and again many agree we should completely withdraw. What should we do about the Taliban? Over the last decade we have attempted to dismantle all other military and violent presence in Afghanistan besides our own. Have we eliminated the Taliban or will our withdrawal allow them to fill the large hole of power that is left behind? Again perhaps we shouldn't have gone in, but in our moment of terrified fervor we didn't think that far ahead.

We went to Iraq, Saddam Hussein is dead. Is Iraq, especially it's people any better off today? Our position in Iraq is certainly better, today American and Western oil companies own access to most of the oil in Iraq. Iraq today has higher levels of oil production than before before the war. Is the internal Shia v. Sunni strife any better? Not our problem, I may agree, but over the last few years we have armed, and disarmed one faction or the other as we saw fit. Do we just leave and let them figure out the mess caused by us drawing and redrawing lines to our liking? Yeah there were no weapons of mass destruction, and Al-Qaeda wasn't in Iraq... perhaps we shouldn't have gone in...

I think what we as Americans should take away from that fateful moment 11 years ago as we reflect back is an understanding that reacting in terrified fervor can sometimes have bad results... Should we not react then, I am not sure there is an answer to that inquiry. All I know is that our forefathers created a democracy that has a system of checks and balances that can sometimes make progresses slowly, but arguably that prevents hasty decisions that leave us in a position like we are today: in two of the longest wars in our history, with a prison that we can't seem to close, the list goes on...

So everyone's been talking about the Toyota recall. All of a sudden everyone is driving a deathtrap made by Toyota! I find this extremely hard to believe. Yes, there is a recall (time to time manufactures have them). Yes, under rare circumstances it may cause one's to accelerator to accelerate SOMETIMES out of control (most likely you would and should have noticed the gradual lag present in the accelerator). But seriously, why the media frenzy surrounding it? Toyota has been trying to resolve the issue. It's executives have publicly apologized and come up with a resolution and are still attempting to make sure this will completely fix the problem. What more are we looking for here? The media has led us to become some sort of lynch mob. "Off with their heads," we scream.


If your car starts to accelerate switch it into neutral apply the brake. If you can't switch it to neutral turn key to the "ACC" position or hold the "start/stop" button for 3-5 seconds and turn off the engine. This will cause the engine to turn off and along with other electronics in the car so be prepared to apply more effort to turn the steering wheel and apply more pressure to use the brakes. Pull safely over to the side and call Toyota to have the vehicle towed and repaired. DONE!!! Why the "hooplah" and backlashes from customers?

Another Rant

Been a while since I have ranted. Law School tends to keep me a little busy. I have lots to rant about this time around but I think I will stick to one thing that came to my attention this week. Representative Peter King of New York is holding hearings about the increase of radical Muslims in America. What amazes me is the lack of any uproar with this going on. Muslims in America are the new 2nd rate citizen... These hearings at their best reflect a McCarthyism that many thought we had left behind. Antecdotal evidence is being thrown around to link organizations like CAIR to terrorism. I am not saying they may not be linked but this is supposed to be a Congressional hearing you would think some concrete proof would be required,... but who are we kidding this is the Congress in 2011 proof is not their strong suit. Since antecdotal evidence seems to be foray of the day here are a few thoughts of my own. Just some facts 400 of the richest americans have more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans. Americans spent twice what any other developed nation spends on health care and have the 37th ranked health care system according to the UN. I could go on but I would think even these two simple things require a little more attention than Mr. King's hearings...