The "Greatest Show on Earth" did not disappoint on the first day of the new Month!!!
The day began, for me, taking a look at the current edition of Newsweek Magazine headling a Jonathan Alter er piece. Newsweek, of course, will go on under its new owner, Sidney Harman--who happens to be the husband of the California Congresswoman Jane Harman. Jonathan Alter talks It shows how Obama has been characterized as a terrorist-coddling, wall street loving, godless, Foreign-Born, Muslim--when in fact none of it is true. Between the Afghan Surge, drone attacks, rejecting nationalization of banks and pushing to get monies back from GM and Chrysler, the record is one of a comitted capitalist. What is now prevalent is a testanment to the power of the Right Wing Noise Machine having been as effective as it has been. I nearly fell off my Chair when Mitch McConnel noted that he took the President at his word that he was not a Muslim. This is not as bad as Rush noting that Imam Hussein Obama is here and now!!! Does Mitch McConnell live in the same America or is it a different America? I wonder.
As this nonsense over the President continues, there is of course the true realities. Although Mr. Obama declared the end of combat operations in Iraq, the fact remains that the United States will continue to be engaged there. The Republicans wanted the President to thank President Bush for the "victory" in Iraq. The fact remains that the War was wrong, the premise was wrong and the Country is worst off because of this ill-conceived war that cost over 800 Billion Dollars. Iraq is a broken, shattered country that is under the thumb of the major regional powers. Yet, in the fantasy world that is the Republican Party today, they want the World to believe otherwise that America won.
The same amen crowd that pushed the rightenousness of the Iraq War is also behind the Mosque hysteria. If one visits the Keep America Safe website, all they talk about is the Ground Zero Mosque. It is as if they have nothing else to talk about. Liz Cheney's crusade against the Mosque seems to have been her group's raison d'etre. That's fine because that is her right to exercise her right of free speech. But, her paranoia surprises me becuase she was part of the gang that was in charge of US Foreign Policy during the Bush Years. She claims to be an expert on the Middle East, yet seems to have no clue whatsoever and seems to want to portray Muslims as animals. The only word I could possibly find to explain her action is simply this: Racist. For someone who is a lawyer, it seems as if she has no clue about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the history of this great land. She apparently needs to re-read history. That seems to be out of fashion, though, in the fantasyland of The New Republican Party today.
The Greatest Show on Earth that is the US Election Season continues to be ever more surprising, though. Joe "Wacko" Miller seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. His pronoucements about the Feds simply pulling out of Alaska is perfectly understandable. But, it seems as if he has to explain to the people of Alaska how he intends to replace all the Federal Funds. What if some of us around the country would want all the monies we sent to Alaska to come back? How would Alaska propose to pay that back as Oil begins to run out? Other candidates also seem to be on this wacko trip that seems to be never ending--but it sure is fun to watch!!! There is also the issue of the repeal of "Obamacare". I have been trying to find out what Mr. Miller's solution is counter the actions of regional hospital chains like Sutter Health in Northern California that charge 3 times the normal rate for a normal procedure and even the mightly insurance companies can't say anything about it.
Back in California, Fiorina and Boxer had their debate. It was a contentious one because the race is one that is supposedly a toss-up right now. What I found quite ironic was how Fiornia criticized how her tenure at HP was brought out and used as a political football. Someone had to remind her that politics is a high-touch contact sport where nothing is off the table--with the exception of one's family. California is a Democratic-Majority State. The fact that the polling is fairly close is a reflection of the national mode right now. But, polls are polls. I will not be paying attention to polls--just the facts Fiorina's campaign, though, had already put out a Press Release on the Campaign and Boxer's was yet to do so. So, the publicilty machine has been in full gear and will continue to be so.
There is of course the case of the birthers. Terrence Lakin, an Army Officer, has refused his deployment orders on the grounds that President Obama is foreign-born. I hope the Army will nail him to the wall and Court Martial him. Furthermore, I hope that the Air Force will call back to Active Duty General McInerney, the retired Air Force General who has apparently filed papers in support of Colonel Lakin and court marshall him too. It is one thing to have buffons like Steve King use the hallowed halls of Congress to push their twisted agends. I am sure that the Army will do what needs to be done and I'll let the course of Justice run its' course.
