In the past month, I've watched probably a dozen news pieces which 'fawned-over' "Mayor-Pete” Buttigieg. The thing that gets me is the resume.
He's 37 years old. After college ended in 2007, he went to work for a consulting company (McKinsey and Company), and stayed there until 2010. During recent years, he had a couple of deployments as part of the Naval Reserve.
His chief resume block is Mayor of South Bend since 2011, a town of 102,000.
For the record, South Bend hit absolute maximum on population around 1960, and every decade since then....lost a fair number of residents. Some say around 2010 (fifty years into this spiral), they finally hit rock bottom with 101,000, and today are near 103,000.
The fact that Chicago is 50 miles away? In some ways, I think the past two decades have been a plus-up because if you worked in Chicago.....you could live in the shadow of South Bend, and be happy with the limited crime and troubles that Chicago has.
So what 'Mayor-Pete has is an six year period of education, some years in the Naval Reserve, one commercial company, and eight years as a mayor. That's it. It's a basic eight-line resume.
The thing is....people in Iowa like this kind of stuff. So 'Mayor-Pete' could roll into Iowa....shock Bernie and Joe, and suddenly get some 'lift'.
The claim to being the first gay President? Well....no. James Buchanan comes up, and probably qualifies along that line.
If 'Mayor-Pete' had another dozen years, to be a state governor, and a Cabinet Secretary? I think it'd help. If you were looking for someone with a shorter resume than Bernie, then 'Mayor-Pete' is the guy.
Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Monday, 22 April 2019
Warren's Save America Fund
This Senator Warren plan on student loan debt?
Well, here's the simplicity of the deal. As long as you make under $100,000 (even if unemployed today)....her deal would cancel out $50,000 of the debt. If you had $120,000 at age 22? Well....it'd only resolve part of your issue....you'd still owe $70k.
Amount that it'd add up to? Well....she says $640 billion. I have my doubts and an audit might suggest it closer to $1-trillion.
Where would the $640 billion come from? Taxes. So you folks who never went to college, or made it debt-free through college? Well....you'd pay for the debt folks.
The more that this gets brought up.....the more frustrated non-debt folks would get over this free deal. If this were me, and I were debt free....even at age 60...I'd do the paperwork for college loan, borrow the money, and blow it on Vegas gambling, a around-the-world cruise, or an RV camper.
Well, here's the simplicity of the deal. As long as you make under $100,000 (even if unemployed today)....her deal would cancel out $50,000 of the debt. If you had $120,000 at age 22? Well....it'd only resolve part of your issue....you'd still owe $70k.
Amount that it'd add up to? Well....she says $640 billion. I have my doubts and an audit might suggest it closer to $1-trillion.
Where would the $640 billion come from? Taxes. So you folks who never went to college, or made it debt-free through college? Well....you'd pay for the debt folks.
The more that this gets brought up.....the more frustrated non-debt folks would get over this free deal. If this were me, and I were debt free....even at age 60...I'd do the paperwork for college loan, borrow the money, and blow it on Vegas gambling, a around-the-world cruise, or an RV camper.
Debt Chatter
I sat and watched a YouTube video documentary over the weekend entitled 'What Killed The American Middle Class'.
It's a 30-minute piece which is kinda curious and interesting.
Basically, they lay out this downfall of the American middle-class, and the economic woes that they've suffered through.
Some folks have had to declare bankruptcy. Some have gone to two jobs. Some have gone to depression stages.
At the end of this....I sat there and did a fair amount of pondering.
What happened, if you didn't really notice the past three decades....people were building mountains of debt...either because of bad decisions on home-purchases, or via credit cards, or buying cars beyond their lifestyle, or via college loans. That meant that they were gradually going paycheck to paycheck, and that only increased in the past decade. The people who avoided the debt-bomb....have survived, and are doing quite well. It's not capitalism that bankrupted these people....it's the failure to recognize the problem of debt and how much you can legitimately carry on your back.
I worked with a guy in DC, whose combined household income (him and his wife) was near $200,000. Both nearing 45 years old....had mountains of debt. They'd bought a half-million-dollar house. They'd bought high-cost cars (one a BMW and the other a Infiniti). One still owed $20k on college debt. I never asked about credit cards, but I'd assume that they had that issue existing as well. Luckily, no kids. But the guy admitted....they were reaching a stage where debt was consuming one-third of their total income (on top of taxes, social security, etc).
I give some credit to the documentary folks for the style and quality of the video, but the truth of the matter is that the middle-class folks who missed the 'debt-bomb', are doing very well, and still enjoying life. The other folks? They screwed up, and just never got that lesson on spending and saving.
It's a 30-minute piece which is kinda curious and interesting.
Basically, they lay out this downfall of the American middle-class, and the economic woes that they've suffered through.
