The King's Marquee

Election Day is finally here! Let's get out there an seal the deal for Trump and the American people! And don't forget to support the CTGOP under-ticket!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Don't bail out Wall Street



It must be nice to live in a place where you can make unsound financial loans and when they go bust - simply call on the tax-payer via Washington to bail you out.

$700 million dollars is a lot of money to fork over for risky mistakes made. Or perhaps they weren't mistakes - the greedy saw a way to get greedier by making short term gains and hoping to stick someone else with the bill.

Everyone in their right mind, sees this. Yet the President and the Congress seem ready to take the plunge on behalf of all of us. What sickens me is not just the millions in bailout money, but its the fact that Congress seems willing to fork over millions to pet groups like Acorn and other scandalous organizations. Plus why not tack on few million in earmarks for districts like Joe Biden's.

What the hell is going on?

We send the most irresponsible people to Washington to bail out an even more irresponsible group of people. And the threats just keep coming. Bail out the Wallsheeters or their will be total economic collapse. Sure.

Call your Congressman and tell them to go tell Wall Street and the corrupt executives that agreed to risky mortgage loans to get new jobs and bail themselves out. What a insane, socialistic country we are becoming.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Choosing Obama: Rationale and Analysis

The most complicated thought process is understanding why someone would support Barack Obama. I think that generally speaking when you lay everything out, he's an incredibly hard sell. But there are those - those looking beyond merit and experience, who are squarely in the Obama camp.

Let's analyze their arguments to see what we come up with.

Rationale: I'm voting for Barack Obama because we've had eight years of George Bush and Republicans and we can do better.

Analysis: George Bush can take both credit and blame for a lot of things. This writer has found many faults with Bush as a leader, communicator and President. But President Bush's biggest downfall is his inability to articulate positions and ideals in a manner understood by his general audience. This gap hurt him and Republicans tremendously because principles and ideals could not be advanced by the man at the top. If you can't communicate economic policy or defense policy in other than non-complex terms, or draw analogies (or paint the picture) then its hard for folks to buy into your way of thinking. In fact, the Bush Administration has been mostly about the various military conflicts abroad, and less about domestic policy - which required far more attention than it received.

Few people, even on the Republican side, are sad to see George Bush leave office.

Republicans dug their own hole with the public by proving that they are no better than Democrats at dipping into the til to spend money on pet projects. Newt Gingrich spoke most plainly to this by saying that Republicans began to act like Democrats, except that the pork spending went into Republican districts. Republicans were promoted to control of Congress after putting together the Contract with America and committing to hold the line on frivolous spending. Republicans were seen to be no better than Democrats, and as memories are short - Republicans got the boot. And they deserved to get the boot. The problem with this argument though, is that Democrats have controlled Congress over the last two cycles and have been less productive then just about any Congress in the history of the the United States.

Democrats cannot claim to be part of the solution since their Congressional record is beyond dismal. Even with a poor communicator like George Bush in office, Democrats couldn't muster a counter-argument to any policy. Senate Leader Henry Reid (D) came across bitter and angry; and made himself irrelevant. And Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) seemed at best distracted and disengaged. Surely, no Congress has ever done so little with so much ammunition. And Democrat activists are coming unglued about the lost opportunty to have possibly advanced their agenda. And with both Presidential nominees coming from the U.S. Senate, we must admit that they are both part of the problem, and both fall within the 7% approval rating that Congress so justly deserves. That rating is far below the President's approval rating even at its lowest peak.

The other part of this faulty argument is that John McCain is not George Bush. In fact, the leadership styles are very different. Are the political stance different? Not quite sure on that one. We know that McCain has differed with his party on more than one occasion, but just because some agrees on where we need to get to, doesn't mean that they would follow the same path. In this respect, tying McCain to Bush is dishonest by any intellectual standard. While its true the platforms for Democrats and Republicans are different, approaches, plans and ideas should be evaluated on an individual basis, not a party line evaluation - particularly when it comes to John McCain.

Rationale: Obama is new and exciting. He's not an insider.

Analysis: It's true that Obama wasn't an insider at the start of his U.S. Senate career some 147 days ago before he was a Community Organizer. But one would have to say that he's probably just as much an insider as anyone is in the political establishment. The process to become a U.S. Senator, regardless of party, is rooted in favors, money, donations, pacs, special interest groups and a litany of other things that candidates seem to be always rallying against.

It's true he's new. But he's too new to know how things work. We do not elect dictators that come in on day one and start calling the shots. And moreover there are plenty of entrenched politicians in Congress, Lobbyists, and civilians lifers in every department that tend to be the ones that make the engine chug. Barack Obama has barely been in the Senate, he's barely proposed any solutions, and he's not managed to get a single piece of legislation approved by his peers. How do people expect him to come in and advance change on a global scale, when he cannot advance change in his own Chamber?

Rationale: Barack means change.

