Change?

Found this on the Internet and had to think about it quite a bit.

            “You must make a change to see a change.”

                                                                        ~healthyisfabulous.tumblr.com

Change is a constant in our lives. It takes work to avoid change if it is possible at all! It takes even more work to hide from change you don’t want to witness. It is most likely impossible to change change to what you want it to be.  And yes, both of those ‘change’ words belong next to one another.

Someone discusses the need to change ~ in your town or neighborhood ~ and you may agree or maybe wish to hold back a little; when you do that – holding back, you slow adoption of the change. That’s OK if more thinking is needed before making the change.

Full agreement before change is implemented, however, is not likely. Only general agreement is possible. It may not be practical, but it is the best that a group can muster. We call that consensus. It is a difficult method of management but in an increasingly diverse and divisive society it really is the best option we have.

So, with that as prologue, here’s the point I wish to make today:

            We must be willing to see the common need to change if we expect

            things to be different or even better in the future.

If unemployment is agreed upon as one of our common problems, we need to agree to fix it. There are many ways to accomplish that goal and those different options have given us some trouble in adopting repair action; the differences, however, are political not functional economic science. The latter is what we need to focus on if we expect to make progress on the unemployment problem.

Here’s the basic fix that America has employed for generations. It has worked. It is based on sound economic principles. Not fads or political jargon. Just hard work and cooperation among political enemies.

Remember, political division is a manmade construct designed to win votes and influence in the halls of legislatures and Congress. To those victors belong the spoils! Those spoils – rewards – accrue to the benefit of the politicians, not the electorate. So it is provident that we – the voters – keep the balance of power in our own hands to press ahead on the problems of the day.

Basic Principled Repair of Economy 2012

1.      Transfer funds to states to bail them out of the following federally mandated programs: [bail out at 100% is NOT suggested here, just a percentage of what the states are now facing as major shortfalls]

a.       National education standards, all grade levels

b.      Medicaid programs

c.       A portion of public pension programs

d.      Health standards and supporting programs

2.      Infrastructure renewal program nationwide

a.       Bridges, highways, secondary network of roads

b.      Water and sewer system upgrades

c.       Fresh water supply network to all regions

d.      Railroad system upgrade for international competitiveness

e.       Air transportation system upgrade for international competitiveness

f.       Shipping port upgrades for international competitiveness

g.      All infrastructure upgrades coordinated for national security and anti-terrorism safety standards

3.      Research and Development investment in the sciences and higher education

a.       Increase number of engineering degrees awarded

b.      Increase number of post graduate degrees in the basic sciences

                                                                          i.      Mathematics

                                                                        ii.      Biology

                                                                      iii.      Botany

                                                                      iv.      Physics

                                                                        v.      Chemistry

                                                                      vi.      Medicine

                                                                    vii.      Interdisciplinary sciences

c.       Reinvent public education system

                                                                          i.      Renew education methods

                                                                        ii.      Involve all students in exploring their futures

                                                                      iii.      Involve all family support systems to reach individual student development goals

                                                                      iv.      Lower per capita costs of education; find new ways of paying for public education not reliant on property taxes

4.      Adopt a national goal: Be energy independent by 2020

a.       Discover and implement new energy means to produce electricity

b.      Avoid use of petroleum resources as much as possible for automotive purposes and mass transit

c.       Adopt standards of pollution free environment; study means to attain those standards by deadline dates

This will take new public debt to implement. But unlike the current debt caused by imbalanced income tax policy and funding two wars simultaneously, the new debt is an INVESTMENT in the future of our nation. The economic benefits accruing from each and every investment listed above are enormous. They will repay the investment over time and surprisingly quickly. Along the way they will even repay the debt accumulated for non-investment activity.

The American Economy is a mighty machine. It needs tending. It needs trust and faith. It must have regulatory oversight to restrain greed and manipulation. But above all, the mighty machine must be allowed to work its magic. Public policy and investment dollars will achieve the desired outcomes.

Political interference and manipulation has been large over the past 4 years. Republicans have obstructed every opportunity we have had to make the needed change for the good of the nation. Of course they blame it on political creed and the Democrats.  It is up to us to say nonsense and get back to business.

We must eventually solve our political problems. But not this year. This year – 2012 – we must attend to business, re-elect Obama and as many democrats to congress as possible to give the president the power to adopt and implement the programs outlined above.

Investing in ourselves will get us out of the current mess. Unshackle the American spirit to build a future that will benefit us all.

The solution is in each of our hands come election day.

September 6, 2012