WHAT AN UNDER-STATEMENT!
February 11, 2005
Six months ago, I said that the 2004 Presidential campaign would be one of the most nasty ever. Little did I know how nasty!
Just today, still nine months out, accusations were being bounced around like an NBA basketball. Did you know that George Bush was a deserter: AWOL? Okay, so that one you knew. How about the fact that he got a gal pregnant and then drove her to an abortion clinic? Right or wrong, it’s out there.
Of course we all know Bush lied to us about the war and that he’s in bed with Haliburton to cheat us out of our hard-earned tax dollars. How could any good American elect such a scoundrel?
But then there’s John Kerry. You know the Viet Nam hero who came home and became a traitor: backing Hanoi Jane and turning his back on all the veterans that were still fighting. You could probably expect anything out of such behavior: however, can you believe the DrudgeReport today? Did Kerry really have a two year affair? Did he ship his lover out to Africa?
What are the issues? I must agree with Bill O’Reilly. It’s simple. There are two men running for President and they are day and night. One is a blue-blooded liberal and the other one is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative. Pick one! And, leave all that other junk alone!
JUST A GENERAL RECAP….
February 10, 2005
Ahh, the folly of it all. Life these days makes you want to either cry or laugh: sometimes doing both at the same time. On the economic front, the fundamentals look about as bad as they did in 2000 and yet Greenspan goes before Congress and procalims all is well. No sooner has he spoken the “all is well” words than the Dow shoots up 100 points!
When was the last time Greenspan was right on anything? He’s the one that was responsible for the excessive run-up in 95-99, and therefore responsible for the three year fall of 2000-02. It’s either feast or famine with Alan.
Then there’s the political scene where we’ve got the most classic liberal-conservative campaign ever shaping up. Kerry is for gay marriages, abortions, and you name the leftest of left-wing agendas. That he was a war hero doesn’t change his politics. And could we move on past the “active service is better than national guard service” debate? Give us a break, please.
Martha Stewart is in a world of hurt. They need to hurry up and get it over so we can move on to the Lacy Peterson trial, Kobe trial, and all those other soap opera cable news stories.
THE CIA & LABOR DEPARTMENT
February 9, 2005
I had to do a double take yesterday when I read the headline that said Bush was confident that we could create 2.8 million jobs in 2004. He’s relying upon information from the Department Of Labor to back up that information.
In January, there were 112,000 new jobs created and don’t forget that the month before there were only 1,000 new jobs created. So, how do we get to the place where there are some 220,000 jobs created monthly when everyone is sending their work to China and India?
The only thing I can figure out is that the CIA is really doing the background checks and the math for new job growth. With their record on WMD’s, the prognosis for new jobs seems in line. Just for the record, the Bush administration projected 1.7 new jobs in 2003 but we actually lost 439,000 jobs!
Seriously, we’re in dire economic conditions. The market run-up from the 2003 tax savings have finished their course. The over-valued stocks have peaked out. And, even though Alan Greenspan will be telling Congress how great things are today and tomorrow, I’m not buying it.
We’re lving on economic borrowed time and 75% of it isn’t George Bush’s fault; however, he will pay the price and he’s just having to play the hand that was dealt him. Don’t we all?
THE HOWARD DEAN PARTY!
February 8, 2005
An interesting thing happened on the way to the 2004 election. It became Howard Dean’s party and it will probably be that for at least 4+ more years though he won’t be the nominee.
Howard Dean will not get the nomination this summer: however, his “spirit” will. You see, Dean galvanized the Democratic party last year by his ugly attacks on George Bush. Dean excited the Democratic base into a “feeding frenzy”. The Democrats have been ready for a Dean to show up ever since the 2000 election was stolen from them. Democrats will never forget the stolen election of 2000 and anyone that affirms the theft, gets them hyped up.
John Kerry stood on the side lines waiting for an opening and the press gave it to him. CNN at least had the guts to admit what Fox did not. The press played the Dean rant after his Iowa loss almost every half hour if not more frequently, making damaging comments on each video clip replay.
Did anyone see the Al Gore rant yesterday? No wonder he is a Dean backer. They have similiar spirits.
Anyway, the Democratic party smells Bush’s blood in the water and they are going after him in a “Dean (mean) spirited manner”. Bush was AWOL, Bush falsified the intelligence record, Bush this and Bush that. From my vantage point, the Democratic party is Howard Dean’s party- at least in spirit.
DEMOCRACY BY ANOTHER NAME!
February 7, 2005
Okay, America doesn’t do everything right. Duh! So we don’t have the best legal system in the world, but tell me, who has a better one? I could go on with this comparison but let me get to the point.
Politics in America is down-right ugly and you’ve not seen anything yet. We have voter fraud, special interest groups running more things and people than they should, and name-calling that used to be taboo. But, we still have one of he best political systems in the world.
Maybe you didn’t know it but a comparison would be the so-called democratic system in Russia. Russians are going to the polls March 14th to vote for President(?). Putin is more of a dictator. To insure his election, he’s imprisoned or run off all of the monied-interests that back his opposition candidates.
One can’t directly blame Putin; however, don’t you find it strange that two of his fiercest detractors in the Russian Parliament have been shot down in cold blood? Oh, maybe it’s just coincidental that anyone who blatantly opposes Putin gets killed or run out of the nation.
But, that argument is getting harder to swallow, even from the most forgiving of Russians. You see, three days ago, Putin’s most vocal opponent in the elections, Ivan Rybkin, is now missing. When you’re a candidate for president and you’re a NO-SHOW for debates, it’s gets people’s attention.
For me, I’ll take our American-style politics any day.
NO INFLATION NOW BUT……
February 6, 2005
I overheard a stock broker mention that the deficits really don’t matter because there was no inflation. Really? Well let me ask a coule of questions. Basic and fundamental questions.
