I am not sure how many people will read this but I am advocating basketball for those who are over 50 and reasonably fit as a way to have fun and keep healthy.
I also advocate after attending and participating in the recent Summer National Senior Games at Stanford University that people need to participate in something active even if it is Shuffleboard.
I am also looking for two players to round out our team.
We are looking for two men 6 ft 5 in or taller and at least 65 years old by 12/31/2010.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Friday, December 26, 2008
The Auto Bailout VS The Money Better Spent
The auto company bailout and loans are OK for now but in the long term these dinosaurs of twentieth century manufacturing practices and labor agreements MUST get with the 21st Century methodologies and contract agreements in order to be around by 2020 and beyond.
The producing of fuel efficient and cars and trucks is part of the process BUT a bigger picture suggest new companies with less models and lines and better production methods with less work rules will be and must happen NOW.
In my opinion there should be four levels of product offered by the automakers-OPENING PRICE POINT (OPP)-followed by GOOD, BETTER, AND BEST.
There are obviously some model variations within each class but it is crazy to have too many overlapping price points.
However al that being said the money given to the auto companies could and would be better spent on NEW and INNOVATIVE Technologies that when commercialized will eventually employ more people than will be left in the auto industry after it contracts and it will contract.
Cars last longer and are going to be kept even longer of the next two decades.
So let us invest in the technologies and the products of the 21st century and let the dinosaurs die a natural death or let them adapt in a way the original dinsaurs could not. These companies can become the fossil fuel for the USA to move forward as a leader of the 21st century.
Bruce Rubin
The producing of fuel efficient and cars and trucks is part of the process BUT a bigger picture suggest new companies with less models and lines and better production methods with less work rules will be and must happen NOW.
In my opinion there should be four levels of product offered by the automakers-OPENING PRICE POINT (OPP)-followed by GOOD, BETTER, AND BEST.
There are obviously some model variations within each class but it is crazy to have too many overlapping price points.
However al that being said the money given to the auto companies could and would be better spent on NEW and INNOVATIVE Technologies that when commercialized will eventually employ more people than will be left in the auto industry after it contracts and it will contract.
Cars last longer and are going to be kept even longer of the next two decades.
So let us invest in the technologies and the products of the 21st century and let the dinosaurs die a natural death or let them adapt in a way the original dinsaurs could not. These companies can become the fossil fuel for the USA to move forward as a leader of the 21st century.
Bruce Rubin
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Energy Policy
Last May I wrote President Bush concerning the setting of a goal of 2015 for the US to become energy independent. I think this is doable and necessary for the US to maintain itself as the leading world economy and innovator.
Nothing should be left off the table from offshore drilling to every type of energy source from Nuclear to Hydro and everything in between.
I am an advocate for Nuclear in all forms, shapes, and sizes. If we can power submarines for over 50 years with small reactors why not Trains, Planes, and Automobiles besides our homes.
Not drilling wherever possible, as long as there is oil to be found, is idiotic and shortsighted and the NIMBYs and special interest groups that prevent it need to pushed aside in favor of the entire country. When the caribou and the moose get the vote then we should allow them to stop drilling in places like ANWAR.
The US has the ability to accomplish what needs to be done we just need to have the priority of the government and industry to meet the objective and the ability to fund the process either through direct monies or tax and other advantages for investment.
There are energy alternative methods that I am aware of that can generate anywhere from 1 KW to 1 Megawatt through scaling and need funding to prove the technology out.
From what I know about at least two of these $10 Million would provide more than enough to prove the technology and begin commercialization and if the upside worldwide for these technologies is anywhere near what I think the $10 Million could be repaid 10 fold over the next ten years if not sooner.
Lets put out the word that the government is open for business in this arena and set-up a council to review plans and have the ability to award dollars for commercialization with the caveat that REPAYMENY of at least three times the investment within ten years is doable. The goal would be FIVE TIMES the investment or a percentage of the profits for ten years after the first sale of the technology to a consumer wherever in the world that happens whichever is HIGHER.
THis type of policy and goal will not only stimulate new technoliges but the economy as a whole since infrastructure to the grid and manufacturing of plant and equipment will be required.
Bruce Rubin
Nothing should be left off the table from offshore drilling to every type of energy source from Nuclear to Hydro and everything in between.
I am an advocate for Nuclear in all forms, shapes, and sizes. If we can power submarines for over 50 years with small reactors why not Trains, Planes, and Automobiles besides our homes.
Not drilling wherever possible, as long as there is oil to be found, is idiotic and shortsighted and the NIMBYs and special interest groups that prevent it need to pushed aside in favor of the entire country. When the caribou and the moose get the vote then we should allow them to stop drilling in places like ANWAR.
