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.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Bush Legacy? Let the Speculation Begin
So the end is near. Eight years of George Bush policy and leadership is now coming to a close and it is time to begin the honest asessments of what has transpired and what the legacy will ultimately be.
In previous entries I have argued that this administration was the most paranoid and aloof since the Nixon Administration and I will stand by that statement. The lid has been on this White House since at least 2005 and it could be argued that the lid was on before that. This administration has shown a remarkable inability to get out in front of it's failures. Couple that with the inability to trumpet the successes that they have had and it has been a recipe for disaster. Some of this has most certainly been to protect the American people from frightening details about the war on terror, but there has been a decided lack of trust in the American people to decide for themselves what the information means. The White House has shown an amazing inability to let the people to make their own judgements about policy successes and failures and that indicates a flaw in leadership. Successful administrations admit failures and headline their victories, this administration has done neither very well. Therefore the legacy they have built, at least for the time being, is a very negative one.
Bush can, and should be, credited for his continued principled stand on this war. The President has never deviated from the course that he set out on after 9/11, that is something that should be admired. In the face of failure and criticism Bush has avoided being a windsock in this day and age that is a rare trait amongst politicians. If the war on terror continues for a generation, and I believe that it will, this President will eventually be viewed in a favorable light much like Nixon was later in his life.
In previous entries I have argued that this administration was the most paranoid and aloof since the Nixon Administration and I will stand by that statement. The lid has been on this White House since at least 2005 and it could be argued that the lid was on before that. This administration has shown a remarkable inability to get out in front of it's failures. Couple that with the inability to trumpet the successes that they have had and it has been a recipe for disaster. Some of this has most certainly been to protect the American people from frightening details about the war on terror, but there has been a decided lack of trust in the American people to decide for themselves what the information means. The White House has shown an amazing inability to let the people to make their own judgements about policy successes and failures and that indicates a flaw in leadership. Successful administrations admit failures and headline their victories, this administration has done neither very well. Therefore the legacy they have built, at least for the time being, is a very negative one.
Bush can, and should be, credited for his continued principled stand on this war. The President has never deviated from the course that he set out on after 9/11, that is something that should be admired. In the face of failure and criticism Bush has avoided being a windsock in this day and age that is a rare trait amongst politicians. If the war on terror continues for a generation, and I believe that it will, this President will eventually be viewed in a favorable light much like Nixon was later in his life.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
What Kind of Weird Alternate Political Universe are We Entering?
In reading about and researching the new Obama economic plan I am forced to ask, what the hell have we gotten ourselves into? The centerpiece of the plan is to create 2.5 million new jobs (I did not see a timeframe within which this piece of magic is supposed to happen) by spending money on much needed infrastructure and urban improvement projects. The spending will top 700 billion dollars which when coupled with it's twin, the 700 billion dollar bailout from October, the cost for "fixing" the economy will be a minimal 1.4 trillion dollars. I am no economic expert, but that sounds like a lot of money to me.
The irony of this program is that it is also designed, as stated in Obama's own words of wonkdom, to be fiscally responsible. I will give everyone a moment for that to sink in. FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE!!! This must be some sort of joke and the punchline will be paid at the bottom line by the taxpayer. Obama paints the rosy picture of cutting govenment waste in order to fund some of his plans, but we have heard this song and dance before. The cold hard fact is that we will end up paying for this program of "responsibility" and at the end of the day I am not sure where the idea will take us.
There is some historical precedent for spending ourselves out of an economic crisis, it worked when FDR did it in the late 20's and early 30's. The US was on the verge of meltdown when FDR helped build the country from the ground up with infrastructure programs and targeted social welfare entitlements and then led the country to post war prosperity. The times now though are not apples to apples to the times then. At that time the U.S. was a burgeoning democracy and had many yet untapped rescources, natural and otherwise. American ingenuity was just beginning it's rise to the top. During the present time our ingenuity has been surpassed by the ingenuity of developing nations, much like we surpassed the developed nations of the eary 20th century. Our time as politcal, economic and military hegemon is drawing to a close and I could make the argument that it is already over. Attempting to spend the way out of this crisis with infrastructure projects and targeted social welfare entitlements will not work this time the world economy is too far beyond what we can do within our own borders.
The next hegemon in this world will be an energy hegemon. If some country does not act quickly to usurp the oncoming oil hegemony by spending resources to develop viable alternative energy sources every Western power will kneel to the new hegemony of oil. For the new President the agenda should be to create new jobs and spend new money in the area of developing alternative energy sources that could be viable on the world stage. We can become the energy hegemon and render oil nearly obsolete if the alternative source is pursued seriously enough and is made cost effective enough for large consumers like China and India. If we could remove the Chinese, Indian and American markets from the oil consumer list then over half of the world's population would be using a resource that only we knew how to make. Is this utopian? Sure. Is it improbable? Sure. Is it impossible? No. Obama has the chance to do for alternative energy what Kennedy did for space exploration, tap into the will of the American people and begin to get something done. Only a few Presidents have ever had the ability to move the country in an entirely new direction. Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan and now maybe Obama if he so chooses. Whatever you personally feel about the President Elect, it is no secret that I am not his biggest fan, the time to move this country is now. There is a new direction out there, the country is just waiting for someone to show the way.
