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Patience

Patience,

As our country goes through this crisis, I have been thinking about the need for patience.  While most of the country is under some form of lock down or shelter in place, I think it is important to understand patience.  We need this time to flatten the curve so our healthcare infrastructure can maintain.  I know this event is affecting the livelihood of millions of people but we need to understand the world we used to know is gone.  It is unfortunate but many of our favorite businesses and service providers will not make it through this event.  I do think it is important that we understand what value we will receive from this hit to the US economy. 

Time to flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections.  Some of our healthcare infrastructures are overwhelmed at the moment and we need to do our part to allow it to support those who need it.  There are still people who need healthcare and do not have COVID-19.  For locations that have not seen the spike in cases, they can put in place processes, procedures, and acquire the PPE  (personal protection equipment) required ahead of time.  They can use this time to prepare if the spike comes.

One of the main problems with this virus is the impact on our supply chain.  We need time for our manufacturing community to catch up with demand.  So many things have to change.  The amount of PPE products procured overseas will have to change.  We will need to think about supporting more locally produced life-saving products here in the US which will also create more jobs. Just look at the number of small businesses that have started to make cloth masks.  This is now an industry in the US.  I recently procured sanitizer from a local alcohol distillery.  "Necessity is the mother of invention"

Our food manufacturers are going to have to figure how how to adjust to a new supply model.  Restaurants will not be buying as much of their goods anymore.  We currently have farmers destroying produce because it will not be sold.  More meal delivery companies and grocery delivery companies will help to fill this void.  We should also prepare for the shrinking of large scale agriculture and support small farms and more sustainable farming.  Instead of just bailing out wall street, we should be buying those goods and donating to food banks or groups who provide food for the needy. 

We don't actually need more toilet paper but eventually, the toilet paper makers will meet the current demand.  We do need more products like hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, and disinfecting spray.  We can't rely on one or two companies to provide those goods anymore.  The market will encourage new entrants.  Again, this will create more jobs.

Office-related jobs and work are going to need time to figure out how to reduce the touch points in their line of work. Working from home is no longer a luxury but a way of life for many.  For those who cannot work from home, how do you reduce contact with others for 8 hours a day?  The methods and products for enabling this behavioral change will again create new business opportunities. 

I think is important to understand when people say to "re-open" the economy or country, what they don't understand is the economy is not something tangible. It is the collective activity of “we the people”.  Since “we the people” are going to change the economy will change.  It is already "open" but the new economy is not flushed out yet.  During the summer the number of cases will decline drastically.   We all need the patience to prepare for the fall and battle the second round of COVID-19 with more information and a well-established supply chain.  

Eventually, there will be a vaccine and people with the antibodies to fight the disease on an annual basis.  Things may revert back to B.C. (Before COVID) but until then, we all need some Patience.

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The South Fulton Plan

I have been asked to write this idea up for a while and I decided it is time.  This is going to be a long one so buckle in.  The greatest gift that #45 has given us is the strength of states rights.  Progressive states everywhere are passing legislation that the federal government has failed on.  A part of the problem has been only at the federal level have progressive been able to achieve real results.  

The voting rights act and the civil rights act are examples.  The real power of change can be done at the state level.  That is what the South Fulton Plan is all about.  The democratic party needs to make a two-pronged approach.  Prong one, continue to win national elections but don’t place all your priority and resource for it.  The goal is to be a check against the federal level but not suck up all the oxygen.  Prong two is about creating an environment that draws people to the State of Georgia.  Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and North Carolina are all close to being blue states.  If they were to draw progressives from states like Iowa, Utah, Idaho, and Indiana those states can go blue.

The reality is, the system is set up against those that don’t have the numbers.  This past 2018 election we saw Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillium almost win Governor of Georgia and Florida but because of the structural advatages, the Republicans created through voter manipulation they lost.  I bring you to exhibit A.  If you have not clicked the video, watch the video.  A selection of “woke” citizens in Georgia decided they wanted to be governed a different way.  They created the city of South Fulton.  They were able to do that because they have the numbers.  The Dems should be focused on bringing more progressives to the state and pushing more progressive to move to Georgia.  Then when you have the numbers, you run the state.  Things like abortion bans will be a thing of the past. 

