Hope for Our Grand Children - Thoughts and Opinions of Kraig Schultz
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Why Bernie Sanders is Important - January 2016 Let's start with some data. Definition of Democratic Socialism, Trickle Around- The Myth of Trickle Down Exposed by a Capitalist, Distribution of Wealth in USA, Historical Marginal Tax Rate, Minimum Wage, Voice of Money in Government  There are many forms and levels of Socialism. There is a difference between State Socialism and Democratic Socialism. This video does a great job of introducing levels of Socialism Source: YouTube Keith Hughes Channel  Nick Hanauer "Rich people don't create jobs" Source: YouTube, Nick Hanauer, Ted Talk  Wealth Distribution out of Balance Source: YouTube  American Polictical System is controlled by Big Money Source: https://represent.us/action/theproblem-4/ http://www.upworthy.com/20-years-of-data-reveals-that-congress-doesnt-care-what-you-think  Minimum Wage is below Poverty Line Source: http://iowapolicypoints.org/tag/tom-harkin/ http://the-wawg-blog.org/page/2/  CEO Pay http://www.aflcio.org/Corporate-Watch/Paywatch-2014  Marginal Tax Rates Source: http://mcgeepost.com/tag/war-tax/ Now let's talk about solutions: 1. With Social Media and Internet, we can Take back control of congress IF we support the right candidates with our money AND we hold them accountable AND remove them when they are not voting correctly.  Campaign Funding Sources http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/ 2. Vote with our money on a daily basis, stop supporting big money with our purchases  Bernie Sanders Defines His Position:  Bernie Defines Democratic Socialist https://youtu.be/5DmAt3c15YE |
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U.S. Spending History - August 2014 The most troubling thing about the government spending is that no matter what party is in "control", the spending goes up each year. Our current level of spending is shocking. Perhaps the house of cards has already collapsed, and we are just keeping it afloat in the air with massive spending?  Federal Government Spending History Here's one way to cope the the tragedy:  Here's another, Lifestyle Change Experiments by Kraig Schultz and Schultz Engineering |
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How to Balance the Budget - October 2013 You cannot whine or complain about the Government until you have done your Homework! How would you balance the Federal Budget? Here's How I did it. Using the 2013 budget numbers. Balanced Budget PDF Balanced Budget Spreadsheet - Go ahead you play with the numbers! See attached proposed budget. There is no way to balance the budget without addressing our too biggest spending categories: 1. Defense Spending - i.e. stop existing wars, stop starting NEW wars! 2. Medicare/Medicad - i.e. Radical reform is required to deal with spiraling health care costs America’s staggering defense budget      |
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Politics - October 2013 I hate politics. But, we have to work with the incompetance we all elected, so I just sent off some e-mails to my representative in congress. Sent to Republican Representative Bill Huizenga and Democratic Senator Carl Levin on October 6, 2013 Subject: Stop Government Shut-Down NOW! I am greatly disappointed by the leadership demonstrated by all leaders in congress (democrat and republican). You must BALANCE the budget by CUTTING spending and by RAISING taxes. If you can't figure out how to do it, then start by cutting your own salary! Health Care reform is a requirement for Cutting Spending. Republicans should have taken action when they had control, but they did not. The way to reform ObamaCare is not by holding other areas of the budget hostage. Sincerely, Kraig D. Schultz Here's a tidbit about ObamaCare Republicans Scared that ObamaCare will work |
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Michigan Energy Policy - February 2013 I prepared a speech which I delivered at the "Readying Michigan to Make Good Energy Decisions, Michigan Energy Public Forum", in Grand Rapids, MI on Monday, Feb. 25 at Grand Valley State University. The content of my speech is contained in this PDF: Kraig Schultz on Energy For Michigan's Future 2013 |
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New Website for Energy Issues - January 2013 I've set-up a new website to house research on Energy issues. www.RenewableFuture.US Kraig Schultz's West Michigan Focused Energy Website |
