U.S.A. – 1 (Won); World – 1 (Won) (November 10, 2008)

Posted in Elections, O'Bama on November 10, 2008 by e-commentary.org

We have met our friend and he is us.  Pogo.

McCain very likely would be President-elect of the United States of America today if the first wave of the Bush Depression had not crashed ashore in mid-September.  September 15 may be the high water (or low water) mark when McCain proclaimed:  “The fundamentals of our economy are strong.”  Americans were not fooled.  They were afraid, very afraid.  It was the stupid economy.

Obama’s guerdon and lagniappe — the privilege to deal with the Great Tsunami, the “Bush/Greenspan/Gramm Depression,” and World War III now festering in at least two theaters on a planet in ill health.

Reverend Wright incited the Right and left others feeling that something was not right; seems that everyone on the national stage sports a Rev. John Hagee in their entourage.  Some white Republicans could accept an African-Thai-American named Tiger but were not ready to accept an African-Saxon as the Lion.  However, others conquered their fears and anxieties and played through them.  Many Americans had gotten a preview by watching two different African-Americans play the President OTUS on the television show “24.”  In this episode, Alexander “Scotty” Scott goes to the White House.  Illinois finally sends Adlai Stevenson to the Casa Blanca.

Obama may be the Transformative Candidate or the Transitional Candidate, yet he is clearly the Technological Candidate.  The toxic a.m. radio shows and the venomous robo-calls from the Franchise Republicans marketing fear were matched and exceeded by a relentless stream of e-mails from Team Obama offering hope, promising change and soliciting funds.  Intimidation for your ears; inspiration for your eyes.  The Internet won handily.

Money talks; McCain walks.  McCain-Feingold has been replaced by Obama-Plouffe.  The billion dollar Presidential race in 2012.

Washington presided when the country was forming; Lincoln when the country was dissolving; Roosevelt when the country was segregated and disintegrating economically.  The man from Hope brought some semblance of prosperity and peace and now the man promising hope confronts the Bush Depression and World War III.  Obama will preside in one of the dozen most uncertain periods in American history.  He appears to be up to the challenge.  One can only hope.

A profound development.  The first African-Irish-American in the White House.  Barack Hussein “Steve” O’Bama.

Bumper stickers of the week:

Hope and Money and Fear

Esperanza

Si, se puede

Yes he/we can (maybe)

Leave a comment »

Do It (November 3, 2008)

Posted in Elections on November 3, 2008 by e-commentary.org

It’s the thing to do on the first Tuesday in November.  Vote.  Hope over Fear.

Bumper sticker of the week:

THE 545 PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF AMERICA’S WOES

BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?  Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget.  The president does.  You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations.  The House of Representatives does.  You and I don’t write the tax code.  Congress does.  You and I don’t set fiscal policy.  Congress does.  You and I don’t control monetary policy.  The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices – 545 human beings out of the 235 million – are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress.  In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all but the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason.  They have no legal authority.  They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.  I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash.  The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don’t you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians?  Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.  They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall.  No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O’Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget.  He cannot force the Congress to accept it.  The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.

O’Neill is the speaker of the House.  He is the leader of the majority party.  He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want.  If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can’t think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.  If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.  If the Marines are in Lebanon, it’s because they want them in Lebanon.

There are no insoluble government problems.  Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone are responsible.  They and they alone have the power.  They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses – provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

[This article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel Star newspaper.]

Leave a comment »

The Republican Message In The West (And South) (October 27, 2008)

Posted in Gay Politics, Guns, Political Parties on October 27, 2008 by e-commentary.org

The Republican’s Western strategy is built on the motto:  “Guns, Gays and God.”  The message is simple:  vote for us or you will be castrated, raped, and abandoned alone in the world.

