Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Is America Dead?

Kumbaya my ass!!  ...I just wanted to start with that. The verdict is in...It is the general feeling that the President is a house negro. You can put your own meaning to that, but it generally means he will do what he is told by his Master, which in this case is Corporate America. The President is now being thought of as being "Republican Light"...sort of like what light beer is to real beer. How is he a "Republican Light" you ask?

 Well he raised more Corporate money than Hillary Clinton in 2007 when running against her. He also hired Larry Summers, the same guy who is thought to have deregulated Wall St during the Clinton years...and the same guy that Dr. Henry Kissinger said should be given a White House position...This is a snippet of what Wikipedia has to say..."As Treasury Secretary, Summers led the Clinton Administration's opposition to tax cuts proposed by the Republican Congress in 1999. Also during his stint in the Clinton Administration, Summers was successful in pushing for capital gains tax cuts. During the California energy crisis of 2000, then-Treasury Secretary Summers teamed with Alan Greenspan and Enron executive Kenneth Lay to lecture California Governor Gray Davis on the causes of the crisis, explaining that the problem was excessive government regulation. Under the advice of Kenneth Lay, Summers urged Davis to relax California's environmental standards in order to reassure the markets." I recently wrote an article titled America died last night...seem's like it is coming to fruition.

In a kitchen you do not use a butter knife to chop your meats and vegetables, in the same way you cannot expect to put a Priest in the White house and expect him to deal with Wall St with an iron fist. You need a man who can play both sides of the aisle, so he can juggle and keep both Wall st. and Main st. functioning. The President said as much when he suggested that if we wise up and realize that he is a Corporatist in disguise, we must rise up and make him do what we need him to do....and he is willing, but he is waiting until we demand as much of him, with our actions.  He can't go against the Corporations without our demands being his reason to do such an act. He is walking a fine line between Wall st and Main st, because he has no choice, and the argument is that if he does not appease his Corporate Financiers a bit, they threaten to pull out and crash the economy. He has to make Wall st work for Main st, by our instruction.

Now I would like to point out that some want Tax cuts for the wealthy Multi Millionaires, the Billionaires and by extension the Corporations,  in order for them to create jobs. Well they are the ones who have been shipping the jobs away, outsourcing jobs while they receive their tax cuts. The Corporations are also accused of encouraging the immigration problem by offering substandard jobs for little pay, while collecting tax breaks to generate these jobs. It is said that the immigrants are taking jobs that American workers want.

To put it simply, The Corporations are causing many of the problems we face today. The tax cuts they are enjoying and lobbying for are not being used to generate jobs, it is being used to reinvest and generate jobs in foreign countries. They are firing the immigrant workers who do get their status legally changed to work, and replacing that now jobless immigrant with another undocumented worker.

Walmart and other companies will bring products from China costing them 5 cents while the same product produced in America costs 50 cents. The way to stop this is for the Customs practices to change so that the imported Chinese products are charged a Tariff of 45 cents to level the cost factor for the Companies. This way the companies will not hesitate to produce the products right here in America. This is also a way for America to generate some extra cash, and may even help to lessen the tax burden on the American people.

What happens when a drug pusher is arrested? There is a vacuum created and like it or not,  the pusher is soon replaced by another ambitious Free Market Capitalist. So...the answer is simple, take away the tax cuts for the rich because they are not using it to create jobs, this will save Billions... then start charging Tariffs on the imported products, which will leveling the playing field and the jobs will come back to America. If the Companies choose to leave, there will be another Ambitious Free Market Capitalist Company waiting to fill that vacuum and produce the same products and jobs here in America...with or without Tax Cuts.

This will in turn solve the Immigration problem, because we will now have 50 to 100 million jobs available as a result...for example, a Car Manufacturer needs dozens of other industries to make parts and supplies to support it. That means thousands of jobs just in that one Product. Think of this happening on a massive, Country-wide scale...This would create the need for both the unemployed Americans and all the immigrants to fill those jobs.

