Simple Man Politics

Today in Simple Man Politics we are going to discuss “The Future of Journalism”, which is unsurprisingly the title of the Senator John Kerry (D) commerce subcommittee hearing held this very day. Make no mistake my friends the future of journalism is definitely an issue both politically and economically. This hearings subtopic was about the survival of the newspaper industry, which is becoming an endangered species.

For me personally I have a lot of great memories of sitting down at my dining room table to have my first cup of morning coffee, my first morning cigarette and my newspaper. It was a ritual for me as I’m sure it was for most of you a ritual to read the morning paper. I liked to read the front page, the sports page, and the most important page of all the comics.

To be honest though that tradition is the past and the industry helped to put itself there by not thinking ahead to their future and their appetite for the almighty dollar. Along the way the newspaper industry also ceased to be about keeping the public truthfully informed by keeping an eye on those in power for us.

Another unfortunate condition that may be contributing to heir demise is the political agenda and bias that most publications present nowadays. These are the things that the newspaper industry is responsible for doing to themselves.

There are other contributing factors to the failing health of the newspaper industry as well. First there is the 24 hour news cycle created by cable news outlets like Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Another dangerous news outlet to the health of the newspaper is the internet, where you can find out anything you want on any subject with the typing of a keyword in a Google search and a click of the mouse on the search button.

One of the things that the committee discussed was the quality of good journalism, which some contributed to the newspaper industry. It seems to me however that in light of the newspaper industry and its assured demise that a lack of quality journalism might have helped to contribute to their loss of readership and shrinking subscriptions.

The newspapers argue that it is the internet and cable TV that are doing them in and I agree, because there is quality journalism in both outlets and I am living proof of that. Most of the good unbiased journalists who have written for the newspaper industry in the past now use the internet as a forum to get the word out. Alas though just like the newspaper industry bias has found its way into the cable and internet as well.

Another subject that this committee hearing addressed was how to keep the newspaper industry afloat financially. There was discussion of giving the industry tax exempt status. Another topic was charging for online content. The only phrase that was not uttered today was bailout but I am sure that that topic won’t be too far behind in future hearings particularly since we are bailing everybody else out.

That is all for today folks so have an awesome day and I will be back tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Hello my friends and welcome to another installment of Simple Man Politics. Today’s topic is one I have had an opinion on for sometime, but of course I always do have an opinion on what I write about, so I guess that isn’t really news. However today’s topic is about news or more to the point newspapers and the idea that they need government bail outs to. As you are all aware of by now I have not favored bail outs for any businesses, so my opinion on newspaper bail outs will be no different.

It doesn’t matter to me whether your business is banking, insurance, investments, autos, news papers, or anyone for that matter. A free market capitalist economy/society has always had a survival of the fittest mentality, which means that the weak die and the strong survive. This philosophy is what ultimately makes a nations economy stronger. Unfortunately in this new age of entitlement that we are now suffering through, every hog is fighting for their place at the tax payer trough.

Now don’t get me wrong I used to enjoy reading the newspaper. When I was a kid I couldn’t wait for the Sunday paper to be delivered so I could read the comics. As a teen I added the sports page to my list of required reading from my local paper. When I became an adult my morning coffee and paper was a ritual that I was loathe to forgo, needing my information fix on local, state, and national news.

But as we all know times change. First with the advent of cable and ultimately the creation of the 24 hour news cycle it became possible for me to catch up on the news at the push of a button becoming my morning ritual of coffee and cable, instead of coffee and paper. With the creation of the internet and all of its resources it finally took the place of cable and coffee and became computer and coffee.

The great thing about all of this is that it has all happened in my lifetime, and I have welcomed the technology age with open arms, and so was delivered out of the dark ages and into the light. All of this has become possible because we had a growing economy willing to take advantage of cutting edge technology that has kept America at the forefront of the world economically, and eventually led to us being the sole remaining global superpower in the world.

In addition to all of that I have another reason for not wanting to see any newspapers getting government bailouts. The reason newspapers exist in the first place is to keep an eye on our government as well as the world to keep us informed. Unfortunately it has been proven that the newspapers are not looking out for us regular Joes anymore. Newspapers now have their own political agenda’s that they promote and are anything but fair and balanced in their reporting.

I personally don’t care whether a publication is left wing or right wing; they should not be picking sides in political fights. Their job is and should be reporting the news factually and accurately, without bias or prejudice. This rarely happens anymore and to the detriment of society I might add. Bailouts might make these newspapers supplicate themselves to the government making them unable to defend us against those they are supposed to be watching, the government.

I pay my bills, feed my family, put a roof over their heads, and clothes on their backs. Whether I am right or wrong we survive by the decisions I make every day, if I am right we swim, and if I am wrong we sink. There is no government program out there that is going to bail me out if I get in a little trouble. Sure there is unemployment and food stamp’s, but how long can you be a productive member of society on those pittances. So I say no government bailouts for me no government bailouts for anybody. My tax dollars should be working for me not big business, or Barack Obama and company.

That is all I have to rant about for today, but as usual I am sure I will find something else tomorrow. Have a marvelous Monday all, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

It appears that today’s blog is going to be a conglomeration of political information today. As you know I do this sort of thing once or twice a month. The reason I usually do so is that there is more than one topic that needs addressing at the time, so I do so. Also I do them because this is my blog and I can do what I want when I want. Anyways lets get started shall we?

