Sunday Morning Coming Down

The Bush Family got a vote or two from me.  George Bush had a distinguished resume serving in Congress, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency(under Nixon), Ambassador to the United Nations as Ambassador to the People's Republic of China,(under Ford), Vice President,(under Reagan) and President of the United States succeeding Reagan.  He was defeated in his quest for a second term by William Jefferson Clinton in 1992. You might think that would be the capper for a political family,  but it was only the beginning of another generation of Bushes to start on the political trail.  George W. Bush became Governor of Texas after beating Ann Richards in 1994 but only after an unsuccessful run for the House of Representatives in 1978 and side work in the oil industry and partial ownership of a Major League Baseball franchise.  In 2000 George W. Bush became the 43th President of the United States in a disputed election final with Albert Gore Jr. the second son of A...

There is still a pile of hurricane debris in front of my condo.  I believe my roof has been repaired, the water system works, the electricity was restored eventually, and while it was inconvenient it could have been much worse for me and others where I live in Florida.

Current politics is antithetical to draining the swamp.  It might be money, it might be the family name, or it might be the electorate. Who ever thought there would be such a thing as the political class when the country was formed.  It's not completely new.  The constitution of the United States did not guarantee the right to vote when it was passed.  Women or slaves were not granted the franchise until much later in our history.  Land ownership was felt to be necessary to vote.  Before there was a President Trump there was the Founder of our country George Washington and at his death he owned between 45,000 and 50,000 acres of land and some of it was in very good locations. The Rockefeller Family started out by getting very rich in the oil business and then the business of politics by way of marriage into the Aldrich Family that had their political roots in Rhode Island.  Abby Aldrich became a Rockefeller by marrying John D. Rockefeller Jr. ...

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017   From the Blood Horse SONGBIRD TO BE BRED TO ARROGATE IN 2018.   Breed the best to the best and hope for the best. No guarantees but that is going to be an expensive baby.

The United States taxes incomes but not all income is treated equally.  I'm not sure this is the best way to go in practice but in theory it makes sense.  Some incomes in size and source should be treated differently by the tax man.  One size does not fit all and actually one size does not fit most.  The idea of a flat tax where a person pays a percentage of his income isn't always as progressive as it might seem.  Folks with a lot of income may pay more in taxes but the other question of how much is left  after taxes and if all the bills are paid still needs to be answered. Some folks think the power to tax is the power to destroy.  If you taxed a person's income beyond 50% of the last dollar earned there is less incentive to increase earnings because they might think they are "working" for someone else. Marginally that is correct and if a body needs to work harder to earn the last dollar than first dollar, problems will soon come. A part of the p...

I actually know a guy who went on a big game hunt in South Africa late last year and I know he shot something and was having trouble bring his "trophy" back to the United States because of expense and regulations.  The ironies of what he does for a living and how he paid for his trip are mind boggling. President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Friday night announced that the administration’s reversal of a ban on importation of elephant hunt trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia has been put on hold until further review.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had announced the policy shift just two days earlier, with officials signaling in a statement that they would expand efforts to promote trophy hunting as a form of conservation. The United States has passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973 and is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Whether you like the laws or not, they are efforts to to prevent species fro...

There have been several institutional ads regarding Florida Power and Light's response to Hurricane Irma.  One ad connects a veteran and the folks reconnecting folks to the grid after the hurricane. It's a good ad.  Mostly we take stuff or granted when it comes to utilities like electricity, water, and sewer services.  The economic theory is that a monopoly is granted to cover the cost of the infrastructure, the cost of generating the power and others expenses and a rate of return after expenses are paid.  Sometimes the government itself runs the utility.  In either case the rates charged are publicly determined and reviewed.  And as it goes the devil is always in the details. I will tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.  I don't know what assumptions they made regarding all the variables related to storm damage, repairs required, staffing available and or materials available.  The alternatives for their customers are bad.  Some can a...

