My Congressional To Do List

It's easy to complain about Congress and Politics. Bitching and moaning make up much of cable news and facebook status updates. I'm as guilty as the next guy, so to make amends here is my congressional to-do list.

1. Repair the Tax Code: We are living under an onerous and cancerous tax code with too many favors for special groups (e.g., homeowners, certain businesses, etc). Much too much time and money is spent on trying to comply with the tax code and work within the tax code to save money. We need to remember the spirit of the Tax Code Reform Act of 1986 and make real reforms. Some things to be done--get rid of nearly all deductions, especially the home interest deduction, and specific industry credits and deductions; get rid of the corporate income tax and raise the rate of dividend and capital gains taxes; get rid of AMT, it is a fantasy that takes up way too much time; and on and on.
2. Talk Seriously About our Debt and Deficit Problem: Notice that I'm not even asking Congress to solve the problem, but just to be realistic about the problem. To that end we need Congress to recognize that (a) our biggest cost driver is Medicare and something much be done about it; (b) we don't actually have a Social Security Trust Fund and that soon we'll need to use general fund money to cover Social Security payments; and, (c) that Defense Spending is the largest piece of the discretionary pie and has increased the most in the last year and therefore can't be ignored.
3. Deal with America's Infrastructure: It's a well known fact Johnny that America has an aging and decrepit infrastructure. From cracking roads, to an overworked freight rail system, to bursting pipes, to poor transportation systems, the US of A needs some work. We need to raise real revenue (increase gas tax and other stuff) and reform our construction bidding process and start laying the foundation for our next economic boom.

That's it. There is plenty more that I would like Congress to do, such as ending farm subsidies and getting serious about our engagement with the world and a host of other issues. But here are at least 3 things they could do and can do.

The ELECTION

Since last Tuesday we've been inundated (if you've been paying attention) with analysis about the ELECTION. Folks, pundits, and politicians have been pontificating upon the meaning of the election... MANDATE for Republicans...Victory for the Tea Party...Demonstrated the limits of the Tea Party...Smaller Government...No Government...The Dems still control 2/3 of the legislative process...

Each narrative has some truth and has elections and opinion polls to back it up, nevertheless, I think the takeaway from this election is that the American People WANT RESULTS. Their expectations may be unrealistic, but the first party to be "in power" when the economy turns will become the victors. If it happens over the next two years it will be Mr. Obama who benefits. But if we are stuck with 9% unemployment and a stuttering economy, the President is in trouble. Better than that and we got an (new) election on our hands.

Personally, I'm disappointed with the parties in power. We have significant issues--health care, the economy, the deficit and national debt, two wars--but neither party wants to tackle them. The GOP claims to be serious about the deficit, but that's absolute BS. They have not listed any serious changes to significant budget expenses (i.e., Social Security, Medicare, and Defense). It's big plus is that they won't go crazy with spending. Now the Democrats, well, they ain't doing much either. They won't touch the same budget items, but feel free to spend at will.

This isn't going to be a pretty two years.

The Best Kind of Theater

Back in the 1960s and 70s my grandfather would find himself at the Santa Barbara Airport parking lot fifteen minutes before takeoff. He would stroll to the counter and quickly pick up his ticker. Security was an invention waiting to happen (and it did happen sometime during web 1.0) and so he would just take his ticket and hop on the plane. The airlines were happy, the airline workers were happy, and my grandfather was happy (particularly because he wasn't the most timely man).

Now, of course, those days are consigned to the dustbin of history. Ancient, forgotten days before the advent of anything worth doing.

My Eyes Hurt

Cause I got them dilated. Ms. Red Head in Rapid was duly impressed with my wrap-around polarized glasses. She thought I couldn't walk straight. Bleh. I was just admiring the pretty leaves on the tree. What are you going to do when the haters start hating?

Wind Cave...

