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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 13, 2008

Reality, Not Fantasy

America would be a better nation if it cared more about the "players" who run for office instead of the players running with footballs!

In one way or another we all could agree that the NFL in general is overpriced and overpaid. Yet the NFL is a billion-dollar annual industry and resilient to the economic situation outside the stadium. The last five years has seen record Super Bowl attendance and shows no sign of slowing. My friends' Raymond James Super Bowl tickets are going for $2,200 to $15,000. I do not expect to see an empty seat in the stadium, but I bet GM, Ford and Chrysler would like to know the NFL's secret to success.

Here are a few questions I have for NFL fans who will be at the stadium: In between bites of your $6 substandard hot dog, followed by a $7 water-downed beer, do you think there will be any discussion about the decline of the economy? Will there be complaints about failed banks (even though fans had to stand in line to pay a $5 ATM surcharge to a bank that is probably failing at the time the transaction was processed)? Or will the complaints be about the underpaid quarterback who was unfairly treated in his $17 million contract negotiation?

Maybe some will complain about the $25 parking; maybe not.

The logic is broken and needs to be fixed! Here is my solution: We will set up a fantasy football league for politics. You can follow your players, learn their stats and actually get to put them into play when needed. If you don't like a player you can remove them from the game and put another person in their place (we will call this move "informed voting"). Fantasy football for politics is free, and you don't have to pay $25 for parking.

There is one downside. If you don't keep up with your players, they will run their own game. It may wind up costing you a lot more than just NFL season tickets - it may cost your life savings, investments or your future.

The game is real. America is not playing. The uninformed voters who only show up to major elections are equivalent to the people who only go to church once a year for Christmas.

KEVIN TAGGERTY

Valrico

Time To Pay Up

We are a society that has dissociated cause and effect, living in an age of cognitive dissonance and in a foggy state of denial. While the well-spoken, highly intelligent president-elect, Barack Obama, is a refreshing change, it is doubtful he is the messiah the sheep are expecting. For Obama to repair the economy would require recognizing the problem.

Consider this: Obama is surrounded by "experts" who are not only ignorant of the cause but because of their ignorance they are the problem. Relying on their advice will not restore order to chaos. We have, after all, already relied on them for decades.

The economic models presented by Keynesian economists will not provide the harsh medicine required for the patient to recover. Americans, like heroine addicts requiring a fix, want it all, and they want it now. Anyone who does not understand credit is the addiction will not recognize saving is the cure.

There are people (economists) among us who believe that in times of crisis the government is the spender of last resort. What these ignoramuses don't understand is this: The government creates no value. The government is not some omnipotent, omniscient being; it is us; it serves us. When the government spends money it is our money. When the government borrows money, it becomes our debt. When the government creates money out of thin air, it devalues the remaining money - our money.

The day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to pay for their stupidity is here. To prolong this, expecting different results is the definition of insanity. It is not only throwing good money after bad, it is creating money out of nothing or justifying more borrowing.

HENRY PIERSON

Odessa

Probe Scandals

I find it quite amazing that no person or persons have been cited concerning the banking scandals. Who was entrusted with the oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Why has there been no investigation of stock market speculations, hedge funds and short-selling?

While people are losing jobs, homes are being foreclosed and pensions and investments are dwindling, individuals who are responsible in whole or in part remain nameless. Where is the investigative reporting of the multimedia, so highly touted in the past, when people crave answers to the questions of who's accountable and responsible?

EARL A. MYERS JR.

Tampa

The Costs Of Shadowing

Thanks to Tribune reporter D'Ann White, the public is shown a most graphic case of what is wrong with our local government(s) ("Costs Of Principal Woe Grow" Dec. 9). The Hillsborough School Board is spending $340 a day to teach a principal who should already have known how to do her job before she was even hired. This shows the incompetency of the board from the top down. The superintendent allows this to happen.

If it were a classroom teacher they would have fired her or at least moved her from that position from day one. Events like this show the "good ole boy and girl" days are still around.

I bet the school board gives the super a sizable bonus at the end of the year. Any takers?

JERRY C. HIERS

Tampa

Not All Bad In Detroit

Can Detroit automakers do better? Probably.

Are the politicians in Washington passing the buck regarding the state of the economy? Absolutely.

Let's put things in perspective. Take a look around any highway or street in America today, and you will see SUVs and trucks in the majority. What was an "image" purchase initially turned out to be a practical choice as baby boomers discovered how safe and practical these vehicles are.

The safety factor became even more important as they had children and their parents became seniors.

In the interim the Big Three conceded temporary defeat to the Japanese hybrid engine, and they have paid big bucks for the rights to this technology.

Ford and GM have adapted their popular (and high-quality) line of trucks and SUVs with hybrids. To this day, they offer the most choice in these lines, even more than the Japanese.

Chrysler is catching up because they fell behind when Daimler from Germany took the helm and hybrids took a back seat. GM is about to produce the world's first plug-in hybrid electric car. This could revolutionize the industry.

Had the financial markets not collapsed and the housing industry gone awry, there would be plenty of credit to buy one of Detroit's exciting new products.

Like salt on a wound, we continue to finance the reconstruction of Iraq as they extend discounted oil prices to their Middle Eastern neighbors and are sitting on cash reserves of $80 billion along with huge reserves of crude oil.

Let's be real about the whole situation and remember that Chrysler paid back their government loan ahead of schedule, the government made a profit on the deal and the mini-van was created to the delight of travelers around the world.

RAND MOORHEAD

St. Petersburg

A Business Approach

My grandfather was a design engineer for Buick. In 1917 Buick Motors (GMC), Flint, Mich., had the design for a two-seater car that got 50 mpg in their vault. They had purchased the design from an inventor.

Obviously, the big automakers have no concern for the environment or the American public.

The requests for a bailout leave me with a couple of questions: Would the cost of unemployment for the entire industry be less or more than the billions being requested? Our government should be approaching this in a business manner.

Also, would we be truly bailing them out or enabling them to continue their expensive, uncaring ways?

JEANIE JOHNSON

Gibsonton

The Time Is Right

Reports of layoffs in the private sector are becoming a daily occurrence. Don't you wonder why we are not hearing about government cutting jobs? Just as is done in the private sector, government must cut back on labor costs to offset the loss of tax revenue during this slow economy.

I'm sure if we demand that bureaucrats cut back, all we will hear are scare tactics about cutting police and firemen as a means of balancing their budgets instead of eliminating nonessential departments and personnel.

Reducing government spending, from the local level up, is long overdue, and there is no better time than the current recession to start downsizing bloated bureaucracies.

JOHN KENT

Tampa

Washington Dumplings

I do not understand all I hear and see about layoffs and cutbacks in all areas of this great country. I think they should start in Washington.

Every time there is a problem they show up in great numbers with huge staffs to tell us how well things are. They must be exempt from layoffs.

I would like also to know just how large their staffs are and how much it costs. I call these people conducting these hearings the "Apple Dumpling Gang." Same mentality. They should clean up their own act first.

This should not be taken as a slur on the Apple Dumpling Gang.

LLOYD ROBERTS

Riverview

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