Happy 4th of July. Independence day.  We celebrate our independence from the oppressive British monarchy.  We shot their soldiers and theirs killed ours. In Brookfield there is the grave of a man who fought in the Revolutionary War. Private Nathan Hatch. Since we are now buddy buddy with the British, it seems that today should be more of a birthday celebration of becoming a country rather than the day we officially flipped the bird to the king of England.

Which brings me to the point of the blog today.  You see, we still owe England. We also owe China along with some of the oil producing countries. It's called the national debt. It something that we've all heard about but is obscure to most of us. I understand that we are actually borrowing money from these countries to pay for things that we do. How is it that we need to borrow money from other countries? I though we were the rich people in the subdivision.

My dad once said, "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?". I'm sure he heard that from someone else and it won't be found in the book of famous quotes but it does say a lot. I'm not rich so I'm not ashamed to say I don't understand money well. I understand gold and silver being worth something and exchanging pieces of same for value received. We used to do that. Gold coins could change value but our silver certificates were always worth a dollar's piece of silver. No more silver, no more silver certificates.  Now we exchange numbers. We can print as many dollar bills as we want because we'll never run out of numbers. 

I've got some stocks. One had numbers of being worth $44 a share when I bought it. Before last Christmas the numbers ran up to $128. Now it's got numbers of around $46. Same company. Doing good business too. Sales are way up. Like I said, I'm not ashamed admitting to ignorance of money and speculation. Nobody in the government seems to understand speculation on oil commodities or they'd be clambering to announce opening new areas for exploration and drilling for oil. It seems when there is more supply, the prices these speculators are willing to bid for oil goes down. Politicians don't understand that. Some think more taxes on the people that do the work keeping gasoline available for our tanks will lower the price of gasoline. Further, these same politicians believe that the cost of the taxes won't be passed along to us, the consumers. So let me modify my dad's quote to; "You may be an elected official but that doesn't mean you know squat about money!".

So continue to celebrate Independence Day. After the grill is put away and the firecrackers are all fired off, remember that Uncle Sam has loans out there from some nasty countries so we can appear to be a wealthy nation. Uncle Sam needs to better explain what this really means to those making the payments on everything that Sam does. It appears that the finance charges are greater than our minimum payments. What politician is going to tell us what we need to hear rather than what it take to get on their power trip and stay on it?

Happy Dependence Day.

I've long been bothered by just who "they" are who put up the stumbling blocks to withdrawing the oil reserves that are rightfully that of the people. I also wonder about how "they" wield so much power. Congress operates in fear of them such that our so called representatives do not change the laws so that exploration and drilling can take place. It would eliminating much if not all of the need to be concerned about the politics of the middle east or Venezuela.

While enjoying a wonderful morning, weather wise, on the patio and reading the Sunday newspaper, Several articles, all in the first section, began to make me feel uncomfortably warm. The heat was turned up higher when I read about "they", a so called environmental group, going to court because the government has leased land to some oil companies for exploration. There are some polar bears in the region and what amounts to wording that the human beings making up the oil companies can protect themselves from the bears without fear of legal repercussions, seems to be the call to court for "they". In this case we know the "they" are an environmental group but just who are the individuals that make up the "they" and how do they get the money to cause the people of the country such trouble and who is it that provides the money?

The oil companies are not the villain in all of this. I'm happy that the gasoline is there when I need to fill my tank. In that they are doing a superb job. The real villains are the nut groups that have hijacked the name "environmentalist" and turned it into something for their own misguided purposes and the politicians that fail to work for the benefit of the constituency.

It's been established that wildlife and the environment in the northern regions continues to thrive with oil exploration and the shipping of it. We've proven it with the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.  We witness that adaptability of wildlife locally with the herons, crane, deer, turkey and even eagles which have had their habitat diminished.

Come on Washington! Stand up to them for US!

What the heck is going on with the presidential elections this year? This isn't the first time that I've voted in a presidential primary, but it is the first time that I believe my vote was negated in some way. It doesn't matter if you are Democrat or Republican. Each party lost candidates that we in Wisconsin as well as most other states never even had a chance to vote for!

