Looking Back

If one looks back over the last 8 years, the seeds of today’s deep recession can be seen.  To be fair, the Clinton Administration presided over the earliest seeds, the dot-com bubble.   In many ways it set forth the “faux business model” that would thrive during the Bush years.    As you may remember [...]

Predictable Yet Surprising

Presidential candidate Barack Obama told the American people what he intended to do if elected President.  He was elected President by a very large margin.  Yesterday he announced a budget that contained all the major initiatives he had promised during his campaigning in an open and transparent submission.  Republicans howled and tripped over themselves to [...]

The Fogged Out Foggy Bottom

The US State Department is often referred to as “the foggy bottom” because the Washington DC neighborhood in which it is located was first referred to as foggy bottom.  It seems in the 19th century when this area was being developed it was noted for fog and mist in the air, in other words an [...]

Where Is Mike Huckabee?

Last evening President Barack Obama gave his first address to Congress (and the nation) and by most accounts it was what the doctor ordered.  It was clear, positive, and promising that life will get better.  What more can a President say. The next steps are up to President Obama in following through on his plan.  [...]

Don’t Blink

Last week Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, suggested that conditions might dictate that the Federal Government “take over” for some interim period one or more of the largest, “can’t fail” banks.  When that news broke, the stock market tanked.  Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Government and Citibank were [...]

What Recovery Will Need

President Obama’s Economic Stimulus Package has just passed and the plan to help mortgage holders from further foreclosure is still being read for understanding.  Today rumors were reported that the Government would invest further in Citibank, taking as much as a 40% stake.  All this action in so short a time is a huge accomplishment. [...]

North Dakota New Fame

The North Dakota House of Representatives, apparently with nothing else to do or worry about, voted in favor of a bill that provides legal rights to a fertilized egg.  So there is no confusion, this egg must be from a humane.  This bill which is in direct opposition to “Roe v Wade”, puts North Dakota [...]

Going Off the Deep End

CNN reported yesterday that Pope Benedict and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meet on Wednesday in the Vatican.  According to press releases by Speaker Pelosi and the Pope, there seems to have been two different meetings.  Pelosi said it was a fine meeting where they discussed poverty and global warming (perfectly appropriate subjects).  The Vatican released [...]

Why the Center Should Be the Friend of the Right and the Left

Since President Obama has taken office, Republicans in Congress have sounded like citizens who have spent the last 8 years on a desert island and simply can not accept that their party is responsible for the mess America faces today, both home and abroad.  Republicans simply return to the failed policies as if they could [...]

GM to the Wire

General Motors is now feeling the “love” generated with the UAW over the past 20-30 years during which GM screwed the union when ever it could and then agreed to soft, ridiculous contracts and even sillier work rules at various GM plants.  There are few, if any, more dysfunctional relationships than GM and its union [...]