It is a little bit disconcerting when the largest financial stakeholder in the US government goes on the air and expresses concern about it’s debtor’s ability to repay. I mean, what would happen if China called all of their notes due, today? Would they foreclose on our government? Would Jiabao show up at the Whitehouse with a couple of marshalls, and be like “alight Bam, hand over the keys. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.” These are all things that would have been important to contemplate before making rash budgetary decisions. This is one huge issue where I hope that I never get to say “I told you so.”
I saw this graphic today on Animal New York, and it got me thinking.
The amount of money represented in the graphic above, is one billion dollars. One trillion dollars is one thousand times what you see in the picture. That’s a lot of cash. Ok, now that you have the mental image of one trillion dollars, try to put it into a practical example. I hate Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh as much as the next guy, but Rove has published a couple of articles recently that have really gotten under my skin (not because of the author). The reason they bothered me, is because the content of the articles, points to all of the discrepancies of the campaigning Obama, vs. Commander in Chief Obama. Today, a different Carl, sent me the link to an WSJ Op. Ed. piece authored by Rove. A lot of it was repeat content of an article published earlier this week, also authored by Rove, dealing with bait and switch. But the part of today’s article that blew my mind, was the following:
Not even Team Obama can forestall unpleasant reality. And among those America now faces is Mr. Obama adding $3.2 trillion to the national debt in his first 20 months and 11 days in office, eclipsing the $2.9 trillion added during the Bush presidency’s entire eight years.
Whoa! $2.9T is a lot any way you slice it. But to Bush’s credit, it was spread over 8 years, including all of the 911 and war crap. The Obama administration is a runaway train and the boiler fire is being stoked by pallets full of money. 20 months?!!! $3.2 trillion?!! Ok, so now take the money in the picture, multiply it by 1 thousand, then multiply that by 3.2. It may just be my limited imagination, but I’m having a hard time even picturing the image of 1 thousand times what is in the graphic. Was this really the kind of change that we were looking for?
Ok, we all know that Karl Rove is not the most neutral guy out there. But his comments today in the WSJ article, entitled “Presidential Bait-and-Switch,” were for the most part, spot on. Rove points out the fact the Obama’s victory was based largely on his promise to implement “change.” Granted, it has not been very long, since the new president has been in office. But, Rove points out two very large areas where Obama has only given us more of the same. If the economy and fiscal policy of the federal government was not such a prima facie issue right now, no one would probably even care. Unfortunately for Obama, fiscal policy is under extreme scrutiny, and is the forum that he needs to use, to make good on all of his promises of “change.” The two huge discrepancies in what Obama promised versus what he is giving us are, Obama’s measures that have increased (instead of the promised decreasing of) the deficit, and Obama’s failure to reform earmarking practices. Rove observes:
Mr. Obama didn’t run promising larger deficits — but now is offering record-setting ones. He’ll add $4.9 trillion before his term ends and $7.4 trillion if given a second, doubling the national debt in five years and tripling it in 10. Mr. Obama’s deficits will be much larger than he admits because he relies on rosy economic assumptions and gimmicks that mask spending and debt (like assuming popular new programs he supports won’t be renewed).
Nor did Mr. Obama run promising more earmarks. Instead, he said he’d reform the earmark culture and “scour the federal budget, line by line, and make meaningful cuts.” Now he wants to wave through a $410 billion omnibus spending bill with about 8,500 earmarks. This is on top of the $787 billion stimulus bill signed into law two weeks ago.
Obama justifies it by blaming it on the previous administration, calling it “last year’s business.” I’m sorry Obama, I’m not buying it. The follies of the Bush administration are not preventing you from making good on your promise to curb earmarking. If you are going to try to legislate the economy, at least do it in the way that you promised you would.
I’m really seeing the fruits of that hard fought stimulus package, right about now. Or maybe this is just a reaction to Oscars, Hahahah. Wouldn’t it be awesome if bankers had a Wall Street equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscars? All of the Wall Street players could have a big televised party where they get together, blow smoke up each other’s arses and give each other awards on TV. Don’t forget to mix in some extremely biased political views during the award speeches. Why not? I feel like Bernie Madoff and John Thain are probably as notorious as Sean Penn, these days.
In the wake of the Turboprop crash in Buffalo, NY, on February 12, scrutiny is being applied to speed at which the FAA adopts changes suggested by the National Transportation Safety Board. A NY Times article concludes that the FAA, due to its entrenchment in bureaucracy, often times takes years to implement changes suggested by the NTSB. As an example of this, the Times cites the recommendation given by the NTSB to the FAA after an airliner exploded over Long Island in 1996, noting that recommendation has yet to be put into practice. According to the NY Times, “The safety board says there currently are 429 outstanding recommendations, of which 146 are more than five years old.”
Shepard Fairey is back at it, producing artwork for a “good cause.” The image to the left, is for a World Wildlife Foundation campaign to get everyone to turn out their lights for an hour on March 28th. Lets hope that Shep doesn’t get in any trouble for this one. He has been going through some rough times lately, including being arrested last Sunday. In addition, he is being sued by the Associated Press, for infringing copyright.
The iconic “Hope” image that was created and distributed by Fairey, during the Obama campaign, was tracked back to an Associated Press photo taken by Mannie Garcia, on assignment by AP. The AP is now suing Fairey, claiming copyright infringement. Can you image the can of worms that is liable to open? Anyone who has done a stencil, can now owe royalties to the photographer who produced the picture it was taken from? Is the guy who took the Andre the Giant photo that Fairey modeled his “Obey” campaign on, now going to come out of the woodwork demanding cash?
Fairey’s lawyers argue that there is no infringement, under the “fair use” doctrine. I feel kind of bad for the guy. I hope that he doesn’t lose this one. Can you imagine the kind of damages that he would have to pay? That “Hope” piece was EVERYWHERE. I hope that if he does lose, that the court at least takes into account the fact that the profit generated from the piece, was primarily used to print and distribute more copies.
Here is the AP photo and the Fairey piece, side by side. You be the judge.
Former Governor of MA, and GOP figure in the recent election, submitted an OP Ed piece for the NY Times this week. The article addressed the floundering domestic automotive industry. Romney is a self made independently wealthy individual (Bain Capital) whose father was a Auto industry mogul before becoming a political in Michigan. You would think that these things would qualify Romney to speak on the topic of solving the problems of domestic auto producers. Indeed, Romney is qualified. But Romney’s article “let Detroit go bankrupt” does not delve into any sort of complex strategy based on his expertise as a Private Equity genius. Instead, Romney merely asserts that decisions should be made using common sense. Hmmm, imagine that. Romney astutely points out that “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.” Romney also suggests that bailing out the floundering auto makers will only prolong the inevitable. I couldn’t agree more.
Cue, dive bomber sound effect. the Dow has now dropped almost 7 points and continues in the same trend. We still have 3 hours before the market closes. Any bets on if the margin of loss will be as big as last Monday?
Former Governor of MA, and GOP figure in the recent election, submitted an 
