The campaign was notable for its attacking approach and because the American public seems to have opted for being contrarian to some extent it ended up being successful.
Now the campaign was helped by a lot of factors, which convinced just enough voters to vote for someone who they realized was outlandish but whom they assumed would become presidential if elected.
I'm also convinced, that had the polls shown him with a real chance some of those voters would have been too smart to vote for him, but considered it a protest vote against someone who was slandered on all sides.
Well it turns out it wasn't a protest vote, it was simply a stupid vote and now you have caught the car so to speak.
More presidential? Well except for one speech where he was tele-prompted to non-idiocy, not so much.
He has lied about things and then acted like a child with cookie crumbs all over his mouth saying is wasn't his fault, blame fox.
He of course lied to his supporters all along and now is promoting policies that will further erode their quality of life.
Now realistically, this is the sort of behavior that was cultivated in the world of construction and real estate politics.
Its not a good formula for actually governing a country and he listens to people who don't have a clue either.
His ratings (poll numbers) continue to drop and that is driving him crazy and he is lashing out at democrats and liberals for promoting fake news, that just happens to be supported by the facts.
The fact that this is happening so early in the presidency is scary but of course it was inevitable.
We live in a country where a lot of people think someone else is at fault. They blame the government but keep electing people who promise to destroy it, and let them fend for themselves.
We have the president we deserve if we don't realize that the government reflects us and when it doesn't work there are real consequences to pay.
Unless you happen to be wealthy, then this is good for you.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Monday, March 20, 2017
The Nerve of Some People
Howard Cosell was a sportscaster who made the phrase, "Telling It Like It Is" popular and it certainly helped his reputation as being controversial and improved his ratings.
Americans like people who cut through the BS and "tell it like it is".
It helps if the "like it is" is in fact real.
We like a certain controversy in our public figures and to some extent it adds a certain spice to our everyday lives. Its the same reason most people (certain fans and gamblers are the exception) like upsets, it adds an element of the unexpected.
Now, our last election featured a loud mouth who claimed he was telling it like it is and who ultimately pulled off a major upset. You would think his popularity would be high, except it isn't.
The problem is the "like it is" bit isn't really "like it is" at all. Also more and more Americans are realizing that the upset was on them, they were the ones who lost.
There is a group that because of our primary and electoral process has gained influence way beyond what the actual public opinions are. The anarchistic conservatives who want to have a Government that somehow does almost nothing for the people as long as they pay less taxes.
They long for the period of the Robber Barons who were able to do almost anything in pursuit of profit with no oversight.
Of course the wonderful days of child labor, sweat shops, company towns, crippling accidents, factory fires and cheap labor are the stuff they dream of.
It was great for the few, not so great for the many. Now, in those wonderful days we had contagious diseases that reduced the need for providing any pensions and since you had to work until you were about to drop dead we had no pension financing issues.
They are fighting hard to gut the safety net because why are we helping those undeserving people? Who were they to get sick, disabled, fired or laid off. Can't they just have the decency to die already and stop demanding health care, clean air, safe working conditions and a chance at retirement?
The nerve of some people!
Americans like people who cut through the BS and "tell it like it is".
It helps if the "like it is" is in fact real.
We like a certain controversy in our public figures and to some extent it adds a certain spice to our everyday lives. Its the same reason most people (certain fans and gamblers are the exception) like upsets, it adds an element of the unexpected.
Now, our last election featured a loud mouth who claimed he was telling it like it is and who ultimately pulled off a major upset. You would think his popularity would be high, except it isn't.
The problem is the "like it is" bit isn't really "like it is" at all. Also more and more Americans are realizing that the upset was on them, they were the ones who lost.
There is a group that because of our primary and electoral process has gained influence way beyond what the actual public opinions are. The anarchistic conservatives who want to have a Government that somehow does almost nothing for the people as long as they pay less taxes.
They long for the period of the Robber Barons who were able to do almost anything in pursuit of profit with no oversight.
