Power

My son runs a McDonalds and they are in the process, nearly complete of tearing down and rebuilding the restaurant. So when we were out yesterday we stopped by to check out the progress. Charlie was there so we got the in side the store preview tour. There have been many headaches but they are scheduled to reopen on Thursday only a month late. It sure doesn't look at this point like they will make it without very long days by construction and clean up crews.

So where am I going with all this? While walking around the store and hearing about all the little hang ups something he said really set me off. McDonalds has templates for interior and exterior design, you get a design catalog and pick features you like. Turns out the mayor in Middleburg Hts. decided that he should pick all the design elements for the outside of the building. I'm not just talking zoning requirements like distances to the street and adjoining properties. This mayor feels he should decide brick colors and styles,and detailing on the overhangs, and what style lights should run across the front of the property. Now this is a 2.5 million dollar project and if I was spending the money I would be royally pissed to have somebody come in and dictate in such a heavy handed way how to spend my money. The mayor's lighting demand alone is adding around 50 grand.

This is power at it's worst. I told my wife on the way home it makes me want to move to Middleburg hts. so I could run for mayor. People that are that heavy handed in wielding power need to be deposed.

Public sector unions

Reading the paper this week I saw a picture in the business section accompanying a story on the Greek financial crisis. The picture showed a group of angry protester protesting austerity measures being taken to try to save the Greek's economy.

So what does the Greek situation have to do with public sector unions? They both seem to think money can be produced like magic from thin air. For years promises have been made to the Greeks and public sector unions that are impossible to keep.

It may be too late for the Greeks with the low birth rate that is common in Europe there is not enough people to come close to meeting the promises. You see these promises of early retirements and socialized medicine were fine with a rising tide of workers to pay for them but the tide quit rising.

There may still be time in the U.S. we are one of the few developed countries without a drastic fall off in births. This is why I saw similarities between the Greeks and the public sector unions they both seem to think that they are entitled to money that just isn't there.

The reality train has been rolling for the last few years let's hope we can make the right decisions to make the drastic and painful changes that are necessary for our country. I don't mean to pick solely on the unions but the government and it's workers the unions are collectively us the people of the U.S. and therefor the place to start cutting. We need to do this through across the board reduction in budgets, attrition, and revamping the budgets of our future expenses(government retirement packages).

The Big Lie

With all this talk of class warfare I wonder about the logic of the people who advocate taxing the rich. In some ways I understand it economically things aren't going well right now and people don't know where to turn. So the simple solution is to find fault with the other, the evil rich for of course all rich people got that way trampling on the rights of the average guy. I won't pretend I can defend all rich people but percentage wise there probably aren't any more evil rich people than there evil middle class or poor people.

There other reasons for arguing against taxing the rich when the economy is struggling. The first has to do with incentives everything has an incentive we eat foods because of the way they taste, date a girl because she's pretty or smart, work hard to earn more pay. There are also disincentives don't touch the stove it's hot, how hard do you work after a pay cut. How hard is anyone going to work if the government is going to take a bigger share. The second argument against increasing taxes is selfish who do you think pays this tax on the rich. No I'm not rich but I'll be paying for any tax increase, much of any tax increase will be passed along through higher prices. Thirdly effectiveness of any tax increase is dubious most of the Bush tax cut's went to the poor and middle class raising taxes solely on the rich would have little impact on the deficit.Plus if G.E can pay n0 federal taxes now they could pay zero with an increase as well. We need only to close loopholes as a minimum but hopefully move away from an income tax all together.

Safety nets

I was reading an article this morning talking about what positive effects the left has had on America. One of the said accomplishments was the social safety net Social Security, food stamps,Medicare/medicaid, and so on. It's hard to argue that safety nets are bad my question is are they safety nets or are they crutches.What I mean by this are we using these programs to prevent a fall or to hold people up all the time. I would contend that the way they are currently administrated they are an incentive to stay on these programs. We need to find a way to make personal responsibility the first choice and safety nets the emergency plan.

I grew my supper

At least once a year I like to have dinner strictly composed of only things I have grown. Last night I had a salad comprised of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes with some chopped onion and fresh basil and rosemary. It was good but the rosemary was a little strong, outside of salt and pepper it all came from my backyard. It makes me feel self sufficient all though I would have trouble living off my land full time.

Absurdity

Sitting reading the Sunday paper The business section has a piece on bank fees. This one caught my attention Ohio Savings Bank has instituted a .50 cent fee on deposits of rolled change over 10 rolls. That's 50cents per roll so if your depositing pennies you are giving them to the bank. Makes you wonder how they keep their customers.

It's complicated

Everyone has been bemoaning the catastrophe that is the baby boomers retiring. How do we provide benefits for this huge group of people. Last week during the Tom Sullivan show on the radio I heard a different approach and fear. The caller made the point that the boomers are also the biggest consumer group. What's the problem with the boomers buying the most? I've found as I get older there is less and less stuff I need to buy. If I need something for a project odds are I have it in my garage and don't need to go spend money. Now this isn't just me , so we have this largest section of the population without the need to buy. In a consumer driven economy how do we lower unemployment while buying less.

It seems like a valid point but someone also has to fill all these jobs the boomers are vacating.