Politics - October 2012 Some people don't understand why I am endorsing Obama in 2012. While I wish we had a candidate like Ron Paul or Ross Perot running that could actually win the election, I must choose the next best option. And given our terrible economic condition, I'm not sure that drastic austerity measures would be the best short term course. We need steady, intelligent leadership that is focused on the long term holistic health of the nation and the world. In my opinion, Barack Obama has been a great president. He came into office with about the worst conditions imaginable, but has made progress in each area. Let me list specific things he has done that I feel have been good. ------------10 Good Things Obama Did------------------
Blaming the President for our nations problems entirely misses the mark. It's MY FAULT! I've allowed the corruption to continue. I'm the one who didn't protest us starting unnecessary wars. I took the Tax Cuts and cashed my Stimulus Checks, I've enjoyed freedom and liberty and government services all my life.1. Guided our country through an extremely tough situation 2. Passed Health Care Reform - My first hand experience with health care is that Obama Care and getting rid of pre-existing conditions is good 3. Stimulus Act - Invested in America instead of in more bombs! 4. Ended War in Iraq 5. Ended Torture of Prisoners 6. Saved American Auto Makers 7. Took out Osama 8. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards 9. Began Military Build-down 10. Disclosed government spending on www.Recovery.Gov -------------The worst Obama has done--------------- 1. Spending massive amounts of money to stimulate the economy. What choice did we have? I think we all pretty much agreed we had to do the massive bank bailout at the end of Bush Jr.'s term. It was bail them out or let the entire house of cards fall. We've managed to survive another 4 years by printing more paper. At some point, we'll have to actually balance the budget and start paying down the debt! 2. Heavy investment and support of environmental ventures. I prefer laws and taxation that foster good actions and penalize wasteful, destructive ones. E.G. CAFE stardards, Clean Water Act, Emission Control Standards, Elimination of Lead in Gasoline, Higher Fuel Taxes, etc. Throwing money or subsidies at various industries in 4 year spurts is a proven recipe for poor performance. 3. For legal Abortions - he's opposed to back alley abortions. Again, I understand why people are so upset about Abortion, but making something illegal doesn't make it stop. To reduce Abortions, we need to adopt more babies and give more love and support to our young mothers - not make things harder for them. YET, Have I created any jobs? Have I lived debt free in my own personal budget? Have I protested against unnecessary wars? Have I adopted an unwanted child? Have I housed a homeless person? Have I donated enough of my time in service to my community? As a citizen, I must work to help do the following: 1. BRING OUR JOBS HOME, Buy American, Start business ventures and hire local people 2. BALANCE OUR BUDGET, Demand Less Services and Higher Taxes, Volunteer in my Community 3. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME, Stop creating enemies around the world Given our disasterous financial and political situation (where everyone wants lower taxes but is unwilling to give up government services, and politicans won't do anything that would jeapordize their re-election), the question that best frames chosing our next president for me is this: "Should we spend our grand-childrens money on Bombs OR on Domestic Issues?" Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_debt and other sites that show charts of ACTUAL spending. You will discover something shocking about government size and spending! Who would have guessed that a Democratic President would guide us to a budget surplus and that a Republican president would immediately cut taxes and increase spending to give us a huge deficit!  Visit Mitt Romney's website, you will learn that he plans to cut taxes and raise military spending: we've tried this and we have data to show how well this works. If we do this we will bankrupt our country. We've worked hard for 30 years to get into this terrible financial situation, it will take at least that long to work our way out of it - but we must make the correct leadership decisions if we want to make it out of this mess. |
CHECK OUT MY WIND TURBINES!    December 2010 - Being green is so easy! For an extra $2.50/month, I am able to purchase 150 Kw-Hours of renewable energy through my electricity provider (Consumers Energy). In essense, I am leasing a small portion of these wind turbines and am able to charge my electric vehicles with clean, renewable energy. I took these pictures when our boy Scout Troop visited the Wind Farm being constructed near the highest point in lower Michigan (just east of Tustin, Michigan). At the time, I didn't know that I would eventually be able to call these MY WIND TURBINES... Oh, and here is the REALLY good news, wind power is our best alternative to Nuclear and Coal! Here is a chart that shows were were are at in late 2010. So, I'd like to say "Build Baby Build!" 
