The Economics of Abortion

 It didn't take long for the politicians and media to politicize the leak of the draft of the Supreme Court opinion on whether or not the Mississippi law on abortion which asks if the right to an abortion is a Constitutional issue.

First, the outrage should be over the idea that someone on a Justice's staff had the insolence to leak anything.

Second, the rush to point accusatory fingers is purely subjective along ideological lines and should have been held back until more details of what the draft actually says are known.

All that being said, I will be the first to admit I have very mixed feelings over the abortion argument that will never be put to rest until there is a definitive truth as to just when life actually begins. I've heard the arguments from every angle you can imagine, but to date, they are no more than opinions.

I do have some very strong opinions, myself, on aspects after the fetus is proven viable. But there is a portion of this whole situation that is never discussed and needs to be. 

Who gets an abortion and why? The why's range from just not wanting a child to not wanting to bring forth a life conceived during a rape. Okay.  No argument there. Where do the economics come in?

If abortion was outlawed millions of children would be brought into the world. If the mothers did not want or were not able to keep these children and raise them and educate them what would become of them? Some would be adopted. Yes.  But by no means all.  More orphanages? Most likely. Is there a plan for that?  Is there funding? Consider what all that involves. Feeding, clothing, and education are not cheap. And what about those born with mental deficiencies?  Add another layer of expense. 

There is no easy answer, but this is an aspect of it I never, ever hear discussed.  

Abortion, the right to life, a woman's right to choose. Sloganeering at best. I don't envy the justices on the court having to deal with this issue, especially in today's political climate. I also don't envy them for having to deal with the firestorm this leak of an unrendered opinion has created. 

I hope whoever did the leaking is caught and faces severe consequences for breaking a trust. If this era of the powerful and their minions getting a pass for egregious actions without consequence continues, we'll have the entire contents of the Constitution relegated to the out stack of a disgruntled few. There will be consequences, however.  For all the rest of us and we'll have no court to sort it out.

Armageddon American Style

I cannot recall ever seeing the people of our country as angry as they are now.  Everyone is on edge if not at each other's throat.

It' uncomfortable.  The reason?  The almighty dollar and what it does and does not buy.  Can the people defeat what and who it owns?  Let's look at it.

The politicians, bought and paid for.  Their misguided solutions to  problems.  Like Dodds/Frank which is in essence telling banks to go ahead and be stupid because they won't be allowed to fail.

Then there are those financial institutions.  So tarred with regulation they won't lend money which could fix the mortgage mess though they sit on more than adequate reserves.  Yet they are so tone deaf, they use that money - ours - to award themselves once again with large salaries and larger bonuses.  Meanwhile we sit homeless, jobless and hungry.

Back to the politicians.  Even though we keep trying to change the dynamic through elections, it's a blip that lasts only as long as it takes to get them sworn in.  The Democrats still hate the Republicans and vice versa.  The Progressives hate the President.  The President hates Congress.  The Conservatives hate everyone who doesn't agree with them.

Okay.  Maybe hate is too strong a word but the emotion is fast approaching it.  The candidates are mistrusted by the electorate.  They're too far right, not far enough right, the wrong religion, their policies are weak or too convoluted.  Whew.  It's exhausting trying to keep up with it.

It is all, however, tied back to that almighty dollar. The Tea Party started out with people demanding fiscal responsibility until they were hijacked by the extremes who have skewed the intent.  That group was for the most part middle class working people.

Now we have the Occupy Wall Street movement. There is even one being organized by college students for Coeur d'Alene.  This movement, not unlike the Tea Party, started out protesting inequity.  And not unlike the Tea Party it is already being compromised by special interests.

What is clear is the people have had it and then some.  It is palpable.  I've been blogging long enough to notice the edge that has been creeping into those who comment. It's okay.  I ramble at times, just letting whatever I'm looking at be put out there for thought.  What at one time would have been taken as silly is no longer.  People aren't seeing 'silly'.  They're seeing loss and frustration and anger because those who should be able to change things either don't have the ability to or won't.  Angry because we put them in positions of power and feel betrayed by them and because we weren't smart enough to see it beforehand.

How is it all going to end?  Crime is up.  Anxiety is high.  Money is tight. I feel like I'm in the midst of an F5 tornado.  I'd not like to be the storm chaser following this one.  I'd fear there'd not be enough with which to rebuild after it passes.  When it passes.  If it passes.

Economic Indicators Western Style

If you spend much time driving around Montana one of the first things you notice is that the highways, for the most part, follow the rivers as do the railroads. Because of this it is difficult to miss when freight traffic is down. The first indicator is when you just don't see trains. The next is when empty, out of use cars are mothballed on siding after siding.

We were over there yesterday and on our way home we passed a coal train - full. Car after car. What a joy to behold!

The fact that Warren Buffet recently spent a tidy $34 billion for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe might also be considered a hint things are looking up.