The Democrats met in Denver to take back the West.  They may not understand the elemental fears and anxieties of many members of the populace.  The Democrats offer vision and hope.  That is virtuous; that alone is not productive in the polling booth.  The Republicans offer fear and loathing and anxiety.  The Gun is the iron penis; take it away and you castrate a man.  Gays, the logic goes, and their cohorts the Democrats want to rape you.  You may come into the world alone and leave the world alone, but you are not alone if you subscribe to God while you are here.  The code words this year are “Socialist,” “Terrorist,” “Muslim,” “Arab” and “Hussein.”

The “Blue States” subsidize the “Red States” in America.  The populations in the Red States rely primarily on social security for their retirement.  The populations in the Red States resort to the Bankruptcy Code for relief more often than the populations in other states.  The populations in the Red States use the Bankruptcy Code as a form of socialized medicine.  At core, however, the differences are related to education, region and religion rather than state boundaries, yet the electoral college focuses the analysis on state boundaries.

The populace may vote its pocketbook, but only if its elemental fears and anxieties are not summoned.  Enough members of their populace are so terrified that they do not even have enough personal security to vote their pocketbooks.

A random survey of yard signs in a purple neighborhood:  Obama. McCain, Obama, McCain, Obama. McCain, Obama, McCain, Obama. McCain, Obama, McCain, Obama. McCain, Obama, McCain, . . . Obama

Bumper stickers of the week:

Fear and loathing on the campaign trail ’08

Hope over Fear?

Leave a comment »

Contemporary American Political Parties 101 (October 20, 2008)

Posted in Political Parties, Politics on October 20, 2008 by e-commentary.org

A “brand” is a story.  Promoters of products seek to “brand” them and concoct a story to attract the target customers/clients/viewers/fans/constituents/voters.  Some political commentators suggest that the two political parties tend to gravitate to the center to attract the widest swath of voters.  In America, however, the two political parties offer fundamentally different visions of the present and future that have remained consistent over the last few decades.  The two “brands” cannot be distinguished by analyzing their political platforms on jay walking or school uniforms or the like; the analysis must be more elemental.

At core, the “Republican Franchise” proclaims that “Government is big and does not work” and then sets out both to expand government and to make government not work while rewarding their friends with federal largesse.  The Republican Franchise has fooled enough of the populace for decades into believing that the Party is against spending and taxes and that deficits do not matter.  Deficits are taxes; on the unborn.

Democrats are war veterans (McGovern; Gore; Kerry; Cleland; Webb); Republicans are draft dodgers (Bush; Cheney; Giuliani; Ashcroft).  Democrats don’t like going to war unless necessary; Republicans don’t like going to war themselves but like to send others to war.

At core, the Republicans market fear; the Democrats offer hope.

True Tenets/Characteristics of contemporary Franchise Republicanism:

  1. Threaten fear over hope and market anxiety to anesthetize and dispirit the public while hinting that those who vote with the “Republican Franchise” can delude themselves into believing that they are part of the Beautiful People for a few moments on election day;
  2. Support free trade for their friends most of the time;
  3. Oppose almost everything else;
  4. Promote big government and massive federal expenditures–large armies and weapons systems and massive prison complexes (to kill others and to enslave the population);
  5. Engage in reckless spending and spending and spending and spending and spending;
  6. Spend Other People’s Money (OPM) to benefit themselves;
  7. Pursue unnecessary wars to maintain and expand the American Empire;
  8. Sport shallow “White Bling-Bling” such as jewelry with the American flag on their lapels but refuse to allow others to display their own flags and symbols in their own way;
  9. Circle the wagons to protect the Republican Franchise even if that means allowing an ideological infidel into the inner circle;
  10. Win.

True Tenets/Characteristics of contemporary Democrats:

  1. Offer hope over fear and inspire the public even if the public instinctively responds to fear and encourage a “big tent” but often pitch it awkwardly;
  2. Support some protectionist trade policies;
  3. Favor a wide variety of policies and proposals that are frequently inconsistent, anomalous, antinomic and occasionally fuzzy headed;
  4. Promote efficient government even though every institution—public and private—involves much inevitable waste, fraud, and mismanagement;
  5. Engage in pay-as-you-go legislation and yet privately desire to spend even more money;
  6. Spend Other People’s Money (OPM) to benefit others;
  7. Debate the use of force and use it when necessary to promote the nation’s security and well being;
  8. Prefer substance over fluff and allow others to display their own flags and symbols in their own way;
  9. Burn the wagons or drive them into the ditch if someone disagrees with them on any proposition thereby snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at every opportunity;
  10. Lose.

