If at first you don't succeed...

go ask the President.

I'm disgusted.  And disenfranchised.  

Sorry so quiet!

Christmas stuff and the conclusion of school have gotten in the way.  I haven't even been able to get to pay as much attention as I'd like to the bailout baloney, although my general impression is that the senators are unimpressed, just not to the same extent as the rest of us.

Financial news continues to worry...but there are a lot of good sources of basic information.  I've started getting John Mauldin's financial newsletter, available here.  You have to register for it, but there's no detectable spam associated with it.  

School stuff?  I'm not done yet?!  Nope, one more paper, due Tuesday.  I have to write about myself, my cultural background, and how I look at people of backgrounds different than mine.  I've learned some things this semester, definitely.  But I have to say that if you approach another person as Jesus instructed us to, it is a lot easier to get your head around.  Unconditional positive regard (a wonderful concept originated by Rogers) is at the heart of Christian love.  It doesn't mean condoning a person's actions; instead, it is having a positive attitude to the person you are with.  For me, it's the same as looking at every person as someone God loves.  If you really try to look at people that way it can change you.  I don't quite know how a person who doesn't believe this summons the fortitude to feel positive towards people without any help at all.  Just a thought.

DD5 and I are going to inventory the baking supplies, too, to get started on some cookies.  Tis the season.

Finally, out of the mouths of babes...DD7 is taking art lessons.  A professional artist friend of my dad's saw her paintings and was suitably impressed.  When I told DD7, she sighed and said, "Well, I guess I can be an artist.  But then I'll have to give up my dream."  "What's your dream, baby?" "To be an actress." *sigh* I hate that she'll have to give up her dream of being an actress to be an artist.  I want to live in her world.

And DD5 just started taking horseback riding lessons this week.  She's been obsessed with cowgirls and (inexplicably) Texas for a long time.  She just informed me, "I'm going to grow up and be a famous horseback rider in Texas.  And I'll throw everyone two-handed kisses." I'd live in her world, too.

Have a good day!

The automotive bailout

I know this happened a couple of days ago, but I've been mulling this over and have the following observations...

First, how clueless do you have to be to take a private jet to beg for money?  It is indicative of their sense of entitlement and hubris that they would be so unconscious of their image here...their PR people should be fired, at a minimum.  Apparently they are still doing business as usual, utterly unconscious of the fact that the world is changing dramatically around them. 

Imagine the powerful image had they decided to DRIVE from Detroit, a convoy of maybe 15 cars, driving straight through to DC.  What a message!  It wouldn't have changed my mind, but it might have made me feel a little softer towards them, believe that they were really doing everything they can to save their respective companies.  

The UAW didn't do themselves any favors, either.  It's obvious that something big has to give on their end, but they just won't budge.  Sorry, no sympathy there from me.

However.  They are obviously getting their money.  Harry Reid stood up and said that they hadn't done so many things, how could we give them more money?  What he was doing was setting the table for a bailout in the next six weeks or so.  The big guys go back to Detroit, fill the in the boxes that Reid & Co. laid out for them.  Then when they come back they'll say, "We did just what you wanted, see?"  And then Washinton will cut their checks.  Watch for it.

A sensible politician.

John Howard is very sensible.  He is also, unfortunately, both Australian and retired (defeated?). He was until this year the Prime Minister of Australia, a conservative and a stalwart ally of our War on Terror.  (I hate that name.)

I caught an interview he did yesterday with Neil Cavuto.  I've tried to find a video, transcript, anything, because what he had to say was so clear and so simple.  Neil asked his opinion of how the worldwide economic collapse had happened.  Howard was very clear:  you can't force the financial markets to carry out your social policy.  Let the financial markets carry out their purpose, and let your welfare be welfare.  So the U.S. incentives (strong-arming?) to provide mortgages to people less than fully qualified for them was completely ill-advised, in his opinion.  

