A just machine to make big decisions 
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision 
We'll be clean when their work is done 
We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young 
What a beautiful world this will be 
What a glorious time to be free

I.G.Y

-D. Fagen

Paternalism: Behavior by a person, organization or state, which limits some person or group's liberty or autonomy for their own good. Paternalism can also imply that the behavior is against or regardless of the will of the person [being restricted], or also that the behavior expresses an attitude of superiority.

-Wiki

The core of the enlightenment movement behind the urge to remake America into a better, fairer, more equal society comes from a feeling of superiority of would-be taskmasters that also doubled as tastemakers. These men and women saw themselves as the last best hope for a nation absorbed with individual achievement and wealth creation. For them, a world closer to perfection was for everyone to own a tiny plot of land and be rewarded with kinship and a stress-free life.

A key component of their feelings was of sorrow or disdain for the masses and the notion that we are simply not smart. Even when it comes to the most obvious observations that rank right up there with the red facet pumping out hot water and the blue facet pouring out cold water, the enlightened crowd took on a condescending approach to helping everyone else understand. And so for them, it is logical that fast food makes people fat, guns fire themselves, and lazy people are just misunderstood, while lawbreakers are the real victims.

Moreover, it is with this mentality that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is ready to nudge food stamp recipients to make smarter decisions.

“Intended to change the choice architecture of the food retail environment to make healthier choices more prominent”- USDA

Those fellows with compassion and wisdom have recommendations on how to get people to buy more fruits and vegetables and less junk. Their 80-page report outlines strategies that border on absurd to insulting. At first blush, I am reminded of Woody Allen’s early movie material, but these folks take themselves seriously and apparently think food stamp recipients will take them seriously, too. Why? Because food stamp recipients are too dumb to know the difference between healthy and unhealthy choices.

The good news is that Michelle Obama has made eating “healthy” her mission and while it’s admirable, the new architecture of choice is only a house of cards.

Incentives:

• Discount coupons
• Rebates
• Buy one get one free deals
• Loyalty cards
• Special shopping carts

The “My Cart Grocery Cart” would be color coded and physically divided. It would be designed to modify behavior, using algorithms that reward smart choices. And once a fresh food threshold has been reached, the cart would congratulate the shopper. (Stop laughing!) Other innovations would include better store lighting for healthier food items, movie ticket rewards for doing the right thing, and supermarket classrooms complete with weekly circulars.

Of course, in our collectivist utopia, supermarkets would have to chip in beyond special lighting arrangements. Each store would be urged to assign an “Ambassador” to help people make the right choices. Then there is the $30,000 per store price tag for those talking shopping carts. This thing is a nightmare on wheels, yet taxpayers are already out $999,891 on the study that spawned these suggestions.

The panel based this approach on a $999,891 government-funded study entitled “Nudging Nutrition,” arguing the research “suggests an intervention of this sort might be successful in modifying consumer shopping behavior.” This is how the “just machine” of paternal leadership operates. Food stamp recipients that are not buying the right foods for themselves and their families need to be called out, not mollycoddled or rewarded for eating vegetables.

What a beautiful world, indeed…

 The Rally

Two things stand out from yesterday’s session.

• Yellen finally gives us a timeline:

• During her testimony yesterday, Yellen fielded a question/statement from Rep. Carolyn Maloney D-NY, where it was suggested the Fed would raise rates in the third quarter of next year. Yellen’s reply was that the first rate hike "is in some sense roughly consistent with what you said."

• Blue chip names take the lead:

• Dow +0.45%
• S&P +0.42%
• NASDAQ +0.22%
• RUS -0.20%

As the Dow pulls away from 17,000, I think we’ll get serious momentum that is driven more by quality names than by the high flyers. Although, that should change later when the excitement normally associated with this kind of rally begins to materialize.

Housing Data

Once again, another headline from housing points to the massive struggles for residential construction to recover from its post-bubble meltdown.

• Starts pace 893,000 estimate 1,020,000
• Permits 933,000 estimate 1,037,000

Fortunately, there is a sliver of good news that probably won’t get any press. While starts for Single family units plummeted to the lowest level this year, permits reversed to the highest level of 2014 and high year over year. I’m seeing hints of an inflection in housing, but must admit, much of the onus is on easier lending standards and continued job growth.

The market will open under pressure in part to increased economic sanctions against the Russian industry and banks that President Obama announced last night.