The big elephant in the room is the Economy. I was gratified to see the broad gains in the market yesterday. Yet, the economy continues to remain fragile. The question is whether voters will embrace the current path or give the Republicans another shot. I continue to believe that the election will be a lot closer than handicappers like Charlie Cook and others are calling it. It will be fascinating, though.
America has had another election night. Voters in a number of States have had the opportunity to be able to assess who their respective nominees are going to be. There were some surprises.
Let me begin by what has happened in Florida. Florida will have a three-way race after Marco Rubio swept the Republican Nomination and Congressman Meek won the Democratic nomination. It will be a three-way race with Charlie Crist, the current Governor running as an Indepedent. The Rubio nomination was a foregone conclusion and his acceptance speech earlier talked about change and the fact that the direction in Washington was simply wrong. He talked about how Washington was broken. He noted that both parties were to blame and he was going to go back to Washington. One of his initiatives is simple ideas he has noted in his website about healthcare. Despite his crusade against Washington, he should take a look at the key features of the Healthcare Legislation having passed. Many of his ideas have been incorporated into the existing healthcare legislation that the neo-cons of today rallied against--supported by The Koch Brothers and other key players within the Conservative Movement. I do view many of his ideas about Education to be very interesting indeed. This, of course, is going against the prevailing wind to go after Virtual/For-Profit Education providers who have been at the forefront of many of the innovative ways to extend educational opportunities. I welcome his ideas on Education and do hope that it would be seriously considered by the Obama Adminstration. It is bound to be a very, very intersting race indeed.
The Florida Governor's race is also going to be very interesting. The Republicans had a spirited primary. The Florida Attorney General was running against Rick Scott. Rick Scott won. For those who don't know who he is, he is a Billionaire that helped to fund another one of the groups that was part of the crusade against healthcare reform. He was the group that sought to bash the UK and Canadian Healthcare systems (all untrue) and now wants to bring his "views" on how to run one of the largest states to the Union to bear. Rick Scott is part of a current class of candidates who have made their billions and now want to look for their next challenge. I have to wonder whether the people of Florida will take a gamble on another rookie--just as the choice is before the People of California.
Moving on to Arizona, John McCain crushed J.D. Hayworth. I never doubted it. John McCain had the money, transformed himself to be more conservative than J.D. Hayworth and will go back to Washington for another six years. Not withstanding his current transformation on the so-called "papers please" law and other matters, I hope that he would rise from the ashes of the campaign and be one of those bridge builders that is surely needed now.
As it stands today, the politics continues to be very polarized. There is a continued crisis of confidence that seems to be somewhat dissipated now as Republicans stay focused on the Mosque debate. Right now, there is no clear Republican spokesman to counter the Democrats. The closest thing they have got going on is John Boehner tried to change the debate today with a major economic policy speech blasting the economic effort and calling for the resignation of the key economic policy makers. Boehner is also supposedly slated to make a speech about Iraq too. For example, The Republican Spin Machine is pushing the notion that the stimulus has not worked. The problem is that the Economy continues to be anemic and for the Republicans to be called out on the issues of Taxes and how this is to be actually allocated. This is the challenge as the real campaign begins.
The Republicans begin the campaign with some obvious advantages. The Citizens United Case has given them quite an advantage. But, interesting enough, as the backlash against what Target has done shows, it is not going to be as easy on the fundraising side. As Vice President Biden has said repeatedly, the reports of the death of the Democratic Party is highly exagurrated.
It is going to be exciting..and I am glad to be witness to the "Greatest Show on Earth".
I caught a glimpse of a news conference by the Heritage Foundation's Michael Franc. He is the Government Relations VP for the Foundation. I am well aware of some of the support the Heritage Foundation receives. However, I have been of the view of that any idea that would help provide a roadmap is absolutely crucial to be looked at. I would be analyzing the report annouced by Heritage and providing guidance on it as part of OV's Election Watch Series over the ensuing weeks.
I welcome the Heritage Report because it is how things should be. There was one thing that Michael Franc also noted that I also agree with: incremental change is simply not acceptable. There needs to be the courage to truly work to transform for the greater good
California still does not have a budget. But, the State Legislature has apparently found time to introduce legislation about State Symbols and other frivolous matters that has nothing to do with running the State. The only good news is that the State Legislature is not getting paid because the State does not have a budget.
