True Grit

My younger son asked why I wasn't more positive about Obama's performance. Although I was not caught up in Obamamania last fall, the platform of change, progress did create some expectations in many people including me . My concerns were and are entered on management experience, skills and whether he was tough enough [ I called it cajones]. In deference to John Wayne, I will start calling it "true grit".

The climate change bill passed by the house, all ~1300 pages of it, gives away 85% of the permits to emit CO2. The Dept of Agriculture gets to monitor the "offsets" that farmers can sell...why not the EPA since this is a climate change bill? Obama extolled the "millions of green jobs" to be created and the reduction in "dangerous dependence on foreign energy". Not a word about the jobs that will be destroyed by a "low carbon economy" not a word about the fact that the proceeds from auctioning permits was to go to help finance the new health care plans. Not a word about the impact on GDP growth. Why doesn't the great communicator tells us the facts; moving to a low carbon economy will cost the US citizen money [much more than $175 per person, the CBO estimated for 2020 well before the bill really kicks in]. Is he being selective with the facts? I trust he is bullying the senate to correct some of the nonense we are seeing in the house bill .

It's difficult to reconcile this energy bill with what we heard earlier from the WH; its difficult to reconcile the present lack of candor with all the promises we heard about fulsome communications. Most importantly, it's difficult to understand how the house got where it did given Obama's earlier statements...so much for presidential direction influencing legislation. I do hope Obama does something to demonstrate that this not going to be the "most congress centric administration" in decades. Particularly with a congress of this ilk. I do hope he does something, almost anything, to help me believe he just might possibly have true grit.

After ~ 200 days, school is out, Mr President.

Relative to what?

VP says we misread the economy...not so says Obama, we didnt have the complete information!!!! [Krugman at least had the courage to say he didnt forsee it would be this bad.] Obama will never have the "complete information" on an estimate until it becomes reality/history. The One is too clever by half... can't get right if I dont have complete info and hey I just set prioities, goals and objectives, congress and the cabinet must fill in the blanks. Making decisions with out all the facts is a fact of life in many adult endeavors. Some call it judgment....others might call it management 101.

Or is it a case of being thin-skinned; do not like being criticized, second guessed, what ever. Either way, welcome to the real world, Mr President

Within 24 hours of a Quinnipac poll citing lower approval levels in Ohio re handling of the economy , WH announces a "tour" of rural towns in former swing states. Why not urban tours in bigger cities and surroundings where 75% of the economy is generated? By all means include NY, SF, LA to ensure some friendly faces are visible. The only thing new is the siren's voice; the rest is the same old, same old...


When faced with trillion $ costs for the health care initiatives, what does DC do? First off, we begin to massage the health care cost curve A.K.A play with the numbers,modify the assumptions. Next maybe we will change actuarial longevity best guesses on how long we will live and, behold...now we will "tax the rich" to take care of the left outs. We will have to do that anyway in an attempt to righten the good ship deficit at some point so why not do it now. Never waste a good crisis!! Eventually to paraphrase Thatcher there will be no one else left to tax some more. And then when it's time to tackle the deficit, the Democrats will have to define rich as anyone with more than $25,000 in the bank and today's California as a model for us all to emulate ,ohee, ohee.