Just a few days from inauguration I am forced to take a hard look at the beginnings of this administration and make some conclusions about what the future will look like.
I have said several times in the last several weeks that this "change" does not seem like much change to me. The Cabinet is rife with appointees that have served in Democratic administrations before. Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, Bill Richardson (now gone, but still was a name from the past), Rahm Emmanuel and Eric Holder all will be or would have been filling top spots in the Administration. This change is tantamount to giving someone a dollar for four quarters, at the end of the day it is still a dollar. These Cabinet appointments are indicative of the old Washington order, after the rhetoric of the campaign I was hoping for more, I think the voters were hoping for more. It is disappointing that originality went out the window somewhere, or that the talent pool just has a shallow end (which after the last election cycle may indeed be the case judging bu some of the buffoons that ran for office across this country) and I find it difficult to swallow this pill that I have swallowed before. The worst about this is that these people weren't even the most talented of the cast offs from the Clinton Administration, they were just the ones that were available. I have high hopes for Hillary at State, after watching her confirmation hearings she at least seems to get it. The only question remains, will she be allowed to pursue the agenda that she espouses in an Obama Administration?
The rhetorical output of the Administration sounds like a familiar tune as well. Spend, spend, spend, spend, spend and oh yeah spend. I have said before and will say again, spending will not get us out of the predicament we are in. Ingenuity and an appeal to what makes this country great will be the only thing that helps us out of the mess we are in. This country is in danger of "undeveloping" if oil hegemons continue to grow at the alarming rate that they are growing currently. Unless there is a move to develop new energy sources and crack reliance on foreign oil the entire future of Western economic civilization is at stake.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Hamas Proves that Terrorists aren't all that Smart
So Hamas decides that it is a good idea to attack Isreal during the high holidays and Isreal decides to fight back. Is anyone shocked by this turn of events? I am certainly not.
The political network inside Hamas was obviously looking for some kind of victorious boost and thought that maybe Isreal was asleep at the switch. They obviously underestimated the readiness of Isreal to respond immediately despite the holiday, and the eagerness and zest with which Isreal would reply. This is not the first time large terror groups have overestimated their own ability and underestimated the response of the party opposite and it will certainly not be the last time.
The international community that is now begging for a cease fire needs to shut their yaps. The eradication of Hamas should continue as far as I am concerned. These are not respectable individuals and have slaughtered thousands of innocents in their self proclaimed war against Isreal. The soverignty of Isreal continues to be threatened by the group and Isreal should wipe them off the face of the planet. I can only hope that the rest of Isreal's enemies are watching and realizing that they are next if they try anything.
The political network inside Hamas was obviously looking for some kind of victorious boost and thought that maybe Isreal was asleep at the switch. They obviously underestimated the readiness of Isreal to respond immediately despite the holiday, and the eagerness and zest with which Isreal would reply. This is not the first time large terror groups have overestimated their own ability and underestimated the response of the party opposite and it will certainly not be the last time.
The international community that is now begging for a cease fire needs to shut their yaps. The eradication of Hamas should continue as far as I am concerned. These are not respectable individuals and have slaughtered thousands of innocents in their self proclaimed war against Isreal. The soverignty of Isreal continues to be threatened by the group and Isreal should wipe them off the face of the planet. I can only hope that the rest of Isreal's enemies are watching and realizing that they are next if they try anything.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Bailout or Failout
So it has been a couple of months since the bailout took flight and I think we can all agree what a resounding success it has been. Right? Right? Anyone? No takers? I am not surprised.
400 billion was put out there with the intent of righting the ship and the ship still lists dangerously close to going over. Banks have not loaned the money and the reasons for it have been many to date. I have heard that they are waiting for the bottom of the market. I have heard that because the Government did not give the banks guidelines for using the money that the banks are within their rights to manage it how they believe they should. I have even heard that the money is out on the sidelines because there is just no place for it to go right now.
Here is my spin. The money has not been loaned because there is no profit in lending it right now. Rates are not favorable for banks they are favorable to borrowers. The banks want to make money on the money that they loan so it seems to make sense to me that the banks will not loan the money while the rates are not favorable for them to do so. The prepostorous part of this is, IT IS NOT THEIR MONEY!!!! If the motive is profit, and I believe that at least part of it is, the government should take the money back. At the very least they should pass some laws with rules about what the banks need to do with the money.
This has been nothing more than a cash grab and it needs to end now, of course with the unprecedented amount of boondoggles in Washington DC these recent years I am not shocked about any of it.
400 billion was put out there with the intent of righting the ship and the ship still lists dangerously close to going over. Banks have not loaned the money and the reasons for it have been many to date. I have heard that they are waiting for the bottom of the market. I have heard that because the Government did not give the banks guidelines for using the money that the banks are within their rights to manage it how they believe they should. I have even heard that the money is out on the sidelines because there is just no place for it to go right now.
Here is my spin. The money has not been loaned because there is no profit in lending it right now. Rates are not favorable for banks they are favorable to borrowers. The banks want to make money on the money that they loan so it seems to make sense to me that the banks will not loan the money while the rates are not favorable for them to do so. The prepostorous part of this is, IT IS NOT THEIR MONEY!!!! If the motive is profit, and I believe that at least part of it is, the government should take the money back. At the very least they should pass some laws with rules about what the banks need to do with the money.
This has been nothing more than a cash grab and it needs to end now, of course with the unprecedented amount of boondoggles in Washington DC these recent years I am not shocked about any of it.
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