OCTANe

Friends,

I sit here one week before the Presidential election and am thinking about the state of the country, but not so much the candidates to be honest. Not sure what that means but here is what I see (and do not see):

1. We are going through the worst economic mess since...well before I was born.
2. The US is the 3rd best performing country stock index over last year...ouch.
3. We are throwing around TRILLIONS of dollars like they are pennies...twelve 0's in a trillion.
4. Over 20+% of US mortgages are “under water”...but long-term, is this a bad thing?
5. Unemployment should be at 7-8% within 9 months...and those numbers don't include people NOT looking.
6. States are on the cusp of bankruptcy...or “pulling an Iceland” as it is now called.
7. Goodbye Princeton, hello University of Illinois...college fund/401K drops and Risky Business reference for everyone my age.
8. The Fed will be lowering borrowing rates to at or BELOW 1% tomorrow...and it is irrelevant due to credit blockage.
9. I attended my first home auction in my “McNeighborhood” recently...auctioneer was from Oklahoma City, the least expensive city in US. Go figure.
10. And on and on and on...it really is amazing the amount of news every day that matters.

But one thing I don’t see...where is ANY government help and investment in what REALLY drives the US: education, innovation and infrastructure? We are quick to bail out the mortgage industry (don’t think we aren’t) and Detroit (now there is a great return) and aggressively throw into the bailout ridiculous things about arrows and other stuff I am too insulted to comprehend. Some say that this is the democratic process....well I think it’s [editor's note: explicative removed].

Therefore, I am calling for a 1% “Innovation Tax” for the US effective immediately. Imagine what that could do to spur growth. Did you know we could have seeded 700,000 entrepreneurs and start-ups (at $1 Million each) with that 700 Billion dollar (which is now about double by the way) bailout? Think that would create more high-paying jobs than the bailout? Think we could invest 10X more in University commercialization and tech transfer and get a better return? Think we can train more people in science and technology? Yes I know we have some STEM initiatives going on and they are helpful, but why not THINK BIG and develop an innovation platform for which the NEXT generations can prosper? 1% should do it.

Oh well, enough of my soapbox, just some random musings on what I consider important, I guess more than who the next President will be.

Gary