Quickie: 60.

Not good.

Quickie: Have they learned nothing?!?!?!

I, literally, could not believe my eyes when I read this article.

So, in essence, no lessons were learned by the sub-prime meltdown.

Now that President Bush is out of office and the republicans are definitely in the minority, I wonder who Mr. Frank will blame when this blows up.

Probably President Bush and Congressional Republicans.

It is time to act.

In their latest round of taunts against the United States, North Korea is planning another long-range ballistic missile test, scheduled for; you guessed it, July 4^th.

Not only is this test’s date a symbolic slap in the face to the nation, the test itself has the potential to be a real life threat to the country, as the North Koreans are aiming it at the Hawaiian Islands (the missile’s long-range distance capability is 4,000 miles. Hawaii, being 4,500 miles away form North Korea, is out of its range).

Combine this incredibly brash move with their reneging on the deal to halt their nuclear weapons program, their rogue partnership with the Iranian government, their nuclear weapon tests, their threats to “wipe out the aggressors (U.S.) off the globe once and for all” and their violation of international law by transporting nuclear weaponry to Myanmar for further testing and the case has clearly been made to strike North Korea.

While I am not suggesting we declare war on North Korea (although that should not be ruled out, as it will be difficult to have any significant progress in the U.S/North Korean relationship while Kim Jong Il is in power), I am suggesting, however, that we execute targeted air-strikes against their facilities to destroy their nuclear weapons program.

This would pacify an ever-increasing problem in the Pacific by eliminating the immediate threat of a nuclear war, show South Korea and Japan, an incredibly important ally, that we will stand by them in ensuring their safety and deal a significant blow to a despotic regime.

This strike would also be the wisest foreign policy move that President Obama could make. It would show the rest of the world, but specifically, Iran, Al Qaeda, The Taliban, the terrorists in Iraq, Columbia, Russia and Pakistan that President Obama, while a thoughtful and pragmatic leader, cannot be pushed around.

This would do wonders for our troubles around the globe. It could potentially drive a death nail into a quickly collapsing Iranian regime. It would show Al Qaeda, Taliban and anti-democratic fighters in Iraq that you can fight all you want, but you will eventually succumb to American military might. This would tell Columbia and Russia to think twice before making outlandish claims about us (Columbia) or attempting to sabotage our international security operations (Russia). It would also show Pakistan that we are capable of cleaning up international messes if need be.

In short, it would make President Obama’s life much, much easier.

I know that Defense Secretary Gates has discussed the possibility of shooting down the test missile, but I simply do not believe that is enough. There is absolutely no guarantee that it would work (imagine how energized North Korea would be if the attempt to shoot down their missile failed) and it is not strong enough of a response, even if it were to work.

As I have said time and time again, I do believe military options should be the last resort in solving any international issue. I also believe that we have reached that critical stage with the North Koreans.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

Quickie: It only took a week!

After a week of violence that witnessed numerous other foreign leaders speaking out about the situation in Iran, it is nice to see that President Obama finally made a somewhat legitimate comment about the demonstrations in the country:

“The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.”

I say “somewhat” legitimate because he failed to mention the absurdity of the Iranian vote.

His constant, delayed comments regarding any major international issue (see Georgia, Israeli/Palestinian violence, etc.) clearly displays his total inability to understand foreign policy issues or take a decisive stance on foreign affairs.

“Stimulus” Bill update.

Remember back in February when the “Stimulus” Bill was about to be voted on and logical, principled arguments like, “how can anyone vote on it, as no one has had time to read it” were shrugged off due to the “emergency” situation we were in?

Remember the hysterical cries to push the bill through because every day that passed by without it meant thousands upon thousands of jobs were lost?

Remember the promises of quickly getting this money into the economy and therefore creating hundreds of thousands of jobs?

Remember how vital President Obama thought it was to pass the bill that he waited three full days to sign it (two of which were spent with Michelle on a Valentine’s Day getaway, less than a month into his term)?

So how’s that “stimulus” plan working out?

Well, let’s see…

1. Despite the absolutely ridiculous claims by the White House of 150,000 jobs being saved as a result of the “stimulus” plan (a claim that is totally unsubstantiated), the unemployment rate has gone from 7.6% to 9.4%...not good. What about those 600,000 jobs you keep promising Mr. President, where are they?

2. Only 6% of the “emergency” funds have been spent, showing that this “emergency” was nothing but a farce.

3. The Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board estimates $55 billion of the $787 billion will be lost to waste, fraud and abuse. This prompted Vice President Biden to opine, "We know some of this money is going to be wasted. There are going to be mistakes made. Some people are being scammed already." Lovely.

I know it’s early and I know that the president’s supporters will say, “How can you pass judgment on this plan this already?”, but the writing is on the wall, the “stimulus” plan hasn’t worked.

Yes, it is early; however, we are supposed to be reaping the rewards from this plan by now. It has been over four months since it’s been passed, when is it going to start working? I would love to know the date when it is ok to panic over the $1.1 trillion wasted on this “stimulus” plan (Don’t forget the $348 billion to finance this behemoth).

