We should be worried

This post may strike some as alarmist and it is not my intent to make things seem bad. They really aren't that bad, but I do think we should be worried. Here are just a couple of reasons why.

1. Inept Leadership
2. Income Inequality 

Inept Leadership 

The leadership of this country seems inept. This is not a knock on our President or on Congress for that matter. I voted for President Obama and am generally not a fan of Congress. The real issue for me, is not about the people but about the structure. What do I mean? Well lets take this example. You really want a job. You network and do all the right things and a year later land the job. It was a long road but you are finally here and ecstatic about it. Are you not going to do everything in your power to hold on to the job? 

Oh you are, well isn't that what Congress is doing. They fight to get elected and are doing their best to keep their job. There in lies the issue I think, keeping your job has nothing to do with being a "good" Congress person. And what is good anyways. If you are elected from a really liberal district or a really conservative one, isn't voting to reflect the interests of you constituents make you a "good" Congress person. With districts being drawn to make them all primarily Democrat or Republican, we have made it structurally impossible for compromise to occur. You don't believe me, what logic is there to the 40th California Congressional district being drawn this way. That is just one example there are many more. The second issue structurally is the Citizens United Case and campaign finance issues. The influence of money is politics is apparent, the ruling just seems to have made it worse... I am barely versed on the topic but it does cause me pause. 

Income Inequality 

Income Inequality is something we should all think about. I have had this conversation with people on a few occasions and it has rarely been an articulate one. Somebody points out the rich are getting richer and the poor are worse off. Another person points out that the rich play plenty in taxes and 50% of Americans receive some form of government aid. Empirically I agree that there is validity to both claims. The richest 1% of Americans by some accounts own 40% of the country's wealth, and with the myriad of government programs out there it doesn't seem surprising that half of America gets aid in some way or form from the government. 

What worries me is that we don't ask ourselves often enough why income equality matters. Yes we want everyone to have stuff, and be want to be good people etc... But really, why as a society outside of altruism should we care about income equality. Society should care because it allows the rich to stay rich. If the masses are happy then they aren't so concerned about the uber rich. If they aren't, the story can change. I am not suggesting that we are anywhere near a revolution or anything remotely close to that. But if we continue on the same track we have been on, it could certainly be problematic. 

I could go on about either or both of these issues, but really just wanted to quickly touch on some things that I feel often escape our radars. At least in the manner presented here. Thanks for reading. 

Who to ask, What to say...

To each his own.
We all bitch and moan...
Life stands by for no one
threads of life slowly undone
unwound, lost looking for the right way
who to ask, what to say...
The answers lie in the inquiry
don't sit around and let life be.
Take it by the horn and steer it in the direction
that you wish to achieve when you look at your reflection...

15 Reasons chiropractors should date lawyers

A friend posted this about Chiropractors. What can I say, I was inspired. ;)

1. A lawyer has a great mind. Enough said.
2. Lawyers know how to think outside the box, and accept that there is more to life than meets the eye.
3. It takes entrepreneurial nerve and skill to manage a successful legal practice.
4. Those in a “taking profession” like lawyers usually lack empathy, compassion, and need to be nurtured—qualities that go a long way towards making them a perfect fit for you.
5. It takes more than linear reliance on facts and figures to succeed as a lawyers—it requires intuition.
6. A successful lawyer must be a good listener—an essential skill among great lovers as well.
7. Do you believe the root cause of a problem is not always immediately obvious? A lawyer may agree with you it all depends on the underlying facts... etc...
8. Lawyers are probably afraid of physical intimacy but willing to learn and you of course are willing to help.
9. Lawyers care about the health and well-being of their clients and yours, if you happen to be their client.
10. Lawyers have horrible posture and could use all the help they can get.
11. He or she is trained to see the big picture and avoid oversimplification.
12. Lawyers know the importance of balance and alignment in life and could use all the help in the world in acheiveing it.
13. Lawyers have spent years convincing you of their training, which demonstrates persistence and dedication—always good qualities to look for in a potential partner.
14. Someone who chooses a career in lawyer is a masochist and welcomes criticism.
15. Got an annoying client problem? You know who to call.

My Solution

I have a simple solution. Let me make sure we first agree on some facts. The Republicans and the Tea Party hate taxes, they hate government (Grover Norquist once famously said that he wanted to drown the government in his bath tub), they want government out of their hair and they love their liberties. Any arguments so far? No... okay well here is what I suggest.

Here is a link to a past post called secession. The gist of it is that red states take more from the federal government than they pay in. The information simply shows that the blue states are givers and the red states are takers. So far the blue states have been patient and willing to give. If you are going to hold the government hostage than as constituents of red states you have the right to be free of that government.

The solution as I see it, is that we allow each state to vote on constitutional amendments outlining the following steps

1. The residents of any state that votes for the amendments gets a phaseout on federal taxes. 33% cut this year, 66% the next down to 0%. No federal taxes.

