Stop Pulling the Wagon

This oil spill disaster in the gulf has reminded me of the old Uncle Remus Wonderful Tar Baby Story with BP playing the part of Br’er Fox,  the Obama Administration playing the part of Br’er Rabbit and the oil spill playing the part of the Tar Baby.  

I think our “Dear Leader” may have been “Out Foxed” by BP on the 20 Billion Dollar “pot” of claims money that they “gave” President Obama’s hand picked Adminstrator to pay out for claims in the Gulf area.

It may be the cheapest 20 Billion Dollars that BP could have spent!

My reasoning is that no matter who doles out the claims dollars hardly anybody is going to be satisfied and the angry recipients are going to look for somebody to “Tar and Feather” (at least in the media).  As of now, BP can truthfully say that they have paid the money they were requested (Chicago style) to pay and the Complaint Department is now “down the street” at the Obama Adminstrations Claims Distribution Center. 

In other words they can wash their hands of trying to figure out who gets what and how to define a “just” claim from those who will simply try to game the system for some fast and easy money. 

In the aftermath of this nightmare the only ones who are likely to be satisfied with what they receive will be the ones who scam the system.  Anytime the “Guvment” gets its hands on a big bucket of “mulah” a good portion of it is going to be wasted.  If you doubt me look at the hundreds of millions of dollars scammed from Medicare.

Those who have truly suffered the most in this ongoing ordeal will likely never be truly satisfied,  because dollars alone cannot fully heal the wounds of this nightmare.  And many, if not most, will honestly feel they have not been justly compensated for their losses.  It will be hard to blame them for feeling this way.

It seems to me that if you really wanted to punish BP for this mess you could have forced them to deal with the tens of thousands of angry folks demanding (justly) to be compensated for the destruction of their environment and way of life.

The President and his Admistration  will likely find themselves up to their necks in oil (and maybe tar and feathers) for a long time to come.           ……….Bob

Here is my platform and plan:

                                           ONE OF MY FAVORITE MATH PUZZLES

THREE MEN RENT A ROOM FOR A MEETING IN A CONVENTION CENTER FOR THE MORNING.

THE DESK CLERK TELLS THEM THE ROOM WILL BE $30.00.

THEY EACH GIVE HIM A $10.00 BILL.

AFTER THEY GO TO THE ROOM THE MANAGER FINDS OUT HE OVERCHARGED THEM AND THAT THE ROOM IS REALLY ONLY $25.00.

THE MANAGER GIVES THE BELLBOY $5.00 TO GIVE TO THE MEN AS A REFUND.

WHEN HE GETS TO THE ROOM THE MEN DECIDE THEY CAN’T DIVIDE $5.00 EQUALLY SO THEY GIVE THE BELLBOY $2.00 AND EACH OF THEM KEEPS $1.00.

SINCE THEY EACH ORIGINALLY PAID $10.00 AND NOW HAVE $1.00 BACK THE ROOM REALLY ONLY COST THEM $9.00 EACH.

LETS SEE.  $9.00 X 3 EQUALS $27.00 WHICH IS WHAT THE NET COST OF THE ROOM IS TO THE MEN. 

THEY GAVE THE BELLBOY $2.00. 

$27.00 PLUS $2.00 EQUALS $29.00.  SINCE THEY ORIGINALLY PAID $30.00 FOR THE ROOM, WHERE DID THE OTHER $1.00 GO?

JUST FOR FUN……….                                BOB

4-4-2010  POSTSCRIPT:  I have received quite a bit of feedback both verbal and by email about this “puzzle”.  I really just posted it for fun but it does serve a purpose  to demonstrate how our government does math.  For example, they will create a program or entitlement with an anual escalator clause to increase funding by 10% a year and when there is a an outcry against deficit spending they will “cut” the increase to “only” 5% over the previous year and then proudly announce they have cut spending.  Or, they will come up with  “fuzzy” numbers of projected costs and “expected” savings, such as in the new Health Care program, that neither we nor they can ever figure out exactly what it is going to cost.  As my Dad used to say to me:  “Figures Lie and Liars Figure!”      …………Bob

Is BARACK OBAMA  SMARTER THE OSAMA BIN LADEN? 

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

One of Osama Bin Laden’s main goals, when he caused planes to be flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, was to damage the U.S. economy. 

Osama Bin Laden’s attack killed more than 3,000 people, yet, within a year after the attack the U.S. economy was in basically full recovery mode.

Barack Obama is regarded by both his supporters and detractors as a “smart” person. 

Barack Obama gave himself a “B+” for his performance in his first year of office.  A “B+” equates  to an 85%, or better, achievement of goals.  He is therefore telling us he is achieving the goals he laid out for himself. 

After one year of the Obama Administration the U.S. economy is in a state of wreckage instead of on the road to recovery .  We must assume that it was Barack Obama’s  goal to  wreck the U.S. economy  based on his own assessment of his performance (B+).  And, as a “smart” person, he has to know that the economic plans he supports will only continue to make the economy worse.  Or, are we to believe that a really “smart” person could create such economic chaos without a specific plan?

Osama Bin Laden partially achieved his goal.  Maybe we would give him a grade of “C” on goal achievement.

Both Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama have damaged our economy though (hopefully) for different reasons.

Osama Bin Laden is apparently hiding in a cave somewhere in the mountains of Waziristan on a diet of goat meat and rutatbega stew.  

Barack Obama is living in the White House and flying around the world in Air Force One.  He has a staff of hundreds to cater to his every whim including virtually any kind of food or entertainment he desires.

So, who is smarter?  Barack Obama or Osama Bin Laden?                                                 

-Bob

And in the sands these words appear:

My name is Obamandias, King of Kings,

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck,  boundless and barren

The ravaged sands stretch far away.”

– With apologies to Percy Bysshe Shelley and his epic poem “Ozymandias”.

Bob Bandy

“If God did not want them sheared, He would not have made them Sheep.” 

In the classic Western Movie, The Magnificent Seven,  this is what the outlaw bandit leader, Calvera (Eli Walach), tells the leader of the Seven, Chris Adams (Yul Brynner).

Calvera is referring to his practice of robbing the villagers of the fruits of their labor and leaving them just enough to survive on till his next visit.

In fact Calvera later states:  “Generosity – That was my first mistake!”  Meaning, he left the Villagers a little too much, or they would not have had the resources to hire “The Seven”.

Sound familiar?   Consider the following:

We taxpayers are considered as little more than sheep by our Governments: Local, State and especially Federal.  They view us as a steady source of tax money to be “sheared” on a routine basis.  And, just like Calvera did with the people of the Village, Government  plans to leave us with just enough to survive on until the next “shearing”.

I don’t think we can count on Government to make the same “mistake” as Calvera.  The only mistake our leaders are likely to make is to “Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs”.

Please forgive the mixed metaphors.  

Bob Bandy

Credits:  The Magnificent Seven.  1960.  Executive Producer – Walter Mirisch.  Produced and Directed by John Sturges.  Music by Elmer Bernstein.