I like that...I don't mind providing welfare for some people, but call it what it is.  Don't call it "subprime mortgages," and don't call it a tax rebate for people who never paid taxes.  Just call it welfare.  There is power in the language that you use.  And if I can find a copy of the interview, I'll post it.  Howard's speaking style is striking, direct and clear, not only because of that Aussie accent.

You don't say...

Now they tell us.

More Bailout stuff

I started this blog with the intent of writing about school but the world keeps getting in the way. 

First, did you see that about AmEx yesterday?  The Fed fast-tracked their bank application specifically so they could take part in the bailout.  They don't have mortgages!  That $700 billion is because of mortgages...that's what we were told.  And the bailout is extending to student loans, cars...This is not right.  All I can think to do is write to Congress.  

And then, we have this whole "too big to fail" mentality.  I heard someone say on the radio (I think it might have been on FoxNews Sunday) that Obama would be good for "big business."  This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how the economic engine of the United States works, and it's dangerously like the FDR's administration view of a three-legged stool of the economy.  They looked at the US as having big government, big business, and big labor. What's missing?  Right.  The little guy.  And it drove us deeper into the Depression even as the rest of the world was recovering.  (See Amity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man for much, much more.)

Yes, I'm speaking a little out of self-interest.  DH is self-employed, and over the years has grown his company to employ a bunch of people.  This is how wealth is generated in this country.  And as his customers fail, because they are too little to save, his unsecured loans (in the form of items shipped with payment terms) to the customers become bad loans.  But we're too little, too.  Too little to save, but not too little to pay for the bailout of the big guys.  I can't believe we're still dealing with a Republican administration (is it really RINO?).  And I shudder to think what we'll be dealing with in a year.

Is the inexperience showing?

Sen. Obama met with President Bush yesterday. To me it seemed like, all of a sudden, he looked way more inexperienced that I expected.  I find it a little scary--like all of a sudden Obama and his aides realize that this isn't theory anymore, these are Americans' lives and futures at stake.

The avalanche of changes that were floated surrounding this meeting has the feel of a bunch of amateurs right now--people who are still operating with an incomplete data set and yet aren't aware of it.  For example, the closing of Gitmo.  There aren't any clear, good alternatives, but he's most likely going to close it because of pressure from the ACLU and other parties.  (And on that link, I don't know that I've ever heard the ACLU called a "human rights group" before.  Just sayin'.)

Another thing:  this leak concerning an auto bailout.  There were only two people in that office, and I just don't think it was the President who went out and started talking.  This kind of thing smacks of inexperience, almost as if Obama doesn't realize that everything he says now has a weight he could never have imagined before.  It really worries me because it plays into that "oops" mentality he's shown before.  I'm afraid that the next time it will be a national security issue.  You know, as I write this, I'm realizing that the markets ARE a national security issue.  I hope he learns really, really fast.

UPDATE:  Cyrus, in the comments, calls this "dog chasing the car syndrome."  Yes!  That's exactly it.  Also, here are Joan Didion's comments, the "unexpressible uneasiness." (That Joan Didion post via Instapundit, and I also saw Althouse commented on it.)

Keeping an eye on the bail-out

Look at this...the Fed says they don't have to tell us where they are spending OUR money.  Right now, I'm feeling kind of confused.  I thought they voted on $700 billion but now we're talking $2 TRILLION.  And more industries are wanting bailouts, like the auto makers.  (Um, NO.)  And our friends over at AIG are getting even more.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling helpless.  Last Tuesday I said to DH, "No matter what happens, I'm paying attention from now on."  I think this is part of paying attention.  If you have a problem with "King Fed," contact your Congressmen.  Go here. Link to the articles on Drudge and Bloomberg and even my blog (more traffic, yea!).  Let's all pay attention.  I'm tired of being messed with.

UPDATE:  I just realized...it's the arrogance.  What supreme arrogance on the part of Paulson and Bernanke, that they don't feel the least bit accountable.  They certainly regard us taxpayers with contempt.  But not our money.  Good Lord.