Oh, and the renewables keep getting less expensive while the dirty stuff is getting more and more expensive...Here is a chart that shows were were are at in late 2013. So, I'd like to say again, "Build Baby Build!" 
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LOOKING UP FROM THE BOTTOM OF A DEEP HOLE 
March 2009 - The News is Depressing: The economy is in the tank and consumer confidence is low. We've out-sourced a large portion of our wealth production to other countries (manufacturing). Corporate and personal bankrupcies are on the rise. Public and personal debt is at an all time high. Unemployment is rising. The stock market is plummeting. Government spending is out of control... But, a Vision for the Future can be Uplifting: There is huge opportunity for the future in many fields...I recommend checking out a book named "HOT, FLAT, AND CROWDED" by Thomas Friedman. In my opinion, it gives a pretty good prediction of future trends and where opportunity lies for ourselves and our children. I think the best advice in the book revolves around the idea of getting 10,000 inventors out in 10,000 garages inventing 10,000 solutions to our problems. We still have a base of industry, machinery and tools, a well-educated workforce with a strong work ethic. We must decide to switch off the TV set and start thinking, talking and taking action to fix the problems in our neighborhoods and in our economy and in our government. It will take work, and it won't be fixed overnight. But, if we work together as the third largest nation in the world with the highest standard of living, we can do it. Let's not look back 10 years from now and say, we saw the peak of western civilization! When it comes down to it, WE are the leaders we have been waiting for. WE need to get off our butts, and make some hard decisions about where to cut spending and where to start working. Let's not let the United States become a third-world country because we were fat, lazy and stupid. What can you do? Do what you are good at. Do what you enjoy doing. There are over 6 billion people on the planet. Each person has unique strengths, abilities and interests. With the internet, cell phones and global transporation systems in place, we can communicate, cooperate, innovate and transform our world faster and more efficiently than at any time in human history. We don't need to ask God or others to fix the problems we have the ability to fix ourselves. Our prayers need to be more like asking God to give us the strength and courage to do the work we are built for (even though it doesn't make us rich) and the initiative to get off our butts and do it! "RISK more than others think is safe. CARE more than others think is wise. DREAM more than others think is practical. EXPECT more than others think is possible." The Cadet Maxim, USMA, West Point, NY For years I have thought about writing a book with random thoughts about life, the universe and everthing...but, I've been distracted by many things...mainly accumulating stuff and trying to get rich... On this web page, I will start posting my opinions and practical ideas for how we can effect a brighter future in America and on this planet. |
First of all, we have some really tough challenges facing us. We need to have conversations that lead to good, long-term plans for action in some of the following areas:
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ETHANOL FROM CORN
RUMOR: It takes as much corn to fill the tank of an SUV as it would take to feed 1 person for a year. THE MATH: 17 gallons of fuel per tank / 2.7 gallons per bushel = 6.3 bushels of corn / tank Field Corn is 2400 calories per pound with 56 pounds per Bushel. = 134,400 cals/bushel 134,400 cals/bushel x 6.3 bushels of corn / tank = 846,720 calories / tank An average person needs less than 2000 calories per day x 365 days per year = 730,000 calories per year. CONCLUSION: It's true, for even a mid-sized car, one tank full of E85 uses as much corn as would feed one person for a year! MY OPINION/THOUGHTS: No one would WANT to just eat corn every day for a year, but land used for growing corn is land not available for growing other crops. When people are starving to death each day, does it make sense to use food to make fuel for cars? WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? We could effectively reduce fuel usage by 50% in America tomorrow if people would carpool. My 1993 Dodge Grand Caravan gets 168 mpg per person with 7 people in it! In my opinion, consistently high fuel prices could help drive us to a cleaner and more peaceful future. I would recommend a $.50/gallon tax increase every 6 months until the price of fuel is somewhere around $6/gallon (2008 dollars). This would cause people to start carpooling, buying more fuel efficient cars, driving more efficiently/effectively and investing in wind and solar energy production. 
