In 1961, President John F. Kennedy had determined that we needed to land a man on the moon before the end of the 1960’s! For those whose memories have a tendency to fade….”Mission Accomplished – July 16th, 1969!”
“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish!”…. Kennedy said!
He also mentioned that; “we choose to do these and other things not because they are easy…but because they are hard!”
In between then and now; a lot of good ideas got shelved, alot got changed, alot got adulterated to the point that you might now recognize them. LBJ started a “War on Poverty” that almost bankrupted the country. Nixon almost got Impeached and resigned, Carter almost killed the Global Financial world back in the 70’s, NASA was put on hold, Big Government Social Programs grew like “Topsy”! (from those that don’t know…Topsy was a character from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe!), Reagan came to save the day…..and did so for eight years. Bush Senior then pretended to follow in Reagan’s footsteps…didn’t….got thrown out and was replaced by Bill and Hillary Clinton….who covered up the Asian Tiger and Mexico Financial Collapes….enough to make it through their terms and left George W…..with eight years of war, terrorism and the Global economic collapse!
Who runs this stuff? How is possible that economic cycles rise and fall almost at whim? How can someone “purely by chance”…leverage one Sub-Prime loan 400 times…..like to trying to sell the same pencil 400 times and hoping that everyone will pay for before that take ownership? Lehman Bros. thought they could do it. In fact, once the dominos started to fall….even pinnacles of world banking like the Union Bank of Switzerland….even has fallen prey. The phony money in Britain alone is estimated to exceed over $2 Trillion pounds – just for Banks in England. We start to talk about the banks in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the rest….less liquid guys like Poland, Hungary and Romania…..and things are starting to look tough.
In 1964, I worked at the Space & Information Division of North American Aviation…in Seal Beach. Having worked previously at the Downey plant, building Apollo heat shields and working as a Heat Treat Specialist. In 1964, the Seal Beach Facility was just getting underway….and the mission statement was to eventually put together a 2nd Stage Rocket for the Apollo program. In those days, as a Plastic Parts Fabricator, I had been hired in at $2.85 cents a hour. You have to remember that minimum wage was about $1.10 an hour…and this was very good money. My Leadman Al Scafetti was this wonderful, happy go lucky, veteran of 20 years in the many facets of the Aerospace Industry.
As I pushed the broom around the shiny floors for up to eight hours a shift, I just had to ask Al: “Look at the waste here Al….how can they spend all the Taxpayers money like this? Are we ever going to do anything? Good Grief what waste!…I said. Al laughed and said: “We could build an expansion bridge to the moon!” “It doesn’t matter!” added Al. “What do mean?” “Are you kidding me or what?” … I said. Al leaned over, got close and said: “We just have to move the money around!” “It doesn’t matter what we do…or don’t do…we just have to keep that money moving around the system!”
Al’s philosophy evidently got popular…especially when it came to adding more Government Jobs, more Bureaucrats, more Government Regulators, more Government Controls. Of course, they all failed to Regulate the Banks, the Investment Community, Commodity Traders or Speculators. The great developer community of the United States thought they could build expensive projects on the cheap. Build Commerical Centers around the country…on the cheap! Close down manufacturing and buy property out of this country…on the cheap. Buy politicians of both parties…..on the cheap.
There is little doubt, that great ideas like those of JFK…and even Al Scafetti have made sense forever. It has become quite in “Vogue” to be watchful of Government Waste in the last 20 years, however. “Pork Barrel Spending”, “Ear Marks”, and “Bloated Government expenses and Bureaucracy” have all been targets which have gotten many polticians designated as being very watchful of taxpayers money! In the meantime, Unemployment rates in this county are soon heading for double digits. Home prices are still falling faster than a speeding bullet! Retail stores and chains are wrapping up and closing their doors….even before Christmas. Are there politicians, elected officials and voters that are wholly responsible for all this carnage? The simple answer is: Of Course! Who else might we apply blame to? Somehow, we have lacked some accountable visionaries…..that should have been looking out for us! Somehow, we deserved the truth along with the constant pablum! Somehow we still deserve better than partisan Fox News, MSNBC! Better than Rush Limbaugh, better than Sean Hannity or Al Franken and Jeannie Garofalo!
Every major election year….is described to us, as the most important in United States history. It is even important locally. Each attack on our basic freedoms must be met and voted down with vigor! Each project that will enhance the public good or our quality of life needs to identify the details and the truth!
“When in doubt…throw them out! …needs to be our motto. This election and every election….regardless of party affiliation! But, in the meantime, we better get started on Building that Expansion Bridge to the Moon!
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