Some folks have had to declare bankruptcy. Some have gone to two jobs. Some have gone to depression stages.
At the end of this....I sat there and did a fair amount of pondering.
What happened, if you didn't really notice the past three decades....people were building mountains of debt...either because of bad decisions on home-purchases, or via credit cards, or buying cars beyond their lifestyle, or via college loans. That meant that they were gradually going paycheck to paycheck, and that only increased in the past decade. The people who avoided the debt-bomb....have survived, and are doing quite well. It's not capitalism that bankrupted these people....it's the failure to recognize the problem of debt and how much you can legitimately carry on your back.
I worked with a guy in DC, whose combined household income (him and his wife) was near $200,000. Both nearing 45 years old....had mountains of debt. They'd bought a half-million-dollar house. They'd bought high-cost cars (one a BMW and the other a Infiniti). One still owed $20k on college debt. I never asked about credit cards, but I'd assume that they had that issue existing as well. Luckily, no kids. But the guy admitted....they were reaching a stage where debt was consuming one-third of their total income (on top of taxes, social security, etc).
I give some credit to the documentary folks for the style and quality of the video, but the truth of the matter is that the middle-class folks who missed the 'debt-bomb', are doing very well, and still enjoying life. The other folks? They screwed up, and just never got that lesson on spending and saving.
Friday, 19 April 2019
The Militia Story
If you go and read through New Mexico news today, there was a detention episode that occurred where a militia (yes, a group of regular civilians) who found and held 300 illegals who entered the country, and handed the illegals over to the Border Patrol.
The governor? She's all peeved (a Democrat), and the Border Patrol basically said they don't encourage this type of behavior.
If you read through other statements in the press, the same militia folks are talking about road-blocks and asking for an ID. The governor was peeved over that suggestion as well. Illegal? Well, if the county sheriff were to deputize and use the militia folks in conjunction with a group of deputies, it would be legal. My humble guess is that the governor will go and try to throw up some law that says road-blocks can only be authorized by some judge or state authority, but getting it passed at this point? I have doubts.
All of this is leading to other states and militia groups looking at what can or cannot be done. If you were to have sixty roadblocks over a Saturday afternoon in ten states? You might actually create an apprehended group of 2,000 people. It's hard to say what the Border Patrol would say or do, in this matter. It would throw up a fear factor for those in the US, and probably push them into settling only for sanctuary states (something that mayors/city council members don't want to hear).
Outlawing the militias? Constitutionally? The federal and state governments would have a rough time. If you thought gun control could be impacted.....go try to outlaw militia groups.
It just seems like the bigger you blow the illegal or border control business.....the more massive the overall problem becomes.
The governor? She's all peeved (a Democrat), and the Border Patrol basically said they don't encourage this type of behavior.
If you read through other statements in the press, the same militia folks are talking about road-blocks and asking for an ID. The governor was peeved over that suggestion as well. Illegal? Well, if the county sheriff were to deputize and use the militia folks in conjunction with a group of deputies, it would be legal. My humble guess is that the governor will go and try to throw up some law that says road-blocks can only be authorized by some judge or state authority, but getting it passed at this point? I have doubts.
All of this is leading to other states and militia groups looking at what can or cannot be done. If you were to have sixty roadblocks over a Saturday afternoon in ten states? You might actually create an apprehended group of 2,000 people. It's hard to say what the Border Patrol would say or do, in this matter. It would throw up a fear factor for those in the US, and probably push them into settling only for sanctuary states (something that mayors/city council members don't want to hear).
Outlawing the militias? Constitutionally? The federal and state governments would have a rough time. If you thought gun control could be impacted.....go try to outlaw militia groups.
It just seems like the bigger you blow the illegal or border control business.....the more massive the overall problem becomes.
My View on the National Enquirer Demise
Somewhere along the 2008 economic episode, a lot of working-class people had to go and make decisions about purchase priorities, and magazines-in-general....all saw a drop in purchases at the grocery shelves.
A year down the line, when some better economic numbers begin to appear, it didn't matter because people had gotten 'out' of the habit of buying things at the check-out line.
It wasn't just the Enquirer that went 'south'....most all of these gossip magazines suffered the same fate.
So it doesn't surprise me this week, when the National Enquirer sold for roughly $100 million. The odds of the magazine going to an anti-Trump slant? One might go and suggest that it'll happen, and readers/subscriptions will drop another third over the next two years. Someone might have the pockets to waste the publication, and just go for broke. But the thing is....who now reads it? It's lost it's thrills, and it might be worthless in four years.
A year down the line, when some better economic numbers begin to appear, it didn't matter because people had gotten 'out' of the habit of buying things at the check-out line.
