Next Crisis....Swine Flu

It will be interesting to see what policy comes out of Obama Administration as a result of the latest crisis - Swine Flu.

 

This just might be the right time to re-distributing some more income or nationalizing a new industry.  Banks and Auto are already underway.  Perhaps now would be a good time to go for Oil or Pharmaceutical.

Just the Facts, Please

Planning a trip to Mexico in the coming months and of course, I've been very interested in the swine flu outbreak.

 

In trying to find out the facts, I was curious to know where in Mexico some of those, like the NY Prep School children went when they were in Mexico.  Mexico is a big country, with many states and an equal number of climates.  On top of that Mexico City is one of the worst cities in the world for air pollution.  So.....it is interesting that I can not find out any reporting of fact on where the NY Prep students went while they were in Mexico.

 

I wish the media put as much effort into reporting the facts as they do in trying to win a Pulitzer for political gotcha stories.

Newsworthy?

I enjoy the Sunday morning interview programs.  It's a great warm up to the afternoon and the "other" sporting events played by professionals, i.e. football, baseball, basketball, hockey, etc.  Often, I yell louder at the TV in the morning than I do in the afternoon.  A blown play is blown play.

 

It is just down right lazy, to have as a guest, the current or a former Presidential press secretary.  Their job is to insulate and isolate the President from the Press.   Only a piss poor press secretary is going to make a mistake and make news on Sunday.  Talk to newsmakers, not news spinners.  Take this past week's Meet the Press - Gibbs and King Abdullah of Jordan.  It would have been better to have the full hour with King Abdullah.

Where's the Change?

A significant budget savings amount would be 5%.  The $100M requested by President Obama to be scrubbed from the various Departments today is a small down payment.  Only $179.9B with a "B" OR $179,900M OR $179,900,000,000 to go.  

 

$100M may be a lot of money to a community organizer, but its next to nothing when it comes to a federal budget. 

 

The American people do want Change, just not pocket change.

How Many Czars can fit in the WH?

czar
(zär, tsär) n.

1. Also tsar or tzar (zär, tsär) A male monarch or emperor, especially one of the emperors who ruled Russia until the revolution of 1917.
2. A person having great power; an autocrat: "the square-jawed, ruddy complacency of Jack Farrell, the czar of the Fifteenth Street police station" - Ernest Hemingway.
3. Informal An appointed official having special powers to regulate or supervise an activity: a racetrack czar; an energy czar.

Fairly certain, the Obama administration does not intend to appoint Czar's to operate under definition #1. Don't really know yet, whether all the Czars/Czarinas being appointed will be operating under definition #2 or #3. Maybe a combination of both. Regardless, it is disconcerting that there are going to be so many. Counselors, insulators, hired scapegoats, cover for the fact that most of the Secretaries are merely bureaucrats/politicos who know little about running business/projects/etc.?

Congress should call these Czars into their committee meetings, either right before or right after the Secretaries testify. The American people are entitled to know what the Czars and Czarinas think and do.

I Got Your Border Covered

I got this picture from Newsbusters.org, in their Weekend Caption contest. Check it out, some of the proposed captions are great.

My favorite: "Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting wight wing wadical extwemists".

Here's mine: Don't worry, I got your border covered.

President Obama is going to prevent "guns" from going to Mexico? If I carry one bullet into Mexico, I can be arrested and incarcerated. So, how are AK-47's getting in, even if they are procured in the US. This is more crisis creation to support a policy change. AND.....if the US government can't keep illegals out, how are they going to keep guns and ammo in?

Obama Speeches Always Leave One Wondering

Just listened the most recent speech by President Obama regarding the economy.  To summarize:

 

  - Tell people a lot of what they want to hear.  The rich get richer.

  - Tell people a few things that some might not want to hear, i.e. "it is not going to be easy" and "some may not like it".

  - Tell people a lot more of what they want to hear.  The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  The poor should get jobs and education and healthcare.

  - Tell people how good they are and the US can be again. - - Yes, we can!

 

All told, it sounds pretty good.  However, I wonder.....does President Obama goes back to the WH, ignore all that "telling" and implement a pre-meditated social agenda under the cover of "crisis".  I wonder, as well, is that what they call Community Organizing?

Don't Stop at Pirates!

I think it's great that those pirates got taken out, when the threat and "opportunity" crossed to gain the freedom of Captain Phillips.  Two thumbs up for the Obama administration.

 

Now about some thumbs up for NK and Iran.  They are potentially a lot more dangerous than the Somali pirates.

 

I apologize......

.....for everything.  Once I have gained your trust by verbally prostrating myself before you.  I intend to raise your taxes to redistribute the world's wealth.

Darn Those Teleprompters!

At President Obama's next stop, Turkey, he tells the Turks that they should be made members of the European Union.  Problem is the US is not a member of the EU and Sarkozy (France) and Merkel (Germany) are not in favor of Turkey joining at this time.   Someone please tell our President to pack up his teleprompters and return home to the US to be the chief executive officer of this country.  Maybe stop by the UN unpack those teleprompters and give them his speech about punishment, responsibility and North Korea.

Behold........

Others have alluded to it, but it bears repeating. Those teleprompters that many speakers use today. Ever notice they look a bit like the stone tablets that Charleston Heston, (playing Moses in the movie, "The Ten Commandments") read to those wandering in the desert.