2. The federal government stops spending federal dollars in those states based on a phaseout 33% less this year, 66% less next year.. you get the point 

3. No Obamacare, no medicare, no medicaid, no social security nothing after three years. The states Any current red state resident has to wait nine years before they can get residency in a state that did not vote for the amendment.(To keep some states from having to take in all the "takers" from the other states) 

4. No EPA, FDA, FAA, etc... after three years. After all private companies are better in the minds of republicans they can tax their own residents and pay them. 

5. The federal government will simply bill the states that opt out of taxes proportionally based on population for defense and border patrol costs which the states can pay from their own budgets. 

Republicans specially tea party members should be jumping at this idea. It gives them everything they want total and complete freedom from the "government and taxes." 

( Yes what is above is silly, but the House of Republicans(certainly does not seem representative to me)  tried over 40 times to kill a bill that has already passed and is now law, which the Supreme Court upheld. When none of that worked they forced a government shut down, and now are threatening the country with default... and I seem silly???)  [***2016 addition, and now the Republican Party's front runner is Donald Trump, and I seem silly???***]

Some Stats

Saw something that made me wonder. It is pretty clear what side of the aisle I tend to lean on. Rather than write a long blog about what I believe etc... I thought it might be interesting to just throw out some statistics

Top Income Tax Rates (adjusting for inflation)

1965 70% on any income over $1.42 Million
2011 38% on any income over $388,000

Unemployment Rate
1970 - 4%
2013 - 7%

Poverty Rate

1965 - 15%
2013 - 15%

Top 1 % (Wealth)

1970 - 24%
2013 - 40%

Reducing taxes creates jobs which should in turn decrease poverty. Heard that one before? Obviously this is simplifying it but it would seem to me the rich have gotten richer. The poor... well they are still poor. Jobs well we have fewer of those oh and they pay less in real dollars than in the past. Oh and tax brackets haven't dropped for everyone in real dollars people in the 70's who made over $388,000 would have probably paid 38 % on that income but as they made far over that amount they paid a higher percentage. The only change is the really rich don't pay like they used to. The current distribution is more like feudal times where a few lords make most of the money and own everything... It's not corporations its the 1% that owns 50% of the shares of those corporations.

Congress should be fired... period. ALL OF THEM Pt. 2

The first part was in relation to a practical concern, Student Loans. Intelligent people I am sure could disagree on that, not sure that is the case this time.

Take a ride with me for a second. I propose that we all start a company. Like other corporations we will be run by a Board of Directors and the board will have ultimate corporate authority. I propose we hire employees pay them less than other private sector employees but give them all excellent benefits, hours etc... To finance our operations we will be taking on a significant amount of debt (corporations do this all the time). Next I propose we charge our customers what they think is fair, not what we think it costs for our services/products. Fast forward a few years. Over the last few years we have been losing money every year, and there are no positive projections in sight. In their ultimate wisdom a minority of the directors have held on tooth and nail to get their point across. About once a year this minority forces the doors of our business to be closed and our employees to go without pay. Along with the shutdown the minority refuses to approve any corporate resolutions. The accounting department has recommended the resolutions are pretty much the only way to keep from defaulting on our debt.

What happens to these directors? My guess, besides being fired some of them would probably face lawsuits for breaches of fiduciary duty, etc...

Now back to reality. Welcome to America. We have a Board of Directors (Congress) The government is the single largest employer in the country. We certainly have a whole lot of debt. We keep having tax cuts (Bush era and otherwise) and our services keep costing more (Healthcare, Medical etc...). The fast forward part, since Clinton left office we have blown through our surplus and have an unprecedented level of debt. In their wisdom the Republicans think its a good idea for us to have shutdowns. Yet again it seems the government will shut down. Oh and their is the looming prospect of the Republicans refusing to raise the debt ceiling. And yes the Republicans are a minority stake, they lost the Presidency and the Senate. The Congressional Budget Office and Treasury have recommended raising the ceiling but that doesn't seem to matter to the Republicans. Default and shutdowns are their way of holding on and getting their point across.

To my Republican friends I have a few admittedly redundant questions.

Are Republicans the party of business?

Is playing with the debt ceiling and default good for business?

Is a shutdown good for the economy?

When a company is running in deficit, they explore increasing revenue and decreasing expenses. Why does that seem so foreign to Republicans?

Lastly Democrats in Congress, you don't get off that easy either. If while in power you can't get the other side to work with you, or legislate with you then you are failing at your job. In case you were wondering legislating is your job. 

Ms. America

I will get into more detailed thoughts but for now...

So this whole Miss America thing is obviously crazy but its amazing how many South Asians are all of a sudden bothered. Seems we are a lot more bothered because she is Indian...? I mean none of my Indian friends congratulated the last Ms. America and I think she was "American" too. The constant celebratory messages for her success are understandable but are we celebrating the fact that she is American or that she is South Asian...