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!

Mr. President, You Belong In The Oval Office, Not On Leno

I didn't think anything could be worse in a President than the penchant for malapropisms that George W. Bush had. There is. An articulate President who has a penchant for putting his foot in his mouth time after time. I expect it of Joe Biden; he's known for it. I did not expect it of Obama. Perhaps if he spent more time in the oval office then on the campaign trail or doing fluff television they wouldn't be quite so evident.

Here's my problem. It's not so much he tries to make jokes that fall flat or that he needs his teleprompter to assure that he comes across as articulate rather than bumbling, it's that it's beginning to look like he's out of touch with the economic mess he's given over to his minions to solve.

Wanting to focus on his agenda is admirable and selling it to the people is important but until and unless the economic mess at least stabilizes all else is for naught.

So please, Mr. President, set aside your March Madness brackets and your warm and fuzzy interviews with Jay Leno and roll up your sleeves and keep tabs on the likes of Mr. Geitner and Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank, et al. They all need the strong hand of leadership. At present they are either in over their heads, pushing their own agendas or obfuscating their culpability as part of the problem.

Leaving the daily nitty gritty to your chief of staff does not serve you or the country well. While being willing to delegate is important, who you delegate to is equally so. Your chief of staff wasn't elected and is not President. You are. Isn't it time to stop campaigning and racking up photo ops and start functioning in that capacity?

An Upbeat Week

To see an upbeat, playful Bacchus is a real treat. He's been on his new med for a week now. At first he slept so soundly I thought he'd slip into a coma but as the week progressed he seemed to gain a bit more energy.

The med is a beta blocker, which in essence acts like a governor on the heart, preventing it from beating beyond a certain level.

Yesterday we went for a ride. A real ride. Over to Kalispell via Polson and Big Fork. One night last week Hub woke up with a start having heard through his sleep a huge snort and a long, wheezing sigh. It's over, he thought. He found Bacchus sound asleep against the cool of the back door. The culprit was me. So we went to Three Dog Down, our favorite shop in the world to buy feather bedding. We got me an anti-snore pillow!

The we drove up the East side of Flathead Lake to Big Fork, on to Kalispell and finally on home. With lots of stops and wonderful new smells and hearty, if not healthy, McDonald's lunch. It was a glorious day!

Today we had the blood pressure checked and it was fine, respiration was good as were the beats per minute even though he was at the vets!

One issue is he has lost a bit of weight. The cardiologist said it was muscle mass and our vet agreed since he's not as active as he had been plus he goes on his eating strikes unless its people food.

Pill taking has graduated from hot dogs and smoked sausage to chuck roast. He's beginning to take pills in better food than we often eat. He is, however, regaining some appetite so next week we're going to do the blood pressure/weight check drill again.

Thursday and again Friday when I shot the video makes it all worth while. Hearing that drummer of his keeping the beat is truly music to our ears!

Monument For A Liar

When a person has made "conflicting" statements, what does that say? To me it means somewhere along the line, one of the statements was a lie.

Such is the case with Roland Burris when he emphatically stated he had no contact with then Governor Rod Blagojevich, or anyone connected with him, before being appointed to Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. Then we find out his voice is among those on tapes not yet released by the U.S. Attorney's office. Then he admits he did indeed attempt to raise money for Blagojevich. Yet he denies doing anything wrong.

Now he is seeking permission from the Senate Ethics Committee to establish a legal fund. This would allow him to seek contributions of up to $10,000 per contributor for his legal expenses in "proving" he did nothing wrong. He claims the costs will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yes, I imagine so. It takes a lot of money to alter the truth.

The Ethics Committee says such a decision can take as long as three to four weeks.

I'm beginning to have fun with my Dogwalk solutions. This one is a no brainer if the Senate wants to take a giant step toward cleaning up its own image. "Just say no!"

Why? He lied. Chisel that into his monument as the final epitaph!

The Bill Doesn't Go Far Enough???

Why in the name of good sense should there be a "pharmacist conscience law"?

You're sick. You go to your doctor. You're given a prescription. Your pharmacist refuses to fill it because it goes against his or her conscience. It's all perfectly legal in the state of Idaho. I don't know what's worse. The fact that such a bill has been proposed or the fact that it isn't needed because there is no law requiring pharmacists to dispense prescriptions in the first place! Should there be one? I think yes!

There are times I wish I were a lobbyist because I sure would lobby against this insanity! Why should any legal prescription be denied anyone? A pharmacist has no right that I know of to endanger a life by refusing to fill a prescription. He/she has no way of knowing the need nor the circumstances. The lack of a law with such a requirement apparently, here, gives him/her that right and it borders on criminal. If a person should die because of not getting said prescription would the pharmacist be guilty of murder?

If that in itself isn't bad enough, the proposed bill would extend "conscience law" to cashiers and other workers. So. Even if the pharmacist will fill the prescription but the cashier objects, you'll be barred from buying it? What kind of insanity is this?

I remember going into a doctor's office awhile back, in miserable pain with a bad back. There was a sign above the receptionist's desk that read Be Nice or Leave . I no longer see that doctor. The point that anyone who is ill does not need the additional aggravation of getting static over a perfectly legal prescription.

If your job is to dispense medicine, do it. If your conscience gets in the way change careers. How dare you endanger others! As for the cashiers, don't work in a pharmacy.

As for the law makers, how dare you to allow the uninformed to deny another his or her well being. Where is your "conscience law"?