Talk is Cheap

Is anyone else already tired of BO's voice and speech pattern? There is something very annoying about it. His inflection goes up at the end of every sentence. It should go down. Inflection only goes up at the end of a question. It is eerily robotic. Very condescending. It's like he's not really talking to the person asking questions; there's no conversational tone to him. He just searches the hard drive for the correct answer and starts shooting off bullet-points. The best word that I have found to describe it would be, smarmy. Sort of makes you want to take a shower after hearing him speak.

Time for Some Comic Relief

In the New York Post of December 18, Cynthia R. Fagen has an article about the just-released college pictures of B.O. Here is a small taste of her reporting:

"...Taken during a 1980 photo shoot by Occidental College pal Lisa Jack, the snapshots show that the freshman was already showing off the quiet confidence of a future president.
"He was very charismatic even then," Jack recalled of the brief encounter at her off-campus Los Angeles apartment.
"He was really cute. What else does a 20-year-old girl remember?" she told Time, which published the rare shots in its year-end issue that names the president-elect 2008's Person of the Year. "He was a little nervous," she said. "You can see he's just posing, initially, and as the shoot goes on, he starts to come out. ..."

Wow, careful Cynthia you may trip over your tongue.
Frankly, I think he looks like Ricky Ricardo. Can you say, babaloo??!!

Honey I Think We Took A Wrong Turn

Greetings Congressman XXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for your letter regarding the current automobile manufacturer crisis. I applaud your fortitude in opposing bailouts or loans and your thoughtfulness in offering a different tack. I am sure that local car dealers are frustrated with having too many unsold vehicles on their lots. This no doubt stems from the credit crunch precipitated by the Democrats’ mismanagement of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and somewhat to the high price of many domestic vehicles, which is part of the broader automaker problem. Unfortunately I believe that offering a consumer tax credit to purchase those vehicles is only a short-term band-aid which will not cure the bigger disease in the industry. Additionally, it once again uses the federal tax code for social engineering, something that I loathe.
There is no doubt that cars made by the Big-3 are too expensive. The problem does not stem from corporate jets and bigwig bonuses. One factor is too much intrusive federal (and state) regulation of automobile standards. These ridiculous rules put too much of a burden on the carmakers, thus preventing them from making cars that people actually want to buy and can afford. The standards don’t really save lives or the environment. Secondly, union influence over the automakers’ business practices has become too onerous and too expensive. This has only happened because the federal government has empowered the unions thusly. The total benefit packages for autoworkers are insane and financially unsustainable. There is absolutely no reason for workers to have this much influence over private businesses. And they wouldn’t, save for the Congress- mostly liberal Democrats. Other than egregious safety violations or abusive tactics, workers should have no further say in how a private company runs its business. If they don’t like it, they can find a job elsewhere.
So both of the major reasons for the failure of the automakers falls back in the lap of the federal government. The last thing we need is for the feds to try and fix the situation! The best thing that they could do is to get out of the mess. Strip the unions of their unreasonable power and rescind the insane regulations. Then hands off! Let the automakers go through Chapter 11, reorganize, dump the old union contracts and get about building cars that Americans actually want at prices they can afford and that compete with other manufacturers. This talk about the Big-3 being too big to fail is silliness. We are not talking about failing; we are talking about reorganizing and emerging stronger and more competitive. Many airlines have successfully navigated this process. Maybe the federal government should consider it. When I was taking flying lessons the instructor taught me that when a plane is stalling and going into a spin I had to take my hands off of the controls to let the plane stabilize. That violates all of your natural instincts. But trying to fight the spin is certain death. We need the federal government to do the same thing in this, and many other situations. Unfortunately, the nature of the government and politicians is to always try to do something in every situation. After all, isn’t that what we hired them for? To simply do nothing seems irresponsible, right?
I seriously think that we would all be better off to send the President, Supreme Court, House and Senate home and pay them to sit there and do nothing for two years. For as we learn in medicine, first do no harm. The private market is a great thing when allowed to work unfettered. However, it has not been allowed to work freely in the automobile industry for many, many years. It’s time to get back on the right road.
By the way, I believe that these principles should also be applied to the health care system. Ah, but that’s another topic for another day.
Thanks for your service Congressman!

Doctor, Heal Thyself

(Responding to an emergency room physician letter-to-the editor asking Obama and the feds to provide more funds for emergency rooms to become the safety net for people needing basic medical care who do not have health insurance)
The federal government lacks the constitutional authority and power to fund or manage emergency rooms (not to mention that is is busted, it has no money). They are a horribly ineffiencient and expensive avenue for delivering family medicine to the needy. The feds have already made a wreck of the health care system and any further meddling by them will only greatly worsen the situation. Let's clean up the tort system, get malpractice premiums and product liability costs down and reduce the union driven cost of labor. Give people portable medical savings accounts which unties insurance from employment. Finally, relink payment between the actual consumer (patient) with the provider so that people can shop for insurance and shop for care to find the best care for the best price. Let the market actually work and get the artificial, inflationary constraints of government out of the equation. For those that still need help with basic medical care let the states figure out the best way to help deliver it, but not through emergency rooms.