The University of Miami's crushing of Notre Dame was complete and to a seasoned viewer of college football kind of unexpected.  Maybe Miami would keep it close and sneak out with the W.  I don't even think the folks at the Hard Rock thought that the Canes would take advantage of a huge home field advantage that just kind of bubbled to the surface after last week's beating of Virginia Tech and crush ND. Touchdown Jesus couldn't save Notre Dame last night.  Canes 41- Irish 8.  The undefeated remaining are Alabama, Wisconsin, Miami, and UCF.  Georgia tumbled like Notre Dame while Alabama, Miami, Clemson and Wisconsin moved on. Miami will control its fate.  It's all about winning. Ironically, I caught Bob Costas doing a number on football on CNN.  He is correct in saying that the game of football is hazardous to your health.  Ask the "kids" that got to wear the take away gold chain last night what they think about CTE.  They might ask what'...

There was a time that the University of Miami beat Notre Dame so bad that the Catholics of the "Catholics vs. Convicts" cried: "Uncle" and both teams went to their respective corners for a time out. Even though Notre Dame won their last regular season game with the "U" in 1990 there was too much bad blood between the programs.  Notre Dame has an overall record of 18-7 against the University of Miami and has won their last four meetings with the Canes. The two teams did not play each other for twenty years until matched up in the 2010 Sun Bowl where the UM was thumped 33-17. Today is the first time in a very long time that Notre Dame has come back to Miami to play. Mark Richt may be undefeated this year, but until the Canes beat the "Irish", it's still a work in progress. I'm expecting a good game and a late night. Again thank you to all that have served this country, this Veterans Day 2017. 

Tomorrow is November 11, 2017 and it is Veteran's Day.  In my lifetime the Viet Nam War  the Gulf Wars and the War on Terrorism have taken place or are ongoing.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has served this country to keep us safe and free. I can only imagine what it means to wear the uniform in service to this country.  Too many take the service of others for granted and are blissfully unaware of sacrifices that military families make.

There are probably three things in the world that can be taxed to pay for government or to use a different term public finance which covers in a larger way all sorts of collective goods.  Wealth, Income or Users.  In combination taxing wealth and income or charging users determine how well a society a society functions.  A lot of folks think that free market capitalism does a wonderful job distributing wealth, income, and regulation of the use of public stuff.  A discussion of these issues is happening now in congress as tax reform and health care are being discussed and will be voted on. Wealth is what a person owns and it may be cash, stocks, bonds, land, housing, boats, intellectual property and how wealth is valued makes taxing it an interesting proposition.  Where wealth is located is also important in how it valued.  To the extent that wealth is taxed it is less valuable, and to the extent it is used wisely it is more valuable.  The exploitatio...

Hong Kong has always been Chinese but for the period between 1841 and 1997 it was a British Crown Colony and part of the British Empire.  In 1997 the British handed back sovereignty of Hong Kong back to the Chinese.  It became a special administrative region after its transfer because of its economic importance. The idea of one country, two systems allowed much more economic freedom in Hong Kong. The times they are a changing. China has extended a law banning disrespect of the Chinese National Anthem to Hong Kong and Macau. "If you mock the March of the Volunteers you can be locked up of fifteen days".  Hong Kongers have booed during the Anthem at sporting events for the past few years protesting various changes in Hong Kong's regional powers.

You might think that an elected representative would live in the district they represent.  Daisy Baez has been forced to resign from her seat in the Florida because she lied about her legal residency.  She will be fined $1000.00 and banned from running for office while she is on probation for one year. She said she lived in House District 114 while she actually lived in House District 112.  Renting an apartment after the fact in District 114 and then lying about it will send her back home. Ms. Baez was considered a good legislator, a rising star in the Democratic Party.  I voted for her assuming that she was a neighbor who knew the neighborhood. Meanwhile, the guy she replaced, Erik Freesen decided that filing federal income tax returns was less important than doing other stuff. (While serving in the legislature it was reported he never filed a return.  He has been sentenced to 60 days in jail, in 15 day periodic increments so he can make some money to pa...