Can He Really Do It?

Barack Obama: Walking toward the stage, while receiving the congratulatory handshakes from the crowd, Barack Obama thankfully waved to his loyal constituents with his wife at his side. He stood, pausing for a moment gathering his thoughts, while his audience chanted: 'Yes we can." As he began looking directly to the South Carolina audience. He spoke not only of change, but of how we have and can continue to change. Barack spoke not only of the cynicism out there that says we can not bring about change, but he said that the cynicism can be stopped. And he talked of how people already are making the changes happen, proving that the cynicisms are wrong. And in a bolder voice he added, 'We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We're looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington -- a status quo that extends beyond any particular party." He spoke of health care, jobs. At the end of his speech he joined in the chant: Yes We Can.

John Edwards: Proud that his third place win was higher than first predicted he smiled big as he appeared before the crowd. He congratulated Obama as he spoke with the South Carolinians, and thanked them for their hospitality. He spoke again about his vision for change. Speaking of the Textile mills that closed and those who lost their jobs. Reminding us of them who do not have a voice, like the many veterans who are sleeping tonight underneath bridges. His was a speech that talk about bringing in the changes that need to be. And with firm belief, he too spoke of health care, jobs, and changing the way they do things in Washington. He concluded that he is setting his sights on the next primary.

Hillary Clinton: Smiling as she stood in front of a number of her supporters in the state of Tennessee. Struggling to come out were the words of her congratulatory statement for Obama's South Carolina win. Standing before the People of the state of Tennessee, Hillary made a brief reference of the people of South Carolina. And as quick-as-a-blink-of-an-eye, she spoke of the next primary and of her mission to be the one to win.

Tonight I have hummed the fourth verse of an old favorite tune of mine. It is from a song of Bob Dylan and it's called, The Times They Are A-Changin':

"Come Mothers and Fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'."

Now that is my idea of a classic.

Anticipating the S C Primaries Results

According to the exit polls take ABC news and the CNN cable news the results are showing Obama to be the winner in the South Carolina primaries. The exit polls also show Hillary barely ahead of Edwards. Yet these are only the exit polls, and not everyone is counted in a poll. You have to be willing to tell the pollsters how you voted and not many people are willing to do that. So what is the outcome? Has everyone in all the communities been asked to participate, or was it just a few at a few locations? Only when the votes are counted will we know for sure.

I just wonder since Edwards is closing in on second, would he stand a chance to take first place? Hmm. That is a possibility, but at least people can go back to realizing that this is a three candidate race, and not just two.

The Roller-coaster ride

After a difficult week of plunging down and crawling up the market ends on this Friday, January 25, 2008 with another drop. Nothing was mentioned on the news about the closing. But a lot this morning was said about the opening and it looking more brighter. Well, the clouds crept in with the Dow Jones Industrials lost of 170 points. Add to that the anxiety of new reported job losts with more layoffs on the way, it looks that the flickering candle of this morning is being snuffed out. If only the Industries, corporations, and businesses could see that the job loss does =equal= loss income which =equals= loss spending and =equals= plunging unstable crashing poor economy. If only they could learn that secure permanent job gain with health benefits and retirement plans =equal= a gain in income which =equal= a rise in spending power and =equal= a strong upward vibrant economy. We may have more gray skies in our future if they do not learn this. But then there is always someone in the market who makes a lot of money helping the market drop back down then rise again, I just wonder if that is illegal. If not, it ought to be.

