Life of Newbrew

Still More from Chris Youngblood

Even More from Chris Youngblood

More from Chris Youngblood

Deficits We Can't Afford To Run

I pulled this data from the US Census site.  I cannot figure out why foreign trade data is found there.  But, it's there.  http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/.  It seems that December of 2009 data isn't available yet.  Thus these are only 11 month numbers.

As you can see, we have a number of trading partners where trade is very out of balance. With Australia, Brazil and Switzerland, we export more than we import.

With the rest on this list, we have a large deficit.  Some of these are just too large.  Our trade with China, Mexico and Japan need addressing.  No doubt that at times we can see surpluses and deficits.  But, with these countries we always see them importing less of our goods than we import of theirs.  Something to think about given the US's current financial situation.

Country	Exports from US First 11 Months of 2009 (US Dollars in Millions)	Imports to US First 11 Months of 2009 (US Dollars in Millions)	US Trade Deficit (US Dollars in Millions)
Australia	$17,690.2	$7,233.1	$10,457.1
Brazil	$23,670.8	$18,228.9	$5,441.9
Canada	$186,481.1	$203,589.7	$-17,108.5
China	$61,213.1	$269,901.1	$-208,688.0
France	$24,270.1	$31,097.8	$-6,827.7
Germany	$39,278.1	$64,313.9	$-25,035.8
India	$15,043.8	$19,390.4	$-4,346.6
Italy	$11,174.9	$24,072.8	$-12,897.9
Japan	$46,249.3	$86,409.8	$-40,160.5
South Korea	$25,826.1	$35,844.5	$-10,018.5
Mexico	$117,200.7	$159,510.9	$-42,310.2
Russia	$4,945.3	$16,797.0	$-11,851.7
Switzerland	$15,925.9	$14,389.8	$1,536.2
Thailand	$6,230.2	$17,187.4	$-10,957.2
United Kingdom	$41,990.1	$43,524.2	$-1,534.0

Good Times at College

Chris is busy down at Georgia Southern University.  Grades are good.  And, it seems his participation at the various open mic nights are getting him even more interesting gigs on campus.  Go Chris!

2011 Federal Budget

Have you seen the latest 2011 Federal Budget?  $3.8T (as in trillion).  This will produce a $1.3T deficit.  That essentially is the same as the Federal Government's "discretionary" spending budget for the same year.  The other 2/3 of our budget is "mandatory" spending.  Mandatory?  Want to know what that is?  For 2010 (fiscal year), our total budget was $3.5T, with mandatory spending at $2.2T.  Of that, Social Security was 32% of mandatory spending.  Medicare was 21%.  Medicaid was 13%.  Those 3 programs totaled 66% of mandatory spending.  Our budget deficit for 2010 (not over yet) is $1.2T.  Take a look at the 2010 budget:  http://bit.ly/Qqf5X. 

The government had to just recently pass a bill pushing our debt ceiling up to past $14T just to be able to produce the 2011 budget.  The following year?  We'll surpass this limit and our debt will then be greater than our GDP.  The last time we saw our debt reach 100% of our GDP was during WW2.  At that time, we were in a major war AND we borrowed the money from Americans.  Further, the monies spent went to the development of new technologies to help us win the war more quickly.  Now?  We spend money on entitlement programs such as Medicaid.  We spend monies on over-expanded Medicare and Social Security programs.  Medicare and Social Security are NOT supposed to be retirement programs.  Nor are they supposed to support full families.  Nor are they designed to be received BEFORE retirement.  We all were supposed to receive a small stipend WHEN WE RETIRE.  PERIOD.  Expenditures on these programs and Medicaid are growing at five times the rest of the budget.  We just cannot afford all this.

Another thought on these programs.  For years, the government received much more than it spent on them, despite the gross overspending.  Where did those funds go?  Into the general spending fund.  We were supposed to be saving for the days when baby boomers started requesting funds.  Now, we spend more than we take in and there's no "savings account" to cover this.

So, how could we fix all this?  It would be hard, but, we really have to make DEEP cuts.  Here goes:

• Cut SS payments by 25%.  We just have to.
• Cut Medicare by 40%.  It's a basic program.  It should ONLY provide basic benefits. 
• Going forward, benefits should be based on what we take in.
• Fraud should be actively prosecuted. 
• Medicaid should be completely eliminated.  Period.  Let states determine what they want to do about their indigent population.
• Cut "Other" mandatory payments by 50%.  If it's "other", it's not important.
• Department of Defense should be cut by 30%.  Mostly through waste elimination and the cancellation of unnecessary weapons programs.  BTW, I think this is the most important part of our budget.  I'm a big supporter of our military.  So, cuts should be to waste and corruption.  Not to our dedication to defense of our country.
• Housing and Urban Development, cut the department by 80%.
• Health and Human Services, cut it by 50%
• NASA, increase it by 10%
• Department of Energy, cut it by 25%
• Department of Labor, cut it by 50%
• Department of State, cut it by 25%
• Department of Transportation, increase it by 10%
• Social Security Administration, cut it by 20%

So, where are we after my cuts? 

