I Kings 4:32-34 says this about King Solomon, reportedly the wisest man in the world,
32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in
Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
King Solomon wrote these lines from Ecclesiastes.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
If I were a coach, I'd say something like "Lack of contemplation of the end game lends itself to one committing foolish errors in the game of life."
But, I tend more towards the illustrious Dr Ben Franklin who might put it “Haste makes waste.”
Don't let life lose its meaning in the blur of living....till it becomes so much radio ga ga.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Huckleberry says, Look up
Sometimes we don't take the time to appreciate the wonders about us. The moon was full recently…September the full moon is called the Hunter’s Moon and October the Harvest Moon. When we compare ourselves and our problems to the vastness of the cosmos and the Hand behind it, somehow hope grows a little stronger.
The opening words of a Christian hymn echo the words of the Psalmist concerning the Glory of God’s creation. Only with the advent of the Hubble Telescope have we been able to appreciate how wondrous are the heavens.
.
How Great Thou Art –
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
These are a few of the many amazing pictures of our incredible universe captured by the Hubble telescope.
Omega Centauri
cluster of galaxies
spiral galaxy
edge on galaxy
Hoag’s object
more at: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire/
The opening words of a Christian hymn echo the words of the Psalmist concerning the Glory of God’s creation. Only with the advent of the Hubble Telescope have we been able to appreciate how wondrous are the heavens.
.
How Great Thou Art –
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
These are a few of the many amazing pictures of our incredible universe captured by the Hubble telescope.
Omega Centauri
cluster of galaxies
spiral galaxy
edge on galaxy
Hoag’s object
more at: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/entire/
From Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction to REM’s It’s the End of the World as We Know It and Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire, one can see that the more things change the more they remain the same.
We live in a time compared to the Great Depression…..but let us not forget that during the Great Depression the hardships were much greater (pictorial), the unemployment rate much higher and the economic devastation unparalleled.
Those were times when our nation was Under Pressure.
In 1932 the nation suffered:
• 23.6% unemployment. (August 2009 - 9.4%)
• 40% of banks (10,000) failed since 1929.
• 13,000,000+ Americans have lost their jobs since 1929.
• GNP falls a record 13.4%; falling 31% since 1929.
• Industrial stocks lost 80% of their value since 1930.
• 53% drop in farm prices since 1929.
• 2/3 drop in International trade since 1929.
• 31% contraction in the money supply since 1929.
• 98% drop in capital growth investments since 1929.
• Top tax rate is raised from 25% to 63%.
• The middle class comprises only 15 to 20% of all
Americans.
• By 1929, the richest 1% own 40% of the nation's wealth.
The bottom 93% experienced a 4% drop in real disposable income between 1923 and 1929.
So, while it’s bad, it could be worse…..
What is scary is the amount of interest we pay on the national debt because it could lead to a Greater Depression.
The National Debt is about $11.6 TRILLION Dollars. How much is a TRILLION Dollars?
In Fiscal Year 2008, the U. S. Government spent $412 Billion of your money on interest payments.
Interest represents the 3rd largest expense in the federal budget. See below chart from http://www.federalbudget.com/
There is no easy way out. At one time, the federal deficit about equaled what we had spent to save the world during the cold war era…….but, now it gets bigger because the house of cards our economy is built on is being shaken as we wade deeper into our economic Big Muddy trying to bail out the economy from nearly being "greeded to death" by higwaymen masquerading as business executives or financiers.
We live in a time compared to the Great Depression…..but let us not forget that during the Great Depression the hardships were much greater (pictorial), the unemployment rate much higher and the economic devastation unparalleled.
Those were times when our nation was Under Pressure.
In 1932 the nation suffered:
• 23.6% unemployment. (August 2009 - 9.4%)
• 40% of banks (10,000) failed since 1929.
• 13,000,000+ Americans have lost their jobs since 1929.
• GNP falls a record 13.4%; falling 31% since 1929.
• Industrial stocks lost 80% of their value since 1930.
• 53% drop in farm prices since 1929.
• 2/3 drop in International trade since 1929.
• 31% contraction in the money supply since 1929.
• 98% drop in capital growth investments since 1929.
