Fingers Crossed

I’ve got my fingers crossed. For a lot of reasons .

First I am hoping that the economy can turn around. I know we often speak of the economy as something separate and apart from our lives, but it really is our lives, at least the way they relate to the world of commerce and finance. Until that time when we all board the Enterprise and money is no longer an issue, we will continue to be part of the economy.

Specifically the LGBT economy, and yes there really is one, has ground to a crawl just like the rest of the country. If you don’t believe me, talk to a few friends about how secure they feel in their jobs, or with their current financial position. If you are like me, you will hear the same kind of trepidation that is reflected in the stock market and on the news.

That fear is the real problem. Roosevelt was absolutely right about “nothing to fear but fear itself”. In this age of 24 hour blather that passes for news the fear meter is really ratcheted up. It is that fear that slows everything down. If you are afraid of losing your job, you pull back on spending. When you do that stores where you shop pull back on things like new orders and employees, the salon you patronize lays off a stylist, the café drops a couple of waiters, the bookstore closes and the newspaper gets fewer advertisers and sooner or later it affects you. It’s a downward spiral that is driven somewhat by big factors like tight credit and a lot by small factors like fear.

I am no Pollyanna, though I think I might look pretty good in gingham. I do not believe we can just all go out and start spending and crank up the local LGBT economy as if my magic. I do believe we can minimize the effects by being rational and perhaps turning off FOX or CNN for a while and just calm down.

There is about to be almost $800 billion flowing into the nation’s economy for projects like rebuilding roads and fixing our infrastructure. Additionally, there are plans afoot to help out people who are crushed by mortgage debt left over from the housing bubble.

It’s not going to be a quick fix, but it is a start. Getting money flowing again is what it is all about. That’s why the banks are being rescued and why automakers are working out plans to stay in business. ON a local level, we haven’t been hit as hard as many communities, but still people are in financial trouble and their problems affect us all.

The LGBT community has traditionally been in a better position to whether recessions better than our straight friends, but that was before we started having gaybies and buying homes in the suburbs. Still many LGBT people have a bit more disposable income than those with large families and the financial obligations they bring.

Why does this matter and what the heck can we do about it? Well, here is my suggestion.

First don’t be foolish. Have a prudent reserve of some kind. I once heard a figure that showed most American’s are one paycheck away from the street. Perhaps having a couple of months rent saved up is a good idea.

Second, don’t cower in fear. If you succumb to the fear the news is selling you will find yourself in a state of inertia. That does no one any good.

Third, find a way to help others. A little volunteer work goes a long way, and local LGBT service organizations are hurting from lack of donations. They can always use extra hands and that costs you nothing but a little time. You’d probably spend that time watching the news and being afraid.

Fourth, when you do spend money, patronize LGBT and LGBT friendly businesses. There are lots of them in Dallas both in the gayborhood and elsewhere.

Finally, take a few minutes to find those things in your life that really are important. I know I am often caught in a whirlwind of meaningless minor irritations that blind me to the good things that I have. A loving partner, a large family of choice, a couple of enigmatic cats, and an outlet for my creativity.

If all this sounds like a recipe to avoid depression, it is. The economy can sink or float on how we feel, and why should we let ourselves or our economy sink into depressions. As Auntie Mamie said, “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death! “

Time For Real Health Care Reform In Our Country

Let's talk about health care. Now there is a conversation stopper, at least in Congress. Seems no one wants to seriously approach the issue for fear of being attacked by lobbyists and the health care industry. And there is the problem. Health care has become an industry not a healing profession.

I was raised in a hospital. My father was a director of the laboratories at a local medical center and a microbiologist and hematologist. I spent much of my formative years hanging out at the lab and the hospital and seeing the work that was done there. At that time, in the bucolic past, hospitals were concerned with healing not making money.

Oh sure, they had administrators who made sure they didn't go broke, but most hospitals were supported by non-profits like denominations or charitable foundations. They concerned themselves with doing the work.

Somewhere along the way, that all changed and hospitals became big business.

Now they are no longer owned or supported by the churches or charities but by large health services firms who still hide behind the charity name but in reality are in it for the bucks.What that leaves is a big gaping hole into which millions and millions of Americans are falling, there they become, "the uninsured"! 14,000 a day are losing their insurance and that is bad news for all of us.

It's time Congress moves beyond the stimulus package and gets on with the real reform of the health care system we have in our country. It is so badly broken that we are receiving the kind of care you would expect in a third world country in many cases. We pay more for health care than almost any other developed country and get less for our money. Why? The elephant in the room is "profit". Insurance companies spend millions to deny coverage to maximize profits.

Hospitals spend millions building luxury rooms and fancy lobbies to impress the wealthy who can afford the best and latest treatment and the poor are relegated to overcrowded ER's where they often wait until they die from life threatening complications. It's all about money. If you have it, you can have good health care and if not, too bad.

It's high time our health care system got back to providing health care and got out of the business of generating profits for investors. There are better things for people to invest in.

How about this? We set up a National Health Insurance Fund. Everyone is eligible and they can either join it , the payments for this are taken out of taxes and or payrolls just like payroll tax. If they opt out, they can buy their own health insurance and deal with a private company. All hospitals and doctors are required to accept the NHIF insurance and the government pays the going rates for care. Meanwhile, rich folk can see whatever expensive specialist they want and stay in whatever spa/hospital they want at their own expense, but those institutions will not receive any government money or tax breaks.

To facilitate the transition, the government will have to hire lots of people who will be put out of work when the private health insurance companies get out of the business.

It works for Medicare, for the Veterans Administration and for every other civilized country, why not ours. Meanwhile businesses, freed from having to provide health care can become competitive in the world market again and unions can stop having to spend funds managing health care programs thus lowering their dues. Everybody wins, but the middle men making big bucks off the poor health of Americans. I weep for them, but only a little.

Bailed Out Firm Awards Management With Millions!

The Ultra-rich who run America's failing financial institutions are once again sticking their hands in the lucrative cookie jar. The firms, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup's Smith Barney which are soon merging following the huge losses on their balance sheets, are planning to distribute to their top managers, "retention awards". Never heard of this?

Well it would be called a bonus in English, but in the corporate double speak of the board room it's considered an award to keep top employees at the companies. Now considering how many people including "top financial experts" are out of work, retention would seem to be something that would be of little concern. The award would be keeping your 7 or 8 figure a year job!

In a recorded conference call obtained by Huffington Post one senior executive described the "very generous" awards and then urged all the listeners "Please do not call it a bonus."

The quote was from James Gorman, co-president of Morgan Stanley."It is not a bonus. It is an award. And it recognizes the importance of keeping our team in place as we go through this integration."

I have to wonder if I were someone like a board member who actually had the interests of the company in mind, would I want the same bad management who got us into hot water to stay in place? Hell no! But I am not a Wall Street boys club member.You and I gave this firm $60 billion to save its collective butt, and now they are handing out jumbo party favors in the tune of MILLIONS to the bad management who drove the company into near failure?

Excuse my righteous anger, but the hell you say!

This is being done just in advance of any kind of salary cap imposed by the government on these bums and so , now, they are taking a big grab from the cookie jar before pretending to suffer the same economic deprivation as the rest of us.

Listen to the audio on Huffington Post and don't slug your computer!