Sweet Caroline...OH! NO!

Alright already!!!! Enough with the Kennedy’s. Can anyone explain to me the public infatuation with a wealthy Irish clan and their feeling of entitlement to hold public office while looking down their noses at us poor, ignorant minions who should be in awe of their greatness? Over this past week, the middle-aged Mrs. Schlossberg has indicated that she has had an epiphany and is now called to public service…and wants to be appointed to Hillary Clinton’s senate seat…in reward for her endorsement of Barack Obama, perhaps? Is that like selling a Senate seat?

Other than her name, what are her qualifications to be Senator from New York? Here’s one. Well, at least she isn’t a carpetbagger like her uncle, Bobby Kennedy, who held the seat; or like another carpetbagger, Hillary Clinton, who also held the seat. Any others?

She has a law degree, but I don’t think she ever passed a Bar Association exam. She is Chairman of the American Ballet Theater. Where are my tights? Oh yes, she edited some books. Don’t forget that she attended the funerals of Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Lady Byrd Johnson. And she owns a 375 acre estate on Martha’s Vineyard.

In fairness, she has chaired two foundations relating to education in New York, and has raised substantial sums of money for the New York City Schools and the New York Library. And that qualifies her to be a Senator how?????

Don't get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what she does. The world is a much better place because people like Caroline Kennedy are around. These folks work tirelessly to help outstanding institutions that otherwise might go underfunded, and we as a nation and a people are enriched beyond measure. They ask for very little in return other than the personal satisfaction of seeing the results of their good work, be it theater or libraries or any of the infinite number of charitable foundations that provide help to the underprivileged. As a nation, we could not function without them.

On the other hand, do I really want someone like that in Congress? These folks have no real world experience, and view money as expendable, especially your money. Say what you want about our politicians, for the most part they have worked hard to get where they are and have paid their dues in spades. Many have come from humble beginnings, and understand, at least to a degree, what it means to work for a living. Some, like Barack Obama, had to play the system to get to where he is…and succeeded. His success is no small feat. Others, like John McCain, did hard time military service and earned his government positions. Still others are successful business people who came up through the ranks of labor or corporations, and know what it means to work or run a small business.

What does Caroline Kennedy know? What does she bring to the table other than her name, and she wants to be Senator? How about running for school board, or state congressional seat, or a county position to learn the ropes? How about opening a small business to learn what is involved with trying to make a buck in this world we live in? How about getting an hourly job and get to know the folks who are struggling to make ends meet on $10.00/hour and can do it with grace and a smile? How about getting some real life experience to gain some perspective on the real world?

I am a firm believer that people should do what they are good at. Caroline Kennedy has used her family position and money well, and she should continue her good work. In all seriousness, there are probably very few people who can do it as well as she does.

But she should keep out of politics. It will be bad for her, for New York, and the nation.

Picture Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons: Rubenstein; Some Rights Reserved

Obama's Blagojevich Problem

Yes, I know that the FBI tapes show that Governor Blagojevich (Blago) was not happy with President-elect Obama, and colorfully told his staff what to do with Obama. Blago wanted more than “appreciation”…so the Senate seat went up to the highest bidder.

Yessiree, some days it just plain good to be Republican. Outside of Richard Nixon, Republicans have had some minor scandals, many centered on so called hypocrisy when it comes to sex issues. Senator Larry Craig, for example, was crucified in the press when he walked into a sting operation to catch homosexuals in an airport restroom. All it took was one shoe moving under a stall, and it was off to the races with the press. Every now and then we get an Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, but not often.

The Democrats, on the other hand, never disappoint in the continual parade of rogue politicians who subvert our political system. The sainted Eliot Spitzer with his call girls; Louisiana Congressman Jefferson with his piggy bank in a freezer, trying to retrieve the “cold” cash midst the Katrina fiasco; then there is Bill Clinton…enough said. It is a continuous parade.

Assuming Blago is convicted, he would make the fourth Illinois governor to go to jail. The one he replaced is still in jail. Then there is Dan Rostenkowski; the long time, very powerful, Illinois congressman. Let’s not forget the string of Cook County elected officials who have pranced through the muck into office then into the slammer. Those of us here in Mahoning County are used to it…also Democrats…but the rest of the nation is incensed.

This leads me to Barack Obama, who is the quintessential Cook County politician. Allow me to speculate. Knowing what I know about machine politics, I wrote several months ago that Obama could not have had his meteoric rise to the political top, through the Cook County machine, without assistance. While I understand that the FBI tapes show no connection between Obama and Blago, in fact they show just the opposite, there are plenty of connections between Blago and the rest of the Cook County political machine. This is just the beginning. As the dominoes begin to fall, these folks will be looking to cut deals, and they know where the bodies are buried. The bigger the fish they can deliver, the sweeter the deal. Those dots could connect to Obama on a completely unrelated issue, his fund raising tactics using all those pre-paid credit cards, for example.

If that happens, Obama has a problem. He has not made many friends among his base supporters since the election. His cabinet selections have been center/right on the political spectrum. Outside of his public works proposals (something most of us can agree on and support), it appears that his actual policies will be a nuanced modification of Bush policies. Change we can believe in is turning out not to be much change at all. Obama may prove to be the true compassionate conservative.

The left, already seething, will not provide Obama with political cover as it experiences “Buyer’s Remorse.” Joe Biden would become the best new hope for “true” progressive policies. So long, Barack!! And Pelosi and Reid could influence the selection of an even more liberal VP.

There is a chance, albeit a small one, that Obama may be looking to Republicans to salvage his presidency if there is even a wisp of an impeachable offense in the air.

Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Picture Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons; Soundfromwayout;
Some Rights Reserved

The "Mark to Market"Rule: The Root of the Collapse of Our Economy

So let’s say that you wanted to borrow some money to remodel your house. You visit your formerly local bank and list your assets on the application form. You estimate your house to be worth $250,000.00, and you are carrying a $100,000.00 mortgage. You therefore conclude that the net worth of your house is $150,000.00, and you proudly put that figure into your application.

Upon reviewing your loan application, the loan officer advises you that your asset list is wrong. You can only value your house for what you can sell it for today. And he means “today”. What can you sell your house for today? I suspect it would be “0”. In addition, because you have a $100,000.00 mortgage on your house, that means your house is actually worth $-100,000.00. You loan request is politely declined.

That, my friends, is the “mark to market” rule. Banks are only allowed to value assets for accounting purposes based on what they could sell them for today. It is this rule that has caused a complete collapse of our financial system, and is perpetuating the crisis in our economy.

“Mark to market” is a system of accounting developed in the 19th century by commodity future traders in order to protect themselves against too much borrowing. Trading commodities on margin (with borrowed money) put the institutions at risk. Traders were therefore required to value the traded commodities based on the closing market price of the commodity at the end of each day. If the price went down too low, then margins were called, and assets had to be sold in order to bring margin amounts into the allowable standards. Buying and selling stocks on margin works the same way today. It works very well on assets that are continually traded on a daily basis allowing for readily determined price.

It began to move into the banking system in the 1980’s, and kicked into high gear in the 1990’s. It worked for some things, but for the most part was problematic in dealing with assets that were not traded daily; real estate, for example. As the banks started packaging mortgages into bonds for re-sale based on the value of an underlying real property asset, it was hard to put a value on the bonds because the underlying assets, housing, did not fit the “mark to market” model of daily trading.

So, they devised a system to value the bonds called “mark to model”. Through use of computer formulas, the handlers valued these collateralized debt instruments (CDI’s) based on a projected model, using certain assumptions as to the “value” of the underlying real estate asset which may or may not have been legitimate. For example, the value of real estate will always go up. As with all things computer, putting junk into the model yielded junk out. The entire system was prone to fraud by use of erroneous models, deliberate or otherwise.

Then came the Enron scandals, which were filled with these types of model-based securities. Many, if not most, were fraudulent. The government and its supervisory entity, The Financial Accounting Standards Board, attacked the perceived problem with a vengeance. In its Fair Values Measurement Statement, it required all entities to use a “mark to market” type model for all valuations of assets beginning in November of 2007.