The US has the ability to accomplish what needs to be done we just need to have the priority of the government and industry to meet the objective and the ability to fund the process either through direct monies or tax and other advantages for investment.
There are energy alternative methods that I am aware of that can generate anywhere from 1 KW to 1 Megawatt through scaling and need funding to prove the technology out.
From what I know about at least two of these $10 Million would provide more than enough to prove the technology and begin commercialization and if the upside worldwide for these technologies is anywhere near what I think the $10 Million could be repaid 10 fold over the next ten years if not sooner.
Lets put out the word that the government is open for business in this arena and set-up a council to review plans and have the ability to award dollars for commercialization with the caveat that REPAYMENY of at least three times the investment within ten years is doable. The goal would be FIVE TIMES the investment or a percentage of the profits for ten years after the first sale of the technology to a consumer wherever in the world that happens whichever is HIGHER.
THis type of policy and goal will not only stimulate new technoliges but the economy as a whole since infrastructure to the grid and manufacturing of plant and equipment will be required.
Bruce Rubin
Monday, November 24, 2008
New Economic Package and the Future
The new economic package needs to address the MASSES and not the few. The few can be addressed at a later date.
Also any package must include a fix for Social Security, Energy Independence Program, Infrastructure Improvements, Reducing the National Debt Over Time, and Financial Market Reform.
None of this is earth shattering news BUT unless a package includes all of these areas the house of cards will fall.
Below is a Social Security Plan I suggested in 2005 and believe it is still relevant and worth looking at.
October 12, 2005
Mr. President:
I believe that the Social Security systems needs to addressed and I also believe that the plan submitted by you will not pass the Congress, and that is not acceptable.
I think with the events of the past months from Iraq to Katrina, Mr. President you need to start leaving a positive legacy for your Presidency, and solving Social Security would be a great start.
You came into office as a Compassionate Conservative, and solving the Social Security issue with more Compassion than Conservatism would be a great service to the American people even though the plan I am suggesting below might make the “hair on the back of your neck stand up”, it is the right thing to do.Mr. President my plan maybe the beginning of what is finally passed by Congress and signed by you and obviously needs to be more than a page long but as they say “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
So here is my outlined alternative to the situation, and also state that there is a private account system that already exists, in my opinion, and that is the 401K.
1) Raise the limit of income for the FICA tax to $250,000 immediately and then over five years to $750,000. Raise the total tax paid by company and employee by a total one-quarter percent every five years through 2025. Higher or longer of computer simulations determine that is needed
2) Eliminate payments to all people who an estate of at least five million dollars or an annual income in excess of $50,000 until the age of eighty.
3) After age seventy there would be no taxes paid on any withdrawals from a 401K, IRA, or other savings fund if the total worth of the estate is less than five million dollars.
4) Insure that all employers (more than three employees) have a 401K or similar plan established for all employees. And insure that all workers contribute a minimum of three percent into the plan.
5) All companies with more than ten employees must contribute a minimum of one and one half percent of each employees gross earning to the plan annually. All employees over the age of thirty must join a plan at the minimum level that would equal the company contribution.
6) Anyone earning less than $25,000 (unless signed as a second income) must choose a fixed income option for their 401K.
7) Anyone whose final income is under $30,000 annually at age 65 would not pay any taxes on their 401K.
8) Continually increase the age for maximum payments of Social Security based upon the life expectancy tables established by the US government. The age would be ten years below the life expectancy table indications and would different for both men and women. This provision would be effective in the year 2010. The dates would not go below the present provisions.
In my opinion these steps when put through the appropriate computer programs would show how much a person who is making the present minimum wage and assuming no wage increases, and a three percent interest level would have available at age 70 as a nest egg in addition to Social Security.
I also believe the increases in income to the fund and the reduction in payments would allow the fund to be solvent well beyond the dates now projected.
Look forward to hearing from you concerning my plan and the opportunity to discuss it with you further.
Bruce Rubin
1201 Oak Circle
Lansdale, PA 19446-6074
215-699-8422
Also any package must include a fix for Social Security, Energy Independence Program, Infrastructure Improvements, Reducing the National Debt Over Time, and Financial Market Reform.
None of this is earth shattering news BUT unless a package includes all of these areas the house of cards will fall.
Below is a Social Security Plan I suggested in 2005 and believe it is still relevant and worth looking at.
October 12, 2005
Mr. President:
I believe that the Social Security systems needs to addressed and I also believe that the plan submitted by you will not pass the Congress, and that is not acceptable.