• $174B less in SS payments
• $181B less in Medicare payments
• $290B less in Medicaid payments
• $286B less in Other mandatory payments
• $199B less in Defense spending
• $38B less in HUD spending
• $39B less in HHS spending
• $1.9B more in NASA spending
• $6.6B less in DOE spending
• $6.7B less in DOL spending
• $13B less in DOS spending
• $7.3B more in DOT spending
• $2B less in SSA spending

Total Savings in Steve's Budget Cuts:  Right over $1.2T.  There!  We've balanced our budget, added no debt.  Although we've not paid down any debt.  But, it's a start.  THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO SEE.  Next year, we cut more.  We cut SS more, cut Medicare more.  Even defense.  Perhaps it's time Europe and Japan start paying their own bills.  We need to focus on defense where it help the USA and perhaps the USA only for a while. 

As for revenues.  The Federal government needs to move away from taxing citizens so much.  Our economic growth is hurt by the types of direct taxation our Federal government employs.  But, they can't reduce revenues.  So, what should they do?  THE FAIRTAX.  It's indirect and helps tax the underground economy.  And it's revenue neutral.  Further, it helps the US become a "tax haven" encouraging the repatriation of trillions of dollars held by Americans in investments abroad.  And it encourages foreigners to invest here.

Trade?  Well, I like a free market.  But, let's face it.  China isn't a "free market".  Her government manages how things come in and go out.  Our government needs to have the "arrogant" belief that the USA should have trade surpluses with other countries.  Otherwise, there's probably not a benefit to us.  If those other countries don't like it, perhaps they can sell their goods somewhere else.  This may seem harsh and I'm sure there are businessmen in the USA who wouldn't like this.  But, we're better off in the long run when we have a fair playing field.  Let's use our might to ensure this.  When we have that level playing field, we compete very favorably.

Our Leaders are Clueless on the Economy

Read this Reuters article:

http://bit.ly/8GvWTx.

It seems that the White House spent so much time on a health care plan that nobody wanted that they ended up putting the economy into a deep freeze. Now, they are faced with a real problem.  They are spending so fast, they have to raise taxes.  But taxes will kill any growth.  Pushing growth though too much can mean inflation, which will kill growth.  Damn, they are nuts.  They spent a year on a ridiculous health care plan.  They focused on a stimulus plan that was all pork and no stimulus.  They focused on praising our enemies.  They spent like drunken sailors.  Now, here we are.  We can't vote them out fast enough.  If they had any sense, they'd get really radical, in a positive, conservative, constitutional way. NO, I'm not talking about conservative in a social way.  I'm talking about conservative in a fiscal way. 

Here goes:

• Replace the tax system with the FairTax.  I just re-read the book by John Linder and Neal Boortz. http://bit.ly/4qH36b.  This plan, started in 1994 and introduced into the House in 1999 isn't Republican or Democrat.  It doesn't change our spending habits.  It moves us to an indirect tax system.  The Federal government would add a 23% tax at the retail level eliminating all payroll taxes, all income taxes, all death taxes and all corporate income taxes.  Read the book.  This tax system has had more research than any other.  Millions have been spent to analyze it.  Both liberal and conservative economists back it.  Universities have given it a "thumbs up".  A change to this system would make America the best place to do business in the world.  We'd make more, spend more and prosper more.
• Cut spending.  Cut Debt.  Only spend what is really needed by our government to operate.  Don't cut defense.  Nothing else is sacred.  Not Medicare, not Medicaid, not bridges to nowhere.  Spend less than taken in.  Business will love it.  So will those that are unemployed when business starts moving.
• If we're to reform healthcare, we have to first realize it's not a right.  However, there are things the government does to make healthcare harder and more expensive than it has to be.  John Mackey of Whole Foods had a good list of actions the government (or governments, state and federal) could take to make things better.  Here they are:
• • Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
  • Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
  • Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
  • Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. 
  • Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
  • Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
  • Enact Medicare reform.
  • Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
  • Not from Mr. Mackey, all laws the keep membership organizations from creating and offering health insurance.  Wouldn't it be great to sign up for healthcare at Sams Club without any worry about pre-existing conditions
• While I like a free market and as well like to see free trade with other countries, the balance of trade currently is not in the USA's favor.  We just can't keep buying all the worlds stuff and not have them use our dollars to buy back our stuff.  We must do whatever is favorable for the US.  Sure, we want prosperity for other countries too.  But, we have to take care of America first.

If the federal government could focus on these, economically, I think prosperity would return quickly and in a big way.  And when we do well, so does the world.

