Only Approved Information Shall Be Allowed

In a White House meeting this Friday, Barack Obama told Republican members of Congress they are no longer allowed to listen to Rush Limbaugh. "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," said the bringer of Hope, Change, and Transparency. An unnamed White House staffer said "We shouldn't let partisan politics derail what are very important things that need to get done."

Is that why Pelosi's 110th Congress was ever-helpful in its efforts to assist the Bush administration? A desire to avoid "partisan politics?" Or does the unnamed staffer (There's some of that Obama administration transparency already) take "partisan politics" to mean anyone who disagrees with his views and aims?

It sounds much like a school bully who wants another student reported for fighting, and when reminded that he hit the other student first, the bully replies "Well, it wasn't a fight until he hit back."

Nancy wants taxes!

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., FantasyLand) opines that Obama's first "Stimulus Package" has no chance on the Hill unless he backs off his promise of $300 billion of tax cuts. Aside from the fact that the figure $300 billion is a mixture of voodoo economics and pure fantasy, it's a telling look at your modern Democrat Party at work. There is one form of stimulus that can actually halt the economic contraction and promote long-term growth and investment. Naturally, that is the one form of stimulus Nancy finds unacceptable.

You see, a tax cut would allow Americans to keep more of their own money, and spend and invest it as they see fit. Want to buy a bigger house, expand your business, buy a competing business, or invest and save more for the future? With more money in your pocket, you'd have those options and more. But Nancy and her band of idiots can't abide the thought of you making decisions about the money you keep now, let alone any additional portion of your own earnings that you may be allowed to keep.

No, dear serfs...er, taxpayers, we'll take that money and more and invest it in "infrastructure." What, you ask, is infrastructure? It can be most accurately defined in this context as "A major capital expenditure, financed with borrowed and taxed funds, directed to firms most closely connected with the power structure of the majority political party currently holding the purse-strings, for the purpose of providing photo opportunities for politicians and a financial windfall for political friends."

Fox, Meet Henhouse

It's been a busy few weeks, so posting hasn't kept up with the furious pace of world and national developments. I'll ease back into the fold with a note that Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton stated in Senate testimony that foreign donations to her husband's foundations would be vetted to insure there was no conflict of interest with the current administration or State. Who will do the vetting? The State Department.

I don't know how Senators do it, maintaining composure after a howler like that. I'd be slapping the table, yelling "Stop! No more! You're killing me! I can't stop laughing!"

It's a New Year

And that's kind of exciting. Kind of. There is endless hope and optimism over the fact that the first trading day of 2009 showed fairly strong gains for U.S. stock indices. We'll see. Best Buy (The big electronics retailer that has not filed for bankruptcy protection) releases its 4th-quarter and Christmas sales figures on Friday, January 9. A few other major retailers will be releasing their most recent numbers in the first half of this month. Stock up on Kleenex; there will be tears.

While the Dollar has given back some of its recent gains, oil for February delivery remains below $45 a barrel. This is not only a boon to the American economy and those of our allies, but a hard blow to Putin, Chavez, and the rest of the idiot-savant petro-dollar potentates. They began spending thinking of triple-digit oil prices, and figured they could maintain that spending level even if oil fell all the way to $60. Forty five dollars? Look for spending cuts, tax increases...well, that's about it for options. More debt is out of the question. What sane person would buy Russian or Venezuelan government bonds? Like a Ponzi-scheme organizer whose deals start to unravel, they're reaching ever more desperately for temporary fixes, but the ultimate result is hardly in question. OPEC and Russia will be forced into drastic, long-term retrenchments.

One small corner of the Middle East is aflame, and the U.N. is preparing to leap into action with a sternly-worded statement. It makes you wonder at the U.N.'s silence for 900 days and nights of rocket attacks on Israeli neighborhoods. But after you wonder for a few seconds, you say "Oh, right; it's the U.N." Business as usual. Barack Obama, having learned from his buffoonish statements on the Russian/Georgian mess of a few months back, is keeping quiet. Someone reminded him American has "only one president at a time," and he repeated that to reporters, who then wrote about how wise and noble is The One.

