Deep Fried Twinkies, Short Selling, Deficit Reduction, Email Challenges and a Poem

Deep Fried Twinkies and Selling Short

Some of the political interviews seen last week on TV from Ames, Iowa had in the background a stand selling deep-fried Twinkies.   I would have hoped that the tastes of those in attendance there who voted in the Iowa G.O.P. Straw Poll had been more discriminating in their choice of candidates than this food stand  indicated what might be their tastes in food.  

And speaking of those candidates who were campaigning for the support of the G.O.P. in Iowa, I noted from their TV debate the other evening that when they took time out from criticizing the President, it was to criticize one another, rather than present any constructive ideas.  They excel, these Republicans, at criticism, but other than slashing government spending and fighting any tax increases, their party is devoid of any constructive forward looking ideas.  R.I.P., G.O.P.!

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And in regard to the “market,” I see where the Greek government has placed a two month ban on short selling on their stock market.  

I suppose this is because they recognize that short selling in no way contributes to the health of their debt-stricken economy and is merely a form of speculation, in which speculators are convinced that there will be a downturn in the market, and invest to profit by it.  As I had said in an earlier posting, investors who engage in speculative, non-productive use of the stock market (which should be no more than a vehicle for people to invest in and share in the ownership of corporations) should be given a one-way ticket to Las Vegas.   It would not be a bad idea if short selling were banned here as well.

(Short selling is a technique whereby an investor borrows stock through his brokerage house, agreeing to pay it back at a future date, at which time the investor anticipates the price of the stock will be lower.  Hence he can borrow 1000 shares currently priced at $50 a share, selling those borrowed shares at that price, but paying back the loan of those shares six months later with 1000 shares bought at whatever the price is at that time.  If they have dropped to $40 a share, he can pay back his loan of $50,000 worth of stock with $40,000 worth of stock and have $10,000 of profit.  Of course, if the stock rises to $60 a share, he would have to pay back his loan of $50,000 worth of stock with $60,000 worth of stock and suffer a $10,000 loss.)

I don’t see how this or other forms of stock market speculation ... as opposed to investing in the future of a corporation ... creates jobs or supports the economy, but it does pay for summer homes in the Hamptons.

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Thoughts on Deficit Reduction

Now that the twelve member Congressional super-committee which will attempt to further resolve the deficit crisis been named, it is clear to me that they will not be able to reach a compromise in the time allotted to them.  Their ideological positions will prevent it.  Consequently, the draconian spending cuts which are supposed to motivate them into doing something constructive will automatically go into effect.  And this will do nothing to create jobs, which is the crux of the problem.

This will elate those who adhere to the policy of reducing spending, regardless of the effect it has on the operation of our government, and that effect will indeed be drastic.  It will also elate the President since deficit reduction will be guaranteed not to come up again before the 2012 elections, giving him the opportunity to claim that the cataclysmic disaster which will have overtaken our economy by then is the fault of his opponents’ insistence that the problem be solved without tax increases.   

Whichever side you are on, by then it will be too late to save our economy and the nation will face a threat, fueled by unemployment, to the way it is governed equal in intensity to that which preceded the Civil War.  American Democracy will undoubtedly suffer.

 

I suggest that the President call the newly constituted Congressional panel into session without any delay, recommending that they adopt the solution offered by the bi-partisan Simpson-Bowles Commission earlier this year.  This would require the Republicans to agree to some tax increases and Democrats to agree to some cuts in entitlement programs.   And then, the country can get on to solving the real problem, job creation.

While this solution had no chance whatsoever of being passed by Congress earlier this year, and that is why the President then ignored its bi-partisan recommendations, the looming economic disaster faced by the country now gives it a better chance.  If the Senate and House leadership of both parties have enough intestinal fortitude to urge the immediate passage of a deficit reduction bill embodying the Simpson-Bowles recommendations, the economy may still be saved, regardless of those stubborn legislators who will still maintain positions of ideological purity or dwell on placing the blame for the entire sorry debacle.

Jack Lippman

This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with this posting, but it is nice, isn't it.

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                      THE WALK

                       Sid Bolotin

After three hours of exploring

Personal beliefs about fear

Thirty people hold hands

And prance ‘round the huge bonfire

The moon and stars shedding light

As American Indian mantras are chanted

All watch with anticipation

As the glowing embers are raked

To form a six by twelve foot carpet

Then more prancing and chanting

As we circle ‘round again

Allowing each who chooses so

To walk the length of the surface of red-hot coals

After two weeks of mental prepping

And the pre-walk discussion

I step up and sashay the full length

No running, no skipping, no jumping

Amazingly my feet do not burn

Just a slight stinging on my left heel

My first…and only…firewalk

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Get a Horse!

Occasionally, I see something on the internet about which I would like to make a comment.  Usually, most news, business, governmental or even personal sites purport to offer an opportunity to do so.  A few years ago, they gave you an Email address and you simply used it to let them know what you wanted to say.  But that has changed!  

Now, when you click on the “Contact Us” link on many websites, you are asked to “log in” or to “register” an ID and password in order to send a message.  And then, that message is often limited to posting it on the web site’s Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or some other social networking connection, where they, and perhaps many others, may read your message.  You may not want that to be the case.  You also will be getting yourself involved with that site.  Personally, I do not trust social networking sites and avoid them all.  I suppose you can say I am “anti-social-network.”  So, when clicking on the “Contact Us” link does not enable me to send a traditional Email, which occurs more and more often lately, I usual forget about it and not send my message at all.  

And on those occasions where I am offered  the opportunity to send an Email, it frequently must be sent using their own “send” template, resulting in it not appearing in my regular “Sent Mail” listing, and my not having a record of what I sent.  Emails to Congressmen are notorious for this. 

To get around this shortcoming, where possible, I try to send a copy to my own Email address to confirm that the message went out.  I also find that Email sent this way sometimes doesn’t go out immediately.  The next time I encounter such an Email template, I will copy the Email address if it is visible and paste it onto an outgoing message to be sent from my own regular Email.  

Another alternative, if you can find an old fashioned mailing address, is to type an old fashioned letter, put a 44 cent stamp on it and mail it to whomever you want to contact.  Unfortunately, this advice is analogous to the common recommendation given a century ago to those whose car failed to start: “Get a horse.”

JL

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