 

Haiti, Prone to Tragedy

It's very sad to see and hear about the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.  In the United States, Japan and other 1st world countries prone to earthquakes, we have building codes to ensure our structures can withstand a certain minimal level of shaking and earth movement.  Haiti apparently has no building codes at all.  However, her biggest problems are persistent poverty, lack of a dependable government, violence, corruption, a general lack of property rights and a completely ruined environment.  With these problems, she can't easily grow food, invest in business or even import business.  I've been reading how in the last 2 decades, Hatian governments have allowed squatters to take over buildings and land throughout the country.  This seems to be a common situation in the 3rd world.  "Democratically elected" leaders in already poor countries are typically socialist.  They continue to appeal to the every growing masses who love the "steal from the rich" story.  And the more they steal money and pass it out to get votes, the more those countries nose dive.

Look at some of the stats on 1st world countries as compared to those problem prone 3rd world ones.

			GDP				GDP per Capita
1st World
USA			$14.44 trillion				$47,500
Switzerland			$318.1 billion				$42,000
Canada			$1.303 trillion				$39,200
UK			$2.236 trillion				$36,700
Germany			$2.925 trillion				$35,500
Japan			$4.34 trillion				$34,100
3rd World
Philippines			$318.2 billion				$3,300
Iraq			$90.23 billion				$3,200
Nicaragua			$16.83 billion				$2,900
Canbodia			$28.01 billion				$2,000
Haiti			$11.53 billion				$1,300
Rwanda			$9.729 billion				$900
Somalia			$5.524 billion				$600
Zimbabwe			$1.925 billion				$200
Developing
Chile			$245.1 billion				$14,900
Mexico			$1.567 trillion				$14,300
Brazil			$1.998 trillion				$10,200
China			$7.992 trillion				$6,000
India			$3.304 trillion				$2,900

I know it's a very complex formula that determines who has a healthy economy and who doesn't.  However, there are some factors that can't be denied.  Personal and economic freedom and liberty are huge.  So is an educated VOTING population.  The rule of law is key.  The protection of personal property is also key (including real estate.)  Once you have these and a few other values, you can gain wealth and in turn people can afford to build better structures (and as well set standards for such structures.) 

Earthquakes happen.  Even in Kobe Japan in 1995, over 5,000 people lost their lives from a devastating earthquake.  And Japan is 1st world and very modern!  However, it could have been much worse.  Going forward, the best gift we can give Haiti is the knowledge of how to build institutions that will help her build wealth.  And with that wealth build an environment that limits the effects of natural disasters.

I like Hilton Garden Inn BUT Hilton Stinks!

OK, that was a rather severe headline.  BUT, Hilton really lack in one regard.  They have no loyalty to their customers.  Do their hotel owners?  I've felt so.  Employees of their hotels?  Good Folks.  Their hotels, good.  I really like Hilton Garden Inns.  Good rooms, good prices, free internet, clean, all the rest.  BUT, if you don't stay in a Hilton for 1 year, your points are wiped out.  COMPLETELY.  I've lost over 30K points since 2002 because of this. And I'm not very happy about it.  Today, I was booking a hotel room for 5 nights and couldn't login to my HHONORS account.  I called customer service and found out that another 10K points were wiped out.  GREAT. 

Marriott doesn't do this.  Neither does Starwood (W, Westin, Sheraton.)  Nor does the Intercontinental Hotels (Holiday Inn, Intercontinental.)  And neither should Hilton!

Test Dummy #3

Yep, my son is test dummy #3.  I guess kids today have many more tools to spice up their science projects.

Fast-Growing Christian Churches Crushed in China

Click here to read a story about how belief in Jesus is booming in China and the government is doing its best to stop it.

Imagine having to meet in "illegal" buildings.  Why illegal?  Uhhh, you didn't ask for permission to build a non-state managed church, which too is illegal.  I am really impressed with the Chinese people who risk being jailed by their government just because they want to worship God and his son Jesus Christ.  I won't be as irritated the next time I see "Made in China" stickers on something I purchase.

December 7, 2009

On this day, 68 years ago, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  To the average American, this was a shocking act.  The Japanese sank four US Battle ships and damaged four more. They also sank or damaged three cruisers and three destroyers.  They also destroyed 188 aircraft.  In total, they killed 2,402 people and wounded 1,282.

Before attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had ravaged China.  They further conquered French Indochina (Vietnam) once France fell to Germany.  The US had been building forces in Hawaii and the Philippines to deter the Japanese from going any further.  However, the US had also halted oil and metal sales to Japan forcing her hand.  Many even believe the US had advance notice of the attack but let it happen knowing this would bring the country into the war allowing many bankers and industrialists to make very large profits.