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So this morning I decided to watch the DC comics film, yes that DC, V for Vendetta.  I have to tell you, watching it in the age of #45 feels different than when I watched it in the past.  For those of you who have not seen the movie, V for Vendetta is about the symbolism behind November the Fifth.  The protagonist, V, is trying to remind his fellow patriots that the world they are living in is a dictatorship and he provides the narrative to show how a slow-moving Coup De’tat ruined the country he loved.   The conservative party decided that power at all cost was the best solution.  They devised a plan to consolidate power and make themselves rich.  They did this by creating a plague and blaming it on the others: Gay, Muslim, Foreign, and None Christian.  The party swept into power and all of a sudden a cure for the plague was introduced and they created a dictatorship.  V shows the people, we can’t accept that as the norm.  We can’t trade the feeling of safety for losing our rights.  

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are seeing it in real time.  #45 and the Republicans took over the house and Whitehouse with a lot of promises to white working Americans and none of them are coming true.  Manufacturing still taking a hit, farmers are losing out because of a trade war with China, and civil rights are being trampled on in a host of ways.  It just like the story of the frog and being boiled to death.  We give up our freedom little by little.  The frog won’t jump out of the water when you slowly increase the temperature until it boils to death.  As the 2020 campaign kicks in, the Republicans will throw a lot of stuff at us to distract from real problems and mobilize those same white working Americans to stay loyal.  The Democrats need a V.  They need someone to expose the reality of what is happening.  Nothing violent but like the work AOC has been doing with pharmaceutical and government vendors.  We have to show the status quo does not benefit the masses but the consolidation of wealth and power.  The Tax Cut for the Wealthy and the rash of abortion bills prove that.  Regardless of the party, we need to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions and results.  Remember the 5th of November.

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November 2016

So it was another presidential election and I was under the idea that there was no way the reality show racist was going to win over an accomplished leader who has been ready for this moment for years.  So I decided to go to bed knowing there was still a chance that Clinton could lose.  In the immediate days leading up to the election, then FBI Director Comey made a public announcement about the email scandal that had plagued Hilary during the entire election.  That announcement, Hillary's lack of campaigning and one more thing lead to the election of a reality show host to a president.  Entitlement.  Entitlement helped give #45 his win.  It took me several weeks to come to this conclusion.  I read several articles, looked at available polling data, and a ton of political pundits on both the right and left.  What I came up with is a simple answer.  Entitlement!

Stick with me here.  #45 won because of a few counties in a few states.  In those areas, white uneducated people and white educated men overwhelming voted for #45 instead of Hilary.  I want to say the total number was like 80,000 votes.  120 million people voted but those 80,000  (.067% of the population) swung the electoral college map.  #45 ripped off a bandaid of racism to appeal to a small group of voters who normally stayed away from the process and got them to vote.  In order to get my theory, we have to talk about a subject that you probably have heard about recently on tv or movies.  That subject is white privilege.  If you feel uncomfortable that is ok.  It is hard to accept without understanding that people have made it their mission in life for you to think white privilege doesn’t exist.  If you knew it existed you may feel guilty about it and not perpetuate its results.  

So first we have to understand that the idea of “white people” was born out of a need to encourage the behavior of poor British people who were not slaves but not a part of the ruling class.  The elite of the country realized that the poor British people and slaves aka free African labor could join forces and take over.  So they decided to divide and conquer.  They created the term and ideology behind white people.  Watch the following video for a more detailed explanation. ------->  White People Don’t Exist  

So over the following hundreds of years poor and working whites have been lead to believe that their status in this country was higher than that of either slaves or the descendants of slaves.  This lead way to the KKK, Jim Crow Laws, and the clashes that lead up to the Civil Rights Act of 1968.  Racism didn’t go away but it began to go underground.  The country was beginning to work towards some form of equality.  Due to the support from the Democratic party and President LBJ, southern whites left the democratic party in droves and became Republicans.  The Republican party understood that there is a new path to power with their Southern Strategy.  This adjustment is what has lead to Republican rule for most of the last 40 years.  