I wonder if there is a little Ayn Rand at play here. In 1957 she published Atlas Shrugged, her longest and last novel. It has an eerily familiar ring to it. A kind of deja vu in reverse. It tells the story of the collapse of our society as our government asserts more and more control over industry. The auto industry? The greening of America? The banking industry? Cap and trade? Health care "reform"?

Soon the minds that drive society and productivity begin to mysteriously disappear. It is hero John Galt's theory that without the rational and creative minds that drive productivity the country would be lead to total collapse. So, ever so slowly and ever so surely they simply (or not so) disappear!

The railroads reigned supreme in the days of the story. See what I mean about eerie? The ambition of the current administration is becoming more and more apparent. It is parallelling Atlas Shrugged.

This is not a situation where life imitates art, but where life is mirroring art. The prospect is frightening. What is even more so, to me, is that we have no John Galt!

Premium Premiums!

The Friday the 13th edition of The Wall Street Journal had an interesting commentary by Andrew Heinze about what Health Reform would do to his health insurance. An appropriate day for such an article was my thought. He explains how his insurance, basically catastrophic, will go away unless a plan is purchased that covers more than is wanted or indeed, needed, or be fined. This still sticks in my craw. That the government is going to bully us into health care options by threatening us with fines and even jail.

You see, as Jim Hightower points out, government employees, especially Congress, have their own gold plated system that bears no resemblace to the one they are foisting on us. That includes Republicans and Blue Dogs. Even those who serve but one term have their coverage for life. There is no having to revert to what with which the rest of the country will be saddled!

Somehow I can't feel too badly for government employees who are facing an increase in their premiums whiel the rest of us will be facing increased taxes (mark my words), fines or jail!

It will never happen, but if the Republicans or the Blue Dogs really want to do something for us, even if it's for no more than satisfaction, bury in the pork that they have to give up their goodies once back in the private sector! Just think of the savings that could be derived.

On the down side, we'd probably have more of them thinking election mandates a term for life and we'd never get them out of office unless we rid them of gerrymandering!

Bottom Of The Totum Pole

One thing we learned on our trip is that the economy, at least in the Western U.S., is still in the dumps. While the southwestern United States does not have totum poles, you'll get the drift.

Our second night out was a planned stop in Las Vegas. We don't go to gamble, we go to eat in any one of many great restaurants. Try to find one open! The resorts were nearly deserted as were the gaming tables. Most of the better restaurants were closed, mostly Sunday through Tuesdays. Oops! We arrived on Tuesday!

We chose, on the strength of it's menu, the Chinese restaurant at the Wynn where we were staying. It was beginning to draw a few conventioneers about the time we were finishing - around 9:30. The service was lax, the food less than stellar and we experienced our first taste of discrimination because of our race.

We had ordered soup. We had no spoons. We waited. And waited. We had serving spoons resting next to our chop sticks, but no soup spoons. We finally flagged a busser. The only white working in the place. He told us, as he delivered the spoons, that the waiters figured whites were too dumb to know the serving spoons weren't for the soup and would ultimately use them. Curious way to treat customers!

Our next clue of how things were going was in Sedona where we visited our usual stop for rugs, kachinas and occasional pieces of pottery or baskets. Buying discretely to keep their artists working. The same held true for the sister store up Oak Creek Canyon. A larger problem looms for them. Selling mostly jewelry, they have to be aware of forgeries. The Chinese, Mexicans and others have refined the art of forgery to such heights it can be impossible to tell the difference. If a piece is being purchased because it's pretty and cheap, little matter. If you're a collector, it's crucial!

That's where a bright spot occurred. We met 'Bumper the talking deer'. He's rigged with push button sound that delivers a delightful enticement into the store. You've got to love puns! The sound at the beginning of the clip is fuzzy due to traffic but if you listen carefully you'll get the message.

The message was the same at a trading post on the Second Mesa of the Hopi reservation as we watched as a couple selling baskets was turned away. They weren't buying.

The same again at the Hubbell trading post on the Navajo reservation. The young girl helping us told of the first ever rug auction being planned - so their weavers can keep working. What really hit home was when she told us the only ones that weren't feeling the pinch were people like her grandmother - who didn't have much to begin with.

The same in Santa Fe. More auctions going on. We stayed at a new resort casino just out of town. It was nearly empty on a Friday night. We didn't even need reservations for a Mark Miller, of Coyote Cafe fame, restaurant.

We had dinner with friends Sunday evening. As we noshed on Navajo tacos (oops, that's supposed to be Indian tacos - a tale for another post!), our host and hostess regaled us with tales of how difficult the art market is from their perspective. She is a well known Navajo potter who makes the circuit of the Indian art markets. People aren't buying and therefore it gets more difficult for them to afford to participate. The shows cover the calender and the country.

Last stop of note was Jackson, Wyoming. Deader than a doornail. Yet every highway project we passed, even those we knew to be several years in the making, sported fancy new stimulus package signs!

It's very selective to say the least. We met more people hurting than those we saw standing around while one worked on a highway project! Do I believe what I'm hearing from Washington? After this trip, not on your life!

