The Winter of Our Discontent

We reach that peculiar period of time between the election of a new president and the end of the term of the old one. Historically this is a time to reflect upon the achievements of the the now-ending administration and the hope and optimism associated with the new. Of course there can't be any achievements to celebrate from the "eight long years of suffering" under George W. Bush (aka Spawn of the Devil). At least none that the mainstream media will share with us. Therefore I will make a weak attempt to chronicle some of those.

As you will recall W. had to defend his win of the presidency through court. Yes, boys and girls, he WON the presidency and Al Gore tried to steal it from him. This cast a pall over the victory and ate up several weeks of the transition period. Nonetheless he took office on January 20, 2001 and set out his agenda in the first State of the Union speech. It was ambitious and bold but, considering his party controlled the congress, not out of reach. Shortly thereafter he was faced with a defining moment in his Presidency that was the source of criticism to this day. He made the decision to deny federal funding for stem cell research. The pro lifers applauded him the abortionists and scientists sucking on the federal tit wailed. Agree or not he had drawn a line in the sand that still has not been crossed. Of course Obama will rescind this order as soon as he is inaugurated.

The next thing to come along in 2001 was the terrorists attack on New York and Washington. By the time that day in September was over almost 3,000 Americans were dead and the rest of us got the message. The leadership W. displayed during that difficult period was inspiring to most Americans. He had overwhelming support for going after those that perpetrated these attacks and was granted carte blache in prosecuting the War on Terrorism. What most of us forget is that just a few weeks after the attacks we had the anthrax mailings and scare. Many resources were directed at this and our national psyche took another hit.

A byproduct of these events was that our economy took a major hit. Trading was suspended on the stock exchanges several days and dropped like a rock for a while. Most industries took significant losses and it looked like we were headed for a recession. But we survived and saw the stock market double over the next six years. Major tax cuts served to stimulate the economy and we saw significant job growth over the same period. W should get credit for this recovery if he is to be blamed for the mess we are currently in. The reality is that being president is like the captain of a ship; he can direct it but if the crew isn't working together he is going to have trouble getting the ship where he wants it to go. Throw in the turbulent seas and you get the picture.

The Iraq War was the next thing to come along and it started off much like the Afgan War. We kicked ass and took names. We entered the war with overwhelming support for military action and everyone expected us to get the job done quickly. Everyone except W and he kept telling us that the War on Terror was going to take a long time. We dug Saddam out of a hole and the Iraqi kangaroo court tried and executed him. It was a beautiful thing! But something went wrong because the Iraqis were not prepared to govern themselves. The fact that they had lived under Saddam's tyranny for over 30 years meant they were out of practice. So our liberating troops found themselves between the factions in Iraq that had been suppressed over the years by Saddam. Throw in there Al Qaeda moving into Iraq and you have no choice but to stay and protect the fledgling government from failing before it has a chance to establish itself.

As our involvement in Iraq approached the four year mark the discontent began to grow, coinciding with the 2008 presidential campaign. Bin Laden had correctly judged the American people as not having the stomach for a protracted battle and the public outcry was to get out of Iraq as soon as possible. The Democrats took up the banner, most of which voted to take out Saddam. This had gone on too long and the American public had lost interest. Everyone running for office could have handled the war better than Bush, we never should have gone in there, or some such drivel beat us over the head. Armchair quarterbacks are a dime a dozen. The bottom line is that the world is a better place without the likes of Saddam Hussein, thousands of more lives were saved by his overthrow, Al Qaeda suffered yet another loss by trying to take us on in Iraq, and the world is safer.

This brings us to current times and we see the liberal champion, Obama, moving to the center. Most of his cabinet and inner circle are retreads from the Clinton administration. He is backing off most of the promises he made and will probably be much more cautious about anything he initiates. This will result in grumblings from the left about how they were betrayed. And around it goes and goes..........

Brother Can You Spare A Dime?

Now it seems that the Big Three U.S. automakers need a bailout. Excuse me, another bailout. They are apparently burning through cash like a drunken sailor on a three-day liberty pass and they urgently need our cash to continue on their binge. Imagine that! Can someone please tell me when any of the three turned a profit? Also, when any of them had an increase in sales without giving away any profit they may have? The short answer is that it has been a long time.

