The Stock Market has been Saved!

Oh my goodness, there is celebration in the street! The economy has had a massive turnaround! Three days of solid gain in the Stock Market Indexes, the largest gain in the S&P 500 in a few months, even the monthly graph shows a little positive growth. There is euphoria in the streets! But why has the market rebounded these last few days? Oh, that answer is easy

The reason that the market has rebounded is because the President's recovery system has started to kick in. The President has now saved the world from utter destruction, right??

Absolutely wrong! The traders on the floor of the market, along with brokers are not stupid, maybe a little reactionary, but not stupid at all. The reason that the market went up is simply because Citi Bank is going to post a profit. While they may post a profit because of the statement they made, it was something entirely different than what has been said by most people, including those in the government. A private company expressed hope, optimism, and confidence in the economy. But why is this so important?

It becomes so important because it proves that Capitalism works, and that socialism doesn't. People will claim that because Obama pumped cash into the banks, the banks were able to post profits, thus Obama is to credit for the upswing. If that were true, why then did the economy not gain ground when the money was pumped in. It is well assumed that Treasure Bonds are the safest investment because they are backed by the Government, and where is the government going? Nowhere! But why didn't the economy go up when the money went in of the Government was such a worthy investor/creditor?

Because financial people know better than to trust the government to run a capitalistic market. Whenever that happens, it leads to Socialism, the opposite direction in which investors want to go. It took a private company to post a profit for the market to rebound, simply because it re-instilled confidence in a tried and true system.

And to make a last point, it has not been released (to my knowledge) how much of a profit Citi will post, yet it has led to 2 200+ point gain days. The Government is pumping over $775 Billion, and then watched as the market drop over 1000 points in a manner of days. That should say very clearly that we are trusting the recovery to the wrong people, the Government.

Taxes, taxes, taxes

Nothing is avoidable minus death and taxes. We all know the saying, right? Unless you work in Washington, that is.

It seems that there is a large amount of very prominent nominees by President Barack Obama that have failed to pay taxes. They were asked to run the Treasury Department (which runs the IRS, no problem...), the Department of Health and Human Services (health care paid for by taxes), and work in the Department of Justice (who persecutes those who don't pay taxes).

Now I understand everyone makes mistakes, but I honestly can't understand this. Last year, there was a couple that lived here in New Hampshire, Ed and Elane Brown, who were couped up in their house/compound because they didn't pay income taxes and the U.S. Marshals wanted to arrest them. They were eventually arreasted and incarserated. They broke the law, they now have to live with the consequences.

But Dashel, Geithner, and the other lady (whose name I forget) have all been raised to a high pedistle, made to be leaders and have been rewarded for their past actions by present leadership in government. President Obama said in an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson that there should not be, nor is there a double standard between government officals and citizens of the United States. When Joe taxpayer goes and failes to pay his taxes on his income and his driver and car, he gets hit with fines, penalties, and disgrace, along with a major headache. When Government officals have tax problems, they get patted on the back and get a raise. Call me carzy, but isn't there a very evident double standard being applied?

In my opinion, one thing has become increasingly clear, and that is that we don't believe in consiquences. Consequences for not paying taxes SHOULD BE that you never ever are in charge of the department that collects taxes, to me that is common sense. Consequences for Iran fireing off its first satelight into space should be a massive diplomatic and inteligence mission to insure that Iran doesn't and CAN'T blow the snot out of us in the next 5 minuets. I haven't heard anything yet about that, have you? I say this only to show that LEADERS understand that there needs to be consequences for every negative action. If those consequences are inadequate or not applied at all, things can go into shambles very quickly.

So I leave you with this question, What needs to be done in terms of Obama's tax crisis? How has Obama's Administration handled consequences in the last three weeks? How will his future consequences alter this country in the future?

Stim-who-less??

OH MY GOSH! THE WORLD IS GOING TO END UNLESS WE PASS THIS STIMILUS! AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Sound familiar? It is a condensed version of what is comming out of Washington to the American people. Well, at least from the White House and Congressional Democrats. But why all of the urgency? Admittidly there are a lot of people who are really hurting right now, but why do we need to pass this stimilus NOW?

The answer is simple, selfish, and political. The answer is because they do not want you to know what is in the package.

When $825 Billion dollars is spent, it would make sense to go through the bill and make sure that every program, project, and expendature will not be futile, costly in the future, and worth while. How could this be done if the process it rushed?