• Top tax rate is raised from 25% to 63%.
• The middle class comprises only 15 to 20% of all
Americans.
• By 1929, the richest 1% own 40% of the nation's wealth.
The bottom 93% experienced a 4% drop in real disposable income between 1923 and 1929.
So, while it’s bad, it could be worse…..
What is scary is the amount of interest we pay on the national debt because it could lead to a Greater Depression.
The National Debt is about $11.6 TRILLION Dollars. How much is a TRILLION Dollars?
In Fiscal Year 2008, the U. S. Government spent $412 Billion of your money on interest payments.
Interest represents the 3rd largest expense in the federal budget. See below chart from http://www.federalbudget.com/
There is no easy way out. At one time, the federal deficit about equaled what we had spent to save the world during the cold war era…….but, now it gets bigger because the house of cards our economy is built on is being shaken as we wade deeper into our economic Big Muddy trying to bail out the economy from nearly being "greeded to death" by higwaymen masquerading as business executives or financiers.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Huckleberry on Mozart
In between huckleberrying, I went to a a Marsh Symphony on the Prairie Mozart by Moonlight concert at Conner Prairie in Fishers, Indiana. I was delighted with the music, the venue and the peacefulness of the sun setting over the remains of green prairie.
Folks, there is till time to catch this great outdoors experience with the symphony and the music of Queen, America, Glenn Miller and more. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is one of only about 20 full-time orchestras in the nation..enjoy this treasure and refresh the soul.....being a huckleberry is not for the faint-hearted.
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
~Berthold Auerbach
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes
There is nothing in the world so much like prayer as music is.
~William P. Merrill
Music cleanses the understanding; inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself.
~Henry Ward Beecher
Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.
~Confucius
Folks, there is till time to catch this great outdoors experience with the symphony and the music of Queen, America, Glenn Miller and more. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is one of only about 20 full-time orchestras in the nation..enjoy this treasure and refresh the soul.....being a huckleberry is not for the faint-hearted.
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
~Berthold Auerbach
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes
There is nothing in the world so much like prayer as music is.
~William P. Merrill
Music cleanses the understanding; inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself.
~Henry Ward Beecher
Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.
~Confucius
Friday, August 7, 2009
Huckleberry says "Highwaymen disguise selves as Bank Executives, loot vaults. Taxpayers on the hook."
“Highwaymen disguise selves as Bank Executives, loot vaults” .......sounds like a headline in one of our more boisterous print publications. But, after the release of a report by the Attorney General of New York on bank bonuses and losses at nine of the original recipients of government aid, one might think, “Quite an accurate notion my lad” Highwaymen in the executive office,,,,sounds as scary as Werewolves in London...
Before looking at Cuomo's report let's look back to the days of yore when banks were robbed by outsiders.....back to the days of the Great Depression
With the successful release of the movie Public Enemies, the Depression Era image of the “bank robber” as a folk hero has been the subject of discussion. Turner Classic Movies has played a raft of prison movies of late. In Public Enemies, Johnny Depp capturing John Dillinger’s charm and while one too many of the “good guys” turned out to be brutal thugs or egomaniacs……(hint: famous vacuum cleaner)
Another famous bank robber of the era was “Willie Sutton”.
Willie Sutton acquired two nicknames, "The Actor" and "Slick Willie," for his ingenuity in executing robberies in various disguises. Fond of expensive clothes, Sutton was described as being an immaculate dresser. Although he was a bank robber, Sutton had the reputation of a gentleman; in fact, people present at his robberies stated he was quite polite.
One victim said witnessing one of Sutton's robberies was like being at the movies, except the usher had a gun.
When asked why he robbed banks, Sutton simply replied, "Because that's where the money is."
Sutton was an accomplished bank robber. He usually carried a pistol or a Thompson submachine gun. "You can't rob a bank on charm and personality," he once observed.
In an interview in the Reader's Digest published shortly before his death, Sutton was asked if the guns that he used in robberies were loaded. He responded that he never carried a loaded gun because somebody might get hurt. He stole from the rich and kept it.
It is estimated that Willie Sutton stole perhaps $2 million in his career, and spent more than half his adult life in prison.