So we fast forward to 2015 and that famous escalator speech.  A reality show host along with his friend Steve Bannon decide the way to victory was to appeal to the feelings of working whites in the Midwest and Pennsylvania.  He was able to use the system of racism installed in these people to tell them your life should be better if it were not for the other non-white people taking from you.  Your white privilege is all you need to have a great life without having to work for it.  The “Build The Wall” chant was his version of the coded language Lee Atwater mentioned in the video on the southern strategy.  When you hear working white people or suburban white say, “we need to get our country back”.  They are referring to the entitlement aka privilege installed in white people dating back to the 1600s.  The suppression of the contribution of minorities and the re-writing of history helped this system flourish.  The next video is from a #45 supporter and Iowa Congressman explaining the exceptionalism of white people to the exclusion of others.  ------>  Steve King Ask What have Minorities Contributed.  This is the same Steve King who was recently censored by Congress for racist statements and supports white nationalist groups around the world.

So now you understand how entitlement played a hand in electing a reality show host.  If you still feel uncomfortable it is ok.  Now you know the truth.  The question is, what are you going to do now.  Support this system of entitlement or work toward equality?  I know what I am going to do.  I will support those who push for equality and more democracy.  

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The Green New Deal

You may have heard about this plan on some of the political talk shows but my guess you have heard it all wrong.  As we have recently stated, our current news media specifically television is ill-equipped to handle reporting of real news in this day and age.  #45 has tilted the landscape in a way that it is hard for television news to see their faults.  The reporting on the Green New Deal is another example.  If your a student of history like I am you will know the reference to the FDR New Deal formed after WWII.  The specifics have not completely been laid out and that is ok.  This is a bold idea that does not need to be bound at this point.  The Green New Deal is a pledge that we are working for the average citizen and trying to become a more perfect union.  

The main goal of the idea is two-fold.  We need to tackle climate change and we need to develop a large more robust middle class ready for the changing future.  If it seems like those two goals are hard then you are right and it will take a bold plan to achieve them if we want success.  We need to think about our immediate problems in new radical ways.  Climate change will continue to erode our economy every year.  In 2018 the Climate Change bill was $60B.  This is a result of the devastating flooding, Hurricanes, and wildfires.  These types of events will continue as long as the planet keeps getting warmer year after year. 

So let’s break them down.  First, climate change.  We need to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint.  The best way to do that is to alter our energy model.  We need to get off fossil fuels now.  Not when it is too late now.  This is a bold plan but then again, so was putting a man on the moon in the 1960′s and we did that.  We consume fossils fuels the most one of two ways, electricity and fuel for transportation.  There are perfectly effective alternatives to each.  We can ramp up our use of solar, wind, hydro, and biofuels immediately.  Imagine how much clean energy could be created if we started a solar and wind revolution.  Every home in the country had solar panels installed.  Imagine if we had wind turbines on homes that fit natively in the architecture and design of the home.  We would see our reliance on coal fade away.  The same can be done will gas.  There are alternative fuel sources but it would require a change to our manufacturing of vehicles as well as the fuel infrastructure but not impossible.  There is a way to convert current cars to alternative fuels and electric cars are on the rise.  With the advent of driverless cars, we may not even need to own a vehicle.  Imagine just calling an uber on your phone and it shows up when you need it.  No driver and the car is electric.  Imagine trucks, trains, and planes running on cleaner fuels.  This is how you drastically reduce your carbon footprint.

The second piece is the economic equality side.  In order to accomplish the green side, the country will need an army of workers.  This army will be the ones hanging the solar panels, assembling the wind turbines, managing the installation of the new power grid.  The number of small business created would help to revive the middle class.  The recovery of the great depression was accompanied by the New Deal.  This was the plan we should have push after the 2007-2008 financial collapse.  This is a better approach than bailing out large companies.  A new generation of school that Lead buildings.  When a town in Kansas was decimated by tornados, they decide to rebuild with Lead standards and lowered the carbon footprint of the entire city. They use better insulation, geothermal heating/cooling, and went as far as building their schools so the draft of the wind and the warmth of the sun would keep their utility cost down.

Even if you do not believe in climate change, the policy still makes sense from a dollars and sense perspective.  These jobs are harder to outsource in some cases.  They pay much more than minimum wage.  These jobs require technical expertise that would require vocational training for many uneducated low wage workers.  The lower cost of energy would also bolster the economy because American's will have more disposable income over time.  This is just the plan needed for the future of this country if we want one.

