Frank Luntz, spin doctor extraordinare ,whining about others using terms that hide the truth in one section of his guide on "How to get elected without even trying".... warns that, when discussing trade policy to be careful ..(if you want to be elected) by the ever foolable american public...
"Don't talk like an Economist... words like "protectionist" "capitalist" and "isolationist" turn the average voter off....... emotion beats intellect..facts... should be couched in terms that appeal to our hearts....."
... why of course.. why confuse people with concise language?... just a paragraph later he goes on to accuse others of using the same words he suggests as being GASP!!! following the lessons taught by the big giant head malcom mcdowell was afraid of
"There is no issue we have ever messaged where both side can legitamately use so much of the same language yet come to radically different conclusions. From jobs, to compliance, to level playing fields, those that would slame the door shut on international trade often use the same buzz words and occasionally even the same data as trade expansion advicates, George Orwell is alive and well"
... why of course he is.. and he is a fat bastard who changes honest terminology into emotional drivel so those people who are losing their jobs to outsourcing can instead complain about the "hostile business climate"..." it's NOT about just jobs, its about careers and the American Dream"
unfotunately, he fails to mention that those careers and granting of the American Drean is being done in Mumbai and Shenzhen province, so as to best improve the bottom line.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Friday, February 18, 2005
A response to Lawrence Kudlow...
Perhaps I am doing more posting to Kudlow's blog than my own.. But..I hate to waste .. So here is my rejoinder to his claims that those who question tax cuts will be buried.. maybe he is right if the mental break pointed out in "What's the matter with Kansas?" continues....
And a question for Mr. Kudlow... If I gave you a million dollars at this moment, (maybe you would get that from revenue cuts & borrowing.. ooops.. sorry.. "tax reform") and told you it had to go towards building a factory, would that factory be in the US or Shenzhen province? If it's the latter, perhaps the assumption that tax cuts at the high end always benefit the wider populace IS questionable. (oh.. I might presuppose you might say that every manufacturing job sent overseas will spawn an advertising/marketing/management job here)... in the words of Dr. Phil "how's that workin out for ya?"
Pardon me if I prefer to listen to CISCO systems boss Chambers about the future shifts of jobs in the higher pay ranges towards India and China. I wonder how many Mumbai based analysts I can hire for the wages your being paid now?
continuing....
Perhaps I just need to accept the basic logic> all taxes bad, all cuts good, no borrowing bad (even in times of war), deficits don't matter.
I am really looking forward to the day when we can end all taxes and just borrow every dollar we need (not just over 1.5 billion a day) but something tells me the Asian banks that are floating our debt will eventually want a bit more interest than they are currently demanding to continuing showing up at our bond sales.
Perhaps a clarifying question might be: What would you consider the top fair rate? Kennedy's cut made sense, Reagan's made sense, would you suggest a flat tax? Simplification is certainly something we can all get behind (although the write off for mortgage interest seems to be a third rail even you wouldn't touch)
Teddy Roosevelt believed that those who profited the most from the supreme luck of being born American and had leveraged that advantages to make the best use of our national resources (roads, air, water, etc) might owe a bit more back..... Warren Buffet believes he should probably be paying as much (as a percentage) as those who work in his factories... and he along with Bill Gates Sr. (while supporting an increase of exemption to 6 or 10 million) believe that the completely removing the estate tax (oops "death tax" sorry), especially during these times of ballooning deficits and a soon to be retired demographic bubble of great wealth is beyond just poor policy. TR believed that we should not create an "aristocracy of inheritance". Adam Smith warned the advantages of capitalistic competition are at risk if the islands of capital become too large. While we are not yet to the type of capital concentration we had spurring on the economic shocks of the late 1800's we can probably get there if we try.... OK.. I am just going on now...
Are all revenue/tax cuts good? And should progressivity be removed from the tax code? Do deficits truly not matter... or at least not until they approach the percentages of GDP that burried Argentina and Brazil? And can I look forward to a better America when we get down to just a few corporations and a greater concentration of capital in the hands of the benevolent ....
or should I read the signs... and take every dollar I can muster and add it to Chinese FDI and wait for the forex swing when they finally let the yuan float?