Had Willie and Dillinger lived today, they would be amazed that by being a “bank robber” you would get locked up or killed, but if you were part of the executive crew you could earn more in “bonus” money in a year than they earned in their entire lives…and some earn enough “bonus” money in a year to live the rest of their lives as royalty. Somehow if you substitute the term “protection money” for “bonuses” the picture becomes clearer even if the MO’s were different. Who needs a submachine gun when you have a loaded compensation committee....and bankers dress nice and have "city"
manners.....hmmm.. who learned from who.
In my last huckleberrying, I expressed consternation on the perverse effects of “greed” in American business. Especially as reflected in outrageous executive compensation, due to the corrosive effect such levels of compensation has on the fundamental social contract behind American“ capitalism”. In a bit of fortuitous timing that New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo released a bank bonus report on July 30th aptly entitled
NO RHYME OR REASON:
The Heads I Win, Tails You Lose I Bank Bonus Culture
An analysis of the 2008 bonuses and earnings of six of the original nine TARP recipients illustrates the point that it appears there are “highwaymen” in the executive suite....making more in a year as out-of-control insider "bank robbers" than all of ther Depression Era bank robber put together.
How else to explain the giving of bonuses in the BILLIONS of dollars when the banks BILLIONS more in losses leaving the taxpayer to finance lending these banks well over $100 BILLION initially.
These are the same banks that are sucking the lifeblood out of cash-strapped, debt-laden consumers who make up a large part of the bank’s base and generate an even larger share of profits per capita through the banks “user-friendly” courtesy overdraft protection, through sorting banking transaction in the order to maximize overdraft and overlimit fees. Over forty-four percent of of all banks and credit unions have overdraft income greater than net income.
No gentlemen bandits here amongst the educated financial set, educated in “useless in formation”, to borrow a line from Mick Jagger in I Can't Get No Satisfaction,......ignorant of the true riches in life, MERE HIGHWAYMEN DISGUISED AS EXECUTIVES.
Hello, has anyone read anything beyond the next quarter’s earnings forecasts???? Is there nothing more to life than $$$$?? Even the simplest farmer knows you can force plants to grow quickly with fertilizer but the growth has no depth….Giant Redwoods grow slowly, but last forever. But, HIGHWAYMEN wouldn't know much more than what is in it for them around the next turn.
Excerpt from Cuomo Report-all losses, bonuses and aid are for 2008.
$B = Billion Dollars
Two firms
Citigroup-LOSS- $27B; BONUSES-$5.33B
Merrill Lynch-LOSS- $27B; BONUSES-$3.6B
Totals LOSSES-$54B; BONUSES-$9B
GOVT AID $55B
Three Firms
Goldman Sachs, LOSS-$2.3B; BONUSES-$4.B
Morgan Stanley LOSS-$1.7B; BONUSES-$4.5B
JP.MorganChase LOSS-$5.6B; BONUSES-$8.7B
Totals LOSS-$9.6B; BONUSES-$18B
GOVT AID $45B
Bank of America had 172 employees that received at a bonus of at least $1 million each.
The breakdown of these bonuses is interesting and similar to most of the other banks in the study......
The top four recipients received a combined $64.01 million.
The next four bonus recipients received a combined $36.85 million.
The next six bonus recipients received a combined $31.39 million.
Four individuals received bonuses of $10 million or more and combined they received
$64.01 million.
Eight individuals received bonuses of $8 million or more.
The Cuomo report noted:
"[L]arge payouts became a cultural expectation at banks and a source of competition among the firms. ….Clearly, the compensation structures in the boom years did not account for long-term risk, and huge paydays continued while the firm faced extinction."
The Cuomo report also noted:
“…. one thing is clear from this investigation to date: there is no clear rhyme or reason to the way banks compensate and reward their employees. compensation for bank employees has become unmoored from the banks' financial performance.
• when the banks did well, their employees were paid well.
• when banks did poorly, their employees were paid well.
• when the banks did very poorly, they were bailed out by
taxpayers and their employees were still paid well.
Bonuses and overall compensation did not vary significantly as profits diminished. Indeed, our investigation suggests a disconnect between compensation and bank performance that resulted in a "heads I win, tails you lose" bonus system. In other words, bank compensation structures lacked consistent principles and tended to result in a compensation system that was all "upside."
