You make HOW MUCH??

When I look at the issues that have our country tied in knots today, it seems to me that every single one can be traced straight back to income inequality.  Its beginning predates Citizens United (the court ruling allowing unlimited political contributions by corporations), it didn't get this way overnight, and we won't get out of it with just a few new Executive Orders.  It's WAY more complicated than that.

Without doubt my all-time favorite corporate CEO was Herb Kelleher, the (now retired) Chairman of Southwest Airlines.  His business model was simple:  "Take care of your people first, your customers second, and your stockholders last."  If you take care of your people first, they will be happy and give impeccable, smiling service to your customers.  Happy customers will come back time and again, ultimately giving your stockholders a handsome return.  Win-win-win.  While the airline industry has been in constant turmoil for years, with bankruptcies, mergers, and layoffs common, Southwest has had an unbroken string of profitable years with no layoffs, ever.

That's Herb in the red shirt with some of his ramp employees, and the photo was not staged.  He would on a daily basis walk around and greet his people, swap a quick joke, do some back-slapping (the ladies got a kiss on the cheek....times were different then!), and just in general tell them how much he appreciated them....and they worked their asses off for him!

In 1965 the average CEO made 20-times as much as his average employee.  By 2015 the average CEO made 303-times as much as his average employee.  (source:  Fortune magazine) 

Here's where I'm going with this:  While most airline CEO's of the day were making handsome 7-figure salaries, Herb kept his salary at around $350K (?) per year.  He was seen by his people as well paid, but still with his feet on the ground.  He made sure that ALL Southwest employees received yearly profit sharing, real health insurance, a generous 401K, and stock options.  (That's where Herb made his very sizeable fortune.)  If the company made money, so did he, and his model worked....there was never an unprofitable year.

This is critical....right after 9/11, when planes were flying virtually empty and other airlines were laying off as fast as they could, top executives at SWA said they would work without pay until the crisis was over, while their employees were never asked for any wage concessions.  THAT'S how you show solidarity with your people!  (As I recall, American Airlines was at the time cutting employee pay, all while they were quietly giving generous bonuses to upper management.  The rank-and-file found out about it and the s__t hit the fan!)

Today we have a dangerous divide between workers and the "One Percent".  The upper class has never had it so good, while the middle class is actually shrinking.  Their inflation-adjusted income has been stagnant for 25 years.  Too many don't have health insurance, or if they do, they can't afford the deductibles.  Large companies are generally not expanding here, and many are moving operations overseas.  Employees are scared.  Small companies are where new jobs are being created today, but many of those have modest or even no benefits.

Too many of our new jobs that we use to pump up our high employment figures are low-paying positions.  Part-time or contract workers are popular because they allow companies to skirt offering benefits, among other things.  Workers feel estranged from their bosses, and bosses can't empathize with their workers.  Distrust and hostility is the norm.  This income inequality/attitude now permeates how our country operates from top to bottom, and it's unhealthy.

I'm not looking for some sort of instant Robin Hood "rob from the rich/give to the poor" income redistribution scheme, for that, too, would cause resentment.  But our rigged tax laws and subsidies and sweetheart breaks for the rich need to be reversed.  We all need to be on a level playing field, where everyone feels like they're getting a fair shake.  

All I'm hearing from our leaders is promises.  The "haves" are trying to get even more for themselves by taking away what little the working class has left.  This is not good.  We should look to Herb Kelleher as an example of how we can ALL thrive if we pull in the same direction.

S

Healthcare in America....where are we headed?

Yesterday a friend of mine, who is in the healthcare field, asked on her Facebook page what should be done regarding the "repeal / replace" controversy now raging.  She and her other healthcare professional friends agreed some form of coverage for everyone is absolutely necessary, while her more "conservative" friends said "no way". 

First, a personal disclaimer.  I'm covered by Medicare, which has worked great for me, and my wife, who is now once again a full-time college student, has a group plan offered through her university.  And after her college days, as a last resort, she is a disabled veteran and has VA care available to her.  In short, I have nothing personally to gain or lose in this debate.