I am not losing too much sleep over the State Legislature not being paid, because they will get retroactive pay when the State gets its' budget--and it will get a budget!!! The banks in the State Capitol, Sacramento, also have a lucrative business extending pay day loans/etc. at little or no interest to help tide these guys through. If a regular guy wanted to get a payday loan, they have to pay an average interest rate of about 300 percent and only have a week to pay it back...or else!! Furthermore, there is of course the order by the Governor to pay 200,000 state workers at minimum wage. The State Appeals Court has sided with the Governor. The State Controller says he can't comply because he has too many challenges to overcome. Some of the challenges include computer systems, laws, etc. etc. etc. One wonders whether to laugh or cry
It is now officially the day after the Election in California. I served as an Election Coordinator for my local County. It is always a privilege and a pleasure to see Democracy in Action and to be witness and part of history. For me, it was also especially fun because my son joined me in the early set up process so that he can understand and realize Democracy in Action. I was extremely grateful for it.
The vote count is continuing. However, the Republican and Democratic Nominees are known: Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman. As I have written before, Meg Whitman and Steve Poisner tried to outdo themselves in telling the State who was more conservative than the other. Meg Whitman came out swinging about old time politics, about how things are to change and how she was going to ride into Sacramento on her white horse trying to save the State Pension System, the Education System, etc. etc. etc. As for Jerry Brown, he reminded the State that he's been around and was at the forefront of technological innovation before Meg Whitman could spell computers
The One Stop Center is a wonderful, yet at the same time terrifying place. One hopes never to have to engage the services of such a center. Yet, many have had to turn to that center in order to try and find an opportunity to land on their feet. As I have written before, the resources are terrific, the staff is fabulous and they try very, very hard to be accomodating and supportive of people going through the calamity as they are.
I was at a workshop earlier in the week trying to see what can be done to get further assistance. The statistics being thrown around by the staff about the number of people being serviced was truly scary. WIA case workers have over 100 clients that they work with trying to get them situated in jobs. There is success. But, it is taking more time. I have had a chance to meet folks who have been pounding the pavement for over a year now to no avail. One such person spends his time volunteering at the local networking club and facilitates the dissemenation of information. How such people continue to perserve in spite of all the odds is very inspiring. But, there is of course all those promises of quick rich schemes. I was laughing at a recent story in the Orange County Register about opportunites on the internet. The claim was that you could get going on making 8,000 a month working two hours a day. Who wouldn't want that job? There was many such advertising on late night informercials as well that seems to have gone away now. They do still pop on on websites periodically--but that's about it
The pundits have been at it over the last number of weeks to tell the world what is wrong with Washington. What is clear is that there is no courage to make the tough choices necessary to bring us back from the edge of the abyss. What the Economist depicted is absolutely right on. I am sure that Mr. Linclon will look at the cast of characters in Washington now and just shake his head in disgust
Change was what Barack Obama ran on. Now that a year has passed, there has been a lot of talk and a lot of frustruation. I have been one of those who has at times expressed a lot of frustruation with the status quo that the Republicans seem to continue to adopt. An example of it was the comments made by Mike Pence yesterday appearing on Fox.
Mr. Pence, the House Republican Policy Chair, pushed the Republicans main point that the country should not rush into passing healthcare. He also pushed one of the key Republican talking points about a massive Government takeover of healthcare. As this public relations initiative went on, they also started roiling on reconciliation. What they failed to tell the country was that reconciliation has been repeatedly used by the party in power especially during the Bush years. They just forgot. I will not go as far as calling the Republican Senators liars. They simply forgot. But, what was clear was that the Republican objections seems to be hypocritical at best. There is also Mr. Stupack of Michigan who continues to push his view that the pending healthcare bill is going to fund abortion--which is another outright distortion
I decided to hit the pavement to see how things are on the job front. I had a chance to digest the reports and the analysis over the week-end. I found it to be an especially interesting day to say the least. As I was driving up to go out to the local center, I saw at least two people with signs of "I need a job" on the street.
I was quite apprehensive as I drove up to the local "One Stop Center". I did not really know what to expect. One Stop Centers were created by the State of California in partnership with local Community Colleges. When I walked in, I was impressed!! I saw rows of Computers with interenet access, printers, fax machines and copiers available to all. The registration process took a few minutes and I then began the process of taking a look at the job boards and actually did manage to uncover a few possiblities
Turkey has been on the march over the last few years. It has worked to help mediate in the Arab-Israeli Conflict, has worked to mend fences with Armenia and has also been flexing its muscles in other ways. Turkey is a fasincating country to watch because it has been able to live up to the Ataturk tradition of secularism while embracing the best of what Islam has to offer. The governing Justice and Development Party has been making its mark in a major way.