You see, this is why I rallied so hard about the bailout bill back in September. Besides wasting $750 billion on the initial financial bailout, it made us, the American public, desensitized to these astronomical dollar figures. Now, when we hear something will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, we don’t bat an eye. The outrage is gone. And now, what are we left with? Well, in this case a “stimulus” plan that has done anything but.

But don’t worry everyone, I’m sure President Obama has a well-thought out plan for all…Ha, ha, ha, ha!!! Oh man, I thought I could say that with a straight face.

Yeah, it’s not going to work, as you can’t spend your way out of an economic crisis.

But hey, all those million dollar guardrails and turtle highways are going to make great photo ops, won’t they? They will enable all of the politicians that supported this “stimulus” package to say, “See, look at what we did…you know, besides cripple the economy with unsustainable debt.”

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

So…now what?

As Iran continues to go through the motions of trying to pull the wool over the collective eyes of the world by “investigating” their fraudulent vote, it has become abundantly clear that no matter what the results of this “inquiry” are, President Ahmadinejad is going nowhere.

And if anyone still believes that this “election” was on the up and up, let’s consider the following information:

1. The Ministry of Interior under Sadeq Mahsouli, a general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and a senior aide to Mr. Ahmadinejad managed the entire “election” process. That is the equivalent of Rahm Emanuel managing the entire U.S. election.

2. President Ahmadinejad won in all 30 Iranian provinces, won all social and age categories and won in all three hometowns of his three rivals. This has, literally, never happened in any previous Iranian “election”.

3. The state-owned Fars News Agency declared Mr. Ahmadinejad won the “election” with two-thirds of the vote, even before the Interior Ministry finished counting all of the ballots.

Hmm…

But on to the $64,000 question, what does this result mean for The Middle East, the U.S. and the rest of the world?

Well, no one really knows for sure, but I cannot believe that anything good will result from this corrupt “election”…for anyone.

Obviously, the Middle East will be the region most affected by a “validated” Ahmadinejad administration. Looking to cement Iran as the alpha dog of the Mid East, Ahmadinejad will only continue the “Ugly Iranian” bullying (countless threats to Israel, nuclear development that defies the wishes of the rest of the world, allying with North Korea, another rogue, despotic regime) that he’s been perpetrating for the past year. This could lead to an eventual showdown with Israel, as President Obama seems totally disinterested in dealing with the increasing eventuality of a nuclear Tehran. Such a showdown could potentially destabilize the powder keg that is the Middle East, with non-radical states like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait being forced to choose sides. It could also threaten the maturing, yet still-fragile democracy in Iraq.

In addition to a potential Iranian-Israeli war (a war that, form a military standpoint, would easily be won by Israel, but one that would only increase terrorist activity against them), we might witness a nuclear arms race in the region, as well. Other countries may believe their only chance of survival with a nuclear Iran would be to go nuclear themselves.

Not good.

The prospects are not good for the U.S. either.

With President Ahmadinejad vowing to never negotiate Iran’s nuclear program with any foreign power (“That file is shut forever,” he said to rousing cheers in a post “election” victory speech), the pressure for President Obama to actually take action rather than merely talking will increase with every passing day. If he fails to act decisively (which is what I suspect will happen), he will be correctly viewed as weak by the rest of the world and numerous other countries like Russia, North Korea and Columbia and rogue groups like Hamas, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, FARC and the Taliban may begin to test his resolve.

Again, not a good development at a time when our strongest alliances (France, Great Britain, India and Israel) are strained. Hey, wasn’t Obama supposed improve our standing in the world?

With most of the world’s economies, especially those of the developing nations of Africa and Southeast Asia, still running on oil, a sharp spike in the price of the commodity could send the global recession into deeper and deeper depths. And that is precisely what will happen if Iran continues to destabilize the region with their aggressive activity.

The fate for the Iranian people appears to be rather bleak as well. President Ahmadinejad’s economic policies are the reason the Iranian economy is in shambles (a trend that started even when oil was trading above $100 a barrel). His plan to seize the assets of hundreds of mullahs and their business associates for redistribution among the poor will only further damage this floundering economy.

As I said, nothing good at all.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

Quickie: Ok, I really don’t get this.

Here is yet another example of President Obama’s puzzling National Defense/Foreign Policy approach. Why on Earth would he disrupt the strong alliance we have with England just to give safe haven to these Ex-Gitmo detainees?

Can someone explain to my why Obama is bending over backwards to reach out to countries that hate us at the same time he neglects our most important international partnerships?

Quickie: A big win for the business community of Milwaukee…but an even bigger win for city workers.

In a major decision by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Thomas Cooper, the Milwaukee Sick Day Ordinance has been deemed unconstitutional. This is a major victory for the business community of the city of Milwaukee.

For those of you that are unaware of this ordinance or not from Milwaukee, in the November elections, the citizens of Milwaukee supported a measure that mandated that all private companies within the city limits of Milwaukee give all workers nine, paid sick days per year.