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Were Back

After a long hiatus, we have felt the need to blog again.  We have been mainly using the facebook page as a means to share information but things have gotten so out of hand in this country we feel there is a presence for better ideas.  In the past, I believed that a bipartisan approach was best for this platform.  We have since learned that at this moment, we only have one party that is actually for the people.  We still will not support any one candidate but policies but the policy of the day will have a lean due to the nature of politics today.  The media is ill-equipped to handle the current administration and the Republican party.  Having spent two years listening to the unbalanced reporting I have felt it is time for me to get off the sidelines.  So what does this mean?  It means the pragmatic party has joined the resistance.  While we will not focus on #45, we will make comments relative to the policies of the right and those being pushed by #45.  If you are reading this, you are a part of the resistance.

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A State of Emergency declared in the Charm City

National Guard troops were deployed to Baltimore Maryland to restore order to the Charm City.  I failed to comment on the Ferguson and Michael Brown because I felt that this was outside of the purpose of this blog.  Having said that, I live near Baltimore and seeing the "national media" reporting incorrectly, I feel that we are needed. 

In April a man died in a hospital after he was arrested by Baltimore City Police.  The working theory is that Gray died from injuries he received while in custody.  The officers involved has been placed on administrative leave and a grand jury has indited them.  What I fear people don't understand is that our society is based on a belief that law and order will be maintained as long as it is fair and equitable to all. 

Since the murder of Michael Brown and Eric Garner we have seen countless videos and stories of more and more police brutality or over policing causing the death or beating of an individual of color.  Before Freddy Gray the countries focus was on Charleston, South Carolina and the murder of Walter Scott.  Video evidence shows Scott being gunned down by a North Charleston police officer.  The video also appears to show the officer planting evidence. 

Much like the LA riots in 92 or the Ferguson riots of this past summer, the police abuse their power and are not held accountable to the people.  As a person who grew up in the New South, I have been a victim of police abusing their authority.  In high school, I was pulled over by the local authorities more than a dozen times for driving while black.  I was only given one ticket in all of those instances while I was being detained by the police.  I can't imagine how I would have responded had they beaten me or one of my friends. As an adult, I was pulled over for driving while back in the same area.  Things still have not changed.  I was not ticket again.

I do know that until we as a society stops tolerating this kind of abuse, Ferguson and Baltimore will be the beginning but there will be more civil unrest.  To me the solutions are very, very, easy. 

!)  All police incidents involving a beating or death of a citizen should be reviewed by a diverse grand jury of citizens from other jurisdictions than the incident.

2) A federal prosecutor should be assigned with oversight from the DOJ.  Local prosecutors are too close the officers and have a hard time providing an unbiased view.

3) Police officers should be trained to de-escalate situations and to keep more space between the officer and the citizen.  In a few of these cases, it appears to me the officers made too many assumptions prior to acting.  In addition, they placed themselves into harms way which they believe gives them justification for the shooting. 

4)  State Legislatures or congress should review policies that will make it easier to prosecute bad cops.

5)  We have to stop over policing out society.  In the last 30 years we have turned America into a police state.  This has to change.  We have built an entire economy on the arresting and warehousing of poor people.  We have to change our justice system so it is Justice for All.  Change our drug policies so we are not destroying the inner city by ensuring everyone has criminal record.  Stop mandatory sentencing which does nothing but keep the prison industrial complex moving.

Last I want to leave you with a video from a TedTalks series.

While I would like to commend the officer on the changes they made.  One things bothers me the most.  Well actually two.  Why they felt the need to shoot someone’s dog bothers me, but what bothers me more is that he did not see the “people they serve as people”.  This begs the question, who did you see them as?  Criminals?  He indicates they did not think that their lives matter as he and his fellow officers lives matter.  This is just bananas.  I want you to also review this article.  

Black Boys Viewed as Older, Less Innocent Than Whites, Research Finds

The below item is from the article.

“The authors noted that police officers’ unconscious dehumanization of blacks could have been the result of negative interactions with black children, rather than the cause of using force with black children. “We found evidence that overestimating age and culpability based on racial differences was linked to dehumanizing stereotypes, but future research should try to clarify the relationship between dehumanization and racial disparities in police use of force,” Goff said.“

It seems that between the video and the article, I surmise that because these incidents involve white police officers who do not “see the people they police as people” and view young black men as dangerous.  Armed with these two notions, it gives them mental approval to use lethal force.  We need to first realize the truth and start the process of change.