Climbing Pyramids

When I heard that the feds had arrested former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff for running a Ponzi scam, I thought that they were talking about Social Security! He has the ultimate defense, he was just using the federal government Social Security template. Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander. Do as I say, not as I do? Tsk, tsk.

No More Blood From Turnips

If the President directs Treasury to bail out the automakers in defiance of the Senate decision last night, then it is about time for the American people and corporations to start withholding their federal income tax payments. We must protest and starve this ersatz, unconstitutional federal government into submission.

Hello...Hello, Is There an Echo in Here?

So let's see, Barry didn't know his governor, Rod Blagojevich; didn't know his mentor, William Ayers; didn't know his realtor, Tony Rezko; and didn't know his pastor, Jeremiah Wright. How did some kid from Chicago get to be President-elect without knowing anyone?

Barry, We Hardly Knew You

So, Barry O will use his full name, Barack Hussein Obama at the swearing in ceremony (there's something fitting about that ceremony title). Will Fitzgerald be there to fill in the MF's every other word? He has also related that he plans to give a major speech in an Islamic capital shortly after the inauguration. Given his heritage and upbringing it seems to be coming clear that he may be a closet Muslim. Now, there's nothing wrong with that except for the fact that he denied it and subsequently lied to the American people during the campaign if it is in fact true. The church that he spent the last 20 years sitting in is based upon the doctrine of black liberation theology, closely affiliated with Islam and the anti-Semite, Louis Farrakhan. With his intransigence on releasing his birth certificate to clear up the mystery surrounding his birthplace and his proximity to the scandal swirling around Chicago politics right now, it is clear that he cannot be trusted and is not ready or fit to be President.

Please Wake Up Paul Revere!

The U.S. Constitution and the American experiment are truly dead.  This unconstitutional, neo-Nazi automaker bailout loan is just another of many nails in the coffin.  Over the last few months we have witnessed the surreal vision of the federal government nationalizing one private industry after another.  It has been fast and easy enough to make Adolph blush.  The American people don’t want it yet our moronic ‘public servants’ are trying to cram it down their throats.  I will not purchase a car made by the new Big-3 and will urge everyone I talk with to do likewise.  Take heed, the federal government is not too big to fail.  Hear the winds of the second American revolution beginning to blow. 

State of Stupidity

License plates in the state of Illinois have the tag line, "Land of Lincoln."  Some people in Illinois are beginning to clamor for an alternative plate, "Land of Obama."  OK, when Obama has been dead for as long as Lincoln I say go for it!

