"Think about it: is America — not state governments, but the nation as a whole — less able to afford help to troubled teens, medical care for families, or repairs to decaying roads and bridges than it was one or two years ago? Of course not. Our capacity hasn’t been diminished; our workers haven’t lost their skills; our technological know-how is intact. Why can’t we keep doing good things?

It’s true that the economy is currently shrinking. But that’s the result of a slump in private spending. It makes no sense to add to the problem by cutting public spending, too.

In fact, the true cost of government programs, especially public investment, is much lower now than in more prosperous times. When the economy is booming, public investment competes with the private sector for scarce resources — for skilled construction workers, for capital. But right now many of the workers employed on infrastructure projects would otherwise be unemployed, and the money borrowed to pay for these projects would otherwise sit idle.

And shredding the social safety net at a moment when many more Americans need help isn’t just cruel. It adds to the sense of insecurity that is one important factor driving the economy down."

State governments, unlike the nation's overnment, cannot just sort of invent money, or pretend it exists. Yes, America does have to find people to buy it's debt, but playing with the interest rate makes that a mostly doable thing. No ne wants to invest in individual states, it seems, and they are required to balance their budget. This undermines the efforts of the nation of a whole.

The quote above is from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/29/opinion/29krugman.html

While I do not condone all that destruction, ever, I can also see a point to it. Think about it. They were spreading the grief. I might not want to dwell on Grant's murder, but if someone smashed in my windows, and otherwise destoyed things that are integral to my everyday life, I can't continue to be complacent.

A death is a helluvalot more disruptive than that amount of destruction. I hope that it helps people sympathyze with the rioters and everyone greiving for grant, and everyone greiving for the system and the continued racial discrimination.

In a punishment based system such as the one we have, that police man should get punished to the greatest amount under the law.

Really we need intervetion. We don't have the infastructure for that. We could, though.

did anyone watch care bears? YOu know the episode about the infinite apple tree, and people start stocking up on apples cause they are afraid the tree will stop producing, then it dies. Its totally referencing speculation, dudes. One person takes an extra, which spurrs others to take more, ...


I need to write down a tornado dream today. It was sortof lucid, but I didn't have total control. I was with Mary Dougherty and Jeff Wong.

It amazes me how every part of his plan is the best possible way to have a regressive economy, and hurt the poor. Sales tax? Hurts the poor. Lottery? Poor. Cuts? also hurts the poor. The govenor now realizes that he cannot balance the budget through cuts alone, however, he seems to want to to fix it by taxing those least able to pay.

Thankfully, he understands that he needs reserves, however, these will be inevitably from the pockets of the poor, slowing the economy further. "Health and welfare programs were among the hardest hit. The governor has proposed cuts in health care for the poor, recent immigrants and disabled residents."

Obviously, we don't have the money to spend now, but we are going to have less and less of it if people are sick and under educated, and we COULD have the money if only we taxed more.

Republican Senate leader Dave Cogdill says he does not understand a one percent increase in sales tax. He says it will slow the economy. Yes, because it is regressive. But he doesn't understand tax. I think I need to make an appointment to go talk to him.

I mean, on taxes, one does not have to pay interest. They just take the money. I don't see why that is not preferable. I also don't see the possibility of making money off the lottery. It certainly does not seem to be a long term fix. Let us hope to god that there is not an infinite supply of gambling monies.

so I read an editorial By Paul Krugman, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/opinion/28krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin,
here is a summary:


McCain's admirers think he is different than bush, "a strait talker." What Mr. McCain says about taxes shows the same combination of irresponsibility foreshadowed the Bush administration. McCain's tax plan would reduce federal revenue by more than $5 trillion over 10 years.
The bush administration deceived people about the cost of the tax cuts by putting an expiration date on the tax cuts, which it never intended to honor. Krugman says, "The McCain campaign wants us to accept the success of that deception as a fact of life."However, such behavior would lead to huge budget deficits, so large that getting rid of it would require "cutting Social Security benefits by three-quarters, eliminating Medicare, or something equivalently drastic."

Also, he proposes a "summer gas tax holiday" which seems to me the worst idea ever. The summer seems to me the worst time ever to drive, because it is hot. The pollution would, in many places, be worse.