World War 2 was a devastating war for both the Allies and the Axis powers.  It was also bad for those countries and peoples who just happened to be in the way, such as China or the peasants in Russia.  I decided to see just how bad this war as well as all other have been for the US in terms of deaths and injuries.  See the chart below for the 10 worst wars for the US, in terms of deaths.  Even though the US was only in World War 1 for 1.5 year, she still lost over 116 thousand men.  These are numbers to think about.  Many young men and women have given their lives for the US.  Many of these deaths were of kids the same age as my oldest son.  I'm both grateful for them and sad for them at the same time.

Rank	War	Years	Deaths
1	War of Southern Independence	1861–1865	625,000
2	World War II	1941–1945	405,399
3	World War I	1917–1918	116,516
4	Vietnam War	1964–1973	58,151
5	Korean War	1950–1953	36,516
6	American Revolutionary War	1775-1783	25,000
7	War of 1812	1812–1815	20,000
8	Mexican–American War	1846–1848	13,283
9	Iraq War	2003–present	4,328
10	Philippine–American War	1899–1913	4,196

Dad Visited Home This Fall

My sister took my dad to his birthplace this past fall.  He was born on October 3rd of 1932 in Vienna, GA.  The family moved to Florida in 1934.  In 1940, his mom, my grandmother, died, when my dad was only 7.  She had a massive stroke at only 45.

Here's my dad in front of the house where he was born.

 

Here's my grandmother's grave.

Football Over for Michael

Michael just finished his last year at the Alpharetta Youth Football Association.  His team, the White Eagles, won the "Lanier Bowl" beating the Sawnee Mountain Bulldogs.  The game was played at the North Forsyth High School field.  They went undefeated!

The coach had sent these pictures out a few weeks ago.  They show Michael recovering a fumble!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler

Had a quick walk around the French Quarter in New Orleans

Our National Debt is Too Much

With the discussion in congress and across the country about the healthcare reform bill, I decided to see what our debt looks like since this bill will cost us another $1.5 trillion plus over the next 10 years.  And since this is a government estimate, you can be sure the amount will be much higher.

So, here's where we've been with debt in the last 100 years.  In 1910, the US had $2.6 billion in debt.  No guess on what the percentage of GDP that was.  In 1940, a year we had a good estimate of our GDP, we had $43 billion in debt, representing 52% of GDP.  Why so high?  Our federal government had gone into massive debt to try and end the "recession".  Instead, they created a depression causing high debt along side a lower GDP.  By 1950, the numbers were really bad.  Our debt had risen to $257 billion, representing 94% of GDP.  DAMN.  But, this was the result of WW2.  BUT, all that spending on wartime technologies and industry to win the war ended up producing fantastic dividends and by 1960, our debt had gone up a bit more to $291 billion but by that time it represented 56% of GDP.  By 1970, our debt was up to $381 billion but represented only 38% of GDP.  Again, our debt from WW2 had been shoved into worthwhile investments (not all but mostly) and had driven our economy up much faster than our debt.  By 1980, our debt had risen to $909 billion, but gone down to 33% of GDP.  

Many things began to change in the 1980's.  Manufacturing was starting to stall.  Japanese cars became more popular.  The first of Chinese made goods started hitting our shores.  By 1990, our debt had more than tripled to $3.2 trillion representing 56% of GDP.  By 2000, after the go-go 90's, we still saw our debt go up, to $5.6 trillion representing 58% of GDP.  During the Bush years, we saw a 12 point jump in debt as a percentage of GDP.  See below:

Year	Debt ($ in billions)	% of GDP
2001	5,769.9	57.4
2002	6,198.4	59.7
2003	6,760.0	62.6
2004	7,354.7	63.9
2005	7,905.3	64.6
2006	8,451.4	65.0
2007	8,950.7	65.6
2008	9,985.8	70.2

Not pretty huh?  Thanks islam!  Thanks spend crazy Bush and Republican congress.  Thanks spend crazy Democratic run congress those last 3 years!  Thanks Democrats for creating the mortgage mess by demanding that mortgages be made to poor people and others who can't afford those mortgages (STUPID.) Scared?  Here's the scary part.

It is estimated that US debt will grow to $12.9 trillion, 90% of GDP in just one year of Barak Hussein Obama as President and with the Democratic run congress.  And it doesn't stop there.  See below:

Year	Debt ($ in billions)	% of GDP
2009 (est.)	12,867.5	90.4
2010 (est.)	14,456.3	98.1
2011 (est.)	15,673.9	101.0
2012 (est.)	16,565.7	100.6
2013 (est.)	17,440.2	99.7
2014 (est.)	18,350.0	99.8

We never need a communist/marxist government as we have now with Obama and the democrats in congress.  Further, we need a much smaller federal government.  One that gives us twice the output for 1/4 the costs.  We need proper regulation of our financial industries.  But, we need the government to get out of trying to manipulate those industries.  We have no healthcare crisis.  We do have healthcare inefficiencies.  But, those are due to GOVERNMENT rules, mostly.  We need the government to kill this reform bill and get the heck out of the way.  What do we want:

• Allow insurance to be sold across all 50 states.  1600 companies competing sounds good.  This will lower premiums, and force greater efficiency AND force down ridiculous executive salaries.
• Allow interest or membership entities to form "groups" and offer insurance.  If this were the case, those groups could allow new members regardless of pre-existing conditions just as group coverage provides at large companies.
• All state mandates should be eliminated.  No insurance company should HAVE TO cover hair plugs and breast augmentations (for vanity purposes.)
• Change our laws that allow all the frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals.  Medicine is not a sure thing.  People can die while in the medical care of a doctor or hospital.  Let's not make medical/healthcare a potential lottery win.
• Let's kill Medicaid!  I pay for my stuff, so should others.  If they are really sick, let other laws cover how to treat the indigent.  
• The government should focus on cleaning up and cutting WAY back Medicare.  It's going bankrupt, and is hit with over $60 billion in fraud per year.  It pays out $10 billion per year in "improper" payments.  It covers "scooters" and all kinks of durable goods that private insurance does not. Private insurance assumes the onus is on the patient to cover many simple things related to their healthcare.  

Other things could help our financial situation.  a few of my own thoughts:

• We've got to either run budget surpluses for a while OR we've got to see a massive increase of our GDP. The Federal government should make this happen.  We don't need higher taxes.
• We've got to have balanced trade with our trading partners.  It's good to trade with China.  But, we need to run trade surpluses for a while (say, 10 years.)  If we don't have balanced trade, we don't have healthy trade.
• We need a simpler tax system.  I personally like the FairTax.  Nothing else seems as logical or fair.
• We need energy independence.  Green things are fine.  I like a clean environment.  But, I want us to drill for oil in the Dakotas, Alaska and as well to extract the shale based oil found out west.  We should drill in the Gulf, off of Florida and anywhere we can draw on our own fuels.  Further, we should expand our use of natural gas, coal and even nuclear.  We have more oil, natural gas and coal than anyone else on the planet.  We need to use that to support our country's wealth.  

OK, well, I've just solved all our country's problems.  Now I've got to figure out how I'll pay for our new roof, our kid's college costs and new carpet!

A Celebration of Life

This week I attended the funeral of James Madison (JM) Hulme Jr.  JM was my wife's grandfather.  The father of Doug Hulme, my father-in-law.  JM died on his birthday this past September 27th at 96 years old.

He was also the father of Donald and Johnny. He was the husband to Hilda. He was the oldest brother to a large family (3 of which were at his funeral, Evelyn, Carolyn and Vic.)  He was the grandfather to 5 (Rena, Amy, Leann, Jim, Jake).  He was the great grandfather to even more!  He was the son of James Madison Hulme Sr.

He was a deacon, hymn leader, treasurer and more at Dewy Rose Baptist Church.  We even learned a new word they used to describe his song leading skills.  They called him the hymnheister.  I don't know how that word came to be.  But, it was truly a word of admiration.  JM loved to sing about Jesus.  He loved to help others do the same.  There is a pause in a number of hymns that, while not found in the music, the church continues to follow.  These pauses were there because JM had added them, because he felt the music needed them for emphasis.  The congregation calls this type of pause the "JM pause".  

He was a colleague at the mill he worked at.  He was the driver of a fuel oil truck.  He was a farmer.

But, here's what really mattered.  He was liked and he was loved.  He was admired.  He was the person people were happy to see.  In Elberton, GA this past Tuesday, I think I heard the nicest thing I've ever heard a man called. People described his as "sweet".  He was so nice, so caring and so loved, he was described as sweet.  By men and women.  His sweetness drew a packed house at the old chapel at Dewy Rose Baptist Church.  At 96 years old, he was still so missed that a large number of people came and sang his favorite hymns.  He was so sweet and in love with Jesus, his passing was a moment to celebrate his life, his new world in heaven and his reunion with his wife, friends and family members.  I didn't see many tears.  I saw lots of smiles.  Lots of fellowship.  Lots of singing.  In fact, and I know this sounds strange, his funeral had in many ways the feel of a wedding.  We were family members and friends who were going to miss one of our own, but really excited that he was heading to his next step in life.  In fact, I look forward to the day I can say hello to him again!

 

JM's marker (will be finished soon.)

 

JM's boys and their wives.  Johnny, Julie, Doug, Gail, Donald and Jean.

Less Can Be More - An Easier Tax System

I'm not sure how many people have heard of the Fairtax.  Here is how it is described at www.fairtax.org:

The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.

The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 296) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax  administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.

