I'm interested to see how this 'economic recovery package' works out.

There's a lot going on. I just hope our representatives put the country first, and get down to business. Are you loyal to your political party, your ideology? Or are you a patriot, who cares most about the well being of our citizens.

I hope we have enough patriots in Washington to get us out of this hole.

I'm sick of the he said she said crap that passes for political discourse. I'm sick of the perpetual campaign, where you're always trying to make 'my colleagues on the other side of the aisle' look evil. I'm sick of power struggles, political favors, and games. I'm sick of hidden agendas.

I don't care what party you're in, you were elected to represent the will of the people. We elected You, because we trust you to look out for us, NOT to look out for yourselves.

I don't want to be too hard on the Republicans, I'd really hate to be in their shoes. And I'm sure the Democrats aren't going to be easy on them. When the Republicans had power, they used that power to exclude and marginalize the Democrats. Payback has got to be appealing..

It's not going to be easy to put this bitch back together.

I gotta say though, this past weekend was a stunt. All the Republicans doing a full court press, all over TV, to tear down the stimulus package. Every one of them saying they'd vote against it. This was a game. A decision by the Republican party to begin the 2010 campaign now. Start attacking Obama, and drawing lines in the sand. I really don't think the country has patience for that shit.

Some fanatics out there must believe that the Democrats are evil, or something, because they'd rather see Obama fail. They'd rather see the next 2 years land us in a Great Depression so they can point fingers and say "see, I told you so, the democrat party was in power, and look what happened. You fools better elect some Republicans to fix their mess." Boy that would be great for the Republican party, the more Obama fails, and the more the country and the economy are destroyed, the better their chances in 2010, or 2012.

But I hope those are only the fanatics. Because the people in Washington have more important things to do than watch the country burn.

Every person I've talked to since the election says, "I hope Obama gets something done quick, we got some serious problems in this country, I hope he can deliver." It's not just democrats, everyone has a family member who isn't making both ends meet. Laid off, part time, pay cut, can't find work, turning off the cable and internet, getting rid of a cell phone or a car. Americans are not as divided as we were, we all have the same problems. I think we're also optimistic that we can solve those problems. We're a proud nation, we have faith in ourselves.

You know what the public wants, Fix it, get 'er done. Get to work, putting us back to work.

I feel unified.

This must be the most gracious and humble president we've ever had.

There is something about public ritual that inspires a certain awe. It seems an appropriate way to take pride in our country and our democracy. I've been in big cowds, It's a unifying thing, and to think of how many people are watching the same thing around the world. It's like half of humanity just took part in this moment, at the exact same time. And it's a time when we need to be unified, and determined to meet the challenges facing humanity.

It's nice to feel hopeful about the future. Maybe the world will feel like working together a little more. Feels like we all have a responsibility to help.

Barack Obama, the people's president.

Cheers to the 131.2 million people who voted this year. that's 63% of eligible voters. Congratulations to The People's President.

Hey all! it's been a while. We're doing good on the house, I plan to post some more pictures soon, but first a bit of politics.

If you're looking for the economy, you'll find it in the crapper. We've got lots of unemployment, less credit, less spending, less confidence, and less consumption.

Everyone agrees that something needs to be done to boost the economy before it gets worse. So what will get us the "most bang for our buck"? Is it tax cuts, spending on public works projects, aid to the states? What is the most effective use of dollars. We already have a trillion dollar deficit, so it'd be nice if we could avoid simply throwing money at the thing, like we did with the banks. We should be making targeted investments, and we should be able to see exactly where that money is going.

Tax cuts work different for different groups. For the working class it's supposed to encourage us to buy stuff. Pay down our debt, and get a new laptop or something. It's real similar to the rebate checks we got last time around, except it comes out of our payroll taxes instead.

Tax cuts on the upper classes, that's where we expect tax cuts to do the most good, because if they have more money it inspires them to go ahead and create more jobs for us poor working stiffs... right? I doubt it, if people aren't buying their product they're not hiring. If you sell fewer cars this year, why hire new people? And when people don't have decent jobs, then they can't buy your cars... we're still broke.

I think tax cuts are the equivalent of throwing money at the thing... "Here, everyone have a little cash, go spend it, and this will probably work itself out." Sounds like a faith based economic philosophy to me. I don't have any confidence that the invisible hand of the market will save us. I'd rather a more practical approach.

You know what inspires companies to create jobs? Better sales!!!! Increase demand, and guess what, they'll increase the size of their workforce.

If we want this recovery package to work, the government needs to buy stuff, lots of it, because that creates demand. Buy new computers for the schools, fix roads and bridges, make government buildings more energy efficient, buy some hybrid cars for the postal service, modernize some hospitals...

There are a million things in this country that have been neglected because of an anti-spending attitude in Washington. We live in Buffalo right, we've got a hundred plans and a hundred projects that are ready to go, if we just had the cash to go ahead and build. You don't even have to be creative just give states, counties and cities the money they've been waiting for. But remember, local governments can be just as corrupt as the Feds, make sure that we know exactly where the money is being spent. I love Obama's idea of making all this information public online. Transparency in government is so important.


