Rasta Rants

US Energy Strategy For the US to compete globally we must have affordable energy. Without this we cannot have a vibrant manufacturing sector and without that sector we can’t achieve full employment or the American Dream. Every economist agrees without a solid energy policy we can’t fix the American economy. Additionally, making things here in the US is also part of our Return the Pride Program. What do we really make in the US anymore? Not much - some cars, some tech, some raw materials and a few other minor industries. Post World War II we became a great nation because of our manufacturing sector. Obviously I realize we can’t beat the labor arbitrage that India and China have but we can still compete for manufacturing jobs in many areas if we have cheap energy. We all know that we have some of the largest deposits of oil and coal in the world right here in the US (or in our territorial waters). We also have a natural geography that can produce a lot of green energy as well....

Romney vs. Obama   Well the country and all the Republicans are a buzz with Mitt Romney's apparent victory over Barrack Obama in last week’s debate. The talking heads can't stop talking about it and the pollsters are going crazy with new polls every day. Even some die hard Democrats are a bit worried. I had one ask me if I thought Obama was ill last Wednesday.   I hate to be the one rational voice in the crowd but here I go:   Romney clearly was stronger than Obama last week but he is far from a winner. He waffled on a number of subjects and he missed a bunch of facts. (The good news so did Obama). He won a skirmish not the war. He has two more debates with the President and there is a VP debate on Thursday.   It was great for nearly 67 million Americans to see Romney and realize that he is not just a rich guy but a real person and one with some good ideas and a deep devotion to his country and its people. To see that he is a true g...

Understanding Hatred I was born and raised in Jamaica. As a then British colony the English influence was significant. The country became independent in 1962 but remained a Commonwealth nation. I was raised never to hate anyone – ever. You could dislike someone or not want to be around a person but you were never to hate anyone. I was raised Catholic and to hate was a sin. My mother was a living example of this moral. She hated no one. To this day I don’t believe she hates anyone. As I grew older and went to college this concept of not hating was further driven into me by my Aunt. Her perspective was that hate was a wasted emotion and only caused hurt and problems. She said hate never solved any problem – neither did violence. She like my Mom never hated anyone. Actually she devoted her life to loving people – particularly children. While we disagreed on politics we loved each other and always believed there was no place for hate in this world. As I graduated from co...

Today I find myself musing on several current issues. So I did some research that I thought would help as you evaluate these current issues that are dominating the news. As always I welcome comments and opposing views. I hope the information is helpful.   The Ownership of General Motors As most of you know, we the American taxpayers, during the “bailout” purchased over 500 million shares of GM stock (at least that is our current holding). With this stock we also have a strong presence on the GM Board of Directors and for all intense and purpose the US government helps run GM. Recently this has become increasingly difficult for GM management and rumors are rampant that they have asked the administration to let them buy out the government shares (our shares). Naturally the administration has said no. Here are some facts to ponder:   If we sold our 500M shares at the current stock price of $23 we would lose about $15 billion dollars on our original investment. Th...

Encourage Business Growth This is the fourth installment of my plan to Fix America. Here I outline a high level plan to drive business growth primarily focused on small business since this is where about 80% of Americans are employed. As with all segments of the plan we would need to do a complete analysis to determine the econmic gain in dollars. The heart of any capitalist economy is business. Like it or not no economy exists without business. We provide most goods and services through business and most business exists to serve its customers and profit. Yes PROFIT! That is NOT a dirty word . It is the cornerstone of all business! Without that single motive we can’t have a capitalistic society. So if we think that capitalism is the right choice and that free enterprise is important we must embrace the concept of profits . Since the majority of the American workforce is employed by small business I want to focus on them but this does not mean that we will totally ignore large bus...

On 9/11 we saw a number of attacks on US embassies in the Middle East. Specifically we were attacked in Egypt and Libya. The attack in Libya killed our ambassador and 3 other embassy staff. Today we now have more attacks on our embassies around the Middle East – Yemen, Tanzania, Cairo and others.   I like many Americans am frustrated and unhappy. Here are some thoughts to ponder:   It seems very likely the attack in Libya was not an angry mob. Confirmation is coming out of Egypt today from one of its ministers saying these attacks were carefully planned and executed using the angry mobs and the reaction to the anti-Muslim video as cover. The pictures of the embassy in Libya clearly show that this attack used weapons that a typical angry group of protestors would not have. The FBI is investigating and hopefully we will learn the truth.   I don ’ t believe this was a coincidence that it happened on the 11 th anniversary of 9/11. Here is why – Supposed...

As promised here is installment three of my ten part series Fixing America- Restoring the American Dream. In this segment I deal with ways we can shrink the size of gowverment. By government I mean Federal, State and local. Some of the ideas are contrraversial but they need to be vetted and explored because the track we are on today will take over an economic presipiss. As always I welcome your input, thoughts and comments. Enjoy. Shrinking Government and Regulations   Politicians particularly on the Republican side of the aisle like to preach about this. What’s funny is they have never succeeded in doing it either. G.W. Bush grew the Federal government more than B. Clinton and he had control of Congress. No, I believe that our founding fathers are rolling in their graves as they see the horror that has become our government. At both the Federal and State level we are grossly oversized for our population and we over regulate to the point of the ridiculous. The feds today ...