Obama Caught Between Two Masters - Goldman Sachs & SEIU - Part 1. Goldman Sachs

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President Obama has taken on one of the most difficult jobs possible, trying to please two master with very different agendas. On the one hand is Goldman Sachs, the undisputed king of Wall Street and his long time corporate sponsor. On the other the more traditional sponsor of liberal Democrats the SEIU labor union, the Service Employees International Union. Of course there is nothing normal about either of these two contenders and so far they are leaving all their competition in the dust when it comes to benefitting from the actions of the new president.

One is the epitome of corporate excess with over a billion dollars in bonuses paid even in the worst of times. Goldman not only is the only financial institution to actually improve their position during the world economic collapse but actually wiped out competition in the process while making money every time money flowed from the federal spigot during the bank bailout, the AIG bailout, the housing crisis and bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the economic stimulus and even the cap and trade bill making it's way through Congress.




Long before Obama became a household name, before he was even elected to a federal office, Goldman was shepherding his meteoric rise through the ranks of political wannabes. Of course it helped that Obama's closest advisor and mentor, Rahm Emanuel, was on Goldman's payroll before Obama ever thought about running for office. When he was raising money for the Clinton presidential run in 1992 he was also on the Goldman payroll and investigations were launched that stopped the illegal corporate subsidy.




After serving as a White House aide during Clinton's term, in 2000, just before leaving office, Clinton then appointed Rahm to the Board of Freddie Mac where the sub-prime mortgage plot was hatched that triggered the economic disaster years later. A major player in this market was Goldman Sachs who was to make billions of dollars before the sub-prime market dried up and the Obama Administration had to bailout the banks and mortgage companies.




Emanuel spent three years as an investment banker after his Clinton years making $16 million and then ran for Congress, with the generous help of Goldman and the Wall Street community. Making a name for himself as the most prolific Democratic fund raiser ever Emanuel rose to #4 in the party hierarchy before being tapped by Obama as his Chief of Staff.




While Emanuel was a Congressman from Illinois Obama was to get a tremendous shot in the arm in his presidential ambitions with the help of Goldman, starting from his first campaign for federal office, the US Senate, in 2004. In the Democratic primary Obama was a distant underdog to millionaire Blair Hull who was caught in a scandal and forced to resign from the race. Interestingly, Blair Hull's company was purchased by Goldman Sachs shortly afterward.




In the general election Obama was again a distant underdog to millionaire Republican Jack Ryan who was also forced to resign from the race because of a scandal. Ryan was a partner in Goldman Sachs. This cleared the way for Obama to be the new Senator from Illinois and launched his presidential bid. In 2006 Obama secretly met with Goldman Sachs executives in Chicago and soon after, thanks to the fund raising of Goldman, his presidential bid was launched.




In 2008 Goldman sponsored a secret meeting at the Metropolitan Museum where Obama was prepared for debating by none other than former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who would moderate the final presidential debate of the campaign. Of course this was not disclosed to the media or public either.




Goldman was the leading contributor to Obama while the sub-prime mortgage market collapsed, while the oil futures market prices skyrocketed for no good reason, and for the economic collapse of the USA when the multi-billion dollar bank bailout was enacted. The bailout legislation was prepared by Bush Treasury Secretary Paulsen, a former Goldman CEO, steered through the House by Rahm Emanuel, a former Goldman Executive, and even approved by Senator Obama.




Once elected Obama immediately appointed Emanuel Chief of Staff and the AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts, and Stimulus bill were approved with Goldman benefitting with billions of dollars in revenues. Far outperforming everyone in the financial sector in the first 6 months of the Obama rein, the Goldman dominance was so great that at one week in the spring Goldman's program trading on the New York exchange was greater than the combined total of the next 14 traders worldwide.




Goldman has the inside track for controlling the "cap and trade" energy market, the bizarre centerpiece of the Obama Green energy program that will create immense wealth for Goldman, Al Gore and whoever else they decide to include. Gore's partner in his financial schemes which have already made him $100 million as the Green King is also from Goldman. What real benefit to the environment from cap and trade remains to be seen.




Now Emanuel is heading the White House efforts to regulate Wall Street and the financial markets and draft the necessary rules and regulations to tighten controls. Perhaps that explains why no action has been taken in nine months. If Obama does not know what the legions of former Goldman executives are doing in his administration he is merely a puppet. If he does know then he has a lot of explaining to do to the American public. I'd say to the media and Congress as well but they have ignored the Goldman factor for years. Perhaps the millions in campaign contributions from Goldman and Wall Street have influenced this ignorance by Congress.




Although Obama and Treasury have sternly criticized Wall Street and the investment banks for the manipulation of the stock market, sub-prime mortgage market and oil futures market, Obama has been silent on Goldman and their role in these activities. He has also never answered questions as to the role Goldman played in his Senate campaigns, his presidential campaigns and the extent of his contacts and those of the many former Goldman executives on his staff with current Goldman executives.

Obama promised transparency and gave us a brick wall. He promised reform and gave us more of the same. He promised to penalize the violators and he gave them unlimited wealth. Now he is trying to complete his deal and deliver to them the cap and trade and even health reform legislation on top of the trillion plus already given through the bank, insurance, auto, and housing bailouts and the stimulus bill. Just today the White House announced that the financial reforms are being scaled back from expectations. Imagine that?

