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Thoughts at Large

Afghanistan Today

A recent newspaper article described an attack in Afghanistan on a group of our soldiers. Pinned down by withering enemy fire they called for artillery. The response by our own forces; under new rules we can't do that, we may accidentally hurt a civilian. Helicopters arrived an hour late for support even though they were promised to be only 5 minutes away. Shades of Viet Nam! I remember the same crap going on over there as civilians back home determined how the soldiers at the front could conduct the war. We watched helplessly at times as our troops were being slaughtered but we were not allowed to offer assistance because we may step on "sacred ground".

Enough is enough. If we are not there to win by whatever means necessary then it is time to pull our troops out. You either fight to win, or don't fight at all. If we don't have the conviction to do what is necessary then we deserve to fail and the consequences that will come with our failure. We saw congress join hands and sing shortly after 9/11 and then splinter into a bickering group of schoolchildren. Those are our leaders. A bunch of little children fighting for their own self interests and the chance to be reelected to a do nothing job with great benefits.

Congratulations people, Democrats and Republicans alike, you voted these self-centered ego driven politicians into office and you continue keeping them there buying their lies and promises and giving them your votes. I hope you are happy with what your gullibility has gotten you.

Obama's New Fuel Standards

The new rules would bring new cars and trucks sold in the United States to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, about 10 mpg more than today's standards. Passenger cars will be required to get 39 mpg, light trucks 30 mpg and costing the consumer about $1300 more to purchase a vehicle that they don't really want. In effect, some soccer moms will have to give up their SUVs. Carpenters will still haul materials around in pickup trucks, but they will cost more. Nearly everybody else will drive smaller cars. Yes, more government meddling in our lives that is supposed to help us but in fact will cost us more money and aggravation. just so the present administration can reshape America into their vision of what America is supposed to be.

This will also reduce consumption of fuel, and I'm all for that, however what happens when people buy less gas. It happened recently during the economic slowdown and with all the layoffs people started driving less. The politicians immediately started whining that gas tax revenues were down and we would have to have alternative sources of revenue, political speak for new taxes. They started considering taxing us on the mileage we drive. They would keep the gas tax in place and additionally tax us on mileage. There goes the rest of any savings.

Let's consider an alternative since the so called goal is to reduce greenhouse gas and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We have a proven technology, hydrogen fuel cells. What we don't have is the infrastructure to deliver the hydrogen fuel and at present is too expensive for private enterprise to take on. Instead of spending all this stimulus money on non sustainable projects let's spend it on creating the infrastructure required to have readily available hydrogen outlets at existing filling stations. The government could license the stations and receive a portion of the proceeds to pay off the money spent. This would encourage the production of the hydrogen powered vehicles, decrease greenhouse emissions, decrease dependence on foreign oil and create sustainable employment for thousands of people in a new industry, and replace the government revenues that is based on gas taxes. A win-win for everyone. Please explain to me where am I wrong in this scenario. Oh, I know, that would take money away from the pet projects the politicians need to get votes and stay in power....I knew there was a reason this wouldn't work.

Bank of America & Ken Lewis

The Merrill Lynch deal is what did Lewis in. Not that the deal was a good one or a bad one. It was the public perception of the Merrill Lynch bonuses and Ken Lewis not preventing them that fueled the outrage. I am willing to bet that many of the protesters that called for Lewis' firing did not even own any BOA stock. I believe they were organized by activist groups, and Lewis was their current whipping boy.

Having said all of that, I don't believe that a CEO should also be the Chairman of the Board unless he also happens to be a majority stockholder.

However, for those of you that think that Lewis should have just said "NO" when the government asked him to purchase Merrill Lynch, let me inform you that he had no choice. He also had no choice but to take the TARP money. He and other bankers were told that they either do what the government wanted done or the FDIC would proclaim that the bank was undercapitalized. Then, without the ability to raise capital in the private markets because of economic conditions the Fed would have taken over the bank and in turn would have reduced stockholder equity to zero. A complete destruction of BOA, just as what almost happened at Wachovia, and what did happen to many banks across the country.

Be careful about calling for more regulation of the banking system, you just might get what you ask for. It was the regulators that caused much of the financial crises and not the lack of regulation. The mark-to-market regulation is a prime example. In simple terms, if you have an asset that you cannot sell you must mark the value of that asset to zero, even if it is a performing asset, and that affects your capitalization or net worth. For example, you own a rental property that you bought for $100,000 and receive a $1000 a month rent from, but no one wants to buy it due to market conditions. The regulators say since the market value of that property is zero you must reduce the net asset value of your holdings down by $100,000 since there is no market value for it, even though it is a performing asset and you are receiving your rents in a timely basis. This reduces your net assets and may cause you to appear undercapitalized, giving the Fed an excuse to take over all your assets and distribute them to others. Regulation can be a beautiful thing, if your hell bent on socialism.

Want to comment? Please use the forum.

On the Bailout

Let's make this bailout fair for everybody....... Nobody gets anything. That is as fair as it can get. That means government won't rack up all this deficit spending, we can eliminate all the grants, ridiculous social services and get back to what government is supposed to do. This way the government wouldn't need all this tax money it is getting from the populous, we could keep it and we would save some and spend some which would stimulate the economy.

The federal government could go back collecting money from where it was supposed to in the first place ...tariffs. This in effect would increase the cost of foreign, i.e., Chinese goods and would provide a level playing field for American industry. Sure, you may have to pay a few dollars more at Walmart, but you would have job and an income to be able to pay a little more. Let's see now, a shirt for $8.00 with no job, or a shirt for $10.00 with a job, which is really cheaper? ...I heard the politicians say that if we gave money to people, which really means if we let them keep some of their money, they would save it, not spend it and wouldn't stimulate the economy. Now that is pure Bull Hockey! If you owe me, the bank, $1,000 and you pay off that $1000, I now have a $1,000 to loan to another person that may need to invest in his business or to make a purchase. So tell me how saving that money is not a stimulus. In today's marketplace, spending only stimulates the Chinese economy not ours since most manufacturing is there.

So, people, keep shopping at Big Box Mart, pay no attention to where the products you are buying are manufactured, and then cry to Obama, "Help me", "Help me", when your job is eliminated.