What’s Wrong with the Middle?

Please go to my commentary on the Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-evans/moving-uphill-to-the-midd_b_112764.html

Your interest and comments are appreciated.

Los Angeles High Schools Are Failing

The Los Angeles Times had an article in June of 2006 stating that only 44% of city high school students graduated in four years. For all of California the rate was 71%. The drop out rate for the school system was over 25% versus a state rate of 14%. Of course the school districts excuses are just what you would expect. Primarily LAUSD focuses on the problem of non English speaking students that are mostly Hispanic.

The Los Angeles high school curriculum lacks occupational training. Instead the focus is on college preparatory classes. Their argument is that college prep classes also prepare students for jobs that do not require a college degree. The reality is that many students do not have the capacity to succeed in algebra, geometry, physics, and the other college required courses. Many of the students lack the reading and comprehension skills necessary for these classes. That is the reason there is a high drop out rate. The consequence is a major impact on our society. Teenagers join gangs, become drug pushers, or become petty thieves because they have no skills and no path to any kind of success in life.

Do you need to know geometry, physics, etc. to learn a trade or skill? Perhaps basic math would be helpful but there are many jobs that do not require a knowledge of those college prep classes. I am a college graduate from CSUN and I have never needed geometry or physics in any business administration function I held.

The San Fernando Valley Business Journal has a front page story in their July 7, 2008 issue discussing the shortage of skilled welders and metal fabricators. They say the shortage could be 200,000 people by 2010. The training won’t come from any of the local high schools.

Do all the jobs in banking, health care, tourism, and the entertainment industries require a college degree? Clearly the answer is no. Clearly the high schools of Los Angeles are a failure.

Installing A Husband

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance -- particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as MLB 2.5, NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, NCAA Football and Basketball 4.0, Fly Fishing 6.5, and Golf Clubs 7.1. (and possibly NASCAR 400.0 or 500.0 and Texas Hold ¡em 2007)Conversation 8.೦ no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?
Signed, Desperate
-------------------------------------
Dear Desperate:
First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System. Please enter the command: 'I Thought You Loved Me.exe' and try to download Tears 6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run t he applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. As a final backup program, you might try Bun-In-The-Oven (BITO) as a long term solution. Keep in mind that BITO can come in versions 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc. and requires you to sign a 9 month installation agreement followed by a 18 year maintenance contract. You should make sure your Husband 1.0 operating system is compatible with the BITO version before you install this program.But remember, overuse of the above applications can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, or even crash leaving you with no operating system. Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0 .In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.Good Luck,

Tech Support

Corn and the Economy, Serious Inflation

The National Corn Growers Association http://www.ncga.com provides a list of 22 categories of products that use corn by-products. An example is corn sweeteners marketed through Cargil http://www.cargill.com/products/food/ps_corn_sweeteners.htm. I am not familiar with all of these products that include brewing adjuncts, corn syrup, dextrose, etc. Of course corn growers see big opportunities in the production of ethanol.

The impact of the floods along the Mississippi River basin this year will soon impact all of our lives. The USDA reported today that corn harvests this year will be 87.3 million acres, down from last year's 93.6 million acres. Corn futures for July contracts have jumped 25% from $6.00 per bushel to more than $7.50 per bushel. My source is Business Week. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D91KDEN80.htm.

So what is more important? Is it an on going war in Iraq with a victory that the Republicans cannot define or is it the American economy?

The Death of Newspapers

Jon Fine’s weekly column in Business Week entitled Media Centric has been writing about the slow death of daily newspapers for the past two years. Here in Los Angeles we have seen the Los Angeles Times shrinking away along with its many smaller localized newspapers. The Orange County Register and the Daily News of Los Angeles have been the Times primary competitors. Sadly they too have been shrinking before our eyes.

The Daily News has had a 4 page opinion and editorial section every Sunday. It has featured some of America’s best columnists. Those writers have included Thomas Friedman, Richard Cohen, David Brooks, Bill O’Reilly, Maureen Dowd, and Thomas Sowell. Today they announced the shrinking of that section to two pages buried in the front section. http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_9661925?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews. . Clearly we will see less of their writing in print in the future. Blame it on the internet. The Daily News only printed about one third of all the letters I submitted to their opinion page but it was always fun to know that my letters might appear. That is why I was motivated to start two BLOGS. They are http://coastcontact.wordpress.com/ and http://coastcontact.blogspot.com/ /. The same items do not appear in both BLOGS. This entry is the exception.