Living in Glass Houses

Now who is saying what about whom? Sure, when asked about this picture, Hillary would deny she knew Rezko. Why, Hillary and Bill have taken pictures with many people they do not know along Bills first campaign trail. So I have to ask myself, "When was this picture taken?" Think about this for a moment. We had the South Carolina debate with Hillary throwing mud left and right at Obama when she spoke of Rezko. During an NBC interview on Friday morning, Hillary was confronted about this picture where she and Bill had posed with Rezko. Her statement leaves me to question if she is saying the complete truth, or is there something hidden in her statement when she said, "...I wouldn't have known him if he walked in the door..."
Well, was the picture taken when Hillary and her husband were campaigning during his first run for president? Or was it taken after Bill was already president? We do know that when someone is president posing with people is not taken as lightly as before they become president. The presidential security people would of had a lot of background on the individual posing with the president and his family members. No matter where this picture was taken, the question is when. If Bill was already president, how could he and his wife not know the individual posing with them in the picture? Please take a good look at Hillary's hairdo in the picture with Rezko. Now look down at the other pictures and see what she looked like when she first became our First Lady?
Look familiar? By the hair style alone, with or without the headbands, we can see that Bill Clinton was already President. And as we all know the statement that she made when on NBC about not knowing Rezko was not completely true. Think of how hard it is to get a picture with any of our presidents and the first lady. There are top security people in government protecting the President and his family. There is always background checks on anyone before they are even allowed close to any of our presidents. There is also an arranged meeting preparing for the pose with instructions on what should or should not to be said. So, what would that make her statement about not knowing Rezko? Weighing-in all the different elements that go in to getting a pose with a president and the first lady I truly believe her statement would be classified a 'half truth'. And I just love it when -- half truths -- are made in politics, especially on live-TV. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, by one of America's most famous men in history, Benjamin Franklin: "A HALF TRUTH, IS A BIG LIE." By the way there is one thing I have to say about Hillary, she did look a lot prettier with long hair.

Did Ruddy Put All His Eggs Into One Basket?

During the different states Republican primaries it seemed to many strange that Rudy Guiliani put all his eggs into one basket. The basket being Florida of course. The news media questioned it, as did all the political advisers who were commenting about it.

All the other candidates shivering in the cold, weathering the storms, trudging through the snow, sleet, or rain. But Guiliani has been spending most of his time campaigning in the lovely, warm sunshine state of Florida. He wanted to grab the retirees from New York state, his home state, who have now settled for what is left of their aging years in Florida. Rudy is so sure he would win big in Florida, after all these silver haired sunbathers knew him as mayor when they lived in New York state. They remembered the mayor of New York City, who had to deal with the aftermath of 9/11. So much did he have riding on the sunny state of Florida that he practically ignored the other states, with little campaigning, loosing in the other states. And with all that attention he has paid to Florida, as it turns out, he only came in third in the Florida polls today.

Not that I believe in the polls, after all the polls do not seem to agree with me on a number of issues. But apparently, Rudy Guiliani forgot the most important rule, 'PEOPLE LOVE A WINNER.' Maybe if he had put some effort into the other states and wined--and--dined the caucuses he could have gotten one of the other states. Then maybe he would have been up in the Florida polls. But it is too late for Rudy to make up for the caucuses he ignored in the other states. Come Tuesday, when Florida votes, we will see.

Do Tax Rebate Stimulate?

Didn't we have back in either 2003 or 2004 a Tax Rebate which was expected to stimulate the economy? With all of this up and down in the economy, I am reminded of a time recently when we had a tax rebate, which was expected to stimulate the economy. I am also reminded that after the tax rebate, it did little to stimulate the economy. Part of the problem was that people were using the money to pay utility bills. Another factor was that people were having to pay medical and doctor bills, because a great deal of corporations either stopped covering part of medical insurance costs for their employees, or the employees had to pay more to get less coverage. Isn't that still the same situation we have here? Did the economy ever get better?

The Stock Market today is doing the same thing it did back then when they learned of the Government helping to stimulate the economy, they did what I like to call, trading on a promise. In other words, -- they are counting the eggs before they hatch. -- It is also speculated that some or most of the ones doing the bargain buys are actually foreign money.

But doesn't that mean that the economy is getting better? To answer that question we have to cover the other things that are happening now. Some of which did not happen before.

Housing: It was reported today that the sales of housing has dropped, plunging to the lowest sales of existing single-family homes reported in 25 years. The average price of homes dropped for the entire year. That is the First time that has happened in 4 decades. And since 1982, we have seen the biggest plunge of sales for the single-family homes by 13 percent. It is the first time that this country has seen such an annual decline in housing sales since the Great Depression of the 1930's.

Another thing that is happening now that was not happening before is the $100.00 per barrel of oil. Since 2002, every year, some times up to 2 or 3 times a year we have seen a increase in the oil pumps. And since 2002, every year we have seen an increase in our electricity. And since 2002, every year we have seen an increase in our heating, gas or oil.

So what does this all mean. It is simple. This down turn really began since 2002. Well what was it that happened at that time? It was after 9/11/2001 and we had a war. A war which since has expanded to yet another country. Yes that could have cause some of our troubles. But we also had something else that everyone forgets. And it is something which occurs every single time the Republicans are in the White House. We have 'FINANCIAL GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES' for businesses to send American jobs overseas, to build plants overseas, then they lay off American workers in the states until they either have little or production in States. Add to that the plant closures. But this time we had something new which began in 2002. With this Republican Administration we also have the 'FINANCIAL GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES' for businesses to Out Source jobs, most of which were high tech jobs, to other countries and the Middle East as well.