The irony of this program is that it is also designed, as stated in Obama's own words of wonkdom, to be fiscally responsible. I will give everyone a moment for that to sink in. FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE!!! This must be some sort of joke and the punchline will be paid at the bottom line by the taxpayer. Obama paints the rosy picture of cutting govenment waste in order to fund some of his plans, but we have heard this song and dance before. The cold hard fact is that we will end up paying for this program of "responsibility" and at the end of the day I am not sure where the idea will take us.
There is some historical precedent for spending ourselves out of an economic crisis, it worked when FDR did it in the late 20's and early 30's. The US was on the verge of meltdown when FDR helped build the country from the ground up with infrastructure programs and targeted social welfare entitlements and then led the country to post war prosperity. The times now though are not apples to apples to the times then. At that time the U.S. was a burgeoning democracy and had many yet untapped rescources, natural and otherwise. American ingenuity was just beginning it's rise to the top. During the present time our ingenuity has been surpassed by the ingenuity of developing nations, much like we surpassed the developed nations of the eary 20th century. Our time as politcal, economic and military hegemon is drawing to a close and I could make the argument that it is already over. Attempting to spend the way out of this crisis with infrastructure projects and targeted social welfare entitlements will not work this time the world economy is too far beyond what we can do within our own borders.
The next hegemon in this world will be an energy hegemon. If some country does not act quickly to usurp the oncoming oil hegemony by spending resources to develop viable alternative energy sources every Western power will kneel to the new hegemony of oil. For the new President the agenda should be to create new jobs and spend new money in the area of developing alternative energy sources that could be viable on the world stage. We can become the energy hegemon and render oil nearly obsolete if the alternative source is pursued seriously enough and is made cost effective enough for large consumers like China and India. If we could remove the Chinese, Indian and American markets from the oil consumer list then over half of the world's population would be using a resource that only we knew how to make. Is this utopian? Sure. Is it improbable? Sure. Is it impossible? No. Obama has the chance to do for alternative energy what Kennedy did for space exploration, tap into the will of the American people and begin to get something done. Only a few Presidents have ever had the ability to move the country in an entirely new direction. Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan and now maybe Obama if he so chooses. Whatever you personally feel about the President Elect, it is no secret that I am not his biggest fan, the time to move this country is now. There is a new direction out there, the country is just waiting for someone to show the way.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
First Priority, Health Care?
There have been some rumblings that the first priority of the new administration on the domestic front will be Health Care. To this possibility I must say, I am baffled. With the current state of the economy could the neophyte about to take the White House actually believe that there is some chance to do anything with the one issue that there will be absolutely no chance of getting anything done on? I speculate that the answer to this is no and that there is some tomfoolery afoot about what the agenda will be. However, if it is true I am pretty sure that the new administration has already lost it's mind.
Let's remember back to when the country tried this last time. It was another Democratic President early on is his tenure that decided to push for a Health Care solution as well. Anyone remember how that went for him? Obama would be well served to table the Health Care issue for the first year or so an focus heavily on the economy and his other plans for the overall restoration of American faith.
Obama will make some early mistakes for sure, however I do not believe that Health Care will be one of them. Look for this issue to hit the moth balls as soon as Obama assumes the office.
Let's remember back to when the country tried this last time. It was another Democratic President early on is his tenure that decided to push for a Health Care solution as well. Anyone remember how that went for him? Obama would be well served to table the Health Care issue for the first year or so an focus heavily on the economy and his other plans for the overall restoration of American faith.
Obama will make some early mistakes for sure, however I do not believe that Health Care will be one of them. Look for this issue to hit the moth balls as soon as Obama assumes the office.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Cabinet Musings
So the search for the Cabinet begins and the speculation is rampant at present. The appointment of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff should signal that the administrative heavy in the execution of governmental business will not be President Obama. Emanuel has a long history of being the guy that knows where the skeletons are and how to bury the bodies when discarded after political use. This then begs the question, who else will be on this cabinet and why?
