What is the American public responsibility?

President Barack Obama seems to have an idea. It’s appealing, but it’s missing a few things. Still good excerpt.

Summer.

I will now sum up the summer of 2009 in a single post. You’ll find it a riveting, brazen analysis of everything I found important thats transpired in the season of sunny days:

I would have paid a significant amount of money to have this on videotape. Stealing from, or committing theft in the presence of a nun, regardless of your spiritual beliefs, seems about as smart as poking a sleeping bear with a stick while covered in honey and wearing flip flops.

Nothing short of bold. While you’re at it, say goodbye to your grandmother on her death bead via Twitter you tool.

As it turns out, Cristiano Ronaldo was roughly just as good as everyone thought he was. Manchester will have to find goals from other people. Like Shrek and a hopefully-not-too-washed-up Owen. The bench is as deep as any team in the world, so I’m not worried. Yet.

If the Afghan people don’t want to fight the Taliban, who will? On paper, it is one of the most just wars (if there is so contradicting a phrase) we have ever fought, and yet the world won’t send men to fight it.

Iraq seems as fun as ever. I say we make a gut decision between healthcare and this war. In a perfect world, Obama would eliminate a federal healthcare system altogether and shift all available forces from Iraq into Afghanistan and wipe the Taliban off the face of the earth. But, as a pragmatist, it is now a numbers game. Atop the lives, the money and the political capital the Iraq War has and will drain, President Barack Obama needs to decide if he truly wishes to further bankrupt the country through expanded healthcare without cutting costs.

Michael Moore thinks we have a capitalist system in the United States, and he aims to make it his scapegoat for all his problems. It’s like blaming a leaking roof on on the guy that built your foundation.

Tarantino and Nazis. Perfect.

The Gopher hockey team is loaded. Again. And Nick Leddy is going to become a hometown hero. No pressure bud.

EPIC.

I know people like this. I may have met a few this summer.

I’m sure I’ll find more things to critique and offer my invaluable advice on soon.

BOOM goes the dynamite

 

Note the 'mustache.' What a joke.

I did not want the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup. I wanted the euro-trash, hockey dynasty from Detroit to make Sidney Crosby cry. It didn’t happen. I’m bitter. 

In other news, Cristiano Ronaldo is evidently worth somewhere between a lot and way too much. I’ll say this much as a Man U fan–we sold him in his prime for more than any other player in history. We will be just fine.

World News:

Moussavi won the election. Lets be real.

Obama wants to bankrupt us. Or hospitals. Or save us money? Fix debt? Put us in debt? Kinda depends on what kind of mood you are or what/who you are reading.

I don’t know what Pakistan is doing on the best of days; usually it’s somewhere between driving US officials absolutely mad and freewheeling some kind of manhunt from a cubical in Islamabad. Good people. 

Israel has spies!? Thats ludicrous. That’s like saying the United States has a convoluted history with Native Americans. Can’t imagine it being true.

How We Got Here.

We are witnessing a country tear itself apart. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has plummeted 25 percent since inauguration, banks are insolvent, the auto industry is quite literally on life support and mortgages are being defaulted by the millions—all of which have direct impact on us as students. And yet, the only reasons we have as to how we got here can be summed up in tidy sound bites and oversimplified catch phrases like “corporate greed” and “too little regulation.”

Even worse, we bought it. We took our newly appointed savior, President Obama and his army of advisors, at their word. Terrible corporate greed is to blame, regulation will fix it and my stimulus plan will pave the way to road to recovery.

Not so fast.

If you reach back into history to the aftermath of the Great Depression, you’ll find the implementation of some of the most powerful regulating measures in United States history: the rise of the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, the creation of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and hefty government intervention that began to tax and subsidize various functions of the economy—including real estate—to ensure something as devastating as the Great Depression never occurred again.

While well intentioned, this regulation is directly responsible for the mess we are in. Tax exemptions and deductions for real estate encouraged unnecessary risk taking and loans to low-income buyers that led to rampant real estate speculation. Institutions such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae thrived off this artificially created real estate “bubble” of simulated real estate worth— manifested from government regulation.