So enjoy Bumper. Unless the economy starts to turn around, this may be the only place you can come to enjoy him!

How About "Bailing Out" Of This War?

Have you noticed the press is beginning to print an Afghanistan war casualty count? Deja Vu?

It would seem that July was the deadliest month for troops thus far. Seventy perished including 42 Americans.

The General in charge is requesting more troops and Obama is seeking $83.4 billion in a supplemental funding war bill. This is in addition to the $172 billion it has already cost us. When all is said and done the tally is expected to reach the $1 trillion mark. Does that figure sound familiar? Health care overhaul anyone?

I'm curious as to where this money is to come from? We're already over our heads in debt. How much more can we take on?

The Huff Post had an interesting breakdown as to just what $83.4 billion would get when broken down to the state level of obligation. Z.P. Heller, who wrote the piece, used his home state of Pennsylvania as an example. It could provide

- 725,689 people with health care for one year.
- 460,546 Head Start places for children for one year.
- 46,575 Elementary school teachers for one year,

and the list goes on.

As was true in Iraq, this is a different type of "war". I don't see even a hint that we can be more successful where others have failed. I see no more of a strategy to extricate ourselves from this one than Bush had for Iraq.

I'm just suggesting that we need to be aware that while a multitude of domestic overhauls are draining us dry, Obama's war is a contributing factor.

It's costing us money we don't have and men who are becoming more and more in short supply. Something is going to have to give. I wonder what it will be. Just what are our priorities? The Afghanistan people or the American people? Or re-election in 2012.

Conflicted

I've been conflicted of late and some of my readers have let me know they think I've strayed from the reservation. I take exception with that because, if anything, I'm a middle of the road type unbeholden to either party.

The Washington Times printed excerpts of an interview CNN's John King had with Colin Powell that sums up a lot of what I've been thinking. "... you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all."

That hits the nail on the head as I listen to Joe Biden try to explain to George Stephanopolis how the administration underestimated how bad the economy was and that's why the stimulus isn't working and unemployment continues to climb.

I'm a small government person and ours is anything but and growing. I knew that was likely when I supported Obama but not to this extent. Bills, hundreds if not thousands of pages long, are being passed faster than it takes to say "aye". They are not being read. Pork in them is plentiful. Business as usual. No change in sight.

The national debt so far this fiscal year is $11.5 trillion and the deficit is expected to rise to $2 trillion. Those numbers are beyond comprehension to workers who don't even make $100,000. They are the vast majority. Add to that the fact that most of this money is borrowed from countries who are more adversarial than friendly puts our entire nation at risk, yet there is increasing talk of another stimulus package.

Bail out the auto industry and reward those who were the largest part of the problem, the Unions. It was their demand for higher and higher wages and richer and richer benefits that started the downward spiral.

We're not even out of the housing crisis and you have Barney Frank asking for a loosening of lending standards. He was part of the problem in the first place for the exact same action!

Then comes health care where resistance reigns in all quarters. There is the gays in the military issue that has gone silent. There's the issue of no increase in taxes for 95% of working Americans. Ha! We have a war escalating in Afghanistan and one can only guess what will happen with the remainder of the Middle East, including Israel. Let's not forget the turmoil in South America either.

The one good part of the stimulus is the amount earmarked for refurbishing our crumbling infrastructure yet the monies aren't slated to be released until next year, just before the Congressional campaigns begin.

Too much to absorb? You bet. Both mentally and fiscally! If Congress doesn't take the time to absorb it, how can we be expected to? Having a vision is one thing. Shoving it down our throats at all cost is something else.

Isn't it time to take a deep breath, slow the pace a bit and think things through before rushing them into place? Colin Powell is a voice of reason. Voices of reason, over and above political ideology, are what the country needs right now. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.

The Great Crash Of 2009!

I hadn't finished my first cup of coffee this morning. I had finished both the morning papers. There just wasn't enough in them to keep me busy. I don't read the want ads which are skimpy at best. I avoid the obituaries like the plague and the stories pulled from the wire services are at least a day old if not more.

The only regional newspaper has completely eliminated the northern Idaho edition and stories in the local daily are mostly that - local. Unfortunately, things that would be of interest like city council meetings or commissioners' meetings are rarely covered. We get more coverage of Chamber of Commerce ribbon cuttings and photos of social events than hard news.

Newspapers have become an endangered species. Advertising revenues are way down. The cycle has become self perpetuating. Okay. Enjoying the papers with my morning coffee may now be a generational phenomenon. Who else has the time to spend an hour or so reading a paper from cover to cover other than retirees?

So what do you do? Turn to TV news? Living in a small market, viewers are at a disadvantage to begin with. We tend to get inexperienced young reporters who's names we've barely learned before they, if they're any good at all, move on to larger markets. We get those left behind and their lack of reporting skills leave us more often in the dark than not. I can't help but question their financial woes when we're told a news crew is being dispatched to the scene of an accident hours after it has happened. On the next newscast we get to watch a reporter standing on an empty stretch of highway explaining to us what had happened hours before. Go figure.

