Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Truth In Data: Who You Gonna Call?

With more questions than answers today, you may wonder, "Who You Gonna Call?" You can't call Harold Ramis, the creator of Ghost Busters. Sadly, he passed away.
   The biggest problem with government today is not ideas to promote the general welfare, but the antagonists to those ideas. Not to delve into one particular issue because time and space in a blog cannot do it justice. However, I will scratch the surface with an example. Someone notices that their water looks cloudy. They sound the alarm. People take notice and they agree that something should be done. Rules and regulations are drafted that protect the public from unscrupulous and shady operations that spew dangerous chemicals into our water supply. Those operators complain. They provide jobs, but the dangers outweigh the benefits. The same, greedy owners resist spending their profits on filters and or other improvements. They find it cheaper to hire a lobbyists to fight the proposed rules and regulations, especially when they can get other polluters to contribute to the cost.
This is the real problem with government. It is no longer of the people and by the people because no one is for the people.
   Do you recall the "cold war" lessons from your history class? The bureaucrats of the U.S.S.R. gave positive economic reports right up until the Soviet state collapsed. Lehman Brothers got the same positive ratings even up to the day it died. Going back to the U.S.S.R., the Russian people realized long before the finish line that their government reports were only propaganda tools. Is the US today any different?
   Is it not true that in every six months or so, some company is caught violating Libor Rates, fixing prices like the aluminum scandal or mortgage fraud? My problem and question is who brings agencies like Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS)to court? We can't even audit the Federal Reserve for peace of mind with our banking institutions.
Old Days
before computers, we had visible proof of the economy. There were long lines at the unemployment office, food stamp outlet and the welfare line. Today, we are fed facts that no one can validate. The media is guilty of conspiring with the same reports. No one offers an opposing view or at least, no one is given equal time to offer a different set of facts. We know that there are 48 million people collecting food stamps and other supplemental benefits, but we never see them in mass. We can't even distinguish them at the grocery store. They have debit cards.
   Yes, things are better than 2008, but outsourcing hasn't been addressed. Yes, unemployment is down, but part-time jobs with low pay doesn't make one feel better about life or their future. The number of Americans with full-time jobs as a percentage of the population is at the lowest level in 40 years. The BLS should be reclassified to the BS office. The story that they tell is manipulated. Is their illusionary tale of our economy any different than the bureaucrats of the U.S.S.R.?
 Who You Gonna Call?

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