The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

Why else is it needed, compliance will be easier to manage.  More than 80% of all tax returns are eliminated under the FairTax--every individual filing. What remains are retail outlets collecting the FairTax. Of these, 80 percent of all retail sales now occur at large retail chains like Wal-Mart. The point is oversight will still reside under the Treasury Department but the government's responsibility will be over a far smaller "universe" of tax collection points making compliance oversight far less costly and far more effective than the current system which costs $265 billion a year in compliance costs and still comes up $350 billion a year short of what is owed.

Also, The FairTax rate of 23% (when calculated inclusively like income tax rates) has been thoroughly researched to provide all the revenues now collected under both the income tax system and through FICA payroll taxes.

The FairTax actually eliminates and reimburses all federal taxes for those below the poverty line. This is accomplished through the universal prebate and by eliminating the highly regressive FICA payroll tax. Today, low and moderate income Americans pay far more in FICA taxes than income taxes. Those spending at twice the poverty level pay a FairTax of only 11.5 percent -- a rate much lower than the income and payroll tax burden they bear today. Meanwhile, the wealthy pay the 23 percent retail sales tax on their retail purchases.

Imagine not having the "threat" of the IRS.  No tax returns.  Individual control of the money you earn. A system that has $22 million of dollars invested in research.  A system that ensures that ill gotten gains are taxed (as people who make money want to buy things and thus will cause tax to be paid.) Where would companies based outside the US want to base their operation when the corporate income tax rate in the U.S. was 0%?  The U.S. of course.

And there are so many economists (many at universities) who have vetted and support the plan.  

The downside?  Simplified taxation means less need for tax attorneys.  Less need for tax accountants. Further, there aren't any "tax breaks" any more that politicians can use to earn votes.  Further, people have total independence.  They "own" their earnings.  Government folks don't like losing control over people.  Maybe that's a way to keep them "honest"!

Football is Here for the Kids!

Alpharetta Youth Football Association's Jamboree (at Roswell.)  Last Year for Michael!

Michael's Starts his Last Year at AYFA from Salestrakr on Vimeo.

1 Down, 1 to Go

We took our oldest to his dorm at Georgia Southern University last 1.5 weeks ago.  He's already turning in papers in a literature class.  It truly is a new world now.  Or maybe it's a step back to the old world.  Well, it's much quieter around the house.

Chris Moving in to Georgia Southern Dorm from Salestrakr on Vimeo.

Republic vs. Democracy

Here's a simple, instructive video.  Seems we have the enemies of freedom and liberty in office. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJTfwbI6lKI

How do I like my iPhone?

That's easy.  A whole lot.  I've had it now for 2 months.  I'm not letting go of my Blackberry on T-Mobile though.  I pay $50 per month there for unlimited talk minutes, $20 for unlimited data, $5 for 400 text messages and $10 for hotspots.  Not a bad deal.  But, I really like the iPhone.  What are some of the great ways to use it:

• Definitely with my Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2.  Take it everywhere

• With my dock (above) listening to Pandora!  Too bad folks outside the US don't get Pandora.
• With my dock listening to WSB Radio.  Who needs airwaves.
• Tweetdeck and Twitterific
• Skype, for chatting and phoning (Wifi only)
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Bible (great to use at church)
• NetNewsWire for my favorite RSS feeds
• Voice search using the Google App
• Facebook
• Email for all my accounts
• Almost forgot, talking on the phone.  Except that AT&T service is expensive so I rely on T-Mobile and my Blackberry for talking
• Watching video podcasts

Silly Placards on Cars

Today I was leaving the club after Rena and I had a good workout (weights and Pilates.)  In the parking lot I saw a new Chevrolet Tahoe.  I miss our 2001 Yukon XL (our son totaled it in February of 2008.)  Looks like I may never drive one again.  I don't ever want to buy a UAW product again.  I also refuse to help a company owned by our current federal government (legislative and executive branches.)  So, no new Tahoe for me (won't buy Ford, GM or Chrysler.)  But, I did see something funny on this nice new Tahoe.  It was a hybrid Tahoe.  How did I know?  The big giant green H and the text reading HYBRID. 

Do we as car/truck owners need to tell others that our vehicle is "hybrid"?  My 2008 BMW has the company logo along with a placard for the model.  That's it.

Here are other placards that really bother me and should bother other vehicle owners:

 - The "V8" on the Audi A5 SS (doesn't the SS say fast?)
 - The "V6" on the underpowered VW Toureg
 - The "V12", "V8" and "Kompresser" placards found on many Mercedes Benz vehicles.  Damn, you're Mercedes Benz, not Chevrolet
 - The "fuel injection" placards stamped on many US and Japanese cars in the 80's and 90's.  Guess people wanted to let others know they didn't have "no stinkin' carburetor". 
 - The "Hemi" moniker found on a few Dodge models (who cares that the engine uses a hemispherical combustion chamber)
 - The "turbo" sticker that went on SO many cars from all manufacturers in the past
 - The new "flex fuel" monikers.  Wow, I'm so glad I know that car can accept ethanol, which is available only in a few stations across the US
 - Let's not forget "ABS".  Ooooo, they have anti-lock brakes!