The argument I heard from the conservative "Tea Party-types" was that they resented being told they MUST buy insurance, and would be perfectly happy if it would just go back like it was pre-ACA / Obamacare.  My strong suspicion is that they have secure (for now) jobs and enjoy employer-provided insurance, or are older and are covered by Medicare.  Both see ACA as just a giant wealth transfer from them, the relatively affluent, to the poor.  There's no upside to them if there is a replacement plan.  They would prefer repeal, period.

Those in the healthcare field almost universally say they see the desperation every day on the faces of people who can't afford insurance or the ER medical care they've been billed for and are absolutely begging for their charges to be forgiven by the hospitals and doctors.

My observation is this:  The Tea Party-types know in general terms that poor people can't afford healthcare for themselves or their families, but they don't actually know any of them.  They just can't relate.  I can.  During my 40+ year career in homebuilding I saw on a daily basis plumbers, electricians, painters, roofers, etc who I'm certain didn't have health insurance.  

They may work 40 hours one week, and just 30 the next.  If the economy tanks, they may have no work for weeks at a time.  They're always on the brink of desperation.  They work hard....they certainly aren't slackers. They don't get a yearly two-week paid vacation, or have a 401K, or health insurance.  That's just the nature of the construction industry.  Are we just gonna kick people like them to the curb?

In the old days you worked 40 years for your company and retired with a gold watch.  Today if you have seniority, which probably came with yearly pay raises for decades, you're now at the TOP of the pink-slip list.  You're good as gone, to be replaced by a 25-year-old with a MBA who will work for 40% less than you're making.  And if you're 58 and find yourself with more and more ailments, and you're suddenly unemployed, how are you going to afford health insurance?  Who wants to insure you?

I know plenty of people who are / have been in that very position.  A secure job today is no guarantee of a secure job tomorrow.  Remember that!

"Oh", the Tea Party-types say, "they won't be able to deny you because of a pre-existing condition."  Isn't this a classic example of having your cake and eating it too?  They abhor the ACA, yet want to cherry pick the parts they want to keep....without paying for it.   Sorry, but life doesn't work like that.  "You'll still get a [smaller] subsidy" they say.  Again, they're UNEMPLOYED!  They have no income!  A [smaller] subsidy is worthless to them....it's like being promised a BIG piece of NO pie.

I laugh incredulously when they say they'll expand Health Savings Accounts that people can use to pay for their health insurance and deductibles. They just don't get it!  Lower income people don't have the luxury of putting a few hundred dollars a month into a HSA.  They're living hand-to-mouth as it is.  It's like Marie Antoinette telling her hungry French subjects "Let them eat cake."

The Tea Party-types ask how fair is it for them to pay into an insurance scheme that benefits someone else?  So let me ask, why should residents in West Texas pay higher homeowner insurance rates to make up for their fellow-Texans who have suffered hurricane damage on the Gulf Coast?  Why should I pay for an interstate highway in Ohio when I've never even been to Ohio?  Why should I pay school taxes now that my youngest daughter is 35 years old?  Because it's for the public good, that's why. 

If we average the cost of healthcare across all age groups around the country, the young will indeed pay more now than they could have before the ACA, but they'll make it up later in life when they'll need healthcare and get a sweet price break.  That's how a "risk pool" (insurance) works, and there's nothing more free-market than insurance.  

Yes, I hear those who point out that insurance is optional, but not buying in means no benefits.  Are they going to be the gatekeeper at the hospital door that turns away the hysterical mother with no insurance cradling her deathly ill child?  And if the mandate stays that requires hospitals to care for anyone who walks in, whether they can pay or not, how much longer will it be before marginally funded hospitals start closing? 

I don't know how this will ultimately play out, but times have changed, and we must change, too.  We need to find a way to provide healthcare for all our citizens.  They can't give healthcare away, I understand, but anointing some to enjoy the American "good life" while condemning others to always being on the outside looking in is not what America should be about.  America should not have a caste system.