With all these different factors coming into play, I truly doubt the tax rebate will stimulate anything. But at least I can pay my utility bills. That is 'IF' I don't loose my home first.

When was the deterioration know?

The Fed's started to see the deterioration in the credit market as far back as 2003 and 2004, Reid's office pointed out. The Republicans had both the Congress and Senate at time. Bush administration up until late January 2007, had a stronger hold on the government with financial institutions and banks pretty much doing as they pleased.
"The laissez-faire strategy attitude on the economy of this administration has hurt us," said Schumer. The Republican Bush administration did not stop lenders from using the non traditional mortgages. Yet it is the non traditional mortgages, which is seen as the beginnings of what is now the credit crisis.
Reed said that congress is working as fast as it can.
Strange that the Republican Congress up to 2006 had ignored what was obvious to the Fed's about the deterioration in the credit market as far back as 2003 and 2004, but did nothing. Oh well, I guess everyone will just have to blame the new guys in town. I bet that in a few years someone is going to point to the Democrat Congress and blame them, if they haven't already.

308,000 Barrels of oil go missing?

The Government Auditors looked into the Department of Energy's management of the oil received for Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is a critical program to assure energy stability in the U.S. in case of an oil crisis. Needless to say that when it was discovered that 308,000 barrels of oil go missing, the government auditors asked the question of how could you not notice when that much oil goes missing?

During the examination it was discovered that in 28 percent of oil transfers the amount received did not match the estimated amount to be shipped by the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service. -- In 2005 there were some discrepancies of barrels of oil reported to be received not equal to what was shipped. That discrepancy was never fixed. -- In 2007 the Government Accountability Office investigated the Interior Department's MMS for losing track of billions of dollars in royalties.

So how does 308,000 barrels of oil disappear without anyone noticing?

World Economic Forum

Today the worlds economists gathered in Switzerland to discuss their views of the world economy. The New York Roubini Global Economics chairman stated the same old saying which is commonly heard: 'That if the U.S. economy sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.' Nouriel Roubini said, "In this case the U.S. is going to have to protracted case of pneumonia," Indicating that the diagnosis was much worse. Now don't get me wrong, the economists who gathered there had different views. And some did not even believe that they would be affected by but is happening in the American economy.

It has been said that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. But is that true in all cases? What if the tunnel leads into a cave? Would there be light at the end of the cave, or would you have to turn around and walk back the other way?

"The issue of whether central banks are capable of vigorous action, bold action, was answered yesterday. They can't see the world ahead perfectly,..." Said John Snow, referring to the Fed's interest rate cuts.

Stiglitz disagreed as he referred to bad economic management.

A year ago the economists believed that this year the world economy would be brighter. Boy were they wrong.

Nouriel stated that it wasn't whethere or if there is going to be a hard landing for the economy. Roubini said "Rather how hard the landing would be. We're seeing a financial system that is under severe stress," he continued. "The Fed cannot prevent this recession from occurring."

What is the definition of Insanity?

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."A quote from Benjamin Franklin.

For the past few years we have had ups and downs in the stock market. In fact a few years ago, Bush had the rate cut. And again just last year 2007, before the Holidays, didn't Greenspan cut the rate. Yet here we are with Bush having it done again. The Stock market dropped 325 points today than rose 299. I'll bet anything that in the stock market, you will see all those brokers patting each other on their backs. But wait! Yesterday, the points dropped some then came back up just a little. So the week total of dropped points would be even greater. Also Monday it really dropped, around the world with no comeback on Monday. Now if we add all the points dropped of the past three days, subtract the points rise of the past three days, the percentage of drop would be higher than the percentage that rose. And this is only Wednesday. Yes, there was a flood of bargain hunters today in the stock market catching all those cheap deals. But where is this flood of bargain hunters coming from? Has anyone investigated who they are? Could it be CEOs, or the Chair Members of different corporations? Or maybe just some foreign corporations, as well as foreign governments taking advantage of our markets in their weak state? Were the percentages of today's points ending in an upward turn really a defining moment in swinging the economy in a different direction? Or will there be just a short moment of relief followed by more economic woes? We are so dependent on other countries for our goods, and oil. Do we really want to be dependent on them for our economy as well?