Of course the wonderful days of child labor, sweat shops, company towns, crippling accidents, factory fires and cheap labor are the stuff they dream of.
It was great for the few, not so great for the many. Now, in those wonderful days we had contagious diseases that reduced the need for providing any pensions and since you had to work until you were about to drop dead we had no pension financing issues.
They are fighting hard to gut the safety net because why are we helping those undeserving people? Who were they to get sick, disabled, fired or laid off. Can't they just have the decency to die already and stop demanding health care, clean air, safe working conditions and a chance at retirement?
The nerve of some people!
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Like a Business?
One factor you hear is how the Government would be so much better if it was just run like a business.
Of course you assume they mean a successful business, but ignoring that they want the Government to be efficient and in some sense profitable.
Now, the rub is that business succeeds when they give customers what they want. Producing those products and selling them at a profit is pretty straightforward and provides some pretty clear goals.
Now the issue becomes more complex when the product is services, and the customer has to be convinced that the services being provided is in fact worth what they pay for it.
So how would that work in Government. Take defense, to some extent everybody in the country is a customer. However, we don't each get to decide how much defense to buy, we rely on leadership to determine the appropriate amount. Pretty much everyone understands that and the idea that defense could turn a profit is not a real issue.
It gets a bit murkier when we look at most other Government services. Take social security. It isn't designed to make money. Ideally it would break even, but because of demographics that isn't going to happen, especially in the near future. Now to run like a business means you either reduce the amounts paid or increase the amount collected.
Since both of those things are difficult politically, we are watching it become insolvent. The answer of course is to get out of that business and that is basically the republican solution, let everyone fend for themselves more or less. Of course giving wealthy people control of this money will work out very well for them, but for those who actually need Social Security, not so much.
This story repeats itself for service after service the government provides. You can't determine how to make it profitable so the republican answer is to eliminate it.
Service after service except ones that they find politically useful, like border patrol.
The profit in Government isn't monetary, its in the quality of life. So having clean air and water results in healthier people. Is that profitable, well not in the business sense.
Similarly, providing a safety net, helps people who suffer temporary setbacks. No monetary profit there so not something a business would do.
Might not to run it like Scrooge did though.
Of course you assume they mean a successful business, but ignoring that they want the Government to be efficient and in some sense profitable.
Now, the rub is that business succeeds when they give customers what they want. Producing those products and selling them at a profit is pretty straightforward and provides some pretty clear goals.
Now the issue becomes more complex when the product is services, and the customer has to be convinced that the services being provided is in fact worth what they pay for it.
So how would that work in Government. Take defense, to some extent everybody in the country is a customer. However, we don't each get to decide how much defense to buy, we rely on leadership to determine the appropriate amount. Pretty much everyone understands that and the idea that defense could turn a profit is not a real issue.
It gets a bit murkier when we look at most other Government services. Take social security. It isn't designed to make money. Ideally it would break even, but because of demographics that isn't going to happen, especially in the near future. Now to run like a business means you either reduce the amounts paid or increase the amount collected.
Since both of those things are difficult politically, we are watching it become insolvent. The answer of course is to get out of that business and that is basically the republican solution, let everyone fend for themselves more or less. Of course giving wealthy people control of this money will work out very well for them, but for those who actually need Social Security, not so much.
This story repeats itself for service after service the government provides. You can't determine how to make it profitable so the republican answer is to eliminate it.
Service after service except ones that they find politically useful, like border patrol.
The profit in Government isn't monetary, its in the quality of life. So having clean air and water results in healthier people. Is that profitable, well not in the business sense.
Similarly, providing a safety net, helps people who suffer temporary setbacks. No monetary profit there so not something a business would do.
Might not to run it like Scrooge did though.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Tolerance
A lot of people claimed that American values were in danger and to some extent the election was impacted by people who wanted to restore these values.
Now the only value that has ever made America great was tolerance.
However, they are confusing American values with intolerance for others
Now if you don't go into the armed forces your chances of being hurt by a foreign terrorist are slim.
If you don't live in one of the likely targets (generally big cities) the chances become much slimmer.