Not everyone can have an enviable IQ, be well educated, have a secure, high-paying job with benefits, and just skip merrily through life.  If they could, who would be left to change our oil, or build our houses, or maintain our sewer systems?  *any volunteers?* 

It won't be easy, and it won't be cheap, but we will be a stronger, more internationally competitive country if we're healthy and working smart.  We MUST find a way to care for our own. 

S

Jax is back!

My buddy Jax, my 4-year-old rescue "Schnoodle" (schnauzer/poodle mix) has been under the weather.  He had diarrhea a few days ago, then got better, but overnight got worse again.  We tried the bland boiled-chicken-and-white-rice diet, but it didn't do the trick.  Fearing it might get more serious before the vet opens on Monday morning, I took him to the 24-hour emergency animal hospital for an exam.  

Here's what I learned:  His diet is much too rich.  I told the vet that we gave him a supposedly high quality food, Blue Buffalo brand, and he just shook his head.  He said that the ingredients in Blue Buffalo are good quality, but that it is waaaaay too high in fat, which can lead to pancreatitis and maybe even canine diabetes later.  He said virtually all brands of wet food and most dry foods are too fat heavy.  I asked why then did all the manufacturers make food they know isn't good for their customers?  He said it's simply because it sells.

The vet said that dogs have a pretty bad sense of taste, but a very strong sense of smell, and dogs love the smell of fat in their food and just lap it up.  We owners think our dogs like the taste of it and keep buying it, not realizing what it's doing to them.  

He said it's similar to how we humans love a good marbled steak.  We have enough sense to understand that a regular diet of heavily marbled meat isn't good for us, so we eat it in moderation.  Dogs will just keep eating it as long as we put it in front of them, and that's what they're doing when we give them fatty dog food.  They might not look fat, and still be very active, but that fat is silently doing a number on their pancreas.  Fortunately, at Jax's young age, the vet said his pancreas can recover with a new, lower fat diet.

The ER vet gave him some shots and some pills and said I did right by bringing him in early. He sent us home with a few cans of Purina Canine EN Low Fat food, and said either that or Hills ID Low Fat, both prescription foods available from vets, are his recommended wet food.  He strongly advised that we switch Jax over to Purina Pro Plan Focus Adult Formula (dry), which is low fat, readily available, and reasonably priced. He cautioned that that particular Purina formula is low fat, but that most other Purina formulas are just like everyone else's....too rich and fatty.  Be advised.

Just because your dog(s) like what you're feeding them doesn't mean it's necessarily good for them.  Suggest you have a talk with your vet and see what he/she says about it.

Jax is back home now and is sleeping off his meds.  He should be his old normal self again soon.  :)

S

Let's put some lipstick on this pig....

For years now we've heard about how our enemies were eating the USA alive via cyber-warfare.  They (N Korea, China, Iran, Russia, Russia, Russia) have been relentless in getting into every nook and cranny where we might hide our intellectual jewels.  They long ago mastered corporate espionage, stealing plans for everything we design and make.  And now they've hacked into our CIA, revealing our most sensitive national security secrets.  They say the most recent WikiLeaks information dump dwarfs anything Edward Snowden ever thought about handing over to the bad guys.

Throughout all this I've wondered, "So what are WE doing to THEM?  Surely we're not gonna just sit still while they bend us over?  Please tell me our nerds are better than their nerds."

Our nerds are better than their nerds.  

Our nerds long ago figured out how to hack into every TV, tablet, cell phone, hearing aid, picture frame, Viagra bottle, and toaster in the world.  Our spooks can listen in on every two-bit terrorist in the sandbox as he whispers sweet nothings into his camel's ear.  The night shift at CIA HQ probably makes prank phone calls to the Kremlin and makes it look like it's coming from Kim Jong Fatty Fat Fat's little pink princess phone on his nightstand.  Yes, we're THAT good!

Now the bad guys have figured out how to get into our secret stuff.  Scary, but at least I now know we have nerds that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, anywhere, anytime.   Game on!  More lipstick?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Republican's new health care plan, whatever they care to call it, has already crashed and burned.  They're just putting on a show to make it look like they're at least trying.  Besides Speaker Ryan and Donnie John Trump, virtually no one else wants to be seen anywhere near it.

