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© 2001 Rich Martin
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In other words, please forward.
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From the Home of Rich & Peggy Martin
You don't learn to hold your own in the world by standing on
guard, but by attacking, and getting well-hammered yourself.
George Bernard Shaw
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RICH'S RANTS
When will the economy rebound? That's the question posed
by all those financial TV-gurus with the rose colored
glasses, as if they forgot everything they were taught in
Econ 101. It's as if they haven't strayed from the financial
section of the Wall Street Journal long enough to realize
the after-effects of the war rippling thru the economy are
beginning to take a toll.
The "secret" to America's success can be summarized in
three words. Production, production, production. The
efficiency of the American worker to produce all the goods
that the rest of US enjoy is what makes our economy the envy
of the rest of the world. We've invented machines that can
stitch a 100 rugs in the time it takes one hardworking 3rd
world slave to produce just one. We can grow 40 bushels of
corn on single acre, while other countries can't grow enough
to feed themselves on the back 40. That's the "how", but
they're asking about the "when"?
Even the rosiest scenario has the airline industry
recovering only 80% of their customer base, and why not?
They've added (by necessity) one hour of hassle to each
flight, in respect/fear to the cunning of bin Laden. We've
taken 10,000 men and women out of production and put them in
the National Guard to patrol the nation's airports. 50,000
more citizens were activated with their military reserve
units and we're doubling the salary costs of baggage
screeners. The revenue of airports coming from store leases
to parking fees is in a free fall. (You can depend upon them
to figure out how to make someone else make up for this
short fall.) All of these things increase the cost of air
travel and whether they are financed thru increase ticket
prices user fees or out of the US Treasury is irrelevant,
they're a permanent drag on the economy.
With 20% fewer travelers to serve, airlines have
naturally cut back on the purchase of new planes which has
also has a negative impact on manufacturing, i.e., Boeing.
KAL has stopped serving some airports because our govt no
longer allows airlines to mix passengers cargo, in fear that
a bomb may be stashed in the cargo hold, and Swiss Air which
was already in the red, is probably doomed. More blows to
the ailing economy.
New regs were put in place for crop dusting and student
pilot registration. News helicopters are grounded. More time
and cost which will return less production and efficiency.
Smart or paranoid, who knows?
To date, the govt has responded the only way they seem
to know how, throw our money to the squeakiest lobbyists in
Washington. Lot's of money. $15,000,000,000 in round one. For
what? To save American Airlines and United American Lines?
The industry is going to shrink to fit the size of the market
regardless of how much taxpayer money congress sends them.
(Since there is no free lunch, the mathematical certainty
is: our collective taxes have just gone up $15b to pay for
this corporate welfare program.)
The idea that our nation would be hurt if AA and UAL
were reduced in size to 5th or 6th largest and lost their
stranglehold on the industry is ludicrous. Matter of fact,
the nation would most likely benefit from the increased
competition that scenario would bring about. Big hubs, like
here in Dallas/Fort Worth are more expensive to fly out of.
Sometimes a traveler can save a $100 by driving south to
Austin to take a flight north because of D/FW's hub status.
Same for the insurance industry "rescue" bill. What's
the difference if ten or 20 insurance companies go belly up,
or a 100? They'll be replaced faster than Bill Clinton can
say "Gennifer Flowers who?". If congress has an irresistible
urge to do something that will help, they can pass
legislation speeding up the insurance payoffs and capping
claims to a reasonable dollar amount. But most likely, they
will respond to lobbyists demands to "rescue" them and save
the status quo for the ABA wing of the liberal party, for a
promise to share the windfall with the RNC/DNC.
Our fabled (snow, rain, etc.) USPS has found out that
its windowless buildings with its bullet proof counters
provides no protection from anthrax. They want to cut
service and want $6 bil to protect themselves from enemies
foreign and domestic, such as UPS & FedEx. (Another $6 bil
tax hike/drag on the economy.)
We've got to use our industrial base to replace bombs
and two-million-dollar missiles spent in Afghanistan. We
"need" to divert $200 bil of our tax dollars to convert our
manufacturing base to build 3,000 super-secret Joint
Strike Fighters (delivery to start in 2008).
Congress has yet to save the nation's most affected
industry, skyscrapers? The prez did promise we'd pay to
rebuild the WTC, but would it be the same? Certainly
skyscrapers have lost their charm and no longer command the
high rents they did before 9/11. It would give any prudent
person pause before accepting a job at either the tallest
bldg in NY (the Empire State) or the tallest bldg in the
country (Sears Tower in Chgo), would it not? A lot of
existing office space has been seriously devalued by the
horror of 9/11. Why isn't the skyscraper union in DC
promising to save the 2-party system (from becoming a
3-party system) if only for a billion or two?
And this brings us back to the question, when will the
economy rebound? There is no doubt the public sector will
rebound with more people being paid higher salaries to do
more things "to protect US". As for the rest of the economy
that must support the new-and-improved and ever-growing
bureaucracy that brought US to where we now find ourselves:
NEVER. It is our legacy to our children and
grandchildren. They'll never know the freedom our parents,
and their parents afforded US. Shame on US.
To be continued tomorrow....
COMING ATTRACTIONS
We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion:
the stage where the government is free to do anything it
pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission,
which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history,
the stage of rule by brute force. Ayn Rand
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO, Hmmm in the night
"Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free
expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on
the rights of assembly and association; and violations of
the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic
communications and warrants for house searches, orders for
confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are ...
permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed."
Feb. 28, 1933, the aging German president Hindenburg was
pressured by Chancellor Hitler into signing an emergency
"Decree for the Protection of the People and the State"
Things you can't say aloud---because the answer might
scare you.
"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights
of ordinary Americans." William Jefferson Clinton, USA
Today, March 11, 1993.
THE RED CROSS
The Red Cross accepted donations far in excess of what
they needed to assist the World Tower Center victims, over
a half bil, and are contacting contributors giving them an
option to have their donations returned. I doubt many
Americans are so short-sighted as to take them up on this
offer since the money will obviously by used for future Red
Cross emergencies, but I'd bet a dollar to donut, that those
Hollywood elite who took bows for contributing millions, are
first in line for a refund.
http://www.topica.com/lists/SlickMisc/read/message.html?mid=1708857815&sort=d&start=607
If you contribute to the UNITED WAY, you may want to
re-think your contribution strategy. Many United Ways have
cut off money going to the Boy Scouts of America. If you
wish to contribute to the BSA to help with the short fall,
skip the middleman and send your donation direct:
The Boy Scouts of America
National HQ
1329 Walnut Hill Ln
Irving, TX 75162
(972) 580-2263
or by Credit card
https://www2.securecontribution.com/defendscouting/
An excellent example of the commentary and expressions of
concern being posted on the Web by defenders of Scouting
http://community.zuniversity.com/servlet/z_ProcServ/DBPAGE=page&MODE=display&GID=01275001170989291111027467&PG=01278001170992546213473104&START_COUNT=1
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