Newsletter 52

Number 52

SAFE

Secure America's Future Economy

Winter 2008

You may remember that our original name was “Seniors Against Federal Extravagance.” The idea was that seniors should be willing to give up something to help solve the baby boomer problem – not put it all on the shoulders of young families. The Directors decided that the main effect of the federal government’s failure to act will be felt by younger people, so we should enlist them in the cause. That’s why our name was changed to the above.

At the 2008 Annual Meeting the Directors decided that each of us should bring a younger prospective member as a guest at a January 29^th breakfast meeting. We hope to enlist them, adding to the vitality of SAFE.

We hope you will tell younger family members and acquaintances about s-a-f-e.org.

In case you don’t have the blog habit, we remind you they are usually posted on Monday. Useful thoughts for us, and for many non-members who view them. How about suggesting family and acquaintances check them out?

“We need to teach our children and grandchildren to think for themselves, work hard and follow their dreams – not fall for the line that ‘government knows best’ and will provide for everyone’s needs.”

2. Look forward, we advocate “smaller, better focused, less costly government”.

Spending other people’s money and exercising power are enticing. It will take determination and creativity to stop the big pork, big government express that is barreling down the tracks

ED CRANE OF CATO INSTITUTE, referring to Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Maxine Waters:

“To see them chastise the free market on television when they are the source of the problem is infuriating.” (They were among the leading champions of the Community Reinvestment Act).

This will comment on several points from “Congress will have its hands full,” your 11/8/08 News Journal column. Bracketed references are to entries in our blog [at s-a-f-e.org].

We agree that “federal spending has grown too fast” – and how! Counting unfunded future liabilities for entitlements, the government was in a $53 trillion fiscal hole (some 380% of Gross Domestic Product) as of 9/30/07, which is growing by $2-3 trillion per year. “The State of the Union’s Finances: A Citizen’s Guide to the Financial Condition of the United States Government,” Peterson Foundation, June 2008. [7/14/08: Plot thickens, as the Peterson Foundation cranks up]

Given this huge problem, it is not enough to focus on “spending the taxpayer money more efficiently.” We favor a stern to stern review of all “discretional” government programs, undertaken with the aim of substantially reducing wasteful spending. With a $3+ trillion federal budget that both parties have failed to control, there are many candidates for elimination, e.g., agricultural subsidies, corporate welfare, and hundreds of government grant programs. [5/19/08 – Strategies to cut government spending]

It is also long past time to address the problems of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid without regard to shibboleths of the past. [4/7/08 – Straight thinking about Social Security; 11/26/07 – The key to a better healthcare system: empower patients]

Meanwhile, a moratorium should be imposed on new programs – such as an “inclusive healthcare system” and “reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.” We suspect that such programs would put substantial additional pressure on an already dangerous fiscal situation. Certainly that would be true if they bore any resemblance to the programs so glibly proposed during the election campaign. [10/20/08 – Both candidates offer “pie in the sky” healthcare plans; 10/23/08 – A paradox: the global warming scare lives on; 10/27/08 – What would you like, central planning or an eclectic mix?]

Your response to the foregoing would be appreciated. We would be glad to meet with you and your staff if that would be helpful.

The infamous $700 billion bail-out is a symbol of the incompetence of big government. It results from previous government actions that have caused a recession, and threaten a depression. The bail-out adds to the risk we already had of severe inflation and a financial catastrophe.

What if we started over to design a government from scratch – a government that really worked for us?

Here’s an idea: How about a small government designed to do only what it does best – provide a rule of law that protects us from force and fraud. Provide for defense of this country without futile attempts to control other countries.

How about following the spirit of the 10^th Amendment in the Bill of Rights? The federal government would do only what the Constitution allows.

Let the individual states take care of the rest, and compete to have the most citizen-friendly state government.

We would have a free market for the first time. The steady increase in productivity under Capitalism would not be eaten up by the government, so there would be no inflation. On the contrary, prices would come down.

YOU & GLOBAL WARMING

A serious attempt to hold back global warming by decreasing use of fossil fuels would be futile and very expensive. Current “cap and trade” actions and proposals are like “letting the camel get its nose into the tent.” Huge carbon dioxide reductions that are proposed for the future could really do a lot of damage. The cost would make it more difficult to cope with the baby boomer problem.

We need to keep talking about the evidence against limiting the use of fossil fuels. Feel free to contact me at ((302) 475-7060). I have given talks to about 500 people, and provided them an interesting handout on the subject. If you want a copy of the handout, just let me know.

The proposal to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private operator is still alive. A $12.8 billion, 75 year concession would dwarf the $3.8 billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road in 2006.

Utah is very active in outsourcing. State Representative Craig Frank refers to this question: “Can the good or service we are providing be better or more efficiently provided by someone we can find in the Yellow Pages?” Florida leads the nation in outsourcing, with 270 projects outsourced since 1997.

The above information comes from “Privatization Watch,” a Reason Foundation publication. More info – www.reason.org.

2. It makes room for transferring federal government activities to state and local government (see 10^th Constitutional Amendment).

3. Transferring out federal government activities could make it possible to reduce federal government debt, avoiding a financial meltdown.

4. With 1-3, maybe the federal government could muddle through the baby boomer problem in spite of the present dubious bail-out actions.

I received a mailing from “Retire Safe,” for a contribution to help support the “Social Security Benefits Guarantee Bill”, I returned it with this note:

“Shame on you! A cut would never happen without a disastrous situation. If that arises, we should not expect young families to shoulder the entire burden.”

William E. Morris

Reason Foundation’s major emphasis is transportation-air and ground. Their 2009 book, “Mobility First” by Sam Staley and Adrian Moore, makes clear the increasing inadequacy of our present road system for the wide variety of ways we really use our cars. (Forget most mass transportation schemes that cost many times the amount a rider will pay). They propose a 3-D approach, using elevated and underground roadways, to avoid going outside the present right of ways. They propose replacements of gasoline taxes with payment for use of roads. This would be done electronically – no toll booths.

VITAMIN D FOR FLU

My multivitamin pill includes 400 IU (International Units) of vitamin D. On my wife’s suggestion, I am taking an additional 800 IU during the winter. Since my wife’s suggestion, we received the February “Life Extension” magazine (let.org) which includes an article indicating that lack of sun exposure (which provides vitamin D) is the reason for prevalence of flu in winter. One physician who has studied vitamin D takes 1,000 IU per day. Another physician, and his family, takes 5,000 IU per day. Research indicates that healthy people can take up to 10,000 IU per day, but certain people should not take vitamin D. Consult your doctor. I am not even a PhD.

- Bill Morris

As we told you before, you can extend the time your food remains frozen in case your power goes off for an extended period. Fill plastic bottles about 5% with salt, bring to 95% with water, and put them in the back of your freezer. They will absorb heat when they melt below 32F.

TIME TO SET YOUR CEILING FANS

Ceiling fans are not only great energy savers, but they are great for both cooling your room in the summer and circulating warm air in the winter.

In the summer, you want the fan blades to push the air down onto your skin, essentially creating a cool breeze.

In the winter, adjust the direction of your fan’s blades so they are pulling cold air upwards and pushing the warm ceiling air down around the edges of the room.

LET'S GET YOUNG MEMBERS	START OVER FROM SCRATCH
REMEMBER OUR BLOGS	YOU AND GLOBAL WARMING
CONGRESS INFURIATES CATO PRESIDENT	PRIVATIZE FOR LESS GOVERNMENT
SAFE PRESIDENT TO CONGRESSMAN CASTLE	SOME GOOD INFORMATION