Anyone thinking that national healthcare is somehow related to socialism needs to read some earlier posts on this site. Anyone who thinks that national healthcare is bad must think it’s quite alright for the United States to rank lower than Cuba in health.

Please don’t worry. The right always screams that dreaded word at anything they don’t like or don’t understand. There’s a lot that they don’t like and a lot that they don’t understand. That’s why you hear it so frequently.

Cuba isn’t the only country ahead of us. In life-expectancy, infant mortality and the usual list of health markers we are in a sad and embarrassing state. The last time I checked we ranked 37th and sinking.  Well, as Bush, McCain and Paulson might say, the fundamentals of our healthcare are sound.

Approximately one dollar out of every six goes towards health care. That’s not strictly true. One dollar out of every six goes towards the healthcare industry. That’s not exactly the same. Twenty-four cents of every healthcare dollar goes to administrative costs, not health care.

Administration includes the costs of supporting that multitude of health insurance companies, plus the concomitant costs they impose. The average physician’s office needs the capability to process 70 different insurance forms. The load is such that the average physician’s office is burdened with the expense of extra staff to handle this problem. Now, imagine the paperwork load of a hospital. Twenty-four cents of every dollar - gone. None of that 24 cents goes to health care, your health care.

In fact, the insurance companies actually cause a degradation in health. First, the leading cause of bankruptcy is medical bills. Bankruptcy is rarely beneficial to one’s health.

Preexisting conditions are not covered by those wonderful companies whose commercials you sometimes see on television and in magazines. When possible, they frequently will deny coverage for conditions that were not preexisting.

They also get to decide which treatments they consider non-standard, and therefore not covered, such as bone marrow transplants. The cost of a copay may cause many to defer or skip getting necessary treatment. Loss of a job often means loss of coverage, as the health insurance of most people is through their employer.

People are afraid of change. They are easy prey to the demigods, the public relations machines and the ignorant. They hear all of those horror stories - and they believe them. Let’s start with one salient fact. Polls in all of the major countries show that the populace of these countries overwhelmingly prefer their healthcare system to ours. Why would they prefer their system when our’s costs more than twice as much per person? They must all be crazy. Well, maybe they prefer a greater life expectancy and all of that other stuff.

How much do these other countries pay for administration? Canada, at 11 cents of every dollar, is the highest. The others range down to 5 cents. How does that work? What is it likely to cost here?

For simplicity, let’s think in terms of Medicare for All. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (known as CMS) is by far the largest purchaser of medical services in the world. In addition to Medicare and Medicaid it also administers the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. How much does it spend on administration? One point eight cents per dollar ($00.018 per dollar).

There would continue to be some minimal administrative costs involved in the operation of physicians’ offices and hospitals. With the CMS cost as the core, there should be no problem matching the 5 cents per dollar of the most efficient systems.

If we only were able to bring the cost down to Canada’s 11 cents per dollar we would have sufficient savings to cover the 47 million now without health coverage. This presupposes everyone paying the same as they presently pay in taxes, premiums and copays. It also presupposes choosing your own physicians and hospitals, just as Medicare now allows. Just think about the additional savings if we bring it down to 5 cents per dollar, a very reachable mark.

If you are required to pay out a certain amount of money, do you care what it’s called or who collects it? I don’t. Call it premiums or taxes or broccoli, it’s still money you must pay. Think about those savings. Think about living longer. Think able being healthier, longer. Think.

Is health care a matter of national concern? I don’t remember the figures but I do remember being staggered by the numbers of draftees medically unacceptable during the Vietnam War. Even lost productivity due to sick days would be significantly reduced if the experience of other countries is any guide.

Disentangling healthcare insurance from employment will eliminate a competitive disadvantage for American companies. It will also allow employees to feel less bound to one company when maintaining healthcare coverage is an important consideration. As the economy worsens, companies are looking for areas ripe for pruning. Health insurance is a low-hanging fruit. Many employees are finding it too expensive or impossible to replace coverage when their employer eliminates that benefit.

So how would this work? Everyone gets a Medicare card. You present it to the physician’s office or hospital or clinic. It could be similar to a credit card. It is only necessary to swipe the card in an electronic reader and cover your copay. The copay could be covered by something I presently have called Medigap insurance.

What about all of those people losing their jobs with insurance companies? How many jobs is one unnecessary death worth? Actually, the estimates are that we have a shortage of 800,000 to one million nurses. That figure will rise when everyone is insured. There will also be more jobs for various techs in the medical fields. These people could be employed actually promoting health instead of degrading it.

