Actually, I always thought it was, but since the recession was announced and progressed into what is now called The Cavalcade of Trillions* the rest of the world, who over the last couple of years has suggested that the United States was no longer relevant vis-à-vis international affairs, seems to be thinking differently.
The alphabet soup of European market exchanges fell, as did those in Asia. And of course, Wall Street itself, but hey, we’re getting used to it. It would seem that even today, when the United States catches cold the rest of the world contracts pneumonia. So much for irrelevant notions of irrelevancy.
Could it be that these other countries don’t think our new president, whom I like very much and agree with about almost nothing, is up to the job? Or, it could be that they have realized their level of self-deception based on jealousy and the popularity of US-bashing in general has blinded them to the realities underscoring just how important the US really is to the rest of the planet? Maybe they are just a bunch of whiny schmucks who are just like the home-grown variety, the only differences being language and stylish clothing.
Personally, I think it is ignorance and arrogance. They think that we will ultimately solve our problems the same way they would and do solve theirs. They assume the banks will be nationalized. They think this because in their minds, government is always the solution. Ultimately, so goes the belief, the only entity with the resources to solve big problems is THE GOVERNMENT. Funny, but didn’t I hear President Obama say that yesterday?
I would point out that “government resource” translates into “taxpayer dollar”, and that every one of those dollars comes from you and me. Oh, but wait. There will be prodigious borrowing as well and since we Americans are so bloody unstable the cost will be high. The taxpayers providing those resources are currently attending the second grade. Teach them proper manners so they will be sure to thank you for the debt you plan to let them inherit.
Could the banks be nationalized? The answer is yes, under US law it could happen, but it requires they be in receivership or in serious danger of failing. Generally speaking they just get swallowed up by another bank and six months after all the jocular “business as usual” statements from the two CEOs standing next to each other “like an old married couple”, the CEO of Loserville Bank bails out with his golden parachute and most of the employees that worked for him start looking for boiled shoe recipes.
As I write this, the $700 billion last year is turning into reliable projections of $2 Trillion.
Let the rest of the World worry about our troubles as much as they want. It proves what we’ve always known. The US is just as relevant as it ever was and will continue to be so for some time to come.
*I made that up but it is a cool name.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
I really like our new president.
Really, I do. But I find I need to keep reminding myself of it. Of course, I like the girl that sells me bagels at Raley’s too, but I wouldn’t have voted for her either had she been running. But then, I actually saw her out running one evening in what appeared to be the amalgamation of a bikini top and track shorts. Maybe I would vote for her. I’ll also wager she doesn’t eat a lot of bagels.
Suffice it to say that every time President Obama opens his mouth I keep looking at the note I wrote in the palm of my hand that says I will give the man one hundred days before I start pounding on his every thought, word, deed or policy.
And I will.
Probably.
In the mean time, someone sent me an email asking what I am. After some email banter, I came to understand that he wanted a position statement from me. In addition to making me feel terribly important, this gave me something to write about this morning.
Metaphorically, if politics were a college, I would major in conservatism and minor in libertarianism. The libertarian in me is more like a stain that won’t wash off. (How often do you find nested metaphors in a blog?) Frankly, I find them to be just a bit too socially Darwinist for my taste.
Bruce on Marriage:
I firmly believe that the ideal family model is one man traditionally married to one woman, both completely devoted to the best interests of each other and to those of their children. Now you can’t get much more conservative than that, can you? Actually, you can but we won’t go there.
But the libertarian stain on my collar won’t leave it at that. Libertarian Bruce demands to know why the majority, in the guise of The Government, thinks it can tell people that just because an arrangement is not ideal, they are not allowed to participate in the process at all.
Curiously, the same crowd that insists on coed wedding cakes frequently decries liberal notions of idealism when some pinko city councilperson decides the people in his or her district are too damned fat and pushes laws restricting business licenses for fast food outlets.
Bruce on taxes:
I am not against taxes, nor am I against tax increases. I am fully aware of the need for taxation and the benefits they provide to me as a citizen. Wow, I wish I had Mao’s little red book to wave around right now!
I am against waste, and raising taxes to compensate for it is abhorrent to me as a conservative. I think people should take responsibility for themselves and for their lives and stop waiting for The Government to come to their recue. Libertarian Bruce says to hell with government. Dump the whole thing and save all kinds of money. Now all I need is a farm, some barbed wire and a cache of military surplus supplies and weapons.
