The Party of “No”

On the eve of the Republican National Convention I am struck by how much we are being told “NO” by the Republican Party.  No to Taxes (new or otherwise, i suppose); No to Immigration reform; No to ANY abortion services; and lastly – No to seeing a presidential candidates prior tax returns, save for the last two years.  I can’t stand it and I can only hope that the Republican Party can be a positive force in the national dialogue someday soon.

Thoughts on a Sunday – 1/8/12

First of the new year.

Thought #1
Service Economy = Service Government? Everyone talks about how the US economy is dominated by services. Why is it then that the first thing anyone says about government stimulus involves some type of “shovel ready” project? Let’s invest in our Service Government. What would that look like? Well, how about your local Post Office (it’s getting gutted and we will lose a day of service soon)? Your local national park (trails and entire parks are being closed)? Your local DMV (state versus federal, I realize)? How about the national equivalent of the 311 service that some major cities have rolled out? How about Americorps with an expanded vision? The great thing about stimulus for service jobs is that almost all the money is taxable wages. The last time I checked, a hunk of concrete didn’t pay taxes. So, let’s invest in our service economy, versus just thinking we can build enough bridges or roads to fix a troubled economy.

Thought #2
I recently bought a bike and I looked high and low for a frame that was manufactured here in the United States. I could not find one and I wanted a list of companies that built their bikes here in the US. The answer may in fact be zero for bike frames, but then, I got to thinking that I would love to have a database of companies and the major products that are made here in the States. I may be in the minority here, but I will gladly pay a premium for USA products of equivalent or better value if they are manufactured in the states versus China. Get consumers the information about the provenance of products and then we can decide where and what we will buy.

Happy New Year everyone!