Some serious pundits have put the Hillary question on the map. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is very interesting, but I believe it is politically dangerous for Obama and politically damaging for Clinton. For Obama the selection of someone as polarizing and recognizable as Hillary Clinton would not be a good move. Much has been made of Obama's affinity for Lincoln and his assemblage of rivals for a cabinet, while the sentiment is nice, there is no way it can work today. Putting a media star like Clinton on the Cabinet could only be a political danger for everyone involved. Lincoln had a distinct advantage when he named Seward, Chase and other rivals to his cabinet, namely that there was no mainstream media at the time. The animosity and rancor that sometimes found it's way into Lincoln Administration proceedings was not viewed or even read about by the public at large. In today's day and age any sign of distress from the Cabinet room could be a soundbite in about 5 seconds. To put someone like Hillary there would only lead to distraction and possible mayhem if there were ever a diagreement between the President and the Secretary of State. It could also be problematic for Obama if he does not choose Bill Richardson for this post (he has long been considered a possibility and a favorite by many) because Richardson essentially burned his bridge with the Clinton's when he backed Obama for the Presidency. Not choosing Richardson could cause a political rift amongst others that Obama needed support from to win. Sending a message that loyalty is not repaid with loyalty would be a death knell for Obama in building a coalition between the far left and the middle left. Hanging Richardson out to dry would be a critical mistake at this point and it would also lead me to reassess the political acumen of the new President.
I also do not believe that there would be any upside for Hillary in taking this position. Hillary Clinton still wants to be President. As unlikely that it is that she ever will be, Hillary knows that being a middle left supporter of Obama's on the key issues while being a critic of the intiatives that are far left will serve her better in the long run. Hillary also has to consider that she could be getting set up to take a fall for Iraq should the new administration not be able to get out as quickly as promised. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense would most likely have to answer for the failure that is sure to come in this area. There is not a feasible way that Obama can meet his Iraq promise in any way that will not have the stench of failure on it. It is going to take longer that what has been promised to get out of the situation and Hillary knows this.
Some have advocated that John McCain be selected for Obama's Cabinet. This is actually an idea that makes some political sense. McCain is at the end of his career and he will not ever be President. For Obama to reward McCain for his many years of distinguished service would be a master political stroke. McCain would be an excellent choice for Secretary of Defense or State and would work well with Joe Biden in providing the President with sagely advice on the Foreign Policy direction of the country. There is no downside for McCain on this one and only upside for everyone involved.
The final Cabinet will look much different from traditional administrations. This will be an interesting transition period, the grist mill has only just started turning out the names.
Some serious pundits have put the Hillary question on the map. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is very interesting, but I believe it is politically dangerous for Obama and politically damaging for Clinton. For Obama the selection of someone as polarizing and recognizable as Hillary Clinton would not be a good move. Much has been made of Obama's affinity for Lincoln and his assemblage of rivals for a cabinet, while the sentiment is nice, there is no way it can work today. Putting a media star like Clinton on the Cabinet could only be a political danger for everyone involved. Lincoln had a distinct advantage when he named Seward, Chase and other rivals to his cabinet, namely that there was no mainstream media at the time. The animosity and rancor that sometimes found it's way into Lincoln Administration proceedings was not viewed or even read about by the public at large. In today's day and age any sign of distress from the Cabinet room could be a soundbite in about 5 seconds. To put someone like Hillary there would only lead to distraction and possible mayhem if there were ever a diagreement between the President and the Secretary of State. It could also be problematic for Obama if he does not choose Bill Richardson for this post (he has long been considered a possibility and a favorite by many) because Richardson essentially burned his bridge with the Clinton's when he backed Obama for the Presidency. Not choosing Richardson could cause a political rift amongst others that Obama needed support from to win. Sending a message that loyalty is not repaid with loyalty would be a death knell for Obama in building a coalition between the far left and the middle left. Hanging Richardson out to dry would be a critical mistake at this point and it would also lead me to reassess the political acumen of the new President.
I also do not believe that there would be any upside for Hillary in taking this position. Hillary Clinton still wants to be President. As unlikely that it is that she ever will be, Hillary knows that being a middle left supporter of Obama's on the key issues while being a critic of the intiatives that are far left will serve her better in the long run. Hillary also has to consider that she could be getting set up to take a fall for Iraq should the new administration not be able to get out as quickly as promised. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense would most likely have to answer for the failure that is sure to come in this area. There is not a feasible way that Obama can meet his Iraq promise in any way that will not have the stench of failure on it. It is going to take longer that what has been promised to get out of the situation and Hillary knows this.
Some have advocated that John McCain be selected for Obama's Cabinet. This is actually an idea that makes some political sense. McCain is at the end of his career and he will not ever be President. For Obama to reward McCain for his many years of distinguished service would be a master political stroke. McCain would be an excellent choice for Secretary of Defense or State and would work well with Joe Biden in providing the President with sagely advice on the Foreign Policy direction of the country. There is no downside for McCain on this one and only upside for everyone involved.
The final Cabinet will look much different from traditional administrations. This will be an interesting transition period, the grist mill has only just started turning out the names.
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