And a question for Mr. Kudlow... If I gave you a million dollars at this moment, (maybe you would get that from revenue cuts & borrowing.. ooops.. sorry.. "tax reform") and told you it had to go towards building a factory, would that factory be in the US or Shenzhen province? If it's the latter, perhaps the assumption that tax cuts at the high end always benefit the wider populace IS questionable. (oh.. I might presuppose you might say that every manufacturing job sent overseas will spawn an advertising/marketing/management job here)... in the words of Dr. Phil "how's that workin out for ya?"
Pardon me if I prefer to listen to CISCO systems boss Chambers about the future shifts of jobs in the higher pay ranges towards India and China. I wonder how many Mumbai based analysts I can hire for the wages your being paid now?
continuing....
Perhaps I just need to accept the basic logic> all taxes bad, all cuts good, no borrowing bad (even in times of war), deficits don't matter.
I am really looking forward to the day when we can end all taxes and just borrow every dollar we need (not just over 1.5 billion a day) but something tells me the Asian banks that are floating our debt will eventually want a bit more interest than they are currently demanding to continuing showing up at our bond sales.
Perhaps a clarifying question might be: What would you consider the top fair rate? Kennedy's cut made sense, Reagan's made sense, would you suggest a flat tax? Simplification is certainly something we can all get behind (although the write off for mortgage interest seems to be a third rail even you wouldn't touch)
Teddy Roosevelt believed that those who profited the most from the supreme luck of being born American and had leveraged that advantages to make the best use of our national resources (roads, air, water, etc) might owe a bit more back..... Warren Buffet believes he should probably be paying as much (as a percentage) as those who work in his factories... and he along with Bill Gates Sr. (while supporting an increase of exemption to 6 or 10 million) believe that the completely removing the estate tax (oops "death tax" sorry), especially during these times of ballooning deficits and a soon to be retired demographic bubble of great wealth is beyond just poor policy. TR believed that we should not create an "aristocracy of inheritance". Adam Smith warned the advantages of capitalistic competition are at risk if the islands of capital become too large. While we are not yet to the type of capital concentration we had spurring on the economic shocks of the late 1800's we can probably get there if we try.... OK.. I am just going on now...
Are all revenue/tax cuts good? And should progressivity be removed from the tax code? Do deficits truly not matter... or at least not until they approach the percentages of GDP that burried Argentina and Brazil? And can I look forward to a better America when we get down to just a few corporations and a greater concentration of capital in the hands of the benevolent ....
or should I read the signs... and take every dollar I can muster and add it to Chinese FDI and wait for the forex swing when they finally let the yuan float?
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Natan Sharansky fever
I have been carrying on a little discussion at Lawrence Kudlow's blog about the vibrant Sharansky's views that a little wind will topple many mighty oaks of despotism. Beware rubber tree plants... he's got high hopes.. (also known as "delusions" or perhaps "psychotic breaks with reality" ) that he has come to share with the world.
I thought Buchanan was brilliant this weekend pointing out that it was during discussions on limiting missiles that he was allowed to be freed from the gulag- not because we were hurling empty threats.
I thought Buchanan was brilliant this weekend pointing out that it was during discussions on limiting missiles that he was allowed to be freed from the gulag- not because we were hurling empty threats.
Brian Williams solves the argument....
Last night, GE's evening news pitchman made everything clear with a declarative statement reminiscent of the ones we heard before we began the Iraqi campaign.... those that sounded something like "since Saddam has these WMDs, what will we do....."
This comments, or phrase was in reference to the SS "repair" that may take place. Williams basically said that "this was the season to repair social security"..... I am glad that the presupposition of the system being "broken" has now been sent down from on high so we can move on to the "what will we do about it " side.... much as we did in Iraq. We can skip the arguments about if something is wrong, or even if this is the place where the most trouble is,.... and move straight on to the "what we can do about it".. which I am reasonably sure will quickly be replaced with the "how can you support continuing this failed system" arguments..... present a problem, real or not... and then start shoving a fix... needed or not.
