Every day I am reminded of just how stupid people are. We are told that there is waste in the different government agencies. We are told that there are abuses within the myriad of social programs.
Few listen and even fewer get angry. Those few that get angry are effectively mollified by the endless numbers of agency spokemen that always proclaim that steps are being taken to halt the problem.
Here is my beef with the people. Haven't you been paying attention? This isn't some sort of fluke incident. It is endemic to the entire system. It just gets worse and worse the more we look into it.
Take the case of Enron. It was all smoke and mirrors. We were told that government regulators shut this sort of mess down and it wouldn't happen again. Except, one of the government's most trusted ally's on Wall Street was named Bernie Madoff. Now we have the Goldman Sachs fiasco.
A rational logical human would realize that the SEC is smoke and mirrors. As it is just a small portion of the government, wouldn't it be prudent to accept the possible notion that if the subordinate is a piece of shit, the supervisory agency is too?
We have a national budget so out of proportion to tax revenues that it will come back to bite us. Congress makes the budget. Congress created the SEC and the Treasury as well as the Federal Reserve with the urgings of Wall Street bankers. OUR DEBT is unsustainable. OUR CONGRESSMEN created the debt.
Trust is earned. Betray it and we all suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, stupid people breed.
Our economy has died a long and painful death. All that's left is the eulogy and having the stupid people line up for their daily ration of soylent green.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Game Has Already Been Played
Every season, folks sit down with drinks and snacks to watch another sporting event: baseball, basketball, golf, curling, ... etc. Most have a favorite team, a player or car and driver.
Few ever notice the underlaying reality. Every game, every race and every hole has already been played. Every perfect turn or pass has been made. Every mistake has been made. All that remains is who will make one or more mistakes that makes them the loser. Sports has been perfected. Only the players can make a mistake that allows another team or player to gain an advantage.
The folks continue to participate in the multi-billion dollar entertainmant complex as willing contributors to not just their favorite team, but also the losers (real or figuratively) that competed against them.
But I watch on TV. So what! Do you think that the TV station broadcasts the event as a public service.
Major league sports wouldn't exist in its present form without broadcast rights being sold. It is fundementally impossible for a 1/2 billion dollar sports stadium to be paid for out of gate receipts let alone player and staff salaries.
So the Consolidated Rodeo Arena Parnership (CRAP) sells broadcast rights to Broadcasting United Media Service (BUMS) for $500 million. BUMS then sells advertising minutes to various corporations to recoup the costs. BUMS also charges their network affiliates for rebroadcasting rights. These affiliates have several minutes of airtime to do their own sales of advertising that is sold to local companies and small corporations.
Each time you buy any goods that have been advertised, you are repaying the advertiser for their advertising costs. So as you can see, you are paying the losers indirectly but paying none the less.
Now here comes the real gravel-up-the-rectum kicker. Everyone is making money from you; the players, the sponsors, the camera-man, the advertising executive, everyone. They pay taxes. You are paying their taxes as well as their salaries.
It gets worse so better wrap some duct tape around your ankles otherwise this will blow your socks off.
The corporations make money for their investors who pay taxes. Most folks routinely scream for the corporations to pay more taxes. The corporations make money because they used advertising to get you to buy a new chrome-plated left-hand monkey wrench. Out of the money you paid, part of the price is the cost of advertising. This part is reimbursement to the local retailer and the corporation that brings you these fine crafted doodads.
Is the plot thick enough yet?
Advertising is deductable on taxes. So here we have Joe Public paying for the advertising, the players, ..., and the retailers workforce as well as everyone's tax burden.
The lost revenue from the advertising costs deduction has to be made up. Therefore you pay a higher percentage of the total tax bill.
Every time you scream for taxing the corporations, you are screaming to increase your tax burden.
Grab another beer from the fridge, bust open the chips and turn on the game. Who knows, it might go to triple overtime with the score 0-0. Who will screw-up and lose the game? Like I said, every game has already been played and the real loser is the consumer.
Few ever notice the underlaying reality. Every game, every race and every hole has already been played. Every perfect turn or pass has been made. Every mistake has been made. All that remains is who will make one or more mistakes that makes them the loser. Sports has been perfected. Only the players can make a mistake that allows another team or player to gain an advantage.
The folks continue to participate in the multi-billion dollar entertainmant complex as willing contributors to not just their favorite team, but also the losers (real or figuratively) that competed against them.
But I watch on TV. So what! Do you think that the TV station broadcasts the event as a public service.
Major league sports wouldn't exist in its present form without broadcast rights being sold. It is fundementally impossible for a 1/2 billion dollar sports stadium to be paid for out of gate receipts let alone player and staff salaries.
So the Consolidated Rodeo Arena Parnership (CRAP) sells broadcast rights to Broadcasting United Media Service (BUMS) for $500 million. BUMS then sells advertising minutes to various corporations to recoup the costs. BUMS also charges their network affiliates for rebroadcasting rights. These affiliates have several minutes of airtime to do their own sales of advertising that is sold to local companies and small corporations.
Each time you buy any goods that have been advertised, you are repaying the advertiser for their advertising costs. So as you can see, you are paying the losers indirectly but paying none the less.
Now here comes the real gravel-up-the-rectum kicker. Everyone is making money from you; the players, the sponsors, the camera-man, the advertising executive, everyone. They pay taxes. You are paying their taxes as well as their salaries.
It gets worse so better wrap some duct tape around your ankles otherwise this will blow your socks off.
The corporations make money for their investors who pay taxes. Most folks routinely scream for the corporations to pay more taxes. The corporations make money because they used advertising to get you to buy a new chrome-plated left-hand monkey wrench. Out of the money you paid, part of the price is the cost of advertising. This part is reimbursement to the local retailer and the corporation that brings you these fine crafted doodads.
Is the plot thick enough yet?
Advertising is deductable on taxes. So here we have Joe Public paying for the advertising, the players, ..., and the retailers workforce as well as everyone's tax burden.
The lost revenue from the advertising costs deduction has to be made up. Therefore you pay a higher percentage of the total tax bill.
Every time you scream for taxing the corporations, you are screaming to increase your tax burden.
Grab another beer from the fridge, bust open the chips and turn on the game. Who knows, it might go to triple overtime with the score 0-0. Who will screw-up and lose the game? Like I said, every game has already been played and the real loser is the consumer.
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