Now advertising revenue is down for the broadcast media. Is it any wonder? Just this last week there was a story in the Inlander regarding substantial layoffs at the local CBS affiliate. They've cut mostly behind the scenes personnel, including producers. You know, the very people who make the newscasts work!

Even the network news has become little more than a recap of the day's headlines. As for cable, you'd have to watch a full slate of both FOX and MSNBC to get both sides of what's happening then figure out where the middle is and you may have an approximate idea of reality.

That leaves the computer. The papers have their blogs and on line editions, the TV stations have their blogs and on line editions and the Internet has it all.

Who has time to sort through all of it? I do but I won't. There are too many other things to do! Too many bloggers already spend too much time at work on line; I've never understood that!

I'm lucky. I have a Mac. Mac's rarely crash. Hub runs Windows and has spent the last three days sorting out a problem. During that time he had to read his headlines and papers on my computer. If it should crash - or the whole Internet should go down as it does more often than is convenient with our local Time Warner, how does one stay informed?

It has become a downward spiral that reminds me of a tornado. At the very bottom there is nothing left except the devastation. The remnants will be an uninformed populace.

Who will know? How will they find out?

I'm already devastated and it's only because I have too much coffee to drink with my papers. I can make a smaller pot. I'll really be devastated when there is no reason to brew a pot at all!

We're Shortchanging Our Students!

Just this past week there was news that the University of Idaho sweetened the pot to finally be able to hire a new President. His salary will be $337,000 dollars a year. The football coach at Boise State earns $806,998. What's wrong with this picture?

Universities are raising tuition and cutting budgets and programs to the bone but to what end? And how many athletic programs have been cut in concert with educational cuts? Not nearly enough and not only do the students lose, we, as a nation also lose.

I was stunned to read in this morning's Spokesman Review that Idaho State was cutting four language courses. I was especially shocked to learn which languages were involved: Chinese, Arabic, Russian and Latin. Okay. Latin is hardly a necessity in today's world, but the other three are vital. That there aren't enough students to justify these courses is also distressing.

While French, German and Spanish are also vital, I'll question why only a minor in Japanese is available? Shoshone? In lieu of one of the others? I can only ask why?

Okay, in the interests of local culture, I can tolerate Shoshone. For a University, however, that offers a curriculum in International Studies, exclusion of the others is derelict.

From the University's own web site, I quote:

"We find it too easy to stay in familiar environs and too easy not to sample other cultures, languages, and politics." and "The world is truly an independent place. What happens in any part of the world impacts the lives of people in every other part of the world."

The powers that be need to remind themselves of their own propaganda. As anyone who travels the world knows, once off the beaten path, finding English speaking natives can become difficult if not impossible. China and Saudi hold tremendous amounts of our debt. Who doesn't have an electronic device and/or a car made in Japan? How many opportunities does one have to speak Shoshone?

If I were an employer looking at graduates for jobs in the international arena, I'd not give Idaho State even a passing glance. If they're shortchanging language, I'd suspect other areas of the curriculum may also be lacking.

I've always felt you cannot know a people without understanding their culture. You also cannot know a people if you can't communicate with them. Even "football" means different games in different countries!

Bailouts And Jobs - In India??

I had a pollster call me last night. From his accent I gathered it was coming from a phone bank far from our shores even though it was of political intent.

Actually, most of us who have computers and have had to call for technical support more often than not talk with someone who is fluent in English but not "American" English.

That brought to mind a recent Jim Hightower column berating a recent move by JP Morgan Chase.

It also made me want to reiterate my advice to seek out news wherever you can find it because in this day of cut backs too much is slipping through the cracks. Even network news is little more than Obama and a recap of the day's headlines. Cable news is totally skewed to the right or the left and papers are scant of content to say the least.

So here's the nitty gritty. Mr Hightower tells us we, the taxpayers, have poured $25 billion into Morgan Chase. What have they done with it? They've increased their outsourcing to India by 25% - to some $400 million!

Talk about unintended consequences! The government has slapped them with cost cutting goals. How better to do it then outsource more than they already have? It doesn't stop with JP Morgan Chase either. According to Business Week India's top tech firms are also bidding on at least three other $100 million contracts.

The 25-30% saved by outsourcing to India goes to the company; the workers in this country who have been replaced get nothing. Mr. Hightower makes one other point of note. Lower cost bank executives can also be found in India, but strangely, no one is looking for them! Is this how the bailout was intended to work? Somehow I doubt it, but as with other aspects of the bailouts, as well as the stimulus programs, it's being made up as they go. Has anyone seen concrete evidence that any of it is working?

The question is being asked if too much is happening all at once. My assessment at this point is yes. Program upon program is being introduced. The debt has gone beyond comprehension. Is it time to slow down and get the programs already in place working before adding to them? Forget that it has to all get done now because mid term election campaigning will take over next year. This is no way to run a country! I'd much rather see less done yet done well than piling the table so full it ultimately collapses.