I have just been reading about Turkey's work on Healthcare reform. Back in 2005, the IMF sought out changes necessary to deal with Social Security System and broaden access to quality healthcare. One of the things the Government has apparently done is to rein in the cost of drugs. Although the policy in question is going to apparently be revised, at least there is a realization that the costs will have to be brought under control to help mitigate the effect on the average population
California continues to march to the edge of the abyss. The statistics I have seen from Pew Resarch scares the daylight out of me. California's current budget deficit as a percentage of the general fund is estimated to be at 49.3% of the general fund. The numbers I have seen are at 21 Billion Dollars according to a report on PublicCEO.com. It is just as bad in Nevada, which I just visited. It is estimated to be at 37.8 Percent of the general fund.
I have always believed that California is a leading indicator of what is going on in the Country as a whole. Although I think that California will be back, it will be quite a while. An indication of the steep climb California has is what happened with the University of California System. The UC trustees just approved a 32 percent tuition hike for students along with some massive budget cuts. With the steep cuts, I see these folks cutting the legs from under future development. I see the continued evolution to be such that Education may end up belonging to the rich and the well-off. Some may not think Education to be a Civil Right, but it seems to me that if there is anything that would help guarantee a reasonable future is Education. My own local school district is dealing with a 25 Million Dollar deficit. The School Board has decided to balance this budget by going after teacher salaries and pensions
As the high and mighty in Washington continued their deliberations , the suffering in Main Street continues on. On two street corners in one of the most affluent counties in the United States, California's Orange County, I saw people holding up signs wanting work. It is really bothersome to see someone driven to such measures. I also was helping my Son's Cub Scout Troop helping to organize an outing at Angel Stadium. There were families that could not swing the camp fee. They just couldn't.
As families continue to suffer, the services they expect from their Government at all levels will continue to suffer as well. Due to the continued economic calamity, Capistrano Unified School District is facing another 25 Million Dollars deficit that it has to overcome. The District wants to get another apparent 10 Percent Pay Cut, wants to eliminate all sports programs and even go after Teacher Retirepayment Pays. This is while it is considering a special election to change the way the Board is elected. The cost for this special election is estimated to be around 500,000 Dollars. What is bothersome is how kids seem to be lost in the shuffle. Some of the more affluent families have voted with their feet and have moved children to private schools. Education, it seems, is also increasingly becoming a priviliege which does not bode well for the future of America
The Financial Times featured HSBC and its' chief, Michael Geohegan in a recent edition. I was particuarly keen to assess how HSBC has been able to navigate the World Economic Calamity befalling us all. Although the consesus is that recovery is at hand, it is yet to be fully realized.
I was quite taken aback when I saw Geohegan's view on the strength of the recovery. He believes that the so-called "Green Shots" are a temporary reprieve before everything starts going downhill again. During the interview, he asked the rhetorical question as to whether this was a V recovery or a W? He felt it was athe later. He did not want to grow too fast and it looks as if he is going to stick to that. What is surprising is how HSBC has been able to navigate through this in reasonably good shape. HSBC is one of the better capitalized banks with a core tier one ratio of 8.8 percent
Workers continue to be worried as reports of layoffs and missed earnings keep coming. One such law in California to at least help mitigate the shock is the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. The so-called WARN ACT requires certain employers to give affected employees at least 60 days advance written notice of an intended plant closing or mass layoff. 147 companies will either have a mass layoff or an outright plant closing during this month alone. For instance, in January 2009, a major regional hospital in Orange County California filed to shut down with some 500 employees. Things continue to move in the wrong direction.
As for the sickly auto industry, I reported on the drastic measures being taken by Chrysler to pare its' dealer network. When the folks are not buying the cars, there is no reason to support such a extensive network. My initial estimate of the number of jobs lost was apparently way understated. The estimated job losses are slated to be around 38,000 people. GM is also right behind Chrysler. They are cancelling 1100 dealer contracts. The National Automotive Dealers Association is politically connected. After the dust is settled, only the major players (Penske, AutoNation) will survive. All others will fall by the wayside
The numbers that came out on Friday on the U.S. Unemployment numbers were shocking. It went up "officially" to 8.25%. But, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Report, it did not include, "...About 2.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in March, 754,000 more than a year earlier. These individ-
uals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 685,000 discouraged workers in March, up by 284,000 from a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.4 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in March had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities."
