Archive for January, 2009

A New Day (January 26, 2009)

Posted in Elections, O'Bama on January 26, 2009 by e-commentary.org

There is real joy in watching others experiencing joy.  A great speech?  Perhaps.  Sacrifice was mentioned.  Some truths were uttered.

Geithner is problematic.  He will be confirmed.  His tax obligation was simple.  He was obligated to pay.  There were no buts, ands or ifs.  He did not pay.  When he was to directed to pay, he did not.  The statute of limitations provided a convenient defense.  Now he finds religion and pays.  Perhaps every taxpayer should be nominated to be Secretary of the Treasury for fifteen minutes.  The bigger concern is that he did not tell “. . . the whole truth . . .” to the Senate when the members asked for an explanation.  Business as usual.  [See the e-ssay dated February 20, 2006 entitled “Perjury, the American Way.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Our long national nightmare is not over.

What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Hope

Democrats Behaving Like Republicans

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The TARP Is A Trap (January 19, 2009)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Economics, TARP on January 19, 2009 by e-commentary.org

No one has offered a plausible explanation of or justification for the continuing Bailout/Bribe know as TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program).  [See the e-ssay dated October 6, 2008 entitled “A Bleak Day: The Trillions Dollar Tragedy”].  What was the problem in September, 2008 that had not been there for years and continues unabated today?  A “credit crunch”?  For the first time in years, the availability of credit was at a rational level.  Those who were creditworthy were able to obtain credit; those who were not were not.  We burned more money and more daylight while the underlying conflagration continued to rage.

Bumper sticker of the week:

Pouring water into a watering can does not water the plant; pouring water around the roots of the plant waters the plant.

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The Odd Couple – China & The U. of S.A. (January 12, 2009)

Posted in China, Economics, Foreign Policy on January 12, 2009 by e-commentary.org

Felix “China” Unger and Oscar “Uncle Sam” Madison are living together in a symbiotic/parasitic relationship.  In recent years, some pundit types said that the economies of the world are “decoupled” from the United States.  Some other types were skeptical.  The economies always seemed “coupled.”

Those who argued that the U.S. no longer produces any goods for export do not recognize the toxic commercial instruments foisted on the world over the last half dozen years.  And the world bought it.  And bought them.

China produces the goods and the money to buy the goods.  The U.S. consumes the goods and the money to acquire the goods.  Projections about the Trillion dollar domestic bailouts spurring enough economic activity to drive the American economy and begin satisfying the growing national Debt are delusional.  The U.S. will never pay off its national Debt.  [See the e-ssay dated January 17, 2005 entitled “America the Bankrupt:  Economics 210 in the Land of the Freeway and the Home of the Wave.”]

How will China (and Japan, England, and other creditor countries) respond?  Is the U.S. “too big to fail” or more subtly “too intertwined to fail.”  What if no other country or consortium of countries is in an economic position to rescue the U.S. economy or forgive its debt in later years?

Bumper stickers of the week:

We are all in this alone together

China – Shop (and let your currency float)

USA – Stop (shopping despite what others command)

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The Millennium To Date (January 5, 2009)

Posted in Congress, Presidency, Supreme Court on January 5, 2009 by e-commentary.org

When presented with a defining challenge this Millennium, each branch of government failed.

2000 – Judicial.  Eight years ago, the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore decided that it not the voters will decide who is to be President.  The Supreme Court elected to appoint the President and preempt the voters.  The court issued a special decision to benefit one person.  An unprecedented decision has set a bad precedent.  The composition and ideology of the Supreme Court is even worse today.

2001 – 2003 (and continuing) – Executive.  Bush and Cheney came into office committed to invading Iraq.  After being warned in a daily briefing in August, 2001 that “Bin Laden Determined To Strike In U.S.,” no one thought to interpret the report to suggest that Bin Laden was determined to strike in U.S.  Bush left for Crawford to clear bush and brush.  When 9/11 occurred, the pretext for invasion arose even though neither Iraq nor any Iraqis were involved in the planning, implementation or funding of the 9/11 attacks.  His decision to invade lit a fuse that will be seen to have triggered the start of World War III.  Now Bush/Cheney are seeking to rewrite history to suggest that the intelligence that they and others actively distorted was provided by others.  For its part, Congress cravenly went along enough to provide Bush with political cover.

2007 – Legislative.  The Bailout/Bribe Bill was predictable and predicted.  Scare the public and you can get anything.  Paulson appointed himself King, raided the fisc, and gave money to fiends and former colleagues.  The Debt is exacerbating intermediate and long term economic problems in ways that the business and economic commentators do not seem to understand.  Bush more than any other person is responsible for the “Bush/Greenspan/Gramm Depression.”  Nonetheless, Congress has been a co-conspirator and an economic enabler.

One hopes that Clio is taking careful notes.

Bumper sticker of the week:

Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.

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