Is Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos working? It seems like the Democrats have created their own chaos.  What is with these "super delegates"? I keep hearing that if they don't side with their state's winner, there may well be a voter riot, election sit out, migration to McCain or perhaps to the Corvair killer, Ralph Nader. Yeah, I had a 1966 Corvair Monza in high school.  If these super delegates are not free to vote their will or be swayed, cajoled or bought, what is the purpose of them then? And do I need to comment on Florida and Michigan? Isn't the Democratic party the one that tosses the term "disenfranchise" around like salt and pepper at dinner time?

What about rumors of Al Gore stepping in to settle the foray? Or, would it be, truthfully, too inconvenient to take four or eight years away from convincing the planet that we are responsible for sun spots and other cyclical solar and climatological events?

I guess that all I can do is sit back like a typical white person, dodge the sniper fire and enjoy the fight.

Two major companies were bidding for the replacement ship to replace the aging fleet of current tankers. The bid was won by the European Airbus company. The Airbus proposal was deemed to be a superior plane versus the Boeing bid.  I can't fault the Air Force for wanting to get the most for their money.

I have to question some things about this and I think the award should be held up until it is better thought out. I have two concerns. First is that all things being equal, money spent by the government within the country is much better spent than money going out of the country.  Even if more is spent, it still is money that creates jobs, tax revenue and a more robust economy. Second, the product needs to be adequate and meet the specifications of the bid. When the bid is between competing American companies, that is one thing. But when it is a choice between money staying in the country or exiting it, every aid to see that the American product meets the specifications should be given to the American company. In this case Boeing.

There is a bit of heritage to be considered too. Europe is a free Europe largely because of Boeing's bombers manned and supported by heroic American crews and built by Americans. Boeing is family and family comes first!

I've stated in the past that many elections are more of a beauty contest than an election of a person with the best resume'. I was dwelling on that one day when a friend emailed me a link to a "rate the candidate" website.  You mark off the importance of various issues to you and then the candidates are given a ranking based on your thoughts without being swayed by partisanship or rhetoric.  I was surprised when my candidate of choice ranked below one that I'd thought did not fit my views as well. It has forced me to re-evaluate my thinking.

Too often we hear "man (person) on the street interviews" where when asked why they support someone, little or no good reason can be thought of.  Want to see how your favorite candidate does when a blind, emotionless appraisal is done of how they match up to your ideals? Visit http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460 and see how your's does.

I believe there is a wave of paranoia sweeping the country. Zero tolerance this, can't say that and so forth. I don't think it is any big secret that Mayor Nelson, if not a registered democrat, certainly has leanings that way.

I understand that upon advice of our city attorney, the mayor removed a post from his blog on the city's website. What I know of the post, it seems ok to me.  I don't like censorship. I'd rather know as much as possible about our elected people's thought processes. This is also why I don't like anonymity. If there's no name associated with statements, take them with a grain of sand. We're about out of salt.

I also see that our new city administrator was seated along side the mayor at a Barack Obama rally.  The administrator was just doing her job, so a memo from her says. If so, fine. But, I'd like an explanation of why she wasn't doing her job at any republican rally? After all, she was on the clock.

There is one explanation that I'd buy as to the attendance at the Obama rally. Asking Obama to promise more money for the city for road salt and pot hole patch.

It is probably too late because the science experts called congressmen have already destined tungsten incandescent light bulbs to extinction in a few years.

To set the record straight, I have compact flourescent bulbs in my house.  I counted eleven. I also have several tube type flourescent fixtures.  All long before it became the "green" thing to do.  I did it because I like to save money and Wisconsin Focus on Energy had a big sale on them some years ago. That's market forces at work rather than dictation.

If you have been following the news, you'll know that compact flourescent bulbs have mercury in them. You may also know that there is a movement for dentists to collect the mercury in amalgams (tooth fillings) before they get into the sewage system and then the water systems. I never did understand how these fillings could be healthy.

I know a bit about mercury. Being in the heating business, we have used blobs of mercury in thermostats for decades. They are now obsolete but we collect old thermostats so the mercury can be salvaged. It probably ends up in our light bulbs now!