Tell me again, this is progress, right?

“My Winnipeg”

“My Winnipeg” is a new movie reviewed today in the Los Angeles Times. It was made by a film maker that has lived his life there and according to the reviewer is perfectly happy to spend the rest of his life there. Of course I would not have read the review at all except that it is the birthplace of my parents and the home or birthplace of many of my relatives. I have not been there since the age of 9.

The Times critic gave the film a thumbs up. It can be seen a Landmark’s Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles. A search on the web tells me it is playing in other cities too but apparently not yet playing in Winnipeg.

http://www.mywinnipeg.com/ really is all about that city.

The Los Angeles review http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/la-et-winnipeg20-2008jun20,0,3238973.story

The Energy Crises

I just finished reading a full page article by Renee Schoof and Kevin G. Hall entitled “Understanding ethanol” printed in my local newspaper. It was distributed by McClatchy-Tribune but is not on line. The article answered such questions as What are biofuels? and What is ethanol?. Unfortunately the question Does using ethanol help the environment?, How long before ethanol becomes widely available? and others are vaguely answered leaving the reader wondering if these solutions will work.

I tried researching the issue on the internet and was disappointed in the results. I still do not know the cost to produce this gasoline alternative. The costs are clearly more than just the cost building the factories for processing and the costs of transportation. The impact on the food supply could negate any benefits. The web sites provided in the newspaper article were all posted by companies and organizations that are promoting ethanol including one that posted an article of concern about “Big Food’s campaign against ethanol.” www.ethanolrfa.org , www.iogen.ca and www.ncga.com/ethanol/main/index.asp .

zfacts.com has an array of facts that I cannot verify including this item "Ethanol Today," (8/'05) states "Five years ago, a US General Accounting Office report showed that ethanol had received $11.6 billion in tax incentives since 1968, while the oil industry had received over $150 billion in tax benefit over the same period.

Recent statements from presidential candidates and other politicians provide little or no leadership। There is a lack of information on the internet. This nation is in real trouble and no one knows the answers. Even worse, no one is prepared for the changes we face.

I have established a link to gas prices in California through gasbuddy.com to tell us how serious this problem is but you all knew that.

Tim Russert

Tim died from a heart attack yesterdy. He was 58 years old. He was the greatest interviewer of all time. I recorded and watched every one of his shows (Meet The Press on NBC and Tim Russert on MSNBC). Even as I post this item on my BLOG the accolades are non-stop as they should be. He made me feel that there was one interviewer who really asks the right questions. The Associated Press reported that many feared the grilling he would give his guests but they knew he was the conduit to the truth. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080613/D919FDKO0.html

All of America will miss him.

TIM RUSSERT 1950-2008

Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa and the Jews

Yes, there are a lot of Jewish people in Los Angeles. Many are political activists. In fact Jews hold many political offices in California. Both of our U.S. senators are Jewish. We have many Jewish house members too. So Mayor Villaragosa wants to appeal to those voters in his upcoming re-election. Thus visiting Israel might benefit him and the three council members (districts with high Jewish populations) who are accompanying . However, Jews are not easily persuaded.

I am Jewish but I am more concerned with the multiple issues surrounding our city than the mayor’s trip with an entourage of 20 people to Israel। Two articles in local papers worth reading about this trip are the editorial in the Los Angeles Daily News

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_9420932 and an article in the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-israel11-2008jun11,0,4598943.story.

List of elected Jews from California to Washington, D.C.
=U.S. Senators: Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein

=U.S. House Representatives: Howard Berman, Susan Davis, Bob Filner, Jane Harman, Adam Schiff , Brad Sherman and Henry Waxman

An Investment Experience

I have been listening to Bob Brinker on KABC radio for years. His program is called Moneytalk. He says he started his weekend investment show about 20 years ago. It is a listener call in show where he answers questions about investing in stocks, bonds, and other kinds of investments from real estate to whole life insurance policies.

I became so impressed with his advice that I started subscribing to his newsletter two years ago. I tracked his recommendations (that are not discussed on the radio but are provided in his newsletter) compared to my own investment ideas. However I never actually acted on most of his recommendations until this past July 2007. I decided to do that because I was not happy with my progress in investing. My decision was a serious error.

