President Obama signed into law the legislation popularly known as the stimulus bill. This is an important milestone because the economy continues to falter. It was just months ago that the Republican mantra was "the economy is fundamentally sound". What a lie that was!!!!!!!!! Now, months later in the midst of economic chaos, the Republicans now want to assail the stimulus as wasteful spending, although they have no clear alternative.
As President Obama said, "Things will get worse before they get better". That statement still holds true. And, the validity of that statement will be evermore apparent as the winter unfolds and the 2nd quarter begins. The first quarter of 2009 will, most likely, show such dismal results that the economy will continue to slide in the 2nd quarter and possibly well into the 3rd and 4th quarter. Throughout this period, the entire landscape of the US economy and that of the world will little resemble what we have grown accustomed to. It is into that vision that the ARRA will begin to make sense and the economic recovery will begin to take shape.
As Rush Limbaugh and the Republicans argue over the merits of the economic stimulus plan, we must remind ourselves why we need this plan and what got us here. Excess and imprudent debt as well as a falling housing market started the downturn but it was made much worse by the greed and avarice of high finance. This greed and avarice was the direct result of the lack of regulatory oversight by a Republican controlled administration. The housing market will stabilize of its own in due time regardless of what or what not the government does. Excess debt loads will simply have to be liquidated over time and natural processes will take care of this matter. But, the more fundamental problem is in returning the Sheriff to Wall Street. This will take a return to ethics and right doing in the financial markets, something that Rush Limbaugh and the Republicans forget.
The economic stimulus plan is not about what social programs are porkbelly or what tax cuts will hurt the rich and ipso facto the economy as the Republicans would have us think. Rather, and most importantly, the economic stimulus plan is about returning integrity and trust to a tarnished financial system.
The economy stays forefront in the news. Amazingly, the folks that have followed my posts now understand my total and complete frustration with the idiotic statements of Phil Gramm and the Republicans in late summer that the economy was fundamentally sound. At this point in time, we can only conclude that either they were delusional or they were covering up something. For you conspirational theorists, the Republicans might have covered up one the largest thefts in American history. For you more moderate thinkers, the Republicans were simply out of touch with the general population.
The issue forefront on most person's minds is how long and how bad will this get. It does not take an Einstein or a rocket scientist to determine that the economic downturn has a ways to go still. Although the worst of the stock market downturn is probably over, it is still doubtful that we have reached a bottom although the bottom is probably not far away. The problem is that the economic dominos are all falling and the ultimate damage might not become apparent until the spring of 2009.
Most likely, by 2010, a recovery of some sort will be under way. But, the new emerging economy will be vastly different than the one that we now have. For the eternal optimists, such as myself, this is a vast opportunity for those of you that have felt left out over the years. Keep your eyes and ears open for new and emerging opportunities in the next several years.
AIG defended all the money spent after the bailout to train independent agents to properly market their product. That is nonsense. Independent agents are licensed by their respective states and should possess the requisite knowledge to properly sell their products. What really happened is that the government bailed out AIG and AIG used taxpayer money to further their self-interest in trying to lobby independent agents to sell their product rather than competitors. Not only does this reek of taxpayer fraud, it also sound like antitrust and unfair competition.
It certainly looks as if fraud is alive and well on Wall Street and President Elect Obama will have his hands full in combating what the Republican Party encouraged.
I am sure that President Elect Obama is hard at work putting together his Cabinet, etc. But, we are all going to have to exhibit a large degree of patience in terms of working towards our goals and not expecting any quick solutions.
In point of fact, there are no quick fixes. It took 8 long years for us to get in this mess and we are not going to get out of it overnight. For example, the economy is in serious shape. For example, most retailers are posting huge losses and the auto makers are in dire straits. Fortunately, the bailout has done much to alter the credit problem, but that will do little good as long as the economy is nosediving. It looks like, with the exception of Wall Mart, most retailers are going to face a very very tough holiday season. The world views us as a debtor nation now. That is not good.
But, the good news is that we have a clear mandate from the Public to make the kind of changes that are absolutely necessary to get this country moving again.
McCain and Schwartzneger made seemingly innocent comments about the fact that Senator Obama is skinny and needs to beef up, but in reality, their comments were a disservice to an already obese nation and a a growing obesity and diabetic problem among children. This is yet another example of the downright stupidity that the Republicans exhibit in terms of their desires to attack and distort.
In point of fact, most likely, Senator Obama is within the normal range of bmi and quite possibly, so is Arnold Schwarznegger, if you take into consideration the fact that he has spent his entire lifetime in serious physical fitness. But, the average person does not live like Arnold. In point of fact, while Senator McCain is probably not obese, from the looks of him, he most likely, exceeds the healthy range of bmi and could stand to loose 30 or so pounds.
Also, I am sure that Senator Obama does not go around the country mocking overweight persons. If this were the case, I am sure that he would have lots to say about the right wing pundit, Rush Limbaugh.