Like the iceberg that struck the Titanic, the executive compensation problem in the banking industry is just the tip of the problem.....Indsustry leaders and executives need to look at the Man in the Mirror and change.....give aid to the poor and defenseless...don't heap more than is humanly needed into your pockets just because you can.....folks if most Americans earned a Million Dollars in a year they would be set for life....put it in perspective huck says.
In 2006, only the income level of the top 5% earned over $174,000. The median income in 2006 was only about $58,000...The mdeian is the point where 1/2 the people earn more than that and half earn less.
and, that's the world tonite.
Before looking at Cuomo's report let's look back to the days of yore when banks were robbed by outsiders.....back to the days of the Great Depression
With the successful release of the movie Public Enemies, the Depression Era image of the “bank robber” as a folk hero has been the subject of discussion. Turner Classic Movies has played a raft of prison movies of late. In Public Enemies, Johnny Depp capturing John Dillinger’s charm and while one too many of the “good guys” turned out to be brutal thugs or egomaniacs……(hint: famous vacuum cleaner)
Another famous bank robber of the era was “Willie Sutton”.
Willie Sutton acquired two nicknames, "The Actor" and "Slick Willie," for his ingenuity in executing robberies in various disguises. Fond of expensive clothes, Sutton was described as being an immaculate dresser. Although he was a bank robber, Sutton had the reputation of a gentleman; in fact, people present at his robberies stated he was quite polite.
One victim said witnessing one of Sutton's robberies was like being at the movies, except the usher had a gun.
When asked why he robbed banks, Sutton simply replied, "Because that's where the money is."
Sutton was an accomplished bank robber. He usually carried a pistol or a Thompson submachine gun. "You can't rob a bank on charm and personality," he once observed.
In an interview in the Reader's Digest published shortly before his death, Sutton was asked if the guns that he used in robberies were loaded. He responded that he never carried a loaded gun because somebody might get hurt. He stole from the rich and kept it.
It is estimated that Willie Sutton stole perhaps $2 million in his career, and spent more than half his adult life in prison.
Had Willie and Dillinger lived today, they would be amazed that by being a “bank robber” you would get locked up or killed, but if you were part of the executive crew you could earn more in “bonus” money in a year than they earned in their entire lives…and some earn enough “bonus” money in a year to live the rest of their lives as royalty. Somehow if you substitute the term “protection money” for “bonuses” the picture becomes clearer even if the MO’s were different. Who needs a submachine gun when you have a loaded compensation committee....and bankers dress nice and have "city"
manners.....hmmm.. who learned from who.
In my last huckleberrying, I expressed consternation on the perverse effects of “greed” in American business. Especially as reflected in outrageous executive compensation, due to the corrosive effect such levels of compensation has on the fundamental social contract behind American“ capitalism”. In a bit of fortuitous timing that New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo released a bank bonus report on July 30th aptly entitled
NO RHYME OR REASON:
The Heads I Win, Tails You Lose I Bank Bonus Culture
An analysis of the 2008 bonuses and earnings of six of the original nine TARP recipients illustrates the point that it appears there are “highwaymen” in the executive suite....making more in a year as out-of-control insider "bank robbers" than all of ther Depression Era bank robber put together.
How else to explain the giving of bonuses in the BILLIONS of dollars when the banks BILLIONS more in losses leaving the taxpayer to finance lending these banks well over $100 BILLION initially.
These are the same banks that are sucking the lifeblood out of cash-strapped, debt-laden consumers who make up a large part of the bank’s base and generate an even larger share of profits per capita through the banks “user-friendly” courtesy overdraft protection, through sorting banking transaction in the order to maximize overdraft and overlimit fees. Over forty-four percent of of all banks and credit unions have overdraft income greater than net income.
No gentlemen bandits here amongst the educated financial set, educated in “useless in formation”, to borrow a line from Mick Jagger in I Can't Get No Satisfaction,......ignorant of the true riches in life, MERE HIGHWAYMEN DISGUISED AS EXECUTIVES.