 As a side note, when we produce these millions of jobs, we will also have a greater need for more Teachers, Nurses, Doctors and a whole Technology system, and a much larger Transportation and Logistics system to sustain the growth we will experience, that translates to thousands more skilled jobs and millions more to support those jobs, which will again bring America to the top of the Global Food Chain and use up all of our unemployed. The ripple effect will hit the Agriculture belt like a Hurricane and we will again produce more foods and revitalize our Farming Industry.  The failing infrastructure will then need to be rebuilt, thus adding more jobs.

The Problem started with the Corporations...and we should start there, to bring our country back...back to where the people have a voice and our children have a future. Just in case you think the Corporations are our best friends...watch this video...
http://safecosmetics.org/index.php

This article was written by the Author of the newly released book titled "Shock and Awe on America" which can be bought in print or for Kindle at Amazon.com
Or can be read in part or downloaded in different E-book formats at Smashwords.com
Please feel free to join this blog Shock and Awe and Shock and Awe FaceBook page.

25 comments:

  1. America, lamd of the free, is dead. Long live America Inc.!

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  2. Well it seems to be having a few breathing difficulties of late old bean...;-)

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  3. Tee are the "little" people like yourself smarter than those powerful Washington insiders and Wall St bastards?? YES!!! You make it sound so easy, why don't they do these simple measures to bring our country back to prosperity? Because they WANT to kill America??

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  4. The sad thing is that the Clintons and "Keating Five" McCain are even worse.

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  5. libhom, the corporations are the devil with the apple...they lobby and cause the politicians to go bad...we have to see the source, to solve the problem.

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  6. "then start charging Tariffs on the imported products, which will leveling the playing field and the jobs will come back to America."

    That is a draconian and actually fascist idea. No wonder Pat Buchanan is the loudest proponent of it. It takes power from the people and turns it all over to ruling elites.

    If I want to buy a better car, there's no way in hell the government should punish me with a stupid morality tax. Which is what a tariff is. Forcing the uninformed choices of a few upon everyone.

    I support your right to refuse to buy better products because they come from other countries. But you should not force it on others.

    So you think people should be forced to buy American cars, which are even now significantly inferior to Japanese and Korean models. No, I value my informed choices.

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  7. Dmarks, are yo trying to trick me? The only reason the Foreign cars are even at such a good safety standard is because of the Government's standards. When you go to other parts of the Globe and drive the same Japanese vehicle you will see the standard of manufacture is much less, I have.
    Also when you have a company who manufactures the product in China for 5 cents, then sells it to their own company in Bermuda for 10 cents, who then sells it to their own company in America for 95 cents...who in turn retails it for $1 and pays tax on the 5 cent profit, America loses. That 85 cent profit stays in their offshore bank account tax free, while the American Companies have to close down because their cost to manufacture the product is $1 and they can not compete against and undersell the foreign product...which is usually at a lower quality to the American product...a quick trip to Walmart will facilitate this comparison...
    How about Chinese Lead paint in your child's toys?

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  8. Walmart typically sells the same American products for a lower price. As for the rest of the stuff, and its quality, you are free to shop somewhere else.

    Not sure your point on Japanese cars: the fact remains that they are on average significantly better than American cars.

    The choice of whether to buy good cars or inferior cars should be left to the people, not the State. The same with all trade decisions: let the people involved make them, not ruling elites who force decisions that are in the interests of the few on any one.

    "Also when you have a company who manufactures the product in China for 5 cents, then sells it to their own company in Bermuda for 10 cents, who then sells it to their own company in America for 95 cents...who in turn retails it for $1 and pays tax on the 5 cent profit, America loses."

    No, if the price is lower for the same thing, America wins. As for the bank situation, you can thank the overtaxation situation here which forces investors to move money out of the country.

