Presidents Role

I don't know about you , but I'm really tired of hearing Obama bad mouth the economy. We all know the economy isn't great yet he fails to realize his job is to instill confidence in people. Constantly bashing CEO's , oil companies, bankers and Rush Limbaugh is a waste of time. Obama is talking down the economy so we will all buy into his so called stimulus bill. The thing is most Americans are not that dump. Approval rating for the stimulus was at sixty percent and the last I heard it has fallen to around forty percent in favor. The fact is Obama exaggerated and lied about what the stimulus would be. Turns out it is more about entitlements and almost nothing about infrastructure. I am proud the Republicans stood up and said no way. I only hope the Senate has the same courage.

Should Palin Run ?

This is a tough one. I personally like Palin. Many of our presidents have been governors. She has a lot of political savvy and from what our friends in Alaska tell us she has done a great job. Palin is light on foreign policy but compared to Obama who had no experience in anything she is a possible. My only problem is that I think due to the viscous left wing media she would never get elected. The feminists would also attack her and drag her through the mud. I think if she can run Alaska with low oil prices she could prove that she can really manage and economy even in tough times. This might at least give people a reason to look at her running in four years. What do you think ? Should Palin run in 2012?

Falling Home Prices are Helping

The meteoric rise in home prices in some markets like Nevada, Florida ,California and the coasts the few years preceding the recession are finally coming down to affordable levels. This while painful to the owners who bought at the top or speculated at the wrong time is starting to signal and end to the housing slump. We are not out of the woods yet but affordability due to lower house prices and lower interest rates are putting some light at the end of the tunnel. What amazes me is that people can't realize that homes going up forty to ninety percent a year is not normal or healthy. All the market is doing is bringing prices down to prices that average out those high gain years to a historical average. As inventory rates fall we will reach a point that prices stabilize and we start to go back up. I feel that point will happen late this summer or next spring at the latest. I guess time will tell , but for now the fed has got to keep mortgage rates low or a recovery will be put off.

Abuse of bailout money !

We've talked a lot on this blog about why not to give the banks and others bailouts. The revelation that John Thain of Merrill Lynch spent 1.22 million dollars redecorating his office is enough to make the average American struggling to survive throw up. This is why you don't bail out businesses. There is no way to account for where and how the money is spent. The best news is that Thain has been fired. While probably not for his spending but I am sure it was the last straw. We cannot continue to support companies that are poorly run and losing money. Let the bad ones fail and the good companies will pick up the slack.

California , what not to do !

The new Obama presidency only needs to look at California to know what not to do in managing the country. California is on the verge of bankruptcy. California spends almost double than any other state per child on education, they spend billions caring for illegal immigrants with their sanctuary cities. Their Democratically controlled house and senate spend money they don't have (and don't blame the Rep governor, he fights this spending every year). Their state taxes and local taxes are driving people out of California in droves. Basically California has already tried everything Dem's are proposing we do on a national scale. Higher taxes and more entitlements. All they have to do is look at California to see what not to do. We need to stop the spending and cut entitlements. Lower the deficit and cut taxes to individuals and corporations. Our country has the second highest federal corporate tax rate in the world. You want jobs to come back to America then cut corporate taxes and give them a reason to come back.

Giving the banks more money !

Here we go again. The government is about to give Citibank billions more in aid. The fact that know one knows where the first round of billions went doesn't seem to bother those politicians that want to give them more. So much for accountability and transparency. The government should not lend the banks another penny until they provide proof of where the first round went. We cannot continue to pour money we don't have down that black hole called the banks. Let then fail. Support the small regional's and local banks where most individuals borrow from in their local community's. We has Americans should call our representatives and demand some accountability.

Stimulas Package Failure

President elect Obama said the stimulus package was going to be for job creation and housing. Now the proposed package by the Democrats has been layed out and there is almost nothing in it for what Obama promised. The majority of the stimulus package is further entitlements for food stamps , unemployment payments and aid to the states. So Obama has failed to do what he said he would. Again only a few news channels are reporting this complete failure to deliver what he promised. Once again Obama is all about big government and making people dependent on the government. This is a chance for the Republicans to stand firm and not pass this bill in any of its current form. What till Tuesday when Obama makes his speech and tells us how bad everything is. He will attempt to bully pulpit the Republicans into racking up another 800 billion in debt to further his big government view.

