Bernie Sanders for President. Who - Colonel Sanders?

During the recent Republican Presidential debates Michelle Bachman answered, "What, like on a map?" when she was asked if she would recognize Libya. So goes the intelligence of the current side show known as the Democratic process as candidate after candidate goes on pontificating about nothing, encircling the problem but all failing to hit the nail on the head. I have danced around it too, in my posts, "It's Not the Economy Stupid" and "Squandering the Peace Dividend on War". But Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has hit the nail on the head: "While everyone understands that we have got to reduce the deficit, the number-one challenge America faces right now is a jobs crisis," the independent senator declared, while decrying the fact that more than 16 percent of American workers (25 million) are either unemployed or underemployed. Geez, why didn't anyone else think of that?

And he goes on, "Rebuilding the nation's crumbling infrastructure, transforming our energy system, and rewriting our trade policy so that American products - not jobs - are our number-one export." "Everyone in Vermont and across the country understands that we can put millions of Americans back to work rebuilding the nation's bridges, roads, schools, dams, culverts, rail systems and public transportation, among other vital needs," said Sanders. "We must also transform our energy system away from fossil fuel and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. A significant number of jobs can be created through weatherization, and the manufacturing of American-made wind turbines, solar panels and heat pumps. Also, we must make fundamental changes in our trade policy so that we rebuild our manufacturing sector. Corporate America must invest in the United States and stop the outsourcing of jobs to China, Vietnam and other low-wage countries."

And how might we do that? Well, not by attacking Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid he says. "Social Security has not contributed a nickel to the deficit, it has a $2.6 trillion surplus, and it can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next twenty-five years. It must not be cut," explained Sanders. Rather, he would balance the budget by eliminating tax loopholes for the wealthy and large corporations and taking a hard look at excessive military spending. Damn, that all makes a wonderful amount of sense. Maybe that's why Senator Sanders is staying as far away as he can from running for President - ideas like those wouldn't make any sense at all in the current race. (Thanks to John Rachel for highlighting the sense of Sen. Sanders.)

It's Not The Economy Stupid! So WTF Is It?

Military spending
in billions

Over the last few months any number of publications including the Wall Street Journal and Businessweek have used the headline above (You can't copyright a headline can you?) but all with different answers to the question, "But WTF is it? I proposed an answer in my post, "Squandering the Peace Dividend on War", along with Seth Godin, as did Author, John Rachel in his blog using the illustration to the left. If you haven't sorted out the answer yet, look again at the chart. The big bar on the left is America's military spending in comparison to the rest of the world. Hmm. Simple you would think. But our government seems to think that all this war is somehow good for the economy, and job growth, and innovation, and whatever else we lack. Clear answer: It isn't. And hasn't been for the last ten years. Time Magazine asks recently, "Is America the World's Next Banana Republic?" in its comparison of North and South American financial standards - as China keeps military spending in check whilst building a modern infrastructure that makes America look like the 1800s. Sure, we may be able to beat the crap out of any banana republic or even China or Russia in a war, but what is that buying us? Not a future, that's for sure. 

How to Solve the Jobs Crisis in America? Re-Elect Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

Newsweek and Bill Clinton tackle the sticky question of how to get America back to work this week with Clinton's 14 ideas on how to get the wheels of commerce rolling again in the good ole US of A. Over the last few weeks, many of you may have begun to wonder if I have somehow become un-American, what with my calling out all the ways we are having our lunch eaten by our Asian tiger friends and basically calling America fat, lazy and out of touch - when what we are really doing is fighting a series of unnecessary wars in the name of a fuel that has gone the way of the dinosaurs - wait a minute, it is called a fossil fuel, right?

But what I am really trying to do is play a small part in waking America up from a dream that is not real and certainly not working. In the last 10 years, China has built the world's largest high-speed rail system whilst we have steamrolled over a number of banana republics in search of that "Bubblin' crude", "Oil that is - Texas Tea", us hillbillies we are. But the question remains, how can America reverse this and many other economic  discrepancies and regain its luster as an entrepreneurial and economic powerhouse?

Cutting military spending and redeploying the monies in other more friendly ways is certainly a favourite option for many, but Clinton steers away from grand gestures like that and instead offers more practical solutions from getting congress off their asses and speeding approvals for new initiatives (In 1933 the Civil Works Administration put 4 million people to work in a month), or government funding for start-ups in green businesses, to painting roofs white (A white roof saves 20% electricity costs on a hot day) - suggestions which ween the country off its current oil dependence and eventually the wars it has created.

With 14 million Americans out of work, the last thing any of us wants to be us un-American. What we need to be is pro-American and realize that we have 14 million soldiers fighting an economic battle that has insufficient government support and we need to fix that. Mr. Clinton's comments simply help us to begin to give us a workable start.

D a v i d E v e r i t t - C a r l s o n

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The Revolution Will Not be Televised - But It Will be Here

There's a revolution underway - and it's happening on multiple fronts. Zeitgeist calls for it in questioning our society's financial motivations and political machinations. Seth Godin calls it in marketing and communications. "At the same time that our economic engines are faltering, something else is happening. Like all revolutions, it happens in fits and starts, without perfection, but it's clearly happening."

And my email calls for it in the raft of mails I get from friends who are unhappy with the way things in America are going. So there are three things one can do: Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Not since the Vietnam war I have seen America so disenchanted - and that was arguably before my time. I am the first year of Americans not to have been drafted. Now Vietnam enjoys the benefits of a youthful population, plenty of foreign investment and bountiful growth. The generation in America who protested the war in Vietnam was eventually placated by Reagan, Wall Street and a trickle-down re-education camp theory that hasn't quite played out. So how will the Baby Boomers play it this time? Differently we hope - for their children, or grandchildren. The revolution will not be televised, but it will be here.