Does S in SEC stand for Sex...And why this story now?

While perusing the news today I saw an interesting article (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36725550/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/) dealing with SEC employees surfing porn sites instead of doing their jobs. 
A study was done by SEC Inspector General David Kotz in response to a request from Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.  It found among other things:

• A senior attorney at the SEC's Washington headquarters spent up to eight hours a day looking at and downloading pornography. When he ran out of hard drive space, he burned the files to CDs or DVDs, which he kept in boxes around his office. He agreed to resign, an earlier watchdog report said.
• An accountant was blocked more than 16,000 times in a month from visiting websites classified as "Sex" or "Pornography." Yet, he still managed to amass a collection of "very graphic" material on his hard drive by using Google images to bypass the SEC's internal filter, according to an earlier report from the inspector general. The accountant refused to testify in his defense and received a 14-day suspension.
• Seventeen of the employees were "at a senior level," earning salaries of up to $222,418.
• The number of cases jumped from two in 2007 to 16 in 2008. The cracks in the financial system emerged in mid-2007 and spread into full-blown panic by the fall of 2008.

While this is hardly news considering that the people working at SEC are just humans that are products of our society and its values I did find the timing of this quite interesting. The fact that it was asked for by a Senate Republican, albeit one who just voted against the GOP for Financial Regulation, is intriguing.  Knowing the history of Charles Grassley and his flip-flopping on Health Care (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/grassley-look-how-great-this-health-care-bill-is.php) I wonder why he asked for the study at a time when SEC has filed a case against Goldman Sachs.  Could it be to embarrass the organization and switch the focus off of the suit? 

P.S. I did a bit of checking to see who Grassley's top donors were (http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=2010&cid=N00001758&type=C) and not surprisingly found them to be in Health, Insurance and Pharma industries.  That explains his stance on Health Care Reform.  Maybe it also explains his stance on Financial reform since I didn't see any large donations from that side.  We will see what happens when the full bill comes to the floor and track his contributions before that. 

A perfect reason why so many are confused....

While reading the news today I came across an article that described a demonstration of the National Socialist Movement in Los Angeles.  The members of this movement are white supremacists and object illegal immigration, Jews, current Administration, etc. etc.  What struck me as odd however was not their views.  I disagree with them completely but respect their right of peaceful assembly and support of any politician that they choose.  I was wondering why they call themselves the National Socialist Movement.  I went to their site, http://www.nsm88.org/aboutus.html, and there they define that they wish to change the current system utilizing the best of Socialism and Capitalism.

I find this interesting because from the fringe of the Right (i.e. Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, etc.) we keep on hearing that the current administration has Socialist, Fascist, Communist agenda.  They do a wonderful job scaring people with these scary words even though most people don't know the definition of any.  By looking at this party however, those same low information voters could get the proof they need to say Glen Back is right.  When most people think of Fascism they think of White Supremacy and Antisemitism which this group proudly displays.  But this movement calls itself the Socialist movement thus making it seem that Socialism and Fascism are tied (which of course is very far from the truth.)

Thus when the groups themselves don't understand the words they live by how can we expect ordinary Americans to discern the truth?

By the way, in case anyone is interested, below are the definitions of Communism, Fascism and Socialism.

Communism - a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.  It values the individuality and freedom of choice.

Fascism - a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

Socialism - refers to the various theories of economic organization which advocate either public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and and allocation of resources.
  

A Gentler time has a direct relationship to Taxes?

A work colleague of mine mentioned that he believes people in the US have changed for the worse in the past 35 years.  He remembered fondly a kinder, gentler time when people were focused on family values and not the mighty dollar.  I agreed and then started thinking why that was.  I believe that an argument could be made that links the degradation of the population to lower Taxes on the wealthy and lack of Regulation. 

Without diving into specific numbers (I am still researching the exact details) and noting I am not an economist or a historian, let's set the stage for our discussion.  For instance, after the Great Depression and leading up to 1980, when Reagan came to power, the income tax was very heavy on the ultra rich.  The corporate income tax was much higher than today (from what I have read the corporate income tax now in the US is the lowest among Industrial Nations) and there was a lot more regulation.  For example, a person could not buy a house unless he/she had enough money to afford it.  US was the largest creditor to the world and our national debt was small.

