Waiting in Laredo

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Waiting in Laredo

I got here yesterday at 10:00 and went on the board at 108. This morning I am 66. I don’t expect to be out of here today. It is taking drivers about 3 days to get a load. The last few times that I have been here it has been slow getting to leave.

A couple of the guys that I went to CFI boot camp with are here so it has been good to see them. They both have been averaging about 2200 miles a week. That is what I get in a low week but I expect that to drop after this so called busy season of the year. Freight has been slow and will undoubtedly get slower. Our economic outlook in poor but I have a few comments on the cause and the fix.

The Cause: I won’t try to cover all the reasons but what I consider the major causes.

Financial Responsibility: Our government, our financial and business institutions, and we have violated the very basics of being financially responsibility; we owe too much. We have borrowers that get in over their head, banks, and credit cards companies, and other business that give credit beyond the borrower’s ability to pay.

The weak dollar: The weak dollar has caused an increase in the price of gold and therefore an increase in the price of oil and everything else. Bush’s belief that a weak dollar would help our export shows how little he understands the economy. The US has always stood for a strong dollar and has made it the standard currency that the world uses. We can not just print more money without causing an economic problem. If you compare the value of gold to the price of oil you will find that it runs parallel.

Regularizations: This is a real problem. How much is too little and how much is too much. We have seen the results of too little regularization. We need some regularization but too much can also be a problem. One of the greatest difficulties in small business success is dealing with government. Large businesses can have dedicated people to deal with this regularization but for a small business it can become a major problem.

Taxes: None of us like to pay taxes and believe that it should be the other groups’ responsibility. The lower income class feels that they can’t afford the taxes as well as the upper income class that believes that it restricts their ability to earn money that goes back in the economy to keep it running. If you are in the very low class you can get money that you didn’t even pay in. Does anyone think this is fair? We have several problems with the current tax plan. If you are in one of the lowest income brackets with dependents besides receiving the earned income credits you can qualify for food stamps, housing assistants, free health care, and other programs. The low income or immigrant is no longer earning $6.00 hour but much more. This adds to the burden of the middle income earner in the form of taxes and completing with the lower paid and unskilled employee. This puts him in a similar economic position as the low income worker. The upper income family has attorney, tax consultants that helps him avoid paying as much taxes. It is a system that is unfair and doesn’t work.

Some Solutions:

Financial Responsibility: This is the most important part of a recovery. We must not cover ourselves with debt. This is personally and our government. We shouldn’t buy what we don’t need or can not afford. Keep out personal debt to a minimum or have none at all.

The dollar: Base our dollar value on a gold standard. This doesn’t mean that we have to go back to the gold standard of the 50’s where our money is backed by gold but to keep the strength of the dollar to a level that keeps gold prices in the $500 range. This will also keep oil prices predicable. With this our economy will improve.

Regularizations: We need reasonable regularization. One is for interest rates. I propose a maximum interest rate that can be charged. If your credit rating is not sufficient to get a load or credit card at this rate then you shouldn’t have it. This would stop this lending beyond the ability to pay. We also need to regulate the jobs that are leaving this country. We are in a world market (free market) but without regulating the flow of job from our country that are free flowing to cheaper labor markets without a reasonable replacement of these jobs then we are certain to have unemployment and under paid employees and small business failures. This not only hurts our country but as we see, the world economy.

Taxes: There is only one fair tax; a flat rate tax. It creates the most incentive for increasing your earnings. The trickle down economics is a failed policy. There will never be enough crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table to feed the rest of us. People don’t understand money. Money is control. Why would anyone whom has furnished all his needs seek more? Power! The fewer earnings that the middle class has the less power they have over their value of life. You might think that the wealth needs us to earn more to purchase their products but that is not the case. The power is in the difference in the earning. In a high unemployment time they can get the labor for less money and less befits. If you wont take what is offered someone else will. We need to lower taxes and therefore programs. The questions are what the government should be furnishing with our tax money. My belief is Security (enforce domestic laws and international security), Regulate money and business practices to allow for fairness and growth, Infrastructure (transportations, energy), Education, Health. Without these our nation can not grow and prosper.

This doesn’t cover all nor is it intended to do so. But we do need to get an understanding of what government should be providing. We can don’t and should not try to do it all