Faulty Logic = Bad Math

In his ad, Congressman John Kline appears in an otherwise empty Metrodome, looks into the camera and tells us that “America’s national debt stands at 16 trillion dollars. It’s the equivalent to selling every seat in the Metrodome, every single day, for nine thousand years.”

It's unknown if Congressman Kline actually paid to rent those empty seats, or if he "borrowed" the Metrodome as a "Congressional Perk."

The announcer in Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s ad tells us that “We all owe it, our portion of the national debt. Each of us owes over fifty thousand dollars to pay it off.” Congresswoman Bachmann then tells us, “I approve this message.”

It's not known if the baby's acting fee will be enough to pay their "debt," or if Congresswoman Bachmann invoked her "Congressional discount" to prevent the baby from joining the annoying middle class.

And, in his ad, Congressman Erik Paulsen, “the Math Guy,” tells us: “The national debt is up ten trillion dollars in 10 years. That’s fifty thousand dollars for every man, woman, and child. That’s unacceptable.”

It's unknown if his daughters were allowed to keep their acting fees for appearing in his ad, or if Congressman Paulsen demanded that they "donate" the funds to his campaign so that they don't learn to demand more "hand-outs" in the future.

These ads continue to drive home the message that the Republican Party has been repeating for almost four years: The deficit is our nation’s biggest problem. The hole President Obama – and all Democrats since the beginning of time - dug in creating it will cost each one of us, our children, and our grandchildren (not to mention their children and their grandchildren) more than $50,000 to pay off. 

(I have no idea why Congressman Paulsen went “off-message” to acknowledge that, perhaps, six years of the deficit might have actually originated during the Bush administration. The official Republican “fantasy” is that the entire budget deficit is the result of President Obama’s "failed policies" – which, for the most part, Republicans blocked him from implementing.)

Anyway, the Republican solution to our “deficit problem” is as it’s been for the last decade or so - take an axe to government programs, and use the money "saved" to provide more tax cuts for the very wealthy. After all, this worked so well during the Bush administration, when Dick Cheney assured us that "deficits don’t matter.”

But, I digress.

The above ads, and the recurring fantasy that “trickle-down economics” is somehow good for our nation, got me thinking. I know that “trickle-down economics” has been very good for the very wealthy, while being devastating for the middle-class and those less fortunate. But, how much does "trickle-down economics" really cost those who the Republican Party refuse to represent? Our nation’s deficit is just one cost. What other costs do Americans of modest means face?

Using the same faulty logic and flawed math demonstrated by Republican Representatives Kline, Bachmann, and Paulsen in their ads, I decided to find out. 

I decided to look at the cost of soda. Like other items in my shopping cart, the cost of soda has continued to rise. So, I looked up the total compensation for all named executives of the Coca-Cola Company (Coke) and PepsiCo (Pepsi).

According to their 2012 proxy statements, the named executives of the Coca-Cola Company (5 of them) received total compensation of $60,437,264 in 2011. The named executives of PepsiCo (6 of them) received total compensation of $63,441,406 in 2011. That’s a total of $123,878,670 for one year, for 11 executives at just two companies.

How that money is supposed to trickle-down into the pockets of “working class” Americans has never been clear to me.

But, using the same faulty logic, and the same bad math, as the three Republican Representatives, I did a bit of my own math. What I found was quite startling:

 

That’s right, at a consumption rate of one two-liter bottle per day, every day, for about 169,000 years, my family might come close to paying the total compensation for 11 top executives, at just two companies, for just one year.

Further, did your compensation go up during the Great Recession? At many large corporations, it sure did -- at least for their Chief Executive Officers.

At Coca-Cola, the CEO received $18,813,013 in 2009, $24,782,017 in 2010, and $29,115,573 in 2011, for a total of $72,710,603 in just three years. At PepsiCo, the CEO received $15,768,350 in 2009, $16,175,381 in 2010, and $17,116,089 in 2011, for a total of $49,059,820 in just three years. I don't know how many employees - if any - were laid off to justify such rewards.

Just like the faulty logic, and "voodoo math," used in promoting trickle-down economics, the faulty logic used in the three ads referenced above leads them to the claim that "every man, woman, and child in America owes over $50,000 to pay off our national debt." Hogwash. It’s our nation’s debt. Our nation is responsible for paying it off. How it chooses to pay is still to be determined. However, if the Republican Party has its way, 98% of the population will have to pay more, so that the favored 2% will be able to pay less.

