Austerity Measures coming for the U.S.A.

       Before we examine what that might entail we need to realize a few things.  First, Spain and Greece are not alone in owing more than their GDP annually.  Second, At least they had the good sense not to borrow the bulk of their cash from their primary trade partner.
       See here in the U.S.A. we have borrowed heavily from Chinese banks.  While a bad move for many reasons it is especially stupid when you consider we are borrowing now, to pay the interest on past loans.  Mostly also from China.  We now owe more than we can pay.  So how can we fix this?
       The solution we have been using is to keep borrowing, which undermines American manufacturing so it outsources to China.  Then buying goods that used to be domestic, but are now imported.  But then we all knew that.  Essentially it's like having your home mortgaged through Wal-Mart bank, where you also buy your food, clothes etc.  Then realizing you can't pay for your groceries, so you borrow more from them.
       What I'm driving at here is that we joke about the collapse of the Spanish, and the Greek economy.  We laugh about the Austerity measures they must now endure just to pay back a loan they should never have taken out.  We make fun of the people there for allowing their own government to run the country into the dirt so bad they had to borrow more than their entire countries production, in the first place.
       What makes us different?  By all means, keep on laughing.  It isn't going to be funny in a few more years when China wants its money back, and we can't pay.  We will be at the same point sooner than you could imagine.  Or maybe not.  See, I learned a trick or two in my negotiations class.  Sometimes the weak position is stronger than the strong position.  Like here.  And please, any aspiring presidential candidates take note, this will work.
       Explain to our good friends the Chinese that we have no ability to pay them back as long as we keep buying their goods.  We need to either have our debt absolved, and we in turn would forgive the debts owed us by other sovereign nations; or we will need to heavily tariff or outright embargo all goods originating in their country, in order to generate the revenue to pay them back.  We are very sorry.  You have been very kind to us, but you had to have seen this coming as much as we did.  
       Then step back and let them make the decision.  It's their money, after all.  Or solution no one wants to hear.  We form a trade federation.  A super-national organization like the E.U.  This one though would be just us and China, maybe Brazil, if they care to play nice for a change.  Put aside our differences and realize exactly how much of the planet's GDP is represented by just those three countries.  Add in Japan and Germany and we would then have a world government.
       Option three is simple enough: learn Mandarin or Cantonese.  You'll need it if we keep doing what we've been doing.

Rapid Fire

       I know I promised lengthy discussions on topics, but sometimes there is a lot of ground to cover in a short time so hang on and close your eyes if you have to.  Remember, my views are mine.  I only speak for myself, and sometimes my dog, but never anyone I have ever worked for, or whose schools I have attended, public or private, real or imagined, dead or alive.
   
       In my former fair city of Chicago there is currently a movement led by alderman Danny Solis to make the possession of marijuana a misdemeanor, punishable by a ticket, rather than jail time.  Rather than focus on what may or may not be the positives and negatives of this move in terms of legalization, lets focus on the alderman's argument.  That argument is that police spend 89,000 man hours arresting, booking, and jailing offenders.  That is just the police in Chicago.  No other city, not counting court time, etc.  This alderman feels that the officer's time would be better spent on more important things.  Good point.
       Alderman Tom Tunney is suggesting a crackdown for ordinance violations in the city ranging from dog licencing, and handicap parking to using camera technology to enforce speed limits and sidewalk shoveling.  I like that, enforce speed limits with robo-tickets.  That is the point when you stop pretending it is about safety.  A police officer giving you a warning enforces the speed limit.  An electronic ticket, aside from violating due process, is only about revenue.
       So Chicago news is summed up as:  Marijuana possession, decriminalized.  Not shoveling snow that you did not put there: criminalized.  See what I did there.

       At work we had a teleconference where some upper level executive was proudly telling us how CEO's of other major companies are approaching our company with basic problems, and asking for solutions.  He was rather happy because this clearly meant more money for our company.  What's not to like?  It does point to a sad truth though.  The CEO of a hospital does not know enough about running their business to know what equipment, or professionals they need to treat patients.  At that level this is actually expected.  They also don't know enough to ask the Doctors and Nurses and Technicians who already work there, and would know this information.  Likely they would know it better than the sales team of a single company.  Just sayin'...

       The Gross Domestic Product is up.  That is pointing to a recovery, or at least the end of the downward slide.  This is great news.  Unless you are unemployed.  See the current 9 percent rate is only those collecting unemployment.  The actual rate, which counts people who are no longer looking, no longer eligible, and the people with advanced degrees working the drive thru., is around 30 percent.  If you are a teacher, a nurse, or in any field where governments' bad decisions affect your ability to find employment, then the following does not apply to you.  With unemployment so high, and growth occurring anyway, there is only one interpretation to be had.  Those currently unemployed, with the exception of those listed above, were not really needed.

       In the paper today some buffoon wrote in bashing the tea-party.  I will not defend the Tea-Party, or their practices.  This buffoon's letter, though was not attacking their beliefs or practices.  Rather she was attacking the fact that these people are "half-educated, non statesmen".  Perhaps it is time for a civics lesson Martha (redacted) of Crystal Lake.  Our founding fathers were half-educated non statesmen.  Our country is founded on the belief that half-educated non statesmen can run it.  Until recently you would have been laughed out of the room for such an asinine moronic inaccurate statement.  Since we mostly have Ivy-League-educated statesmen running government now, and given the complete wreck they have made of it we should give the half educated non statesmen their shot.
 
       The true crime here isn't that the GOP has a splinter group of half educated outsiders that are winning elections.  The crime is that the Democrats don't.