Blogs

The Triangulation of Class War

A popular topic of discussion in my family is, "Why do poor and lower middle class people keep voting for the party of the rich? Why don't they vote in their own best economic interests?"

None of our guesses ever seemed to answer the question. It's an important question to answer because democracy only functions correctly if the public votes in their own best interests.

I've done plenty of research into the topic, including reading the excellent book, What's the Matter with Kansas. It was a great read and I highly recommend it.
However, it still failed to answer my question. Thomas Frank explained why religious people have been captured by the Republican Party and the "cultural war", but he was still somewhat vague about why so many poor and lower middle class people who aren't religious vote Republican.

Manufacturing Forum - Obama and Clinton

Today a manufacturing forum was held with both Presidential candidates for the Democratic primary.

What is amazing is this seemingly was not broadcast on CNN, or on CSPAN. Trade and manufacturing policy area is critical to the US economy, so not covering such a forum is ....well, par for the course? Anything important is obscured, anything divisive is sure to be played over and over.

Guess who didn't even bother to show up? John McCain.

Of course the bitter tit for tat rhetoric is ongoing, with Obama in retaliation commenting others surrounding Hillary support bad trade deals which ignores Hillary's position statements or the lack of his own. Yet again, policy positions are obscured.

In my opinion, there are only two things that matter:

  1. The actual policy proposals and positions

DHS CIS Circumvents Congress - Extends F-1 OPT

Tuesday April 8, DHS CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) issued a Final Interim Rule to extend F-1 foreign student OPT time limits to 29 months without public comment and without Congressional review. Public comment was requested, after enactment, as a slap in the face. CIS has grown accustomed to re-writing immigration law without due process - last year an additional 20,000 H-1B visas were handed out in this manner.

Here is my comment in the Federal Register.

DHS CIS F-1 OPT Final Interim Rule (.pdf)

April 9, 2008

Dana Rothrock comments on:

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
8 CFR Part 214

DHS NO. ICEB-2008-0002

ICE NO. 2124-08 RIN 1653-AA56

AGENCY: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; DHS.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

Obama Said What?

Normally I try to stay away from the daily tit for tat of the Democratic primary but this latest buffoonery needs a comment.

Two days ago Obama said:

You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,

Federal Reserve considering Unconstitutional measures

By now everyone should be familiar with the fact that the Federal Reserve bailed out Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns. You are probably aware that your taxes are now underwriting $380 Billion in subprime, mortgage-backed securities (that's $1,251 for every man, woman, and child in America).

But it wasn't until I read this article did I realize just how much trouble we are in.

"The U.S. dollar is a 'faith-based currency' dependent on the credibility of a central bank"
-- Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher

The world's faith in the U.S. Dollar is based on not just on the credibility of our central bank (aka the Federal Reserve), but reflected in how they manage their own portfolio.

Trade Matters: The U.S. Borrows $2.14 Billion per Day(net)

Trade matters: the US is forced to borrow $2.14 billion per day (net) from abroad even in the middle of the worst financial crisis since at least the 1930s

.

Today’s Dept. of Commerce report on US losses in global business during February again provides a window into the remarkable power of the debt industry, their “expert” retainers and a largely clueless and/or extremely cynical media.

The US is in a financial crisis that is finally being admitted to be the worst since at least the 1930s.

Today’s report confirms that in the 29 days of February, the US spent $62.3 billion more on foreign-made goods and services than it was able to earn from all exports of US-made goods and services. That is, even with the US in financial crisis, it was forced to borrow – net -- another $2,145,000,000 every single day in February. This represents an accelerated pace of daily net borrowing (or asset sales) from January.

Even with an interview cheat-sheet, an over-40 American Citizen can't get the job

I went in for an interview for a job last week for which a recruiter from a local recruiting firm had submitted my resume. The recruiter had already placed someone from India in this particular downtown Seattle company about a month before. In fact, the Indian made note of all the interview questions that he was asked in order to get the job, and forwarded those questions, with the answers, to the recruiter in an email. This cheat-sheet was then forwarded to me via the recruiter, and I was even given contact information for this Indian so that I may get a first hand interview prep if desired.

The 401k Scam

"The 401(k) will turn out to be the greatest systemic financial hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public."
- William Wollman, The Great 401(k) Hoax

Like most people I was told to plow as much money into my 401k as possible. So like millions of other workers out there, I did as I was told. By 2003 I had accumulated a nice little nest egg...that I couldn't touch.
Then one day I was in a bookstore and I happened across a book called The Coming Generational Storm. What I read about 401k's that day made me immediately stop all contributions.

Since then I came to realize that the 401k model is hopelessly flawed and will lead an entire generation to despair.

Author Laurence J. Kotlikoff made two points that were simply too logical for me to ignore:

Green Collar Jobs

We've heard a few buzz words on the campaign trail about green collar jobs but what exactly is behind the rhetoric?

Green For All is a nonprofit looking to create a green economy not only as a way to stop global warming, but also as a path to economic justice for the economically disadvantaged.

FANTASTIC! A multi-dimensional solution that would:

  • Create New Industry
  • Generate American Jobs
  • Increase US exports
  • Reduce energy imports
  • Reduce Global Warming

US investment initiatives certainly could create a new industry to bring about economic fairness, especially for US domestic diversity.

Alas, there is a hitch.

While these think tanks claim green collar jobs cannot be outsourced, oh my, think again!

Pages