    And yes, American CAN compete and undersell against foreign products. That is why there's still a huge American manufacturing sector. Even while the big unions encourage companies to close American factories and locate them in other nations, there are companies, both foreign and domestic, that make new factories in the United States. There are some things we are good at, and some things other nations are good at. Letting the people (not the state) make trade decisions takes this reality into account.

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  9. Dmarks, you say "Walmart typically sells the same American products for a lower price. As for the rest of the stuff, and its quality, you are free to shop somewhere else." Well...Walmart does what all other companies do, they have a sale and lose on some small and insignificant products knowing that while the customer is in the store, they will buy the other things that bring in the high profits. Walmart simply has the thousands of Chinese items in their store that make the bulk of their profits, so they can undersell the American products and lose on them everyday. But this then causes the American manufacturers to close down, because they can't sell under their cost.

    You say "No, if the price is lower for the same thing, America wins. As for the bank situation, you can thank the overtaxation situation here which forces investors to move money out of the country." Well... These Banks and investors are here for their own interests, not yours, so when they move money offshore, it is to bolster their own pockets and grow larger, not because of any Taxation laws. They have been receiving Bush's Tax breaks for years now, that has not encouraged them to create new jobs nor has it stopped them from moving the money offshore. I remind you, we are in a recession and the Tax cuts for them has not helped us...only them.

    You said "And yes, American CAN compete and undersell against foreign products. That is why there's still a huge American manufacturing sector."
    Foreign products have low quality standards, so when they are sold here at Walmart and others at the same price of our high quality products, the companies make a killing, and this helps to stifle the growth of the American Companies who make little or no profits...causing them to close down.

    What do you suggest we do to solve our economic problems then? It sounds like you have many ideas to help us.

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  10. Dmarks says: "That is why there's still a huge American manufacturing sector"

    Dmarks...if you study our GDP you will notice that manufacturing makes up 18% of the total value of goods and services that make up the GDP...

    18% is NOT "huge"

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  11. First off, the Japanese and or Korean Car that Dmarks would buy in the United States would have been made in the United States: They would not be imports and thus would not fall prey to a tariff or a "morality" tax.

    Second of all, neither one of you have ever done bueiness with Walmart and I have, so let me educate you on how that works...

    Now, I did not go to Walmart they came to me...

    They ask you to make them something and they then order X units at Y price. They then have standards on every little thing, including labels on the boxes, where the labels are to be placed and on how your invoice must look like.

    You jump through the hoops and begin shipping to them. Now, they do not take everything at once but basically they spread the units shipped out. So you complete their goods and you warehouse them. Once they get to the point where they have taken 50% of what they ordered then they start hitting you with chargebacks and markdowns....you fight them and get all your money then they will refuse to take the last 25% of their order....unless you give them a price reduction.

    Walmart does not lose money on a thing...they pass any price reductions on to the manufacturers and basically you are paid on consignment and only after they have ensured themselves a profit.

    I took a $5 million dollar PO from them back in 1997 and it took them 5 months to get down to the 25% balance level. That is 5 additional months on top of the 2 months that it took me to make the goods where I sat with my money tied up in their inventory.

    Then they hit me up, since I factored their invoices, with a million dollar chargeback...which basically meant that they took a million dollars of my money and used it to pay other vendors who also used the same factor I did. I loaned Walmart a million dollars for 6 weeks.

    When it was all said and done I ended up eating 75,000 shirts, which they refused to take because I would not cut the price by 75% and including the cost of those shirts I walked away making $167,000 profit on a 5 million dollar PO...

    No one makes money selling to Walmart...all you do is make cash flow, if you are lucky and there is a big difference between making money and cash flow.

    The only reason major manufacturers banded together to save Kmart back a few years ago was because they did not want Walmart to be the only major discount retailer...

    Walmart still calls me about once every 18 months....and I tell them the same thing everytime....go screw yourselves!

