This article was written on Thursday, March 29, 2018.  It is being published on September 22, 2018.  The information in the article is still viable though the price of Facebook has changed.

In this video, Representative Leonard Lance of New Jersey says, “Americans want answers From Facebook. REALLY?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-03-29/rep-lance-says-americans-want-answers-from-facebook-video

I am not so sure it is American’s that want answers as much as it is the Federal Government. They (the government) sees it as a way to set up more and more regulations on something that is not heavily regulated now. Of course, with regulations … comes money. And there is nothing more than money that politicians want regardless of party – YOUR money!

Now I am not a fan of Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook. However, I do respect him for what he has been able to accomplish in his life. I also respect him for the amount of salary he takes out of his company which happens to be $1 per year. No, this is not all the money he makes but it is what he shows as salary from Facebook, Inc. I have no idea what his earnings will be this year but in 2013 it was reported he made $10.5 Billion or ~ $30.4 Million per day or ~$1.27 Million per hour or ~ $21,135 per minute. I truly respect people that make this kind of money on “something they built” even though ex-president Obama believes businessmen built nothing on their own in America.

Mr. Lance goes on to say it’s not only here in America but the British Parliament wants answer to the questions from the Facebook founder, as well. Notice he did not say the British people … but rather the British Parliament. I’m pretty sure it’s the same here in America. The people already understand that their information can be stolen by whomever, and wherever, as long as our Federal Government continues to do nothing about “computer hacking” other than hire the good hackers and give them good comfortable jobs in the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and other government bodies that Americans waste so much money in funding, while at the same time the government is trying to figure out another way to bring on more regulations.

Yet, Mr. Lance would not put a question on the census as to whether you’re an American Citizen or not.  He claims the purpose of the census is to count everyone in America. But actually, the purposes of the census goes much deeper than that. It is to accurately apportion congressional districts, in addition the federal government uses census data, among other reasons, to determine: The allocation of federal funding for education programs in states and communities.  www.thisnation.com/question/022.html

It is mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years. The data collected by the decennial census determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is also used to distribute billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities.

Don’t you believe, as I do, that these seats should be based on American Citizen Populations that can legally vote, and that the billions of dollars in Federal Funds should be allocated to the neediest American Citizen communities?

Now Mr. Lance voted for the Omnibus Spending Bill because it allows $540 million for the Gateway Tunnel Project which he believes is good for the east coast (he would since he is representing New Jersey) and all of America. Again REALLY? All of America?  Let us remember that this $540 million is just a drop in the bucket compared to the total estimated cost of $30 billion dollars that is needed to complete the project. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/01/nj_officials_push_to_keep_gateway_tunnel_on_track.html.  While I agree this could be a huge help to New York and New Jersey … I can’t for the life of me figure out how it is going to help the average citizen of other states like Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Nebraska or Kansas to name a few.

Don’t get me wrong, Infrastructure spending is a good thing. It helps Americans and employees many people in America. But here is my concern as it relates to infrastructure now days.  I wrote a similar article last week that you can get here:  Infrastructure, Are We Really Ready?  The numbers were a little different that what was stated below … but I am sure you get the picture.

HOW LONG IS IT GOING TO TAKE?

The original Eisenhower Interstate System in America was started in 1956 and was completed 35 years later in 1991. The total cost was $128.9 Billion Dollars and the original program consisted of 42,795 miles. This means it took about a year to complete 1,222.71 miles – which equates to about 3.35 miles per day (365 days per year). This is building the interstate system from scratch (from the dirt up and tunneling through and going over mountains and bodies of water and dense forest) with much worse construction equipment then than we have available today.  Right here in Jackson, Mississippi there is about a five mile stretch of Interstate 55 (I-55) that has been under repair for at least 5 years (if not longer). From 1956 – 1991 we spent a day to build 3.35 miles from scratch and now we are working on repairing five miles of highway for over 5 years. GIVE BE A BREAK!

At my age I likely won’t see much infrastructure completion in America as long as it is taking to get things done now-a-days.  Before we begin this $1.3 Trillion in infrastructure spending I hope the construction companies take the time to hire some good leaders. I hate to drive through a construction site at 50 MPH when I should be doing 75-80 MPH, and getting where I need to be, just to see a bunch of hard hats standing around jacking their jaws and not working. The only thing I hate worse is trying to drink my coffee on a highway that a horse would have a problem going down because of all the pot holes and unevenness. In Mississippi they blame it on the Yazoo Clay, in Louisiana they blame it on the sand and in Illinois they blame it on the rough cold winters.

Need some more facts … here they are for you and you will see how better technology does not necessarily improve construction time:

The Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower) in Chicago took 3 years to build. It stands 1,729 feet tall and has 110 floors. The cost back in the early 70s was about $150 million.
For years it was the tallest building in America. About 2,000 workers started the Tower in
1970 and completed it in 1973.

One World Trade Center in New York, currently completed took 11 years to build. It
stands only 63 feet taller all the way to the tip than the Willis Tower at 1,792 feet and has
6 fewer floors at 104. Its cost was an estimated $3.8 Billion. Ground was broke for this
building in 2004 but because of disputes building was delayed until 2006. The building
opened on 11/3/2014, though the One World Observatory at the top did not open until
05/29/2015. I could not find information as to how many people worked on this tower but
it was probably more than then 2000 that worked on the Willis Tower in Chicago.

It just seems to me that the better the technology … the slower the work goes.

Well you have my rants for this week.

If you don’t own Facebook stock you may want to consider buying it now while it is below its 200-day moving average. But if you do just remember you may be taking a ride downhill for a few years … but eventually after all the ups and downs you should get to where you want to go in good fashion. See the chart below:

As of today (09/24/2018) the price of FB closed  at $165.41 (which is well below it’s one year high of $218.62.

For those not familiar with stock charts the candlesticks are the price action (red down and green up). Solid means it closed lower than it opened and open means it closed higher than it opened on a day the bar represents. The green line is 200-day simple moving average and the red line is the 50 day simple moving average.

Since tomorrow is Good Friday – have a great one!

Jerry Nix