There will be plenty more to excite is in the days and weeks to come. In the mean time, watch your portfolio, and try to dine out occasionally in a favorite restaurant. That sector is facing tough times, as such discretionary spending is on the wane, so a good restaurant deserves our support. As for the not-so-good--maybe someone better will rent the space. It's just creative destruction at work.

Who won this thing, again?

I heard today that Hillary Clinton (D., wherever works) has plans to vastly expand her empire at State once she assumes the position. International interests currently managed by the military and the Commerce and Treasury Departments are in her sights, with more doubtless to be named later.

Apparently the plan is that she'll serve as Supreme Being at Foggy Bottom, and control large areas of U.S. interest in the international sphere currently the purview of other department heads. Eventually she may hold all decision-making power for international interests. If you have a copy of the Constitution, take a look at the section that deals with international relations, treaties, economic and military matters.

I heard that Clinton was defeated in the Democrat primaries, but this power grab would seem to put the lie to that belief. Who, exactly, will be president next year?

Spend Now, Think Later

"We just have to spend some significant money."
"We'll just have to use our best judgement..."

So spoke Senator Max Baucus (D., Spendthrift) when asked by CNS News what the Congress needs to do to quell queasy economic seas. The astute reader will note several things about the senator's two statements above. For instance, hasn't Congress already spent "significant" money? Or have we moved away from deficit spending the past few years, and I just didn't notice? No, I think spending "significant" money is well within the competency of even this Congress, the worst in history. Apparently Baucus expects our blessing for plans to expand even the current bloated spending.

On the second statement, well, doesn't it speak for itself? After all, when you think of the current do-nothing Congress, what word comes to mind before "judgement?" Okay, okay; Poor, appalling, abysmal, lack of, these are all good choices. The people who bloated the current deficits and brought the mortgage meltdown upon our heads now demand another trillion or so of our dollars to mend the damage they caused. Excuse me if I don't fall over myself writing you a check, and praising the judgement of you and your colleagues, Senator.

The senator followed his pronouncements with these gems:

“We’ve got to pay down the debt, (it) is getting bigger and bigger. The question is, when are we going to start paying the dues? We have got to start paying them.”

Senator, my head starts to hurt when I attempt to reconcile your plans to spend significant money and "pay down the debt." Where is this magical trillion dollars coming from? Sure, you'll take some of it from us now, with tax hikes of many sizes, shapes, and colors. More will come from borrowing. Which, Senator, increases the national debt. Sorry that I have to be the one to break that to you. Finally, inflation is the final arrow in Washington's quiver, allowing the Fed to print more money and use these dollars in the future to pay interest on the ever-increasing debt.

Does any of these three actions--tax hikes, debt hike, inflation hike--seem likely to hike us into prosperity? What do you think?

If you answered yes, you just might be clueless enough to be a U.S. Senator.

Chutzpah, thy name is Dodd

I wasn't sure if I was reading The Onion, or a serious news site. Senator Chris Dodd (D, Fannie Mae) has demanded the resignation of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner before Congress bestows any loans on the automaker. This is Chris Dodd! The man who:

• Obtained a below-market sweetheart mortgage from troubled lender Countrywide Mortgage just before it went belly-up
• Scooped up more campaign contributions from Freddie Mac than any other Senator (Barack Obama was #2 on that list, by the way)
• Told other Senators that soon-to-be-disgraced Fannie Mae head Franklin Raines was doing a great job running the taxpayer-guaranteed mortgage giant.
• Ridiculed those--like George W. Bush and John McCain--who said Congress needed to rein in Fannie and Freddie before their lax lending practices blew up in the taxpayers' collective face

Apparently it is Dodd's contention that a person with responsibility for a failing enterprise should not benefit from, nor be in charge of, the bailout of that enterprise.

I'll sit back now and wait for Dodd to resign from the Senate Banking Committee.

Better pack a lunch.