Hello, has anyone read anything beyond the next quarter’s earnings forecasts???? Is there nothing more to life than $$$$?? Even the simplest farmer knows you can force plants to grow quickly with fertilizer but the growth has no depth….Giant Redwoods grow slowly, but last forever. But, HIGHWAYMEN wouldn't know much more than what is in it for them around the next turn.
Excerpt from Cuomo Report-all losses, bonuses and aid are for 2008.
$B = Billion Dollars
Two firms
Citigroup-LOSS- $27B; BONUSES-$5.33B
Merrill Lynch-LOSS- $27B; BONUSES-$3.6B
Totals LOSSES-$54B; BONUSES-$9B
GOVT AID $55B
Three Firms
Goldman Sachs, LOSS-$2.3B; BONUSES-$4.B
Morgan Stanley LOSS-$1.7B; BONUSES-$4.5B
JP.MorganChase LOSS-$5.6B; BONUSES-$8.7B
Totals LOSS-$9.6B; BONUSES-$18B
GOVT AID $45B
Bank of America had 172 employees that received at a bonus of at least $1 million each.
The breakdown of these bonuses is interesting and similar to most of the other banks in the study......
The top four recipients received a combined $64.01 million.
The next four bonus recipients received a combined $36.85 million.
The next six bonus recipients received a combined $31.39 million.
Four individuals received bonuses of $10 million or more and combined they received
$64.01 million.
Eight individuals received bonuses of $8 million or more.
The Cuomo report noted:
"[L]arge payouts became a cultural expectation at banks and a source of competition among the firms. ….Clearly, the compensation structures in the boom years did not account for long-term risk, and huge paydays continued while the firm faced extinction."
The Cuomo report also noted:
“…. one thing is clear from this investigation to date: there is no clear rhyme or reason to the way banks compensate and reward their employees. compensation for bank employees has become unmoored from the banks' financial performance.
• when the banks did well, their employees were paid well.
• when banks did poorly, their employees were paid well.
• when the banks did very poorly, they were bailed out by
taxpayers and their employees were still paid well.
Bonuses and overall compensation did not vary significantly as profits diminished. Indeed, our investigation suggests a disconnect between compensation and bank performance that resulted in a "heads I win, tails you lose" bonus system. In other words, bank compensation structures lacked consistent principles and tended to result in a compensation system that was all "upside."
Like the iceberg that struck the Titanic, the executive compensation problem in the banking industry is just the tip of the problem.....Indsustry leaders and executives need to look at the Man in the Mirror and change.....give aid to the poor and defenseless...don't heap more than is humanly needed into your pockets just because you can.....folks if most Americans earned a Million Dollars in a year they would be set for life....put it in perspective huck says.
In 2006, only the income level of the top 5% earned over $174,000. The median income in 2006 was only about $58,000...The mdeian is the point where 1/2 the people earn more than that and half earn less.
and, that's the world tonite.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Huckleberry to the rescue
Striving to be noticed and make a difference, it only seemed proper to herald the materialization of this little blog into virtual reality. We hope to contribute to the ceaseless flow of information that is as vital to the health and well-being of a free society, as oxygen is to our souls.
Why call it "I'll be your huckleberry"?
I saw the movie Tombstone again just recently and was inspired by Val Kilmer's powerful performance as Wyatt Earp's and the Earp brother's sidekick and confidante, Doc Holliday. Kilmer was at his best when facing off bad guy gunslinger Johnny Ringo, and drawling his trademark "I'm your huckleberry."
To be one’s huckleberry — as the phrase "I’m your huckleberry" — means to be just the right person for a given job.
I hope to be a huckleberry and plant a seed, inspire an idea, spread knowledge and be a huckleberry for truth...I'll try and disseminate facts, thoughtful opinions, helpful criticisms and suggestions and the occasional smart-ass remark to prod the body politic out of the slumber induced by the endless opportunities to be distracted in our modern hi-tech world which entices us at every level of our lives - on TV, radio, print, satellite, cable and the internet with shiny baubles "on sale" guaranteed to satisfy our near addiction for instant gratification.
A world that seems to equate self-absorption with enlightenment, celebrity with reality and material wealth with prosperity.......
America's Epitaph
I thought America's epitaph would be "They entertained themselves to death" and then I thought it might be "They shopped themselves to death." but more likely, it will be "Greed killed America" at all levels.......