Article supporting tax cuts


US News article


NY times roundup

I got a bum middle finger on my left hand doing some house repair. We opened up the window seat this weekend, and I poked the tip of my finger pretty bad.

I want to write about the senate elections in Minnesota and Georgia, cause I think it proves my point about Instant Runoff Voting. it'll take a lot of words though, so I'll have to wait.

Happy shoveling everyone.

In relation to my last post: "Bailout ignores homeowners"

Home Foreclosures have officially been suspended through the holidays.


Merry Christmas everybody. Fannie and Freddie don't want to ruin the Christmas Shopping Spirit by throwing you out on your ass.

I'm a little cynical here, because this type of action was not hard. The government Owns Fannie and Freddie now, and it costs zero dollars to issue a moratorium on foreclosures. The only excuse for waiting a month is confusion, incompetence and ignorance to the problems average people face.

I know not everybody can afford their mortgages, I'm sure some did get in over their head. But 279,561 people lost their homes this past month, that's 25% higher than last October, that's an increase of 70,000 people, I'll bet some were victims of adjustable rates, predatory schemes, crappy real estate markets, etc.

I guess I'm glad they're doing something.

Bailout ignores homeowners.

Remember when we passed the bailout everyone thought it was a good idea to keep people in their homes. Banks made bad loans to people who couldn't pay them back, but we could renegotiate those loans into something people can afford. If people can pay something toward their mortgage the loans are not as worthless or "toxic" as they called them in the news. It's a bottom up approach, don't just buy garbage loans from the banks, make it so borrowers can pay the banks back and keep those mortgages from defaulting.

Well, that didn't happen and in October 279,561 people lost their homes. That is a failure of government. We never set up a system to deal with foreclosures. It's not like this was sudden, it takes a few months to kick somebody out of their home. I'm sure many many of those people were trying to play by the rules, and could have renegotiated their loans and paid them off. That's a 5% increase from the previous month and a 25% increase from October 2007. Every month that we let 'loans' become 'bad debt' we are just draining money out of the economy and creating more uncertainty.

Party First or Country First
The Bush years were ruled by party politics. After Every crisis, the first question they asked was "How can we use this to make the Republicans look good and the Democrats look bad". And there was a dogmatic reliance on conservative ideals (like private mercenaries in Iraq who get paid more than our military)

I hope moving forward we can build consensus instead of battling over turf wars. Because that's why people disapprove of congress more than bush, because there's always some ideological stalemate, and some party line rivalry. And nothing got done. We need solutions, this is not a game. Let's agree where we can.

The Economy Grows Like Crazy Amid High Taxes

Not that taxes should be raised in an economic depression, but the idea that lower taxes makes the economy better is false.

"High taxes create an incentive to reinvest profits into the business for long-term growth. With high taxes, the only way to retain the bulk of the wealth created by a business is by reinvesting it in the business -- in plants, equipment, staff, research and development, new products and all the rest."


It's a simple argument, based on historical trends in the US. It makes perfect logical sense. The 'trickle-down' idea of cutting taxes and giving benefits to the rich just encourages saving and stockpiling cash, while higher tax rates encourages reinvestment in the business and writing it off on your taxes.

Drew said something along these lines in a previous post, and I see the same situation since I'm self-employed.

I just don't think taxes as the root of all evil, especially when healthcare is a bigger problem and expense for me and my business. And I do think it's patriotic to pitch in and help the country as a whole.

Just a thought.

Obama and his team have used the Internet very well to engage supporters in the campaign, will that idea carry through to the presidency? Will the new administration use the web to engage citizens, help us be more aware, and more active in the government? Obama has consistently called on us to be active. He says that change will happen only if we work together. It's not about what Obama can accomplish, it's what WE can accomplish as a nation. Inclusiveness is a common theme for Obama, and it looks like he's going to stick to that as president.

I think using the internet to keep people engaged and informed about their government is an excellent idea. And it reminds me of FDR's fireside chats on the radio during the depression.

There have been a few articles on this topic, here's a recent update, the campaign announces they will do a weekly youtube update.

I hope this should go way beyond youtube, but this is a good sign.

A Few Reasons to Believe that this time is Different

I'm optimistic.

Of course we can't expect the politicians to solve our problems for us... But Barack Obama knows that too.

This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

We will only solve our problems by working together, the government, the citizens, Republicans and Democrats. Barack Obama knows this too.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.... Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.... while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress... And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too

It's about the power and determination of a unified American people.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

This next quote puts everything in perspective. He talked about the 106 year old woman who voted yesterday, and all the things she's witnessed in America over the past century.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

_______________________

He may not agree with me on every policy decision. I'll probably have to sign some petitions and make some phone calls along the way to urge him to take my opinion into account. But we do agree on the fundamentals of this country, and the idea that an honest and thoughtful democracy will reach the best policies over time.

Progress happens when we all work together, when we take a hands on approach, and make it our responsibility to achieve a brighter future for our children.

I thought the speeches by McCain and Obama last night ended this campaign in a very good way. There are big problems ahead, but I expect those challenges to make us stronger in the end.