The Tea Party says it doesn't cut deep enough, that there are still too many poor swine getting gubment freebees.  The Liberals say they aren't about to turn poor people away from getting life-saving healthcare they otherwise can't afford.  Libertarians say "no" to any further "entitlements".  The American  Medical Association and various hospital groups are against it because they say poor people will lose their insurance and will all show up in emergency rooms again demanding to be seen for free.  The Old Folks...er...AARP says its members can't afford premiums 5-times as expensive as the younguns, on and on.

The only ones who like it are the US Chamber of Commerce, because their members will save a buttload, and those making over $200,000 a year who will save an even bigger buttload.

Even lipstick isn't going to sell this wagon load of shit manure.

D....O....A

S

An Anglophile at heart....

Some of my fondest and earliest memories were listening to my dad and his friends regaling each other with their WWII experiences.  My father never actually went overseas because of his service working for Terrell Aviation School in Terrell, TX (about 30 miles east of Dallas).  Prior to America's abrupt entry into WWII they were quietly training British pilots who could then go back to Great Britain and fight in the King's Royal Air Force.  

As soon as we officially became allies with the Brits after Pearl Harbor the school's name was changed to No. 1 British Flying Training School and their work could officially be acknowledged.  (Prior to that we were supposed to have been neutral.  *wink*)  Thanks to these early experiences I became a dedicated Anglophile.  

It was just a few years later, when I was 9, that I learned to drive in my dad's tiny little Nash Metropolitan, made in England by the Austin Motor Company.  It looked just like this, a nice black over white two-tone.  It did 0-60 in 22.4 seconds, almost twice as fast as a VW Beetle.  Zoom zoom!  

One magazine of the day said, “It is not a sports car by the weirdest torturing of the imagination but it is a fleet, sporty little bucket which should prove just what the doctor ordered for a second car, to be used either for a trip to the movies or for a fast run to a penicillin festival.”  (Anyone have any idea what a "penicillin festival" is?)  "Our" little car had a 3-on-the-tree transmission (stick shift) which must have been built like a battleship as I somehow managed to NOT destroy it.  Needless to say I never got a speeding ticket in it.

Fast forward a few more years and, like all the boys of the day, I was a true petrolhead.  But instead of having pictures on my walls of fast American muscle cars, I was still a dedicated Anglophile.

Cars like this Triumph GT 6 had my heart.

A bit less racy, something I thought my dad might actually let me have (but didn't) was the MGB/GT.  *sigh*

 Totally unattainable, but always number one on my lust list, was a Jaguar E-Type.

There's just something so special about European seat covers, don't you think?  *did I say that out loud?*

But dad said firmly no, as did mom, and our family insurance agent, too.  I never got my English sports car, which is just as well as I would have had no idea how to keep it tuned and running properly.  They needed lots of tinkering, and I didn't have the necessary patience for that.  Even back then I had an aversion to maintenance.  

These days I satisfy my largely dormant British sports car itch by taking photos of them, which is probably smart as I still wouldn't know how to tinker with them.  Never mind that the ones I like are now far north of $100K.  :)

S

Senator Cornyn, you're up. Senator Shelby, you're on deck.

Thune....you're batting clean up.  You all know the drill.  Now, off to hair and makeup.

Our latest Scandal de Jour has our Attorney General being accused of lying to his Senate compadres in order to gain their confirmation votes.  So did he lie?  He says it all depends on what the definition of "is" is.  (Old Clinton-era joke.  Look it up.)  His fellow Republicans are in full damage control mode, all lined up to say what a great husband, father, and Saint our beloved AG is, and besides, the Cubs won the World Series so all is well.  Look...SQUIRREL!

 

Meanwhile, across the hall, the Democrats are all foaming at the mouth, taking bids on building new, improved gallows.