Analysis: Change to what? Change what? Barack Obama hasn't laid out any detail plans that reflect change we can believe in, let alone change we can't believe in. He's made the same general statements that most politicians wish to adhere to: better lives for middle class, getting along with our neighbors, ending the war on terror, better health care for everyone, on and on and on. In this respect, he's no different. But in one respect, given that the election is only two months away, he hasn't given out a hint of how all these wonderful goals can be achieved.

The only change we see is the one that he has gone out of his way to point out - that's he of a different ethnic background, and comes from a non-traditional background. But that alone isn't reason enough to select Obama.

Rationale: I hate Republicans. I'm voting for Obama.

Analysis: This by far is the most legitimate reason to vote for Barack Obama. The reason is that because behind this rationale, there is not need for discussion on merit, experience, resume, or detailed plans; its pure emotion and pure politics. There is no way to change the mind of someone that thinks like this (and there are those on the conservative side that will vote for McCain by the same argument).

Depending on where you come down on certain issues - we call such voters "one issue voters" that either McCain or Obama will be your candidate no matter what. For example, a die hard pro-abortion person will choose Obama, and a Christian conservative pro-life voter will choose McCain. But these issues are few and far between and make up a minority of the population. Their votes are already cast. It's the people in the middle - the independents, the loosely affiliated - those that may be members of a party but don't adhere to much of the platform, and those that are members of a party but may be so by chance or because they chose a party 20 some odd years ago.

If people really want new and untested. If they want to break the mold - they thing that seems to really excite the media because they enjoy a fairytale ending, then Obama will win in November. If Americans take the election seriously, and want the Nation governed by an experienced (work and real life) person, then McCain will get the nod.

My guess is that the college crowd (those who are still living in a bubble), the unions, the liberals, and minorities will show en masse for Obama. And the conservatives, the small business owners, the Christians, and the guy who watches his wallet will probably hold his nose and vote for McCain (against the unknown underachiever).

As for Palin and Biden. They add little; they are merely distractions from the main event.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Back from vacation....

Just a quick entry...

We all just got back from a fabulous week at Cape Cod.

So much to rant about, and so little time. Two and half hours of driving, followed by unpacking, followed by bedtime routine leaves me to put out this meager entry...

I'm off to have a beverage or two. And then ... I'm sure I'll be out like a light.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Obama time


Democratic operatives have been fast to create something out of nothing after Barack Obama's less than perfect nomination speech. A careful review of the speech finds that Barack has the usual list of Democrat complaints about George Bush, big plans for big spending to give out free stuff, and no details about how the complaints he raises can be addressed.
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Barack Hussein Obama has received more than a free ride over the past several months. In part, the media aided Obama by giving him favored treatment over Hillary Clinton - as a neutral observer with no horse in the race - that is pretty much a fact. In some ways it was enjoyable to watch the Clinton's get a dose of their own medicine after eight years of the same treatment that Republicans received while Bill was turning the White House into a fundraising center.
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The Obama factor is an interesting one. The free week long commercial always puts the candidate (particularly the Democrat one) in a positive light. The media laid off of Barack for the week, and didn't question the lack of specifics on energy, defense, or economic positions that he mentioned. There was a lot about Barack being different. The media loves the fact that Barack is black, has a non-traditional name and is the underdog of underdog's in a white man's world. They can't help but root for him and want to push him over the top to shake up what is considered the "status quo".
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Hillary Clinton was quoted during the primaries as saying that "[Barack] he can't win." She is right. When push comes to shove its hard to imagine Barack Hussein Obama, just a few years after 9-11, becoming President of the United States.
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Honestly, we really don't know much about Barack Obama which is because there isn't much to tell. His leadership and business experience is literally non-existent. All he can boast is that he was a "Community Organizer" in Chicago. No practical executive experience is a scary concept when you are applying to be CEO of the largest, most important agency in the free world.
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Something different isn't a substitute for qualification nor competence. And when we start seeing debates and tough questions about what Obama will do or won't do in different situations will be all telling. So the free ride is just about over (although I expect that some media circles will cheer lead for Obama all the way through the November election), and sooner rather than later conversation will turn to substance and qualification.
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The Obama camp know they are defeated. Whatever Obama says will not be based on experience but rather coached talking points by hired Democrat operatives. Everything you hear from Obama will be 'manufactured' and packaged - which is why experience does matter in the end.
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This week Republicans are setting up for their convention. Although it will be preempted by Hurricane Gustav (if not ruined). Watch carefully as the media's analysis turns cynical and dark in contrast to last week's nearly enthusiastic support by the media outlets.
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According to CBSNBCMSNBCABCPBS - Democrats can do no wrong, Republicans are always wrong. That's the message. It will be up to McCain and Palin to show America that they aren't Bush III, and they are more than a reasonable alternative to an upstart, unqualified, inexperienced Obama.