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NUCLEAR ENERGY
RUMOR: Nuclear energy is a safe and low cost way to produce electricity. Anytime we choose to finance our current lifestyles with the health or economy of our children, we should be ashamed of ourselves. Nuclear power plants produce waste materials that must be safely stored for thousands of years. - Talk about taking a toxic dump on our grandchildren! The true cost of nuclear energy must be adjusted to consider the true cost of "disposal". How can you safely store material for thousands of years? What would be the cost of this? If we aren't concerned about our grandchildren, we might at least consider that the bulk of our plants will reach the end of their designed service life in the next 50 years. I hate to tell you this, but old things break down more frequently than new things and the cost of a failure near a population center or an environmental trust is beyond our ability to measure...We should be concerned about Nuclear power plant accidents, they have the potential to kill entire populations of animals and humans and make entire states and regions unlivable. I live in Michigan. The Great Lakes hold the worlds largest supply of fresh waster and we have built nuclear power plants right next to them! We've also placed the plants near our major population centers...It's insanity to believe we are so good at building mechanical things that they will never fail (let's not even think about terrorism)...Remember the UNSINKABLE Titanic? Where do you live? How close is the nearest plant to your house? Take a look at this map http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/united_states.html  I get some of my electricity from the Palisades Nuclear Power plant. The map below shows the 10 and 50 mile radius of serious contaimination from Palisades Nuclear Power that puts my family and 1.3 Million people who live here at risk. It's interesting to me that Lake Michigan is not included in the diagrams radii or how close the secondary zone comes to Chicago. Can you imagine permanently evacuating the city of Chicago and making the water of the Great Lakes undrinkable? It's estimated that 10 Million people get their drinking water from Lake Michigan. (Not that we should worry about potential Radiactive Isotope pollution, we daily poop, piss and pour an ever accumulating amount of drugs and poisonous chemicals into our once pure Lake Michigan. We use and abuse Mother Earth like it is ours to destroy and abandon. "Earth First. We'll destroy the other planets later..." Yet, this is our only home. What are we thinking? Why would we poison our own drinking water?) Palisades is built right on the shore of Lake Michigan with storage casks for spent fuel rods with foundations built on beach sand instead of bedrock. Everybody hopes there will never be a serious earth quake or tidal wave here. The plant was commissioned in 1971 and it's license was to expire in March 2011. It's operating under an extended license until 2031and it's ironic (or I would argue, expected) that we've had three shut downs for maintenance issues (one with radioactive steam released) in less than a year after it should have been retired.  Fukashima. Our third major warning. How many warnings do we need?  Pollution Information for Nuclear Power Plants and Coal Fired Plants on displays at GVSU MAREC center, Fall 2011:   MY OPINION/THOUGHTS: If there were no other way to produce electricity, and we were the last generation of people planning to live on this planet, then nuclear power produced on the surface of Earth would be a great idea. Most of the energy on this planet comes or came from a nuclear power plant placed a safe distance from population centers (approximately 93 million miles safely away from population centers). We've had the technology to capture energy from this nuclear power plant for thousands of years, do we have enough discipline, humility and lack of greed to pursue these options? WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? Today, we can build solar collectors and windmills that generate energy without polluting the air or water with a payback of 20 years or less. Write your congressman and tell them, we don't want Nuclear power plants! We want tax incentives for non-polluting, renewable energy sources like wind, tidal, and solar. |
UNEMPLOYMENT
The Future of Work: Increased manufacturing productivity through automation will one day make it possible for all the worlds products to be produced by a small fraction of its population. Will the small, but very productive fraction of people creating the wealth share it or horde it? What will the people who aren't involved in wealth production do for a living? And how will they pay for the things they need unless they have a job? Will the people involved in manufacturing share the ability to work or will they horde it? With advanced manufacturing, we only need to work a few minutes a day to provide for our needs. With "lights-out" manufacturing we don't need to work at all to provide for our needs. What is left for us to do? Obviously we need to solve world poverty and achieve world peace. But after that, what will we do? Will we sit on the front porch and sip lemonade all day? Will we pursue lives of leisure and diversion? Why are we on this planet anyway? As the need