Government Lobbying

How can public entities decry lobbying and then allow government departments to pay for lobbying and lobbyists.Something is wrong here.Mn. cities,countys,school districts and others spent 8.3 million in 2011,$55,000(.7 % )more than last year on lobbying;why and for what?The city of Mpls.spent $467,139,The coalition of Mn. cities-$822,239,The league of Mn. cities-$608,961,Mn School Boards Association -$606,961,Association of Metro School Districts-$280,981,etc.It sounds like they even pay their own employees extra to lobby,Can that be true?I hope not.That should be part of their jobs.Should government entities be spending money to get money?Can they logically justify doing that?

Bully?

Is Romney a bully?He obviously was as a youth.Has he changed?He became a corporate raider(now euphemistically called a private equity firm),and a corporate raider is really a bully.They act and look like a bully.They take over a company,sell the profitable  parts,lay off as many workers as they can,and leave the core without their profitable parts to sink or swim.That sounds like an act of a bully.I think he's still a bully.What do you think?

Corporate Greed

Ref:Newspaper article 3/01/12(Pioneer Press)
Is greed rampant in corporations?Wall Street figures are revelatory.Total corporate profits in 2010 were 27.6 billion;bonuses were22.9 billion(80%).In 2011 profits were 13.5 billion;bonuses-19.7 billion(146%).I other words,all of corporate profits go to upper employee bonuses.Does that indicate greed?And some want to let that same sector take care of social needs.In the "olden" days,part of company profits went to employees for heathcare and pensions.Today they charge employees for healthcare and provide 401K's in place of pensions and invest in areas that they can milk for profit until it suddenly becomes worthless(derivatives) and the employees are left with no pensions.In the end the corporations have much more profit for bonuses and the employees?Well,the private sector will keep caring for them as they have since greed began to dominate.

Austerity

Austere and austerity are interesting words to use and apply in an economic context.Austere means stern,cold,somber,grave,giving little or no scope for pleasure,ascetic.Austerity means enforced or extreme economy,ascetic practice.There is nothing wrong with practicing austerity,but enforced austerity should not be selective and should be enforced equally,don't you think?Austerity for the rich:no pensions,no health insurance,no corporate welfare.That would be different and extremely unlikely.