Real Talk: Can we redistribute the Federal Government's Wealth too?

I cannot support this stimulus bill! It is a massive shot-in-the-dark that does very little to address the financial, and social, accountability problems that got us here in the first place. We're making the same mistakes we did with the financial industry bailouts. By not providing the people/states with the motivation to change, we're enabling them to continue their destructive behaviors.

President Obama, Senators, if you want to see things change then you are going to have to "Show Me the Money". I think you get that individuals need relief. But you fail to see that States and Counties need this same kind of relief. If you want to redistribute the wealth to sustainable measures then that's fine by me - but start in your own court. Don't expect the other levels of government to mature and work harder when you are managing them poorly.

The Federal Government needs to fairly share the tax pie with the States and Counties of America. I'm talking true delegation (according to the Constitution Amendment 10) and reduction of Federal tax rates in order to give States and cities the ability to raise their levels up by that difference at most. I'm NOT advocating that the Federal Government continue to hand out allowances like we're little kids. Obviously, we'd have to transition to this as it would have to be earned not given. However, using a couple of percentage points as a carrot for States to get their budgets and programs in shape would allow us to truly shed this "trickle down economics' theory that has crippled our ability to govern.

Real Talk: Kill Bill Vol. 3 Out This Week

So, last week I kind of got a whiff of something foul in the "stimulus" bill. And with each passing day, the odor has gotten more and more pungent. It is to the point where I'll be talking about it and have a Freudian slip that causes me to refer to it as the "spending" bill.

The tipping point for me was the House Vote tallies: 244-188 passing. Does anyone else hear alarms going off? This is not the way to forge ahead when we are faced with an economic problem of this caliber. Compare this with the stimulus bill from a year ago: 385-35 passing. Can we really afford for the country to fragment at this point? The answer is overwhelmingly NO in my opinion. Obama united us further than we were a year ago, but this bill shows that his reliance on the Democrats' ideals and amendments is tearing us apart.

This bill is too big! It reeks of revenge, irresponsibility, and unaccountability. There is no one pill that we can swallow to get us out of this. We are going to have to treat this over time and monitor our recovery with a couple of bills and stimulus injections. It is borderline shameful that the Democrats have tried to pack in as much social spending as they can get away with in here, because it just shows how quick they are to get back to "business as usual".

If they want to make headway in widening the social safety net then they are going to have to prove that it works. Just like the Republicans are going to have to prove that tax cuts will work. We can ill afford to enact huge, complex plans assuming that they will work because they do in their respective theories. And right now that's all these legislators are offering us. It's either their big quick fix or suffer. President Obama, please Veto the bill on principle, acknowledge that you remember the last 8 years and aren't seeking to recreate them on the flip side of the coin.

Real Talk: Title 1 = More Stolen Blinds

It appears that the stimulus plan's education allotments are going to be distributed according to Title 1 mandates or something similar. Today's NY Times article describes that as:

"The formulas by which the stimulus money for public schools would be allocated to states and local districts are complex, but take into consideration numbers of school-age children in poor families. The level received per student would vary considerably by state, according to an analysis by the New America Foundation, a research group that monitors education spending. New York would be among the biggest beneficiaries, at $760 per student, while New Jersey and Connecticut would fall near the bottom, with $427 and $409 per student, respectively. The District of Columbia would get the most per student, $1,289, according to the foundation’s analysis."

What I never understand is this. How people can admit that overcrowding and family conditions are some of the biggest factors in the miseducation of America's disadvantaged youths, but continue to believe in a system that gives priority to institutions that uphold this? Even with the best teachers and the best resources we are knowingly setting these kids in New York and DC to fail.

Why? Because they are the little stacks at the high limit poker table. Every hand they commit themselves to will result in putting it all in the middle. Even if they win that hand and double up, they will still be the smallest stack and will have their blinds stolen repeatedly. That cycle describes their existence at the Poker table, until they eventually run out of chips. Of course, there is the "American Dream" - the player who can take the small stack and come out the winner. But let's be reasonable. Everyone is not cut out to perform at this high a level, nor can anyone do this without playing at a higher level than their opponents.

So how does one continue playing poker if they are the small stack? Simple. They go to a different table where their small stack is much more respectable. And that's what the country needs to be doing with these stimulus packages. We have, for too long, financed a poker room where there are only high limit tables. We have effectively said, "if you want to play then you need to play at the highest stakes possible. Otherwise, keep working."

Charter schools have taken up one position that does this by encouraging kids to play at these tables hard and fast and hopefully come out with enough to go to a lesser high limit table. But that doesn't solve the issue that most people can't do that and therefore the game, as it is meant to be played, is inaccessible to most people.

I'm pretty annoyed that this package misses the boat there. We need to open up more tables that allow small stacks to move out of the high limit arenas. We do not need to provide them with more chips that don't change their insignificance. And we definitely should not lower the buy-ins so that everyone can play, even though they can't afford to be competitive.