Never fear, Obamaman will come to the rescue! He has been bending over for the unions throughout his short political career so now that he is king they should get all the money they want, right? Not so fast, Bucko. Apparently someone told George Bush that his term doesn't end until January 20th so the Anointed One will have to wait until then to save his buddies. This could be a tricky timing issue as they may not be able to last that long! Alas, what shall they do?!!!!

Well, they may go bankrupt like thousands of businesses do everyday, resulting in layoffs, reorganizations, and renegotiation of union contracts. They could do this voluntarily or involuntarily by defaulting on some of the billions of dollars of debt they owe. Regardless, if they are not blowing smoke about the sense of urgency they face this may be the end of the Big Three as we know them.

Let's say, for arguments sake, we throw another $50 billion at them. What will that do besides buy them another six to nine months? Will their monthly obligations for pensions and healthcare benefits go away? NO! Will their cars become competitive in the marketplace? Not in that short of time. Will the economy suddenly turn around and demand for new vehicles recover to pre-recession levels? Not likely. So then they will come back for another $50 billion, and then another, another and.... You get my point.

So the economic news can get much worse. The failure of one will probably lead to the failure of all three and the loss of a buttload of jobs. I don't wish for it, it won't be pretty, but may be what needs to happen is to weed out the non-competitive units and replace them with the companies that the public prefers.

I Thought the Polls Were Over

This afternoon I took a call at work that turned out to be the Associated Press doing a poll on the outcome of the election. Realistically I probably should not have participated because they called the nursing home I run and I just happened to pick up the phone because everyone else was busy or ignoring it. When I told the guy that it was not my residence and that I had 77 people that did live there it threw him off his game. So, of course, I encouraged him to let me take it and told him he could count my answers 77 times!

The questions were the usual ones we heard thousands of times over the past 3 months such as:

How would you rate ____________ as a priority of the government? Top priority, somewhat a priority, low priority, not a priority. The blank was filled in with, the economy, the war, the financial institutions, the auto industry, tax cuts, etc.

Then there were questions about W.'s approval rating, congress' approval rating, Obama's election.

After they finished the opinion questions they went through a series of demographic questions including age, income, education, political persuasion, color of underwear, etc. The entire survey lasted about 15 minutes.

I answered the questions honestly and, in retrospect, I probably wasn't the person he was expecting to interview. I was unabashed about my opinions and I even got several laughs out of the dude.

This is only the second time in my life I have been selected for a poll, not counting the time we were selected as a Nielson family. I rarely talk to solicitors on the phone and reserve my most acerbic comments for those that try to push the issue.

There has been much talk recently about the methodology of opinion polls, whether they are skewed toward Democrats. There is also a concern as to how much we are influenced by them and what part they played in the eventual outcome of the election. The fact that many people want to vote for a winner may influence them to vote for the candidate that they are told over and over will be the winner. I used to discount such indictments but now I'm not so sure......

The Kool-Aid Gets Bitter

We are just now 48 hours after John McCain conceded defeat to Barack Obama. In that time we have learned the following:

1. The stock market doesn't think much of it. (down 10% in two trading sessions)
2. The "change" is going to involve many Washington insiders from the Clinton Administrations.
3. The Prime Minister of Italy thinks Obama is very attractive and wants to introduce him to his wife. (I don't make this up!)
4. You can kiss that middle class tax cut good bye.

It should be fun to watch the Move On.org and Daily Cause folks as their heads explode over the next several months. As Obama is faced with trying to keep all of the balls in the air and abandons all of their liberal dreams it will become apparent that there is more to being President than getting elected.

Another One Bites The Dust

Unlike the past two presidential elections I didn't lose sleep over this one. All prepared for a long night the "drama" of this election was over pretty quick and I saw no point in torturing myself by watching the finally of the inevitable train wreck. The only question was how bad would it be. Pretty bad.

This election is already being hailed as a great victory for America and the world. Obama was the overwhelming choice of friend and foe alike in world opinion. I wonder if that is because they perceive him as weaker, more malleable than John McCain or that they bought in to the Messiah business. I anticipate that this honeymoon period will last up to the time he disagrees with someone then they will be critical of him as well. Then again, if his rhetoric is to be believed, is foreign policy will be one cum-by-yah moment after another. We shall see. While I rarely agree with Joe Biden on anything he did have it right about Obama being tested in the first six months. Then we will see the mettle of the man.