This is known as a single-payer system. It is the most efficient system as it puts a far larger percentage of our health dollars into health, rather than administration and profits for those who are detrimental to our national health, bringing us down to 37th. It is the only system that makes any sense. And, it is not socialism. It is rational.

Solving these problems, covering everyone, reducing waste and costs and improving our health, is not the end of it. There are other problems with our healthcare system. While the overall inflation rate may hover around 3 percent, the costs of medical care stays in the double digits. That is not sustainable. That and other problems need to be addressed. A single-payer system will give us a window of opportunity, a breathing space to really attack those other problems.

To your health.

How much are you willing to gamble on your retirement? Everything? Half of everything? How lucky do you feel putting your children’s college funds at risk? Come on now. Be honest.

How do you get rich? How do you get to retire in a manner to which you want to become accustomed? How can you afford to send all of your kids to Harvard? The government has the answer. Gamble.

Those on Wall Street and others prefer the word invest. Sometimes you hear someone called a speculator. Let’s call a turd a turd. It’s gambling. The stock market has nothing to do with the real world. When Amazon was about 4 years old its market capitalization (cost of a share times the number of shares) was 7 times that of Sears and Roebuck. At the time Amazon had never had a profit. None of their financial projections showed any expectation of profit in the foreseeable future.

Amazon was viable enough to survive the bursting of the dot.com bubble but presently isn’t flying quite as high. Speaking of Sears, remember that Kmart comes out of bankruptcy and almost immediately purchases Sears. Let me know if any of that makes enough sense to warrant throwing your money at it.

What drives prices up in the stock market? There are a few things. Chief among these factors is speculation, gambling. Another factor is too much money chasing a limited number of shares.

The government wants you to gamble away your savings. That’s why they give gambling tax breaks that actually working for a living doesn’t qualify for. The lobbyists want more money in the market to push the prices ever upward.

What ever they call it, playing the stock market is gambling. Is the possibility of getting rich worth it? Even putting your money into mutual funds may find your money being put into a ponzi scheme. Recent events should be an object lesson: the professionals, the Masters of the Universe only pretend to know what they are doing. Can you make better guesses? Maybe. Maybe not.

Let me offer an alternative. It will not put you in a position to challenge Warren Buffet. It will, however, provide a great deal of security for your old age. Invest in the United States. Buy Treasury bonds. The only safer bet is to die early.

If the government would eliminate the tax breaks for gambling it could make Treasury bonds tax free. Municipal bonds are tax-free. Why not Treasuries? You don’t even need to pay a broker’s fee.

This could reduce, possibly eliminate, the need for the government to go hat in hand to the Saudis and Chinese. The interest payments would stay in the country. That would help a little on our balance of payments. It would reduce the possibility that foreign governments could use our debt to pressure our government.

To be corny, it would be patriotic to invest in our country. It’s certainly more patriotic than Bush’s suggestion of going shopping. It’s even more patriotic than a bumper sticker.

Nothing would keep you out of gambling in the market - except prudence. Put enough in Treasuries to ensure your retirement, your kids’ education, whatever. If you have money left over, money that you can afford to lose, have at it. Bet against the house. Play the market. You might hit the jackpot. You might hit the lottery. The odds aren’t that different.

If you are intent on gambling some or all of your money, wise, careful direct investment in a local business, your own or someone else’s, might prove more prudent. It might also create a job or two. Buying stock from another speculator doesn’t do that much to increase employment. Keep your investment close, where you can keep an eye on it. It does require some effort, some work. Oh, I said it. I said the terrible word that gamblers are so averse to.

The United States became the economic engine of the world way back when work was not a dirty word. Now it is. Look at the front page to see the difference.

It’s nice to dream about being rich but, regardless of your broker’s promises, not everyone can be rich. Live with it.

It is impossible to miss or ignore all of the commercials on television touting the Medicare plus plans. They go by many different names but are basically plans that claim to offer seniors more services than traditional Medicare plans. They usually offer some dental coverage and perhaps coverage for eyeglasses for the same cost as Medicare alone. That sounds like a winner.

What do they really offer?

First, they get the premium from Medicare that one usually pays. Are they so much more efficient than Medicare that they can include more services for the same premium? Not really.