When land values began to sag, the entire system came down like a house of cards, because a vast majority of real estate (both public and private) is mortgaged in some way. Banks no longer had revenue streams, businesses couldn’t secure capital to operate or expand, Wall Street crumbles and here we are. Right where the government put us.

Naturally, we looked to the government to pull us out of the mess. The “stimulus” plan passed by the Obama administration however, is a sham. It is not a tool of growth or expansion of our economy. It is a package of social programs as opposed to ambitious public works projects and tax cuts attempting to “prop up” the middle class rather than encourage investment. It is income transfer, a holding pattern, rather than a plan for explosive growth and rehabilitation.

It is fundamentally flawed as well. It is spending money in a way private industry could do just as well, or better, if the government made strides to effectively capitalize banks and offer a simple but binding roadmap to recovery. Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, has a perfect way of describing the Democratic leadership thus far:

“If Barack Obama and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi took three buckets of water out of a lake, ran to the other side of the lake, and poured those three buckets into the lake, do you really believe there’s more water in the lake? That’s their spending plan: Take money out of [the] economy, walk around, and hand it to the politically connected—800 billion times.”

President Obama’s budget is even scarier. In his address to congress last month, President Obama identified “$2 trillion in savings over the next decade.” Sadly, half of that $2 trillion is “found” in tax increases—“wasteful and ineffective” spending has been identified as letting investors, entrepreneurs and responsible businesspeople keep their money.

The tax increases he proposes for his new budget are sending shockwaves through the U.S. economy. Capital investors and entrepreneurs now stand idle, awaiting the government swung axe that will end hopes of any kind of expansion or growth starting as soon as 2011. Long-term growth is jeopardized as the president looks for more money in the budget to fulfill unrealistic campaign promises.

We should still be stinging from George Bush’s “passionate” conservative policies sinking us into ever increasing debt. Letting President Barack Obama lead our country down just as damaging “tax and spend” policies while convincing us that the government needs a bigger hand in regulation of the economy would be just as irresponsible. In the words of syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin:

“Enough. In a word, that is the message of disgusted taxpayers fed up with the confiscatory policies of both parties in Washington. George Bush pre-socialized the economy with billion-dollar bailouts of the financial and auto industries. Barack Obama is pouring billions more down those sinkholes. It isn’t just the camel’s back that’s broken. His neck and four legs have all snapped, too.”

Answer the Question:

Tonight’s address of Congress will answer a lot of questions we all have about President Barack Obama’s vision for the role of government in not only this crisis, but in everyday lives of Americans in general. Given the passing of a major stimulus bill, the initial workings of further bank bailouts or even temporary nationalization and a mortgage deal, the president sees himself as the catalyst for government intervention. 

The president has taken the role of policy leader in this country, which is not necessarily a good thing; how can it be when only 37 percent of Americans approve of the stimulus plan and you still ramrod it through Congress? I know that you may think that we don’t know what is best for the country Mr. President, but perhaps that election ‘mandate’ you assumed doesn’t apply to every single policy idea you have. Do we live in a democracy or not? Just a thought.

Semester Blues

It has not taken long for Dowd to whip out her acidic pen and start the prose that will lead the way in criticizing President Barack Obama. I knew she would take a lead, as she did with Bush. You’ll have to search very hard indeed to find someone as bright and creative in their critique as she is. Her columns are fun to read.

In other news, college is difficult and I have no free time. Blast American higher education; if I were French or Italian I could just go to class when I felt like it.

Questionable Action.

I find it astounding that in an economic situation like this we can have our leader seriously considering action like this. It’s like whining about your basement being flooded when you refused to help plug the holes in the levee down the street. This is not a partisan attack, this is literal fact: higher regulation costs buisnesses money. Some regulation is neccessary in order to acheive a system that benefits its participants, but in a global economic environment that is three steps and a cough away from outright collapse, this just seems foolhearty.

There is also the issue about this legislation coming down on auto companies. As if Detroit wasn’t having enough troubles–they can’t even capitalize their own companies. So who thinks they have the capital to start the R&D and retro-fitting neccessary to produce automobiles that meet these requirements?

I have to point out how much this makes me feel like as a nation we haven’t learned a single thing about the past.