Item #1
Thanks to all of you who have voted in my poll over the last week. It appears that 81% of you thought that Sarah Palin was an effective and intelligent VP candidate compared to just 18% of you who thought otherwise. Unfortunately only 11 of you voted so I am not sure if this is an accurate account of the views of my readers on this topic.

Item #2
Since the auto industry bail out bill was stalled in the US Senate it now appears that the White House will step in and throw the Big Three in Detroit a lifeline. Now instead of costing the taxpayer a mere 14 billion dollars it may cost us as much as 40 billion dollars. A portion of that money will also go to the UAW, so I guess we are bailing out labor unions now to. This sounds very socialist to me, but then again anyone with an ounce of common sense saw us moving in that direction anyway.

Item #3
On Friday Democratic Senatorial Candidate Al Franken of Minnesota won two important concessions in the state regarding his campaign. One win for him was the state canvassing boards ruling to include as many as 1500 incorrectly rejected absentee ballots. The other win for him was the boards ruling to use election night results instead of recount results in a Franken leaning Minneapolis precinct. However Franken communications director Andy Barr has said that when the board meets on Tuesday it will have fewer than 500 challenged ballots to review from the Franken campaign.

Item #4
It seems that Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois may support a special run off election to fill Barack Obama’s senate seat in that state. At this time Blagojevich still refuses to resign in the wake of the pay and play politics scandal that is rocking his administration. The Illinois state legislature is convening a special session today and calls for Blagojevich’s impeachment are ringing in the halls in Springfield Illinois.

Item #5
I think SNL did cross the line with their live skit portraying New York Governor David Paterson as disoriented and befuddled due to his blindness. It is a cheap and vindictive attack against an American who has made something of his life in spite of his handicap. I believe that the head of SNL and his staff should issue an apology to the Governor immediately. As a parent of a handicapped person I will not watch SNL again until they issue an apology and retract the skit.

Well that is all I have for today’s post. I hope you all enjoy it. I also hope that the next time I do a poll more of you vote in it. I would also appreciate some suggestions as to what to write about on Friday’s, as it has always been my plan to leave that day open for what you want to know about. I will be back again soon so have a wonderful day, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

First they come up with a 700 BILLION DOLLAR bailout for the lending institutions involved in the sub prime mortgage crisis that some in DC had helped to perpetuate. This has since turned into a TRILLION DOLLAR bailout. The worst part is that all of the money hasn’t been paid out yet and the price keeps going up.

Not to mention the BILLIONS they are pouring into AIG an insurance company that can’t stop spending taxpayer DOLLARS on lavish resort get a ways. Does this sound like the right business model for AIG? They are almost in bankruptcy.

Oh I forgot there is also the 300 BILLION DOLLARS that was earmarked for buying up mortgages at full price that people couldn’t afford to pay and then renegotiating to a lower price so that the same deadbeats could default on the new mortgage they get. This sounds like a great investment if the taxpayer expects to lose money on investments.

Well now they are at it again in DC. Now they want to bailout the US auto industry to the tune of about 25 BILLION DOLLARS and that may wind up the low end figure when they are all done. Is it’s the governments fault, because they can’t compete in the same market with foreign automakers. Maybe they should learn something from these foreign companies, like making cars that consumers want to drive, that would be a good idea. Maybe they should get rid of the unions to, because they don’t seem to be making things any better for the big three in Detroit.

Of course the folks that are pushing this new bailout plan are the ones currently in power in both houses of congress, and now in the White House as well. This latest idea is the brain child of that horrid had from San Francisco Nancy Pelosi who is speaker of the house, and she is being backed up by Barney Frank the little fat F----R who helped create the mortgage crisis that we are experiencing now.

They are also talking about some sort of bailout for credit card companies to. I guess the taxpayer might as well absorb all the bad credit card debt for those deadbeats living way beyond their means. It is not our fault that they can’t say no to a credit card offer when they can’t pay off the ones they have.

What I would like to know is where Uncle Sam is going to get all the money for these bailouts. Actually I know where they will get the money. First they will print off what they need, then they will borrow it from China, then they will tax the H—L out of us. Then again we shouldn’t be surprised, because that is what the Democrats do. They tax and spend their way through life at the expense of everyone else’s pocketbook but their own.

Personally my friends I think we should not have bailed out the mortgage companies. If they can’t do business right, that isn’t our fault. They also should have learned to say no to the DC slime that told them to make the loans anyway when they new they were a bad risk. As far as AIG is concerned how many insurance companies do we really need? They should not get tax dollars either. Our government should not be in the business of buying mortgages either there is no Bank of Tim the Blogger. I don’t want to be in the mortgage business. As far as the US auto industry is concerned, they always try to screw me when I want to buy a car, so I’m buying a Volkswagen next time go around. They don’t need my money either. Don’t even get me started on the credit card companies. All I will say is that I don’t have any credit card debt, so don’t ask me to pay yours because yours is maxed out and your credit rating is in the toilet. I guess what I am trying to say is let them fend for themselves, because the taxpayer isn’t going to get anything out of all of this except screwed.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends CIAO4NOW!!!!!