In his July 2007 newsletter he wrote “In summary, The Marketimer stock market model remains in positive territory as the second half of 2007 commences. We expect the S&P 500 Index to achieve new record highs, and we believe a strong case can be made for a move into S&P 500 Index 1600’s range as we move foreward… into 2008.” Mr. Brinker followed up on that statement on August 17, 2008 with this alert that he emails to his subscribers, “…the current S&P 500 Index level, is regarded as an additional buying opportunity for subscribers looking to add to stock market holdings.

Marketimer © expects the S&P 500 Index to register new historic record highs as we move forward into next year.”

After dropping to 1270 now Mr. Brinker is forecasting S&P 500 Index in the 1400’s range in the coming year. I have dropped my subscription.

To add to my dismay the GABELLI ASSET FUND (GABAX), one of his recommendations has tracked the fall of the S&P 500 Index and in fact has performed even worse. Mr. Gabelli’s income as the manager last year was over $9 million (as reported in the shareholder’s report).

Mr. Brinker offers no apologies!

Mr. Brinker did teach me something. Listen to everyone but trust no one. Do lots of homework before you make any investments.

It’s All About Subsidies

The question is should our government be giving subsidies to anyone or any group? This is a problem at all levels of government. It exists at the smallest local level up to the Federal government. Some examples are listed below.

My neighborhood beautification group (West Park Neighborhood) asked the neighborhood council for $300.00 to subsidize our block party. It was granted and we had 150 to 200 people in attendance. We did not earn enough money to repay the council. The council did not ask us to repay them.

The state of California was contemplating a subsidy to build a new football stadium in the Los Angeles area but this idea was blocked by county supervisors. The city of Industry had asked for power to divert $829 million in county property tax revenue from basic government services < http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-indust17apr17,0,867083,full.story >. This was a wise action by the supervisors considering that the county lacks sufficient funds for those basic services.

The Federal government subsidies for ethanol amounted to $7.0 billion in 2006. There was and $18.0 billion subsidy for oil companies that that was created in 1986 and eliminated in 2008 (H.R. 5351: Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008). $16 billion in subsidies were given to farmers every year between 2002 and 2005. Wind turbine investments are subsidized through the use of shortened depreciation schedules.

Think about it! No more subsidies from government for anything. Perhaps such policies would enable government to balance its budgets.

Lobbyists Are Everywhere

ABC’s 20/20 on its May 9, 2008 edition had a piece on the lack of information about auto tire aging। The gist of the piece was that tires over six years old should be discarded। Car manufacturers recommend this procedure but tires manufacturers were represnted by a spokesman who insisted that there is no evidence to support that idea. Even when confronted with the fact that the British tire manufacturers have established that standard he stood by his position.

Brian Ross, the ABC reporter, informed viewers that American tire manufacturers have prevented aging information from becoming public or passing laws to protect the public through the use of lobbyists. Consumer Reports web site advises that Strategic Safety LLC, a safety research firm, submitted comments to NHTSA in September 2003, saying it has identified 20 cases in which tires six or more years old failed, resulting in nine deaths. NHTSA says it is still working on a proposal but why? Are the lobbyists preventing new regulations? Apparently Brian Ross would say yes.

In most cases, a visual inspection or check of tread depth will not reveal the problem, the experts say.

The Ford Motor Company has urged the federal government to adopt a six-year expiration date, citing "comprehensive research" and "defendable data driven by analysis."

Ford, BMW, Chrysler, Toyota and VW/Audi now carry warnings about aged tires in manuals given to car owners. Even some tire companies have begun to issue warnings. Bridgestone/Firestone, Michelin and Continental now recommend that tires older than 10 years should not be used, even if they appear safe by visual inspection.
I will be checking my new Toyota tires in the morning. The 2001 Nissan has its original tires. I will be replacing all four tires.

No on California Propositions 98 and 99

Propositions 98 and 99 on the June 3, 2008 ballot will harm all Californians. The titles of these two proposals are totally misleading.

First both of these propositions will essentially end community redevelopment and will allow slums could go on existing indefinitely. These laws will allow slum owners to perpetuate the unacceptable living conditions for the poor. The CRA in Los Angeles has removed slums and replaced them with decent housing. These laws will effectively put the CRA out of business.