(Source: Really]Really Long Link retrieved April 4, 2009
The World's top 20 countries have desended upon London. London has braced itself for anarchy. Anyone who does not understand the anxiety felt by the people of the world seems to be living in fantasyland
I have been assessing the continued economic challenges we have been facing in the country. It has been extremely worrisome. In California, the unemployment is at double digits. Los Angeles County is at double digits. Other counties continue to bleed jobs throughout the state as the country tries to live through the worst economic times since the great depression.
I have been assessing the flow of monies coming to the states. I have been especially interested in Educational Funding coming from the stimulus package. The funding coming to California reflects, for instance"....nearly $8.6 billion in Recovery Act funding to
I wrote about the profound concerns about the California Budget. I wanted to assess how the new stimulus plan will help California. California, for instance, is slated to receive around 11 Billion in Educational Funding alone. Funds are starting to be distributed. I am particuarly keen to understand how the 11 Billion Dollars slated for California is going to trickle down to the local level.
Right now, the Capistrano Unified School District in Orange County, California is faced with a 38 Million Dollar Deficit. They are slated to make substantial cuts. According to the California Teachers Association, Twenty Six Thousand Teachers were slated to receive pink slips. As California has already launched its' companion website, available at: http://www.recovery.ca.gov/, I will be looking into the 11 billion dollars and how it is going to be spent
The talk of the media during the past week was Cramer vs. Stewart. Jim Cramer is the host of Mad Money on CNBC and Jon Stewart is the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
Stewart went after him and rightly so!!
The blood letting in the markets has continued nonstop. The Dow was as choppy as ever as I was monitoriong the daily trading. Beyond that, there is not much good news that I could hold on to.
I did find the Adminstration's annoucement of a new trillion dollar loan facility interesting. But, the problem I see is that the Opposition will continue to throw whatever roadblocks it can. The need to move and spur investment is driven by how bad things are for the financial system and the overall economy. I found the news about Ford's Feburary Sales to be especially shocking. Sales dropped 48% from the same period last year. People have just simply stopped buying. I view Ford as the one that has a fighting chance to emerge from the carnage in the Auto Industry. It will be a shadow of its' former self, but at least it will survive
The Congress has passed the Stimulus Plan. I was getting the twitter updates throughout the day as the proceedings continued. Three Republicans (or as the Repubicans say RINO's) joined the Democratic Caucus in voting to enact it. The U.S. President is slated to sign it into law on Monday.
I view the three Senators who voted for this as courageous. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter have gone against the grain consistently. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are two Senators who are from the Republicans of years past as the party evovled. Arlen Specter gained my respect when he grilled Alberto Gonzales during his disastrous tenure at the Justice Department. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins don't have to worry about their consitituents. Arlen Specter will probably have a fight on his hands as he faces re-election. But, the man has faced down cancer, twice. One of his nemesis in his home state called him a houdini
The debate on what to do about how to jumpstart the US Economy rages on. I personally have received appeals from both Senator McCain's new CountryFirst PAC and President Obama's Organizing for America Organization. The roundtable held earlier between four leading lights of the U.S. Congress on NBC's Meet the Press underscores this divide.
As the debate continues, teachers, fire fighters and cops are on the chopping block. States are in dire straits. California continues to operate without a budget.
California is broke. As I write this, the reputed 8th largest economy in the world and the biggest state in the United States is operating without a budget. Right now, it is at 92 Days and counting.
Starting now, services are starting to be cut back. For instance, The State Department of Motor Vehicles is being shut down two days a month. State workers are being forced to take two days off without pay, amounting to a cut of 10% of their pay. Suppliers have not been paid. Expense Reimbursements are being stopped. Projects have been stopped. California's Bond Rating has suffered. The State can't borrow money to fund its' obligations. Local Governments are threatening to withhold remittance to Sacramento. It is an absolute disaster--the likes of which has not been in a long time
In my almost daily columns/comments on the Economy, I had thought about the calamity as a Tsunami. With a Tsunami, there is at least a chance to see Sunshine. However, I think the better term for it is a Winter Storm. I continue to wonder when we will see sunshine.