It's Time to Pay the Piper

If you think about the current economic mess in which we find ourselves and all of the talk about a 40% loss of value in the stock market, nothing has really gone away. Dirt, buildings, cars, trucks, houses, television sets and shoes are all still here. None of that has disappeared. Credit and the money value of business have decreased, but those are not actually real. They are only psychological constructs. Money is not based upon anything like say, gold. Money and credit are only agreements between people. They only exist in people’s minds and imaginations.
The real culprit here is easy credit and the false demand driven by it. This is true for individual families, corporations and government at every level. The current collapse has been inevitable for decades. And there is plenty of blame to go around. Those responsible for extending such credit are culpable as are the people and institutions who kept lapping it up and spending this fake money like there was no tomorrow. With regard to the national debt we would say, well we just owe it to ourselves. When that was actually true it was still a bad thing because it would strap our children and grandchildren with a horrendous tax burden to service the debt. But now, we actually owe a huge chunk of our national debt to foreign powers such as China, not necessarily good friends and who certainly don’t have America’s best interests foremost in their plans.
This addiction to credit and wild spending is every bit as powerful a force as addictions to tobacco, alcohol, drugs, sex and gambling. And every bit as hard to shake. It sneaks up on you so gradually and by the time you realize that you have a problem you are probably past the point that you alone can do anything to stop it. For decades our society has been driven by the relentless push to achieve and acquire, achieve and acquire. Keep up with the Joneses. We are bombarded constantly and everywhere by Madison Avenue marketing exhorting us to buy, buy, buy! More, more, more! You deserve it-NOW! Don’t wait, use the plastic. Have it today. Pay for it, well, never. Tomorrow never comes. Twelve months same as cash. No payments no interest for a year. We are pressured by our co-workers, neighbors, friends, relatives, children and their peers. We must keep up appearances. We have to have the newest, flashiest and fastest. This easy credit has put people in houses, cars, big-screen televisions and clothing that they cannot really afford and should not be buying. This same mind-set also applies to corporations and governments. The sky-rocketing demand for all of these goods and services has been built upon a precarious house-of-cards for many years. Fake credit providing fake money driving fake demand creating fake business growth creating fake jobs with fake income and resulting in fake tax revenues culminating in a fake economy with a fake GDP and fake growth rate. Well, the predictable explosion of the comical mortgage market was the card on the bottom. When it was pulled out the whole house has come tumbling down. Sadly, this has been obvious for years. It had to happen. It needed to happen. Like a drug addict, at some point someone has to take the needle away and let the patient go through the horror of withdrawal. It’s ugly and painful, but it’s the only way to ultimately survive. Then, after it’s over someone must always watch out to stop the addict from going back to the drug.
For many years the hole in the bottom of the boat was small enough that we could just bail the water out and stay afloat. Adding more fake money and credit to cover the bad worked for a while. Now the hole in the bottom of the boat has become so large that bailing will no longer work. We have to plug the hole first. That means no more easy credit, no more borrowing. We must cut back on spending and go to a cash-only, pay-as-you-go basis. That applies to individuals and families, corporations and governments from your city all the way up to the federal government. We cannot print any more funny-money lest we risk creating hyper-inflation which will only greatly exacerbate the problem, not solve it. People must go back to my grandparents’ budget strategy. You live below your means, save money and pay cash for the things that you really need and at a level that you can really afford. That will mean smaller homes, modest cars, fewer vacations, smaller television sets and non-designer clothes for many. It will also mean understanding delayed gratification. You save for things that you really want and put off buying them for years until you can pay cash for them. That’s right, 23 year-old college graduates don’t deserve to buy a BMW, a 5-bedroom house, Fila sneakers and 70-inch home theaters for probably another 20 years. So sorry. These federal bailouts and loans must stop. They only serve to forestall the inevitable correction that our businesses and economy must go through. If we don’t, the problems will only fester and grow bigger beneath the surface to erupt later in a much bigger disaster. Let’s get our national withdrawal over with and reset the economy on saner foundations. Pay now or pay later. The price will be much greater and more painful if we wait until later.

Little Green Men

I understand that the polar ice cap is melting...on Mars!
I hereby nominate Algore as Ambassador Plenipotentiary of Global Warming for Life to the planet Mars on behalf of all of the people of Earth.
Enjoy the trip and your stay!

Who's Coming to Town, Santa or Scrooge?

Donald Trump nonchalantly misses a $53 million interest payment for one of his casinos. The federal government is passing out trillions of non-existent dollars to an endless line of panhandling corporations, running up the federal debt well beyond the stratosphere (if you think any of that will ever be paid down I would love to sell you some beachfront property in Arizona). The feds can’t consistently run a balanced budget, much less a surplus. There are untold trillions of unfunded commitments to future Social In-security and Medicare ‘recipients’ just waiting to bust the budget. So what is our brilliant president-elect planning? Trillions of dollars for new federal programs all paid for by raising tax rates on the wealthy. And of course they will dutifully pay them. No, they won’t shift their income off-shore or into tax-deferred instruments. Of course not. That would be unpatriotic. Hehehe.
And with all of this going on, if Joe the Plumber misses one payment on his credit card they call out the National Guard to haul him in. Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander? How is he supposed to look his children in the eye and explain why this will be a bleak Christmas? The feds are passing out money like candy. Dad, go get some for us! We average Joe’s are supposed to pay for all of these bailouts, keep our family budgets in balance and dare not delay, much less miss any payments. Don’t do what the feds do, do what they say. Don’t follow their lead. Duh, McFly, they’re not leading! They’re not following. They are floundering. How on Earth are we supposed to teach our children fiscal responsibility when our esteemed ‘public servants’ are completely reckless and irresponsible with our cumulative national milk money? In the corporate world they would all be hauled up on charges for gross negligence, mismanagement and embezzlement.
Can anyone, or everyone say Enron?

Dinosaur Death Groans

The U.A.W. believes that the Big Three automakers are too big to be allowed to go out of business and are demanding a federal bailout for them. How generous. Does anyone buy this? The bailout is really for the U.A.W., not the Big Three. The U.A.W. is a dinosaur that needs to become extinct. Because of their contract terms the Big Three cannot make quality cars at prices that people can afford and compete with foreign manufacturers. The U.A.W. has priced itself out of the market. Its high salaries, gold-plated bennies and cushy retirements will be its undoing. American tax dollars should not be used to bail it out. Automakers should file for chapter 11 reorganization and jettison the heavy-handed union contracts. The U.A.W. has made its bed, now it must lie in it. It is not too big to be allowed to fail. You know, when the dinosaurs became extinct they became the oil that powers our cars. Hmmmm, if the U.A.W. becomes extinct the money put back into the auto manufacturing industry may just power the future of that industry. How poetic.