Good grief… Just when you can’t believe that we, as a people, could be any stupider, our politicians go and do something like they did today. In case you haven’t heard, earlier today the White House asked a duplicate of Air Force One to fly low over New York City so they could have a good “photo opportunity.” The problem? Well, 9/11 aside – no one in New York City was alerted to the low fly-by! Idiots! And you talk about panic – look at how the good people in New York City reacted when the plane started heading towards them (after the jump).
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Whose Obligation Is It To Kick Start The Economy?
The other day I was reading an article somewhere online (sorry, didn’t bookmark this one) where the writer was talking about a friend of hers who was troubled by the economy. Not a surprising story to be sure – especially these days. However, what was interesting was that the writer’s friend actually felt guilty that she hadn’t put more money into the economy and, instead, was saving more; the point was that she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to put money into the economy or let the government do it.
What!?
And it is at this point that I wish I would have bookmarked this article because the rest of the story was as ridiculous as that last statement sounds. Can you believe that there are people out there crazy enough to think that they need to spend money to help kick start the economy? Listen everyone, it’s very simple – SAVE YOUR MONEY!
No, I’m not talking about putting all of your money under a mattress (though I actually know someone who does that). Spend your money on items that you need for you and your family, yes. But when it comes to big ticket items that you don’t need and might not be able to afford at this point in time – DON’T BUY THEM!
And for the love of God, don’t think that anyone needs to go out and spend money in an act of patriotism! Save your money. If you’re on an automatic investment plan like a 401k or an automatic stock purchasing plan, then if you feel comfortable with what you’ve got, continue to invest your money in that way. But good grief! Don’t think that it is our patriotic duty as Americans to go out and spend out money. That would be one of the dumbest moves that many Americans could make right now.
Think smart, then spend your money.
President Obama’s First Evening Press Conference
President Barack Obama had his first primetime press conference last night. If you watched, I wonder if you saw as interesting an event as I saw… Ha ha ha! Honestly, that press conference would have been off of my television if FOX had its normal Monday night line-up on!
Really, President Obama needs to liven things up a bit. We’re looking for change from him, not the same old boring “what the hell is he talking about?” crap! I will say, though, that it was nice to watch the President of the United States and not have to worry about him saying something that made absolutely no sense. On the other hand, while the rest of country goes crazy over Obama’s speaking style, I really, really hate it. I know that the biased liberal media will never publish a negative thing about his speaking style, but this man relies on “ehhh” and “ihhh” WAY too much when he talks. Go back and listen to the entire speech (if you can stomach it) and try to count how many times he interjects “ehhh” and “ihhh” in a single sentence. It’s alarming.
Again, the alternative could be, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…you can’t fool me twice.” Good grief.
But even as I take my own potshot at President George W. Bush, I have to say that it was a little gross that Obama cited the federal leadership of the last eight years as the reason for the current economic downturn. Look, I agree with the rest of the gang that the folks running the world down in Washington were a little goofed up, but that includes the Democrats, too. Further, the biggest perpetrators of our current problems were the greedy people on Wall Street and the ignorant people on Main Street. The root of this downturn is the devastated housing market. The root of the devastated housing market are people who were buying $500,000 homes when they could only afford $150,000 homes. The side-root of that same problem were the bankers who gave mortgages to people who couldn’t afford their homes!
Ugh…it’s not all about Bush! I had hoped that Obama would bring this country past the Bush derangement syndrome, but after his campaign-style speech last night, I guess that real change hasn’t come…yet.
Brief Review Of The “We Are One” Concert
Earlier today Washington DC sprung into celebration as the “We Are One” concert began the inaugural festivities for President-Elect Barack Obama. Since HBO went “free” during the show (and replays), I was able to watch the show – and, for the most part, I enjoyed it.
Bruce Springsteen did a great job of opening the show with his 2001 hit, The Rising, and Beyonce tore the house down with her rendition of America the Beautiful. I also enjoyed the Garth Brooks set with American Pie and Shout. Usher did a good job with Shakira and Herbie Hancock and I thought Josh Grobin performed like the vocal master that he has come to be.
The U2 performance, on the other hand, was marred for me by Bono’s ridiculous overselling each and every chorus. Good grief! Have you ever seen the episode of South Park called “Smug Alert!?” This is the one where some folks go around getting hybrid cars and act like their crap doesn’t stink. I think that South Park got that idea off of watching Bono. With the way this guy bops around the stage and makes love to his songs as he sings them you’d think he was single-handedly saving the world with each note! But even Bono couldn’t bring down the high spirits that were running throughout the concert.
Barack Obama’s message during the concert was a good one, too. Before the concert ended, Obama said the following:
I won’t pretend that meeting any one of these challenges will be easy. It will take more than a month or a year, and it will likely take many. Along the way there will be setbacks and false starts and days that test our fundamental resolve as a nation.
