Is It Any Wonder?

Is it any wonder we are in the mess we find ourselves in? The Detroit Mayor is under indictment for lying under oath, the NY Governor is a sexual predator, and the presidential candidates are economic illiterates who consider the government the solution to everything from poverty to a bright retirement. We have Senators playing footsy in the men’s room, a president putting everything American up for the lowest bidder. We have the same politicians that created the mess saying they are the key to fixing the mess. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

We have citizens that believe healthcare should be “free”, but have no qualm about spending a hundred bucks a month on cable. Knowing that education is the key to success, we are still willing to allow unions and the government to put out a defective product with no consequences. The black community of America is still blaming everything on racism but ignores the breakdown of the family, the opportunity to get educated, and how teenage pregnancy perpetuates the cycle of poverty. We accept an open border policy that allows people to cross our border illegally, undermining or job market, stretching our healthcare and educational resources, and undermining our future unity as a melting pot nation a true immigration policy encourages.

We have criminals running our government, a citizenry that accepts failure from their representatives, and an attitude of entitlement because, I’m not sure but there are too many people that think their entitled to other people’s hard earned wealth.

We are a great nation of good people but where are they in government? We need true leadership, not the people currently holding office or the ones currently running for office. We need real reform and that means changing the current crop of politicians. We need you. We need you to step up and run. I know it seems hopeless but it’s not. But we need you.

Is it any wonder we are in this mess when we have so many good people sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone to step up? We need you to step up; now…

Economic Ignoramuses…

Yesterday Obama offered an “Economic Plan”, and surprise, surprise; it’s based in government regulation, and provides no details. When are we going to start calling these politicians what they are; economic idiots! Now there are many greedy thugs on Wall Street that need to be punished, but the way to regulate Wall Street is to pay attention to where you place your money in the form of stocks and mutual funds.

Obama is offering to steal 30 billion more from the taxpayers to give to the people that have made bad decisions with their finances. Now that’s a smart plan. Add to the already ridiculous plan of President Bush, more debt and wealth re-distribution from the producers and future generations, to the, well, you know who they are, and how is that going to “fix” our economy? It won’t. It will only exacerbate the problem.

“While he laid out a half-dozen principles for closer scrutiny of the financial markets, he offered no specifics, such as which agencies should be reorganized or exactly how the government should go about peering over the shoulders of bank executives.”

While I’m no huge fan of John McCain, he nailed it with this statement: “Even before Obama finished his speech, McCain said in a statement, "there is a tendency for liberals to seek big government programs that sock it to American taxpayers while failing to solve the very real problems we face."”

Having politicians making any market based financial decisions is frightening to our future. We must trust the market, punish the individuals and companies responsible if they have broken laws, and resist the temptation to create new laws and regulations that could cripple our economy. We don’t want our markets operating anywhere close to how our government operates. God forbid. Just a thought and a prayer…

The Doobie Brothers at our HDI 2008 Conference in Dallas




























Pat Simmons signing my boot


















Rob with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (Check out the smile!) Click on any picture to expand view! (I wonder which one will be enlarged the most? Hmmmm!)



Rich with the Doobies feeling small next to Skylark the bass player extraordinaire!

What are their credentials?

There is talk about congress imposing new regulation on the financial markets to “insure” and bring “confidence” back to Wall Street. Who the he _ _ believes any one of the current politicians in office have an iota of intelligence to impose new regulations? There are regulations in place for most of the criminal activity that went on, for the rest of it; it is simply the inherent risk of playing the market. Send the people responsible for falsifying documents and loan applications straight to jail. Let the companies that were stupid enough to loan money to unqualified applicants to fail. We don’t need a bunch of misfit politicians getting their tentacles into our financial markets because if there is anything we can derive from their past “experience” with finances, is they are morons.

This article here talks about the programs (Social Security and Medicare) these politicians are directly responsible for, tinkering on the brink of financial ruin. This is their legacy, and they want to regulate the private sector? With what credentials? The lobbyists will write the new regulations, and does anyone think there will be an ounce of good that comes out of that? Give me a break!

We need to get rid of all the morons in both politics and business if we are going to thrive. Let’s not encourage the same people that have ruined Social Security and Medicare to do the same thing to the private markets. Let them focus on putting the crooks in jail that have created this mess (including themselves). That would be something that might have a positive impact on our markets; maybe. It is better than having them act in an area where they have no credentials at all. Just a thought…

Thinking like a typical “white” person?

What did Obama mean by that comment? (Great commentary on Obama here) I consider myself a typical “white” person, although I don’t think about being white very much, and I know what I think about all Americans. I am color blind like Dr. King dreamed about. I have respect for all communities of Americans that share my values, hopes, and dreams. If you have read my book, My Life; Ignored! you know that my family was blessed with the support of my Dad’s co-workers (mostly black), at a time we needed it most. This experience and others, like attending a mostly Black and Hispanic High School, have shaped my feelings on race relations.

So when Obama makes a blanket statement about all whites, I am extremely offended. This comment puts him in the company of race baiters, similar to the Sharpton’s, Jackson’s, and Farrakhan’s of the world. This kind of statement gives us a window into the soul of the candidate. He is not a uniter as he proclaims, his beliefs are rooted in a past time that continues to keep us from uniting as the human race, and as Americans in particular.

