Obama's Destruction of Wealth.

Leaving the White House's Rush Limbaugh diversion aside, there is growing opinion that the President's budget and taxation proposals are a very bad thing. Just ask Jim Cramer.

Reaganesque?

Russian President Medvedev, in a completely predictable response, has accepted President Obama's deferral of the deployment of missile defense in Poland, while declining Obama's request that Russia diplomacy be employed to stop Iran's nuclear program. Senator Charles Schumer has called Obama's initiative "Reaganesque". Hmm. Obama's blunder is more reminiscent of Jimmy Carter's whipsawing on the deployment of the "neutron bomb" in Western Europe. Carter's vascillation humiliated then West German leader Helmut Schmidt, and helped to bolster Soviet influence in German politics in the 1980s.

A Thoughtful Alternative.

Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) presents in a WSJ op-ed an economic strategy that makes a lot more sense than zero-sum Obamanomics.

Just Plain Evil.

Robert Mugabe, leader for life of Zimbabwe, celebrated his 85th birthday on the backs of his fellow countrymen, the New York Times reports. The accomplishments of his career are impressive: he squandered international good will and any chance of racial accord by race-baiting and expropriation of land owners, through three decades of corruption and incompetence he has destroyed the country's economy, starvation pervades Zimbabwe, and the level of violence and terror he has employed to prop up his regime would have embarrassed the most ruthless apartheid goon.

Yet the international community does nothing, indeed is nearly silent on the suffering of Zimbabwe. Why? It's baffling that civil and human rights organizations, particularly African-American groups, have assumed such a low profile on this outrage.

Obama's War.

This week President Obama ended his rope-a-dope of the Center-Right and launched an attack against American capitalism. He is: (i) repealing the Bush tax cuts and raising the highest Federal tax rate to 40%, (ii) increasing taxes on the energy industry, (iii) limiting tax relief from mortgage interest, (iv) reinstating the Death Tax, (v) raising capital gains taxes, (vi) raising taxes on successful small businesses*, (vii) increasing federal intervention in the health care industry, (viii) instituting a carbon cap and trade program on American industries, and (viii) dismantling private enterprise student loans. He capped off the week with the destruction of private capital investments in banks.

Wall Street, the source of investment capital needed for recovery, aborted productive uses of finance in favor of "Obama-proof" portfolios: more treasuries, gold, cash, and international stocks poised to benefit from an unfettered Chinese recovery and protected from Obama wealth-redistribution.

The Administration and Congers are fanatically devoted to the notion that The Government will grow us out of this mess, as if they have discovered a perpetual-motion machine.


*Example of such a small business: owner of three convienience stores. A good store will, after expenses, net the owner about $100K per year in profits. Such a store also pays two additional employees $85K in wages and benefits.

Tragedy.

Elie Weisel has been wiped out by Bernard Madoff.

What is the Truth About the Banks?

The fear on bank nationalization is rampant, and threatens to become a self-fueling conflagration. Yet two interesting articles caught our eye that questions whether such a step is necessary at all. First, the staff at Miyanville note that banks are more than capable of writing down - over time- their current large losses against future revenues.Second, the IBD editorial board reminds us that 90% of all banks are sound, and that lending rates are not catastrophic.

Obama Revealed.

President Obama spoke to the Congers last night, and made it very clear that the spending has only just begun. In this first year of his tenure he intends to tackle (universal) health care, expanded federal support for education, and a plunge into "green" energy production. This last objective is of particular concern: the WSJ noted this morning that White House green gurus indicate that the Administration will regulate CO2 as an atmospheric pollutant under the Clean Air Act . In which we reply, in the words of Cromwell: "I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken". As we have learned with the declarations of vague schemes by the Treasury for the next stanza of financial reconstruction, now is not the time to further paralyze private capital investments in our economy because of fear of brave new regulations. And the President's call to action on energy conspicuously dodged a mention of nuclear power. If we are going to supplant coal-fired electricity generation, we need to find sources that can efficiently produce several hundred thousand megawatts of energy. A wind plan as ambitious as that envisioned by Boone Pickens would produce 200,000 MW. While that's a very respectable number, it's less than a quarter of our current electricity demand. Our fear is that the White House greenies will prevail in ideological purity and America's aversion to nuclear power will continue.

Town Hall Meeting with Congerscritter Schauer.

Last Friday we attended a town hall meeting, in our fair burg, with freshman congerscritter Mark Schauer (D). There were around two dozen constituents in attendance. There was a palpable tension in the coffee shop; many families in our town have their financial fortunes tied to the Big Three. In the past week the mammoth "Stimulus" Bill had been whisked through both houses of Congress and signed by the President. The pre-meeting conversations around the tables expressed frustration of citizens unable to slow or alter the course of the massive spending juggernaut. It was a clear sentiment eager to be expressed to the new representative, and hoped he would listen.

