Quote of the Day -- On Tax Cuts for the Already-Wealthy and Corporations

As we're seeing in Kansas with the Republicans' and Governor Sam Brownback's horrible economics efforts and all the deficits and education and other slashing budgets it's getting them.

Fascinating NASA Study

Report today of a study by NASA on civilizations.

NASA claims: Dozens of advanced ancient civilizations collapsed before us

I know, right? I thought they just studied the stars.

Anyway, they studied why civilizations collapse, what takes them down. You'll find the entire study at the link below.

The study came to the conclusion there are two key social features that contributed to the collapse of every single advanced civilization from the past:

“...the stretching of resources due to the strain placed on the ecological carrying capacity”;

and “the economic stratification of society into Elites [rich] and Masses (or “Commoners”) [poor]”

These social phenomena have played “a central role in the character or in the process of the collapse,” in all such cases over “the last five thousand years.”

So I ask you, does any of this sound familiar, folks?

Link to original study: 

Human and nature dynamics (HANDY): Modeling inequality

Leawood, Kansas?

So a new ranking list came out last week. It was this:

2015's Best & Worst Small Cities in America

And that's all well and good and you wouldn't maybe think much about it but look what small city made the number 5 spot on the "best" list:

The best small cities in America:

1. Princeton, N.J.

2. Littleton, Colo.

3. Dublin, Ohio

4. Brookfield, Wis.

5. Leawood, Kans.

6. Southlake, Tex.

7. Westfield, Ind. 

8. Northampton, Mass.

9. Ankeny, Iowa

10. Crystal Lake, Ill

Leawood, Kansas?

Leawood freaking Kansas?

One of the best small cities in America?

For what? It's cozy, old downtown area?

Here's at least part of what the rankings were based on--

Overall Rank	City	Overall Score	‘Affordability’ Rank	‘Economic Health’ Rank	‘Education & Health’ Rank	‘Quality of Life’ Rank
1	Princeton, NJ	61.90	1144	1	7	41
2	Littleton, CO	57.62	742	331	54	28
3	Dublin, OH	57.22	171	43	112	190
4	Brookfield, WI	57.18	206	169	8	248
5	Leawood, KS	57.09	77	14	123	523

So... wait. 

Let's start right here with "affordability."

Affordable?  Leawood?  Anyone and everyone in the Kansas City metro knows Leawood is anything but affordable. It's one of the most expensive and exclusive cities in the area. I guess if you compare it to San Francisco or New York, it's affordable.

And the rest of the these rankings, above? Economic health, education and health and quality of life ratings?

Well of course they're all high numbers in Leawood! The people out there are loaded! And not just with booze.

How insane.

If you just put cities on paper, I guess you can come up with rankings and ratings totally disconnected from the actual world out here. The next area city on the list was Wildwood, Missouri (?) at number 30. Shawnee, Kansas, 54. Liberty, Missouri----131. (ouch). Lenexa, 223. Nothing to advertise about, for sure. Blue Springs?  615.  Yowza.

Side note: Also surprising, at least to me, is that all 10---all 10---cities on the "worst" list are from California.

That's got to have 10 different City Halls and Chambers of Commerce scrambling to change things, I would think.

"Economic patriotism"

Indeed, we do need "economic patriotism", even and especially from our representatives in Congress in Washington.

We need everyone to do what's right and best for the nation, not just for the corporations and/or wealthy.

It's a type of insane we even have to say this.

So, are you happy?

The Economics of Happiness - Official Trailer from The Economics of Happiness on Vimeo.