This last weekend my Mrs. Redhead in Rapid and I headed to Wind Cave National Park. It was awesome. I got to learn lots and lots of new facts. Let me tell you some:

• Wind Cave is the fourth longest cave in the world.
• However, though 135 miles have been discovered the 'experts' think that they've only found 5% of the cave. If true, this would make it the largest cave in the world.
• So far, all 135 miles are crammed into 1 square mile (with a depth of 1/3 mile). That's like cramming 134 inches of a string into 1 square inch.

Wait, you don't want more facts? Well, too bad:

• The cave was "discovered" by the settlers in the 1880s.
• This cave has very little water, so you don't see stalagmites or stalactites. Instead...
• 95% of the world's box-work is found in Wind Cave.

This is only a few of the facts I gleaned from my 3 hour trip. Boy, what fun!

The RACE...

Here in the Heartland (aka South Dakota... eat it Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, etc...) we are having an intense US Representative race between Kristi Noem and Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin. Both gots lots of money so we get to experience plenty of attack ads. And because ad time is cheap we get to see lots and lots and lots of ads. And because I watch old folks T.V. (e.g., Wheel of Fortune) they pile them on.

Anyway, the ads are getting a little ridiculous. Kristi attacks Stephanie as a Pelosi stooge, conflating procedural votes with real votes, to say that Stephanie votes with Pelosi 90% of the time. Even though Stephanie voted against the Health Care Bill, etc... On the other hand Stephanie's best attack is that Kristi has had 20 speeding tickets over 20 years... Umm... not that impressive.

I'm a bit stuck in this race. Generally speaking I'd prefer a conservative Democrat over a really conservative Republican. Both candidates say that they take the deficit and national debt seriously, but neither of them will tackle the elephant in the room... entitlement and deficit spending. And to make matters worse they both are for increasing farm subsidies. Sheesh. I got 2 weeks to decide and it ain't going to be easy.

Quote of the Day

From Mr. Dunleavy of the London School of Economics, via Foreign Policy's Passport:

For the first time in history, the Australian outcome means that every key ‘Westminster model’ country in the world now has a hung Parliament. These are the former British empire countries that according to decades of political science orthodoxy are supposed to produce strong, single party government.

 The countries include India, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Canada.

The Night Sky

We are but motes whirling through the universe:

APOD

A Slow Walk to Involency: Air Force Edition

This ain't good for anyone:

Every time the Air Force sends a B-1B bomber on a mission over Afghanistan, it spends costs $720,000 in fuel, repair, and other costs. And when the plane comes back, it has to spend 48 hours being repaired for every hour it was in the air. All of which is double-crazy, because the bomber doesn’t really drop bombs over Afghanistan any more, thanks to the military’s airstrike restrictions. The B-1B just lingers over the country with a camera: a big Predator drone, at many, many times the price. “If the B-1 is not dropping its load of ordnance, we should withdraw it, and use unmanned systems instead,” Michael Wynne, former secretary of the Air Force, tells me. “They’re much cheaper.”

HT: Danger Room

A Slow Walk to Insolvency

The passage of Health Care Reform was only one point in the long debate about how to provide health care in the United States. As a red head I've long advocated for a change to our health care system. We spend far too much money for too little results. It's really a disgrace having a system that combines the worst of the private sector with the worst of the public sector.

Now comes word that the Obama Administration will require health care plans to provide certain tests/screenings at no cost. As the NY Times editorializes in its article:

The new requirements promise significant benefits for consumers — if they take advantage of the services that should now be more readily available and affordable.

Unfortunately, I'm not so optimistic, because health care ain't free in this world. And though the preventative tests claim long term health cost savings, I'm doubtful. The article goes on to say:

The administration said the requirements could increase premiums by 1.5 percent, on average.

1.5%! I know it doesn't sound like much, but here's the thing. First off, the 1.5% won't be spread evenly and more likely than not, individual plans will get hammered, while large plans won't be hit too hard. Second, 1.5% is still real money. For my individual plan for two people that 1.5% equals $92. Real money.

Alas, I understand the Administration's desire to help the average American see that health care is changing. This piecemeal change, however, does not address the root problem of out of control costs and a bloated, bureaucratic system.