Try watching Michael Moore's "Sicko" again.

Caught it this afternoon. Say what you will about Mr. Moore and his "agenda" but it's damn hard to argue against just how wrong thing have gotten in America. Sure, the movie's larger point is about healthcare and the outrageous inequalities, inefficiencies and expensiveness of our system here in the US. We Americans pay far more for our healthcare than any other country in the world. Yet our overall and general health is amongst the worst in the industrialized world.

However, the secondary message of the movie rings more true now than ever. We have allowed large, conglomerate corporations to profit from that which should be a basic human right ... our physical and mental well being. Worse still, it's the very same system that allowed/enabled this latest financial disaster. As long as we allow corporations to largely control our lives then these abuses will continue and get worse. We Americans are drowning in taxes and debt and we are getting NOTHING for it. Services dwindle, procedures and medications are denied and yet healthcare costs continue to rise at 4 and 5 times the rate of inflation. The middle class is an endangered species in this country. Again, we are drowning in taxes, saddled with massive debt and time and time again were told by our "leadership" to suck it up and do our part. What the hell!? Haven't we done enough?

My proposal? Make the highest marginal tax bracket 60% and eliminate nearly all deductions like interest rate deductions. Before Reagan got his clutches on our social system, the marginal rate was almost 90%, so 60% should seem like a bargain. It's high time the most fortunate amongst us pay the most for that good fortune. Perhaps paying 60% into the system would do the following: 1) the rich would care far more about what happens to this country as they're the most heavily invested 2) the mere thought of 60% of their ill gotten-err -hard-earned gains would limit their greed 3) less greed equals less risk taking equals no more of those "financial innovations" on Wall St. that have created and fueled these boom and crash cycles.

Just my two cents. Make that two point one cents due to recent tax increases here in CA.

They said AM was dead when listeners flocked in droves to innovative programming on FM, only it's not. Then they said FM was antiquated and couldn't survive in an internet world. Clearly it ain't dead either, so what gives? Predicting the end of things is a notoriously tricky business with a less than stellar track record over the millenia, to put it charitably.

Sure Sirius XM is heavily dependent on the sale of cars, sure it's mired in debt and less than favorable credit conditions but it is hanging on. The car market WILL rebound, maybe not this year, perhaps not next but it will rebound, as sure as the sun rises. (None cited here but run a search on car sales predictions and pent-up demand and you'll find the consensus is the American car market is aging and there are many, many more older cars on the road today than in past decades. This will drive demand within the next couple of years.)

My point is this ... although not perfect it's my belief Sirius XM will survive and perhaps flourish. Would I bet my retirement on that? Nope. But let's consider a thing or two.

I'm no fanboy of sat radio. I do have it in both cars, have for almost 4 years now and lord knows I've had more than my fair share of complaints about service, etc., still do. And I've considered canceling my subscription each and every year since year one, but I haven't. The simple truth is I've grown accustomed to having it and honestly cannot see a day where I'd be happy it was gone. I no longer listen to FM or AM and rarely listen to CD's or my iPod in the car anymore, it's almost 95% sat radio. It's become a normal part of my life and routine. I suspect this is mostly true for the 18+ Million subscribers who, like me, will probably continue to shell out the service fees.

Lastly, many of you may not be old enough to remember a time when cable "pay tv" didn't exist. I do and there are many parallel lessons. Cable was expensive, especially compared to FREE. In it's infancy it offered very few if any compelling programming options that weren't the broadcast networks and it was mostly considered a luxury. I don't have the stats but I would wager today more Americans have pay tv than avail themselves of over-the-air television. I think the same will be true of satellite radio. It may look marginally or substantially different from what we know today but it's my belief it is here to stay. Like many paradigm shifts in the fabric of our lives, these things go in fits and starts and the ground-breaker doesn't always survive, but the idea and technology does.