In the end, however, fear almost always trumps and triumphs over hope.  Thus, the outcome in elections in the last 30 years is not surprising.  The Republicans have circled the wagons; the Democrats have also circled their wagons after some missteps.  Could 2008 be different?

Bumper sticker of the week:

Wag more

Bark less

Leave a comment »

The Building Tsunami (October 13, 2008)

Posted in Economics, Federal Reserve, Housing on October 13, 2008 by e-commentary.org

Things are collapsing.  The mortgage/house is no longer an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine).  Mortgages were given to individuals who could not pay.  At least with a mortgage there was a structure providing some collateral to support the loan.

The populace is still spending beyond their means.  The staggering amount of credit card debt is another Great Tsunami.  Credit cards are being given if not shoved down the throats of individuals who cannot pay.  These Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are plastic explosives delivered daily by the United States Postal Service.  They will all explode within the next year.  And then the Congress, the Fed. (Federal Reserves system), and the business and economic press will express surprise, display panic and engender fear.

The geopolitical concerns are overlooked or disregarded.  The rest of the world is now taking over the US by “investment not invasion” as American becomes a “second world former superpower.”  More later.

Bumper sticker of the week:

Déjà vu all over again?

Leave a comment »

A Bleak Day: The Trillion Dollar Tragedy (October 6, 2008)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Bush, Debt/Deficits, Economics, Federal Reserve, Greenspan, USA PATRIOT Act on October 6, 2008 by e-commentary.org

Congress failed.  Again.  The Bailout Bill will accelerate the Meltdown by misallocating funds and burning day light needed to address the underlying problems.

A three page travesty delivered by Bush became a 451 page travesty cum pork adopted by Congress.  These votes may rank with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the Iraq war resolution, and the USA PATRIOT Act vote.

The public saw a 1.1 Trillion dollar drop in the value of their investments/401(k) IRAs last Monday and seemed to believe that a 700+ Billion bribe was worth the gamble.  The Bailout Bill will cost at least 1 Trillion to administer directly and will cause Trillions more in losses and damage.  Bribing the big players not to pull the plug until after the election is over is almost criminal if not treasonous.

Few note that the current crisis will be made worse by this bailout/bribe.  Beyond concerns about “moral hazard” and “bailouts for billionaires,” the problem is that the bailout is creating an even great credit crunch for the country.  There is way too much money in the economic system in the wrong hands.  The new money is being funneled into the wrong vessel, into a bowl not a colander.  The money will be hoarded.  The money is being not made available to the public.

Raising the deposit amount insured by the FDIC from $100,000 to $250,000 appears to offer something to the public, yet it also discourages the individual investor from monitoring his or her financial institution.  Individuals are deluded into believing that everything is ducky.  Individuals not just the government must act as regulators.  Banks that will soon be taken over by the FDIC are offering much higher interest rates to gobble up as much money as possible before the collapse.

Consumer confidence has never been higher.  Consumers are confident that the entire economic and political system is broken.

Business confidence has never been higher.  Businesspersons know that they are lying and, of greater import, that all other businesspersons are lying.  Reading between the lines of the economic reports is a challenge.  Reading between the lies is vexing.

So many fought to declare and establish independence for this country.  Last Friday, Congress voted to establish and fund a czar/dictator/central planner.  Two hundred thirty-two years later, we have a King of Finance.  Emperor Paulson.  One of the individuals who created the problem has been crowned to deepen it.

Fear once again triumphed over hope and reason.

Bumper stickers of the week:

Those who repeat history are doomed to repeat history.

If you think 401(k) is your mother-in-law’s bra size, then you might be a redneck.