Mr. Schauer's priority, however, was not to listen, but to talk. And talk, and talk, and talk. After nearly forty-five minutes of a nearly uninterrupted monologue, some of the attendees began to shoehorn comments into what seemed to be a soliloquy.After a long lecture into the minutiae of a proposed high-speed rail in Michigan, time had run out, and many left extremely frustrated, including this correspondent.

We hope that Mr. Schauer's deafness toward the people he represents will pass with time and experience.

Why Bipartisanship?

On CNBC this morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid revealed the real reason for the of GOP votes for the "Stimulus" bill: Republicans have "bet on failure". Please, Mr. Reid, don't insult our intelligence. This is not a matter of whether your opponents want the country to live or die, it's about what is the best course of action to save the greatest economic system in the history of the world.

Chris Matthews continued the (MS)NBC attacks against Rick Santelli, calling his attitude that of "Ebenezer Scrooge". Be careful, Comrade Santelli, your attitude has been noticed. You don't wan't to be called a counterrevolutionary; they shoot counterrevolutionaries.

"Scoop" Jackson She Ain't.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made it clear that when it comes to dealing with the People's Republic of China, business (and bond buying) comes first. There was a time thirty years ago when some thought that such a realistic attitude be adopted in dealing with the Soviet Union. Senator Henry Jackson, God rest his soul, thought otherwise.

Daddy Lashes Back.

NBC's Brian Williams, Matt Lauer, and Squawk Box foe Steve Liesman jumped CNBC's Rick Santelli this morning on this morning's Today for his audacious and treacherous criticism of the White House's Mortgage Plan. Matt Lauer suggested that Obama's plan is the sacrifice the 92% of the non-delinquent public must make for the good of all of the 8% of the mortgage defaulters. Matt: I know plenty of families that could use the potlickings from the generous compensation from your network; just send us the checks and we'll forward them on. We are now taking bets that Rick will be heading to Fox Business Channel within the year. Indeed, it's not clear how much more dissent parent company (MS)NBC will tolerate from their unenlightened Wall Street Brat Pack. Get ready for Squawk Box with Robert Reich and Rachel Maddow...

The M Bomb.

The White House has just unveiled its plan to bailout distressed homeowners. CNBC's Rick Santelli voices the displeasure felt by many.

The Spending Trainwreck.

The United States Government has signed off on spending an additional $800B for anything and everything. The Left has been braying for government-directed "Industrial Policy" for decades, they now have their opportunity to implement it in a coherent manner...and they've blown it. The "Stimulus" is a trainwreck of directionless and unfocussed spending, driven by craven political desires for pork, patronage, and ideology rather than any kind of coherent plan to guide the repair of the nation's economy. Yet another trillion dollars to hobble our children's future. God Save the United States of America.

A Blunder?

President Obama called for direct talks with Iran during his press conference last night, and the president of Iran responded that he welcomed such a sentiment - with conditions. The sagging Iranian leader has been reinflated with domestic and international prestige - thanks to the White House.

Big Apple Cigar Retreats.

CA's Gordon Mott and David Savona seek out the cigar haunts of New York City.

Where Was This Fact Six Weeks Ago?

George Will unearths this gem:

...Rep. John Campbell, who owned a slew of automobile dealerships before coming to Congress from Southern California, has been told by a senior executive of Toyota's American operations that if Toyota were not making substantial profits from its SUVs and pickups, it could not continue making the Prius, which it sells at a loss. The federal government, which is in a position to dictate to mendicants, wants Detroit to make more cars like the Prius and fewer profitable vehicles. This is a novel business model...

Cheese for the House!

The House of Representatives passed their version of the "Stimulus" Bill, a $819B smorgasbord of spending. Originally peddled as primarily an "investment in infrastructure", the bill has - of course - been overwhelmed with a huge amount of irrelevant spending. Some may argue it's all necessary; if so, let the Congers vote on the proposals individually so that they can each be examined for their merits. To us it appears that most of the spending is, as Robert Samuelson argues, not "stimulative".

John Updike, 1932-2009.

Chronicler of the Middle America in the second half of the twentieth century. Here is an audio of Updike, expressing concerns about the transformation of the written word on paper to infinitely permutable ensembles of electrons.

Updike's contributions to The New Yorker have been assembled here.

Change on "Torture".

Candidate Obama walloped the Bush Administration on "torture", redefined during the extended presidential campaign as any interrogation tactic involving physical coercion, like sleep deprivation. Team O pledged to end any such type of tactic when they assumed presidential power. Now Andrew McCarthy observes (in an interview on Bill Bennett's radio show), that President Obama may reserve the right to use interrogation tactics that include physical coercion, for so-called "ticking bomb" cases. It's refreshing to see some common sense finally take hold with the new powers, but my, how change looks like the same.