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We are Brian Williams!

It's been over a week and I am still here news media coverage of Brian Williams.  Well I am here to tell you that you should not blame Brian for his embellishment of his stories you should blame yourself.  We allowed the news to be less important than the people relaying it.  We have allowed pay television influence how news is reported. We allowed ratings to influence our behavior.  Face the reality, we caused this.  In order for Brian to stay relevant to us he had to present a version of himself that we could admire.  The news became less important that the anchor.  Perhaps it is time for a News Night 2.0 reboot.  If only we had Will Macelvoy.

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War is coming. Maybe?

So the conservative right is not satisfied with the President's ISIS strategy.  Recently a US aid workers death at the hands of ISIS has been confirmed.  This news along with the King of Jordan's response jas emboldened the Right.  I have no problem with a military response to ISIS but it needs to be measured.  We should use the least expensivemethods that do not put any soldiers in harms way.  We can't believe "boots on the ground" is needed because a few Americans died.  They knew the risk they were taking.  If this is our standard why didn't we go to war after Newtown? 

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What is your confidence level in the American People?

Yesterday CSPAN's morning topic was "What is your confidence level in the federal government".  As usual I was very upset by most of the callers.  After a while I realized that the real problem was the question.  In a country in which we have a "government of the people, by the people, for the people" if you have low confidence in the government then you are really saying is that we have low confidence in the American People.  If we have a congressional election rate of 90 percent, then we have look internally as to the problems with congress.

Now that we have diagnosed the problem, we need to dig a little deeper.  I hear a lot of people say that money in politics is the problem.  I would agree with them but we have to understand why the money is needed.  As a member of the House of Representatives I heard Barney Frank mention that 2/3 of his time is spent raising funds for his re-election.  For argument sake let's assume that is is 1/3.  If a congressman only works nine months a year then three of the months are spent raising campaign funds.  To make life easier for politicians, having large donations require less time campaigning and more time working for the people.  This enables corporations and lobbyist to have influence.

Now the real question is why do they need so much money to campaign.  The answer is simple, television commercials. In the 2012 election cycle over $500 million on television and radio ads.  Most of those adds being attack ads.  Political strategist know that low information voters can be swayed by these gimmicks and the number of low information voters is growing.   

So what is the solution.  We need to get out of the tv and radio business and have debates.  If the 2012 Republican Presidential Nominee race taught us anything, it is that debates reveal the true nature of a politician.  Why not use that age old method of campaigning and save the money.  If you need less money for a campaign then politicians will be swayed by lobbyist less and we can get back to a "government of the people, for the people, by the people".  

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State of the Union

If your one of the many people asking yourself how has America become this place where we have continued unemployment and companies are more profitable than ever, then you need a Netflix day.  Watch these three films:

The House I Live In

Inequality for all

Billionaires tea party

I challenge you to watch these three films and not walk away with a different perspective.  If you some how beat me in this challenge you are probably an individual who would not change your mind on anything. 

I know I have posted some of these movies before but I will continue you to post until I see change.

We have to realize people, the state of this country is not by mistake but there careful planning and manipulation.  The important thing is that we can fix it.  We have the power to change but only if we are informed.

"Nothing is more important to a democracy than a well informed electorate."

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When will we learn???

World's richest 85 people now worth same amount as poorest 3.5 billion.

http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/01/22/worlds-richest-85-people-now-worth-same-amount-as-poorest-3-5-billion

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You think you know about Healthcare.

I am going to post some items form a Newsweek article that I read.  The writer of the article is David C. Johnston.

The Average US hospital stay is just under $4,300 a day.  One in four patients are charged $1,514 or less a day.  One in twenty are charged $12,537.  In France the average daily cost is $853.  Why the difference?

Cost of an appendectomy ranges from $8,156 - $29,426.  Why?

An MRI in the US cost an average of $1,121.  In Britain it is $353 and in France $363.  Why?

Childbirth cost in Britain and France  are $2,641 and $3,541 respectivly but in the US $9,775.00.  Why?

Out of 34 modern countries on Earth, the US spends $2.64 for each dollar the other 33 countries spend.  Canada, Germany, and France all spend around 11.5 percent of their economy on healthcare and the US spends 17.6 percent.  Why?