I suppose at this point I need to say that in my metaphor there is also room for a few electives to round out the degree and they are classically liberal. Thinking about those, I have to accept that some people need more help than others and that the people, in the form of The Government, will benefit as a society by helping them to develop and should be willing to invest in their potential.
Bruce on the death penalty:
I’m against the death penalty in principle, although I find myself making exceptions. You will never see me standing outside San Quentin holding a sign because I couldn’t care less about people on death row. I have no doubt they deserve it, I just don’t think we have the right to kill them. That said, I have no trouble with the idea of prison cells taking the form of pits with a grating over them.
Bruce on abortion:
I am most definitely prolife. That said, I wouldn’t outlaw choice because I remember when women and girls went to back-ally butchers and I won’t bring that back. I’ll just work on creating a world where people will always prefer to keep their babies. It is curious how my only truly moderate position leaves me with almost everyone mad at me.
Well, I’m rapidly approaching my self-allotted one thousand words. Hopefully this will give the two or three people reading this who actually care some insight into the guy who will probably be whining about the President for the next four or eight years.
I see he just announced at a news conference that The Government is now the economy’s only hope. Look at the hand Bruce, look at the hand.
Suffice it to say that every time President Obama opens his mouth I keep looking at the note I wrote in the palm of my hand that says I will give the man one hundred days before I start pounding on his every thought, word, deed or policy.
And I will.
Probably.
In the mean time, someone sent me an email asking what I am. After some email banter, I came to understand that he wanted a position statement from me. In addition to making me feel terribly important, this gave me something to write about this morning.
Metaphorically, if politics were a college, I would major in conservatism and minor in libertarianism. The libertarian in me is more like a stain that won’t wash off. (How often do you find nested metaphors in a blog?) Frankly, I find them to be just a bit too socially Darwinist for my taste.
Bruce on Marriage:
I firmly believe that the ideal family model is one man traditionally married to one woman, both completely devoted to the best interests of each other and to those of their children. Now you can’t get much more conservative than that, can you? Actually, you can but we won’t go there.
But the libertarian stain on my collar won’t leave it at that. Libertarian Bruce demands to know why the majority, in the guise of The Government, thinks it can tell people that just because an arrangement is not ideal, they are not allowed to participate in the process at all.
Curiously, the same crowd that insists on coed wedding cakes frequently decries liberal notions of idealism when some pinko city councilperson decides the people in his or her district are too damned fat and pushes laws restricting business licenses for fast food outlets.
Bruce on taxes:
I am not against taxes, nor am I against tax increases. I am fully aware of the need for taxation and the benefits they provide to me as a citizen. Wow, I wish I had Mao’s little red book to wave around right now!
I am against waste, and raising taxes to compensate for it is abhorrent to me as a conservative. I think people should take responsibility for themselves and for their lives and stop waiting for The Government to come to their recue. Libertarian Bruce says to hell with government. Dump the whole thing and save all kinds of money. Now all I need is a farm, some barbed wire and a cache of military surplus supplies and weapons.
I suppose at this point I need to say that in my metaphor there is also room for a few electives to round out the degree and they are classically liberal. Thinking about those, I have to accept that some people need more help than others and that the people, in the form of The Government, will benefit as a society by helping them to develop and should be willing to invest in their potential.
Bruce on the death penalty:
I’m against the death penalty in principle, although I find myself making exceptions. You will never see me standing outside San Quentin holding a sign because I couldn’t care less about people on death row. I have no doubt they deserve it, I just don’t think we have the right to kill them. That said, I have no trouble with the idea of prison cells taking the form of pits with a grating over them.
Bruce on abortion:
I am most definitely prolife. That said, I wouldn’t outlaw choice because I remember when women and girls went to back-ally butchers and I won’t bring that back. I’ll just work on creating a world where people will always prefer to keep their babies. It is curious how my only truly moderate position leaves me with almost everyone mad at me.
Well, I’m rapidly approaching my self-allotted one thousand words. Hopefully this will give the two or three people reading this who actually care some insight into the guy who will probably be whining about the President for the next four or eight years.
I see he just announced at a news conference that The Government is now the economy’s only hope. Look at the hand Bruce, look at the hand.
Monday, February 9, 2009
BailOutBucks
It is tough to compete with the taxpayers, but that is what banks that refused aid from the Troubled Asset Relief Program are doing. In saner times when banks went belly-up, fortunately a rare occurrence, other banks would buy them at bargain prices thus bringing their value back to reality and would then proceed to fix the things that were wrong with them in the first place. Or sell them off piece by piece. Usually a little bit of both.
