common sense

Tax Deal

jtimmerman — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 14:07:54 +0000

Usually it is my belief that when Republicans and Democrats are actually able to hammer out an agreement it must be a good thing. In this case I have once again been proven wrong. For all of the fight about the deficit during the election season what is the first thing that is done when they get back to business? Add to the deficit by extending tax cuts without offsetting spending cuts. I think there is a fundamental disconnect between the what government is intended to do and what government is expected to do. Create jobs, stimulate the economy, at what point did these become the pervue of the government. Do we want the government steering the ship of our economy, the same government that can’t even balance its own budget. The fundamental problem here is that we the people hold politicians accountable not for how they run the government and who they help but also how the economy is performing. Do they have some role in that. Absolutely, it would be naive not to think so. The government should provide regulation for a level playing field, a safety net for those out of work or for those who can’t care for themselves. Why does it have to be stimulating the economy. Has anyone even checked to find out if this whole Keynesian economics thing even works or is this another case of what G.W. Bush called “voodoo economics” . Well, I know the answer. The answer is that Keynesian economics is supposed to be employed such that in an economic downturn the government is supposed to overspend to stimulate the economy. Then in strong times the government is supposed to cut spending and build up a surplus to be used for the next cycle. Just like everything else we only consider one side of the equation.

Debt Commission

jtimmerman — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:40:15 +0000

It is amazing to me that people on a debt commission can’t get it together to agree on reducing the debt. This thing is so big that to hang on to ideological purity is like refusing a lifeboat on a sinking ship because it is the wrong color. Politicians are more worried about campaigning than they are about governing. The founder probably had it right with citizen legislators. At least that way they wouldn’t care more about preventing any credit going to the other party at the expense of solving a gargantuan problem that will affect all Americans for generations. Shame on Republicans and Democrats alike.

jtimmerman — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 03:59:08 +0000

I am constantly amazed that we allow the people we pay to work for us to be so blatantly against doing our work. The recount of the Minnesota Governor’s race is now being used to stir up fear on both sides. “Volunteer now to help us keep the Republicans, from slowing down the recount and jamming their agenda through before Dayton can take office”. “We are not going to get rolled again”. This is so blatantly partisan and so against doing the work of the people. Why are people content with this. We deserve better.

The leaders of the panel convened by the President to make recommendations on debt and the deficit released preliminary suggestions. Democrats and Republicans are decrying the suggestions. I haven’t read about the suggestions very much and am just going by what I saw on CNN today. Both parties seem to be saying that this “goes to far”. The suggestions don’t balance the budget for like 27 years. Goes to far? What kind of alternate universe do politicians live in where our national debt is 60% of the entire economic output of this country and increasing that debt for the next 27 years goes to far in cutting? Republicans are going to hate it because, gasp, we are spending way more than we take in so we would look for more revenue at the same time as cutting spending in almost every area. Democrats hate it because, gasp, we would cut what we spend in order to stop spending way more than we have. This ideological Koolaide that politicians seem to have ingested seems to make them oblivious to reality and unwilling to suggest that sacrifice might just be necessary to get us out of this gaping hole of sucking debt that will inhale us all. But I guess when you blindly vote for the same set of people who have been taking us down this road for years, the idea that they would fix it seems kind of absurd.

Politics is kinda like…

jtimmerman — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 11:05:23 +0000

…Professional wrestling. It is all about the story line of the day, no one remembers the last story line. To change the story all a wrestler has to do is change costumes and entrance music. Take Mark Dayton for instance. No one remembers that he was a (self-admittedly) poor senator. Wait a little while, change costumes and here you go – great candidate for governor. Republicans were in charge of Congress and/or the Presidency For a good portion of the 2000s. The story line then was exploding deficits, unpaid for wars and large debt. Wait a couple of years and you have the party of fiscal discipline. I guess it is now the American way to have an attention span of 16 seconds – but … if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten (great quote, I don’t know the originator).

A return to(of) common sense.

jtimmerman — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 02:02:48 +0000

On the eve of the election I have returned to writing the common sense blog. It appears that it is not a moment to soon as this election season has appeared to lack any. The Democrats who have been in power have spent the country to the brink of oblivion. Hey, the Republicans call, give us a chance. Their rationale is that it is taking too long for the Democrats to fix the mess that Republicans made the last time they were in power. It kind of makes you think doesn’t it. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. This one is for you straight ticket voters!

134

jtimmerman — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:57:44 +0000

134 members of your United States House of Representatives voted against a bill for greater shareholder input into CEO compensation. All aboard the gravy train. Actually this bill passed the House but I can’t imagine what happens in the Senate where you have to be a millionaire to think about running.

Rove????

jtimmerman — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:53:58 +0000

Karl Rove announced he is leaving the White House. Now he is making the rounds of the Sunday shows. I swear this guy should stay in the shadows. When he stays in the shadows he is the mysterious man behind the curtain that everyone loves to hate. When he comes out and speaks he just sounds like the political hack that he is. He is all about winning campaigns though personal smear and disinformation. He is what is wrong with our political process. I can guarantee that no candidate for which he works will get my vote.

Sorry

jtimmerman — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:53:08 +0000

Sorry that the material has been little and far between of late. Other things have taken precedence. Not that there has not been material. I just haven’t had the righteous indignitude I usually have. School starts in a couple weeks, I am sure I will write more consistently then.

Take a break

jtimmerman — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:07:39 +0000

Please allow me to take a break from my ranting. Our political system has problems, many problems. But, as Winston Churchill said, (paraphrasing) “..democracy is the worst form of government, except of course for all of those others that are tried from time to time..” We must never forget the wonderful system that allows for open debate, ranting on the internet and disagreement. We should value the fact that power has changed hands many, many times over the last two hundred plus years, often between people who don’t like each other, and yet nary a shot has been fired. It is often important to take a step back and look at how great of a system we have. We are lucky to be able to rant on and on (and in some cases on) about petty things like political commercials and legislative gridlock. Many peoples of the world wish to have such problems to deal with.

Top 5

jtimmerman — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:28:34 +0000

These are the top 5 reasons (that I could think of off the top of my head) that we should be outraged by the current Presidential campaign:

5. All the buzz is about how much money has been raised, not how many votes have been won.

4. How much money is being spent to put on slick campaign events, make commercials, hire consultants and the like. This is at the expense of talking to real people about real issues.

3. Senators Obama, Clinton, McCain and many others have jobs. The people paying them are not getting their money’s worth.

2. Primaries are the bastion of political extremists. The far left and the far right choose the major candidates.

1. The founders of our nation are probably rolling over in their graves knowing how the political process has been hijacked by special interests, political parties, PACs and 527s. The electorate needs to demand a return to sanity in the political arena.