Congress Fiddles!

Nero fiddles while Rome burns. Congress fiddles while the country burns! And so do I!

I've spent some time over the past couple of days watching Robert Gibbs give the White House press briefing. Time and time again he is asked if Obama has lost control and time and time again he claims the administration did not expect to change the way Congress does business in three short weeks.

It's a good thing because they haven't changed one iota. I am thoroughly disgusted with both the Democrats and the Republicans. Nancy Pelosi allowing all the pork to be added to the stimulus bill in the House saying that since they won they get to write the legislation. The Republicans digging in their heels for the sake of digging in their heels. It makes me want to pick both sides up by the scruff of their necks and shake them! Grow up! Get over it!

Ms. Pelosi. You did not win. Obama won with the promise of change. Many like me voted for him because we believed in the man; not necessarily the entirety of his message. You, fellow Democrats, aren't giving him a chance.

There are fourteen centrist members of the Senate trying to compromise on the stimulus package. No where near enough! Cut all the non-stimulus measures and come back to them another time. Give the Republicans something they want and get on with it! You know. Compromise!

Huge demands are being made of the companies and executives who have already and will receive bailout money. How about some demands on Congress to get something done instead of all the partisan posturing! This isn't about philosophical differences. This is about power pure and simple.

Yeah, I know. I'm on a really short fuse. My dog is dying, I'm emotionally exhausted and I'm not suffering fools kindly. Funny, though, I'd be on just as short a fuse without all the emotional baggage. Following politics will do that to you!

Governing By "Photo Op"

Hub, being a Republican at heart, is not enthralled with the daily Obama photo op nor the media's obsession with him. Like myself, he recognizes the flaws in sound bites. The current one that has us both concerned is the capping of executive salaries at $500,000 if their company receives bailout money. If one understands the way the business community works, a cap this severe may make we ordinary folks feel good but does little else that's constructive.

I'll agree that multi million dollar bonuses should be curbed along with retirement packages that are worth more than most of us will see in a lifetime. However, we should also consider what will be lost.

The President's salary is $400,000 per year. Everything else, with the exception of clothing and tooth paste is paid for by the taxpayers. For instance, using Air Force One costs somewhere in the vicinity of $27,000 per hour. That alone would kick his salary in to the million dollar range in very short order.

I agree with the premise that executives should not be rewarded for failing. I also feel actors are over paid at $15,000,000 per film and athletes making millions of dollars for playing their games. We should perhaps be looking at their tax returns too!

As for executives of companies receiving bailout money, they might not be guilty of failing as much as being the result of others failing. Should they be so penalized?

Then too, back to the question of what else will be lost. Assuming there are good guys caught up in this and they pay their taxes, they are used to living on multi million dollar salaries. With that comes the probability of multiple households and all the help and upkeep that is needed to maintain them. Nannies, cooks, housekeepers, grounds keepers, etc. Those are people being employed by those millions of dollars. Do we want them added to the already burdened unemployment rolls?

Consider the homes themselves. Do we want the keys to them thrown back at the banks who already have more than they can handle?

There's a lot of trickle down here and a whole lot of big brotherism that needs to be fleshed out to make sense. Consider that former Treasury Secretary Paulson forced banks that did not want bailout money to take it anyway. There is a flurry of activity afoot for companies to find funding partners so they can give the bailout money back. Those partners will no doubt be foreign entities.

It isn't as cut and dried as the rhetoric makes it sound. The administration has already backed off the "buy American" mantra due to threatened repercussions from other countries.

Soaring rhetoric and indignation sounds wonderful but it needs substance behind it. So far the substance, let alone how to enforce the pronouncements, has been lacking.

As with his cabinet appointees, Obama might be wise and cut out the photo op of the day and give himself time to think things through. The constant reminder that "I won" won't get him far if we the people continue to lose.

These Requests Are "Shovel Ready" All Right!

Boy, can a picture ever tell it all! Today was the U.S. Conference of Mayors' turn to come forward with hat in hand and their lists of "shovel ready" projects. In reading through some of the requests I'm beginning to think we are a nation governed by those who just don't get it.