Now however, using taxpayer dollars and a whole boatload of them at that, these banks are being kept alive in spite of their disastrous investment and lending decisions, usually with the same command structure at the helm. Perhaps minus a well compensated CEO, but hey! We’ve plugged up that leak, right? Don’t get me started…
It is rather like absolution without contrition. The worst offenders didn’t even have to admit they did anything wrong. They were “forced” to take the money, although I don’t recall any lawsuits being filed by them to stay DC’s order. Hmmm. And rather than offering prayers and dropping a ten-spot in the poor box, they are instead handed a big basket of cash and told to go out and sin no more. One major bank has been to the anti-confessional twice so far and it has only been six months since this all started.
While all this is going on, other better managed banks and credit unions are trying to compete in a tight market, only now we have the added burden of doing so against huge institutions that are very well funded with what will end up being almost unlimited taxpayer dollars. This was sold to us with the “To big to fail” tagline. Watch that morph into the “We’ve invested too much to stop now” mantra.
The biggest humbug of all is that so far it hasn’t even worked. Three of the biggest recipients are way down, one nearly eighty percent. This could be blamed on the economy, but when compared to the banks that didn’t take the BailOutBucks, we find that the economy seems to be hitting TARP-Takers much harder.
Things will take a while to play out, and who knows, maybe the geniuses in DC will be right in the end, but I doubt it. The biggest problem the Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen create whenever they get involved in any kind of enterprise is they turn it into a social experiment. I’m already hearing them say things like there being more important things than making profits for the shareholders. That is true in social settings, but not in for-profit businesses.
I’m beginning to think Fidel Castro actually died already and has been reincarnated in Washington.
Now however, using taxpayer dollars and a whole boatload of them at that, these banks are being kept alive in spite of their disastrous investment and lending decisions, usually with the same command structure at the helm. Perhaps minus a well compensated CEO, but hey! We’ve plugged up that leak, right? Don’t get me started…
It is rather like absolution without contrition. The worst offenders didn’t even have to admit they did anything wrong. They were “forced” to take the money, although I don’t recall any lawsuits being filed by them to stay DC’s order. Hmmm. And rather than offering prayers and dropping a ten-spot in the poor box, they are instead handed a big basket of cash and told to go out and sin no more. One major bank has been to the anti-confessional twice so far and it has only been six months since this all started.
While all this is going on, other better managed banks and credit unions are trying to compete in a tight market, only now we have the added burden of doing so against huge institutions that are very well funded with what will end up being almost unlimited taxpayer dollars. This was sold to us with the “To big to fail” tagline. Watch that morph into the “We’ve invested too much to stop now” mantra.
The biggest humbug of all is that so far it hasn’t even worked. Three of the biggest recipients are way down, one nearly eighty percent. This could be blamed on the economy, but when compared to the banks that didn’t take the BailOutBucks, we find that the economy seems to be hitting TARP-Takers much harder.
Things will take a while to play out, and who knows, maybe the geniuses in DC will be right in the end, but I doubt it. The biggest problem the Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen create whenever they get involved in any kind of enterprise is they turn it into a social experiment. I’m already hearing them say things like there being more important things than making profits for the shareholders. That is true in social settings, but not in for-profit businesses.
I’m beginning to think Fidel Castro actually died already and has been reincarnated in Washington.
Sunday Musings
It was not exactly the best job I ever had, but I think I was happier there a greater percentage of the time than in any other job before or since.
Those old enough to remember Woolworth’s five-and-dime stores may also recall that there were Woolworth’s Garden Centers. I worked in one for a number of years before running off to the Marine Corps, which was certainly a more satisfying vocation, but I was almost never happy there. This may in fact have been by design, but that is for another musing.
I knew nothing about plants or gardening when I was hired but the boss insisted that I carry around the Sunset Garden Book and that when asked questions, I refer to it before running off for help. I still ran off for help a lot, but before long I knew a lot about plants and gardening. I still do.
I loved the place so much because of the people who came in to shop there. Exceptions can always be found, but for the most part, our customers were in their own version of a hobby shop, and like any ten year old looking at a model of a P51, the fifty, sixty and seventy-something’s eyes would glow as they looked at a bare-root rose or a six-pack of strawberries.
It wasn’t all fun and games. When the forklift was offline, a common occurrence, we had to unload sacks of fertilizer by hand, tossing them to each other like a smelly bucket brigade. I’m convinced all the practice tossing steer manure around prepared me for a management position in financial services. The garden center was definitely a two-shower per day job.