A 3rd Term , Are you kidding !!

Wow what a joke. We elect a guy who not one person voting for him could tell me anything he had ever accomplished. He spent the last three years running for president instead of caring enough to be at his job working on the problems the nation faced. Now we have Jose Serrano (D) who wants to abolish the 22nd amendment to the constitution to let Obama run for a third term. He isn't even in office yet , what is wrong with people. Obama did nothing as a Senator , he cannot point to any major accomplishment and we were silly enough to make him president. People in this country are so taken with this guy they don't make him prove himself before anointing him the savior. This kind of blind following should worry every American. Eight years is enough for anyone to serve as president and the only thing we should be changing is to put term limits on our congressmen and senators. Wake up people Obama has done nothing and until he proves himself lets hold him accountable for all the promises he made while running for president.

What the markets are telling us!

The stock market is sending a clear message that they don't want another government bailout. Here are the banks again asking for more money after just receiving money within the last few months. Our politicians should pay attention. The markets are worried about the never ended black hole called large financial institutions. Let them fail. Smaller banks and regional banks are doing fine and are making money. Spreads on loans have widened and the profitability of banks not involved in all those sub prime loans and highly leveraged deals are actually seeing their profits go up. Maybe we need to return to small town type banking where they actually check peoples credit worthiness . There just is no point is pouring money down the black hole called our big banks and auto companies.

Broken Promise # 1

Well Obama isn't even in office yet and his promise of giving a $3000.00 tax break to individuals and companies who save or create a job is done. Both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate say there is no way to implement such a plan or tell who is eligible. This plan was a major part of the platform Obama ran on. This is also a perfect example of how Obama makes general statements that appeal to the masses with no way of backing them up. He is in fact doing that right now with his proposed stimulus plan. He started out weeks ago saying his stimulus plan would create 3 million new jobs. Then he changed it to 3.5 million new jobs. Now it is 4 million new or saved jobs. Notice the change. Tell me how do you measure saved jobs? So if his plan doesn't work he has already left himself an out. If the stimulus doesn't work and only creates a million jobs he will come out and say " Well we saved 3 million". So knowing there is no way to measure saved jobs he can say what ever he wants. Once again the liberal press is giving him a pass and not holding him accountable. Notice also the increase in numbers of new or saved jobs because he wasn't getting the reaction he wanted. This relates to my other articles of his tactics of pandering to the masses and saying something enough times that people start to believe it. The fact is most Americans don't want the government involved in the economy and yet we are going to get this stimulus stuff crammed down our throats weather we like it or not.

Maybe some hope yet !!!

The best news of last week is that even some of the Democrats are starting to push back against Obama's stimulus plan. News is that some Dem's don't feel his plan of building bridges will have enough immediate impact on the economy. There is also talk that Obama may leave the tax rates unchanged for now. It about time our representatives wake up. It is not the federal governments job to build states roads and bridges ( with the exception of the interstate system). If the states need to build infrastructure then they should pay for it themselves. Same with education. If states want to spend more on education then the people of that state should make that decision and pay for it themselves. We need to slow down on this whole stimulus idea. Americans have just been given a huge stimulus with lower gas prices . Keeping down energy is one of the best ways to help all of us. If energy costs stay down so does inflation. Keeping down interest rates also have a huge stimulus effect on the economy. People being able to refinance at lower rates puts hundreds of dollars in their pocket monthly. Lower rates also will be the long term savior of the housing market. But to keep interest rates low long term we have to cut spending and reduce the deficit. We need to see how lower interest rates and fuel costs stimulate the economy before we do more. Too much and we end up with big inflation down the road and higher interest rates. Tell me what you think !

Obama doesn't get it !!!!!!!!!!!!