In fact the likelihood is almost non-existent for most Americans. Not zero, but pretty slim.
We have however made a big deal out of it and certainly we should never let our guard down, but the real danger is that some troubled person who is here legally will become radicalized and do something, i.e. the Boston Marathon or the Orlando Nightclub. They might have nothing to do with Islam.
The people coming here to escape fighting or to start a new life are not the ones we should worry about, especially since they are already extensively vetted.
In general they are more invested in making a new life for themselves. We all know that being an immigrant has always been difficult, leaving what you know behind and starting over amid challenges and hostility.
If something in your life isn't going the way you want it to, its unlikely to be an immigrants fault. Not the refugees, not the ones who come here on visas, and not the ones who come here without documents.
There are of course criminal elements that operate in multiple countries, like the Russian mob or Mexican cartels and they are criminals. Some of the people moving back and forth have associations with these groups and others, smuggling people, drugs and weapons etc. and we should do what we can to stop them. However, the person with a family who works in a low paying job to support his family isn't the problem. In fact, more of them are leaving recently, the ones who are staying are invested in this country and have become Americans.
The hate and fear exhibited by so many is simply wrong and in-American. Lets restore the true American value of tolerance and stop being paranoid.
Now the only value that has ever made America great was tolerance.
However, they are confusing American values with intolerance for others
Now if you don't go into the armed forces your chances of being hurt by a foreign terrorist are slim.
If you don't live in one of the likely targets (generally big cities) the chances become much slimmer.
In fact the likelihood is almost non-existent for most Americans. Not zero, but pretty slim.
We have however made a big deal out of it and certainly we should never let our guard down, but the real danger is that some troubled person who is here legally will become radicalized and do something, i.e. the Boston Marathon or the Orlando Nightclub. They might have nothing to do with Islam.
The people coming here to escape fighting or to start a new life are not the ones we should worry about, especially since they are already extensively vetted.
In general they are more invested in making a new life for themselves. We all know that being an immigrant has always been difficult, leaving what you know behind and starting over amid challenges and hostility.
If something in your life isn't going the way you want it to, its unlikely to be an immigrants fault. Not the refugees, not the ones who come here on visas, and not the ones who come here without documents.
There are of course criminal elements that operate in multiple countries, like the Russian mob or Mexican cartels and they are criminals. Some of the people moving back and forth have associations with these groups and others, smuggling people, drugs and weapons etc. and we should do what we can to stop them. However, the person with a family who works in a low paying job to support his family isn't the problem. In fact, more of them are leaving recently, the ones who are staying are invested in this country and have become Americans.
The hate and fear exhibited by so many is simply wrong and in-American. Lets restore the true American value of tolerance and stop being paranoid.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Mongrel America
It's an interesting period as we see what is best described as a rear guard action by naïve people who think they can roll back the clock.
Its also a common occurrence in certain subdivisions where people want to be the last one to move in. Similarly each time a new wave of immigrants appear the people already here felt they were ruining things.
In the first few hundred years they at least could make them go west and deal with the frontier, but reactions in the established cities was pretty much the same. The new group worked cheap so while the business owners and wealthy people liked the cheap labor (they didn't have to mix with them of course) the working people resented them for taking jobs.
Of course after a generation or two the sons and daughters of immigrants became the ones resenting the new comers.
Over the years we passed restrictive immigration laws that managed who could come here to some extent as we wanted to keep our country pure. Since we are the most mongrel nation in the world, its really an odd concept, but we seem to forget that our great grandparents hated each other as different and repulsive.
The greatness of America is that it has always been a place where immigrants and refugees could start over, not easily, but by working hard and becoming part of our mongrel community after a generation or two. If we want to make America great that is what we need to do.
Of course it was always accompanied by inhabitants decrying how the newcomers were ruining everything and corrupting our values.
So maybe we are exactly where we have always been in that respect.
Its also a common occurrence in certain subdivisions where people want to be the last one to move in. Similarly each time a new wave of immigrants appear the people already here felt they were ruining things.