Granted, a lot of the projects would indeed provide jobs and therefore stimulate the economy. However, by their own admission, some used the "throw spaghetti against the wall" approach. Throw enough and some of it will stick.

The Wall Street Journal listed some of them. $2 million for neon lights for Las Vegas. Enlightening. $4.5 for butterfly gardens and gopher tortoises for an "eco" park in Boynton Park, FL. $500,000 for an off leash dog park in Chula Vista, CA. $3 million for an environmentally friendly golf course clubhouse in Lincoln Nebraska. The construction of said clubhouse would create a whopping 54 jobs! Then what?

I shouldn't leave out $886,000 for a 36 hole "disc golf" course in Austin TX and Shreveport, LA wants the Feds to pony up the funding for eight Harley-Davidson's for their police department. Vrooooom!

Either these mayors are the smartest politicians in the country or the dumbest of the dumb. I'm not sure. When they look at what Congressional pork projects have included previously, why not try? On the other hand this does not seem to me to be the time for frivolous wish listing. It gives me the feeling the economic meltdown is not being taken seriously.

Is it?

Joe The Political Consultant

If anyone has more incarnations than Sarah Palin, it's Joe the Plumber. You know, the guy just last month was In Israel playing war correspondent? The one who surmised after that experience that journalists shouldn't cover a war because they "make a big deal" over what's happening on the ground. The one who said, "I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting." Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!

Now, according to Yahoo News he's going to do political strategizing for the GOP! He is to be the featured speaker at a meeting of conservative staffers who meet regularly to chart GOP strategy.

Says Kimberly Wallner, aide to S.C. Senator Jim DeMint, "In case you weren't planning to attend CWG (Conservative Working Group) tomorrow morning, you might want to reconsider because Joe the Plumber will be joining us!"

Wow. I think I sequed from Republican to Independent just in time. I've been told I'm liberal leaning. Not really as much as it may sound; but, at that, I'd rather be liberal leaning than a laughing stock!

I wait with baited breath to see what next month will bring! Or who knows, maybe he'll have some good advice. Something like, "I think Congress should be be abolished from, uh, you know, passing legislation. Because, you know, they make a "big deal" over things that aren't really needed.

Nah. It will never happen.

Bailout - Dogwalk Style

I listened to the White House press briefing this morning and of course the majority of the questions surrounded the withdrawal of Tom Daschle and Nancy Kellifer, the Performance Officer nominee. Interesting point about Ms. Kellifer is that she once actually worked for the IRS!

Some of the questions revolved around the vetting process. The answer was always, "The President believes in the process." Then came praise for how these tax evaders have served their country so ably.

That being the case, I've got the solution. Greed has been discussed as part of the housing crisis. Lenders lending to those who couldn't afford the payback. Buyers buying above their means. Now think about this. Maybe it hasn't been your experience but any time Hub and I applied for a new mortgage or to re-finance one, we've had to submit our tax returns as proof of income. Of course in Daschle's case he'd have had to actually report the income on which he neglected to pay taxes.

The vetters should take a page from the mortgage application book and demand tax returns for all potential administration hires and appointees. This could deter future embarrassment assuming, unlike Daschle, actual income was reported.

Over and above that have each and every appointed official and elected member of Congress undergo an IRS audit. My guess is that would make raising taxes to help restock the treasury unnecessary. Just collect them!

I can remember when my Mom was audited after my dad died because of a discrepency. She had inherited some stock from her father back in the '50s but could not provide the cost basis to provide the value of the gains. We searched everywhere knowing my Dad was a meticulous record keeper but they were no where to be found. That exercise cost her somewhere around $8,000 she could ill afford. This was a 79 year old widow.

The point of the story is the Tax Man can dig, if so motivated, until it hurts. No documentation, pay up plus penalty. Maybe the Tax Men should remember they too pay taxes and in turn are contributing to all these bailouts brought about by greed. Not oversight. Greed.

What I'd now like to hear from our new President, one who I strongly supported, is that he withdrew the nominations. Not that he regrets them. What he should regret is not knowing in the first place, if he actually did not. I hope he gets it right before I start regretting my support.