I've said before and I'll no doubt repeat again, the stimulus and bailout programs have not been well thought out before the beginning of implementation. Slick rhetoric does not make it so. Just think about it. The claim that 95% of Americans who pay taxes will not see their taxes go up one dime. No. But they will see an increase preceded with the $ symbol. Everything from the local level on up where taxes are increased, be it on gas or cigarettes or alcohol or "fees" or "levies"; they are all tax increases!

Just who is minding the store? None of those Indians holding our outsourced jobs pay one cent of our taxes!

Let Me Be Frank, Barney!

Have you noticed that those who shout the loudest have the most to hide? Yep, Mr. Frank, I talking about you! You headed the committee which passed a bill giving Treasury Secretary Geitner broad control over salaries at bailout companies. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and it died.

Now you've taken it a step further with the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009" where you intend to penalize all employees of bailout companies by tying their pay to performance for as long us the bailout money remains unpaid. Retroactively yet!

Okay folks. It's time for another Dogwalk solution. No more automatic pay raises for Congress. Let's insist on a "pay for performance" scale for them. After all, it is tax payer money! Let's let the whole country rate each and every one of them, not just the people in their districts or states who might be swayed by pork.

How would Barney fare? Let's look at the mortgage mess which actually began back in the Carter administration when mortgage lenders were being accused of being racist. Pressured to make loans to minorities and those with bad credit, lenders began loosening their standards under threat of punishment by regulators. Government chartered mortgage lenders, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, encouraged this "sub prime" lending then bought up the questionable mortgages.

We all know what happened. The bubble burst but all the while Frank insisted Freddie and Fannie faced no financial crisis. Right. Also, all the while, he blamed the private sector for having gotten us into the mess. With a lot of arm twisting by the government.

Barney Frank is the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. A one time partner of Frank's was an executive at Fannie who helped develop many of the lending programs. During that time Frank blocked tough regulations on banking companies.

Okay. Frank has been in the House since 1981. He's had his fingers in a lot of pies and a go round with the House Ethics Committee over a sex scandal. Idaho's Larry Craig, not unfamiliar with such, led an attempt to have him expelled or censured over that episode. It failed but the House did vote 408 to 18 to reprimand him. Of course, as it goes in Washington, he won re-election several times over.

In the 28 years he's been in Congress I'm sure he has been on the right side of some issues. His constituents would probably give him a 10 on a scale of 10, but what would the public as a whole give him? If we can't have term limits why not hit them where it really hurts? In the pocketbook. I'm not a constituent, you see, and my rating would definitely be "sub prime"!

Obama - Messiah Or Dictator?

There is a difference between anger and worry. I've experienced too much of both lately as I watch the administration try to mend the financial crisis by trial and error.

Today, I'm halting the emotions at worry. Tomorrow it may well be back to full blown anger. I am extremely uncomfortable with the sanctions that are being heaped on corporations receiving bailout money without the ground rules being set at the get go.

Take for instance the exit of Rick Wagoner from GM. GM was to submit their reorganization plans by March 31. That's tomorrow. However, the "auto czar", who has no auto industry experience, decided it wasn't adequate. The President, on his own, told Wagoner if there was to be any chance for GM to get additional help he had to go. Did Obama have that right? Should he have that right?

Granted, the GM board should have removed Wagoner long ago. And yes, it's tax payer dollars being used to bail them out. But without preset rules and an arbitrary opinion from someone outside the industry, it makes Mr. Wagoner the scapegoat. For what? To make the administration look tough?

I listened to Obama say that for GM to go in a new direction it needed new leadership. Wagoner's number two took over. Is that new leadership?

Okay, there can be a lot of arguments for everything the administration is doing because of tax payer dollars. However, more and more it looks to be an attempt to change the way corporate America works and if so, you'll soon see us as a diminished nation even more than we already are.

The New York Times had a story which was even more frightening. They are considering regulating executive pay via regulation rather then legislation. This smacks of dictatorship.

Even worse, they are considering extending this practice to financial institutions not receiving bailout money and even to publicly traded companies.

Obama campaigned on regulation to give share holders a larger say in setting executive pay. Well, that's the responsibility of the board. If the shareholders don't like what the board is doing they can vote them out. The hitch here is the shareholders have to exercise their right and vote their proxy's if they can't attend the annual meetings.

Just like politics. You have to vote to have a say. The responsibility, in that respect, falls on the shareholders, not the executives.

"What about corporate greed?" you may ask. There is far too much of it to be sure. But if what the administration is attempting doesn't shape them up nothing will. They will just move off shore.

Speaking of greed, how about the greed for power? To have the ultimate authority to reshape an entire country into a vision not necessarily sanctioned by the people? To dictate what CEO's can and cannot do while giving Unions a pass? By doing an end run around Congress?

