March 2016

~ Regarding the 2016 presidential campaign: The circus has come to town, and hasn't left yet. ~

~ The only policy of the Obama administration that I agree with is its approach to foriegn affairs. Let Europe, the middle east and the far east handle their own problems. Whatever happens is of their making, not ours. The US cannot afford to be the world's police force or nation builder. It would go broke doing so.~

March 2014

~ Religious extremism has been responsible for more suffering, death and destruction than any other force in modern history, except one - the great plagues of Europe. ~

~ Financial avarice, legal obfuscation and political malaise will lead most of us to destitution. The rest will profit handsomely.

~ Rush Limbaugh is not the voice of the Republican Party. He is the MOUTH of the Republican Party. ~

~ Repeal of Glass-Steagall and the easing of lending requirements by FNMA and FHLMC in the 1990's led to the great housing bubble of 2007. The Democratic Party was at the center of that calamity. ~

~ The elephant in the room when discussing US military intervention around the world is the enormous financial cost of such suppressions and occupations. It's relevant given Afghan and Iraq wars (1&2) cost US taxpayers around $4 trillion (that's $4,000,000,000,000). So, it's no surprise that of the $17 trillion in current US national debt about $4 trillion is the cost of fighting, and occasionally preventing, foreign wars since 1990. Given that, I think it reasonable to ask the hard questions: How many will die? When will it end? Who will pay for it? ~

February 2013

~ In light of the Sandy Hook shooting, President Obama could, with one bold stroke, halt the proliferation of military-style weapons causing so much pain and death on American streets. He could issue an Executive Order, or Executive Directive, making the manufacture, sale or possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons illegal in the US. The exception being military and police force use. It is well within his authority to issue an EO. However, he would need to gird his loins given the onslaught of political and monied interests that would asail him. ~

February 2010

~ The most dangerous country in the world is Pakistan, an Islamic fundamentalist theocracy. It has repeatedly expressed disdain for Western Europe, India, and the Americas. It has given aid and shelter to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda - arguably the most dangerous man at the head of the most deadly regime in recent history. Pakistan is dangerous because it is an inexperienced nuclear power governed by Sharia law. That law reviles the infidel. And still, the US government considers Pakistan an ally. HELLO! ~

~ Calling the impending tax rate hikes and government spending cuts the "fiscal cliff" is a terrible misnomer. More accurately, the "fiscal correction" tax and spending policy due to take place in January 2013 is merely a revenue and spending adjustment back to those policies in place in 1990's (a prosperous decade for sure). The stock market makes corrections when it needs to and so does the housing market. Even the general economy corrects itself from time to time. It is the natural ebb and flow in tax and spending policy. And, we are entering the ebb phase. ~

~ A note to President Obama: cut Ambassador Susan Rice loose. Republicans have raised so much controversy over her potential nomination as Secretary of State that confirmation will be brutal and unlikely. Don't waist political capital on defending a damaged persona. Choose your battles. This shouldn't be one of them. ~

~ The "fiscal cliff", the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts enacted in 2002, will restore tax rates to a level when President Clinton was in office in the 90's. What's interesting is that Clinton's term was among the most prosperous periods in US economy in the last 50 years. The GDP grew rapidly, the federal budget was in balance and the national debt was about $6 trillion. Now, after the Bush tax cuts have been in place for 10 years, the economy is in the worst recession since the 1930's and the national debt is approaching $17 trillion. What would a reasonable person make of these facts? ~

~ In 2009 over 25,000 people in the US died as a result of alcohol consumption. That same year zero (0) people died from marijuana consumption. And it's marijuana that's illegal! Go figure. Source: DrugWarFacts.org ~

~ To achieve national fiscal balance tax revenue must go up and government spending must go down. It's that simple. No other financial or political gimmickry will work. ~

~ President Obama wasted considerable political capital on healthcare reform - a two year effort that will end up helping very few people. Lost was the fact that if you don't have living wage employment healthcare insurance is unaffordable even if available. In the wake of the current recession, which started in 2008 and continues, President Obama should have focused executive zeal on financial reform and infrastructure spending. Instead, he bailed out Wall Street and left main street mostly to its own devices. And, the economy still suffers. ~

 

~ Sexual preference is just that. ~