The basic problem of valuing mortgage backed bonds still remained. Housing values could not be readily determined on any kind of a daily basis. When the economy started a slow down based on a spike in energy prices, and foreclosures rose slightly, investors eyed these mortgage backed instruments with some skepticism, and the values of the bonds started to fall. Because of the accounting rules, banks started to have to discount the bonds on their books to what they could sell them for “today,” even if they weren’t for sale, even if the bank intended to hold them to maturity, even if 99.0% of the bonds were performing. Mortgage foreclosures went up 2/10th of a percent, and the mortgage backed bonds fell 30% in value.

It began to feed on itself. Because these write downs directly affected the capitalization of the banks, and the banks needed to maintain a certain level of capitalization to meet FDIC requirements, the banks tightened lending standards, and stopped lending money. Not only did the banks stop lending money, the “mark to market” rule affected just about every entity that held any of these “worthless” bonds. That included brokers, insurance companies, any finance company, your 401k’s, hedge funds, mutual funds, anywhere these bonds might show up. They may be performing 100%, but must be valued at “0”.

The economic death spiral began. Even when 98% of all mortgages were performing, banks were forced to mark the associated bonds down to nothing causing massive capitalization losses. Banks went out of business. This caused even less lending. The value of houses started to plummet. People now could not renegotiate their mortgages because the houses couldn’t meet the new stringent equity requirements, and foreclosures increased geometrically. This caused even more defaults as the malaise spread into the economy into the home builders, into the manufacturers. Banks started laying off massive amounts of employees. So did all financial institutions as they were deemed “bankrupt” by these so called “worthless” bonds.

It culminated in September with the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. Credit markets completely froze as interbank lending, the lifeblood of our financial system, totally stopped out fear of who held what bonds. An analogy would be the banking system having a heart attack.

Government officials panicked, and recommended a bailout package that would allow the government to purchase these valuable, but valueless, bonds from the financial institutions to stabilize their balance sheets. In other words, catheterize the clog. But after Congress passed the legislation, the government changed its mind, and left the bonds on the books of the banks, and instead gave the financial institutions “cash infusions” to boost their capital, which in turn was eaten up by the banks having to further write down the bonds as the self-feeding recession picked up speed.

When Secretary Paulson announced this new approach, the stock market tumbled. Why? The government couldn’t figure out how to value these bonds. By deciding not to provide a mechanism to buy them, it made the bonds even less marketable. These bonds, worth nothing in a “mark to market” environment, were now even worth less, and the banks are currently stuck with continually writing these assets down as these bonds become more toxic as foreclosures increase, and the economy tanks. It is becoming a self perpetuating fiasco, growing geometrically.

Instead of a viable solution, the government has chosen to selectively loan money to the financial institutions to bolster their balance sheets. But until the value of the underlying real estate stops falling, it is like spitting in the wind, and the taxpayers are now facing a black hole across the board as the malaise spreads throughout our economy like a cancer. It has made what should have been a mild blip in our economy into a serious problem, with major corporations collapsing, millions of jobs at risk, the government now an equity holder in major corporations (do you really think that is a good idea?), and the taxpayers on the hook for trillions of dollars.

To put it into perspective, you have seen a major, cataclysmic realignment of the American financial system in 10 weeks. It is breathtaking in its scope, all from a badly thought out accounting rule.

If you think I am blowing smoke in the wind, one of reasons GM, Ford, and Chrysler are in front of Congress, hat in hand looking for handouts, is there is no money to loan to buy cars.

That little accounting rule has destroyed our economy. Everyone agrees that the bonds in question are worth something. It is absolutely inconceivable to me that these geniuses cannot devise a standard formula as to how to put a value on these bonds, and give our financial institutions a chance to establish financial statements based on realistic assessments and assumptions. In this case, the cure to the Enron problem has proved to be fatal.

Until the government addresses the primary cause of our problems, the economy will remain stagnant, and we are in for some hard times. Until a system is devised that will allow a realistic valuation for the bonds, and allow for the free flow of these instruments within our financial system, the most we can hope for is some stabilization. Housing and our economy will remain stymied. And we will be saddled with trillions of dollars of debt which will cripple us for years to come.

Brand Name Heaven

Barack Obama is going to have his hands full when he takes office. His foreign policy advisory picks may make the left wing of the Democratic Party angry, but his choices bring enough experience to the table to allow Obama to focus on domestic issues, mostly an economy that is in shambles. He is going to need all the help he can get. But how does he repair America’s psyche
which is being pummeled from all directions?

Consolidation of brands at any time can be disconcerting. But when it happens all at one time, it is downright scary. I heard on the news last night that General Motors may be “selling” some of its brands in order to meet Congressional requirements for a proposed bailout. Included in the asset sell off are Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab. Hummer and Saab I can understand, but Pontiac and Saturn? Who would buy Pontiac? GM has been pushing the Saturn brand for years, which has some of GM’s most stylish and fuel efficient vehicles. What’s with that? More likely GM would just shut down those brands.

That would leave General Motors with Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC. Buick has been rumored to be a brand that GM would allow to follow the path of Oldsmobile, although it is its biggest seller in China. I have driven a Buick for years. My wife and I both drive Lucerne’s, and it is a great car.

On top of that, AOL had an article on its site today about companies that may not be here after Christmas. Circuit City heads the list. It is already in bankruptcy. Over the years I have bought mucho electronic equipment from CC, and they have been a pain to deal with. I am surprised they have lasted as long as they have.

Other companies on the list include Talbot’s (where my wife shops), Rite Aid (where I do sundry shopping), Dillards (where my wife shops for shoes), Saks 5th Avenue (where my wife goes and looks but can’t afford to buy anything…neither can anyone else!), Chico’s ( where my wife used to buy everything, but now goes to Coldwater Creek), Williams-Sonoma (where we bought trendy kitchen items and catalogue food when we were flush), and Eddie Bauer (never went there so I don’t know what they sell). In addition, Sears/Kmart is having trouble. So is Macy’s, which plans to close a number of stores.

Bank brands have been disappearing at light speed. Locally, we said goodbye long ago to Union Bank, Dollar Bank, People’s Bank, and some of their successors….Bank One and Sky. National City will be PNC within a few months. If you trade stocks…brokers come and go like door to door salesmen. You never know who will own what, when or where. I am with UBS right now. Who knows what it was called when I started going to its predecessors. Butler Wick is still here, for now. I hope for a long time.

People my age have lived through consolidations all of our lives. Local retailers include names such as Strouss, McKelvey’s, Livingston’s, Brenner’s, Lustig’s, Hartzell’s, Birnbaum’s, as well as successor companies like May Company, Higbee’s, Lazarus, and Kaufmann’s. All have played a large part on our life, and have been sopped up in the current economic crisis which has sped up the inevitable.

In a world that is built around WalMart’s and Costco’s and Sam’s Club’s and Home Depot’s and Lowe’s and box stores galore, and megabanks that are too big to fail like Citigroup and Goldman Sach’s and JP Morgan/Chase…our lives and identities are also being consolidated and diminished.

I guess I am going to have to find another car to drive, and a whole lot of other places to shop. That is a real shame.

This Thanksgiving: Bad Things/Good Things

To be honest, this year has really sucked. Every now and then you get a year in which bad things happen. 2008 has been filled with too many people I know, both family and friends and clients, answering the Lord’s call to go home to heaven. I have attended more funerals this year than the past five years combined. My 89 year old mother has been ill for the past 3 months, and she has been difficult to handle causing major disruptions in our lives. My son entered graduate school at Ohio State, giving us a bad case of empty nest syndrome.

Then there was the energy crisis of this past spring and summer when we couldn’t afford gasoline and the cost of food almost kicked into hyperinflation. Now there is the nation’s financial crisis and we can’t afford to buy anything as the nation’s iconic corporations are on the ropes and have either gone under or are about to. For some of us, our retirement funds are in shambles. For others, entire livelihoods are gone.

In politics, my political party deep sixed the election by first nominating someone for president who really should not have run…and his campaign confirmed it. Ouch!!!

And this past week, an acquaintance/friend of mine and his family have begun a journey through some very difficult and disruptive circumstances, the type of which no one should have to go through. In a setting that should be one of love and hope, ugliness and the very worst side of human nature has reared its ugly head causing distress to many people.

My wife and I both lead very active lives independent of each other. But every Friday night we come together to have dinner, just the two of us, and talk over the week’s events in our lives. This past Friday we celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary, and as we sat across the high top table in our club’s bar eating dinner, hashing over all sorts of things, it was clear that I am truly blessed.