There are many more.  Please comment and add to the list of dumb things to put on cars.

Maybe BMW should put on my car:

 - Bluetooth
 - iPod Enabled
 - Pleather (yes, I like the leatherette, laugh away)

Red Ring of Death

This is what a teen calls a failure of an Xbox 360.  It refers to the 4 red lights that surround the power button on the front of the Xbox.  These only come on when the box, or Xbox, fails.

Well, we caught the red ring of death this past weekend.  Seems I caused it.  Of course, my thought is, "I don't think so"!  It appears that these machines have had real problems with cooling.  And when they overheat, they fail.  Thus, you can't leave them on for too long.  STUPID I say.  I have a Mac Mini that's been on since January of 2005 and a Sony Vaio that's been turned on since mid-2003.  No failures.  My other Mac Mini has been on for over 1.5 years.  Nothing.  And Mac Minis don't even have fans!

We were ready to throw it away.  Not only would the kids lose a game box.  All of us would lose our Netflix streaming machine.  So, I did a bit of research at the Xbox site.  Found out the warranty for extends to 3 years when you have 3 red lights.  Well, alright!  They are shipping us the label to send the Xbox to the repair facility.  They fix it and send it back.  No charge.  And an extended warranty.  OK Microsoft, I'm singing your praises on this one.  Don't let me down.  I'm using Macs, iPhones, iPods.  Once Microsoft loses us with this box, we will be Microsoft free.  The coming Zune HD shows promise.  But, my iPod (160GB Classic) can be controlled by my car stereo and fits in my Logitech doc (as does my iPhone.)

Well, Microsoft has us for a bit longer.  We shall see how the repaired Xbox 360 lasts.

OK, This is Cool

The Wizzer, from Mattel:



and of course, Hot Wheels!

Excited and Depressed

OK, these should be mutually exclusive.  But, in this case, they're not.  I went into the Apple Store at Northpoint mall today to get a technical question answered.  That took about 1 minute.  On the way out of the store, I stopped to look at the newest MacBook Pro 15".  The same model I bought just over 1 year ago is WAY better than mine.  It's the new single shell aluminum body (less flexing, high quality), 2.53 GHz processor, twice the ram to 4GB (faster too), 250GB of disk (more than my 200), the new LED screen, an SD card slot, 256MB shared VRAM (OK, mine is dedicated!), faster bus speed than mine (1066 vs my 800).  Here's the kicker, it's $1,699.  I paid $1,999 for mine.  The only thing I got that was better was the dedicated video memory.  If I wanted to pay the same today, I'd get a 2.66 GHz processor (mine is 2.4 at present), all the stuff above, 256 of dedicated VRAM with a faster video processor and a 320GB hard drive, And this machines is REALLY fast. 

OK, must make tons of money so I can get this and hand down this old clunker I have.  Just 1 hour ago I loved it.  Now, I feel cheated. 

Not a Good Thing

South Carolina.  A place for good beach vacations.  Golf courses.  Good restaurants.  Fun times.  PRIDE.  In the 1830's, South Carolina threatened to succeed from the union.  TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.  President Jackson (my hometown was named after him) talked them down.  Then 30 years later, South Carolina was fed up with a growing central government which wanted to control everything.  South Caroline left the United States.  NO (for those folks who know nothing about history), not because of slavery.  Why?  TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!  Slavery was going away (I wish due to moral reasons, but more so in this case due to economic reasons.)  South Carolina, like most southern states, did not want it's economy to be "controlled" by an overbearing federal government, much like the original 13 did not want their economies controlled by the crown. 

Read this!  http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/04/south.carolina.sanford.stimulus/index.html.  The federal government and now the South Carolina State Supreme Court is forcing South Carolina to take funds it does not want nor need.  Why?  The Feds are doing this so they can then control the state.  The State Supreme Court is because even they are out for the power they believe comes with this money.  The governor is doing the right thing.  But, not so with the "masses".  When the governor announced his plans, lawsuits were filed by two students and a school administrators' association that sought to force the state to accept the stimulus money, some of which will go for education needs.  These lawsuits have now ended with this ruling.  It was bad enough fighting the feds  But to have to fight your own people?  Where do they think this money comes from?  Do they think it's just 'free money"?  It's not.  It's either our money or it's borrowed from China.  It all has to be repaid.  I'm all for funding education.  It should trump welfare, healthcare, sports stadiums and more.  BUT, if you don't have it, you don't have it.

