Category Archives: Finance/Government

Republicans raise taxes, increase spending and create thousands of jobs

Posted on June 13, 2011 by John

I’m going to turn over most of this commentary to President Reagan. I’d previously suggested that we need a government agency to protect historical integrity, but many members of Congress have gone too far in their obsession with deficits … Continue reading →

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The Light in Rand Paul’s Bathroom

Posted on April 16, 2011 by John

At a recent Department of Energy hearing, Rand Paul trashed fluorescent light bulbs and low-flush toilets. This provoked widespread media coverage, mostly ‘cute’ rather than analytical, as in a NY Times op-ed “Rand Paul Blames Energy Department for Faulty Toilets, … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Environment, Finance/Government, Media, Science | 5 Comments

Our half of the deal

Posted on March 4, 2011 by John

The current budget debate is stunning: we, as a nation, are negotiating only one side of the transaction. Everything is to be ‘balanced’ on the backs of individual citizens, while the plutocracy, Wall Street and private equity sit across the … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance/Government, Science, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Politicians, perspicacity and paintball

Posted on January 26, 2011 by John

Picking a logical path through the uplifting but unfundable State of the Union speech, followed by the economic meadow muffins scattered in rebutting Republican Ryan’s Roadmap for America, perhaps more appropriately entitled Roadblock for Americans, a scientist can only hope … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance/Government, Uncategorized | Tagged concealed weapons, congess, Daily show, gohmert, gun control, rebuttal, republican, SOTUS, state of the union speech | 1 Comment

An Elementary Federal Budget Planner

Posted on November 11, 2010 by John

There’s been so much talk about deficits and the budget, I’ve decided to come up with a visual Federal Budget Planner, using basic stuff you can find around the house so that children and students can understand what the grownups, … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance/Government, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Contempt at the Speed of Light

Posted on October 18, 2010 by John

High speed trading, the foreclosure mess, derivatives and deleveraging Will we all walk away this time? A deleveraged Airbus in the Hudson. In a business transaction, which is more important; selling your deal, or delivering on what the deal promised? … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance/Government | 2 Comments

Projecting Inequality

Posted on September 8, 2010 by John

Street Art by Alec/Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Blvd. Modeling Economic Inequality under Democratic and Republican Administrations: Trends and Consequences (Author’s note: this document has become somewhat historic, as the model, now named the Cambiant model, has been significantly more … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance/Government, Science | 11 Comments

America Back on Track, an Electrifying Idea

Posted on March 3, 2009 by John

What with the response to the Gulf oil spill, politicized near-gridlock in Congress and the crippling expenditures from the Afghan and Iraq wars along with bailing out Wall Street, our leadership seems incapable of coming up with an idea that … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Finance/Government | 1 Comment

Will Rogers, Dead Mules, Scandinavian Banks

Posted on February 3, 2009 by John

America has produced great humorists and social commentators. During the Great Depression, none was more loved than Will Rogers, cowboy, movie actor and star of stage and radio. Part Indian, he claimed that his ancestors didn’t come on the Mayflower, … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance/Government | 1 Comment

Assume A Cabinet Position