In the first few hundred years they at least could make them go west and deal with the frontier, but reactions in the established cities was pretty much the same. The new group worked cheap so while the business owners and wealthy people liked the cheap labor (they didn't have to mix with them of course) the working people resented them for taking jobs.
Of course after a generation or two the sons and daughters of immigrants became the ones resenting the new comers.
Over the years we passed restrictive immigration laws that managed who could come here to some extent as we wanted to keep our country pure. Since we are the most mongrel nation in the world, its really an odd concept, but we seem to forget that our great grandparents hated each other as different and repulsive.
The greatness of America is that it has always been a place where immigrants and refugees could start over, not easily, but by working hard and becoming part of our mongrel community after a generation or two. If we want to make America great that is what we need to do.
Of course it was always accompanied by inhabitants decrying how the newcomers were ruining everything and corrupting our values.
So maybe we are exactly where we have always been in that respect.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Republican Bacon
The one thing that can derail a congressman is failure to bring home the bacon.
There is a belief that Republicans want to reduce the budget and Democrats want to increase it. It really isn't true, both parties just want to spend money in different ways.
In the reality of Washington, our insistence on not taxing our people enough to pay our bills leads to a deficit.
Now the majority of the deficit is caused by entitlement programs, Social Security, Medicare, and a few others. They are the only places you could see cuts big enough to make a difference.
The rest of the budget, excluding interest on the national debt represents about 25% of the total and it is this which gets shuffled about.
The majority of this is spent on defense and neither side is looking to cut that so you are left with the dregs of the budget, such as the EPA, Arts, Science, Veterans etc, etc.
You can gut foreign aid to fund more defense but the deficit doesn't change.
Now, remember each congressman knows what federal programs operate in their districts. Cutting one on those and eliminating jobs is never a good policy. Shutting down the local social security office and making people drive further is simply going to cost votes.
This is why the budget is so hard to control. Now you may think the government is wasteful, and similarly to all other human endeavors, I'm sure it is to some extent, but its not really much different than any enterprise.
When you cut a budget the inefficiency doesn't get better, it generally gets worse as work is transferred and starts over, workloads become more unmanageable and morale suffers. Now to coin a phrase, everybody but the current president knows its pretty complex.
However, getting a budget to pass requires appeasing members who have to get re-elected.
No one is porkier than republicans so it should be fun to watch.
There is a belief that Republicans want to reduce the budget and Democrats want to increase it. It really isn't true, both parties just want to spend money in different ways.
In the reality of Washington, our insistence on not taxing our people enough to pay our bills leads to a deficit.
Now the majority of the deficit is caused by entitlement programs, Social Security, Medicare, and a few others. They are the only places you could see cuts big enough to make a difference.
The rest of the budget, excluding interest on the national debt represents about 25% of the total and it is this which gets shuffled about.
The majority of this is spent on defense and neither side is looking to cut that so you are left with the dregs of the budget, such as the EPA, Arts, Science, Veterans etc, etc.
You can gut foreign aid to fund more defense but the deficit doesn't change.
Now, remember each congressman knows what federal programs operate in their districts. Cutting one on those and eliminating jobs is never a good policy. Shutting down the local social security office and making people drive further is simply going to cost votes.
This is why the budget is so hard to control. Now you may think the government is wasteful, and similarly to all other human endeavors, I'm sure it is to some extent, but its not really much different than any enterprise.
When you cut a budget the inefficiency doesn't get better, it generally gets worse as work is transferred and starts over, workloads become more unmanageable and morale suffers. Now to coin a phrase, everybody but the current president knows its pretty complex.
However, getting a budget to pass requires appeasing members who have to get re-elected.
No one is porkier than republicans so it should be fun to watch.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Musing about government.
Politics is the way it is because that's the only way to get a few things done. Now, once in a while someone can force something on people because of a special circumstance but its not like people like to be liars and influence peddlers, well maybe some do, but generally you learn that you have to compromise without losing your support, the very definition of politics.