I am blessed with my beautiful wife who has stuck with me for all of those years through some very trying circumstances. I am blessed with a great son, who makes me proud every day. I am blessed with terrific friends, who tolerate my idiosyncrasies more than they should. I belong to wonderful organizations that do good for others and provide creative outlets for what little talent I have to offer. I have been blessed with more good health than I deserve given my grossly “less than healthy” lifestyle. I am blessed with a brain that can at least make some feeble effort to “get through things.”

I am blessed to live in a country that, with all of its faults, continually tries to achieve its idealistic goals of freedom and equality. It offers more opportunity to individuals than any other country in the world. I am blessed by those who offer their service to the military to protect our country, and are willing to die for our country. I am blessed that even in times of stress, our country still has the resources to help those out with less than me. Even in the worst of times, we are better than most, and those of us fortunate enough to live here, can keep good humor as to what is going on around us.

We are all blessed with an abundance of stuff, more stuff than we can use in a lifetime, stuff we can’t take with us when we die. We are all blessed with cable television, computers, the internet, automobiles, adequate housing, ample clothing, big screen televisions, radios, MP3 players, heat and air conditioning, running water and sewers, refrigeration, telephones, both wired and wireless. It is the things we take for granted that truly make us blessed.

So this Thanksgiving, remember that even when life sucks…it is good, and be truly grateful for the blessings that God has chosen to bestow upon us, our families, and our nation.

Bailing Out the Auto Industry

My head tells me there is not one good reason for Congress to provide bridge loans to the auto industry. Its problems are systemic problems and have existed for years and years and years. Auto workers currently make in excess of $72.00/hour, including all benefits. A Honda worker makes $44.00/hour…and the average industrial wage is $18.00/hour. Legacy costs added onto each automobile cost Detroit approximately $4,000.00/car, an expense not borne by foreign autoworkers doing business in the United States. In addition, the auto industry has consistently made bad decisions relating to model mix, and for years made a shoddy product compared to its foreign counterparts.

These systemic problems caused American automakers to promote gas guzzling, massive SUV’s because the foreign automakers would not compete in the category, and the Americans could make a profit on those types of vehicles. That desire for profit was not driven by ordinary business practices, but rather by a need to pay those massive legacy costs and comply with union obligations. The sole raison d'etre for the American automobile industry was to pay for retirees’ health care and way out of proportion salaries from the executive suite to the assembly line.

For the past several years, we have watched Ford and GM (forget Chrysler) struggle to get out of that box. Dual salary structures, union takeover of pension obligations, hammering suppliers like Delphi into bankruptcy…the efforts went on and on…and none of them worked. When energy prices skyrocketed, what little support there was for the existing business plan collapsed as SUV and truck sales tanked. The execs and UAW president have been in Washington all week claiming it was the financial crisis that has trapped them. No, it wasn’t. It was $4.00/gallon gasoline and the inability to compete with foreign manufacturers who already producing fuel efficient cars in the United States that has sunk the auto industry. They were hanging onto the rail by one finger, and that finger got hammered in the financial collapse.

Why should the rest of us, many of whom don’t buy their cars, and many of whom are struggling to put food on the table let alone make $72.00/hour, bail them out with our tax dollars? For politicians, they want the votes in Michigan and Ohio. But where does the benefit accrue to the Honda driver that goes to work at McDonald’s to make $10.00/hour, if that?

I used to own GM stock, and I continually heard the rosy scenarios relating to the company’s future. In light of the current situation, those making the claims were either lying or very stupid. I finally got out 2 years ago. I had hoped that the Chevy Volt would provide a catalyst to make GM profitable again. I was thrilled that the government saw fit to provide loans to GM for the development of fuel efficient cars like the Volt. I truly believed, as I wrote several weeks ago, what’s good for General Motors is good for the USA.

Maybe what’s good for General Motors, and Ford and Chrysler, is to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the government providing the needed bridge loans allowing them to keep operating, while using the courts to enforce badly needed reform in the industry. It will be painful and scary and not cheap to the taxpayer as the government wrestles with how to deal with pension funds and health care. It will be a messy business.

That is what my head tells me. Why does my heart tell me something different?

Photo Courtesy Flickr Common Attribution: Derek Farr; Some Rights Reserved

Here Comes Cap and Trade!!

The financial meltdown has affected all of us this past year. Most folks, like you and me, don’t really understand the complexities of the securities collapse that caused the problem. Terms like “mark to market, credit default swaps, securitized financial instruments, collateralized debt instruments, bucket shops, and derivatives,” sound scary, and they are. But do any of you really have a clue what they mean? Probably not! These are pieces of paper upon which trillions of dollars exchanged hands, the value of which wasn’t known then, and isn’t known now; hence the current problems. The accountants can’t figure out what they are worth, because they are just pieces of paper.

These pieces of paper that no one, including our government officials, understands, have caused the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, and has bankrupted some of the most respected companies in our country. Yet, the nation is once again about to embark on another financial fantasy called “Cap and Trade.” As the pitchman said: “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!!”

Start with a scientific theory trying to explain the ebb and flow of temperatures of the earth. Completely ignore the historic rise and fall of temperatures through several ice ages and the converse warming periods over ions of time. Completely ignore the fact that the temperature of the earth is actually going down right now. Completely ignore the fact that just 20 years ago these same scientists were claiming the earth was going into a deep freeze.

Who cares? It has looked a little toasty these past 20 years, and something must be causing it. It must be us!!!! The dreaded greenhouse gases from our sinful and immoral lifestyle are turning the earth into a greenhouse. Coastal cities from New York to Miami are going to sink under an ever rising ocean. Our plains will turn into deserts. Repent. The end of the world is at hand.

Hogwash. Slowly but surely scientists have quietly been moderating their opinions, pointing to the correlation between temperatures and sun spot activity over hundreds of years. The correlation is uncanny. Story after story has been popping up on the news of scientists censored and fired from their jobs because they are concluding that global warming is myth, and may be better handled, if it exists at all, through other means such as management of the rain forests.

In the meantime, the news media and politicians anxious to control your lives have turned junk science into a political movement. Global warming is now unquestionable and irrefutable conventional wisdom. You know, like the earth is the center of the universe, or the earth is flat. Question it, you will run up against the equivalent of the Salem witch trials.

So, who stands to gain from all of this? The government for one, who will sit in grand judgment as to what is acceptable and what is not in terms of who benefits from energy usage. Rest assured, it will not be you.

Even scarier are those who are entering into the Cap and Trade business. The government will decide how much emitted carbon dioxide is too much…and then tell businesses to fix it. If you are a business and cannot meet the standard, you will be forced to buy “carbon credits” from those businesses who have been able to come in under their allotment. If there are insufficient businesses to buy from, they you can buy your credits from the government. Of course, nobody has a clue as to how these allotments are to be made. And of course we don’t know how much these so called carbon credits will be worth.

Just like those scary securities that have decimated our economy this past year, these carbon credits will be subject to the “market’, and speculators. In effect, those who deal in these things will be trading “air”. Just wait for the accountants, who currently can’t value mortgage backed securities or credit default swaps in any meaningful way, start trying to value air. It will be a nightmare. And those who deal in these things will make billions of dollars, at your expense. At the end of the day, someone has to pay. That someone is you.

This is a non-partisan issue. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have bought into this global warming puffery, and are supporters of Cap and Trade. Beware!! Don’t let the government shove this down your throat as you will be the ones who end up paying. You should insist on facts and figures relating to global warming rather than just accept it as fact. Today's conventional wisdom will turn into yesterday's "the earth is flat."

A Rambling Election Post-Mortem

Election post-mortems are always more fun when your candidate wins. Mine didn’t. On the other hand, I wasn’t as much for Senator McCain as I was against Senator Obama. Notwithstanding that the media did everything but stuff the ballot box for Senator Obama, McCain ran one of the poorest political campaigns I can remember. At the end of the day, you have to be “for” something instead of “against” something. A candidate has to offer solutions, innovations, and yes…hope and change. McCain had no vision for America. That vision is particularly important this year as the nation faces some heavy duty financial issues, including the possible bankruptcy of General Motors…and there is no easy answer for that one.

