Grandiose Schemes

The Presidential election sure seems to have kicked off early this year. Normally it's June or better before we start hearing the candidates on a daily bases making promises we know they can't keep. All ready I hear Bush and Kerry battling it out in the media trying to steal the spotlight and energize their campaigns. So all this leads up to yesterdays big Friday announcements by the candidates. Bush calls for <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/03/26/bush.broadband.dc.reut/index.html">cheap broadband access for all</a> and Kerry promises <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/03/27/build/nation/35-kerry-taxcuts.inc">10 million jobs</a> if elected President. Maybe I am naive, but these are just grandiose schemes that will never truly pan out.<br />n<!–more–><br />nWhat does cheap, high speed Internet access mean? This will be almost impossible in rural areas and urban areas have access to broad band but it might not be "cheap." As an example of access in rural areas, I will point out I have had a phone for less than 5 years. For I don't know how many years there has been programs in place to get phones to people in rural areas but the logistics of it were not able to be implemented in my situation. Finally a company come up with a proposal to make it happen and still I had to come up with over $10,000 to sweeten the pot up and make it happen. The same company now offers broadband Internet access and when I contacted them they told me that there was no way in hell they could offer me the service with where I was at. So I opted for the next best thing I could find and went with two way satellite Internet access. Definitely not "cheap" but the only option I had. Also when I hear something like this, what does "cheap" mean? Under $10 a month, $20, $50, $100 or what? Just sounds to me like a grandiose scheme to buy votes to me.<br />n<br />n10 million jobs. Do you have any idea how many jobs that is? It would have to bring our unemployment rate below zero and in my opinion could cause a wage inflation spiral if this scheme would even work. Now I am not college educated but on the face of it I don't see where eliminating the deferral of overseas income and cutting tax rates is going to help.<br />n<br />n<i>"In the grand scheme of things, the economics of moving jobs offshore are extraordinarily compelling, and this kind of proposal isn't going to substantially change that process."</i><br />n<br />nI read quite a few business magazines and I have heard this statement similar to this over and over again. All big corporations see is how much less it costs them on the bottom line to outsource with the cheaper wages and less benefits they have to offer. It doesn't matter to them that it takes more workers to get the job done because they can afford to hire more. Just sounds to me like a grandiose scheme to buy votes to me.<br />n<br />nI don't know about anybody else but I am tired of hearing inane promises and and grandiose schemes put forward in an attempt to buy votes. It's a long time to November and I'm sure we will hear a lot more before it's over. The question I have is how wild will these schemes get before November? Way too wild if you ask me.<br />n<br />n<b>The man who promises everything is sure to fulfil nothing, and everyone who promises too much is in danger of using evil means in order to carry out his promises, and is already on the road to perdition. Carl Gustav Jung</b>