Banks and Credit Companies - Fatally Flawed Business Model
Banks and credit card companies are like giant ticks on a hound dog. They haven't killed him, but he is listless. Like ticks, these companies bleed the consumer dry with USURY - I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY SAY IT IS "USURY." And, unfortunately, our out-of-control capitalism bleeds the lower class dry first, creating a perpetual underclass and an invisible society of credit scoreless poor.
WOE UNTO THEM WHO MAKE MERCHANDISE OF THE POOR - THE ALMIGHTY DOTH NOT LIKE IT
HE is watching
"God's Eye" as Photographed by Hubble Telescope
Banks and credit card companies can and did serve a useful purpose, but now "fee" us to death. Banks and credit card companies can and did play a vital role in helping economically, but now, since a Supreme Court decision moved the power to set interest rates for national banks from each state's legislatures to the home state where the corporation is "headquartered", interest rates have gone up faster then hemlines did in the 1960's.
Credit Card companies will thwart Obama's stimulus
Usurious interest rates and fees are one reason why Obama's "get the money to consumers to spend and jump-start the economy" won't work......the poorest will pay basic bills and debts....a great editorial cartoon would show the ticks as those companies, the dog as the consumers and then show the politicians throwing $$ into he feed bowl and wonder why he remains so listless.
The lower and now mid-level folks of the credit card class will pay off the credit cards and not "stimulate the economy". Why should a person with $5,000-$10,000 in debt at 28-32% interest go on a spending binge? They won't! They will pay off credit cards and the whole process then results in an indirect transfer of wealth to the credit card companies......
WHEN A BUSINESS MODEL IS DEPENDENT ON PENALTIES AND FEES FOR AROUND 1/3 OR MORE OF ITS INCOME INSTEAD OF FROM PROVIDING ACTUAL, USEFUL SERVICES, IT IS FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED AND PARASITIC IN NATURE.
HARMFUL TO THE MOST VULNERABLE IN SOCIETY.
SUCH FLAWS AND OTHERS THAT SPELL "GREED" WITH A CAPITAL 'G" CAUSED THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS.
Corporate Greed and Obscene CEO Compensation
Bastiat's The Law warned of the dangers to society when:
"The Law is used as an instrument of plunder."
The subversion of the law and the better angels of human nature by the slow grinding of the poor (and now middle-class) by banks and financial service industry companies is only heightened by the outrageous compensation packages of publicly-traded companies......
Many corporate execs are not satisfied to live like Kings....no, they must ascend Olympus and live like the gods.......that is a rant for another blog soon. If you think a nude photo is obscene you should see the ratio of wages for execs to the average wage-earner for real obscenity......
a 2006 Study by the Economic Policy Institute showed that:
In 2005, an average Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was paid 821 times as much as a minimum wage earner.
An average CEO earns more before lunchtime on the very first day of work in the year than a minimum wage worker earns all year.
This extreme compensation ratio reflects....the extraordinary growth of CEO pay... The ratio wasn't always so extreme.
As recently as 1978, CEOs were paid only 78 times as much as minimum wage earners.
A 2006 Report by the House Financial Services Committee revealed the disparity in executive wages compared to the common worker, the nation's "worker bees" so to speak.
1965 - CEOs made 24 times the pay of an average worker
2004 - CEOs made 431 times the pay of an average worker.
1995 to 2005 -
average CEO pay increased 5 times faster that of average workers.
comparing CEOs to minimum-wage earners.
2005 - median pay for CEOs 100 largest companies rose 25%
2005 - minimum-wage earners made the same amount as last year.
The huge disparity in pay of CEOs (execs) to the average worker threatens the social contract that keeps our society stable. The concept of fairness and respect for the law is diminished when it appears to the most of us that the "rich" get away with anything.
History is replete with civilizations felled by the underclass when the "elite" became too far out of touch with the common man. The collapse of Enron, Worldcom and other companies that destroyed the life savings of hundreds of thousands of workers and the modern-day economic meltdown should serve as canaries in the coal mine that something is about to blow unless we change. We cannot continue to deficit spend ourselves into prosperity on the savings accounts of Chinese and Japan consumers, and money from sovereign wealth funds and foreign governments.