The Republican Party went through the same thing when we ran Bob Dole for president. He was another true war hero who was demonized by the press, and his campaign was inept at overcoming it. McCain was Bob Dole redux, although he did have some inspiring moments that he failed to capitalize on. The “stand with me, fight with me, stand up for your country” ending to his speeches was terrific.

His selection of Sarah Palin was good and bad. She must have had something to offer as the press crucified her, and continues to do so. If she had nothing to offer, the press would have ignored her. She energized the conservative base. She will be an “up and comer” in the party, and will be a formidable opponent in 2012. On the other hand, she made McCain look even older and less inspiring than he actually was. Nobody showed up to see him. They showed up to see her.

This election also demonstrated that prejudice may be dead when it comes to skin color, but it is alive and well when it comes to age and gender. David Letterman should be ashamed of himself with his non-stop age jokes. They were mean spirited to the core. And to the credit of the press, the main stream media did a pretty fair job of spreading its gender attacks equally between Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Sexism is alive and well in the nation’s news rooms.

So what does a right wing political junkie like me do now? Believe it or not, being a member of the loyal opposition can be great fun. I have had a few belly laughs already watching Ralph Nader call President-elect Obama an Uncle Tom, and Chris Matthews finally admit that it is his job to make sure the Obama presidency succeeds. His leg, and God knows what else, must still be tingling.

George Bush had several successes and some major failures. While his response to 9-11 was superb, his response to Katrina was a fiasco. While the war in Iraq was, and still is, right on the money in the foreign policy department, its execution was horrendous. While he was not responsible for sowing the seeds of the credit meltdown, it grew on his watch. And finally, he completely defaulted in establishing any energy policy whatsoever, which is center to all other problems facing our country today. He had a chance after 9-11 to lead the country out of the energy wilderness, and he didn’t.

While I truly hope that a President Obama will succeed in his presidency, if today’s press conference was any indication, it looks problematic. There is no doubt that he is an intelligent man, and I have no doubt that he has the best interests of the country at heart, but…rhetoric only goes so far. Any backpedaling on his issues will raise the ire of the left. It will be interesting to see how he handles Nancy Pelosi. She already one upped him by meeting with Presidents of Ford, GM, Chrysler, and the UAW. They went to see her, not him.

As for the GOP, it is time to revamp itself. The mid-term elections are off and running already, and the Republicans will be able to make up some lost ground. But to succeed, the Republicans must develop new leadership, younger leadership, more “colorful” leadership, and re-define compassionate conservatism. Its basic philosophy of individuals being responsible for their own destiny is more appealing than running to the government welfare window, corporate, individual, or otherwise, that is currently de rigueur in today’s political environment. It must define its conservative vision and redefine itself for the 21st Century. Can it be done? We did it for Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush, we can do it again. Obama only beat McCain by 1 percentage point more than Bush beat Kerry.

As for President Obama, the vagueness of today’s economic news conference reflects the reality of the situation. The possible collapse of GM, Ford, and Chrysler lays at the door of 40 years of screw-ups by corporate management, Democratic and Republican administrations, and union excess. The government will not be able to bail out everybody and everything. Fair or not, Obama will have to pick and choose who will benefit from government largesse. For every friend he makes, he will make two enemies. It will be under his presidency that the brunt of this economic downturn will occur. His political goal will be to turn it around before the next election cycle.

He can do it, but it will be at the expense of the vision he painted for America. If has the spine to do what needs to be done, he will make a believer out of me. I hope so, for his sake, and that of the nation.

Vote For Gains, Belinky and Traficanti

I only partially follow local politics. From time to time, many of my friends ask who they should vote for on the local level. So I try to recommend those folks that I either know personally, have had worked with professionally, or have first-hand knowledge of his/her job performance. This year, there are three.

For Probate Judge: Mark Belinky. Judge Belinky was appointed Probate Judge upon the resignation of Tim Maloney. Maloney’s tenure as Probate Judge was problematic, as many of you know. You can draw your own conclusions regarding the circumstances of his departure. That being said, Judge Belinky is probably the best probate judge Mahoning County has seen since I began practicing in 1975, and that includes the terms of Judge Henderson and Judge Morley. Judge Belinky has brought sanity and professionalism to the Probate Court. His reforms have made the court user friendly on all levels. He has revamped the rules so that everyone, including those citizens who have contact with the court, can get whatever the task done quickly, efficiently, fairly, and with a minimum of hassle. His open door policy and easy accessibility is refreshing and greatly appreciated by both lawyers and their clients who for the most part are in stressful situations. He has done a great job in turning a court that was in severe trouble into a successful, friendly and modern operation. He deserves to be elected to a full term on his own merit.

For Prosecutor: Paul Gains. I have known Prosecutor Gains for many years. He is an honorable and honest man, characteristics that have been lacking in that office from time to time. His is capable, responsible, hard working, and generally does a great job. There are those that may criticize him from time to time. But it is a thankless job, and one in which one would not expect to make many friends. His staff is efficient, and has done a credible job on all levels. He should be re-elected.

For County Commissioner: Anthony Traficanti. I can’t think of a more colorful individual who is representative of our area than Commissioner Traficanti. He was a student of mine when I taught Political Science at Youngstown State. He was a great student then, and he is a great guy now. I certainly don’t agree with him on all issues, and have questioned some of the decisions he has made; but of one thing I am certain. Whatever he has done or will do, it will be for what he views as the best interest of the County, whether you agree with him or not. He should be re-elected.

An Obama Presidency; What It Will Look Like

Trip on back to the 1960's to learn an old lesson again. Beware of Utopians. Whether from the right or the left, no political promise of a utopia ever works out. There is always a price in the small print. The nation will learn this lesson once again under Barack Obama. What will America look like under an Obama presidency? One only has to look at what he has said and what his party believes to get a glimpse.

Immigration: The doors will open up. Millions upon millions of Hispanics will flood into the country. Spanish will become a mandatory second language. Our signs will become bilingual as in Canada, the “example” America should be following according to the left. Schools will be required to teach in both English and Spanish. It will change forever the culture and mores of the United States.

Trade: Protectionism will raise its ugly head. Canada, our largest trading partner, is already in negotiations with the European Union to enter into a free trade zone agreement. Are they looking past the November election?

Big Government: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Obama’s roots are in the ghetto of Chicago. There will be massive increases in welfare benefits and entitlements aimed at the poor, but really geared to increasing the amount of Americans dependent on the largesse of the government. Welfare reform will be rolled back. ADC will be expanded. Medical benefit costs will skyrocket. Universal, mandatory preschool paid for by the Feds, will be intruding into your home. While in school, your young ones will begin sex education as defined by the government early. Meals will be provided, 3 each day. The gravy will be spilling off the gravy train.

Energy: There will be no more drilling for oil. More likely than not, the drilling already occurring will be curtailed. Price controls will be imposed on gasoline with rationing, and coupons issued to those that “can’t afford gas.” Thermostats will be regulated either overtly or through excise taxes placed on predetermined amounts of energy use established by the government. The United States will enter into the Kyoto Accords, notwithstanding that the rules only apply to us and not China, Russia, India, or Brazil. While there will be some increase in alternative energy sources, for the most part, environmentalists will stymie any attempt to develop any kind of alternative energy.

Transportation: Massive amounts of money will be spent on public transportation. You will be seeing lots of empty busses riding around, and empty trains going into the station. Café requirements will be increased for cars…but look also for new taxes on cars larger than a Cobalt.

Law Enforcement: Prisons will cease punishing and begin “rehabilitation.” Look for reduction or elimination of mandatory sentences, and the establishment of early release programs to take care of the racial imbalance in the prison system.

Schools: Charter schools will be eliminated. The NEA will be exercise total control over local school systems, which will be federally regulated in order to provide “fairness” in public education. Look for a national income tax to fund the schools.

Health Care: Get your 800 number ready to dial the government for approval for your MRI. You think that the insurance companies are difficult? Just wait until Uncle Sam takes control. Ask the people in Canada and Great Britain how well it is working out for them.

Media: The left doesn’t like criticism. Obama will attempt to eliminate talk radio, control bloggers, and regulate the content of television programs if something is said that his left wing buddies don’t like. The reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine will spell the death knell for AM radio.

Farming: The EPA will be given broad ranging powers to regulate just about everything. Through implementation of ever stricter regulations for fertilizer, farm waste, rain runoff, exhaust from farm equipment, etc., the EPA will tacitly take control of the farms in a back door nationalization of the farming industry. Don’t think it will happen? Folks, they are already regulating your toilet.