It wasn't just the Enquirer that went 'south'....most all of these gossip magazines suffered the same fate.
So it doesn't surprise me this week, when the National Enquirer sold for roughly $100 million. The odds of the magazine going to an anti-Trump slant? One might go and suggest that it'll happen, and readers/subscriptions will drop another third over the next two years. Someone might have the pockets to waste the publication, and just go for broke. But the thing is....who now reads it? It's lost it's thrills, and it might be worthless in four years.
I Tried to Make Sense Out of This
Apparently, some kind of dinner or reception occurred at the White House. A couple of reporters were in the attendee group. There in the background....the WH staff were playing the song "Edelweiss". The New York Times WH reporter....Maggie Haberman....went into some type of reactionary state, then blazed away on Twitter that the WH was playing Nazi songs.
Did the song Edelweiss even exist in the 1930s and 1940s? No. It came around in 1959.
Did the song come out of Germany? No. It was a piece from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, from their musical production....'The Sound of Music'.
Was the song sung by Nazis in the movie? No. On the evening when the von Trapp family are about to leave Austria because of the Nazis.....dad (Captain von Trapp) plays out the tune. So it's kinda a anti-Nazi song in the midst of a anti-Nazi musical.
This brings me back to Haberman and the New York Times. I tried to imagine how Haberman would be this weak on entertainment history, or just plain regular history.....but that pondering came up empty. I tried to imagine if Haberman had ever even watched The Sound of Music, but I have serious doubts that she has ever done so. In fact, I have doubts that she's watched or attended any Rodgers and Hammerstein production.
So here we are, in some meltdown stage with marginal reporters interpreting things with the eyes and understanding of a 12-year-old kid. We deserve better.
Did the song Edelweiss even exist in the 1930s and 1940s? No. It came around in 1959.
Did the song come out of Germany? No. It was a piece from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, from their musical production....'The Sound of Music'.
Was the song sung by Nazis in the movie? No. On the evening when the von Trapp family are about to leave Austria because of the Nazis.....dad (Captain von Trapp) plays out the tune. So it's kinda a anti-Nazi song in the midst of a anti-Nazi musical.
This brings me back to Haberman and the New York Times. I tried to imagine how Haberman would be this weak on entertainment history, or just plain regular history.....but that pondering came up empty. I tried to imagine if Haberman had ever even watched The Sound of Music, but I have serious doubts that she has ever done so. In fact, I have doubts that she's watched or attended any Rodgers and Hammerstein production.
So here we are, in some meltdown stage with marginal reporters interpreting things with the eyes and understanding of a 12-year-old kid. We deserve better.
Thursday, 18 April 2019
Cost Versus Reality
It costs (between fees, tuition, room, board, meals, beer money, gas money, clothing, etc) around $32,000 a year to attend the University of Tennessee. So you look at the kid, at age 18, and even if you were devoted to your son/daughter.....the idea of funding them for $130,000 over four years? It'd drive you nuts.
If there came any hint of boozing up, missing classes, or some whacked-out relationship ruining their attitude about school, most folks would blow-up and get highly frustrated over the situation.
This is one of the little issues that never get discussed.
What if the kid wasn't all that enthusiastic over their degree choice, or felt 'lost' after twelve months of college? What if the kid was consuming two cases of beer weekly by the end of the first semester? What if the kid had picked a class with some nutcase professor, and almost a thousand dollars was wasted on knowledge material that was worthless? What if the kid went through some dramatic break-up with some honky-tonk gal, and lost all desire to finish up the degree?
A lot has changed since the 1970s, and this one issue....the current cost of a college degree, has reached the level where you have to stand there with 'Junior' and ask forty questions over their choice of a college, and sixty questions over their choice of a degree, then every month you have to ask about partying, boozing, and attendance in class. It's become like buying a $90,000 BMW sports car, or spending $30,000 for a championship horse.
If there came any hint of boozing up, missing classes, or some whacked-out relationship ruining their attitude about school, most folks would blow-up and get highly frustrated over the situation.
This is one of the little issues that never get discussed.
What if the kid wasn't all that enthusiastic over their degree choice, or felt 'lost' after twelve months of college? What if the kid was consuming two cases of beer weekly by the end of the first semester? What if the kid had picked a class with some nutcase professor, and almost a thousand dollars was wasted on knowledge material that was worthless? What if the kid went through some dramatic break-up with some honky-tonk gal, and lost all desire to finish up the degree?
A lot has changed since the 1970s, and this one issue....the current cost of a college degree, has reached the level where you have to stand there with 'Junior' and ask forty questions over their choice of a college, and sixty questions over their choice of a degree, then every month you have to ask about partying, boozing, and attendance in class. It's become like buying a $90,000 BMW sports car, or spending $30,000 for a championship horse.
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