:
....and the Republican Beef is?
The Republicans have been on a continued warpath to circumvent Barack Obama's agenda at every turn. The healthcare debate has shown that all they are interested in an outright power grab to implement their narrow idelogical vision on the country. They are opposed to anything that remotely insures that the average person has a fighting chance. Paul Ryan's plan to replace Medicare with vouchers is just one of those extreme examples.
While the Republicans have continued to dominate the airwaves and win the public relations war, the real world goes on. There was a spike in unemployment not withstanding the 51,000 hires for the Census temporary jobs. The "real" unemployment rate stands at 16.8 Percent, on par with Spain. What Republicans should take notice of is a speech by the US Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue. He spoke and made five key points:
* First, we can create jobs by doubling U.S. exports in five years.
* SecondÃÂwe can create jobs by rebuilding AmericaÃÂs infrastructure.
* ThirdÃÂwe can create jobs with major investments and breakthroughs in energy.
* FourthÃÂwe can create jobs by expanding credit across our economy.
* FifthÃÂto create jobs we must ease the uncertainty over tax increases as well as health, environmental, labor, legal, and fiscal policies.
What the stimulus did was to insure that all items were addressed. What he also noted was that the US Infrastructure is "running out of capacity" and has to be rebuilt to deal with 21st Century challenges. This is as China came out with growth anticipated to be around 8 percent per year because it has undertaken a massive investment to continue on the cutting edge on all fronts. The full speech can be accesssed at: Really Long Link
Mr. Pence called the current path by the Adminstration "a failure". I hope that Mr. Pence (who apparently has Presidential aspirations) to take the time to review the Chamber's recommendations and not merely hold on to the old ways of just tax cuts and more tax cuts. There needs to be a concerted effort to actually invest too. There should absolutely be a concerted effort to make sure that we deploy resources in a smart and responsible way. This should not be at the expense of creating a society of haves and have nots.
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.
2) The Prime Ministers of China and Russia spoke at Davos, blasting the West. I think both men had excellent points. But, both men have a lot of problems of their own and their crediblity is suspect at best. I think Wen Jinbao has been at the forefront of changing China. I think his efforts during the earthquake surprised me. But, the Chinese are undergoing changes that the Government cannot truly contend with and blasting the West is not going to solve it. As for Russia, Tsar Putin can say whatever he wants. The fact is that he is a dictator in a 1000-Dollar Suit speaking about responsbility when his country has profound challenges.
China and Russia have to be watched. They are powerful, they are emergent and they should not be discounted. But, lecturing the rest of the world is disingenious at best. The Davos Alternative, though, also has convened. I am quite interested to see what it achieves. Everyone is still talking, talking and talking. But there is no action at all.
:
The Image of a reformer...or not?
Governor Palin is once again in the news. This time, it has to do with the expenses she incurred for her children. It included a $ 707/Night hotel stay in New York with her 17-year old daughter. I think Governor Palin seems to realize that all such conduct must be beyond even the mildest reproach. Such information that is continuing to come out puts the McCain campaign in very, very,very bad light. The basics of politics is opposition research. You have to make sure you get to know what is out there that would come back and haunt you. It appears that the McCain campaign did not understand it. If they did, then I wonder how come this information is coming out now.
This is yet again another indication of how things are shaping up as we enter the final two weeks of the campaign. The BBC has featured an analysis by Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. In my view, he is one of the most credible and insightful analysts on the political scene today. He has made a compelling case on where things stand for Senator Obama as he get ready. Here is the link
[ Click here to read more ]
:
We truly deserve better than this......
We're truly living in extraordinary times. I laughed when I read about Larry Sabato's characterization of the economic policies of Barack Obama and John McCain. Larry Sabato noted that one of them is living in Disneyworld and one is living in Disneyland. Right now, the U.S. is bankrupt. The U.S. is Ten Trillion (that is Trillion with a "T") Dollars in Debt. The number is so high that the U.S. National Debt Clock ran out of digits. With the way committments are being made right now, the debt will only go through the roof.
As markets are falling and wealth is being wiped off, there is no substantive discussion of the issues. The McCain-Palin ticket continued the pathetic path of guilt by association again today with the release of the new video on association with Ayers. The country and the world need enlightened leadership and a renewed sense of purpose to give folks hope. All they have to talk about is Bill Ayers. They are even going to talk about Jeremiah Wright. "Someone" at a rally "begged" Senator McCain to take it to Senator Obama. "Guilt By Association" may come back to haunt both Senator McCain and Governor Palin. For instance, Governor Palin has apparently attended Alaskan Independence Party Convention with all their rather "interesting" views
[ Click here to read more ]
:
The Stark Choices......
The U.S. Vice Presidential debate has just concluded. Before I talk about the debate itself,the role of the debate moderator must be mentioned. I think Gwen Ifill did an outstanding job. All this hype about her book and her apparent "tilt" towards Obama turned out to be crap!!! So far, the moderators have done a great job. With Tom Brokaw and Bob Schieffer moderating the next two debates, I think it will only get better.
Senator Biden and Governor Palin went toe-to-toe. I think Senator Biden side-stepped Governor Palin in a rather deft way. He was quite restrained, but on top of his game. He was my candidate twenty years ago. He was not my candidate this time simply because I was duped by John Edwards. But, I think Senator Obama's decision to choose him was a master stroke. Senator Biden has spoken his mind. I was impressed when he made two key points: 1) He reminded the world that the idiot Ahmadinejad does not control the Iranian Security services. He was surprised that that Senator McCain was not aware of this fact and 2) He reminded the world of Senator McCain's record
[ Click here to read more ]
September 22nd 2008 05:35
:
"It is the Economy, folks......."
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley changed their charter to bank holding companies. This will allow them to start taking commercial deposits. That's a good thing, I suppose. It allows them to have access to the borrowing window of the Federal Reserve. So, the restructruing of investment banking is now complete. Investment banking as we have known it for hundreds of years is gone!!! It is high time indeed.......
As the new week begins, it appears that the U.S. Government's decision to take on the "Toxic Assets" to the tune of 700 Billion has been embraced by markets around the world. I am cautiously optimistic. However, there has to be further steps taken to insure that the middle class is protected from the freefall that it is faced with. I view the economy as the central overriding factor in the election as in 1992. Gallup's daily tracking poll has shown that Senator Obama has lost his edge by about a percent. Other polls, though, continue to call it even. I think it is still even despite Senator Obama taking the lead because of the economy. I continue to view the upcoming debate as a turning point. It should be a blockbuster
[ Click here to read more ]
Mike Pouraryan
Add Comments
Comments (10)
Read More