Think about it. We criticized the Bush administration mightily for all Bush's signing statements stating he was going to ignore parts of passed legislation. We criticized Bush for ignoring the Constitution on many occasions. We criticize the Christian Conservatives for trying to hijack the government so they can force their agenda on those of us who don't agree with it.

I'm worried. Oh, yes I am. I see our President running around the country and the world as head cheerleader while in truth the team is making up the rules as they go. Who's our cheerleader and how can we win? Without a say, we can't.

Pitch Forks and Forked Tongues

For awhile now I've been suggesting the recipients of the "bailout bonuses" aren't necessarily the bad guys. This morning on Meet the Press David Gregory repeatedly asked Timothy Geitner, why, if he knew of the bonus plan at it's inception when he was still with the Fed, did he not object rather than feigning anger so far after the fact. Geitner never answered the question. No surprise there. Never stray from the administration's talking points.

As distasteful as the whole AIG mess has been, it is but the tip of the iceberg and shows what a bunch of hypocrites we have holding the reins. According to Newsweek , five major TARP recipients made campaign contributions to members of committees overseeing the TARP program since the administration came to power. You know, the ones in front of the cameras expressing their outrage.

Two of those receiving the contributions are House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and GOP Whip Eric Cantor. This is the first real sign of bipartisanship I've seen!

The rationale is that this money doesn't actually come from the company, but rather it's employees. This is how it works. The company has a political action committee (PAC) to which the employees are strongly advised to contribute. Therefore it is employee money. The problem, as I see it, is the employee has no say as to where the money goes. To me that makes it, technically, a corporate contribution of employee funds.

Hoyer's office said accepting such contributions is legal and "policy". Pelosi and Frank have said they won't take money from TARP recipients but, the article goes on, House fundraisers have said that "down the road" they will resume accepting them. Right. As soon as it's back under the radar!

This is not how I envisioned the pay back would work. I would have thought the money would go back into the treasury coffer; not campaign coffers! It indicates to me we do indeed have the best Congress money can buy!

Newspapers As Non-Profits

Every time I write a post about the print media I lament the fact that it is slowly, or maybe not so slowly, disappearing. I talk of how I'll miss it with my morning coffee. Just today it was announced the Boston Globe has been added to the list.
True, I sit at my computer browsing on line editions every day. It just isn't the same. So when I read that Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md, introduced the Newspaper revitalization Act I took notice.

Why not? Most newspapers are non profit already! That's why they're going under like corpses encased in cement!

The suggestion is that this may be more suitable for small local papers rather than those held by large media conglomerates. The ones vital for communities, like ours, to get the information needed to be well informed. There are a few caveats however. They must have a staff of reporters large enough to cover what the community needs. The dull and boring stuff like city council meetings, regardless of what's on the agenda, and school board meetings, commissioners meetings, etc. All the non-glamorous stuff. And they must do it. Picture pages of social events and pages and pages of legal notices doesn't cut it.

According to Cardin's thinking, this could open the door for a non-profit paper to purchase one held by one of those conglomerates. Imagine the Coeur d'Alene Press being able to buy, say the Spokesman Review! Now that would be something! Yeah, I know, Hagadone owns a chain of papers but I don't think he's in the same league as, say Gannett or even Spokane's Cowles!

As a 501(c)3 they'd be operating for educational purposes similar to public television. That should be a slam dunk. Isn't that what newspapers are for in the first place? Education?

The best part of all is that while they would still be able to cover all things political, including campaigns, they'd be prohibited from giving political endorsements. Locally that would put a crimp in the style of the blogs operating under the newspaper's banner. It would certainly make for an interesting change of pace. Maybe they'd get back to something else a newspaper is supposed to be. Objective.

Intimidation Is Not Justice

When I was a youngster, there were two things I was forbidden to discuss with my friends. My mother's age and my dad's salary. They were no one's business. Nor were they mine for I knew neither.

When I learned New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo threatened to make the names of the AIG bonus recipients public it was one more step too far. His rationale was that the public had a right to know where their tax dollars went. They already do. They went to bonuses. It need go no further. The recipients had no part in determining the bonuses.

He finally thought better of it. Considering the recipients had been instructed to call 911 should they feel at all threatened, to watch out for anyone who might seem suspicious around their place of business or home and to wear nothing that would indicate that they were an employee. Of course there was also the e-mailed suggestion that these recipients "should be executed with piano wire around their necks."

It seems this whole fiasco is surrounded by people who are trying to further their careers, like Mr. Cuomo, or save their careers like Geitner and Bernanke, Dodd and Frank.

This administration and those entwined with it are beginning to bear an uncomfortable resemblance to the Bush administration's governing by fear. Bush relieved us of too many of our rights in the name of "security". The Obama administration is using the economic melt down to grab power.

Yes, we are suffering the consequences of bad management and greed but fear mongering to the point of turning us into frothing mobs of hatred is no way to solve the problem.

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself" no longer rings true. We well should fear those who instill it.

They Want What??