Thank you Brian Williams, for your inciteful analysis and determination that will allow us to move on to the next step. Did you make this determination before or after they powdered your nose, removed the color stain protector sheet, and pointed you in the direction of the scrolling words and camera?
Not that this was a hard decision.... GE's NBC division of course is in no way influenced by the coming windfalls to GE's "Genworth " financial management division..... We can be sure of that. GE of course would not do that... nor would they push Genworth on "the Apprentice" or any other NBC show. Naaaaah.. I am waiting for the scene in "Law and Order"...
Detective 1: "you know I am worried about social security.... it will be bankrupt in no time and our only choice is to borrow trillions, because after all.... deficits don't really matter.. and those at the bottom of this ponzi scheme can surely take the additional taxes in the future"
Detective 2" hey... you're walking in blood you know"
.... p.c. pop
This comments, or phrase was in reference to the SS "repair" that may take place. Williams basically said that "this was the season to repair social security"..... I am glad that the presupposition of the system being "broken" has now been sent down from on high so we can move on to the "what will we do about it " side.... much as we did in Iraq. We can skip the arguments about if something is wrong, or even if this is the place where the most trouble is,.... and move straight on to the "what we can do about it".. which I am reasonably sure will quickly be replaced with the "how can you support continuing this failed system" arguments..... present a problem, real or not... and then start shoving a fix... needed or not.
Thank you Brian Williams, for your inciteful analysis and determination that will allow us to move on to the next step. Did you make this determination before or after they powdered your nose, removed the color stain protector sheet, and pointed you in the direction of the scrolling words and camera?
Not that this was a hard decision.... GE's NBC division of course is in no way influenced by the coming windfalls to GE's "Genworth " financial management division..... We can be sure of that. GE of course would not do that... nor would they push Genworth on "the Apprentice" or any other NBC show. Naaaaah.. I am waiting for the scene in "Law and Order"...
Detective 1: "you know I am worried about social security.... it will be bankrupt in no time and our only choice is to borrow trillions, because after all.... deficits don't really matter.. and those at the bottom of this ponzi scheme can surely take the additional taxes in the future"
Detective 2" hey... you're walking in blood you know"
.... p.c. pop
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Why Post Modernism Sucks....
Perhaps when you view this blog, or any article, newscast, or show you have a thought in the back of your mind.... that goes something like "well, this is X after all, so it should be ____" trusted, ignored, etc....
Kant said that without an understanding of a given cultures language, we cannot truly understand that culture. It seems we have extended that consideration for underlying cultural references to a point in which all facts are immediately given or lose credit based upon their presenter. One can nearly hear the pop as ostrich heads go into the ground if you mention sources they discredit automatically.
Amazingly large blindspots are created as we can now watch only those pundits and wonks who support the views we already have. We do not have enough stadiums to hold all the people who are living an unexamined life and maintain an unalterable "fact" base.
Don't bother me with facts, I have already made up my mind.
Kant said that without an understanding of a given cultures language, we cannot truly understand that culture. It seems we have extended that consideration for underlying cultural references to a point in which all facts are immediately given or lose credit based upon their presenter. One can nearly hear the pop as ostrich heads go into the ground if you mention sources they discredit automatically.
Amazingly large blindspots are created as we can now watch only those pundits and wonks who support the views we already have. We do not have enough stadiums to hold all the people who are living an unexamined life and maintain an unalterable "fact" base.
Don't bother me with facts, I have already made up my mind.
A beginning....
Well... perhaps I should start with some quick thank yous.... Thanks to Charlie Rose for having the blogger show.... Thanks to Glen Reynolds, Joe Trippi, and the Wonkette for their participation in that show.... and of course thanks to blogspot for making this too easy to begin.
And thanks to anyone who is taking a moment to read what could become a therapeutic activity for myself, and an informative or at least challenging activity for themselves.... now... on with the show.
And thanks to anyone who is taking a moment to read what could become a therapeutic activity for myself, and an informative or at least challenging activity for themselves.... now... on with the show.
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