US ranks 37th in the world in healthcare.  France ranks 1st.  Why?

We have to wake up people.  We are the number one economy in the world and there is no reason we can't have a modern and efficient healthcare system.  What would you do if you had 6 percent of your salary back because we have a better system.

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When is enough enough.

  As Summer came to a close the House of Representatives, led by republicans had issued an ultimatum to the President and the democrats in the Senate.   They were threatening to shut down of government if the President and the Senate did not agree to “defund Obamacare”.  If you have been living under a rock for a few years, Obamacare is the alias for the Affordable Care Act signed in 2010.  This is the President’s signature legislature.  

One of the chief complaints about Obamacare is that businesses are not hiring or reducing hours.  Bare in mind only business that have more than 50 employees are impacted.  As I have stated in a previous blog entry, business is in business to increase shareholder value.  It is up to consumers to help businesses make a decision to benefit it’s employees.   Oddly enough one of Obamacare’s largest supporters is Walmart.  They most likely see this as a way they can cut more benefits from it’s employees to increase shareholder value.  Walmart is moving to open stores in more metropolitan areas like Washington DC.  The DC  city council tried to pass a measure that would require larger and successful entities like Walmart to pay a higher minimum wage than other business.  Upon that news Walmart threatened to not open the location.  The measure failed in the city council and Walmart has opened its doors in DC.  And then there is Costco.  A big box store that has decided it is in their best interest to pay their staff a liveable wage with benefits.

Henry Ford was once questioned why he paid he employees so much.  He knew that he could help create demand in the market for his Model T.  This move was one of the first steps to growing the middle class as we know it.  As the title of this post ask, when is enough enough.  At what point will people stop hoarding cash.  20 years ago the richest 400 Americans shared a combined wealth of 300 billion.  Today they share 2 trillion dollars. 

Time for customers of these businesses to require more.  Start asking businesses if they pay their employees a living wage or are they cutting their employees hours to avoid paying benefits.   Then decide if that is where you want to spend money.  I am currently boycotting several places that have started reducing employees hours. 

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It's been a long time, and I should not have left you.....

Well, first I would like to thank the members of the pragmatic party.  We have grown from one frustrated agent of change into a small army.  A lot has gone on while I was in hibernation.  The government shut down and the health gov. web site failed to launch.  While I was away I have had time to think about our law enforcement strategy in this country.  I have mentioned this before but I got a chance to watch the film "The House I live in".  It documents the US's war on drugs and how it  has negatively impacted African Americans.  I suggest watching it.  It is available on Netflix streaming.  

Recently President Obama commuted the sentences for 8 people incarcerated for Crack Cocaine.  This is a second step in the direction of really looking at the US's approach at law enforcement.  Until recently, courts would treat crack cocaine 100 times worse than that of powder cocaine.  Now I believe the ratio is 17 to 1.  But that is besides the point.  It is time to look at our system for what it is, a way to warehouse poor people and make money of their misfortune. 

Look at this recent example of justice.  A 16 year old kick drives under the influence of alcohol and kills four people as a result.  His attorney pleads not guilty due to Afluenza.  Meanwhile a 17 year old in Illinois is sentenced to an adult prison for $75 dollars of heroin.

According to data obtained by the Reporter, 54 percent of 17-year-olds prosecuted in Cook County's adult court system were convicted for drug deals and property theft alone, 58 percent for nonviolent offenses--most of which were "low-level drug offenses."

Maybe it is time for a more pragmatic approach.

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The benevolence of business.

The goal of business is to increase shareholder value.  I start with that because I believe in a capitalist market you have to use that belief to guide your views on business.  Some media outlets are reporting that the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, yes the guys who helped bring down our economy in 2008 are at it again.  They are using their buying power and legal maneuvering to take advantage of the fluctuations in the aluminum market.  I know what your thinking, so what its just aluminum, but they have made millions of dollars by buying large amounts of aluminum and creating a shortage of aluminum.  If you have never taken an economy class, you should know the following:  When supply is low and demand is high, the cost goes up.  Keep this in the back of your mind when you hear politicians refer to private companies doing things better than public entities.  Every decision a business makes in to increase shareholder value.  I want to ensure you, I do believe that we need businesses but they need to be monitored and regulated.  They are not in business to help you and me, they are in business to increase shareholder value.