The current climate of the government going after everything and everybody represented by a three piece business suit and matching martini lunch reminds me of Japanese horror films where the monster emerges from murky depths and destroys everything in its path!

The monster in this case is a two headed one - one a Geitner head, the other a Bernanke. If this wasn't so serious it would be funny - just like the old Godzilla movies.

Here we have two men who were a part of the AIG bonus problem from the get go. Here we have two men who have been floundering for months, in way over their heads. Finally they tell us they have a solution. They had to tell us something before the demand for their heads really gets serious.

Buoyed by having come up with something, no one is yet sure exactly what, they've found themselves emboldened. Now they want the power to take over any financial institution they deem in need! They've got to be kidding! We don't even know if the "solution" they've come up with under duress is going to work. How the heck are they going to save others from themselves when they didn't even recognize the perils before them as they sat in on AIG strategy sessions!

The only positive I see in any of this is that they are asking for the power rather than seizing it like the Bushies did in the name of "security". Give them time, however, if Congress doesn't give them the authority they seek, they, too, may just seize it.

As I've said before and often, when the government gains too much power over the private sector, the private sector and we, the people, will lose. Yes, the private sector and we along with them are suffering mightily for mismanagement and greed. Who, however, in government has the slightest idea of how to manage such a business? Chris Dodd? Barney Frank?

Oh, stop. I can't stop laughing. Seriously though, who's next? Hmmm. How about the struggling airline industry? Do we want the government running them? Will they be able to take over, say a GE, because they have a financial branch? How many other large corporations do? Ford. Once they get their foot in the door watch out. They will spin it as a mandate from the people. Populism at its worst.

When those old monster movies were popular I loved watching them. I never dreamed I'd be living in the middle of one. The trouble with living it I'm finding, is those posing as the good guys either aren't or are the most inept hero's ever brought to light!

A Step Too Far!

According to the International Herald Tribune the Obama administration is going to seek an increase in oversight of executive pay.

Whoa! This is taking the current populist stance way too far. I can understand strict oversight of the companies who have accepted bailout money willingly, but for those whom those monies were forced on or those not involved at all, this is intrusion we will come to regret.

I think what's happening here is the general public is seeing the multi million dollar figures without knowledge of how large corporations conduct their business nor how executive level employees across the board are compensated. The administration is fast approaching European socialism where governments intrude in all things corporate.

I've read hundreds of blogs parroting the outrage of the dollar amounts of the bonuses while the populist are losing their jobs and homes. How many companies other than AIG are handing out similar bonuses? A lot. Is the public equally outraged at this? Are they even aware of it? Has it finally hit home that both Geitner and the Fed were aware of the AIG bonus plan before and complicit with it before the money was distributed? Has it come across that Senator Dodd, who denied putting the clause in the stimulus package allowing the bonus to be paid, did in fact put it in? That he lied? And that Geitner did too by not coming forward with this information?

Let's see where the outrage is for a few other things like the multi million dollar contracts athletes get, not to mention signing bonuses for untried players. How about the cost to tax payers when they're held hostage by team owners who want a new stadium or arena and won't put up the money themselves but threaten to pull the team? Where's the outrage from the people who will never make that kind of money nor get those bonuses nor even attend a game. A game! I won't even get into the money Hollywood puts out for trash! Where's the outrage? All the while this is happening people are still losing their jobs and their homes.

At the moment everything bailout is in a state of chaos. It reminds me a bit of the French Revolution when Marie Antoinette was saying, "Let them eat cake" as the people were starving. The people rebelled and aristocratic heads rolled. A parallel exists here by looking at how the web that has been spun is beginning to strangle those who wove it. That's why I suggested in yesterday's post it's time for Obama to scale back his own big picture agenda and get a handle on what in the grand scheme of things should be a relatively minor blip. Or does he really want this "revolution" to continue fomenting?

Obama should take note of Georges Danton, a revolutionist himself who fell out with Robespierre. He's noted for saying, as he went to meet Madam Guillotine, "La revolution devore ses enfantes." The revolution eats it's own children. What did he do that was so egregious to the more extreme of his own kind? He was not a fanatic and was capable of moderation and genuine reason.

This is how I view Obama. However, if he doesn't start leading, the more extreme segments of his own party as well as we, his people may begin a revolution he'll not be able to contain. Maybe now is the time for some heads to roll!

A Come Back When We Really Need One!

Man starts company, man loses company, man wins company back. A cliched romance of the best kind has occurred just when American entrepeneurialism most needs a boost!

How long ago was it when brand name retailers began disappearing from the American landscape? I can remember when Federated acquired the May company stores and brands changed forever. Marshall Fields, Lord and Taylor, Robinsons,The Bon Marche, Frederick and Nelson, Pittsburgh's Kaufmanns where I worked for a time when I was fresh out of college. Over the years it seems like everything became Macy's! Then came the downsizing and stores across the country closed.

