Did you see his interview on CN-BS this morning? How come none of our presidential candidates (nor members of our legislature, for that matter) has a "lick of sense" like Boone? America is sending nearly $1.5Billion per day, PER FRICKIN' DAY... out of the country for oil... yet we STILL have no energy policy. WTF? (35 years ago, OPEC held us hostage to the price and availability of oil... what have we done to isolate ourselves against such things since? NOTHING!) When I fantasize about someone being president who is passionate about addressing ANY of our serious problems, I feel a bit of hope... guys like Ross Perot, Ron Paul, even Boone. Then when I think of who we've got running, it's all I can do to keep my breakfast down.
We could only wish I've said this 100x before but we get what we pay for in our officials. Pay the President or Prime Minister 25 million (the average Fortune 500 CEO) and watch the world's problems get solved real fast. Politics attracts the WRONG type of people. Geeks, dweebs and liars.
Is there a link to this yet? I looked on cnbc.com but couldn't find it. I'll never forget when Boone gave an interview during Jan 2007 on CNBC and called the bottom on oil at $49ish for the year. He was heavily long at the time and was probably holding on to substantial losses when he made the call that morning. He is worth listening to and usually right. edit: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=658914274&play=1
Everyone knows that if any politician ever shows signs of greatness or wisdom, big business will hire him instantly. Whats left in the field of politics are all the guys that can't get hired by big business. Makes you feel all "warm and fuzzy" knowing that while our country is not run by the "best of the best", it is run by the "best of whats left"
I agree gnome. It seems like all the guys we have running right now are in the pissing and moaning business, the looking good on stage business and assorted others that do nothing to address the very real problems we have in the US. Obama has a lot of "solutions", but I wonder how we will pay for them. Glenn Beck had some interesting comments on him last night, that after we have 4 to 8 years of Obama and his socialist, anti-business, big benevolent government, that will be the death of liberalism as we know it because it will hurt the country so badly, something like what happened with Carter. Anyway, here is something I wrote a month or two ago, and people are free to agree or disagree on any of the points, but I wish one of the people running for president would come out with something similar, even if the ideas are not exactly the same. ----------------- . Is it just me, or is anyone else sick of everyone bitching, but not offering a single solution to any problem? So, I sat down and tried to figure out, if I was elected dictator of the good ole USA, what would I do. This should offend plenty of people on both sides and give us plenty to talk about. I'd be curious to see what type of feedback I generate on these solutions though, and also see what you guys think could be done to fix any number of our problems. 1) Overall spending has to be cut. So called "earmarks" and "pork spending" should not be allowed to be put in as a rider on major legislation. If a senator or congressman wants a particular project and money for his district, it must be able to pass as a stand alone measure. 2)BRING OUR TROOPS HOME from nonessential places in Europe, Asia etc. They can get their own damn armies and fight their wars, should one occur. We have our own fight right now, and we can not afford to continue being the entire Western World's army. 3) Raise the retirement age to at least 68, preferably 70. People are living much longer and healthier lives than when SSI was introduced. I would not change Medicare benefits at all because older and sick people generally have a hard time finding affordable coverage , so this part of the system would remain as it is as far as payouts go. 4)Remove the maximum income cutoff on SSI taxes, currently you stop paying SSI tax around $105,000 in income. I would keep the current tax rate on all income under about $80,000 per year, and on income over $80,000 I would tax at half of the rate taxxed under $80K. 5) Cut corp. tax rates by at least 25%. American companies are cuttently amongst the most taxxed in the world, its no wonder good jobs are leaving America, the suprising part is that more have not. 6) Cut long term capital gains in half and have no taxation on dividends. I would also change the definition of a short term capital gain to anything held for less than 1 quarter (ie 3 months). I would, however, raise the short term capital gains tax by about 10%, with exemptions made to critical liquidity providers such as Market Makers, Floor Traders, Specialists and other market professionals (Ie those claiming trader status) 7) Combine many federal agencies. Why do we need an FBI, ATF and DEA who largely do the same things and then fued amongst each other about it. Combine these into one Federal Force under a single adminstrative and command structure. Similarly I would combine the various branches of our Milatary in a manner similar to what Isreal has with the IDF, Canada with its milatary etc. I would cut overall milatary spending very little, if at all, however the admininstrative and other expense savings would probably be substantial by doing this. With the savings from this move I would increase the number of soldiers in critical combat arms, intel and logistical jobs such as Infantry, Special Forces, Logistics, armour etc. I would also use parts of the savings to add more funding for better training of our soldiers and better technology. Any amount left over would be used to increase the pay and benefits available to members of the armed forces, who are overall terribly underpaid. So, there you have it. I have more than enough things in here to piss off people on both sides of the isle I suspect. However, I do think that these ideas represent reasonable and practical solutions to very real problems. Of course our political parties seem more interested in their own agenda's, so its doubtful any type of program such as this would ever pass - but if this or something similar was done I think we would be in much better shape for it. Like I said, if any of you have additional ideas or thoughts on mine I'd like to see them. I am very proud to be an American and have always thought our country, people and system to be the best the world has- but this has been achieved over time by us working together to make the USA better. With the way politics are these days I sometimes find myself fearful of our future. Brandon
Interestingly, Ann Coulter's column this week addresses the very subject of why we don't have great leaders running for public office. Briefly, it's largely the fault of the campaign finance "reforms" that were designed to limit the influence of big money. As a result the most important job for any candidate for any federal office is fund raising, 365 days a year. Normal people do not want to do this, and it isn't helped by the fact that politics is now a game of trying to destroy and demonize decent people who happen to be on the other side of the aisle. What successful person wants to be exposed to that? As Ann points out, candidates now either tend to be weird career pols like the Clintons, the wealthy, like Jon Corzine, or celebrities like Arnold or with name recognition like Bush and Hillary. I think to an extent it has always been this way, but the campagin finance rules have made it worse. A guy like Boone Pickens couldn't get together with a few of his billionaire buddies and put together a presidential campaign. Either he'd have to use his own money or he'd have to spend all his time fund raising.
In addition to what you said.... We also don't have anybody running for office who acknowledges the huge problems facing the country (after decades of deficits and money-pump) and what needs to be done for the sake of our country and our people. What we actually get for candidates are those who (1) WANT to be in power... so they can dictate policy onto the rest of us, and/or (2) want to line their own pockets from the public purse. Candidates are willing to SAY ANYTHING, BASH ANYBODY, and PROMISE THE WORLD just to influence the hoi polloi and win their vote. What we really need is a president (and legislature) who will put their own interests aside and act in the best interest of the country without regard to being re-elected. NEVER HAPPEN! Federal politics has become ONE GIANT CON GAME.. and the Presidency is the greatest flim-flam of all. Where's the next Andrew Jackson? We need him BAD. We need him NOW!
The reason we don't get intelligent strong corporate leaders running for president is due to the nature of politics. When you are CEO, you dictate everything, and everyone has to fall in line. When you are an elected official (e.g. president), no one does what you say. Unless you spend a tremendous amount of time trying to get people who hate what you stand for and solely wish to undermine you to meet you halfway. Most corporate leaders realize it's a frustrating job compared to what they are used to, and say to hell with it.