Medicare not only gives them the regular premium but, on average, an additional $1,100. Ten million of the 40 million people on Medicare have bought into these plans. $1,100 times 10 million equals $11 billion. That is, Medicare is paying the insurance companies all of the premiums plus $11 billion. The commercials also fail to mention the co-pays.

Another little problem is that the companies squeeze the physicians and hospitals. There have been loud and constant complaints since the inception of Medicare from those two groups about the inadequacy of their remuneration. The insurance companies offer to reduce that even further.

Many physicians and hospitals find the offered compensation unacceptable. If your preferred physician or hospital refuses to accept the insurance company’s terms, you either go looking for an alternative or fork over the difference.

To let the reader know where I am coming from, I admit to being on Medicare and having had 31 physicians in the past 4-plus years. Signing up with one of these insurance companies would mean having to contact each one to confirm whether they had agreed to accept that company’s terms. How many alternate providers would I likely have to find? For some reason the commercials fail to cover that point. Perhaps it’s that there isn’t sufficient time.

Medicare, the other 30 million people on Medicare, the physicians, the hospitals and the taxpayer are subsidizing the insurance companies and those they have signed up.

Is it possible that the glut of commercials is a rough measure of how profitable these plans are to the insurance companies? I’m not going to attempt to quantify the value of the premiums, the co-pays and the reduced reimbursement to physicians and hospitals. That $11 billion alone might be adequate incentive.

The original promise was that these plans would provide more and better service to seniors at less cost. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Studies have shown that those signed up for these plans are not receiving better service despite the additional costs. Adding in the co-pays means that seniors, as well as Medicare, are paying more. Seniors not signed on to these plans are paying higher premiums to subsidize the others that $11 billion.

Thankfully, President-Elect Obama and Tom Daschle, his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, have indicated that this program is a probable target for elimination. In the meantime, warn any geezers you know to avoid those plans like the plague.

Something is wrong. It feels strange for one of my posts to end on an up beat.

Every Republican candidate for president in the recent campaign tried to outdo his rivals in their claims to the mantle of St. Ronny. Now congressmen are falling all over themselves to explain that the cause of the economic meltdown is due to a failure to follow the political Pied Piper. Only the one you are listening to at the moment is sufficiently devoted to the Oracle.

What is the solution? How can we immediately reverse this economic calamity? More of the same, of course. Repeat the mantra: Deregulation, Deficit, Deceit.

The time for an antidote, the truth, is long past due. Reaganism was conceived in ignorance and nurtured in hypocrisy. I need to hurry and complete this post. The lightening bolts are getting closer.

I should make some attempt at fairness. Reagan was not the creator of this nonsense. He was not among the brightest or most attentive of our presidents. He was brighter than his present successor, but isn’t everyone? Reagan swallowed whole on this subject. It did match his affinity for the simplistic and his predilection for whatever was advantageous for the self-proclaimed elite.

When Reagan took the oath of office America was the largest exporter of manufactured goods in the world. It is now the largest importer of manufactured goods.

When Reagan first occupied the Oval Office America was the largest importer of raw materials. It is now the largest exporter of raw materials.

When Reagan first took up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue America was the largest creditor nation. It is now the largest debtor nation.

Reagan began the decline of the United States from the premier industrial nation to meeting many of the benchmarks of a third-world country. Praise Reagan.

Lyndon Johnson knew that Americans were unwilling to pay for both guns and butter during what was becoming an unpopular Vietnam War. He wanted to keep the people happy; or at least compliant. His way of managing this was to put large parts of the nation’s expenditures off-budget.

Reagan gladly used this method for putting one over on the public. Off-budget machinations became a necessary element of Reaganism. His successors have shown more than sufficient enthusiasm for this little budgetary trick. While our stated debt is just over $10 trillion, including that which is off-budget raises the total to something in excess of $54 trillion.

Even more central to Reaganism was the credit card. If you give me a credit card with no limits and tell me that I will not be required to make payments for any debt, I can throw one helluva party. Reagan’s terms are fondly remembered by some and were appreciated by many at the time as an economic blessing.

Reaganism combined these economic wonders with deregulation. What is deregulation? It means allowing the greedy people who run an industry to not worry about those elected and appointed to watch out for the interests of the rest of us. Deregulation, de facto or de jure, entitles them to screw everyone else in the name of conservative ideology.

The final brick thrown at our economy is tax cuts. How do we pay for that $54 trillion of debt? Cut taxes, of course. Remember, Reaganomics states very clearly: you do not have to pay for the party.

