Finally, My Car is "Fixed"...Maybe

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In the article http://markshathaway.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-local-car-dealership-dead-battery.html I wrote about my car troubles. It wouldn't start and I took it to the dealership garage.

At first their computer analysis made a profound discovery: "the battery is dead" and they just wanted to replace it. Fortunately I bumped into the mechanic and mentioned I'd been having this trouble for years and there was very likely something else happening. His first reaction was "All I can do is deal with what's in front of me." But, then he added that after replacing the battery he would do another analysis. A ray of hope...

I think he and another mechanic looked around quite a bit and discovered something really amazing: when you open the passenger door the dome light wouldn't turn on. Wow! They said the switch in the door was broken. So, I said, "That can't be very expensive. Go ahead and fix it." It was over $ 100 for that switch. They also cleared out some leaves blocking drainage holes in the car door. It had been collecting water when it rained and that may have had an impact on the electrical system. Was the switch somehow affecting the electrical system and draining the battery (presumably overnight while the car sat unused)?


So, I told them to fix the broken things.

All-in all they replaced a dead battery and fixed the door switch.

Afterward, they said, "We can't guarantee this will solve your problems."

Cost of two garage visits for the car: greater than $ 800.


This is the state of affairs in America today: we pay and they refuse to give us assurance we're really getting anything. Doctors do the same. they say we must pay because they're god-like and then when asked to explain problems they say, "What can you expect? We're just human and medicine is more art than science." No era of personal responsibility here.

So, I have the car back and it's started so far. But, there's no guarantee it ever will again. Think of that. How many trips more than 10 miles would you make not knowing your car would start if you ever had to stop and turn it off?

Next, the transmission seems to be slow-shifting. How much could a little thing like a transmission cost?    :-(

Moving Forward or Not, it's Your Choice

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Some people improve our lives:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/31/u-s-researchers-develop-experimental-vaccine-against-childhood-respiratory-virus/

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/11/15/2946641/whisky-biofuel/

And, of course, the Democrats are trying to get the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) going.


Some people would deny us health care insurance:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/17/1256235/--Destory-Obama-Care-Cyber-Attacks-on-Healthcare-gov-Revealed

http://www.examiner.com/article/right-wing-cyber-attacks-on-healthcare-gov-website-confirmed


You get to choose the leaders of our government, those who want America to "move forward" or those who refuse all positive changes.

Time For A Change of Economic Policies ?

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I have commented many times that there is a backlog of legislative work which needs to be done and that Republicans (for the most part) refuse to do the work. Perhaps, as the rich become more interested, there can still be a way forward.

Are the rich celebrating their huge financial gains?
http://toomuchonline.org/amid-record-pay-ceos-arent-celebrating/

Are they worried about the middle-class or just the lack of consumption in the economy?
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/11/chart-day-collapse-american-middle-class

Here's one recent indicator they are waking up.
Bill Gross, CEO of a large bond fund (PIMCO) wrote a letter on the topic.

America's Legislative Backlog

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One thing Republican control of the presidency and Congress gave us was *nothing* -- no legislative progress on things important to America. Sure sure they gave us all tax cuts, but that gave us deficits and long-term debt. Sure sure they spent a lot on defense, but it wasn't (apparently) done right and we still got 9/11, war in Afghanistan against al Qaeda and war in Iraq. The debt grew, but at least the rich were paying lower taxes and were deregulated. But, of course that gave us the mortgage/banking crisis which nearly destroyed the entire world's economy.

Since then Democrats have done health care reform, fixed the worst parts of the economy to stop and reverse the recession, re-regulate banking and a few other important things (car companies saved, higher education student loan reform, investment in alternative energy, etc.).

What's the difference? Democrats are taking care of what needs to be done instead of letting the legislative backlog grow.

Today when we look at al Qaeda we know there is a continuing threat, but we have competent people on the job containing the threat. When we look at Afghanistan and Iraq we know we're out of Iraq and will be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. When we look at a lot of the problems which existed during the Bush presidencies they've been taken care of. This doesn't mean everything is perfect. The economy is still sluggish, when you take the government spending sequester into account. What needs to be done to make the economy grow? Lots of things: tax reform, more deficit cutting, further improvement of the energy sector (more alternative energy, more competition, less gov't tax subsidizing), a reduction and eventual reversal of the Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing programs, a higher wage for the American worker, support for unions and more investment in infrastructure. The last item is becoming more apparent over time. The cut spending to reduce deficits is impacting it.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/11/01/2875921/infrastructure-spending/

So, how do we cut deficits and spend more on infrastructure?

The first thing to realize is that borrowing money today is at very low (nearly zero) interest rates. That's always handy and a lot better than a personal credit card with rates over 20%. The other important thing to recognize is that keeping infrastructure investment low will damage long-term growth of the economy -- it costs to do nothing.

So, beginning an infrastructure bank with small investments may be a big step forward. Looking at budget priorities and choosing wisely is the other main technique for finding a way. In any case we can't let it continue to drop without dire consequences.