I think with the events of the past months from Iraq to Katrina, Mr. President you need to start leaving a positive legacy for your Presidency, and solving Social Security would be a great start.
You came into office as a Compassionate Conservative, and solving the Social Security issue with more Compassion than Conservatism would be a great service to the American people even though the plan I am suggesting below might make the “hair on the back of your neck stand up”, it is the right thing to do.Mr. President my plan maybe the beginning of what is finally passed by Congress and signed by you and obviously needs to be more than a page long but as they say “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
So here is my outlined alternative to the situation, and also state that there is a private account system that already exists, in my opinion, and that is the 401K.
1) Raise the limit of income for the FICA tax to $250,000 immediately and then over five years to $750,000. Raise the total tax paid by company and employee by a total one-quarter percent every five years through 2025. Higher or longer of computer simulations determine that is needed
2) Eliminate payments to all people who an estate of at least five million dollars or an annual income in excess of $50,000 until the age of eighty.
3) After age seventy there would be no taxes paid on any withdrawals from a 401K, IRA, or other savings fund if the total worth of the estate is less than five million dollars.
4) Insure that all employers (more than three employees) have a 401K or similar plan established for all employees. And insure that all workers contribute a minimum of three percent into the plan.
5) All companies with more than ten employees must contribute a minimum of one and one half percent of each employees gross earning to the plan annually. All employees over the age of thirty must join a plan at the minimum level that would equal the company contribution.
6) Anyone earning less than $25,000 (unless signed as a second income) must choose a fixed income option for their 401K.
7) Anyone whose final income is under $30,000 annually at age 65 would not pay any taxes on their 401K.
8) Continually increase the age for maximum payments of Social Security based upon the life expectancy tables established by the US government. The age would be ten years below the life expectancy table indications and would different for both men and women. This provision would be effective in the year 2010. The dates would not go below the present provisions.
In my opinion these steps when put through the appropriate computer programs would show how much a person who is making the present minimum wage and assuming no wage increases, and a three percent interest level would have available at age 70 as a nest egg in addition to Social Security.
I also believe the increases in income to the fund and the reduction in payments would allow the fund to be solvent well beyond the dates now projected.
Look forward to hearing from you concerning my plan and the opportunity to discuss it with you further.
Bruce Rubin
1201 Oak Circle
Lansdale, PA 19446-6074
215-699-8422
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Water Water Everywhere
It has been a dream of mine and I have written five Presidents with the idea to create a national water pipeline system to divert water from flooded areas to those in a draught situation. It also could be used to funnel excess water from flood prne areas prior to any flooding and transferred to fire prone and other areas where water would be helpful.
It could also be used to reclaim land for farming to increase the production of crops that are being strectched thin due to the increase in bio-fuels and will enable these alternatives to be more cost effective.
I understand building this pipeline is extremely costly but compared to the issues and costs caused by Hurricane Katrina alone this project would pay for itself many times over.
What if the lake and the water behind the levees could have been lowered to a "safe" level in the days leading up to the storm where would we be today.
If the people in the Carolinas and Georgia could have water piped in to their reservoirs I am sure that the potential diasater that could occur would not be hanging over the area like a guillotine.
If the floods on the Mississippi that occur after the winter snow melt and the spring rains could be averted I am sure those people living in the flood plain would appreciated not ever having to start over again.
What about the fires in southern California each year and the lives and homes that are destroyed by them, could this pipeline avert this?
We do not always take a hard road to solve problems and spend money before the disaster but this is a project that I believe its time has come.
I would love to have people in pwer read this and think about the process and begin a dialog on this project.
It could also be used to reclaim land for farming to increase the production of crops that are being strectched thin due to the increase in bio-fuels and will enable these alternatives to be more cost effective.
I understand building this pipeline is extremely costly but compared to the issues and costs caused by Hurricane Katrina alone this project would pay for itself many times over.
What if the lake and the water behind the levees could have been lowered to a "safe" level in the days leading up to the storm where would we be today.
If the people in the Carolinas and Georgia could have water piped in to their reservoirs I am sure that the potential diasater that could occur would not be hanging over the area like a guillotine.
If the floods on the Mississippi that occur after the winter snow melt and the spring rains could be averted I am sure those people living in the flood plain would appreciated not ever having to start over again.
What about the fires in southern California each year and the lives and homes that are destroyed by them, could this pipeline avert this?
We do not always take a hard road to solve problems and spend money before the disaster but this is a project that I believe its time has come.
I would love to have people in pwer read this and think about the process and begin a dialog on this project.
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