I also dabble in gold prospecting. Much of the mercury found in streams was from it being used to attach to gold dust and make it easier to "pan out".  This mercury coated gold would then be heated, the mercury turned to a vapor and the gas would go through a condenser coil and out would come clean fresh blobs of mercury. It was the vapor that was the real killer, but the liquid isn't much better.

So you can see, while we have made efforts to contain mercury from thermostats and tooth fillings, we've created a new way to reintroduce it into our landfills and work it's way into our groundwater. While these bulbs last a long time, I've had a couple fail way short of their touted five year life expectancy. We need to come up with a recycling plan for these bulbs now. Something voluntary would be nice, but I believe the best way is to charge a deposit, perhaps $1.00 each, so incentive to recycle them is made rather than disposing into the garbage.

Is this a bright idea or what?

The title sums it up. If you're pressed for time, it says it all and you can move along. But here is my reasoning.

In the two businesses that I'm involved in, I've seen an economic slowdown. So, I'm in favor of injecting some money into the economy.  That is the key and it should be done wisely. Should and when that money come to us, it should be spent, not banked.  A service should be purchased or something material should be bought.

An example of a service would be maintenance, repair or improving your heating and air conditioning system, plumbing, electrical or other home improvement.  Most of that money stays locally. But buy products that are made in the USA. As most electronics are made overseas and sold by big box stores that funnel much of the profit out of the area, avoid such purchases unless you are in need of the product. I don't think any of us NEED a wall sized high definition home theater system! Have a pet in the house? There are lots of offerings for them.  Try to purchase your pet items from a pet store rather than a department store and try to find one that is owned locally.

How about your transportation? It can be hard to buy American but doing some needed repairs on your car, motorcycle, boat or snowmobile helps the local economy. If you use the money for a down payment, do it on an American brand but make sure that it is build in the USA. Remember that Chrysler has an engine plant in Kenosha, GM makes trucks and SUV's in Janesville and Johnson Control in Milwaukee makes batteries and other car parts. I don't know much about Ford in Wisconsin but do know that some components are made in Sheboygan.

Finally, who should get the checks to begin with.  Here I get controversial. Some say that if you pay taxes, you should get a check. If you don't pay taxes, you don't get a check. If this is to be an injection of money into the economy, it should be given to those that will spend it.  In my opinion, that means it should start from the bottom of the economic scale. How much one pays in taxes, if any, should not be the determining factor. Above a certain income level, you continue to buy what you want and when you want it with or without the stimulus money.  Why not help those that can use a financial boost the most? 

Too bad most shoes and clothes are no longer made in the USA. 

I was going to write about an internet purchase experience and a local experience but a news item begs for comment.

As I opened WaukeshaNow, I saw a headline that the Sentry next to Walmart on the Les Paul Highway is closing. Such is competition. I'm in the minority, it would seem.  I don't like the huge supermarkets. It seems everything I want is about a mile away from the entrances or I have to sort out through expensive gourmet stuff that I'd never consider buying, but somebody must.

I miss my Sentry on Moreland and Delafield and the one that was downtown next to the bank. I can't help but blame those who were in power at the time for allowing that to happen. Would a tax exemption have helped the bottom line? How about the state helping out by eliminating some or all of the payroll taxes for a struggling food store? We are talking about a basic necessity of food and not spas or car dealers.

In the business section of Sunday's paper, an article about Buell reminded us about the government's tariff on Japanese motorcycles to allow Harley Davidson gain some footing to keep it alive. This was done by a Republican, Nixon, if I recall correctly.
 
Does all of this sound out of the question in the near future? Somehow it is something that I think presidential candidates Obama and Edwards just might consider. My votes during the last 20 years have been solidly Republican. However, I'm listening to the messages that have the Democrats so enthralled with these two people. It seems that people are indeed looking for change that is real rather than change that is only rhetoric. I think this also explains Mike Huckabee's rise in favor. Thus far I am still supporting Rudy Guliani, but until the pencil has made its mark on the ballot, who knows?

Could it be that true conservatism is gasping for air?