2 Resolutions

Rob Johnson of the Roosevelt Institute and others have put together a call for people to get their money out of the big banks and into smaller banks and credit unions. This is a good idea. Using data provided by Chris Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics you can find a good solid small bank or credit union near you, it's a way to vote with your money. They also put together a nice little video using "It's a Wonderful Life," recommend watching.

It reminded me of the '92 presidential primary. In the debate right before Christmas, we tried to get Jerry Brown to ask people what America was becoming. Did they want to live in Bedford Falls or Pottersville? Jerry however balked. He was never much for cultural references, though he's the only American politician of the last four decades to have a propensity to quote Mao, and at the same time keep a tough law and order image. While Mao might not get you much, being tough on law and order hasn't hurt anyone running for office in America over the last four decades. One of the reasons California is in the mess it's in is because the prison industry's been one of our largest growth sectors over that time.

That debate did have highlight, when Tom Brokaw tried to stop candidate Brown from giving his 800 number. Jerry responded by saying, "You can't censor a presidential candidate." And then proceeded to list how much money NBC's parent company, General Electric, had given in elections over the past couple cycles. HO, HO, HO! "That's just not cricket, old man," you could feel Mr. Brokaw wanting to cry out in his affected half-patrician. No Tom, it's not even Marquess of Queensberry. We raised a lot of money that night. It will take a very long time for the United States to recover from having the majority of our broadcast media controlled by three corporations for a half-century.

OK, I digress. The second resolution is for us all to start becoming citizens again. To gather together every other week with five or six others and talk about the issues impacting our lives. We need to relearn the skills and art of being a citizen, developing a political dialog with each other is the first step.


Happiest New Year, let's hope it's good one, without any fear.

peace