The teleprompter does not offer up the inspired word of a higher power, but rather just the words of fallible humans, maybe powerful words, but not necessarily so.

As powerful words can be. Action is required to create a reality and to complete the step forward toward progress.

North Korea Launches, Obama Admin "Takes a Time Out"

The Clinton Admin gave NK money and got nothing. The Bush Admin gave NK money, got little, but did get South Korea, China, Russia and Japan involved. It's time for the Obama Admin to layout their Action Plan (emphasis on action) for dealing with North Korea. This has been an issue since 1992, so I will not buy that the Obama Admin needs time "to study the issue". He should consult with his SOS. Sec. Clinton knows about the issue going back to 1992.

Here's what President Obama said today. "North Korea broke the rules.....it underscores the need for action, not just this afternoon at the UN Security Council.......rules must be binding, violations must be punished, words must mean something"

Especially like that last part that "words must mean something" that President Obama read today from his teleprompter in Prague.

NATO - Non, Nein, No

The Obama administration that the US needs an NATO exit strategy.  The US does not need to belong to NATO.  There might be a need for European countries to "band" together for military and mutual protection requirements.  NATO less US would be OK - call it ETO.  A treaty could be established between ETO and US to maintain coordination of effort. 

 

Europe is a stable region and a much different place than it was when NATO was created.  Trying to move forward with the US in NATO is hampering progress for everyone.  And a drag on resources that would be better utilized elsewhere.

 

US should focus on Africa, SE Asia and the Americas for developing military alliances.  Then once these alliances/areas are strong, US can back away from them.  Although there would be some benefit to maintain an alliance amongst those in Americas.

 

Follow the Crisis

Follow the Money....and now.....Follow the Crisis.  To understand the motivations behind the Obama administration's policy initiatives.  They are using the Emanuel Crisis Management (ECM) Plan - they are taking advantage of the crisis and little else.

 

For instance, the US is in a money crisis.  Dems have always wanted to increase gov't spending, and initially anyway taxes on the "wealthy".  If the US has a security crisis, look for the current leadership in Congress and WH to clamp down on the rights of people, e.g. gun control.

 

Townhall in France?

The US has problems, and granted the whole world has problems. However, President Obama is the President of the US. I'm sure that Obama is not endearing himself to world leaders by acting like the President of the World. The other World Leaders talk to their people and expect that Leader to speak on behalf of them to other World Leaders. President Obama is reinforcing the idea that he has some sort of worldwide messiah complex.

And another thing......what's up with Congress passing a budget that creates a HUGE increase in the deficit and the debt AND then going on a TWO week break.

Seems like the Obama administration nor Congress realizes that there are some problems here in the US that need to be attended to with leadership and sure-footed action.

Poll Watchers in the WH

There was the AIG bonus flare-up, now the backing down to Merkel on European stimulus.

 

Two examples to confirm that the Obama administration watches the populist polls to tailor the day's message.  Therefore, the populist has some power to exert here.  Lots of protest (non-violent, of course) will have an impact.  It will be necessary to overcome the media bias and swooning for the Obama administration.   Principled patience and persistence can triumph.

 

The only concern is that there seems to be no impact, yet, on Obama administration policy.  Only the msg.  Protest follow-through will be required to push the administration past their breaking point/commitment point.  If the protests let up, their msg will reverse and the current policy will go forward.

I'm Going to EuroDisney!

I'm punting on the Auto Bailout at this time, giving them more time to develop a "plan" to bailout the UAW.  As a consolation, I offer you the head of CEO Waggoner.

 

And now, I'm off to EuroDisneyland!!

Auto Bailout or Meddling?

One of the oft stated reasons for bailing out the big Three in Detroit is to maintain a viable US auto industry, intimating that it was a matter of "national security".  Then why is the government suggesting that Fiat, a foreign company, buy a large portion of Chrysler?

 

CEO Waggoner may have needed to go, but with all their political and communication savvy, why did Obama administration not make this happen quietly and without making it look like the administration is trying to run GM?

 

The government is looking to be more and more on the wrong side of the solution - Let any auto companies in trouble go into bankruptcy.  There is already a system/process to take care of situations like this.  The view that the governments involvement is exclusively trying to maintain the viability of the UAW is gaining momentum.

US Responsible for Mexico Drug Violence?

Sec. Clinton's admonishment that the US's drug habit/demand makes us somewhat responsible for the drug cartel violence in Mexico, has some validity.

 

After all, if had not been for Pres. Clinton staining that blue dress, it is very unlikely that Hillary would have become Senator or Secretary of State.  Therefore, Pres. Clinton like the US drug habit/demand, bears responsibility for a negative outcome.

Here Comes the Taxes

Seems like all the concern about the Obama admininistration raising taxes across the board have been nudged in that direction.  There administration is looking for more tax revenue sources and the Dems in Congress are denying the Obama administration the requested middle class tax cuts.  A consequence or a plan?

I'm Mad As Hell......

The clip from from the movie, "Network", where the newscaster says, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" is being used quite a bit to punctuate the anger the public feels over AIG, in particular, and the bank bailouts, in general. 

 

However, the movie was actually about how media is putting out blather, pabulum and making us mad as hell.  So....don't forget to apply some of your current anger to the media and the Congress.

 

Leadership = Vision + Management + Action

Obama administration gets:

   C-  for Vision 

   B-  for Mgmt

+ F  for Action

---------------------------

   D  for Leadership