You likely heard the statement many times during the recent campaign that we have the highest corporate taxes in the world. Actually, we are second to Japan. But that isn’t the real story. The real story is that two-thirds of major corporations pay no corporate tax. That could make a difference. Despite claims to the contrary, the claimed highest tax rate in the world hasn’t scared all corporations into moving overseas, except for jobs.

But what about personal taxes? Don’t they top the lists compared to other countries? Ask Bill Gates. Ask Warren Buffet, who says it is unfair for him to pay a lower rate than his secretary. Those best able to afford to shoulder the burden are given the lightest load, if any. Those who receive the most benefits from the government pay the least.

The disastrous policies that go by the rubrics of Reaganism and Reaganomics have been treated as sacraments, as holy relics by many. Some use them hypocritically, for their own benefit. Most adhere to the tenets in ignorance, to their own hazard.

The theology of Reaganism has many abominable tenets. Here we have limited the discussion to economics. Few can stomach the entire body of the dogma in a single setting. My apologies to the sentient.

First, let’s ignore all of those to whom ideological purity is more important than the economic health of the country. Our economic health has a direct effect on our national security, our perceived leadership position and other important national and international concerns. More immediately, it can have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of our fellow citizens.

Those who would elevate ideology, any ideology, above the national security and financial distress of millions of other Americans are far from being the patriots they see themselves to be. They are aliens in our midst. They are, purely and simply, treasonous. So, as I said, ignore them. Any solutions they might offer are not in the best interests of the people of this country.

Although significant spending based on increasing indebtedness, by the government or individuals, is not usually advisable, in light of such a major economic crisis it is necessary. Money must flow, even if it must be borrowed.

We need spending and we need jobs. See how simple it all is? While spending is necessary, it would be better if it were wisely spent. There are ways of doing this that are agreeable to the vast majority, if they understand the reasons for it.

There is little dispute that our infrastructure is crumbling. Spending on the repair of it makes sense. It is something that will provide benefits for generations.

Spending to create jobs related to new energy technologies will have some near-term benefits but will deliver immeasurable benefits in the longer term. It can help us position our country as the leader in a field that will grow to preeminence.

Finally, to the automobile industry. Over the past decades the executives have exhibited a marvelous incompetence. There is no way to defend them. But a number of ideologues in the Senate have turned to diversionary tactics. One would think that union members designed and marketed the gas-guzzling behemoths that are now such an inventory burden. These economic dinosaurs - the Senators, not the SUVs - have demanded that the unions, the only players that have offered to make any sacrifices, make very specific further concessions. These Senators are requiring no other players to share the burden.

Senator Bob Corker is not a subtle man. He is one of those that Robert Borosage is speaking of when he says, “By blocking the auto bailout, Republicans defined themselves. They are class warriors, willing to risk an economic calamity in order to break a union.” His great plan puts the lie to his previous position that Washington is incapable of managing businesses. He wants to micromanage to the point of enforcing specific wage levels and benefits. When it comes to destroying a union, so much for ideological purity.

Bobby Corker’s state, and mine, has given more money per job created to foreign manufacturers than the Big 3 are asking for to save jobs up North. This is true of every Southern state that has foreign auto plants. Just to be certain that I am making this as clear as possible, the monies for the foreign companies were gifts. The monies that the Big 3 are asking for are loans.

They may not be needed in the short term but 18 new auto plants are planned for the South. The Toyota plant in Kentucky is the largest outside of Japan. Toyota executives have touted the fact that, counting bonuses, the workers in that plant make over $2 more per hour than union workers. Other than a single-minded devotion to union-busting, there seems no real call for Senators to demand that the union take further cuts.

Volkswagen and Toyota are part of a group that has petitioned European governments for $56 billion. The Japanese government subsidizes its automobile manufacturers. The problem is not limited to Detroit. $150 per barrel oil caused automakers to take a serious hit even before the economic meltdown. Since Detroit had decided to depend on SUVs and trucks far more than other manufacturers they are taking a bigger hit. How stupid could those union workers be to make so many SUVs and trucks?

The very same ideologues are saying that bankruptcy court is the correct path. Let’s look at the courts. Over 40 percent of companies going into Chapter 11 end up in Chapter 7 - liquidation. Other than attorneys, there are no jobs saved in Chapter 7.

