The Burning Platform

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
You're power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil warIf as a country we continue to allow our politicians and their military industrial complex corporate sponsors to spend $800+ billion per year on weapons, to the detriment of higher education, alternative energy projects, and national infrastructure needs, we will be paying an extremely high price. According to the Defense Department’s latest "Personnel Strengths" report, the United States now has troops stationed in 147 countries and 10 territories. Why are we policing the world? What is the point of having 57,000 troops in Germany and 33,000 troops in Japan? Germany and Japan each spend $40 billion per year on their military. Can’t they defend themselves at this point?

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We have some of the brightest engineers in the country developing weapons to kill human beings more efficiently. There is an enormous opportunity cost that is being paid. These engineers could be concentrating their brilliance on developing alternative energy solutions which could free us from our Middle East oil dependence. Which effort would benefit our country more, weapons development or energy independence? War and non-stop conflict benefit the military industrial complex. It is in their best interest to support candidates that favor an aggressive foreign policy. This has led to Defense companies using their influence to provoke conflict throughout the world. President Eisenhower’s final words in his farewell address are the most chilling.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

If the words of a noble 20th century President aren’t enough to convince you of a dangerous too powerful military, maybe the words of our Founding Father will.

Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

George Washington

Are You Part of the Cure or Part of the Disease?

Come out upon my seas, curse missed opportunities (am I)
A part of the cure, or am I part of the disease

Clocks - Coldplay

I think I’ve made a valid case that our government is on a burning platform of unsustainable policies. The important point now is how do we put the fire out and save the country from imploding under a mountain of debt? This is where ideology needs to be put aside. The best ideas from anyone should be considered. I believe that Samuel Adams was correct.

It does not take the majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fire freedom in the minds of men.

Some ideas for consideration follow:

1. We know that Congress is corrupt and in the pocket of lobbyists. They show no courage to make necessary unpopular decisions because they won’t be re-elected. The founding fathers envisioned representatives who did their civic duty for a short time and then went back to their real profession. Almost 200 out of 535 members of Congress are lawyers and lifetime politicians. This explains much about our predicament. Term limits would inject our leaders with a dose of courage. Maybe they would do what was best for the country if they knew that they would only be in Washington for six years.
2. Outlawing lobbyists and PACs would remove the buying and selling of votes in Congress. We must remove the corruption from Washington DC.
3. The PAYGO rules that were allowed to expire in 2002 must be reinstituted. These rules would not allow new spending initiatives without an equal cut in other spending. These rules allow Congressmen to pretend to have a backbone and say no to constituent demands.
4. The banks that are insolvent will need to be nationalized, investors wiped out, and good assets sold off to good banks. Nouriel Roubini lays out a logical scenario. The sooner we purge the system of its bad debt, the sooner we can get this economy on a positive track.
5. Dr. John Hussman has a solution for the foreclosure disaster that would not stick the U.S. taxpayer with the bill. Banks could write down the mortgage balance but receive a PAR (property appreciation right) back from the homeowner. The idea is discussed in more detail here.
6. The U.S. carmakers need to be restructured within a pre-packaged bankruptcy. They want another $39 billion of your tax dollars. No more taxpayer funds can be wasted on these bloated pigs.
7. A truly non-partisan commission appointed by the President with the power to put forth a comprehensive plan to restructure Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security for an up or down vote by Congress is the only way to create a viable future. Congress must be forced to confront this issue.
8. John McCain’s moderate approach of allowing a path to citizenship seems like the best immigration plan. Most came here to try and live a better life. If they have committed crimes or don’t follow the prescribed path to citizenship, then they need to be expelled from our country. We need to encourage foreign professionals to immigrate to America with incentives, if necessary.
9. If 50% of the $1.4 trillion annual military related budget was redirected to debt reduction, energy independence, and infrastructure rebuilding, we would actually get a positive return on our tax contribution. Our military is supposed to defend our country, not invade sovereign nations.
10. A “Manhattan Project” to develop new energy sources which would eliminate the $400 billion per year that we send overseas for foreign oil. The number of high paying jobs that could be created by building nuclear power plants, wind farms, and converting vehicles to natural gas would be in the hundreds of thousands.
11. A tax system that eliminated all the preferences and loopholes for corporations and individuals while lowering rates would be fairer. Maybe even our Treasury Secretary could do his taxes correctly. Congress and lobbyists use the tax system to push their agendas. A flat tax or replacing the income tax with a national sales tax are other possible options.
12. The Federal Reserve needs to be abolished. A currency backed by gold or a basket of precious metals would restrict what Congress could spend. This would save us from ourselves. The dollar has lost 93% of its purchasing power since Nixon closed the gold window in 1971 and the National Debt has gone from $389 billion to $10.8 trillion, a 2,800% increase in 38 years. Politicians will spend your money if they are given the chance. Let’s not give them the chance.

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