Comments

confusing answers....is this really a house of cards? YES period! without all the explanations! Gail B on 7/17/2014 9:30:38 AM

The would be ruling elite will do ANYTHING to perpetuate a class of people that are dependent on them for their very substance and existence. This is another example of them sending the message to that class that they are incapable and need their "rulers" to survive. Jim price on 7/17/2014 10:07:59 AM

Under the name of Privacy and Freedome the Fraud is 50%. I INVESTIGATED MANY AT sTORES. With new Cars and good owned homes the best I could.The Social is FRAUD FRAUD. In San Francisco !!! Josef Brunner on 7/17/2014 10:10:26 AM

Michelle Obana is running for office as Senator from "CHICAGO", and she needs to go away and stop spending the tax payers money on her personal travel and her $500 sneakers at the bar-b-ques for "the poor". Pure crap. HAROLD WELLS on 7/17/2014 10:33:45 AM

Governmental nutritional guidelines are so poorly conceived that even if such ridiculous coercion worked the results would be ineffective and would serve to exacerbate the coercion. KS Barry on 7/17/2014 10:34:50 AM

Are they going to rate beers, if not it will surely fail. Me on 7/17/2014 10:54:03 AM

Just program the snap card not to pay for certain items like soda, cookies etc PAUL E TAYLOR JR on 7/17/2014 11:08:48 AM

I truly believe it is just another form of government control..... slowly and painfully giving away all choice in all areas of our lives. Ironic in an age of Pro-Choice. cyndi taylor on 7/17/2014 11:16:09 AM

Thank God she hasn't made it her mission to improve military readiness. Dan Knudson on 7/17/2014 11:16:12 AM

This reminds me of the old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Charlene Voss on 7/17/2014 11:19:30 AM

Further intrusion by the government. Jesse Harrington on 7/17/2014 11:22:50 AM

it is based on a faulty assumption that people listen to what the government tells them to eat. People are going to eat what they want to unless there is a compelling to change such as a pending health issue and even then they may not change their ways. So what makes the government think they can change human behavior when even the treat of ones own demise can not change it. L J Mutch on 7/17/2014 11:23:38 AM

It is another way to get the "poor" to vote for the Liberals and will do NOTHING to benefit food stamp recipeints judith shaw on 7/17/2014 11:26:08 AM

spend,spend,spend-another way to increase $ amounts!STOP giving away future! tom on 7/17/2014 12:13:17 PM

I wish everyone, right or left would just mind their own business and leave us alone. They all need to look in to a mirror before telling others what to do. thomas R. Wayne on 7/17/2014 12:28:12 PM

its just another way(excuse) to get more people hooked are gov assistance....It would be easier to restrict what people are allowed to buy with the Snap cards...and that will never happen....too much money going into the junk food industry and their lobbyists will fight that more than the Food Stamp receipent would..... Bonnie L on 7/17/2014 12:41:49 PM

I think is to help her set up her future political ambitions. Charles keep up the great fight Bob Medkeff on 7/17/2014 2:40:11 PM

The WH ideology is premised on a malleable, ignorant populace who will take their word on everything. Patricia Flynn on 7/17/2014 2:57:59 PM

They are using public funds this gave up their choice public can require/restrict use of funds. D Beeson on 7/17/2014 3:45:35 PM

Instead of enticing people with ‘free’ moving tickets (which is not free, we pay for this as well) it would be simpler to disallow the purchase of unhealthy foods within the program. As a computer programmer it is a simple, to make changes to the point of sale system to not allow the payment of unhealthy foodstuffs by food stamps recipients. This would seem to elevate this problem. DudeT on 7/18/2014 7:49:15 AM

It is simply a facade. The food stamp program is so abused and the First Lady is working to save face. Andrea on 7/18/2014 8:41:08 AM

They all know the difference.Its a lifestyle & they pass it on to thier own. I see them at the checkout, with prepared foods. Rarely buying fresh anything. And 95% pull the food cards & stamps out of a designer handbag. Also rare is seeing any of them without a new or newer model car. Ronnie Rhodes on 7/18/2014 8:42:17 AM

There are simmply to many people in DC that waste their time and our money on foolish ideas, programs, and errant policies. Federal agencies are out of control and have no oversight. They are like little kids in a candy store with an unlimited amount of money to spend and doting parents that are outside smoking a joint. Mark Swenson on 7/18/2014 10:47:42 AM

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