That’s right! I’m as happy as the next guy that we have a new President coming in, but I do not look at him as a cure-all for the nation’s problems. Look, people, President-Elect Obama is stepping into the Presidency at a horrendous time in our nation’s history. With two wars abroad and a shaky economy at home – we, as a country, need to roll our sleeves up and start getting to work. But heed Obama’s words above: this will not take a day, a week, a month, or even one year. We have long-term problems that require long-term solutions. I just hope that we don’t see another President destroyed by a media which is fueled by fanatics who want to see results immediately.
While the concert was inspiring I do take issue with the theme of the show being “We Are One.” Actually, let me be more specific. I don’t take issue with that theme, per se, rather I’m disappointed in anyone who is living in this country and did not believe that we were one before Obama won the election. Frankly, anyone who believed that we were a divided country or a country set apart in dozens of fractures either believes the bullshit they see on television or is completely out of touch with the people around them. All anyone ever had to do was talk to a neighbor or a coworker or a classmate to see that we all share the same problems – regardless of race, religion, gender, age, etc.
So while the concert was tremendously uplifting and a great way to kick off the inaugural festivities, I couldn’t help but being disappointed by some of the celebrities and entertainers who sounded as if they were waking up in a brand new America. Maybe Obama has given these people the hope that many of us already had from living in the best country in the history of the world. If that’s the case, then I welcome these people to the reality that we’ve all been living in. However, if they were simultaneously celebrating the arrival of one President and the departure of another, then I think it’s sad that they allowed one man to ruin their view of their nation.
Many of us grew weary of the outgoing administration; but we never stopped loving our country or believing that we were one with our countrymen. Let’s hope that those who are beginning to love their country for the first time or who are reigniting their love of the United States are not so fickle with these emotions now that we are all “one.”
What the Presidential Election Does NOT Need
The talking heads on television keep telling us how historic this election is in that we have the first black nominee (presumptive though he may be at this point) and the oldest person to run for a first term as President. Obviously Obama’s campaign is more historic that McCain’s campaign so I think the future will remember this as the Obama election – whether he wins or loses.
With such an historic campaign there are a few things that we do NOT need this time around. First and foremost, I get physically ill every time I hear Barack Obama say that John McCain is running for George Bush’s third term. What a disgusting catchphase to use in this “historic” election! John McCain is John McCain. George Bush is George Bush. John McCain is running for his first term. Obama’s comparison of John McCain to George Bush is obviously rooted in politics and polls since most of the nation is sick of Bush at this point and the Obama team is trying to capitalize on that disgust. THIS is the new politics that Obama promised? Count me out, thank you. As soon as I heard these words come out of Obama’s mouth, I immediately shut off my brain from listening to any other drivel come out of this man.
But lo and behold the brain trust running McCain’s campaign goes out and tells McCain to say that Obama is running for Jimmy Carter’s second term! Good grief! Is this the John McCain that ran as a maverick politician in 2000 and has based his entire political career off of doing what he believed was right over what his political party believed was right? THIS is what I can expect from John McCain going forward? No thanks. At this point, you can count me out. This is NOT the new politics that these men promised America and I urge everyone else who wants true change to withdraw support from either candidate until they stop throwing this type of mud.
The disguised shots at McCain’s age and the pathetic shots at Obama’s personal advisors are all too much to bear. I encourage everyone to start exploring third party candidates if they are really looking for change this year. For starters, go and take a look at Bob Barr – the Libertarian Party candidate.
Change doesn’t mean voting for the same party or a candidate with flowery speeches, folks. Change means using YOUR vote to make a REAL change in America.
Americans Saddling on the Debt
Today on CNN.com there was an article that began by talking about how a middle class family doesn’t feel so middle class any more. The article went on to give some statistics about the current economic climate – one of which jumped out at me:
All this financial stress comes at a time when most Americans have the thinnest savings cushion to fall back on. They have been loading up on debt in recent years, drawing on the equity in their homes, in particular. The percentage of their disposable income that goes toward debt payments is at 14.3%, near the all-time high.
Good grief! More than 14% of the average American’s disposable income is going towards debt payments. Ugh – what a disaster. Let’s do some math…
Assuming that the average American family $120,000 per year in a two-income household, that means that take home pay after taxes would be something like $90,000 (possibly less). Now, if we believe CNN’s statistic above, then almost $13,000 of that take home income is directed towards debt payments annually. Gross!
Sure, I pay a bucket load of student loan debt, but that’s to be expected from someone who only stopped going to school two years ago. Imagine the typical American family with 2 or 3 kids who not only has to pay this much towards consumer and housing debt, but also has to put food on the table and clothes on the kids!
It’s rough out there. Now more than ever people should be socking money away into a savings account (after paying off as much consumer debt – credit card debt – as possible).