Most jobs allow and even require some professional distance between the shopkeeper and the customer. Not so at the garden center. These folks were in our store living part of their own personal dream, and when things were good they would share their passion. When they were not so good their pain was evident, and quite real. They needed help and came to us for advice and a cure.
I guess people are a bit different when they are immersed in whatever gives them joy and satisfaction. Who knows but it was fun being around them and being part of it. I still get that kind of satisfaction now, because I do have the opportunity to help Members of my credit union to reach their goals and live their dreams. Unfortunately these days, most are just struggling to get by.
I never did get the hang of that professional distance thing. I’ll be glad when things turn around and pick up again. I like the joy in their eyes and haven’t seen as much of it lately.
Those old enough to remember Woolworth’s five-and-dime stores may also recall that there were Woolworth’s Garden Centers. I worked in one for a number of years before running off to the Marine Corps, which was certainly a more satisfying vocation, but I was almost never happy there. This may in fact have been by design, but that is for another musing.
I knew nothing about plants or gardening when I was hired but the boss insisted that I carry around the Sunset Garden Book and that when asked questions, I refer to it before running off for help. I still ran off for help a lot, but before long I knew a lot about plants and gardening. I still do.
I loved the place so much because of the people who came in to shop there. Exceptions can always be found, but for the most part, our customers were in their own version of a hobby shop, and like any ten year old looking at a model of a P51, the fifty, sixty and seventy-something’s eyes would glow as they looked at a bare-root rose or a six-pack of strawberries.
It wasn’t all fun and games. When the forklift was offline, a common occurrence, we had to unload sacks of fertilizer by hand, tossing them to each other like a smelly bucket brigade. I’m convinced all the practice tossing steer manure around prepared me for a management position in financial services. The garden center was definitely a two-shower per day job.
Most jobs allow and even require some professional distance between the shopkeeper and the customer. Not so at the garden center. These folks were in our store living part of their own personal dream, and when things were good they would share their passion. When they were not so good their pain was evident, and quite real. They needed help and came to us for advice and a cure.
I guess people are a bit different when they are immersed in whatever gives them joy and satisfaction. Who knows but it was fun being around them and being part of it. I still get that kind of satisfaction now, because I do have the opportunity to help Members of my credit union to reach their goals and live their dreams. Unfortunately these days, most are just struggling to get by.
I never did get the hang of that professional distance thing. I’ll be glad when things turn around and pick up again. I like the joy in their eyes and haven’t seen as much of it lately.
I don’t think state workers are all that upset
Yes, the furloughs have resulted in a 9.2 percent pay cut. I realize that. I know! But it isn’t really a pay cut. Out here in the real world, a pay cut goes more like this:
Boss: Hi Joe! We’re cutting your pay by 9.2%! Now go back to work!
Joe: Wow, so I have to take two Fridays off each month?
Boss: Ha ha! No Joe, you’ll still work full time. But now you will do it for less money!
Joe begins to walk out of the boss’s office.
Boss: Oh, Joe!
Joe: Yes?
Boss: Do you remember Sam?
Joe: Yes...
Boss: I fired him this morning. You’re doing his job too! Don’t you feel special?
State workers will get two three day weekends a month for a short while, since this won’t go on much longer. They may lose a little money, but I suspect they can file for unemployment insurance of some sort for the days they are losing. Plus, assuming they drive they will not have to pay for gas or parking. And many probably buy their lunch, so they will lose that expense as well. Oh, and child care! Won't need that!
Hey! There is no need to hit the old Starbucks or Peet’s Coffee either! Home-brewed coffee is less expensive and usually better anyway.
I suggest you leave the TV off and spend some time with your kids. Go to a park and fly kites or stay home and bake cookies.
Frankly, I think this is punishing people in the private sector more than the state workers. All the people who serve the coffee and the lunches and provide the child care are the real victims here.
Stop whining. It isn’t so bad.
Boss: Hi Joe! We’re cutting your pay by 9.2%! Now go back to work!
Joe: Wow, so I have to take two Fridays off each month?
Boss: Ha ha! No Joe, you’ll still work full time. But now you will do it for less money!
Joe begins to walk out of the boss’s office.
Boss: Oh, Joe!
Joe: Yes?
Boss: Do you remember Sam?
Joe: Yes...
Boss: I fired him this morning. You’re doing his job too! Don’t you feel special?