The loss of 5 million more jobs means disaster for the economy and long-term misery for millions of Americans. The cost to the governments, state, local and federal, are far greater than the cost of a bailout. With reduced revenue at the local and state level, either services must be curtailed or taxes raised.

Two polls have shown that people will not buy cars from a company in bankruptcy. It isn’t like taking a flight on Delta Air Lines. Cars have warranties. The government would have to back those warranties. I actually saw a car the other day that was out of warranty. The owner may want parts at some time in the future. Will the government have to bail out the parts manufacturers?

Parts manufacturers are heavily dependent upon the automakers. They supply parts to the foreign companies as well as the domestic ones. However, few will be able to survive the hit of a loss of one or more of the Big 3. That means the foreign companies must shut down or increase prices to ship parts from overseas. It’s possible that the dominoes would fall until there is no auto manufacturing in this country. So much for those 18 new plants.

There are other problems with the courts.  Will the judge be competent or a political hack? Will the judge have any expertise in the industry? If so, was that expertise gained by association with management or labor? What resources will the judge have available in such a massive bankruptcy? Will the judge be male or female? Will the judge be young or old?

Does anyone think that lenders will flock to the court to provide the loans GM or one or more of the others would need? It still would fall to Washington to provide the funds. Washington would also be called upon to provide manpower and expertise to the court. Are we better off leaving the decisions to one unknown judge?

If Washington will have to provide the loans in any case, why involve a court that will, on its own, be inadequate to the undertaking? If Bob Corker, Richard Shelby and the others of that ilk are going to represent foreign manufacturers’ interest against the interest of American workers, our economic well-being and national security, they should register as lobbyists for foreign entities.

The ‘Smartest Man in Washington’ has changed his mind again. Of course that doesn’t mean any of his earlier ideas were wrong. After all, he is the ‘Smartest Man in Washington.’

To get serious, Hank is just emblematic of the problems that put us in the fix we are in. His herky-jerky dance also points out how he and his ilk have intellectual limitations that preclude their being able to find the solutions to the problems they caused.

Why have Paulson and the rest become such offensive jokes? Ideology. It’s funny watching Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) on television calling the auto industry a dinosaur. He should know what a dinosaur is.

Ideologies are intellectual tools. Those who cling to one ideology with absolute devotion are, to give them the benefit of doubt, intellectually lazy. They are looking for ready-made answers to all the problems. They specialize in one tool. They spurn the others. Sometimes a hammer is called for. Sometimes a screwdriver is called for.

Using a hammer for every situation doesn’t tax one’s dexterity. It also doesn’t always get the job done.

The media is talking about Paulson, Bernanke, Rubin, Summers and the rest. Which one will be our savior? None of them will solve the problems. They are all cut from the same cloth. They are all bound tightly to the same pitiful, shallow little ideology.

You don’t make it into the positions they hold and have held if you have not been accepted into the inner sanctum of the mind-numbing cult of conservative capitalism. The USSR had its analogue in the cult of socialism. One failed spectacularly a couple of decades ago. The other failed spectacularly 70-odd years ago and is giving us a repeat performance.

Our greatest need at this juncture is to identify the basic problem areas and address them. We need to look at the problems and potential answers without rose-colored glasses or blinders. What are the critical areas? The jobs market and the housing market.

The financial system built a house of cards based on sub-prime loans and used them as the foundation for another house of cards built with derivatives. Then they are shocked that it could not weather the vagaries of international turmoil.

The initial answer that Paulson and his crew of experts offered was to salvage the financial institutions on which they all feed and save the investments of all the speculators (gamblers) on Wall Street. They did take time out of their busy schedules to throw a few platitudes our way about how this would also save Main Street. It was sweet that they remembered who was paying for it all. Well, perhaps their self-serving lies were not all that sweet.

Forget the investors. Oh! How could I be so cruel and lacking in understanding of their importance? If their devotion to capitalism was as complete as they pretend, they would admit that the bedrock of capitalism is the article of faith that it rewards risk. They gambled and lost. Go to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $700 billion.

The most important job is to keep more housing units (homes) from flooding the market. More foreclosures mean further depressing the real estate market. That helps no one. It harms everyone. Use our tax money and all the borrowed money as directly as possible to keep as many homes as possible from falling into foreclosure. Remember, whatever worth those investment instruments have are based on the market value of mortgages.

Jobs. Without jobs, most people will have a problem keeping their mortgage current. No jobs, the real estate market collapses, all of those derivatives are toilet paper.