Kinda windy, but it was one of those days. That's my first shot at adding some "common sense" in this "crazy, mixed up world" to the national conversation that is being carried on in hundreds and thousands of blogs simultaneously around America.
But, don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with being rich. But, the answer to changing our country is not the emasculation of the “rich.” This economic conundrum was aptly put by Ten Years After in I'd Love to Change the World:
Tax the rich
Feed the poor?
Till there are no
rich no more?
What is needed are reasonable taxes on the "rich" [another blog],among other things, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY a reorientation of the meaning of success and wealth in "Capitalism rightly-practiced."
True Capitalism would result in the rich vying to outdo one another in helping mankind, their city and the less fortunate, instead of outdoing one another in conspicous consumption, self-promotion and ignoring the cries of the poor.
It is not a sin to enjoy one’s wealth, just give more for others and let overly self-indulgent ostentatious behavior be a thing of the past. If you “party like a rock star” and spend $32,000 on champagne, the first thing you do the next morning is write a check to a homeless shelter or local soup kitchen, the Red Cross, Boys & Girls clubs, the Salvation Army, etc…..put some balance to the blessings bestowed upon one.
We, individually and corporately, need to prune back the overgrowth of self-centeredness we all so easily fall prey to and seek to return to innocence....to doing good for good's sake and seeking to uplift the downtrodden.
Like Doc Holliday, I'll try and be your huckleberry.
Peace
huck
Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity
Why call it "I'll be your huckleberry"?
I saw the movie Tombstone again just recently and was inspired by Val Kilmer's powerful performance as Wyatt Earp's and the Earp brother's sidekick and confidante, Doc Holliday. Kilmer was at his best when facing off bad guy gunslinger Johnny Ringo, and drawling his trademark "I'm your huckleberry."
To be one’s huckleberry — as the phrase "I’m your huckleberry" — means to be just the right person for a given job.
I hope to be a huckleberry and plant a seed, inspire an idea, spread knowledge and be a huckleberry for truth...I'll try and disseminate facts, thoughtful opinions, helpful criticisms and suggestions and the occasional smart-ass remark to prod the body politic out of the slumber induced by the endless opportunities to be distracted in our modern hi-tech world which entices us at every level of our lives - on TV, radio, print, satellite, cable and the internet with shiny baubles "on sale" guaranteed to satisfy our near addiction for instant gratification.
A world that seems to equate self-absorption with enlightenment, celebrity with reality and material wealth with prosperity.......
America's Epitaph
I thought America's epitaph would be "They entertained themselves to death" and then I thought it might be "They shopped themselves to death." but more likely, it will be "Greed killed America" at all levels.......
Banks and Credit Companies - Fatally Flawed Business Model
Banks and credit card companies are like giant ticks on a hound dog. They haven't killed him, but he is listless. Like ticks, these companies bleed the consumer dry with USURY - I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY SAY IT IS "USURY." And, unfortunately, our out-of-control capitalism bleeds the lower class dry first, creating a perpetual underclass and an invisible society of credit scoreless poor.
WOE UNTO THEM WHO MAKE MERCHANDISE OF THE POOR - THE ALMIGHTY DOTH NOT LIKE IT
HE is watching
"God's Eye" as Photographed by Hubble Telescope
Banks and credit card companies can and did serve a useful purpose, but now "fee" us to death. Banks and credit card companies can and did play a vital role in helping economically, but now, since a Supreme Court decision moved the power to set interest rates for national banks from each state's legislatures to the home state where the corporation is "headquartered", interest rates have gone up faster then hemlines did in the 1960's.
Credit Card companies will thwart Obama's stimulus
Usurious interest rates and fees are one reason why Obama's "get the money to consumers to spend and jump-start the economy" won't work......the poorest will pay basic bills and debts....a great editorial cartoon would show the ticks as those companies, the dog as the consumers and then show the politicians throwing $$ into he feed bowl and wonder why he remains so listless.
The lower and now mid-level folks of the credit card class will pay off the credit cards and not "stimulate the economy". Why should a person with $5,000-$10,000 in debt at 28-32% interest go on a spending binge? They won't! They will pay off credit cards and the whole process then results in an indirect transfer of wealth to the credit card companies......