Thinking back on this, it has been going on for years and has ultimately lead to the retail doldrums of today. Look at the names that have closed their doors just recently. Circuit City and Linen n' Things to name but two. Other specialty stores are in trouble. Ann Taylor and Talbots. Wow. Will everything end up being Macy's?

Nope. I was picking up a stack of catalogs to take out to the recycling box this morning and there sat Owner's Manuel No. 67! J. Peterman! "Wow!" I exclaimed to Hub, "Why are you throwing this out and when did they come back?" He responded with an disinterested shrug.

I remember how saddened I was when they ceased operations in 1999. Now they are back. Their catalog is iconic. It's worth getting just to read of the romance behind the clothes they carry. I even used to purchase from them though infrequently because it was expensive. The J. Peterman duster. I have the jacket length version hanging in my closet awaiting spring temperatures. It has worn like iron over the years.

What makes the story of their return even better is that the original owner has regained the rights! Good old fashioned American effort combined with some hard learned lessons has provided a most happy ending. The best part of all, the government and it's bailouts had nothing to do with it! Left to our own devices, the deserving and able will survive; those entities who lack those attributes should be allowed to fail. It isn't the brand name that's the problem, it's the people calling the shots, and as long as they remain in those positions nothing will change. Why prolong the inevitable?

The Best Reason For Breaking Our Dependence On Foreign Oil

This is a Saudi woman after having been lashed 50 times for the mistake of being raped.

A streamer on CNN this morning tells us a 75 year old widow in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 40 lashes and four months in jail for having bread brought to her house. That in itself was not her crime, but the fact that it was delivered by two young men to whom she was not related. If her appeal is denied what are her chances of surviving?

I have never been an isolationist and I understand we do not understand many cultures other than those of the civilized western world, but to maintain relations with barbarians for the sake of - what? - is insane. Countries who employ "religious police" to enforce an ideology defy comprehension.

I'm sorry. This is the 21st century. There is no excuse, especially under the guise of "religion" or "Islamic law", to tolerate such behavior. We've found, over the past eight years, that not only do we not understand them, we cannot change them. It's time we stop trying.

Instead of trying to bring Islamic terror mongers to heel by bribing war lords, perhaps it's time to isolate them. Truly isolate them. Left to their own devices perhaps they will destroy one another. Without the West's money and trade they have little to sustain themselves. You can't grow enough food stuffs in the desert to feed entire nations. Western countries have oil reserves; Canada does - we have our own. We might consider mending bridges with the Venezuela's of the world. While their leadership is unsavory, it hasn't yet fallen to the depths of the Islamic countries.

If we still can't quell the urge to "change" the world, let's help the poor African nations that are being systematically starved and slain into oblivion. What? They don't have any oil?

We haven't been able to bring human rights to China, obviously not to the women in Islamic countries and for that I am truly sick because we can't get them out. Nor, however, do we have to enable those who oppress them and that is exactly what we are doing.

Perhaps our efforts would be better spent helping to overthrow two bit dictators like Mumgabi in Zimbabwe! What? They have no oil??

Seeing women being lashed for the sport of men is a deplorable reality. Seeing children with flies thick on open sores barely covering skeletal little bodies that are starving is an equally deplorable reality.

One is ethnic cleansing. One is called religion. If the latter be true it doesn't take much to see why so many are beginning to question if, indeed, there is a God.

One Man's Pork Is Another's Bacon!

Kathleen Parker's column in today's Spokesman Review talked about how Bobby Jindal's Republican staff nearly did in his political ambitions by the way they framed him in his response to Obama's speech to Congress. As an aside, I agree that he is one of the bright spots in the Republican gloom and left to his own instincts he'll do just fine.

The point of this post, however, is something that was mentioned almost in passing in the column. She pointed out an instance where he was emphasizing excess pork in the stimulus bill. She also mentioned one attributed to Sarah Palin as a gaffe along the same lines. Jindal's was the mention of "volcano monitoring" as wasteful spending. I think not. Just think about it.

Palin's was a reference to fruit fly research as silly spending. Then Parker points out that fruit fly research is crucial to medical research. Did you know that? I did not.

Now I'm going to jump on the media and watchdog groups. True, there are a lot of projects that raise many an eyebrow with good reason, but now I'm wondering how many, even though they may sound silly, are not.

We know the media has become personality driven, too many reporters are lazy and substance is often lacking not to mention objectivity. I would like to see an explanation of pork projects paired with a justification before I'm so quick to condemn them.

Congress embeds pork in bills. They all have computers, cell phones, land lines, Blackberries and web sites. More and more are utilizing Twitter. Spare me. It's not like they don't have better things to do. Point being, they are not difficult to access. So ladies and gentlemen of the media, those of you who still have jobs, how about doing a little probing about these projects and inform those of us who still listen to you or read your papers. Just in case you wonder why there are so few of us and your papers are folding around you, it may be because you're not doing your jobs. I'd not expect to get this information from a columnist. I would expect it from a reporter.

Mass condemnation because we don't like pork no longer makes sense. If you guys want to continue to take home the bacon, talk to us about pork!