Proposition 98 is even worse because it would eliminate rent control for all California renters. Over one million Californians depend on rent control to survive, so abolishing it will have a tremendous impact. As scary as those numbers are, Prop. 98 would also jeopardize numerous laws that protect all 14 million California renters, including the fair return of rental deposits and laws protecting tenants from unfair and unjust evictions.

It’s no surprise then that more than 85% of funding to put Prop. 98 on the ballot came from wealthy landlords and organizations representing them. They only care about abolishing rent control and renter protections so they can make more money at the expense of seniors, veterans, single moms, students and working families.

Voters should vote a resounding ‘NO’ on Election Day on both Propositions 98 and 99.

Paying the Ultimate Price – Your Death

Lawyers who represent those found guilty of murder always plea for mercy. They ask the court to set the penalty to a life sentence rather than a death sentence. Clearly if you are sentenced to life in prison, that is a better penalty than death. No one wants to die!

Killers never consider that when they commit their crimes। Families and loved ones are devastated by the loss of their husband, wife, son, daughter, etc. Those who oppose the death penalty are more concerned with the life of a killer than the life a killer has taken.

California Death Row has more than 600 inmates. We, the citizens of this state, must pay for keeping these killers alive and well. Here is an example of just one killer described in the Los Angeles Times on March 28, 2008. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-azusa26mar26,1,7568812.story

A jury Tuesday voted for the death penalty for an Azusa gang member who took part in a crime wave that rocked the tranquil San Gabriel Valley city in the early part of the decade।Ralph "Swifty" Flores, 26, sat stoically as a clerk read the verdict in Los Angeles County Superior Court.Flores -- who had grown a mustache over the gang tattoo "Azusa 13" inked below his nose -- was convicted last year of killing four people.For Azusa, the case marks the end to a violent chapter in which a handful of gang members called the "trigger clique" terrorized the town with a series of shootings, killings, robberies and hate crimes targeting blacks.Their rampage lasted from 1999 to 2004.Besides Flores, seven other Azusa 13 gang members were convicted of the crimes and sentenced to lengthy prison terms -- five of them in one 2004 trial."It was a violent time for the city," said Sgt. Mike Bertelsen, Azusa's gang expert. "We were having a murder a month at the end of 2002."

Despite the unrelenting random killing of innocent people there are are those who continue to oppose the death sentence. Recent examples are Jamiel Shaw Jr., 17, a black youth, was shot in the head and back at 2150 Fifth Ave. in Arlington Heights at about 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, 2008 and prosecutors have charged a 30-year-old woman with the murder of an LAX baggage handler, Samantha Padilla, who was shot and killed on freeway off ramp in South Los Angeles.

Now the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that lethal injections are not cruel and unusual punishment when carrying out the death penalty। The state of California should proceed immediately in putting those killers to death। If not, the death penalty should be removed as a form of penalty for murder। I favor the death penalty if it is carried out within a year or two of the sentence. It is a mockery of the law to leave people on death row for deacades.

A New kind of Billboards

Here in the San Fernando Valley we have seen a new kind of advertising that is worse than the usual billboards. At least the usual boards are above my line of sight as I look down a boulevard. The new kind is on trailers parked along all of our main streets. Just call Mobile Advertising at 818-723-0497 and you to can advertise your business at a really low cost. There are laws limiting the parking of any vehicle for more than 72 hours in one place on our streets. Apparently they are not being enforced. When I called Councilman Dennis Zine’s office in December I was told they are working on a law to limit this form of advertising.

How long does it take to write and implement a law in Los Angeles?

Help for the Rich

Isn’t it nice to be a big financial firm? Bear Stearns Cos., one of Wall Street's oldest banking firms, has received a bailout from the federal government and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth-largest investment bank, made its fortune dealing in opaque mortgage-backed securities - a strategy that might be its undoing amid the worst housing slump in a quarter century. The bank has racked up $2.75 billion in write-downs since last year, and faced a possible collapse without some kind of lifeline. This was reported today in a lead AP story http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080314/D8VD9NG80.html.

Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times reported today that the Region has seen a 19% decline in housing prices from the peak in less than a year. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fi-homes14mar14,1,7243732.story. In my own neighborhood homes are selling so poorly that asking prices have already dropped more than 25%. There is little help to bail out homeowners who bought their homes in the past few years by taking advantage of adjustable rate mortgages.