WHEN A BUSINESS MODEL IS DEPENDENT ON PENALTIES AND FEES FOR AROUND 1/3 OR MORE OF ITS INCOME INSTEAD OF FROM PROVIDING ACTUAL, USEFUL SERVICES, IT IS FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED AND PARASITIC IN NATURE.
HARMFUL TO THE MOST VULNERABLE IN SOCIETY.
SUCH FLAWS AND OTHERS THAT SPELL "GREED" WITH A CAPITAL 'G" CAUSED THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS.
Corporate Greed and Obscene CEO Compensation
Bastiat's The Law warned of the dangers to society when:
"The Law is used as an instrument of plunder."
The subversion of the law and the better angels of human nature by the slow grinding of the poor (and now middle-class) by banks and financial service industry companies is only heightened by the outrageous compensation packages of publicly-traded companies......
Many corporate execs are not satisfied to live like Kings....no, they must ascend Olympus and live like the gods.......that is a rant for another blog soon. If you think a nude photo is obscene you should see the ratio of wages for execs to the average wage-earner for real obscenity......
a 2006 Study by the Economic Policy Institute showed that:
In 2005, an average Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was paid 821 times as much as a minimum wage earner.
An average CEO earns more before lunchtime on the very first day of work in the year than a minimum wage worker earns all year.
This extreme compensation ratio reflects....the extraordinary growth of CEO pay... The ratio wasn't always so extreme.
As recently as 1978, CEOs were paid only 78 times as much as minimum wage earners.
A 2006 Report by the House Financial Services Committee revealed the disparity in executive wages compared to the common worker, the nation's "worker bees" so to speak.
1965 - CEOs made 24 times the pay of an average worker
2004 - CEOs made 431 times the pay of an average worker.
1995 to 2005 -
average CEO pay increased 5 times faster that of average workers.
comparing CEOs to minimum-wage earners.
2005 - median pay for CEOs 100 largest companies rose 25%
2005 - minimum-wage earners made the same amount as last year.
The huge disparity in pay of CEOs (execs) to the average worker threatens the social contract that keeps our society stable. The concept of fairness and respect for the law is diminished when it appears to the most of us that the "rich" get away with anything.
History is replete with civilizations felled by the underclass when the "elite" became too far out of touch with the common man. The collapse of Enron, Worldcom and other companies that destroyed the life savings of hundreds of thousands of workers and the modern-day economic meltdown should serve as canaries in the coal mine that something is about to blow unless we change. We cannot continue to deficit spend ourselves into prosperity on the savings accounts of Chinese and Japan consumers, and money from sovereign wealth funds and foreign governments.
Kinda windy, but it was one of those days. That's my first shot at adding some "common sense" in this "crazy, mixed up world" to the national conversation that is being carried on in hundreds and thousands of blogs simultaneously around America.
But, don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with being rich. But, the answer to changing our country is not the emasculation of the “rich.” This economic conundrum was aptly put by Ten Years After in I'd Love to Change the World:
Tax the rich
Feed the poor?
Till there are no
rich no more?
What is needed are reasonable taxes on the "rich" [another blog],among other things, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY a reorientation of the meaning of success and wealth in "Capitalism rightly-practiced."
True Capitalism would result in the rich vying to outdo one another in helping mankind, their city and the less fortunate, instead of outdoing one another in conspicous consumption, self-promotion and ignoring the cries of the poor.
It is not a sin to enjoy one’s wealth, just give more for others and let overly self-indulgent ostentatious behavior be a thing of the past. If you “party like a rock star” and spend $32,000 on champagne, the first thing you do the next morning is write a check to a homeless shelter or local soup kitchen, the Red Cross, Boys & Girls clubs, the Salvation Army, etc…..put some balance to the blessings bestowed upon one.
We, individually and corporately, need to prune back the overgrowth of self-centeredness we all so easily fall prey to and seek to return to innocence....to doing good for good's sake and seeking to uplift the downtrodden.
Like Doc Holliday, I'll try and be your huckleberry.
Peace
huck
Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity
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