Once in a while we elect someone who tries to just govern, but that is a sure fire way to self eliminate yourself. When you strive to find the best course of action, you end up getting attacked by pretty much everybody.
Now the people who've been in the Government learn this. They need to find money, they need to convince their base they are defending them and they may need to get something done. However the getting something done is not going to interfere with the first two or you won't be around very long.
Getting money is the primary goal. You can distort things to your base and suppress the opposition to a certain degree, but you need to make sure you have the money to do it.
Getting money is job one for a politician and there was an interesting article about this in The Atlantic during the last election about how each party makes members spend hours fundraising. Now we do make contributions tax deductible, but realistically, a few big donors are a lot better then millions of small ones. The big donors know what they want and they are willing to tell you.
In fact the system we have today came about because its good for the people with money. Its important to note that people with money mostly want more money. Similarly people with power want more power. Of course those two things are not really that different.
The idea that politicians entered politics to perform public service is pretty silly although you hear it a lot. Politicians, at least those that survive, do it because they like power and money. Having power will end up getting you money and as much as we pass ethics laws it hasn't really changed.
In fact if you consider Government the one everyone deals with are the civil servants who really are just people who got jobs doing government work. Not being politicians they get to tell people what they can't have, and the politicians are happy to blame them for this, although they simply follow the rules written by the congress.
If you think about your general interactions with these people, it might be frustrating, they generally are understaffed and it might seem confusing, the regulations and rules are an area that isn't mastered by many, but generally its pretty fair. If you don't get what you want, you may not feel that way, but the size of your social security check or your access to VA benefits is based on laws that apply the same to everybody.
Unfortunately, this isn't going to get better, since in order to give some money back to the wealthy, the number people who serve the public will be reduced even further.
How bad is it going to get? Hard to say. I'm sure there will be exposes about the failings, like we had for the VA when they were unable to keep up with their workload. I know that it won't be good for the people who need these services, I'm just not sure how bad it will get.
Except for those who die waiting, it probably doesn't make much difference.
Once in a while we elect someone who tries to just govern, but that is a sure fire way to self eliminate yourself. When you strive to find the best course of action, you end up getting attacked by pretty much everybody.
Now the people who've been in the Government learn this. They need to find money, they need to convince their base they are defending them and they may need to get something done. However the getting something done is not going to interfere with the first two or you won't be around very long.
Getting money is the primary goal. You can distort things to your base and suppress the opposition to a certain degree, but you need to make sure you have the money to do it.
Getting money is job one for a politician and there was an interesting article about this in The Atlantic during the last election about how each party makes members spend hours fundraising. Now we do make contributions tax deductible, but realistically, a few big donors are a lot better then millions of small ones. The big donors know what they want and they are willing to tell you.
In fact the system we have today came about because its good for the people with money. Its important to note that people with money mostly want more money. Similarly people with power want more power. Of course those two things are not really that different.
The idea that politicians entered politics to perform public service is pretty silly although you hear it a lot. Politicians, at least those that survive, do it because they like power and money. Having power will end up getting you money and as much as we pass ethics laws it hasn't really changed.
In fact if you consider Government the one everyone deals with are the civil servants who really are just people who got jobs doing government work. Not being politicians they get to tell people what they can't have, and the politicians are happy to blame them for this, although they simply follow the rules written by the congress.
If you think about your general interactions with these people, it might be frustrating, they generally are understaffed and it might seem confusing, the regulations and rules are an area that isn't mastered by many, but generally its pretty fair. If you don't get what you want, you may not feel that way, but the size of your social security check or your access to VA benefits is based on laws that apply the same to everybody.
Unfortunately, this isn't going to get better, since in order to give some money back to the wealthy, the number people who serve the public will be reduced even further.
How bad is it going to get? Hard to say. I'm sure there will be exposes about the failings, like we had for the VA when they were unable to keep up with their workload. I know that it won't be good for the people who need these services, I'm just not sure how bad it will get.
Except for those who die waiting, it probably doesn't make much difference.
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