So then, this is the end of the political career of John McCain. Sure he has some time left in the Senate and may even get re-elected again. Before you know it he and Bob Dole will be doing ED commercials together! He found out, finally, that being a hero doesn't mean an automatic ticket to the White House. You have to inspire people as a leader, which he never did, and you must demonstrate leadership qualities. The failures of McCain rest solely on his shoulders because he made one poor decision after another. He was never my candidate and never the choice of the base of the Republican Party so I am not surprised he lost or how badly he lost.

So today we can put this behind us and look forward to a new direction for the country. New does not mean better, just new. Like it or not we usually get what we deserve.

The Miracle of America

It seems each election cycle the politicians outdo themselves by making more outrageous commercials than the previous cycle. There have always been slanderous accusations and will continue to be but with the 24/7 opportunities made available to them we are inundated by every wild charge imaginable. In the last few minutes I heard about a state rep that was in favor of child molesters. This other "evil doer" was in the tank with trial lawyers! God help us! If we were to believe the commercials these people should be in jail not seeking our votes. The reality is that both of these people are decent citizens with a genuine desire to help shape the direction of our country. The same goes for their opponents. Having once served a term as an elected school board member (the most thankless job in the world!) I have a great deal of respect, pity or both for these folks that commit themselves to public service.

I have several friends that have seen more election cycles than me and many others that have seen less. I have supported the eventual winner more times than not in the presidential races and have thrown a few bucks their way. Nonetheless, in each election where an incumbent did not succeed himself there was a peaceful transfer of power to the winner. When the election is over we reluctantly put aside our difference and give the winner the support and prayers he needs to lead our country for the next 4 years. While just under half of the voting public will be disappointed with the outcome I expect they will accept the results and support their elected officials. They always have.

Election Night Drinking Game

In just a couple of days we should have a good idea who the leader of our country will be for the next four years. That is, assuming these armies of lawyers each party has poised don't get out there and act like flies. Barring that I have a game the whole family can play to bring more excitement to the election returns. For each candidate pick out one worn out phrase or word that you are totally sick of hearing. For Obama it can be "change", "historic election", "Messiah", "that one", or "Hussein". For McCain of course it has to be "maverick", "experience", or any reference to his age. Use one of these or any other for each candidate. Play as individuals or teams. The objects of the game are twofold. First, each time one of the magic phrases is uttered during election coverage everyone that did not choose the phrase must have a drink. Alcohol or not it still gets to be fun. The second object is to keep track of how many times each phrase or word is said. At the end of the night the phrase with the most mentions earns that person a prize.

I tried it the other night as I was having a wine cooler. I chose the word "fight" because I had noticed that every political ad ran told me how their candidate would fight for me. I ususally fight for myself but as long as they are willing to why should I get dirty? So I started with the 6 o'clock news and barely made it past Wheel of Fortune. I decided then and there I would never try it again with anything alcoholic.

The Lies About Taxes

One of the constants of this election cycle is that both candidates like to play fast and loose with the tax issue. Obama swears that 95% of the "working families" will receive a tax cut under his plan. Of course roughly 40% of working families pay no income tax at all and a good chunk of them get some or all of their social security payments back in the form of earned income credits. So the numbers don't work out since only 60% pay income tax. Additionally, Obama says he will let the Bush tax cuts of 2003 expire in 2010. Since those cuts affected every tax bracket everyone who pay taxes will realize an increase and some that aren't paying taxes under the current tax brackets will after the expiration.

Not to be outdone John McCain swears that he will make the Bush tax cuts permanent and give an additional tax cut to "stimulate growth of the economy". There is only a couple of things wrong with this plan. First, I don't know how he thinks he will manage to get a Democrat congress to go along with making them permanent. With Harry Reid and company controlling the Senate such legislation will never see the light of day. The second problem is that McCain is unlikely to get his additional tax cut through the same congress. So taxes will go up for him as well.

Another important point is that neither of these guys are known to be champions of tax cuts. I expect Obama to follow in the footsteps of Bill Clinton (who also promised a middle class tax cut in 1992) and renege on the promise. The financial "crisis" sets it up perfectly. McCain, who voted against the Bush tax cuts twice now expects us to believe he is drinking the tax cut Kool-aid and will seek to make them permanent. Neither of them will make the necessary effort to control the spending of a runaway government so cutting the revenue just puts us further in the hole.

The long and short of it, boys and girls, is that you should not count on any significant reduction in your tax liability in the years to come. Fairy tales like that really should begin with "once upon a time.....)