Globalization: Look for Obama to cede United States sovereign authority to international organizations like the United Nations and the World Court. There are numerous “world” initiatives which will take away this nation’s right of self determination. We have outsourced jobs. Obama will outsource our freedom. By the way, remember it was Utopian Jimmy Carter who gave away the Panama Canal, which is now controlled by China.

Unions: Goodby to secret voting to determine employee unionization. When the boss says sign the union petition, you better sign it.

Taxes: Look for massive tax increases on the rich to pay for all of this. The Democrats define rich as anyone who makes over $42,000.00/year…really!! It may be an overt tax increase, but more likely than not will come in through the back door when you are not looking through such things as bracket creep and the alternative minimum tax. Look for top tax rates to once again approach 95%.

These aren’t things I have pulled out of thin air. These are positions espoused by the Democratic Party under Al Gore, John Kerry, and now Barack Obama, as well as his left wing buddies. This is what they stand for, and have said so over and over and over again. If you believe in those things, by all means, vote for Obama. As for the rest of us, if he gets elected, the midterm elections in two years can’t come soon enough.

Health Care: The Number 2 Issue

While the banking crisis is getting the lion share of media coverage, I have said numerous times that the number 1 problem facing this country is energy. It has supplanted our own monetary and fiscal regulatory agencies as the regulator of our economy. The headlines relating to the banking crisis are scary, but it will work itself out. It always does. The underlying energy problem, however, will still remain, reaping the rewards of 30 years of environmental dictatorship.

If energy is the number one problem, health care is number two, including Medicare, Medicaid, and general insurance issues for those both under and over 65. My experiences with the health care system in this country these past several years have been, in a word, awful. And it is getting worse. Here is a short list of my bad experiences with health care.

1) I cannot buy health care insurance. Although I am relatively healthy, I have had some problems over the years that preclude me from buying health care insurance. My wife carries our health insurance through her employer, and it makes it somewhat difficult for her to retire. Her retirement system currently allows me to buy it through it when she does retire, but there is no guaranty it will continue. There has been a lot of talk about cutting it out. Notwithstanding, the cost to me is almost ½ of her retirement income. It is expensive.

2) I cannot buy long term care insurance. Ever try to buy life insurance after the age of 50? Good luck. Long term care insurance is the same thing. Medicaid rules became draconian two years ago in an effort to force people to buy long term care insurance. The same issues I have relating to health care insurance also apply to long term care insurance. I have been refused by three separate companies.

3) Emergency room service is deadly. Have you tried to get emergency room service at St. Elizabeth’s Belmont lately? Be prepared to spend hours and hours and hours. When my mother had a stroke 6 years ago, I had to beg them to get her the needed blood thinning drug into her soon enough to prevent brain damage. Then, because there was no room at the inn, so to speak, they literally put her in a closet until they could find a room. She was in that closet for more than 24 hours. This place is set up as a trauma center. If you need help, get in line behind the gun shot or stab wounds. The pattern has repeated itself repeatedly when I, and other members of my family, needed emergency room care.

4) Emergency room service is deadly; Part Deux. My father suffered from prostate cancer and congestive heart failure. When he developed problems at home, his doctor said he needed a blood transfusion and told us to take him to the emergency room. They in turn, unbeknownst to me, pumped him full of fluids…the very worst thing you can do to someone with congestive heart failure. By the time my brother realized what they were doing, it was too late. They couldn’t reverse the effects and he died two days later. He only had a few months to live, and they would have been painful months…so we didn’t file any legal action. It is scary, nonetheless.

5) Elderly patients are given short shrift. My mother’s recent lengthy stay at St. Elizabeth’s was disturbing. I don’t want this to reflect on the staff of the floor she was on, as I believe it is an administrative problem more than a care problem, but her care was horrible. It isn’t that the folks weren’t nice, just not enough of them. Required assistance was non-existent as most of the staff was continually on the computer at the stations. The nurses’ aides were overworked, and seemed mostly interested in as whose patient belonged to whom. The floor my mother was on was generally senior oriented. The entire staff seemed to be dismissive as in “they are old, what difference does it make?” When it is your loved one, it makes a difference.

Throw in the outrageous cost of this questionable care, the nation is suffering a health care crisis that will continue to worsen and drain our individual pocketbooks, as well as the nation’s, in the future as the boomers reach the golden years. It must be addressed.

Time For America to Get Back to Financial Basics

Have you been watching the financial markets these past several weeks? Scary, isn’t it? I have always had an interest in watching the big boys play the game, although I have had little success trying to play the game myself. The rules are complicated. In the old days, there were stocks and bonds. Today, there are CDI’s (collateralized debt instruments) and CDS’s (Credit Default Swaps) and naked short selling and derivatives…the list goes on and on.

I have come to the conclusion that unless you were a finance major in college, you won’t have clue as to how things work. That is probably part of the problem. We expect our politicians to understand these things, when our politicians can’t figure out how to pave a road let alone run the world economy.

That being said, all of this junk paper garbage aside, I have come to the conclusion that the country has lost its way from the fundamentals that made us an economic powerhouse. Unless we find our way back, it will be long, hard road for us in the future.

How do you measure the wealth of a nation? It’s by how many refrigerators it makes, not by how many hamburgers it flips. And you know what? We don’t make a whole lot of refrigerators here anymore. I hear the continual mantra about the change from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. Horse manure!!! Service is nice, but to base an entire economy on it is to build on nothing but paper and air, because that is all that is there. It is time to revitalize our manufacturing base, so products are made in the United States by Americans, for Americans. If you make nothing, what you got is nothing.

Our banking industry has to go back to basics. Our commercial banks should only loan money to people who are credit worthy and based on realistic appraisals of real estate or legitimate pro-forma business plans. Limit the resale of the loans. Lending banks should carry their own paper. Paperwork should be made universal, and the banks could form a consortium to handle the back of the house maintenance for cost savings. But if First Place Bank makes a bad loan, First Place Bank should be responsible; not some unsuspecting bond holder.

After the Great Depression, there was a reason that commercial banking and investment banking were separated. But that was deregulated years ago, and since then there has been an amalgam of integrated banks offering total banking services. THIS IS A MISTAKE. The result of the market turmoil over the past few months is the so-called “universal” banks. In other words, Bank of America absorbed Merrill Lynch, and will use your deposits to back Merrill’s investment bank activities. Wachovia will merge with Morgan Stanley. Do you want your deposits backing some of this goofy paper these investment banks issue or deal? How stupid is that? Separate them out, and build the wall real high.

Finally, here is the most important of the bunch. Our “balance of trade” should be in balance. While people are quick to point to Wal-Mart as the villain, most of our trade imbalance comes from purchasing our energy needs overseas. It is time to dump the environmental whack jobs and begin producing energy here at home. Energy imports are the single biggest drain on our economy. T. Boone Pickens and his energy independence initiative and General Motors with its Chevy Volt are showing us the way. Do what they say and support what they do, and America will right most of its problem in within the next 5 years.

This isn’t complicated stuff, folks. This is just common sense. We should demand nothing less from our political candidates and government officials.

Obama and Community Service

Barack Obama has raised up the importance of “service”. It is a centerpiece of his campaign which is promoting the establishment of a civilian service corps. I am not sure how it works, but it plugs the idea that coming out of either high school or college, young folks should dedicate a year or two of their life to some altruistic government venture. Originally, his plan was somewhat derogatory of military service, and it appeared that he was going to cut the military budget to fund this idea. At the Columbia University Service Forum last night, he appeared to modify his view by agreeing the ROTC should be given a fair shot on campuses. Horrors!! Imagine a college campus helping the right wing military establishment.

At any rate, at least he walks the walk unlike most Dems who simply talk the talk. After huge scholarships to America’s elite of the elite schools, Columbia and Harvard, Obama went to work as a community organizer in south Chicago. I am not sure that this qualifies him to be president, but he is to be commended for wanting to give something back to the society, seriously!! The problem is that is serves as the basis for his view of life. That is his experience…elite schools followed by community service. For the most part, life ain’t that way.