When you consider the paltry help to private individuals compared to aid the big corporations receive is it any wonder that the public yearns for new government leadership? It’s what we all knew in our hearts. The government protects the rich and to hell with the rest of you.

A California Attack on the Poor

California’s Proposition 98 (California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act) and Proposition 99 (Homeowners and Private Property Protection Act) have misleading titles. Both are about preventing government from redeveloping blighted areas where the property will be returned to private ownership. In other words community redevelopment agencies would be eliminated because no redevelopment would be permitted. Slums could go on existing indefinitely.

Proposition 98 goes one step further by eliminating rent controls on apartments and mobile home parks. Apartment owners associations and mobile home park associations couldn’t be happier. The consequence of that will be the dislocation of the poorest in our society.

The ongoing issue of affordable housing in Los Angeles has been well documented. Proposition 98 would allow legalized unreasonable rent hikes on those least able to pay. That includes the poor and the elderly. Mobile home parks are commonly occupied by the elderly as a form of low cost housing. Most of those living in those parks are on social security and have little in the way of additional forms of income.

Who is supporting Proposition 98? The primary contributors are mobile home park owners and apartment associations. The information is listed on the California Secretary of State’s web site.

Who is supporting Proposition 99? The California League Of Conservation Voters http://www.ecovote.org/. This organization says its mission is “to protect the environmental quality of the state by increasing public awareness of the environmental performance of all elected officials, working to elect environmentally responsible candidates, and holding them accountable to the environmental agenda once elected.” What’s the connection between this conservation group and Proposition 99? They do not say on their web site. When I telephones them to ask about their support for this imitative I told someone will be calling me back later in the week. They are the only group that has donating money to support this issue. The state says they have donated $300,000.00.

This website, http://rentersrights.blogspot.com/, is a good place to start in fighting these two laws.

Star Wars Has Started

It was reported by the Washington Post on January 19, 2007 that China had “used a ground-based missile to hit and destroy one of its aging satellites orbiting more than 500 miles in space… The test of anti-satellite technology is believed to be the first of its kind in two decades by any nation and raised concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. satellites and a possible arms race in space.”
Now, just 13 months later the United States has shot down an aging spy satellite we had put into space. The stated reason we shot down this satellite was because there was concern that there could be harm brought to people living in the area of that crashing projectile.

Honestly, I do not believe this scenario. The U.S. probably did shoot down a satellite but the reason this was done was to send a message to China. That message is we too have the capability of shooting down satellites.

The Washington Post article went on to say, “The Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said the Chinese action makes it essential that the administration begin negotiations to stop any possible space arms race. "The Chinese anti-satellite test is terrible news for international stability and security, and could presage the dawn of a new arms race -- this time in space," Markey said. "American satellites are the soft underbelly of our national security, and it is urgent that President Bush move to guarantee their protection by initiating an international agreement to ban the development, testing, and deployment of space weapons and anti-satellite systems."

Is this an opportunity for John McCain to bring up the topic of national defense and the need to have someone of his experience in the White House? Absolutely. He just might do that. Then again may be he is wise enough to not scare the American population. In any case, star wars is here.

Balkanizing America

Kosovo has declared itself an independent nation. This has been a Serbian province for centuries. However more than 90% of Kosovo's population of two million people are ethnic Albanian. Their faith is Muslim. The remaining Serbian population of 6 ½ million people is Christian. The hatred between Christians and Muslins resulted in the Balkan War in the late 1990s. Ultimately there was bombing by NATO in 1999 to stop the fighting between the two groups.

Within hours of the declaration, Russia called an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council for later on Sunday and said it would ask it to declare Kosovo's claim to independence "null and void" -- a request that was unlikely to succeed as the U.S., France and Britain all have vetoes in the Security Council and support Kosovo's independence bid.

Meanwhile in the U.S.A. the Latino population, which is primarily Mexican, has been growing for decades. In 1970, California's 2.4 million Latinos represented less than one-eighth of the state's total population. The 7.5 million Latinos counted in the 1990 census represented a quarter of California's residents. By 2005, more than a third of all Californians were projected to be Latino. The city of Los Angeles is now 40% Latino.