Our economy is consumer-driven. No jobs, the economy collapses, no cars are purchased, no taxes are paid.

How do you address the housing and jobs markets? The first step is to forbid the use of any ideological terminology. No more capitalism; no more socialism; no more nationalization; no more communism; no more mercantilism. No more leftist; no more rightist; no more liberal; no more conservative. If it works, it’s good. If it doesn’t work, it’s bad.

Our situation is the worst since the Great Depression. The crisis is worldwide. We don’t have the luxury of playing word games. While we keep playing the simple-minded game of my ideology is better than your ideology, or your ideology is of the devil, matters can and will become much worse.

We have listened to these ‘experts’ far too long. The only tangible products the financial industry produces are made of paper. The value of these products ranges from problematical to zero. At what cost does this industry operate? It sucks from the overall economy approximately $650 billion each and every year. Is it worth it?

The financial industry is constantly touting its importance. All the while it has distorted our economy, weakened its foundations, feasted at our expense far beyond the dreams of Midas or any other king and given us paper. I must admit that they have also given us the word from on high that they are worth their multi-millions of salary and bonuses. They have provided an unending drumbeat of how we can someday grow up to be as rich as they are, despite the fact that they are sending our jobs to Bangladesh.

Bloomberg News has filed both a request under the Freedom Of Information Act and a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve. The issue is the lack of transparency in the bailout. Transparency was promised by both presidential candidates and by the leaders of Congress. This may not sound all that sexy but the numbers definitely will grab your attention.

I bet you thought that little matter of $700 billion was all you had to fork over to the guys that ruined the entire world economy. Wrong.

Did you forget? Just before the $700 billion we gave Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG et al. about $315 billion. I know it’s difficult to keep up with all of these little details.

It seems that the Fed has been handing out about $2 trillion - yes, trillion. Also, there are eleven federal programs that can hand out large gobs of cash without telling you. Eight of these already have. The real problem is that they refuse to say who is getting the money; how much they are giving these anonymous recipients; or the terms of these welfare benefits.

If all of that wasn’t bad enough, Secretary Paulson pulled a sneaky. When everyone was focused on the $700 billion bailout he slipped a little gift into the package. Let me put it into perspective.

After we started giving various financial institutions hand-fulls of money we expected to see them lending some of that money. We expected to see credit available to consumers and business. Then we heard that banks were refusing to lend to other banks. What was happening to the money?

Banks are buying other banks. Relatively healthy financial institutions are buying those in trouble. The money used to buy these is unavailable for lending. Our money is being used to help healthy businesses take advantage of the situation to grow larger.

What Paulson slipped in was a passage that allowed these healthy companies that are receiving our tax money to deduct the losses of their acquisitions, thereby reducing their tax liabilities. Well, how much could that be? It is only a paltry $140 billion. That is a not inconsiderable present to Paulson’s friends. The rich get richer.

And all the while the apologists for corporate interests complain about how high corporate taxes are. While the stated tax rates are second highest in the world, 67 percent of major corporations are paying no tax. Two-thirds of major corporations are getting a free ride, and still complaining. All the while, Paulson and others whose salaries we pay are looking for ways to provide them even more welfare. While Paulson should have been trying to figure out how to react to this extraordinary financial crisis, he was using the little time available to help his homeboys.

Some in Congress discovered this outrage. They were outraged but not enough to bring the subject to the public or reverse that passage. Why? They are afraid that if they make a stink about it the financial world will react badly and make the crisis worse. So, you and I are expected to provide another $140 billion to the very wealthy as hush money.

Any time someone suggests that the super wealthy pay a fair share of the cost of government the reaction is engraved in stone. They say that we should not engage in class warfare. Huh? They have been engaged in class warfare full-time for decades. It is not an intermittent war. It has been waged by the wealthy without any letup. Their front-line troops are the lobbyists. Their war chests are overflowing. They turn our representatives against our interests.

The targets of this class warfare, you and me, seldom strike back. We seldom are aware of the enemy’s actions. We seldom have someone to serve as our hero. Now we have a hero: Bloomberg News. That is jaw-dropping.

A large middle class is what made this country the economic power for so long. This created immense wealth; wealth that some could accumulate in large concentrations. Apparently having more money than God was insufficient to satisfy these gluttons. They wanted the disparity between them and the rabble to be obscenely large. The easiest way was to drive down the middle class. Send their jobs overseas. Eliminate as many decent-paying jobs as possible. Promote an economy of people selling hamburgers to each other.

