This is another example of why the United States doesn't need any more right-wingers in control. The biggest problem in the world is that we humans are having too many unwanted, and unneeded babies. Americorps (NCCC) mission is:"To strengthen communities and develop leaders through team-based national and community service". Americorps has paid staff, but uses millions of volunteer hours and millions of dollars of donations. Americorps includes programs such as Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, FEMA volunteers, etc., So recently in New York Americorps "developing leaders" trying to help young women obtain abortions for babies they probably don't want, can't afford, and wouldn't be capable of raising properly, are in trouble for doing so. See this article: AmeriCorps workers helped young women get abortions | TheHill So, it appears that anyone working or associated with AmeriCorps are "gag ordered" to not talk about abortion to women in need. Why would people ever volunteer for such an organization? Why would people now be willing to donate to such an organization? In effect, the Republican right wing is trying to impose their religious beliefs on anyone working or volunteering for that agency.
Sometime after I registered to vote in California as a Republican when I moved here in the early 1970s, I think the so-called Christian right-wingers hijacked the Republican party's platform and somehow got their position onto the party platform. I've never understood how the party could rationalize having their so called "pro-life" position, and at the same time be strongly in favor of death penalty, and no limit on ownership, use, or carrying of guns. Of course they all claim to be followers of Christ. But Christ would not have supported death penalty, and certainly would not have supported owning or carrying a weapon.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Saturday, April 9, 2016
The U.S. Penny as an example of inability of Congress to govern
Our U.S. government is faced with many large, complex problems that don't have easy answers. Many of our problems involve decisions, or a series of decisions to be made by Congress and the President that require a trade off between long and short-term effects. In order to properly make that type of decision, some sort of model has to be made to determine if the overall benefit of a decision is worth the cost. As a result, there are very few simple "right or wrong," "black or white" decisions. Politicians love to use sound bites and emotional appeals to justify their decisions, even if the decision-making models clearly indicate their position is not in the best interest of the company.
Rarely are decisions easy and simple. However even when ALL evidence points to an obvious decision, our Congress seems to still be unable to make a good decision. A perfect example is the U.S. penny.
According to Wikipedia, between 2011 and now it has cost between 1.67 cents and 2.41 cents to manufacture and distribute a penny depending on the market fluctuations of the raw materials. So, each year the Government loses money producing the coins. In 2013, the Government lost $55,000,000. Nickles also cost almost twice as much to manufacture as their face value. The decision to eliminate the penny seems to be a "no brainer" -- no models decision models, and no emotional attachment to that decision. Pennys are a nuisance, and most consumers hate using them. There have been multiple proposals brought up in Congress starting in 1990 to eliminate them, but the bills have never been approved. The President has stated his support to eliminate the penny. There is a belief that elimination of the penny could be a slight contributor to inflation. However the Federal Reserve is trying hard to create just a small, controlled amount of inflation to help the economy. So we would have to assume that the Fed would also be in favor of doing it.
What is stopping us? There is one company, Jarden Zinc Products who is apparently the sole US source for the penny blanks. Jarden has paid lobbyists who continually work to keep the penny. Presumably the lobbyists and Jarden provide some sort of benefit to a sufficient number of congressional representatives that bills to eliminate the penny are unable to pass. Many other countries have eliminated their equivalent lowest currency, but the US has not.
I think the US should plan to phase out the penny now, and eliminate the nickle a year or so after that. Meanwhile, we should get the dollar coin into more circulation by phasing out the paper one dollar bill, and start production of a five and ten dollar coin. So many of our transactions are now done electronically that it almost seems that we are on a trend that could eventually eliminate the use of actual physical currency.
Rarely are decisions easy and simple. However even when ALL evidence points to an obvious decision, our Congress seems to still be unable to make a good decision. A perfect example is the U.S. penny.
According to Wikipedia, between 2011 and now it has cost between 1.67 cents and 2.41 cents to manufacture and distribute a penny depending on the market fluctuations of the raw materials. So, each year the Government loses money producing the coins. In 2013, the Government lost $55,000,000. Nickles also cost almost twice as much to manufacture as their face value. The decision to eliminate the penny seems to be a "no brainer" -- no models decision models, and no emotional attachment to that decision. Pennys are a nuisance, and most consumers hate using them. There have been multiple proposals brought up in Congress starting in 1990 to eliminate them, but the bills have never been approved. The President has stated his support to eliminate the penny. There is a belief that elimination of the penny could be a slight contributor to inflation. However the Federal Reserve is trying hard to create just a small, controlled amount of inflation to help the economy. So we would have to assume that the Fed would also be in favor of doing it.
What is stopping us? There is one company, Jarden Zinc Products who is apparently the sole US source for the penny blanks. Jarden has paid lobbyists who continually work to keep the penny. Presumably the lobbyists and Jarden provide some sort of benefit to a sufficient number of congressional representatives that bills to eliminate the penny are unable to pass. Many other countries have eliminated their equivalent lowest currency, but the US has not.
I think the US should plan to phase out the penny now, and eliminate the nickle a year or so after that. Meanwhile, we should get the dollar coin into more circulation by phasing out the paper one dollar bill, and start production of a five and ten dollar coin. So many of our transactions are now done electronically that it almost seems that we are on a trend that could eventually eliminate the use of actual physical currency.
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