Before this ends I have to point out I am not an isolated idealouge.  It is here I sit and share with you the wisdom of Paul Krugman, a brilliant economist, progressive New Dealer and Nobel Prize winner. No one set of policies can single-handedly solve the problems in our system–no one system is right or wrong. There is a reason why very intelligent people can be on two sides of an argument.

One thing nobody can deny.

Without a doubt, Barack Obama looks significantly more badass than presidents of old when sitting in the Oval Office. Along these lines, I think he should negotiate everything from free trade agreements to disarmament policy in the Oval Office. Just invite the folks in to have a seat and then start laying it out exactly how it is going to go down. I know I wouldn’t be able to say no, and I consider myself at least an expert on all things relating to the White House, foreign relations and military operations (note sarcasm). 

Front page news on the New York Times is Hillary Clinton reporting to work at Foggy Bottom. Two things: Foggy Bottom is an absolutely hilarious monicker for a geographic location. Secondly, congratulations Hillary. You accomplished what 150 million Americans accomplish every day: they get out of bed and go to work.

Slumdog Millionaire received 10 Oscar Nominations. Thats really cool; but if In Bruges doesn’t win Best Original Screenplay I will be more than slightly aggravated. This kind of unpleasantness should not be opened upon the world.

Last note: there is an open debate about the banking situation, which is far more widespread and critically crucial to the economic survival of the United States and her allies than any other problem we are facing today. We can take some serious action in reforming the system or cross our fingers and hope King Obama’s team of wiz-kids can make it all go away. 

My fingers are crossed, but if Obama’s team can actually put some solvency into the U.S. system I’ll do my ‘King Obama’ dance. I’m starting my practice sessions already. And believe me, you’ll really want to see it.

Inauguration: All Hail the King!

A great day to re-boot a blog: the day after the inauguration of a new president. Not only will President Barack Obama cure all of our economic woes, he will also allow all of us to feel pure euphoria, unfettered joy and teach us all to dance. This obviously in addition to fixing all of our problems internationally and a banking system that is exploding inward and outward at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, not only do I believe King Obama will accomplish all the above, I fully believe he has the ability to singlehandedly eliminate racism, poverty, cuts suffered from shaving while half asleep in the morning and be present at my nephews birthday party. 

On the flip side, say goodbye to Bush & Co.

The Party (9/3)

Today has to be a summary rather than a hour by hour update, mostly because of how busy everything got in the Xcel. Big time speakers took down the house, with serious cheers coming for Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. While I was not able to be on the floor as much tonight, and no where near it for any of the major speeches, the atmosphere in the Xcel was nothing short of electric for these two Republicans. Each jab Palin took at Sen. Barack Obama got more cheers and excitement from the crowd than the last; Giuliani rocked the house with his views on national security and the threat of terrorism.

An interesting article from the UK Telegraph profiles Palin’s rise to the national spotlight. Europeans seem to have a bit of a Carla Bruni complex with Gov. Palin.

The Boston Herald profiled Rudy Giuliani’s support for the Republican VP choice in his emotional speech delievered before Gov. Palin took the stage.

While most of the action was occurring on the delegate floor, ‘radio row’ was probably a close second. This is the area where radio stations from all over the world set up. It is located in the main RiverCenter lobby. I had a John Voight sighting, and supposedly Robert Downy Jr. was here as well; though, nobody seemed to know where he was. 

As a formality, each state got to cast their votes (after a lengthly explination on why their state was the best in the Union) for McCain, this lasting later into the night than ANY AP reporter wanted. The mood in the AP workspace was electric after the Giuliani and Palin speeches; then the time of day set in. Most of these reporters, especially photographers, have been working very taxing hours. This is only getting worse leading into Thursday.

McCain is expected to speak tonight; the content of his speech is probably very much like that of previous speakers. The Republican party has used the convention to go on the offensive on behalf of Palin, who has remained very quiet this last week despite the crushing media attention about her pregnant daughter.

I will add to this as I continue to read through my notes. I will also start linking up major news stories–it will be interesting to analyze just how well Palin came across in the eyes of the media.

The pictures will come once they are sorted and aggregated, possibly on their own page all together. Sorry for the delay, but a few should turn out pretty well even if they were shot from the hip.