As I indicated on the 7th Obama just doesn't understand free markets and what government involvement should be. If you listened to his speech just as I feared on the 7th he really believes that government is the answer to all problems. Have we not been deficit spending for the last eight years ? If the government is the answer then why isn't the economy not red hot after all the spending ? It doesn't work !! Not enough money makes it to the right places when the government is deciding where it goes. Only the free markets are efficient not the government. If anyone had any doubt that Obama is a socialist the last speech should leave you with no doubts. The government should be getting out of the way of markets and concentrate on not spending money and reducing the deficit. A lower deficit would result is lower interest rates long term and the dollar will rise. If we continue on the course we are on we will see huge inflation down the road and no way to pay for it.

Why so negative Mr.Obama?

Yes the economy is not in a great place. Yes unemployment may go higher ( unemployment always peaks at the end of a recession) but has anyone asked themselves why every time Obama speaks he is talking down the economy? I can think of a couple of reasons Obama is always telling us how bad it is and that it's going to get worse. First , he is a socialist and he knows if you tell people something long enough they will believe it. So if he convinces us all how desperate things are then he can also convince us how the government is the only one who can solve the situation ( although the government will only make things worse). This promotes his socialistic view that the government and not the people are the solution. Once we are all convinced of the need for government involvement then we accept them taking over health care, bigger programs for welfare , education etc. The other reason he bad mouths the economy is to set the bar so low that the only press he will get is how he is doing so much to help the situation. If we are convinced how bad it is then any improvement makes him look great. The fact is the president no matter who it is has almost no control over the economy if it is a free market. If we move further towards socialism then the government has more control of what happens. And looking at Europe wouldn't that be great (Only if your a socialist). Isn't it bad enough that 40 percent of people don't pay taxes and it is estimated that it will rise to 50 percent under Obama. Isn't it sad that we talk about tax cuts to people who don't pay taxes? When you give money to someone not paying taxes it is called welfare. I fear our country is slipping away and we are all just sitting by watching it happen.

Roland Burris Appointment

The dem's have really stepped in it with their dealing of the Burris senate appointment. Illinois Gov Blagojevich has played his own party like a concert violinist. He new that the appointment of Burris would force Harry Reed and others to accept his nomination or look like racists. It also shows the manipulative nature of Blago. He is more concerned about embarrassing his own party and the state of Illinois for his own little power party than doing the right thing. Being from Illinois this guy has embarrassed us enough. The country has more important things to work on than all the attention this appointment is getting. So today's question is should the Senate seat Burris and move on to more important things?

Obama needs to speak out !!

The normal quick to rush to the stand and act presidential Obama has yet to speak out on the Israeli situation. As we reach day ten of the conflict we have heard nothing out of the Obama camp. Obama ran saying he supported Israel and yet he is silent. We deserve to know where he stands on the issue. One of the biggest complaints/ fears a lot of people had about Obama was his lack of foreign experience. He needs to come out and take a strong stand one way or another. Tell me what you think. Should Obama let us know what his stance is on the conflict?

Mideast Politics

Israel and the Palestinians are now about to go from bombings and rocket fire to an all out ground war. It's hard to tell who is wrong in this situation. An all out war may be the only way to end the violence in the long run by removing Hamas . The real danger is if the conflict spreads to other countries. The cost as always is the civilians getting caught in the cross fire. If Hamas keeps using civilians as human shields the casualties of civilians will only escalate. The question is what should the U.S. do about it. We have been trying to broker peace deals for years to no real resolution. Unless it spreads to other countries we should stay out of it . What do you think and who do you blame for the current mess?

Happy New Year Everyone

Thank God 2008 is over. I think I'm not alone in saying it was political burnout. With the start of 2009 and nineteen days from inauguration we will find out if we were all sold a bill of goods. So far I have not heard any difference coming out the Obama camp. The majority of the people he has surrounded himself with are the same old tired democrats. His economic plan is the same old plan of building bridges and paying back the unions that every democrat has always promoted. What is different in any of his proposals? We need the country taken in a new direction and building roads and bridges is not new. Tell me if you are happy with what you have heard so far out of the new administration. We have to give the new administration the benefit of the doubt but they have to show us they are going to change as promised.