His wife, Michelle, in an early speech, said that people graduating from college should eschew corporate jobs and go work for the good of society. Unfortunately, most students today coming out of college are saddled with student loans and poor job prospects. At 4 bucks a gallon for gas, one does have to make a living. What is disturbing in that approach is that it demeans people who work for corporations. 40% of all Americans pay no federal income tax. I repeat, 40% of all Americans pay no federal income tax. If that figure gets any higher, who is going to pay for the community programs that the Obama’s are pushing? There is no free lunch.

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with service. Over the years, I have been involved in Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs, Mahoning Valley Leadership programs focusing on community issues, local theater and musical organizations. I actually sat on the board of Planned Parenthood for awhile, as well as actively raised money for Second Harvest Food Bank, not to mention numerous church projects. As a lawyer, myself as well as all lawyers, do a good amount of pro bono work just because it is the right thing to do when people are hurting.

I believe that most Americans, particularly those of us who are children of the 1960’s, intuitively help out anywhere we can. It isn’t just me, it is many of the people I know personally who volunteer both their time and treasure. I find it ironic that it is the red states that lead the list in charitable donations, and it is a Democrat who wants to institutionalize community service when blue states are at the bottom of the list in charitable donations.

Senator Obama should be commended for his efforts and pointing out the importance of community service. His work should not be belittled just as Governor Palin’s service as a small town mayor should not be belittled. Both are necessary and important to our nation. But Senator Obama, and especially Michelle Obama calling American cold and callous, should not be so quick to demean the huge amount of good work that goes unnoticed and unrewarded except for personal satisfaction.

Community Service is alive and healthy in the United States. It doesn’t need to be institutionalized.

Picture Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: [lee]: Some Rights Reserved

Old Age: America's Last Bastion of Discrimination

For a country that prides itself on being politically correct and cognizant of other people’s feelings, America sure is selective as to who benefits from its largesse. I have always been cognizant of age as an issue. In the 1968 glory days, the cry was not to trust anyone over the age of 30. When I reached 30, I pushed the limit to 40. When I reached 40, I figured I crossed the Rubicon and shouldn’t trust myself. But this year, it has ceased being funny. As I approach the ripe old age of 59, I am becoming more and more convinced that age is America’s last bastion of acceptable discrimination.

Several things have raised my “we are going to get screwed” antenna. Ohio State popped up first on my radar. The alumni association, besides reneging on its promise of ticket availability to us long time purchasers, announced that the preferred way to purchase football tickets from now on will be on-line. Tickets will no longer be available by mail. If you can’t use a computer, and the vast majority of people over the age of 65 cannot use a computer, you don’t get tickets. I don’t know for sure whether ticket purchasers will be required to receive all notices of upcoming ticket availability by email, or if a mailing will be sent out, but it is not right. Even those who are computer savvy may be hesitant to purchase anything on-line. Perhaps there will be telephone sales, but I doubt it. This is the stuff lawsuits are made of.

John McCain’s bid for the presidency this year has been the subject of continual “old people” jokes. If any of the late night talk show hosts made the same type comments about minorities or blacks, they would be yanked off the air. Think “nappy headed ho”. The old age jokes are continuous and becoming vicious. Do you think you would ever hear David Letterman say that if Obama is elected we should all learn to eat watermelon? It is unacceptable and wrong. Certainly age is a consideration for McCain just as race is a consideration for Obama. But enough is enough.

On a more personal level, I am dealing with my elderly mother and attendant illnesses that would normally accompany an 89 year old. Recently, she has been diagnosed with a serious illness. While in the hospital, the treatment she received was bad, really bad. It was clear that they considered her old, and her needs and those of her elderly roommate where simply ignored by the staff in the worst possible way. I also experienced the same thing with my father who died at the age of 84. His life then and my mother’s now were considered to be throw-away, including some unbelievable comments made right on the chart about how my father should be treated.

More disturbing is my mother’s diagnosis, or should I say diagnoses, as we have learned that she has more than one issue which all of her doctors neglected to discuss with us. Here is the problem. All of her illnesses are treatable, but the doctors have made it clear they are not interested. She has one issue which would normally be considered terminal, but was caught so early that a simple out-patient procedure would not only extend her life by several years, but possibly cure her. But they will not perform it unless we give permission for a more aggressive procedure, which because of her age, she would probably not survive. Folks, the two procedures are unrelated.

Roadblocks have been continually thrown in our way as we make inquiries as to available treatment. She has some breathing issues which no one bothered to explain, even though I have been asking about the problem for over a year. Finally, we looked at her chart and saw the diagnosis. It is treatable. Will it cure her? No, but it certainly would greatly improve the quality of her life. These aren’t heroic measures, folks, but minimum standards of care which would be dispensed to someone 20 years younger without a blink of an eye. Instead, the medical personnel want to discuss feeding tubes and comfort care and hospice, which by any measure are premature. If she receives minimum, proper care now, she may need those things in a year or two or three. If she doesn’t, she might need them in 3 or 4 months.

My father, who was a doctor himself, once told me about walking into a scrub room prior to surgery and bumping into a very upset heart surgeon who had just lost a patient on the table. My father personally knew the deceased and his age, 88. When he asked the surgeon why he was so upset as the patient was old and lived a good life, the surgeon replied, “He may have been 88, but he wanted to live to be 89.”

I thought about that story when I watched the horrible treatment my father received, and now again when I watch the same thing happening to my mother. We baby boomers, and that includes me, are the largest and wealthiest segment in our society. We didn’t stand for discrimination when we were marching the picket lines while we were in college, and we shouldn’t stand for it now. I am truly afraid that it will happen to me. You should be afraid that it will happen to you.

Cerebral vs. Practical; The Shootout at Saddleback

I was a bit skeptical about Rick Warren’s planned “Shoot-out at Saddleback” between Barack Obama and John McCain. I was even more surprised when Senator Obama agreed to show up. One on one discourses, as is generally acknowledged, are not his strong suit. Couple that with John McCain’s generally poor public performance since he clinched the nomination along with a dose of Pastor Warren’s religion, I had to debate myself whether I would bother to watch it. My attention span isn’t that long, and there are always highlights at eleven…with commentary!!! I was wrong. It was terrific.

America owes a debt of gratitude to Saddleback Church and Pastor Warren for providing one of the most innovative and informative political discussions I have seen in a long, long time. Both candidates did well. They highlighted their strengths while displaying their weaknesses. The side debate as to who knew the questions in advance is ridiculous. Both candidates showed hesitancy in answering some of Warren’s tough questions. Can you answer what has been your greatest moral failure? I almost felt sorry for these guys.

What it did show was two different approaches to issues, and it is not conservative vs. liberal. We all know who’s who on that scale. It is practical versus cerebral. This is the issue that is driving this campaign. It is John McCain’s greatest strength and Barack Obama’s greatest weakness.

Barack Obama went first and did a fine job. His approach was measured and thoughtful. His analysis of issues was based on internal philosophical intellectualism. You could actually see his Harvard Law education at work as he carefully thought the question or issue through. I am a lawyer, and he absolutely reflected the Socratic method of education that is used in our country’s law schools. He is Bill Clinton on steroids in determining what the definition of “is” is.

In a courtroom or debate, where the political fallout into the general public is minimal, this works. Here is the problem Obama is having: in politics, it doesn’t. His approach to issues often times may reach correct conclusions on some intellectual and esoteric level, but in real life may fly in the face of common sense and reality. The result is hesitation in reaction to fast moving events and implementation of policies that may turn out to be politically unpopular. This has already been seen in Obama’s response to the Jeremiah Wright issue and his tepid response to the Russian invasion of Georgia. This is why people are so passionate about the Supreme Court. Forced school bussing is an example of a conclusion reached by this kind of approach to issues.

McCain went second, and surprised many people by showing he is actually still alive. He also did a fine job. His background is military which is reflected in his no-nonsense approach to what he believes. His conclusions are rooted in a core set of beliefs. His life experience is the framework in which he operates. Although there is a place for some intellectual debate, you get 10 minutes then let’s get on with it. Any prolonged debate for him would be centered on implementation of his decisions rather than the decisions themselves.

If you think that this kind of analysis of the two candidates is a waste of time, look at the commentary relating to Bill Clinton’s chance to kill Osama bin Laden during Clinton’s presidency, and his penchant for letting lawyers decide what should happen. By the time you finish the legal debate, the opportunity is gone, or the danger has progressed so far you are in trouble.

