A few words on a lot of things. I have a lot I have been thinking about but no time to write about. First- Gardening Granny’s idea of what should be done with Detroit. I have a wonderful idea for making the oozing sore on Michigan into a tourist attraction. There are literally miles, many square miles of property in Detroit that are essentially abandoned. The square mileage of Detroit is like three times that of most major cities. So we offer the few remaining homeowners in some of those abandoned stretches homes of greater or equal value in areas where the neighborhoods are a little more populated. The state or city owns many such homes.

Then we bulldoze miles of abandoned houses and stores, pour a few loads of manure on the land and plant native prairie plants and plants like switch grass. We also put up several wind turbines to produce energy which won’t affect the rest of my plan. After the prairie is established we add some buffalo. Of course we will need a huge fence around Detroit, sort of like the one they are building on the border with Mexico.

Now with buffalo grazing on the restored prairie we hire some Detroiters to act like they are buffalo soldiers- remember them? Or Native Americans and then they can lead horseback tours through the prairie. People can stay in Detroit’s big hotels, visit casinos or sports stadiums and have an outdoor adventure too. Maybe we can set up some French trading posts along the river and take people on canoe trips down the Detroit River too. Turn Detroit into one big amusement park. Something to laugh in, not at.

Ok, that’s done. Now on to my dislike of ruling by committee. Nothing gets done. Look at our senate and Congress and just about any city council or school board. Everyone is out to make sure their interests are covered and nothing gets done. Or bad things get done- here’s another Detroit reference- look at their city council or school board. People should vote for people they believe can lead them- choose a leader- and let that person make decisions. If the decisions are wrong then vote out the leader. Of course every leader needs advice and suggestions. But this crap about everyone having their say and let’s not offend anyone ( at least those we like) . All the time and energy spent arguing and posturing, pretending to study issues and look important is wasted time and money.

Leaders have to be strong enough to stand up and lead and to take the blame for bad decisions if they make them. We could save a whole lot of time and money for our country if we got rid of most of the senate and house. Maybe allow one person from each state as a representative and maybe one from each region for the house. Even that is probably enough to slow things down but this country demands such a scheme. At least now, maybe in the future people will see what a mess we have created. Get rid of political parties and just vote for the best person for the job. Small committees if we have to have them, where all the people know who represents them.

And school boards and city councils? I’d eliminate them and choose a leader. Someone who can work swiftly and decisively. He or she can have advisory committees if he or she doesn’t let them drag down decision making. Most businesses don’t work by committee, they have a boss. The most successful businesses generally have a strong leader.

Now on to the furor over the AIG bonuses. If the furor was back when they received the bonuses it would be one thing, but it was months ago when they got those bonuses. We are asking people to give back money they expected to get and probably spent already. Was it right? NO! but it was the governments mistake, they handed our money out without any rules. Learn from the mistake and move on. Make sure no company receiving money from taxpayers gives out bonuses until the money is paid back. Stop hounding the rich idiots who received the money and get mad at the government who gave it to them. Another one of those stupid committee decisions.

Now my plan to cure the mortgage crisis. Demand that all banks lower interest rates to 5% on all mortgages under $500,000. ( Primary residence only). This would lower the mortgage payment for most home owners, leaving more disposable income and allowing people to pay for health care etc. Now go over all of the mortgage holders in trouble and determine if they have the means to pay the lower payment. If not, banks should offer to trade the current home for one that the bank already owns where they can afford the payment. Some people will still lose a home but most would be helped. It’s simple and effective. Yes banks would lose some profit. Maybe they should drop bonuses. Better some mortgage payment coming in than none. Maybe the 5% rate could be allowed to rise for new mortgages after a few years.

Another fix would be to set the limit on current mortgage payments to 30 % of a family’s income, re-evaluated each year. Yes, some people would get really good deals on big houses they couldn’t afford in the first place but remember the banks greed allowed them to get those bad mortgages. And new mortgages would be exempt.

Nothing about the farm here. I’ll save that for the next time when I am feeling mellow.