South Carolina should say "NO".  Our declaration of independence and the constitution are sacred.  Perhaps the only things better are the words of Jesus himself.  I hope South Carolina defies the Federal Government and shows them that the STATES are sovereign lands.  THEY and their people own the Federal Government.  And power flows from the STATES telling the Feds what to do.  At the state level, elected officials and employees there work for the people.  That doesn't mean they do what the people/masses want them to do.  It means they do what best represents their interests.

OK, I"m glad that is out!  Time to enjoy life.  And perhaps only with power at the people level can we really enjoy life.  With our rights to Life, Libery and the Pursuit of Happiness!

Is Democracy the Killer of Liberty? Interesting Article

See the article (link) below.  Many folks not too much younger than me (and some older) rant on and on about democracy not realizing that our founding fathers specifically did not want our country to be a democracy.  And for many good reasons.  Here's an article that talks about why TODAY we don't want a pure democracy but more so, why we DO want to preserve our liberties.

Read On!

Chris has Graduated

My son graduated from Alpharetta High School last week.  Last Saturday was the ceremony, held at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, located here in Alpharetta.  The pics are located here.  Below are video clips.  I'd love for these clips to be in 1 file, fully size and HD.  But, the modern world just isn't there yet.  I've had to down sample and reduce size just to get these to publish here at Smugmug and also at Blip.tv.  It's even harder to publish good stuff at YouTube.  Oh well, there here!

A Great Picture Book

My oldest son, Chris, is about to graduate from high school.  My wife and and I really want to leave him with as many memories about home as possible.  One of the cool things we've done is produce a picture book for him.  A real book!  Bound and with a dust cover.  These are now SO easy to design and have bound.  I used a service called Blurb.  They provide book designing software at no charge (OS X and WIndows) called BookSmart.  When you're done, you merely upload the book and then order it.  You can order hardback and softback.  With a dust jacket or not.  Premium paper or not.  Then you can make the book public or not.  And then of course share it with family or friends who may want to buy a copy.  Great stuff!

Go look at my book about Chris!

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/665960

Pressure Washer on my Driveway

Last week I purchased a Husky electric pressure washer.  It was only $99.  To rent a gasoline engine pressure washer costs this much.  Sure, these rentals have many more PSI than my electric one (1500).  But, my electric one won't break the concrete apart.  

Now that I've finished the driveway and the walkway to the front door, I got to thinking.  How nice it would be to have the driveway my grandparents had.  It was just oyster shells.  When my grandfather or grandmother pulled into the driveway, you'd hear this crushing sound.  The dogs got excited and so did the grandkids. WOW, I sure miss that.  It was SOOOOO real.  If you needed more shells, you just drove out to Mayport and took them off of someone.  OK, it hurt to walk on the driveway barefoot.  So, we wore shoes.

I also remember that the asphalt on our streets had shells mixed in to bulk up the asphalt.  Here in Georgia, we have rocks.  It was so fun on a hot summer day to find sharks' teeth in the street!

We even had dirt roads around my house up to the early 70's  Where are the shell driveways, the dirt roads and the use of sea shells in our roads?  What do kids do on a hot, boring summer day?

Oh well, back to pressure washing!

Are Times Bad or Good?

I was chatting with a friend today discussing whether times were down a little or really bad.  So, I ran a few numbers on one of my favorite devices.  My HP12C (see below).  I found some interesting comparisons from 1983, when I graduated from the University of Florida, and today.  Here goes:

 - My first job was with Atlantic Bank in Jacksonville, FL (now part of the Wells Fargo company).  I made $15K per year (well below what my friends were making.)  If you assumed 5% per year inflation over those 26 years (average), that would be equal to $53K today.  Are most college grads getting out of school and getting at least $53K per year?  I don't think so.  That's deflation you can believe in!

 - Gasoline back in 1983 (April) was around $1.25 per gallon.  If we assume the same 5% inflation and 26 years, gas should cost $4.44.  It is much lower than that!

 - GDP per Capita in 1983 was $15,008.21.  Given the above variables, it should be $53,364.28.  It is estimated to have been $47,000 in 2008.  A little slip there.  Not keeping up with inflation.

 - 30 year fixed rate mortgages went for about 13% in 1983.  They are now around 4.75%.  That's a huge drop.

 - Phone bills are dead cheap today.  If you are young and need a phone, you can get an all you can eat service from Boost Mobile for $50 per month.  That covers the entire US.  OR, for $3 per month for Skype Unlimited US.  DSL from AT&T will run $30 (and includes hotspot access all across the US.)  The two cost $33.  $33 is $9.28 in 1983.  I know I paid more than that back then.  You had to pay for the line, the phone lease, wierd taxes and the dreaded long distance.

What's the answer?  Not sure.  I think times are better.  Much better.  BUT, I do miss one thing from back then.  The "party line".  My grandparents had one at their lake cabin.  It was so much fun to listen in on other people's conversations!

Chris in the Alpharetta High Talent Show 2009