State workers will get two three day weekends a month for a short while, since this won’t go on much longer. They may lose a little money, but I suspect they can file for unemployment insurance of some sort for the days they are losing. Plus, assuming they drive they will not have to pay for gas or parking. And many probably buy their lunch, so they will lose that expense as well. Oh, and child care! Won't need that!
Hey! There is no need to hit the old Starbucks or Peet’s Coffee either! Home-brewed coffee is less expensive and usually better anyway.
I suggest you leave the TV off and spend some time with your kids. Go to a park and fly kites or stay home and bake cookies.
Frankly, I think this is punishing people in the private sector more than the state workers. All the people who serve the coffee and the lunches and provide the child care are the real victims here.
Stop whining. It isn’t so bad.
The Adventures of CreditUnionMan
The biggest single concern I had about our new president was that he might decide that for good or ill, he knew best. This was a reasonable fear because most presidents believe the same thing about themselves.
After yesterday’s speech and announcement about the stimulus package, I believe my fears will be realized again with President Obama. He knows what he wants to do and he is going to insist upon following the path he chooses, because the American people voted for him and for change and dog-gonnet that means he can do no wrong.
Perhaps I exaggerate. We’ll see.
What I do know is we have had eight years of a fellow who followed his own course, or a particular course…who knows if it was his own, despite popular opinion, despite advice from his own party, regardless of opposition he kept doing it his way.
I think we just elected ourselves another one.
After yesterday’s speech and announcement about the stimulus package, I believe my fears will be realized again with President Obama. He knows what he wants to do and he is going to insist upon following the path he chooses, because the American people voted for him and for change and dog-gonnet that means he can do no wrong.
Perhaps I exaggerate. We’ll see.
What I do know is we have had eight years of a fellow who followed his own course, or a particular course…who knows if it was his own, despite popular opinion, despite advice from his own party, regardless of opposition he kept doing it his way.
I think we just elected ourselves another one.
The Adventures of CreditUnionMan
o the state employees who will have to take unpaid days because the governor and his compatriots are too incompetent to put together a budget, please believe me when I say I’m sorry. I do have sympathy for you, but you have to understand it could be much worse.
Out here in the private sector, we deal with incompetent leadership too. In case you haven’t noticed, there are businesses that have failed to the point they are firing thousands…tens of thousands of employees. The firings are coming in waves. Just when employees who think they have dodged the bullet manage to relax, another round of layoffs hits, sweeping them out too. And a lot of these companies are taking BailOutBucks supplied, in part by the very taxpayers they are firing.
And our new president has responded to all this by limiting their CEO’s income to $500,000 per year. Maybe they’ll start taking a Friday or two off each month to compensate. Who knows, the guy sitting at the table across from you at Starbucks tomorrow may just be a furloughed CEO! Who says we have nothing in common with rich people?
Just in passing, I didn’t notice what the president said about the CEO’s deferred income. I should look into that.
Personally, I think any company that accepts BailOutBucks should require the CEO, the CFO and the COO to resign and stand in front of the corporate offices for a month wearing chicken suits and holding signs that say “We’re the ones who lost all the buck-buck-bucks”
Well, it was just an idea.
So I suggest that you look at your own budget and decide what you need to cut for your furlough days and if you can’t be happy about still having a job, then maybe you can at least be grateful for it, because there are a whole lot of people in worse shape than you are right now.
Out here in the private sector, we deal with incompetent leadership too. In case you haven’t noticed, there are businesses that have failed to the point they are firing thousands…tens of thousands of employees. The firings are coming in waves. Just when employees who think they have dodged the bullet manage to relax, another round of layoffs hits, sweeping them out too. And a lot of these companies are taking BailOutBucks supplied, in part by the very taxpayers they are firing.
And our new president has responded to all this by limiting their CEO’s income to $500,000 per year. Maybe they’ll start taking a Friday or two off each month to compensate. Who knows, the guy sitting at the table across from you at Starbucks tomorrow may just be a furloughed CEO! Who says we have nothing in common with rich people?
Just in passing, I didn’t notice what the president said about the CEO’s deferred income. I should look into that.
Personally, I think any company that accepts BailOutBucks should require the CEO, the CFO and the COO to resign and stand in front of the corporate offices for a month wearing chicken suits and holding signs that say “We’re the ones who lost all the buck-buck-bucks”
Well, it was just an idea.
So I suggest that you look at your own budget and decide what you need to cut for your furlough days and if you can’t be happy about still having a job, then maybe you can at least be grateful for it, because there are a whole lot of people in worse shape than you are right now.
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