Category: politics
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A First Glance at the Bailout Bill
I don’t claim to have read the full 102 page text of the bailout draft proposal yet, but I wanted to share my first reactions after jumping around to some of the sections that caught my interest. Section 110 – Executive compensation (p. 29) I like the idea of controls on executive compensation for participating…
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Write In “No Confidence”
Somewhere in the news yesterday I heard that voters are beginning to like Sarah Palin less as they get to know more about her. I thought that was interesting since I heard basically the same thing said about Barack Obama back in June or July. My own experience is that I am liking both Obama…
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Economics 101 (Bush Edition)
Wasn’t it so nice for our president to give the country a lesson in economics. He worked hard to reinforce the image of Washington knows best. Unfortunately his lesson left out a few details that are less than flattering for Washington. Let’s review the text of his speech. I’ll skip all the real fluff and…
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Everyone Should Read This
I’m not one to link and run, but sometimes there is really nothing to add. I think that everyone should read what Obi wan has to say about the bailout situation.
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We Must Do Better
There has been no shortage of opposition to the hastily proposed $700 Billion Gift Card (Chris Suellentrop provides a nice rundown) – unfortunately little of the real opposition comes from members of Congress. Our own Senator Bennett has flipped from being wary to being supportive because, as every elected official knows, foolish action is better…
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A Managed Economy
I try not to focus on political or economic issues on Sunday, but I had a hard time when I noticed the figure "$700 Billion" yesterday. I was particularly worried by this statement: . . . it would allow Treasury to act unilaterally: Its decisions could not be reviewed by any court or administrative body…
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And Now For Some Good News . . .
I’m sure there are many who would not see this as good news, but when I read about contracting credit in the lives of everyday people I was thrilled. Because I expect that many people would not share my positive outlook at this news, let me share why I think this is a good thing…
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Something’s in the Air
Some of the people I work with like to dabble in trading stocks. They keep tabs on the stock market and they like to talk about their experiences. Through all the turmoil of the last few months their comments have indicated a challenging, but not incomprehensible market situation – until today. Suddenly this morning everyone…
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Happy 221st Birthday
221 years ago today the Constitution was signed. In honor of that, today is known as Constitution Day (and also known as Citizenship Day). Unfortunately, the Constitution is treated by many as an aging parent that may deserve our respect and admiration for a lifetime of accomplishment, but only receives our occasional grudging visit and…
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Three out of Four (ain’t bad)
What’s the point of having your own blog if you can’t toot your own horn occasionally? So this may be two weeks old, but I’m bored so I’ll share. At BlueOregon there have been a few "Punditology challenges" where they invite their readers to predict what will happen in the political world (for example, what…