While this will certainly save employers large amounts of money, this decision will save the jobs of dozens upon dozens of workers…some that undoubtedly voted for the measure and therefore nearly voted themselves out of a job.

Well done Judge Cooper, well done indeed!

Iran Decides.

Tomorrow marks Iran’s latest presidential election, at a time when the country is at its unquestioned zenith in terms of power and controversy. With a nuclear program that most people (including myself) believe to be used for the development of nuclear weapons, an exceedingly intimate friendship with North Korea-another rogue nuclear power and increased tensions with its archrival, Israel, Iran certainly has a lot on its plate.

Like the United States’ presidential election, Iranian elections take place every four years, with this campaign offering Iran’s citizens four candidates. The ballots will feature Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohsen Rezai, Mehdi Karroubi and, of course, the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Of the four, it appears that Mousavi and Ahmadinejad are the only two with a chance of victory. Rezai and Ahmadinejad are the nation’s conservative candidates and while Rezai’s clout among conservative Iranian circles is strong, it probably will not provide enough momentum to overcome Ahmadinejad’s closeness to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

In the reformer side, Karroubi and Mousavi are the choices. Mousavi seems to be the pick here as his rock-star-like appeal to the younger generation of Iranians is more valuable than Karroubi’s religious affiliations (he’s the only cleric running), as the Iranian culture places less and less emphasis on a clerical president with each passing election.

Between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi, I expect to see the incumbent president retain his position as president of Iran. This is due in large part to the aforementioned closeness to Khamenei and Iran’s incredibly suspect voting rules, rules that provide an overwhelming edge to the sitting president.

No matter who wins, there is little hope that conditions in Iran will improve. None of the four candidates endorse ceasing Iran’s nuclear program or improving its relations with Israel. This fact ensures that whoever wins the election, President Obama will have his hands full for the foreseeable future.

Tune in tomorrow to see if I was right about Ahmadinejad.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

Stop the Handouts!

As I was surfing the Internet last week, I came across this headline:

Administration to Reveal Plans for Katrina Housing Transition

You can read the entire Washington Post article here.

If you chose not to read the entire story, I want you to keep this number in mind:

45.

Do you know what that number signifies? That is the number of months since Hurricane Katrina hit.

Yes, you read that correctly, it has been 45 months since Hurricane Katrina and these people still have not found housing for themselves.

It is abundantly clear to me that Hurricane Katrina is not to blame for these people remaining on the government’s dole; rather it is their utter inability to accept responsibility and provide for themselves.

I know that these people went through a lot, but that was nearly four years ago. Let us not forget the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that poured into this region in the form of aid from the government and private citizens alike. Additionally, tens of thousands of other citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi have managed to secure housing and move on with their lives, why are these people incapable of doing so?

I will tell you why, it is because these people have lost their ability to fend for themselves due to the unending gravy train of free, government money that keeps chugging right up to their governmentally funded doorstep.

Why should they work hard if someone else (the government) will simply take care of them forever?

Yes, you and I see the warped logic in that statement, but that is the mindset that develops after people are constantly told that their pathetic situation it is not their fault and that they cannot possibly take care of themselves.

It is this mindset that is sapping the competitive nature of this country and ensuring that our economic recovery is years away, not months…if it ever returns at all.

That is why we have to end the policy of handouts and have people provide for themselves.

This is not exclusive to monetary handouts either.

We need to stop the intellectual and psychological handout programs of affirmative action and employment quotas. Whether it is during a search for a job or a college, we have to stop telling people that they are not strong, smart, skilled or good enough to compete on their own and therefore must rely on the government to level the playing field for them.

I cannot think of anything more condescending, degrading or insulting than these governmental programs that do absolutely nothing but decrease a person’s ability to think and provide for themselves, all the while increasing their dependence on the government.

If we do not stop this intellectual and psychological slavery that is these government programs (let’s face it, they clearly are), we will have an ever-increasing percentage of this country remain unproductive and feels entitled to have the government provide for them.

Once that happens, you can kiss the wonderful quality of life that we currently enjoy goodbye forever.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John

Quickie: That’s fine, but how?

Let’s just ignore the fact that despite his claim of creating 150,000 jobs thus far, (presumably phantom jobs as government reports show that the economy has lost more than 1.6 million jobs since Congress approved the “Stimulus Plan” in February…without reading any of it too, by the way) how is President Obama going to magically create all of these jobs?

The only way that he can do so is by creating more and more government jobs…jobs that taxpayers (roughly half of us as the other half doesn’t any pay taxes) will have to foot the bill for once again.

So really, even if he does create 600,000 new governmental jobs, that really isn’t economic prosperity, it’s just another step in our rapid sprint to complete economic collapse.

Quickie: Wait a minute...not everyone loves Obama?!?!?! How can that be?

You know, I wish President Obama would spend more time strengthening our relationships with countries that actually matter rather than making pathetic speeches to hateful ideologies and rogue countries.