Oh, how quickly we forget.  Just a year ago the rolls were reversed.  Former Sec State Hillary Clinton was accused of playing fast and loose with America's state secrets being run through her private email server.  Reid, Pelosi, Schumer and the rest of the Democratic party faithful were calmly shooing us away saying, "Everyone go home.  There's nothing to see here, folks.  Move along."  Not surprisingly, the Republicans saw things a bit differently.  They saw Hillary as being guilty of High Treason.

Let me state the obvious:  Our elected civil servants can't be trusted.  They just can't.  Oh, I might could find a couple if given enough time, but they're rare as purple Unicorns.  The truth is a foreign concept to them, and unless their buds are caught red-handed on camera cramming $100 bills into their coat pockets, they're going to stick up for each other.   

"He is such a fine boy, so kind to his mama, and a wonderful Sunday School teacher, too.  We all love him so."  xoxo

Fifty years ago they could have probably gotten away with their crooked ways, but it's much harder for them today.  What's the difference?  The media.  The press is everywhere, and if they don't have their cameras up and rolling when needed, there are lots of civilians out there with cell phone cameras who do.  BUSTED!

Don't let anyone tell you the media is fake, that they're "the enemy of the people".  If they weren't there, we wouldn't have lasted this long as a republic.   Don't limit yourself to just one source of news, and don't believe what just one source tells you.  Yes, different news organizations have very definite prejudices, but when taken as a whole, the truth will come out.   Freedom of Speech is #1 on the Bill of Rights Top Ten List for a reason.

S

Circle the wagons, boys!

It isn't exactly "Breaking News" when I say that people get really touchy when you talk about getting into their wallets.  "It's MINE, I WORKED for it, you CAN'T have it!"  And this, IMO, is why our government today is so dysfunctional and our people are so upset.  One economic class feels they're paying for benefits that another economic class is receiving, and to be honest, it's largely true.  (Their elected political manipulators see this perpetual standoff as their job security.)

TAXES.  Just saying the word gets most people's blood pressure up.  The average middle class guy feels he's working 100 mph to pay for day care, to put braces on his kids teeth, to somehow pay another semester's tuition for his oldest to stay in college, to pay the deductibles and co-pays on his heath insurance, or if he's an "independent contractor", to pay for his family's health insurance that might cost more than his house payment, etc.  It's a struggle for sure.

Meanwhile, in his mind, another economic class gets free child care, food stamps, rent subsidies, college grants (that require no payback), free medical care (via Medicaid) and even a free cell phone, all paid for by HIM!  And then when you interject race into the equation, it really gets nasty!  To the average middle class taxpayer (statistically likely to be white) the average beneficiary of our social safety net is black or brown, and now includes immigrants, too, hence the animosity.  Facts to the contrary be damned!  He simply can't fathom his economic situation deteriorating to the point he might need some of those services himself some day.  These are benefits (he thinks) he'll never receive.

This is where he thinks his taxes are going.

At the other extreme, while he vaguely knows about the massive government subsidies going to the private sector ($37B to Big Oil, $270B to Big Pharma, $18B to Big Ag, $83B to Wall Street, etc) he can't put a face with a $$$$ to know who to direct his anger at.  (I know, I know, a preposition at the end.  Shoot me.  ;) 

This is why the idea of a tax increase to balance the budget, for example, is a non-starter.  "MORE money to give to those bums? Oh HELL no!"  

In their minds they, personally, aren't getting anything for their tax dollars (hello!...national defense, highways, etc?), with the exception of Medicare and Social Security.  Ahhh....don't you love it when a Tea Party supporter holds his sign up high that says "NO SOCIALISM IN AMERICA!!", then says, "but don't mess with my Medicare or Social Security."  *dude, those programs are the epitome of socialism!*  

As long as people don't feel like they are themselves getting anything for their tax dollars, they're going to resist.  Call them anything you want....selfish, greedy, uncompassionate....when you get into people's wallets, the battle lines will be drawn.  Let's just hope the rest of the world stays more f__ked up than us so they'll run over here with their $$$$ and finance our debt.

Just my thoughts. 

S