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Hope for a Change

Hope for a Change

Or is it change for a hope? I admit my confusion on this issue. The American public was told during the 2008 Presidential campaign that things would be different. So far, it's more of the same, only worse. It seems like the entire country has gone stark, raving mad. To wit, as the Obama Administration's Cabinet nominees wind their way through the approval process, we find that not one, not two, not three, but four have a prior history of not paying their taxes. What is going on here? The best thing to come out of this mess is that the American taxpayer, at last count, is ahead some $176,000. Could this be President Obama's plan to fund this massive "economic stimulus" package that is being ramrodded through Congress? Just collect the back taxes owed by his nominees? I'm not sure that the IRS, Congress or the American public would be as forgiving if I were the one to not have paid my taxes. But then again, I try to live a life of integrity. I've read a lot about the economic stimulus package making its way through the bowels of Congress and I'm confused about that too. Or maybe I'm not the one who's confused. To me, economic stimuli are those things that stimulate the economy. Immediately. Not three years from now. So, as one of the conditions for accepting TARP money, The Brains in Washington [...]
Hope for a Change

Observations on a New Year

Here we are! 2009! What can we say? 2008 is gone and I think we're all grateful for that. Republicans had their hats handed to them, although Conservatives fared pretty well. And there's the difference. Moderate Republicanism is indistinguishable from the Democrats. If Republicans want to regain their stature in Washington and the state houses across America, they need to do it at the grass roots level and they need to return to Conservative values. Barack Obama is the President-elect not because of his microscopic resume, or because of the political cesspool he climbed out of, or the message of change and hope, because he represents neither. He won the national election because the Republican candidate was a moderate with a poorly-crafted message, and so since the two were indistinguishable, people chose the candidate that was younger, better-looking, and articulate. We can't do that again. After 18 months of the media (and Obama) telling us [...]
Spreading The ???

Spreading The ???

As I've been listening to and contemplating the whole discussion around "spreading the wealth", it's occurred to me that when the wealth is being spread, there's more than just wealth that gets spread. That's right, the poverty gets spread too. Of course, calling it "spreading the poverty" might seem too severe, but here's the thing: people have poverty, wealth, or something in between. If you spread one, you spread it all. My preference now is to think of it as "spreading the mediocrity". As we discussed in the past, providing equal access to economic resources ("spreading the wealth", or "wealth redistribution") is going to lead to a society that is motivated to meet the status quo, to do just enough to get by, to even lower itself to ensure that there is just enough work to either[...]
Above Reproach

Above Reproach

Sometimes it takes several days of events to unfold in order for me to put my thoughts in order and develop a coherent article. Such has been the case this week. I'm a pretty disciplined reader of the Wall Street Journal. It's not that I don't want to read other newspapers, but I only have so much time, need to read it for my profession anyway, and can get a liberal prospective from any other media outlet at any time. Sometimes, it helps to read the Journal editorials just so that I know I'm not crazy. I've been following the interesting events lately surrounding the current economic pounding the country is getting. I've commented[...]
2008 Presidential Debate Number 3 Preview

2008 Presidential Debate Number 3 Preview

I apologize that I will not be available to provide live comments during the debate tonight. I will be on the road and unable to blog during the debate, but I will be listening. There will be an open thread entry that will appear at 8:30 PM Eastern time for those of you that wish to offer comments during the debate. Please come join us, and perhaps some of the other TCR writers will be here to comment. I expect that after 2 other rather lack-luster events, we can probably expect[...]
Are Things Looking Up?

Are Things Looking Up?

The Dow had it's record highest point gain today up almost 940. Although it was up a bit today, Oil prices have been retreating and have been steadily below $90/bbl for several days. And have you noticed the price of gasoline has also been declining? Of course, we all know it's not over yet, but it's good to see some positive signs. Unfortunately, the price of diesel fuel has not come down with trhe price of gasoline, apparently due to supply issues worldwide. And this will keep the price of consumer goods general higher. Seems like[...]
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