Similarly, the “logic” used to show how many bottles of soda my family would have to buy to pay for one year of top executive compensation is equally flawed. The respective companies are responsible for compensating their executives, not my family.

In short, no matter how many times a politician, or a news corporation - especially Fox News - presents a “simple common sense solution” (such as Congressman Paulsen’s, “Just spend less”) to a complex issue, you’re probably being lied to. 

In a complex world, there’s no such thing as a "simple solution." No single issue stands alone. Everything is intertwined with something else. Everything has a cost. For each solution, there will be "winners" and "losers." And, just as in our personal lives, to be successful, our nation's leaders must consider numerous trade-offs involved in every decision they make. They should not be allowed to abdicate their responsibilities by signing away their minds to any special interest group. No matter how powerful people such as Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, or the Hunt Brothers might seem, selling out our nation to serve them is not a good idea.

Modern-day Republicans have decided to tip the scales in favor of the very wealthy. And, despite the pain already inflicted, their plan is to continue to do more of the same, no matter what it costs our nation.

Our economy and our nation’s fiscal health will only show significant improvement when a more normal,  balanced, approach is allowed to return.

I implore patriotic Republicans: Tear up the pledges, and start leading for a change. 

DISCLAIMER: I do not directly own any shares of either of the companies named, nor do I plan to acquire any shares in the foreseeable future. I suspect, however, that one of the mutual funds I have probably owns shares of both. Unlike the companies I directly invest in, I have not researched either the Coca-Cola Company or PepsiCo to make an informed decision regarding the appropriateness of either company for my investment portfolio. If I ever decide to do so, Executive Compensation will be just one of the many variables I will consider.

 

Election 2012 - The Choices are Clear

Like the proverbial canary in a coal mine Michele Bachmann tried to provide a warning of the danger facing our nation. First, she questioned whether some members of Congress were being unpatriotic, suggesting that they should be investigated for un-American activities. She followed up with a warning about a terrorist group having infiltrated the highest levels of our government.

Michele Bachmann then falsely accused some innocent individuals. Those of us who know Ms. Bachmann as being an ignorant bird brain (with apologies to Big Bird, and other innocent birds everywhere) quickly dismissed and condemned her unsubstantiated remarks.

In spite of Michele Bachmann’s utter failure to properly identify the source of the danger facing our country, her warnings do have some basis in fact (although as a loyal Fox News viewer she’s incapable of accurately interpreting facts to reach a proper conclusion). Many experts would agree that a terrorist group has infiltrated the highest levels of our government. In fact, the leader of one such group, Grover Norquist, owns the Republican Party. And, they do his bidding – or else…

If all terrorists ran around yelling “Death to America!” as stereotypical foreign terrorists do, identifying those who have infiltrated the highest levels of our government would be easy. But it’s not so easy when the terrorists have been duly elected to serve our nation and choose instead to swear allegiance to a man whose stated goal is “Death to America.” Sure, Mr. Norquist has stated it much more subtly. He states that he only wants to reduce the size of our government to the size where he can “drown it in a bathtub.” It’s a much more subtle message, allowing Republicans to claim that they’re still patriotic Americans.

No matter how he states it, the message is clear – Death to America!

It’s hard to believe that the once proud Republican Party could have sunk so low. I remember when they stood up for America, not aligning their “brand” with a man intent on destroying our nation. Yet, Michele Bachmann, Paul Ryan, and the vast majority of elected Republicans – and Republicans hoping to be elected, including Mitt Romney - have all signed a pledge to Grover Norquist and his innocently misnamed “Americans for Tax Reform” organization.

Grover Norquist led his Republican disciples to – for the first time in American History – start two expensive wars, without raising taxes to pay for them. Indeed, they took the unprecedented step of also giving wealthy Americans a huge tax cut. They ran up the national debt to finance their wars, then turned around and said that our government must cut popular government programs like Social Security and Medicare because they were too expensive in light of our increasing deficits. Death to America!

When unsustainable healthcare costs were determined to be a threat to our nation and its citizens, Grover Norquist ordered his disciples to obstruct any effort to deal with the issue. Democrats attempted to work with their Republican Party counterparts. They even weakened parts of the Affordable Health Care Act in an attempt to compromise with Republicans. But, Grover Norquist ordered his disciples not to compromise. Such a law, however beneficial to the citizens of our nation, would interfere with his plan to destroy America. Under his direction, not a single Republican voted for this first step at securing America’s future. Death to America!