How did we reach this point?

At Hartford a chief strategist, Krosby said, "The Fed is responding to a panic. They are reacting to a market. We should have had this cut weeks ago."
What cuts you asked? Well the key interest rate which the Feds have decided to slash at three-quarters of a percentage point. And it's not as if they came to this decision likely, after all there is a 9% drop in the U.S. stock market year-to-date. The worst start ever for U.S. equities. Not to mention the global market sell off.
But what does all this have to do with me. All this talk of tightening ones credit. I have been living on the edge since the big business lobbyists and the Bush Republican administration started with their 2002 Government Financial Incentives for Big Business to close jobs here in the U.S. and Out Source jobs to overseas. But wait, you say, jobs have been moving out of our country for a long time. We had a high number of jobs that left the U.S. in the 1970s.
I am glad you brought that up. Let's take a trip to 1972-1973 around the time that Nixon took his famous trip to Red Communist China and began the China Trade Agreement. With the help of his Republican party they changed our Foreign Trade agreement, thus changing the rules of engagement in foreign trade. With less productivity which began to happen at that time in the United States, and a higher increase of imports coming in no one noticed that many American jobs were disappearing and heading overseas along with the productivity of goods. There were scaled back production in some plants, while new manufacturing plants were being build overseas. As soon as the new factory plants were in full production, The companies began slowly closing there plants here in the States. Yet no one was making the connection. We had six years of Nixon, plus 2 years of Ford, his Vice President, who took over as president after Nixon was impeached. There was a campaign for encouraging the Young to become computer specialists and engineers. But it wasn't until the second year of Carter's presidency that we started to see real problems in the job market. And it wasn't until we had triple digit inflation when everyone started getting angry and blamed Carter. And we suffered massive suicides, loss of jobs, loss of homes, and an increase of whole families being homeless. So with emotional votes Ronald Regan wins. At first everyone believes he cared for the homeless. But did he? If people were being arrested for homelessness, and their children been taken away because they were homeless, how can anyone say 'He cared?' Everyone was was too busy listening to his talk of getting more Americans to own their own businesses. But think about this If not everyone could be a doctor or a lawyer or an artist, how can everyone be and qualify to be a business owner? Now we are nearing the end of his term, and there is a glitch that occurs in the economy since Regan's Policies only really benefited the big business. Yet everyone is still on the high side even though by 1986 a lot of small businesses had fail under the Regan's strategy. Since the effects on the economy is not as high as it was in 1980, people and the media ignore it. The 8 yr feel good policy of Regan administration is still pushing, flowing into the Bush Sr. administration. But by his first year the economy swings downward, so much so, that by the time of the Gulf War we cannot afford it and we have to borrow money from the Japanese government. Now the media is talking recession, and now and increase of job loss and bad economy hits. And after 12 yrs of Republican administration, people vote for a democrat, Clinton, to fix the economy. And he did. For 8 years it was good. But after Clinton's denial of intimacy with a staff intern, people started with an emotional vote instead of using their brains again. And then there is Bush Jr. with his 2002 Government Financial Incentives for big business to out source American High Tech and other jobs over seas. Bush speaks on Nation TV encouraging Americans to take service jobs, since the High Tech jobs are a thing of the past in America. He made this speech around 2002 and 2003. At first I thought he was kidding. But My husband lost his Secure High Tech job to outsourcing in 2002. That was the beginning of the fall for people's lives. Engineers, programmers, computer specialists all with degrees were loosing their jobs, their homes, living in cars. The taking jobs that were temporary computer jobs that have gradually decreased and are so few and far in-between. Or many left the field and took jobs as janitors, taxi drivers, retail jobs, even jobs at McDonalds. But some were able to get into real estate, or a small business at home with financial help from family of course. Top CEOs spoke on what a wonderful thing outsourcing was for our Economy on TV. In fact, on TV one top CEO boldly smiling stated very proudly on the national news that "AMERICANS NO LONGER HAD THE RIGHT TO WORK." Yet there was no outrage. Because people are so easily fooled by Bush and Republican party, just as they had been fooled by Republicans in the past. Now at the ending of Bush 2 terms and failed economic policies that favored again the big business just like under Nixon and Regan, we have a recession, for the third time since the first one in the 1970s. And again no one is making any connection between Republican Policies that only benefit Big Business with the LOSS OF PRODUCTION, LOSS OF JOBS, LOSS OF WAGES, LOSS OF AMERICAN DREAM.