    Oh, and the stuff at Walmart is inferior...the item I made for Walmart, which did not have my label in it was inferior to what I normally make. If I sell my labelled product for 6.50 to other retailers and Walmart wants to pay 4.50 then they get something that costs me less than 4.50 to make and my item at 6.50 costs more than 4.50 to make.

    Everything for sale in Walmart is made specifically for Walmart....since it has to be cheaper it is cheaper....

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  12. TAO, That blows my mind! They are really low in their dealings with Manufacturers. In essence they are actually stifling the Job Market by squeezing the life blood out of the Suppliers...
    Great info Tao, Thank you very much!!!

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  13. Here is some more...

    So you return something that you bought? Walmart does not eat the cost because they charge the return to the vendor.

    Get an advertisement in the mail from Walmart? Walmart did not pay for that because the cost is paid for by each and every vendor that has product listed in the advertisement.

    Then the vendor has to give Walmart a promotional budget which they can use anyway they want to....or not use if they so desire (but they get it anyway).

    Yes, yes, the cost of doing business....

    Then you look at Walmart's profit and or same store sales and you wonder why they are not doing better than what they are...

    Walmart could actually not sell a thing in a month and still make a profit.

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  14. Hi Tee,
    good rebuttals by you and Tao to dmarks stupid fox news talking points.No matter how often you respond with (for example)BEA graphs showing GDP and yearly percentage +/- and IRS tax charts PROVING high end marginal rates provide growth while low rates lead to bubbles,people like dmarks will insist that a combination of market efficiency and corporate altruism will cause wealthy people to magnanimously create jobs.No matter we are in a balance sheet recession with overcapacity in both supply and demand (unemployment),cut taxes and a sort of Santa Claus effect will cause the wealthy to begin hiring.
    Thanks for reading my Buffalo Calf Road Woman post bro, and for mentioning it.

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  15. "He has to make Wall st work for Main st, by our instruction."

    As Franklin Roosevelt once told a constituent who was complaining about the administrations slowness on a particular, pressing matte, "Make me do it.

    Great site you have here! Might I offer a little, humble suggestion on my part? You ought to make the font a little bolder. The longer articles can be a bit of a strain on the eyes.

    All the best and happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

    Tom Degan

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  16. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

    There is a link on everything you need to know about Walmart and Steve Dobbins at Carolina Mills is a personal friend...

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  17. Why are the corporations and wall street punishing him with high unemployment then?

    I think Barack is trying to serve the middle class. But the structural problems are overwhelming.

    Aloha from Waikiki

    Comfort Spiral

    ><}}(°>

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  18. Oso Thanks for dropping by, that article you wrote about the Buffalo Calf Road Woman is awesome! Great Writing!

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  19. Tom Degan, great to see you! I took your advice and changed it up a bit...I like it! Thanks :)

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  20. Tao, Thank you very much for the link, I really want to delve a bit deeper into this issue and this info is very helpful.

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  21. Cloudia, welcome, it is wonderful to have you here. I totally agree with you, He is trying to do so much with his hands tied because of many "saboteurs" in the Republican ranks.

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  22. Tee, two and a half years ago (during the '08 campaign), I once referred to Mr. Obama as "Bush lite" (and to Mr. McCain as "Bush on steroids"). My God, I though that the left was going to lynch me. Now, granted, I was referring more to foreign policy than to than I was to domestic but, still, not too bad a prognostication, huh?

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  23. Will, LOL you crazy prognosticator you!! A man far ahead of his time :)

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  24. Teeluck, I've been calling for a tariff since the 70s. It never seemed a good idea until now with a lot of folks. Mostly cause they thought like that guy on here. You know,absurd. We can't compete as it is now because the playing field is not the same.
    Corporations are omnipotent. The stats reveal their power. Hell they even have the Supreme Court in their pockets. It might be to late for this country. Just wait till April when the debt ceiling is voted on. Obama is Harvey Milktoast.
    Wrong person for the job.

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