to work becomes less and less, our need for meaning becomes more and more. Why are we here? Work has been a diversion. As work becomes more high tech, it is a diversion, a fun occupation, but is it our reason for being? Creativity: Needs and wants. Survival and luxury. Poverty and wealth. Desperate competition for survival and peace on earth? One doesn't focus much on creating when he is fighting for survival. Once basic needs are met, luxuries and thoughtfulness become possible. What is necessary for creativity? To think outside the box? Security. Lack of fear. Willingness to waste time on something that is not needed. Time to dabble and play. Time to reflect and ponder. Do inventions stem from greed or from curiosity or from necessity? Can they happen without persistence? What are the greatest inventions of the modern age? Printing press, Electricity, running water, flush toilets, the internet... Perhaps the most creative way to play the game, is to not play the game at all. If we want to create something that is out of the box, we need to get out of the box! We need to step back from the game and watch it. We must be able to separate who we are, from what we do. The fundamental and most important questions must always be "Why?" and "For what purpose?" How, is a box. To break out the box, we must ask "Why?" Why are we here? Why are we doing this? Manufacturing is a method to provide for the needs and wants of man. It is a way to fulfill customer needs and a way to make money. It is not an end in itself. It is a method, a task, an activity. It is not the answer to Why. It is a diversion. WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? I would lobby for shorter working hours, more flex time, more job sharing. As the number of Full Time Jobs decreases, as a society we could decide to keep most people employed by working shorter hours and using our spare time to work on projects we enjoy that build community. The largest obstacle to this is employer provided health care. For-profit-companies recognize the economic disadvantage of having MORE employees due to the high cost of health care. So, our first nut to crack is making health insurance more affordable, employee based and portable. |
PUBLIC DEBT
If I told you I took out credit cards in my 8 year old son's name and have accumulated $37,000 of credit card debt, you'd probably say, "you're a bad parent". But, BOTH of my childern owe about $37,000 on the public debt and this year I will use their credit cards to Borrow more! When I mentioned this to my 11 year old son, he said, "HOW COME? I CAN'T VOTE YET! IT's NOT FAIR..." $11,000,000,000,000 DEBT: Every citizen of the U.S. should be getting a monthly bill from the U.S. government for their share of the $11 Trillion debt. This would be around a $370 monthly payment ($11 trillion/300 Million Citizens=$37,000) for their installment on their 30 year mortgage to pay back the federal debt. I strongly believe that every time congress proposes to spend more money than we have revenue, they should be required to get tax payer permission. This would make American citizens (voters) mad as hell! As we should be! I sent this Letter President Obama today (January 23, 2009): "Please RAISE MY TAXES, (and lower government spending). Our entire nation, public and private, needs to shake the bondage of debt and return to a philosophy of pay as we go. We must pass laws that force all governments (Federal, State and Local) to operate with a BALANCED BUDGET. This means raising taxes whenever necessary to cover increased costs of government. This one action will put the missing feedback loop back in place that will REINVIGORATE citizen participation in OUR GOVERNMENT..." |
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THE BIG PICTURE
I've had the opportunity to have many occupations during my life. I've been a teacher/camp counselor, factory worker, food service worker, janitor, engineer, manager, computer programmer, customer support person, salesperson, and company owner. I've found that as I get into my role I begin to believe that problems must be solved from that perspective. For instance, when I'm thinking like an engineer, I believe that all the worlds problems can be solved by engineering. But, as I've changed occupations, I've seen my perspective change. I wonder now, if congressmen think that they can solve the problems of the world by creating more laws and if lawyers think they can by creating more litagation? I've had a dream all of my adult life of creating a super efficient transporation vehicle. A single person car that gets 200 miles per gallon or more. As, an engineer, I look at vehicle weight, aerodynamics, rolling resistance, etc. I get all geeked. I believe I can create such an automobile! I calculated it would be expensive to build a proto-type, but I found examples that proved it could be done. But, after all the wrangling and work, I realized walking to work or riding my bicycle would be a simpler solution that is already available to me and is free. If I applied all my technical knowlege (and a fair amount of money) to improving my mini-van, I figured, I could hope to increase my miles per gallon by 33 to 50%. But, then I realized, anyone with absolutely no engineering training can do way better than that by just carpooling! |
Opinions by Kraig D. Schultz