Everyone and I mean everyone is wringing their hands, wracking their brains in an effort to find a solution for this recession. The Obama administration is at least attempting action while they wring, but an FDR buy-out will only devalue our already weakened dollar. Because of the content of some of what Obama has said, I think a good portion of that weakening is intentional. Our sitting President does not like the idea of common people being able of afford gasoline, but that is a subject for another day.

The way out of this mess is so simple and straight forward that it is not at all surprising every single political leader missed it. One good reason is that part of the recipe demands a lessening of the greed factor. Right there we have ruled out a significant portion of corporate and political America, but, believe me, it is necessary.

In order to get through this we have to hit the problem from both ends, both in the reduction of costs and in revenue growth. A huge factor is the cost of fuel, which is directly related to infrastructure. If we spent the time to put in place the infrastructure to handle and distribute alternative fuels, gas prices would plummet. Nothing balances a market like competition, and building that infrastructure would add thousands of high quality jobs. The greed factor could be handled by adding in real oversight that included stiff fines and even jail time for corruption, including that of politicians. If such oversight upsets some of the powerful and prevents certain multinational corporations from participating, so much the better, who needs ‘em? This country has plenty of smaller and smarter firms willing to step in and grow. This could be a chance for Obama to put his pen where his mouth is and prove he actually is for the little guy.

Another area is education. Our elected leaders claim they are for excellence in education, but they just don’t want to pay for it. If we diverted one tenth of the money we send overseas and put it into education, not administration, we would have enough to pay teachers what they are really worth, build schools large enough to accommodate all of the students and put every text book and tool they need into their hands. Imagine what we could do if we raised that amount to 20%. It’s high time the rest of the UN paid its portion of the freight any way.

Have you ever heard of the Toyota Volta? It is an electric car that looks good and can travel upwards of 250 miles on a single charge from a standard household outlet. Ever wonder why it isn’t offered for sale? How about the Mini Cooper Hybrid that gets 85 miles to the gallon with no loss of acceleration? It isn’t allowed to be sold in the US. Ever wonder why? The answers to these questions can be had in Washington, if you can get them to talk.

Just north of Las Vegas, up I15 before you get to the town of Mesquite, there is a long stretch of BLM land that would be ideal for an industrial development. Imagine putting in plants to build cars like the Cooper Hybrid and the Volta. Do you think the companies would have problems selling them? Absolutely not. Of course, we would have to deal with the greed factor again. This means that executives would have to trim their wages back far enough so that factory workers could be paid a real living wage without the crippling financial effect the unions had on Detroit. It can be done if all sides can actually work together.

In the Armagosa Valley there is a dairy. Because of milk price controls (the price is kept high, not low), the dairy is not allowed to sell all of its production. A deal was worked out so a gourmet ice cream company could build a plant across the street from the dairy to turn the overproduction into ice cream. Nevada and California sued to prevent the plant from being built because of “environmental concerns”. Now Utah has yet another prospering concern adding to its fortunes.

Ever since gambling was legalized in Nevada, tourists have been crowding I15 as the flow in from California. Train tracks run along that route for most of the way. A commuter train has been discussed without resolution for about as long. The problem is that no one can decide who pays what. This is where the heavy hand of Washington is needed. The same way the legislature is being forced to fund education if they want to get federal dollars, the same can be used to bring commuter travel into this century. Force a joint state public private partnership. Do not allow corruption of favoritism to enter in by jailing anyone, regardless of who they are, and that includes mayors and governors if they break the law, and begin building. The cost can be paid by the use of tickets and tools. Commuter choice can be enhanced by also maintaining a free travel highway for those who don’t mind traveling at a slower pace.

Home ownership is one of the big ones right now. With so many banks crumbling because they allowed themselves to be sucked into the ACORN ponzi scheme, a radical restructuring needs to be done. Even if a mortgage holder is upside down, there was a point where they were able to pay the monthly freight on the mortgage. A great number of the failures, excluding those idiots who purchased multiple homes hoping for a quick flip, were brought on because the bank raised the interest rates and refused to back down on that rate even when it became apparent they would have to eat the loan. All they have to do is reduce that rate down to a level where the original mortgagee can again make a payment, even if that level is below prime. A little profit is better than a loss. This is again where greed has to take a back seat. There is nothing wrong in flying coach instead of buying an over-priced private jet.

The recipe is, education, enforced corporate and governmental honesty, public-private partnerships, the ignoring of bothersome environmental suits only intended to prevent growth, and common sense. That last component is the rarest of all.

A Memorial to Common Sense:

Common Sense died this year in a tragic mishap. Common’s best friends, Responsibility, Morality, Ethics and Virtue seemed to have also been victim’s of the tragedy. Civil Rights, a close associate of Common Sense is currently in the ICU; the prognosis is not good.

An obituary such as this may seem cynically comical, but in actuality, it is not. Consider the current climate in Washington. Many think the election of Barrack Obama to the Presidency signifies a new era in American government. They see the elimination of poverty, sickness and corporate greed. Somehow, simply putting a black man into the seat of power solves all our problems. The Arabs will no longer hate the Jews. Slavery and oppression will cease to exist and every child will have what they desire waiting for them under the tree on Christmas morning. To many, Obama is not merely the President-elect, he is the Messiah.

The Democrat landslide that swept through this year’s electoral cycle removed even the pretense of bipartisanship that existed last year. Current stories in the press about Nancy Pelosi’s recent moves as Speaker give a good indication of what will be coming our way after the 2009 inauguration.

As a junior Senator, Barrack Obama had the most consistently liberal voting record in American history. Even Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi could not bring themselves to support some of the radical causes championed by their soon to be new boss. Partial birth abortion, friendship with terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam, and the elimination of the Second Amendment, all have a place at Obama’s table. His proposed tax policies will not create the universal wealth he claims, but drive the current recession we are now experiencing into a full blown depression.

There was a time in recent history where the state of New Jersey was one of the least taxed states in the nation. At that same time it was one of the few states where the Governor had the unique pleasure of dealing with an ongoing budget surplus. The New Jersey legislature, in an attempt to assuage certain special interests, decided to raise taxes on business. Surprisingly, to some, revenues went down, not up. The legislature was unable to learn from history, no surprise there, and raised taxes. Revenues fell a bit more and now New Jersey, rather than being one of the most prosperous states, is one of the least. They function in a state of continuous deficit.

There are some who think all our problems would be solved if the situation were reversed and the GOP held the reins of power. The problem with that sort of thinking is that we have already experienced that scenario and the end result was, after a brief economic expansion, a long steady slide into laissez-faire greed and corruption that culminated in the great depression of the early 1900’s. Now it appears that we are repeating history.

Common Sense would dictate that if doing things one way results in failure, then it would be wise to try something else…possibly in the opposite direction. Two problems with that sort of thinking are, one; it means admitting you were wrong, and two; being able to work outside of your own self interest.