The Saddleback debate brought these distinctions to the forefront. Barack Obama is a fine man. I would love to sit and talk to him or debate him or be in court with him. He would make a great domestic or foreign policy adviser. But his life experiences aren’t rooted in the reality of a dangerous world. He has yet to learn that there are times when you have to act and forget the debate in the United Nations. Hesitancy for intellectual analysis can cost lives.

Can he learn it? Maybe. But I am not willing to gamble with on the job training. He will be tested by the bad guys during the first year of his presidency. They will be betting that his intellectual debates will give them free rein. Jimmy Carter learned that the hard way.

Picture courtesy of Flickr Common Attribution; h pants explosion; Some Rights Reserved

O, Canada; O, Death of Free Speech

Over the past several months I have read numerous articles about Canadian censorship. This is interesting because certain factions in the United States have wanted us to be more like Canada or Europe. This year, the possibility exists that we may elect a filibuster proof Senate and Congress controlled by the Democrats with a Democratic President. Just in case you have forgotten the “political correctness” which is the hallmark of this crowd, I thought I would give you look-see across the border to see what Canada has wrought.

Canada has had several constitutions over the years as it attempted to perfect its multicultural view of life. The latest was enacted in 1982 entitled The Constitution Act in an effort to reconcile French interests in separatist minded, French speaking Quebec. Included in The Constitution Act is something called The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Is this the equivilent of the American Bill of Rights? Not quite.While Canada does enumerate rights, including Freedom of Expression, within its “Constitution”, these rights are not absolute. That isn't new to us here. We know you can’t yell “Fire” in a theater, and we have libel and slander laws which are civil in nature.

Canada, on the other hand, is different. Embedded in its Constitution Act is another section called "the limitations clause," which states: “The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it 'subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.' ”The Canadian Government and its provinces have used "the limitations clause" to go after “hate speech” through the Canadian Human Rights Commission and its enforcement of the Canadian Human Rights Act. It defines hate speech as a statement which “is likely to expose a person or persons to ‘hatred or contempt’ by reason of the fact that that person or those persons are identifiable on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.” We call them protected classes in the United States. The definition of these protected classes has been steadily expanded over the past several years, and the Canadian bureaucrats are loving it as they attempt to build utopian, multicultural society.

These “hate speech” crimes are enforced through extra-judicial tribunals and star chambers operated by political appointees. Hearings are not public. There are no rules of evidence. Any aggrieved member of a protected class can bring a complaint, thus causing newspaper and magazine publishers, broadcasters, authors, and those making political commentary to hire lawyers and incur legal costs over someone getting their feelings hurt. Punishments can include fines and cease and desist orders if the tribunals don’t like what you are saying. If you refuse, you will be jailed for contempt. The chilling effect alone is enough to put free speech in the deep freeze. THIS IS SCARY STUFF.

The issues surrounding this affront to civil liberties are pointedly on view in a case currently pending in the British Columbia hate speech tribunal. Mark Steyn, a conservative Canadian commentator, wrote an article for the Canadian Maclean’s Magazin entitled “The Future Belongs to Islam.” It was a spin off from a book entitled “America Alone”, the thesis of which is based in the demographic argument that Moslems are having children at a much higher rate than the rest of the Canadian population. Because they don’t reflect the host countries’ values, it is only a matter of time before Islam becomes the dominant ethnic group, particularly in countries with immigration policies which encouraged or are encouraging Muslim immigration.

While this argument may seem absurd in the United States where we actively try to assimilate all immigrant groups, that isn’t the case in Canada and Western Europe where huge Muslim populations, either through accident or design, have been isolated from mainstream society. The proof of the pudding is in Great Britain, where the Archbishop of Canterbury (the head of the Anglican Communion), as well as other high ranking government officials, are making the argument that Sharia law should be allowed in the Muslim communities located in Britain.

In Canada, which prides itself on its multiculturalism, the Muslims were upset by the Steyn article, and filed complaints in the hate speech tribunals. There are several different actions pending in various tribunals at the Federal and Provincial levels. The federal case against the magazine filed in Toronto was thrown out on a technicality. Notwithstanding, the federal tribunal could not stop itself from commenting that there needs to be limits on free speech if it offends groups in society and undermines freedon, whatever that means.

The case against the book is currently being decided in Vancouver. The holding should be released sometime this month.One theme I continually attempt to drive home is that our freedoms are precious. They are easily eaten away by those who have “a better way.” In Canada, hate speech has crossed the line into political discourse. The current Canadian Prime Minister is attempting to deal with the problem, but is running into difficulty. Is this what we want here?

So when you got to vote this fall, be wary of those running for office here in the United States who look to Canada or Europe as better examples for the United States. Be wary of those who sing the praises of multiculturalism instead of rapid assimilation. Be wary of those who say we have to understand strangers in our midst, and we should adapt to them instead of them adapting to us. It is folly, and can lead to our demise

Light's! Camera! Action! We are ready for the Messiah! Obama's Cult of Personality: Another Point of View

By John Latsko; Los Angeles, Califorina

Please allow me to comment on your editorial relating to Obama’s Cult of Personality. I am glad it is cult like. It’s about time for a real figure, one that has achieved cult status, one that is able to fit in his own shoes, one who is worthy of treading the White House carpets.

Cults are made by followers. The American public, awake from its zombie hangover of eight years, is blessed with hope and blessed with the promise of the challenge of purpose. It may sound romantic and naïve, and even brain washed, but we care and we are involved. We love this country. We are now refreshed and renewed because of this man. The tired old Republican antagonists are jealous, and they should be.

Hollywood lighting and/or media manipulation is not limited to the Democrats. I recall twice when the Bush administration demonstrated such media savvy. Was it blue lighting in New Orleans? Remember the former baseball team owner’s regal performance on board an aircraft carrier off the coast of San Diego, clad in a pilot's flight suit, doing his best to match the skills of Hollywood propaganda craftspeople. “Mission Accomplished!” he said in his usually halting delivery.

Scrutiny is important, but I’ll gladly swallow the hype, stomach the media swooning, and happily accept the hoards of people across the planet cheering for someone they believe will make a difference.Senator McCain did visit the Mideast. I knew about it. Could it be that his message didn’t come across because it rang hollow? The media covers attractive candidates, both in message and style. That combination makes both Senator Obama and the media look good. By focusing on a message we can believe, Senator Obama will be able to fill that stadium in Denver, appealing to new voters, young people, people of color, people from all economic backgrounds, folks who are excited for the first time.

You hinted in your article that Obama might be some sort of totalitarian nut. A better comparison for Senator Obama than Chairman Mao might be another tall, skinny political figure from Illinois, one that we all remember. With or without the glaring lights, Senator Obama is constant in his beliefs. Those fancy lights have too long hidden lies and deceits. It is time to shine those lights on a true American star. Lights! Camera! Action! Bring on the Messiah! We are ready!!

Obama's Cult of Personality

“We are given to the cult of personality; when things go badly we look to some messiah to save us. If by chance we think we have found one, it will not be long before we destroy him.” Constantine Karamanlis, the former President of Greece.

In its February 17 issue, The New York Times attempted to distinguish a Cult of Personality from political charisma in order to explain the nature of the candidacy of Barack Obama. The name of the article was The Charisma Mandate. It writes:

“The “cult of personality” is used in the pejorative. But recast as a different name — call it charisma — and, as Roosevelt and other examples show, it can be a critical element of politics and its practical cousin, governance. It just can’t be the only element.”

The New York Times actually does a credible job of presenting different points of view as to whether Obama’s political “movement” is basically charismatic, or if it is something more. Given that the messianic nature of the campaign has increased since then, I am concerned that the “something more” is dangerous.

Swooning and screaming crowds of tens of thousands, people fainting and crying, these types of behavior are typically reserved, at least in the United States, for rock or movie stars. The Beatles and Elvis come to mind. While we cheer our politicians, American sensibility tries to keep them just that, politicians. But the media has continued to fuel the idea that somehow Barack Obama “transcends” something. What that is, I am not sure.

This has been capped by the three major networks sending their three anchors to cover Obama’s “world tour,” while pretty much ignoring most, if not all, of John McCain’s activities let alone his travels. From June 9 to July 13, The Project for Excellence in Journalism, an entity which tracks news stories, reviewed 300 political news stories each week. Obama was mentioned in 77% of the stories. McCain was mentioned in 48%. And anecdotally, I viewed much of McCain’s coverage as negative…week after week after week. Couple that with magazine covers being owned by Obama, including a Newsweek cover last week with an Obama head shot, bowed with his hands folded in prayer, ala Jesus…folks, we have a problem.