Could the Latino population in the southern part of United States decide that they want to succeed and form their own nation or perhaps reunite with Mexico? This is not as far fetched as you might think. The primary Latino groups deny that they support any idea of separation from our country according to their web sites. Those groups are National Council of La Raza (NCLR), MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán), NCLR claims it does not support “Reconquista”, returning the southern USA to Mexico. They acknowledge that the accusation does exist. They could change their position on this subject in an instant.

Would the United States go to war to stop a succession? The answer is yes! The Civil War defined the view that this nation is indivisible. Why then is it acceptable for Kosovo to separate from Serbia? I wish I knew the answer.

Is This Government Rebate a Good Idea?

Congress has voted to add $168 billion to the deficit over the next two years. It’s for an economic aid plan because of a perceived recession. I know, there is an election coming in November. Neither political party wants to be accused of not caring about the citizens. The problem is that the Federal government has no excess money. The national debt now exceeds $9 trillion. In 2000 that number was $5.6 trillion. My source is the Office of the President http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy01/guide04.html.

We will have to borrow the $168 billion dollars that will be given to the citizens. It’s not all rebates because the final plan will give money to retired people on social security and disabled veterans. We have not paid for the Iraq War or the various earmark spending projects passed by Congress and signed into law. John McCain avoided voting for or against this give away by not returning to Washington, D.C. He was correct in not voting for tax reductions that lacked compensating reductions in spending.

The real sorry part of this story is that many people will not be spending that money on anything new. Most of us will be receiving only $600 or $1,200. Many people, like me, will be using the money to pay prior existing bills.

Furthermore, inflation is a real. I believe it is much worse than the reported CPI inflation index. The most flagrant proof is the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for ten people that rose by 11% between 2006 and 2007.

As the government floods the nation with more cash, the Federal Reserve is now starting to say inflation may be the next big issue. That translates to no more interest rate cuts and perhaps an interest increase. Yikes, they just lowered the interest rate. Does anyone know what they are doing?

Government Inertia

That the economy was going south should not have come as a surprise. Talk of the impact of the sub-prime mortgage market has been in play for at least a year. I too did not believe that this mortgage mess would have such a staggering effect on the entire economy. However, I am not an economist. Ben Bernanke is and his Federal Reserve Board should have been able to evaluate the impact. Where were the financial gurus? As recently as July 5, 2007 Bob Brinker, the leading writer of financial newsletters, was writing that he foresaw a bright future for the stock market.

Now that the nation is in this mess I expected a quick acting congress would inject money into the economy within one or two months. Instead the reports are indicating that tax rebate checks to stimulate the economy will be arriving sometime in May. That is five month from now. That is too far in the future.

The Democrats and Republicans run the government and both are failing. The evidence is obvious to me. It’s Katrina, it’s reacting to a recession, it’s protecting our nation from a terrorist invasion, and most of all it’s about making our government effective.

If there was ever a time when we needed an independent that could rise above the fray, now is the time. I don’t know if that person is Michael Bloomberg or another independent. In my view we definitely need new leadership.

CPI, Can We Believe This?

After posting this commentary on Thursday, January 10, the Associated Press publishes this article on January 16. The newly reported inflation rate is still not accurate but the trend is obvious. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080116/D8U737180.html

Forget Core Inflation. That was an idea created by Alan Greenspan. He was wrong. The core inflation measurement ignored all the things we need to live like food and energy.

“The Consumer Price Indexes(CPI) program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services”। That is quoted from the U.S. Department of Labor that manages this program.

We really need a measurement that is reliable. I just can’t believe that the current CPI is accurate. There have been articles posted on the internet that do challenge the CPI accuracy. My own views and experiences are the bases for this opinion.

Here is four items that support my opinion.

- Thanksgiving dinners for a family of 10 were reported in the news to cost 11% more in 2007 than 2006.
-Gasoline nationwide has increased in price from $2.14 to $3.10 per gallon during the past 12 months. That is a 44.8% increase.
- Cavaretta’s is a local Italian deli that makes fabulous sandwiches. The 2007 price for their small subway style chicken sandwich was $4.50. This year the price is $5.25. A dismaying 16.7% increase.
- The price for milk at my neighborhood Trader Joe’s (actually over 1½ miles away) increased by 33%.। We buy milk there because it’s about 60% of the prices charged at the local supermarket (about ½ mile from my home).

Will the government become more accurate if there were a change in political parties? No. We all know that the information has been managed because the politicians don’t want to admit the truth.