On Wednesday, the bleeding continued. Cisco Systems, the leading network gear maker, missed the numbers. Alcatel-Lucent continued its' downward slide which has been on-going for a number of years. Disney missed then it came out with its numbers and annouced jobs cuts totaling some 400 workers at the ABC unit. Earlier in the week, Electronic Arts annouced a job cut and delay in new games
The new month continues the bad news we have been subjected to since mid-2008. Right now, Ryannair has posted a loss of 130 Million Dollars for the final 3 months of 2008. Ryannair is oen of the leading budget airlines in Europe, based in Ireland. Going around the world to China, China has just come out with a report noting that some 20 million Chinese workers no longer have jobs to go back to. According to the statistics reported, this represents 15% of the workforce.
As the flow of red ink and bad news continues, we have the give and take in Washington. There is at least consesus that something has to be done. But, states and local governments in the United States continue to suffer. The Governor and the Legislature are continuing their game of political football. This is the California Governor's Take on this
The world is right now fascinated with Davos. The rich, the famous and the powerful are all there in paradise talking about the world and all the problems. There is enough being said by all pundits which will speak for itself on Davos. But, two key things occured which I wanted to note:
1) Turkey's Prime Minister Edrogan stormed out of a discussion with Shimon Peres during discusisons on Gaza. Edrogan was given a minute by David Ignathius of the Washington Post to rebute a lengthy comment by Shimon Peres. I think the gesture by Mr. Edrogan must be taken seriously by Israel. It shows the frustration with Israel and the fact that as Amr Mousa said, Israel "does not listen". I was quite disappointed by David Ignathius when he did not grant equal time during the discussions. It seems to me that Dinner could have waited
Although the Dow went up today, the bleeding has continued. Over 70,000 job cuts have been announced. This include massive cuts at Catepillar, Sprint/Nextel & Phillips. Auto Suppliers are getting ready to go to the Federal Government with a request for $ 10 Billion. To add insult to injury, Citigroup is about to take delivery of a $ 50 Million private jet.
Right now, The President has been given $ 350 Billion to Spend. He is pushing for another $ 825 Billion. Out of that, about $ 500 Billion is cash. So, he'd have a Trillion Dollars to spend. I will be many who will be holding his feet to the fire in terms of transparency. We will need to figure out how to jumpstart the economy. So far, nothing has worked. It is scary to see what is going on right now. The President spoke to this on Saturday during his weekly address. I wonder if the Republican Leadership was listening or truly understood what he was saying when he met with them at the White House. What he said was clear enough
:The suffering continues...with no end in Sight....
Gaza continues to burn. Yet, other challenges continue to overwhelm us. Just today, over 200 members of the Orange County California Social Services Agency have received their layoff notices. This is to try and bridge a 30 Million Dollar Budget gap. One of them is an Army Reservist serving in Iraq right now. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, letters having gone out to 3,000 non-permanent teachers telling them that they may not have a job next year. It is not pretty at all right now. At the State level, The State of California continues to grabble with a 18 Billion Dollar Budget Deficit. On the Business Front, Alcoa has announced a 13% Job Cut and massive reductions in its capital spending.
These developments are quite worrisome. I saw the "celebrations" as the New Congress began its work on Tuesday. Although I was not in Washington, it was as if I was in the visitors gallery watching the proceedings. The House Majority Leader has said that the stimulus package is going to be delayed. While the politicans meet and greet, ordinary people are losing their jobs and are losing hope. That's the problem as I see it. The President-Elect seems to understand it based on what I have seen so far
With thirty days remaining in the campaign, the McCain-Palin campaign has adopted swift-boat III. Governor Palin was out apparenlty yesterday calling William Ayers, a 60's radical, a Pal of Barack Obama. I was glad to see that the Obama Campaign came out with a swift response. This is the kind of gutter politics that must not b tolerated by anyone. I spoke up for Governor Palin. I do condemn her stance in thinking that she's more American than the rest of the us who disagree with the Republican Ticket. I have seen NOTHING except talk about reform. Many of us are trying to look ahead. Yet, our conservative friends and the McCain-Palin campaign seem to want to fight the last election. Let's focus on the future!!!
Mike Pouraryan
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