When you hear the complaint that someone representing us is engaging in class warfare, be thankful. Most of us are missing in action. We rarely realize that there is any action to miss.

Before going any further, I must congratulate Senator John McCain for his concession speech. The campaign was not something of which to be proud but that speech went a long way to repairing my impression of him. That speech truly was gracious and generous. I am convinced that it was also heartfelt.

Mr. Obama was not my first choice but I have come to appreciate his temperament, his curiosity, his empathy, the absence of cant and the remarkable efficiency and organization of his campaign. Those are traits and strengths that can prove valuable in his efforts to deal with the worst prospects of any incumbent since FDR. I continue to harbor some disagreements in his stated policies but will hope for the best. I’ll take what I can get.

I consider myself merely a sceptic, not a full-blown cynic. Last night, watching the election returns, I experienced a feeling I had not thought possible for me. My late wife was Korean. Although it was not to the extent experienced by Blacks, I did find out what it was like to be discriminated against. Even more, I knew what it was like to feel the hurt caused to my wife and children by discrimination.

Last night I fully understood and appreciated Michele Obama’s comment that she finally felt a pride in America. I understand that the Obamas felt that not in a strictly personal sense. They impress me as having a hope and vision for America based on more than just their own good fortune.

To expect people who have experienced discrimination and, more than that, to feel the effects on so many less fortunate than themselves to not have some reservations in their perception of our society is unrealistic. Only jingoists and superficial patriots refuse to admit to the hope for something better than what we have experienced over a lifetime.

I wish to thank President-elect Obama and this country for the special pride I felt last night. I know that there will be disappointments in the future but I cherish that experience and hope that some of it will last for longer than we probably deserve. I regret that my late wife did not live to see it. Given that, I think I can better appreciate Mr. Obama’s loss of his grandmother so closely before his realization of last night’s results.

Actually, since their starting point is their religious belief in a simplistic and flawed ideology, whatever ideas they come up with seem to benefit the very ones responsible for the situation.

Even the pros, the speculators, the gamblers on the street have been very wary. The market collapses. The market zooms. After far more time than you would think it should take experts to come to some understanding, the market seems to have found a bottom.

We’ve reached the point where, though we know it will take a considerable time and money, we think that the crisis will be managed over a period of two to five years. Some of you have begun to breathe again, however labored it may be.

Sorry, but that crisis is one of credit and liquidity. That isn’t the recession. The recession is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. The numbers that just came out show that the recession actually began before the revelations of September. Also, the numbers are quite troubling.

The recession that followed 9-11 did not see a drop in consumer spending. This past quarter did. A loss of over 760,000 jobs in the first nine months of this year preceded the appearance of the banking crisis. A drop in consumer spending will cause many more job losses.

Few people purchase new homes, cars, appliances or televisions with their unemployment checks. Those still drawing a paycheck will at least hesitate to make similar purchases. Some may delay for awhile. Some may defer for the longer term. Reduced spending doesn’t translate into increased jobs.

This recession is already showing signs of being worse than what we commonly experience in periodic downturns. Add to that the reluctance of the banks to provide credit to consumers, businesses and even other banks. The prospects are extremely bleak.

Consumers are not playing their common role of sustaining a constant infusion of cash into the economy. The credit situation would not allow them to were they willing. The business community is, turtle-like, instinctively pulling their head in. We are told that our system rewards risk. Yet we see the business community desperately trying to avoid risk. Again, the credit situation has the same effect on businesses as it is having on consumers.

That leaves one other player. The government is they only one at the table capable of taking positive action. I am not naive enough to believe that it is likely to always make the correct move but move it must.

This is not a game. It is not an academic debate. Anyone who brings ideological blinders and a collection of childish labels to the table needs to be sent back to the sandbox. The situation is drastic enough that the government should do what is required to save the economy. Until those responsible are removed from the levers and positions of power and appropriately punished, you can be assured that the government is not serious.

So, what steps should the government take? We are fortunate that FDR took care of the basics. Social Security, unemployment insurance, et al. put a floor on how deep a recession can go by pumping money into the economy.

The obvious answer for what else needs to be done is to follow FDR with public works projects. Restoring our infrastructure is necessary. It is an investment in the here and now as well as in our future. It isn’t creative. It isn’t sexy. It is better than another stimulus package of giving everyone a few hundred dollars to pay down their credit cards with.