In closing, I have a few questions to ask. First, why use a spending stimilus as opposed to a tax break stimilus? what are the advantages and disadvantages to both?
Why rush the process and push using political power instead of allowing for full and public review?
Why is spending on non-longterm projects so large, and how is it different than pork barrel spending?
Why are things like 'Preparing America for Socialized Healthcare' and Abortion Funding included in a stimilus package?

Please, as always, ask yourself these questions honestly, objectively, and with as much information as possible.

My Thoughts on the Election of President Obama

First off, while President Lincolin was a great man and great president, I really don't see the reason to emulate him completely in his inaugration ceremony. I would really like to see some independant thoughts and themes in Obama's ceremony. Also, Lincolin was the first "republican" president (I put that in quotes because while the title has remanined the same over the years, the stances may have changed over the years), and Obama has had the honor of being called the most liberal senator in the senate. So why emulate Lincolin? The only reason that I can think of for the emluation was that Lincolin was a great public relations guy, and had a number of great, historic speeches. If Obama can associate himself with Lincolin in history, showing them both as bringing together a divided nation, some of his (Obama's) minor actions in office may be magnified, making Obama look much better in history. But that is only a theory.

Also, I feel that the media had done such a dis-service to the nation. From the big three (ABC, CBS, NBC), I have yet to see an honest review of the man we have elected as president, including his voting record in Ill. and Congress. We have not seen in depth coverage concerning what he advocated for as a "community organizer" in Chicago, or in the Illiinois Senate. Unfortunately, no one has asked Obama the hard questions and then pressured him to answer them in a simple, straightforward way. What concerns me is that we have elected a man to be president not based on merrit, but on his ability to use words to create excitement and to make everyone feel safe with him.

Also concerning the media, the inaugration has recieved massive amounts of media coverage, starting with this party that started on Saturday. It has been over hyped and under analyzed. During the weeks leading up to the day, we were told that about 4 million people will have a massive hippie party on the national mall celebrating the inaugration of the Messiah (please pardon the sattire, i just listened to Rush Limbaugh). Now, experts are predicting no more than 2 million people will cram washington for the mass celebration of happiness and joy. Why was the number so over inflated? and why did the number of attendies suddenly drop in the order of 50%? None of these questions have been asked by anyone in the media. What has made news was the amount of porta-potties that have been made available. Not for anything, but WHO CARES??? We are talking about the election of the next president of the United States, one who is inherriting 2 wars, diplomatic issues (putting it kindly) with Iran and N. Korea, a massive national debt, and has appointed more unworthy people to secratary offices (Clinton? Geithner? Holder?) While these issues, and how they will be handled, have not been given air time, minus a select few cable hosts, Porta potties have been leading national broadcasts for days!

When the media covered Bush 43's second inaugration, they complained and critized Bush on how $40 million could be spent one one day. It lead news casts, was the leading headline on newspapers, and was the focus of much debate. But today, the experts predict that over $170 million will be spent on Barack's Magic Day. Not one of the big three have lead a evening news with this information. In fact, barely anyone had blinked an eye in news media. Why has it cost this much? Where has all the money gone? What makes this inaugration so different that THREE TIMES THE AMOUNT OF MONEY needs to be spent? Yet none if these questions have been asked. To the news media, I now ask that you stop calling your self journalists until you can get over yourself because your prodigy in now the president. I ask you to stop partying in the streets and start to work for the American people, holding the Government accountable for what they do.

And one final note, I honestly believe that this election has been the most racist election the American public has seen since the 1960's. I honestly believe that it is wonderful that those of colored skin are now almost equal to those of any other skin color. In jobs, education, and in society, being of color can sometimes be advantagous. But because Mr. Obama is HALF BLACK, he has gained so much more attention. Where, in past elections, there has been analysis of where a man stood on a position, there is now sensationalism about how Barack is black, raised by a single mom, so on and so forth. Many do not konw that his dad was black and left Obama's mother, a white woman from Hawaii, because HE FELT LIKE IT. Obama's father, the only black connection Barack has, only met little Barry ONCE again, when he was 10. Why does Barack being half black make a man more qualified to be president? Why is he different than any other man? What has Barack gained in being black, and how has it changed him in his politics?My most sincere congratulation go out to the Obama family. But be forwarned, I will not wait to critize, but I will be fair and honest. Barack Obama is no different than any other man, I will critique his positions if I believe they are wrong, and I will hold him to defend that which he will swear to defend and uphold. I wish the man good luck, and may God Bless him and his family, and may God Bless America.