Digging for truth

Watching the Democratic debate in South Carolina, was very interesting. Hillary showed a lot of fire, but her emotion was waisted on unsubstantiated claims against both Barac and Edwards. Barac had to defend himself against the Lioness who gnarled at him with her ferocious, but bogus claims. The Federal documentation says the opposite pertaining to their investigation of that Racketeer. Strange that no one mentions that Hillary had a none citizen who was a global criminal who contributed to her Senator Campaign. And after an investigation she was proven to be an innocent bystander. Strange that with Hillary what is good for her cannot be extended to others. Seems like she is getting her facts in bits and pieces and filling in the gaps instead of reading the entire news articles. Edwards did not have a chance to defend himself against Hillary claim that he had dealings with Lobbyists. Yet his career shows that he never did. I wonder where Hillary got that idea from? Well, gee could it be from the one who was caught lying to the entire country on live TV. I believe his words were, "I NEVER HAD SEX WITH THAT WOMAN!" He taught her well.

Has our Recession gone global?

While reading the news on the Internet today, I came across an article which gave me reason to pause. The Associated Press writer tells us that there was a plunge in the European and Asian Stock markets. It occurred Monday following the declines last week on Wall Street. Which was strange to me, since the declines have been going on a LOT longer than just last week. In fact we have had quite a problem with the American Stock market dropping for more than a few months. Even the Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng index plummeted. The biggest percentage drop since September 11, 2001. Investors, being pessimistic over President Bush's stimulus package, dumped the shares. Also in Europe the German's Dax was down, while the CAC of France slid, and Britain's FTSE dropped. The believe is that Asia will not suffer since it does not rely heavily on the U S for goods and imports as it had done in the past. But in Hong Kong the China Bank dropped, and the China Construction Bank slid. The decline hit companies across the board, even power utility companies and major software companies in countries overseas are failing. There is a glimmer of hope, once it hits bottom there is only one way to go, and that is up. Unless, they can not recover.

He said this, but done that!

Today I read a news article about a study. The study was an economic study. If it were any other time in history, I probably would have ignored it. However as our country is in an economic crises, my interest peaked. It is center around Mitt Romney during the time he was Governor in Massachusetts.

I found the study interesting because Romney is one of the Republican candidates running for the nomination of president for the Republican party. All of his speeches did center around how he improved and changed Massachusetts. In fact, he claimed that he turned their economy around. He even says he wants to do the same for our country.

But there is that Economic study done at the Northeastern University. Apparently, according to the study, during the time period Romney was Governor the economic growth, the job increase, and wage increase were the third LOWEST in our country. But Romney did manage to increase something in Massachusetts. Massachusetts rank in the third Highest in the United States of America as the largest 'POPULATION DECREASE' during Mitt Romney's time as Governor.

I do not know about you, but I do not have any plans to leave my country. If the only thing Mitt Romney can increase is a decrease in the population, than he is not the man we need for President.

I ask, 'Why?'

One headline on ABC news website reads, 'Clinton, McCain win big -- Chase After Momentum To Go All The Way.' But when I clicked to read the story, it led me to a page titled 'The note waiting for Mo' with a little caption 'McCain, Clinton may be front runners, momentum hides again.' Okay, which is it? As I read I discover that Clinton did not won the big number of Delegates as they so proudly claimed. Clinton's' speech of "This is how the west was won" would have one believe that she did win big in Nevada. But did she? So what are they talking about. Well, let me try to understand. Obama got more delegates in Nevada than Clinton. So what win are they talking about. Oh, someone on the TV news stated that Clinton won the popular vote. But there is something that is very bothersome to me. At the end of the ABC news website article, on page 4, there is a mention that is disturbing. It is 'A trashy robocall from out in Nevada uses Obama's middle name. "In fact, Barack Hussein Obama has taken millions of dollars from federal lobbying firms . . . Wall Street . . . big oil, pharmaceutical companies."' There is even a link but when I clicked up came a no page exist message, proof that this is no more than someones way of mud slinging. It states on page 3 that a donation Obama received was everything but legal. Then on page 4 the writer admits that Obama did not know, that he never knew. So far the links that are suppose to lead the reader to some facts in the story, none of those links work at all. Let's just stick to the facts. Obama won the delegate vote, while Clinton won the popular vote. Am I shock by the way the story was put together? Not in the least.