—–Jeff Foxworthy

Leave a comment »

Futile Efforts (September 29, 2008)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Congress, Economics on September 29, 2008 by e-commentary.org

HSB

Washington, D.C. 20510

Senator _________:

Enough.  This bailout/handout is obscene.

Risk is the handmaiden of reward.  Success and failure are American.  Privatizing success and socializing failure are unwise if not criminal.  And no way to run a Republic.

Why are we as a country creating a dictator/czar who is not subject to congressional oversight or judicial review to decide how he will run the country?  Paulson was previously the Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs.  The wolf is in charge of the hen house.  He has done nothing for years.

This problem has been with us for many years.  Why get excited now?  We as a country got all excited and passed the PATRIOT Act, went to war with Iraq, etc.  Now is the time to reflect.

Reflect on the three articles in today’s NYT:  Kristol, Krugman and Cohen.  Cohen’s article addresses the international dimension.  The rest of the world does not care about the developments in the USA and is not going to do anything to help.  Let’s not be so concerned about the rest of the world on this issue at this time.

If we as a country are going to nationalize the industries, why not nationalize the industries rather than just the losses?

If we reject the bailout, there will be some inconveniences and costs, yet life will go on.  We will get up in the morning, put on our socks and go on with life.

If the legislation is passed, there is no rescinding it according to its term.  The long-term negative consequences of a bailout/handout to the taxpayer and the country are incomprehensible.

It is time to say No! to this travesty.

This legislation is unwise and imprudent.

Over the last few days, I have been surprised at how united _______ are on this issue.  Across the political spectrum, there is disgust and outrage.

It is time to reflect.

Sincerely,

_______________

****************************************************************************************************

RHOB

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressperson ______:

The politicians must quit digging.  “When you are in a hole, quit digging.”  Now is the time to reflect and think clearly about this “Economic 9/11” that has been foisted on the Republic by Wall Street with the involvement of far too many equally greedy American citizens.

The bailout bill is a travesty that will create more intermediate-term problems without solving any current ones.  The only way to fund the bailout will be to print money or borrow it from the Chinese and other countries.  Either source of funds is fraught with even worse economic consequences in the next six months.

If ma and pa store owner in [local towns] cannot get credit, then establish a program to allow direct short-term emergency loans from the government, perhaps the SBA, to meet their credit needs.  If someone cannot get a loan to purchase a vehicle, establish a program to provide a loan and take a security interest in the vehicle.  The New York banks have all the money in the world and still refuse to loan it.  Why reward that behavior by giving them more money?  Why push on a string?

The Senate is often described as the more deliberative body.  It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the banking industry, lock, stock and sinker.

Bernanke showed tremendous promise, but he has failed.  Paulson is part of the problem and should not be vested with the powers of a czar/dictator/central planner so that he can benefit his friends and former colleagues.

The economic and business press is behind this bill in part because, with a few notable exceptions, they have so miserably misunderstood and misrepresented the problem for years.

This is a time for courage.  Vote against this version and make a public statement that the “leadership” must make another effort to provide a sound bill or the negative economic consequences will be their responsibility.  Let the House shine.

Regards,

________________________

Bumper sticker of the week:

Otter:  “I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.”

Bluto:  “We’re just the guys to do it.”

“Animal House” movie (1978).

Leave a comment »

August 1, 2008

Posted in Uncategorized on August 1, 2008 by e-commentary.org

Hiatus

Leave a comment »

July 1, 2008

Posted in Uncategorized on July 1, 2008 by e-commentary.org

Hiatus

Leave a comment »

Hiatus (June 1, 2008)

Posted in Bush, Depression, Economics, Global Climate Change on June 1, 2008 by e-commentary.org

The “Bush Depression” is inevitable.  World War III proceeds apace.  We are behind the power curve addressing climate change.  Nothing helps; nothing works.  Time for a break.  [See the e-ssay dated May 11, 2005 entitled “The Coming Depression Is Not Depressing.”]

Bumper sticker of the Summer:

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.                             Al Einstein


Leave a comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »