A windfall for the health-casino operators maybe, but a boon for the American people? I am not convinced.
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MAKING CHANGE: BRING HOME THE BACON
Making CHANGE happen. We elected President Obama in Nov. We rallied for the economic stimulus and then for the budget resolutions. Now to finally bring home the bacon for our region we need to help our local governments and groups apply for grants. For example, this is how we get a summer jobs program.
GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D, FL, 2nd) is hosting a grant writing workshop this Wednesday, April 8, 2009 as a follow-on the the economic stimulus workshop held last week.
Yesterday two events were marked in History. The Economy of the United States of America as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to a point not seen since 1997. And a probe from the Peoples Republic of China reached the moon. If, like countless nations before us, we are destined to be replaced as the flagship of nations, then historians will look back at this moment and say, “See how China closes the Gap”. We must as the generation of the sixties did before us, by reinvesting in the math and science education infrastructure of our society. We must make education a life long priority.
just read about subidies to the state's for aquaculture in the Stimulus Bill; I assume that would be fisheries and the like. I just wanted to say that was an excellent idea. In fact, if there was one thing the U.N. could do to justify it's existence it would be to promote the controversial proposition that more fish in the ocean is better than less fish in ocean. The U.N. should be dropping fisheries off all over the world, in kits with brill shrimp if they have to. I support more fish.
I would recommend that we breed Chesapeake Bay oysters onto pyramid shaped reeflike structures; specially designed to support and encourage the oysters growth. Then plant them all over the Bay, outside of shipping lanes, in well marked areas. It used to take 3 to 4 days for oysters to filter all the water of the Bay, now it takes over a year. What would this take besides, aquarium, some miniumum filter (you'd want the oysters to feed after all), plankton, oysters, and a something for them to grow on, that is not the walls of the aquarium (you might let a few stay on the walls for breeding stock) and can be transported later; and convincing a state to pay us until Uncle Sam pays them? oh and a Boat. and some Buoys. Thoughts?
If anyone actually follows this blog, then you'll know my passion to trim the Post Office to mail once or twice a week. So read this.
Finally, enter the top man at the U.S. Postal Service into a fat-cat pay dispute. According to CNN, Postmaster General John E. Potter received $800,000 in total compensation a year ago, triggering howls of protest from critics who point out that Potter recently testified before Congress showing the postal service posted a $2.8 billion loss and might not be able to fulfill its six-day delivery mandate. But the agency's board of governors on Tuesday came to his defense, saying the pay is justified. "Even in these difficult times, the postmaster general continues to exhibit visionary leadership, effecting billions of dollars in cost reductions," said Carolyn Lewis Gallagher, the chairman of the agency's board of governors.
What could he possibly do that justifies that, think up new stamps? No, he probably creates a committee for that. Say, guys lets keep delivering mail; hey why don't we have a monopoly on validating postage, oh wait we do. Lets advertise so some other mail carrier doesn't take our place. No, lets do it to increase demand for more mailers, circulars, post cards, envelopes, and hallmark cards. And lets sell the trees to make it from federal land at $5 an acre. Oh, this will end well.
I'm sorry, but I hold incompetence to be a greater sin than malfeasance. When it comes to the resources of the commonweal. It's one thing to not have any torpedoes on your PT boat because you sold them all, it's quite another if they blow up when you fire them because they were assembled by morons. In WWII an American submarine commander once put 11 torpedoes into a Japanese Transport Ship, 11 duds; he took the 12th back to base for analysis. After sinking the ship with his deck gun.
The WSJ takes an interesting look at the confusion surrounding the executive-pay restrictions that were inserted into the economic stimulus package and could end up affecting more people than previously believed. The law essentially restricts the compensation of the 25 highest-paid people in a company that receives bailout money. But if the company identifies the 25 people it intends to pay the most this year and restricts their pay, they would no longer be the highest paid people and 25 new people would fall into that category. So does that mean their pay would have to be restricted as well? Alternatively, if it's done based on compensation received in 2008, those whose pay is restricted wouldn't be the highest paid in 2009. It could all result in a "weird game of leapfrog," as an executive-compensation attorney puts it.
I think you'll have to say that the top ten percent of management of a company can earn no more than 25% of a companies profit, as defined by an outside observer.
But I was just informed that tiny beleagured Haiti is deeply in debt. So here's a little background from Wikipedia. I hope you share with me the compassion that here in the midst of a world economic meltdown, we can let the 1.4 billion the poorest people on the earth owe. And American's I ask you, where would we be without the services of Toussaint L'Overture perhaps the greatest service rendered by a foreign national to the health, wealth, and prosperity of the United States since Lafeyette. Anyway, lets let this one slide.
slave colony. In exchange for French recognition of Haiti as a sovereign republic, France demanded payment of 150 million francs (modern equivalent of $21 billion). [1]
From 1957 to 1986, Haiti was controlled by the father/son dictatorship of Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. For nearly thirty years they diverted foreign assistance towards their own personal interests. While exactly how much money the Duvaliers stole is unknown, after Jean-Claude Duvalier was forced to step down an audit established that at least $500 million had been diverted in just his last six years. Once stolen, the money was used for a variety of purposes. A certain amount went directly to the Duvalier family. For example, Michele Duvalier famously spent $20,000 on a shopping trip to New York in the early 1980s. The money was also used to strengthen the Duvaliers’ control over Haiti, with payoffs to the Tonton Macoutes (Francois Duvalier's personal militia), Haitian soldiers, and local officials. [2]
Haiti has a total external debt of 1.4 billion dollars. 45% of this debt was accumulated under the Duvalier dictatorship. [3] In April, Haiti was added to the World Bank and IMF's highly indebted poor country initiative (HIPC) following the election of new president René Préval. However, the country will not qualify for debt cancellation from the IMF and World Bank until 2009 at the earliest.
Haiti's largest creditor, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is not part of the debt relief initiative. Haiti's debt to the IDB amounts to approximately half a billion dollars with debt service payments projected by the IMF to increase in the following years.[4]
Jubilee USA has called for the immediate cancellation of Haiti's debt to multilateral institutions, including the World Bank, IMF, and the previously excluded lender, the Inter-American Development Bank, based on the argument that this debt is unjust (under a legal term called odious debt) and that Haiti could better use the funds going towards debt service for education, health care, and basic infrastructure. [5]
The Haiti Debt Cancellation Resolution [6] had 66 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives as of February 2008.
Several organizations in the U.S. have issued action alerts around the Haiti Debt Cancellation Resolution, and a Congressional letter to the U.S. Treasury [7], including Jubilee USA, the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti and Pax Christi USA.