How is it that since WWII the Dollar has lost 70% of it’s value? And ever since the Federal Reserve was set up 90 years ago to protect the Dollar, that it has lost 97% of it’s value? How does that happen?
Elementary, Mr. Watson, elementary. It happens because we print more money! And Alan Greenspan is printing money as fast as the presses will run. No inflaton today, but it’s COMING and it will come big time.
In the last four weeks, the supply of money, known as M-3, has shot up $118B or about $30B a week. Or about $1.5T annualized. Do you think such infusion will have no effect on the future?
So, while most stock brokers walk in denial about the deficits and what it means down the road, the historical hand-writing is plain- for those that take the time to read. Inflation is on the way- BIG TIME!
INTENSE HEAT IN THE KITCHEN!
February 4, 2005
I know Harry Truman had it right, but then there are seasons when the principle comes into full bloom. I think we are there now or very close.
I believe we’re getting some sense of just how nasty and heated the 2004 elections will be. It’s one thing that the nation is almost equally divided but when you factor in the Democratic “smarting” for what happened in Forida in 2000, we’ve got an environment for all out political, in your face, as nasty as it gets, BRING IT ON election.
Kerry uses the phrase (Bring it on) at every stop. Thursday he said he didn’t back down from any fight. And if all that wasn’t enough, the Democrats are after Bush’s manhood by saying he was AWOL in the less-than-macho Teas National Guard. Kerry evens mentions that he was on a “real” aircraft carrier, putting down Bush’s ‘fly-on’ last year.
We’ve got the Iraq war, the Intelligence fiasco, the UBL factor, and a deficit that’ll get to the moon before we do. And there must be a half dozen committees working on anything that’ll throw some dirt on the Bush Administration between now and Novemmber.
Does it somehow make you long for the calm days of Monica & Bill? Well, maybe not; however, it’s going to get really hot in more than the kitchen. Better break out the thermal underwear!
ON THE RAZOR’S EDGE!
February 3, 2005
Wow! As I looked at this year, I decided to not make any of my normal annual predictions. I had a frequent reader send me my 2003 guesses last month, and they didn’t look too bad. I hit many right on the head and a couple are yet to happen; however, 2004 is a bird of an entirely different feather.
I would not be surprised to see either feast or famine happen. Could both? One of my financial gurus (Richard Russell) is now saying that he feels the market has TOPPED OUT and is headed down. Could be. His stats are impressive.
On the other hand, Bush and Greenspan have a lot of tools at their disposal and they can keep the top spinning for quite awhile: they hope until at least November.
So, as we sit on the proverbial “razor’s edge”, my assessment is that the economy could boom or bust in 2004, but I will make this prediction. If the economy (and I’m talking more than America) doesn’t tank in 2004, it will do so in 2005!
There is just too much ’stuff’ out there that doesn’t add up. The $600B+ deficit just being one of them. We’ve lived in La-la land for a decade now. And yes, we had a correction in 2000,2001, and 2002, but we didn’t let the BEAR do all he needed to do to fully correct for the 90’s excesses. So, I wait with interest to see wich side of the razor our bacon falls.
BILLIONS, TRILLIONS, & ZILLIONS
February 2, 2005
Who cares what I’m paying for the new car or for how long, just tell me what it’s going to cost a month! Right? And, it doesn’t matter how much I must pay for the living room furniture as long as I don’t have to put anything down today, and my payments don’t begin until 2005. Right?
So, do you think people are really concerned about the federal deficit? I mean all of this worrying about how many billions of shortfall we’ll have next year or how many trillions we’ll add to the federal debt in the next decade has no meaning to John Doe Public. It could be a zillion: whatever that is.
But, let me give you those facts anyway. The record federal budget was in 1992 under Bush #41- $290B! A new record was set last year under Bush #43- $375B. So? Isn’t the economy doing better?
The expected deficit for 2004 is $477B and that’s without Iraq-Afghanistan costs factored in. So, we could see $600B+ in a federal deficit. Even Republican’s are starting to howl at Bush’s budget. Last year, the expected next decade deficit was $1.5T, but it’s now closer to $2.5T.
There you go! Billions and trillions. Who knows what they mean? They have as much relevance as a zillion. But alas, there are consequences and they aren’t pretty and neither are they a decade away. So, don’t mess with my, or the government’s lust for more. Our kids will figure it all out.
SUPER SUNDAY to SUPER TUES!
February 1, 2005
So what can Super Tuesday SHOW us that the Super Sunday didn’t? I mean haven’t we EXPOSED about all that there is? Is there anything we can UNCOVER from today’s voting that we don’t already know? Can we really BARE the results? Haven’t we already been kept ABREAST of everything?
Okay, enough already. If you were alive yesterday, somewhere you heard one of the above phrases as reporters and news outlets took shots at Janet Jackson and the Super Bowl fiasco. So, Powell is opening up an FCC investigation.
But, like Howard Dean, this issue will fade away soon enough. Let’s get back to the big issues facing our nation. Enough of the trivial sports-MTV stuff. Fill us in on what’s happening with the Kobe Bryant trial. Will he show up today? And what about the key witness at Martha Stewart’s trial. Will he testify today? What’s the latest on Scott Peterson? And, have we completely forgotten Baretta (aka Robert Blake).?
So, this is what Super Tuesday is all about? Well, not quite. We have elections in seven states today that will supposedly show Kerry as the main man to oppose Bush in November. That might merit some attention. Then there’s the Ricin scare on Capitol Hill. And, did I mention that Justin Timberlake was sorry for what happened on Super Sunday?
Upcoming Seminar...
Visit Our Sponsors...
Advertisements