Paul Krugman called the President's speech yesterday "The Most Important Speech of His Presidency"

Yes he did. A bit of it: "The President’s speech today in Osawatomie, Kansas — where Teddy Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech in 1910 — is the most important economic speech of his presidency in terms of connecting the dots, laying out the reasons behind our economic and political crises, and asserting a willingness to take on the powerful and the privileged that have gamed the system to their advantage." From Mr. Reich: "Here, finally, is the Barack Obama many of us thought we had elected in 2008. Since then we’ve had a president who has only reluctantly stood up to the moneyed interests Teddy Roosevelt and his cousin Franklin stood up to. Hopefully Obama will carry this message through 2012, and gain a mandate to use his second term to take on the growing inequities and game-rigging practices that have been undermining the American economy and American democracy for years." The rest here--it's a good and actually rather important read for all of us: http://robertreich.org/post/13852130536

You think it's good news... and then, wham

First you see the headline: Unemployment rate falls in 39 states in June Then you read the first line in the article: The unemployment rate fell in most states in June, mainly because more people gave up searching for work and were no longer counted. Dang. There went that hope thing. Link to original post: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_state_unemployment

Want smaller government?

You/we are most surely going to get it, one way or another.

Check this out: "Government methodology for reporting retail sales is based on sampling stores in existence. It does not factor in stores not in existence but recently were. Nor does it handle closed stores when the chain is still doing business. Government reporting of retail sales is fatally flawed."

Here's the deal--states and the Federal Government are reporting sales tax collections down and considerably so and, as you know, the states can't operate on deficits so they're all slashing budgets, programs and staff, etc.

But the reports from the feds in Washington are based on same-store sales from the previous year.

What it doesn't take into account is that so many stores have closed doors and/or gone bankrupt.

So sure, same store retail sales are up.

But tax revenues? The money they get in to spend on you and I?

Down. And big time.

So yeah, with the exception of Washington, DC, you and I are going to get smaller government, no doubt about it.

So if you're Conservative or Independent or Libertarian or just a Liberal like me who wants to see government shrink a bit, stay tuned. You're going to get what you wish for.

(You should maybe check out that link above, to see both how much less the States have in tax revenues and the rather long list of companies whose stores closed).

Let's have a great week.

Truth from the insanity, presented as humor

Yeah, I was blown away, too

After getting together with friends this evening, for dinner, I realized I wasn't the only one who was a bit blown away, emotionally, of all things, by Senator Obama's "informercial" last evening.

It seems the pictures and videos and testimony were all a bit more than at least some of us were expecting.

It reminds me so much of what I think people thought and felt for first John Kennedy and then his brother, Robert.

See if you don't see more suggestions of that comparison in time to come. I think you/we all will.

Anyway, the closer we get to the election, the more overwhelming it all seems. The more incredible it seems, that Barack Obama will be President. (I'm pretty darned sure).

(And I am SO FREAKIN' SICK of this election, otherwise).




On a side note--back to the real and scary world of economics--did anyone see this following little tidbit?

"The Federal Reserve agreed to provide $30 billion each to the central banks of Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore, expanding its effort to unfreeze money markets to emerging nations for the first time."

See the story link here:
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/10/fed-expands-swap-o-rama-to-brazil.html

That's 120 BILLION DOLLARS, all at once, to Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore.

Holy cow. We're talking real money here.

This all brings on a few rather significant questions, I think:

1) Holy spreadsheet, Batman, what is our government doing??

2) Is what the government is doing the right thing? (Are they the right things?)

3) Who's REALLY in charge of our government right now?

4) Are we going to regret this in short order?

5) Are the people "in control" REALLY in control?

6) Are these same people (you know, the ones in "control") sure of what they're doing?

7) Aren't we throwing one heck of a lot of money around and rather helter skelter, at that? (In the billions, regularly).

8) Are the people in charge REALLY certain of the ramifications of what they're doing?

9) Are some of the things we're doing counterproductive with some of the other things we're doing, simultaneously?

10) Can we be certain of our answer(s) to no. 9 above?

11) Can we be certain of our answers to any and all of the questions above?

12) Are the people in charge certain of the answers to any and all of the questions above?

13) What other "unkowns" are out there that we're unaware of?

14) Are we--all of us, even the ones in charge--totally winging it and in completely new, unidentified territory here, so they really AREN'T sure of what they're doing? (I'm afraid the answer here is a certifiable "yes").

Whole lotta questions, goin' on.