Then, some changes started to occur which I believe are linked to the change in our people.  Specifically, we have cut the income tax on the rich from 70% down to 28%, cut their taxes on unearned income (interest, investments, etc.) to 15%, cut the Corporate Interest Rates and others.  Thus we have decreased the money supply coming into the system.  At the same time we have increased defense spending and borrowed heavily for that, increasing our National Debt from 700 Billion to 3 Trillion.  Thus we were spending more with less coming in. We have also changed the Alternative Minimum Tax to switch the burden from the rich to the middle class and subsequently raised Social Security Taxes.  Thus, we had given the rich more money and took away money from the middle class and also deregulated allowing free market economics to "flourish."

And here is what we created.  Middle class has less money coming in with rates on everything going up due to the deregulation.  That leads to the households with 1 breadwinner turning into a household with 2.  Which in turn leads to less time available to spend with the children and teach them "right from wrong."  Greed is Good is born, rich people are playing with their money in the stock market creating Savings and Loan scandal which again hit the middle class.  Housing bubbles were created because the prices went up.  When people need to work more to make ends meet they become more aggressive and less happy.  When the difference between the rich and the poor widens and those who are poor do not have a sustainable standard of living, crime goes up which leads to less trust between people.  When people feel that they are being taken advantage of they are dissatisfied, and on and on and on.  To add to that you have now new generations that are raised on different principles and that are profit driven and then you have predatory lending practices, insurance companies dropping people when they need coverage, etc. etc. etc. 

Finally to prove my point you can look at Europe and see that places like Denmark with 52% tax are the happiest country with the high standard of living, free education, healthcare, 4 weeks vacation, low crime, etc. etc. etc.  I am not saying everything is as easy as raising taxes and regulating better.  All I am saying is that we should look at history and learn from it.

Political and Economic Structures we have created that make us who we are...

As I look upon the problems of US today I cannot help but notice that, as in all things in life, these problems are ones of our own creation.  Let's, for example, look upon the Healthcare issue that is dominating our airwaves.  One of the prevalent parts of this issue is the Insurance Industry.  We hear about this industry rising rates, dropping people when they most need assistance and not covering those with pre-existing conditions.  Most people would agree that the system has to change but differ in how to do so.  I suggest let's look at the root of the problem.  In this country that is built on the Capitalist principles we have created a system that places a premium on profitability.  Everyone that has dabbled in the stock market or taken any economics classes will agree that making money is king.  Thus in enabling and expecting a for-profit company, such as many insurance companies are (I know that some are not for profit but I believe they are still owned by for profit companies), to make money we shouldn't be surprised at its behavior.  They are expected to cut costs and maximize profits.  That is their first priority and until it changes its focus on providing citizens with affordable and comprehensive healthcare things will not change. 

Taking this example and spreading it out to the greater spectrum of industries we can see the root of many of our issues.  Companies are focused on profit and not what is best for society.  You can look at automotive, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, food and other industries and find my point to be true.  If it weren't for lawsuits and heavy subsequent regulations we still wouldn't have seat belts in our cars or know what goes into our food.  But regulations don't help because there are always loopholes and lobbyists and any regulation has to be enforced.  I have recently heard that most of our fish supply now has such high levels of mercury that it is simply not safe for consumption.  Unfortunately it is being consumed and that means that babies prior to being born already have mercury poisoning which leads to many terrible conditions including autism.  I can go into remedies and suggestions on how to improve our system of governance and no I am not a socialist that wants to eradicate free markets.  I am a strong believer in private ownership and innovation just not innovation that gets stifled by large corporations because of what it would do to their profit margins. 

I believe that our problems are problems of society as a whole.  We as a people allow these practices to go on and are already at a point where real systematic change cannot be implemented because of "too big to fail."  Thus we need to stop bickering, look at the country as a whole and realize that where we are headed is not good for all of us.  Let's change focus and forget about politics.  Let's throw away our safety blankets of opinions acquired via someone else and think for ourselves.  What can we do that would benefit us and our children?  And then start making some real investments into that.  Capitalism, as it is built, will adapt and create new opportunities for growth.  Let's focus on the big picture.  I believe in our society and know that we have the courage to change.  Let's do it together!