One path we definitely don’t need to follow is Bush’s. We can’t afford another couple of hundred billion dollar borrowing from the Chinese just to see a teeny weeny blip in the economy a few months later.

Although I see the need to rein in the deficits, borrowing to pay for renewing our infrastructure and to begin the greening of America is a greater need at the moment. We will benefit from such expenditures with both jobs and tangible results.

As I continue to harp on the subject, there is no such thing as a tax cut when we have so much debt. It is simply a tax deferment that will burden our children and grandchildren.

We hear every day of the $10 trillion national debt. That represents only what is in the budgets. Counting our off-budget indebtedness we owe more than $54 trillion. That makes a mockery of any talk of a tax cut.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of such bad news but ignoring it or being ignorant of it will not benefit us, individually or collectively.

All of my copies of the Bible contain a short, simple, easily understood statement. It can be found at 1 John 4:8. it says, “God is love.” The full verse is, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.“

Calling oneself a Christian doesn’t establish it as a fact. The word Christian means Christ-like or follower of Christ. Neither of these seem to fit the members of the rabid Christian right. No, this is not going to be a sermon, so keep up with me.

I may be wrong but I thought Christianity was a religion, not a political party. In church I hear Obama called a Muslin, an Arab. The intensity with which they say it would seem to indicate that they truly believe such nonsense.

That is strange, as Obama attends a Christian church. He was married in a Christian church. His children were baptized there. He calls himself a born-again Christian. Then there is McCain. He doesn’t attend church and refuses to call himself a Christian. So, who do these Christians support? One guess.

The Christian right have been used. They have been stooges for the past three or four decades. There was a group of Republicans who knew that the party had nothing more to offer than Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon. They needed something to seduce voters. They needed some way of growing their numbers.

Eisenhower and Nixon dragged the traditional Republicans, kicking and screaming, out of their isolationist delusions. They remained, however, fiscal conservatives. The neo-cons stole this base and recruited social conservatives.

They looked upon the relationship with the religious right as a long term marriage. They made lots of promises. The intent was not to fulfill those promises. The intent was to build frustration and anger as a means of motivation. Fulfilling those promises would take away the possibility of manipulating those poor souls or the motivation to keep them involved in issues for which they cared little, if at all.

The radical right promised the social conservatives that they would keep prayer in the schools. Since those first promises were made, the situation, from their perspective, has only gotten worse.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade was another promise. One more promise is, after 35 years, still unfulfilled.

Promise after promise unfulfilled. Why? Because fulfilled, the fire would die out. There would be no rallying cry. There would be no need for one. There would be no more need for the neo-cons. Don’t really try to accomplish what you promise. Keep them angry. Keep them motivated.

The rank and file of the religious right has been duped. They have been played for suckers by the neo-cons. The major leaders of the religious right have happily played the game. They know that maintaining motivated people benefits them personally. They are more than happy to play the leader roles assigned to them. The financial rewards and the ego massaging are more than adequate compensation for the TV preachers. They, as the neo-cons, want to keep this golden goose alive and well.

The neo-cons have held the House, the Senate, the Oval Office and the majority of the Supreme Court simultaneously. What was the result? Did they come through on their promises? They have no intention of fulfilling those promises. To maintain their control they will instill the hate that instigated the making and exhibition of the sign in the picture above. God is love. God is unlikely to approve.

The goals of the religious right should not be litmus tests for political parties. The politicians are not going to fulfill those promises. There are other, more effective ways of accomplishing social goals. Personally, I would have much more respect for the religious right’s position on abortion if they were really pro-life. It is rank hypocrisy to claim to be pro-life while supporting the death penalty. Either life is life and you are pro-life or you are just a person who sees their own life as less than worthwhile without some great cause or you are a simple hypocrite.

If you want to fight against abortion, fine. Fight against the death penalty. Support adoption. Have fewer kids and adopt. Feed, clothe and educate those fetuses after they have learned to walk and talk. Support life, not just prenatal life.

The advent of Reagan and his voodoo economics eliminated any real reason for the fiscal conservatives to remain but they did. They were smart enough to find ways to enrich themselves in the economy gone wild, the credit card party that this country has enjoyed for the past quarter of a century.

That part of the Republican Party is where you will find the bulk of those whose greed has so damaged our economy. I see no reason for followers of Christ to associate themselves with such miscreants.

Photo by Brett Marty