Like a third world dictator, Grover Norquist has repeatedly directed his Republican Party disciples not to compromise. His orders are to be followed no matter what – or Else.

Under his orders, Republicans have refused to negotiate on many matters of critical national importance. Grover Norquist has given them clear goals to dismantle our government, and because his view is the only correct view, no negotiation is possible. This philosophy led our nation to the brink of defaulting on its obligations, resulting in a first ever downgrading of our nation’s credit rating. The situation could have – and might still, as the Norquist disciples still refuse to negotiate and compromise - led our nation into defaulting on our loans, which could have could have easily cascaded into the total financial collapse of the United States. “Death to America!”

If anyone ever doubted that the Republican Party is owned by Grover Norquist, it was never more apparent during the Republican Presidential debates. At one of the debates, the moderator asked each candidate – including Mitt Romney - if they would accept a deal offering $10 of spending cuts for every $1 of tax hikes. All said “NO.” Grover Norquist wouldn’t allow it. Death to America!

We face serious problems in this nation. Yet, Grover Norquist is only concerned with one thing: Death to America! And, unfortunately, his Republican disciples have determined that this unelected dictator is the holy Savoir needed to lead their party and our nation into the future.

Heaven help us.

Until Republicans – and all politicians – develop enough of a spine to stand up to narrow special interest groups and egomaniacal dictators intent on destroying the United States, our beloved country will continue to be threatened. Further decline will be inevitable. Death to America!

Those politicians – no matter what their political affiliation - who sign pledges to special interest groups – especially terrorist ones - should immediately be disqualified from holding public office. They are incapable of fully representing the citizens of our free nation. If they’re currently holding a government position they should be immediately removed and banned from ever again holding public office.  

This election cycle represents some of the clearest choices I’ve seen in my lifetime. Who do we want to lead our country, President Barack Obama or Grover Norquist? 

President Barack Obama and Grover Norquist

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are irrelevant. They’ve pledged their loyalty to Grover Norquist, and they will do as he tells them – or Else.

The time is now for patriotic Americans to stand up for our country, and make the right choices. Do we want to remain a respected free nation, or do we want to elect surrogates for an unelected dictator intent on destroying our nation? 

Michele Bachmann, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and the majority of the Republican Party have made their choice. They’ve committed to Grover Norquist as their spiritual leader, and will continue to follow his orders. Death to America!

Patriotic Americans can and should make a different choice. Voters in Wisconsin can make an especially powerful choice when voting. They can vote to prevent Grover Norquist from controlling the Presidency, and they can vote to remove Paul Ryan, a key Norquist disciple, from office. 

Finally, in an appeal to Michele Bachmann, her paranoia, and her misguided religious intolerance, I offer the following to see if she really wants to investigate possible Islamic terrorist infiltration into our government. According to his Wikipedia profile, Grover Norquist co-founded a group called the “Islamic Free Market Institute” (IFMI). The members, sources of funding, and the goals of the IFMI are unclear. It’s also unknown how much money Mr. Norquist might have arranged to be laundered through the IFMI into his misnamed “Americans for Tax Reform” organization to assist him in bringing “Death to America!” 

We’ll probably never know who’s funding Grover Norquist in his quest to destroy our nation. Like Mitt Romney, he’s determined to keep his financial dealings hidden. And, unfortunately, current laws allow both of them to do so. It’s quite amazing. 

God Bless America.

Michele Bachmann Again

Jim "the Election Guy" in Michele Bachmann's TV commercials appears to have an unnaturally wide stance that Larry Craig would have been proud of. It looks strange. But, at least he's haunting our TV's rather than airport restrooms.

While the visual stance is weird, the commercials seem to be vintage Republican. One even features the old Republican campaign phrase of "Tax and Spend."

There's no mention of the fact that cutting taxes for the wealthy, while starting two unfunded wars nearly caused the total collapse of our nation's economy. And, there's no mention of the fact that Republicans are the party of "Borrow and Spend."

Sadly, voters continue to respond to false Republican claims about the economy.

Under Republicans, the wealthy can expect to receive lower taxes and preferential treatment. What's left of the middle class can only expect higher taxes and "fees" along with fewer services.

As was the case over the last 10 years, tax cuts for the wealthy will be paid for by our children and grandchildren.

This time, however, the stakes are higher. If Republicans are successful in returning to the policies of the past, a double dip recession will most likely become a reality. The suffering of the middle class will far exceed anything we've seen since the Great Depression.

But, at least companies like BP will thrive, as Michele absolves them of any responsibility for their spills.