Whether you agree with Obama or not, he certainly is a showman. His penchant for addressing thousands of people, his attention to backlighting detail, with a vague message of hope and change with few specifics…and such specifics as there are, change with the crowd he is addressing along with overt, overnight, changes to his website as his policy positions shift.

This is more than unsettling, it is frightening, especially the changing web site stuff. When I watch Obama and his campaign, it brings to mind a movie called Leap of Faith, about a bible banging religious huckster played by Steve Martin, holding tent revivals in the drought ridden southwest. His traveling gospel choir sings in the background: “Are you ready for a miracle? Yes we are!” Amen and Amen and reach into your pocket and pull out your money. Yes we can.

More ominously, he is going to give his nomination acceptance speech in front of umpteen thousands of people in a football stadium. Maybe the masses worshiping at the feet of a personality doesn’t ring dangerous in the United States. We’ve never had to deal it with it before at this magnitude. My frame of reference goes to historical precedent outside of the United States, comparisons I won’t make here for reasons related to your opinion of my sanity. Meanwhile, the press is caught in Obama’s rapture, wrapping itself in whatever it sees in his message of supposed redemption, while ignoring a critical analysis of his policies. He is here to save us with the press being his gospel choir in the background.

I don’t need saving. I need a President who will protect the homeland, who will secure our borders, who will provide leadership toward energy security and independence, who will rebuild our infrastructure, who will help people to achieve their goals rather than give more handouts, who will demand excellence in education, who will put the welfare of this great nation above the likes or dislikes of Europe, the United Nations, and any other “world” entity, and provide a tax structure rooted in reward for hard work and innovation that will allow the continual economic prosperity of the country.

There is nothing new under the sun. Strip away the back lighting, Obama is just another politician who needs scrutiny. I would prefer to leave the stadium speeches filled with adoring people to Chairman Mao. Obama should read the words of Constantine Karamanlis. Those who build you up will also bring you down.

Two Things To Fix Our Mess

It is frustrating watching our economy suffer needlessly, as the stock market tanks, banks shut down, and housing prices fall. Just wait until you hear the retailers moan this Christmas. Any of you who believe that the government is there to help you ought to take a good look around and see what government has wrought. There are two things which have caused this economic debacle…energy prices and an accounting rule. Both represent government at its worst, as it tries to impose ideal rules in an imperfect world.

The accounting rule is very simple. Banks have to maintain a certain capital ratio; that is, the debts of the banks can only be a certain percentage of the assets of the bank. Fall below the number, and the bank goes under. Among the assets of the banks are certain mortgage backed bonds, packaged and sold by mortgage lenders. At a point in time, it was clear that there was going to be a slight increase of the default rate of the mortgages backing these bonds, and people began to panic. Nobody knew how many or how much, although even today it is less than 1 ½% of all outstanding mortgages.

However, after the collapse of Enron, the government changed how companies have to value assets on their books, including these bonds. The rule is simple…if you don’t know what they are worth, you value them at zero. So even though the vast majority of the mortgages are performing, the banks who hold these bonds still have to value them at zero, dropping the amount of their assets, messing up the debt to asset ratio, causing the banks to have to raise billions upon billions of dollars to make up for the artificially valued at zero bonds. In the process, they do not have sufficient capital on their books to loan money to homebuyers. Folks can’t get loans, and the values of houses goes down, and that aggravates the bond situation at the bank…and you end up with an Indymac bank failure.

No matter how well intentioned the regulators were in trying to prevent another Enron, they caused a problem much, much worse…and we are paying the price now. The good news for the banks: as these bonds continue to perform month after month, the banks will move portions from the nonperforming asset column to the performing asset column. Great for a year or two down the road, but tell it to the depositors, and the shareholders, of Indymac Bank, or National City Bank. A more realistic rule takes care of the problem…but you are dealing with the government, and they are here to help you. Instead, what we have is a snowball rolling down the mountain out of control, turning an iffy situation into a full blown crisis.

The other side of the equation is energy prices. There is no free market in energy. It has been regulated to death in the United States, and held hostage by OPEC. To make matters worse, countries like India and China, who are responsible for the dramatic upswing in demand for petroleum, have their oil prices subsidized by the government, and hence have no incentive to conserve.

Couple that with a “green” movement in this country that has taken on the characteristics of new national religion, it is wonder we have any energy at all. Again, while our Congress is concerned about how the Europeans view the United States, blocking any and all energy development, alternative, oil, or otherwise…China and India are rapidly becoming the environmental cesspools of the world, and nobody says a word to them.

Balance has not entered into the green discussion. No one points out that environmental issues were among the causative factors in the disappearance of the local steel industry, and much of the American heavy manufacturing base. I remember the Mayor of Youngstown saying back in the late 1960’s when the EPA was here to clean up the Mahoning River… the day the Mahoning River runs clean is the day we will have no more steel mills in the Valley. He was right on the money.

And just to tie things up in a neat bundle…the next credit crisis to hit the banks will be delinquent credit card debt, most of it due to rising energy prices and the cost to fill up your car with gas.

I am not advocating a return to “wild west” accounting and massive pollution of our air and water. But I do believe that it is time to strike a balance, and to be realistic in our approach to our financial system and our energy production. Banks should be allowed to put some value on those bonds relieving the capitalization requirements. Most of them are performing. The government should immediately institute a full blown energy agenda, including drilling, nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen fuel cell development, renewable energy like ethanol, infrastructure build up to allow for tying into the electric grid and for ethanol and hydrogen pumps at filling stations, coal liquification plants, shale oil development….and I could go on.

Unless we do this, and do it quickly, we can all bend over and kiss our proverbial asses’ goodbye as we go to the poor house.

The Democratic Energy Plan: Be Careful What You Vote For!

Over the years, I have concluded that the main difference between Republicans and Democrats is how they view an apple pie. Democrats assume that the size of the pie is constant, and wish to divvy it up into smaller but “fairer” slices. Republicans assume that the pie is expanding, and that there is no need to shrink anyone’s portion so long as we can keep baking larger and better apple pies. The Republican view is the consensus of most of Americans, if it works properly.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that the Democrats and the current Democratic Congress have done nothing relating to energy. They view the current amount of energy as a constant. It will not increase, and more importantly, nor should we try to increase it. We just have to learn to live with less. After all, we are selfish and greedy, and we have to be “fair.” The party is controlled by environmental ideologues whom would be happy if our only means of transportation could be reduced to walking, and bikes if regulated.

While there is plenty of blame to go around Washington relating to energy policy, I am more disturbed about the Democrats and their intransient position to new energy sources. No to drilling. No to nuclear power. No to wind power. No to solar energy. While they say they want alternative sources for energy, they have to be “studied” (translate delay). America is a sinful nation and has to suffer for our excesses. We are killing the planet, don’t you know. The environmental whackos control the party, and you will see nothing done to increase energy supplies as they continually spew their global warming venom, their the “wind generators will kill migratory birds” claptrap, the “pipeline will kill the caribou” propaganda, the “solar power panels will hurt the desert lizards” lament, and the ever popular “we will all turn green with nuclear power” rant.

I will guarantee you that if Obama is elected President, here is the only energy policy the Democratic Congress will allow him to implement.

1) Reduce the speed limit to 55 mph.

2) Rationing of gasoline.

3) Taxation on home use of natural gas or electricity over specified limits to be determined by Congress, if you can get it at all. I would not be surprised if they attempt to actually come into your home and put a regulator in.

4) Massive subsidies to the “poor” who can’t afford gasoline and heat.

5) Tap the strategic oil reserve. So much for gas when we go to was with Iran.

And Obama will agree. Obama’s response to high gasoline prices: “I would have preferred a gradual adjustment.” He thinks that high energy prices are a good thing. You will be paying for your high energy prices, and for someone else's, too. How many of this country's ills can be cured by "taxing the rich"? Sooner or later, you will run out of rich to tax, and that includes you.

When you vote in November, always remember that when you vote “against” something, you are also voting “for” something. Do you prefer an energy policy of doing with less, or an energy policy of producing more? You decide.