If he is going to continue to associate with the likes of his Reverend, and other extremists, he will lose the general election in a landslide because like most “white” Americans; I have a dream…

It’s Just the Chinese being Chinese…

The communist Chinese government is “cracking” down, which is code for, killing their own people for protesting Chinese oppression. With the Olympics right around the corner, God forbid they be embarrassed by those pesky monks in Tibet. We can’t have that now, so we stand by and watch, justifying our continued “relationship” with China by saying, “we can’t punish the poor athletes that train so hard for the actions of the Chinese government. Why not?

When are we going to pull the plug on these thugs? They have undermined our economy by using child labor, and ignoring every environmental regulation we have in the US. Fair competition? I think not. We should be ashamed of ourselves. When will we start defining fair competition fairly? When will we start ostracizing governments that enslave their people? When will we start looking to a higher principle than the dollar?

They buy our debt because we are addicted to spending; have politicians that are economically illiterate, and a population that must have it now whether or not they can afford it. We are in for a big adjustment, and until we cut our spending we will continue to have to allow the Chinese to be Chinese; brutal and oppressing to their people. Pathetic! Just a thought…

Will we ever be colorblind?

In light of the new focus on Obama’s preacher’s words of division, will America and the world ever be colorblind? It breaks my heart to listen to this preacher fan the flames of racial hatred, blaming white America for the ills of black Americans. We can all make excuses, and I will never deny that there are racist people in positions of power, but to generalize that America is racist, and the reason for the world’s problems is flat out false.

Preacher’s that preach this message of victimization and division only provide excuses for individuals that need to look inward rather that outward for their station in life. America is the land of opportunity for all. It doesn’t discriminate against hard work and determination. Some are born to advantage but this country is full of examples of success from people of every race and ethnicity. What they have in common is a desire, passion, and a blind eye toward the victimhood mentality.

There are the Ted Kennedy’s of the world, but they are the exception not the rule. Obama needs to explain where he stands on the issue of racial opportunity, and whether he believes America is a force of good or evil in the world. His preacher is not running for president but between the comments he has made as a preacher, and his wife’s comment about never being proud of America until now, begs the question of where does Obama stand? Does he believe in victimhood for black America, or the opportunity for all American’s to be what they want to be? Is he colorblind or blinded by color? We need to know, and that is not racist. If he wants to be the president of all Americans, he can’t hide from these questions. Does he have a dream? Just a thought…

Sometimes the best action is no action…

The federal government is in a panic. Their actions are perpetuating a problem that can only be solved by staying out of the “solution”. The current mortgage crisis was brought on by lending large amounts of money to people that could not afford to pay it back. It is also impacting the people that jumped into the real estate market, “flipping” properties for profit, and getting caught with too many properties and not enough buyers. Timing is everything when it comes to the risky business of flipping property.

The government’s solution to this, borrow and print more money to give to people to “stimulate” the economy. So the problem is going to be fixed by borrowing more money? I don’t get it. The banks that were buying and betting on these loans made a bad bet. And like every bad bet, the price must be paid, and the consequences felt, no matter what that means. If the government bails out these institutions, it will send the message that this practice is acceptable, and no lesson is learned. Will it hurt some of us? You bet, but the market will correct itself faster without these government programs which will only prolong the pain and make things worse in the long run.

Congress could do a few “simple” things to stimulate the economy; cut corporate taxes from the highest in the world 35% to 20%, cap spending at 20% of GDP (by law), and allow drilling for oil here to reduce foreign dependence, sending a message to the oil producers of the world that we are not playing their games anymore. Oil prices would drop, and goods and services would follow. None of these increases government debt or intrusion into the market. There are other things to do but this would be a good start.

Credit is a huge value for the economy when used and extended wisely. Our government is out of control with spending, borrowing, and meddling in the market. It is time to start sending government finance people to jail for mismanagement of our tax dollars. If any private business was managing the stock holder’s money the way the federal government is handling our tax dollars, they would be brought before a congressional committee, put on trial, and sent to jail. It is time to start doing the same to the government bureaucrats that are flushing our future down the toilet. Just a thought…

Dew wi think owr kids ar lerning?

Hav yu ever red a blog were yung kids post there coments? I no they have taken the emfasis off speling, but some of these posts are depresing! I am not talking about instant mesage shorthand but people triing to rite a simple sentense.

Im shure its just mi, but I half too aks, half yu notised these?

Where Has Critical Thinking Gone?

It is a failure of our education system that American children are growing with little critical thinking training, and more importantly, little or no constitutional training. Our schools are spending too many hours on feel good learning. Approaching curriculum from a position that highlights diversity, sensitivity, self esteem, and the world is a wonderful place, does a disservice to our kids when facing the real world.

What will happen as generations graduate ignorant of our founding principles, and the constitution that has delivered 230 years of successful self government? Will it be easier to be hood winked into socialism, populism, or any other ism, because we will have a large segment of our population unable to analyze or debate a subject with critical analysis? Case in point, Barrack Obama and all of his “positions”, Hillary Clinton and her attempt to socialize healthcare, and John McCain infringing on the first amendment with his campaign finance bill, are all examples of how easily people who can’t analyze a position, allow for changes that could undermine our way of life.

If we are going to mandate diversity in our schools, then let’s also mandate a real history course that teaches our founding principles with the pride and respect it deserves. Let us be proud of our nation again when we teach about it and its accomplishments. Let’s teach our kids about the constitution again in detail so we know how to defend it from her enemy’s at home and abroad. Just a thought…