In the tale of the two Masters, the SEIU has no chance against Goldman Sachs when it comes to deciding which master will win out with the Obama administration. Goldman has billions to manipulate while SEIU must borrow money to play the money game. So far the return to Goldman has already been in the billions of dollars while the token victories given to SEIU have not even made a dent in paying their debts.




Nor can SEIU match the vast army of former Goldman executives strategically placed throughout the Obama administration and throughout the world of finance and politics. No one has ever questioned the loyalty of this massive force. Andy Stern may have attended the Wharton School of Finance but Goldman wrote the course and probably financed the school's endowment fund.

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Where is the Main Stream Media - Hiding Behind Obama?

On September 12 protectors descended on Washington, DC to express outrage against many of the new policies of President Obama and the mainstream media chose to totally ignore the event, drawing perhaps the largest crowds of the past year.

First reports from liberal media said about 15,00 to 25,000 attended but the turth is in the pictures that the media refused to air. As you can see from the videos in this story the crowd was most likely well over a million, as some newspapers estimated 1.5 to 2 million.

How can America learn the truth about voter outrage and how this outrage covers many topics, not just health care, when the media decides over 1 million people are not important? Do they really fear people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh so much that they can ignore the largest gathering since Obama was elected president?

People need to demand fair news coverage by our mainstream news services and what we got this past weekend was indicative how the media could care less about America and the concerns of people from throughout the nation.

Spot interviews by the Coltons Point Times with participants at the gathering found former Obama supporters who traveled thousands of miles to protect the direction of the person they elected president. Many were registered Democrats. A lot more than Glenn Beck supporters were there as you can see from the time lapsed video of the crowd marching toward the Capitol.

Wake up media and wake up Obama or the revolution will take place without you.

The following was reported in the Baltimore Examiner.

The Baltimore Examiner

The 9/12/09 Taxpayer March on Washington not being reported by the main stream media

There have not been any official estimates released yet for the number of attendees to the Taxpayer March on Washington yesterday, September 12, 2009, but there are many suggested estimates ranging from the tens of thousands up into the millions.

What is extremely disappointing is the fact that the main stream media has continued to turn their backs on reality by not reporting on the event. Americans from every walk of life showed up to express their overwhelming disapproval of how government officials are misrepresenting them, not just on the health care issue, but all around.








Tell your favorite news source to start reporting the news.

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Summer Wrap Up - Obama and Congress - Who is Looking out for Us?

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As Obama completes his 7th month as President I hope there are a few things he has learned. Like all new presidents he has tried to ride the crest of adulation and perceived popularity to secure sweeping changes on the face of our nation and like all new presidents he failed.

Like all politicians he promised ideological changes and like all new presidents he discovered the American public really do pay attention to those who attempt to hijack the nation. Obama style socialism had no more chance than Bush conservatism because America is a melting pot on philosophical identity, not prone to believe politicians.





We do not care about a politicians agenda, only their willingness to get past their agenda and start serving all the people not just their own special interests. Obama has enraged the conservatives with his platform and the liberals with his failures and in America that is how it should be because in the end we demand a higher standard than political promises can deliver.





He got burned on the economy, not because he was wrong but because there is no evidence his solutions would work. The same politicians and bureaucrats that got us into this mess are advising him and the same special interests continue to pump tens of millions of dollars into the coffers of our elected officials. This conflict of interest, the practice of accepting money from those you regulate, is a cancer that must be eradicated from American politics if corruption is to ever be contained.





Neither Obama nor congress has the strength, the moral fortitude nor the willingness to risk their career for the greater good of the people by working to abolish special interest lobbying, campaign financing and corrupting our elected officials. No, money still controls Washington and Wall Street and those Obama supporters with money got more money while those without money got the shaft.

Why? Because the same people remain in power in congress, the White House and Wall Street who caused the problems. Two trillion in government bailouts to protect the practices of the greed mongers should be ample evidence of the strength of the crooks and the weakness of the elected officials who promised to stop them while accepting millions in campaign contributions.





Maybe Obama will mature. Maybe he will realize who the enemy really is. Maybe he will lower the volume of tirades against opposing politicians and people who disagree because isn't that what America and freedom are all about? When he turns his anger on the people filling his staff positions, walking in the halls of congress and thumbing their noses at the American public while stealing them blind he might start to make progress.





Americans are sick and tired of special interest agendas whether it is the Democratic or Republican agenda, liberal or conservative, Wall Street or Main Street, Madison Avenue or common sense, media or advertisers. We long for political and economic systems whose purpose is to serve America, not bleed it dry. We long for leaders who want to help all the people, not just stuff their own pockets. We long for news media who place truth above advertising prices and stock values. While there may be a few out there, they are few and far between.

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Obama's 3rd 100 Days - Now What?

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Will the next 100 days finally reveal the real Obama so America can get on with evaluating the new occupant in the White House? Don't count on it as what we have seen so far has been such a contrast in styles, a reversal in policies and a world class spending spree that the Harvard fraternity-like mood in our nation's capitol is unlikely to change.





Is there anything we have learned so far? More of the usual when it comes to politics. While Obama may have a far left leaning agenda his actions are no different than the Republicans. All the crooks on Wall Street remain on Wall Street and not in jail, except for the token self-admitted crook Madoff.

Obama's pledge to stop politics as usual stopped nothing and in fact resulted in record shattering spending, deficits and false hopes that will be paid for generations to come. Pork barrel is alive and well. Foreign enemies he was going to engage with his Ivy League charm get bolder by the day and now we have to resort to coddling them and allowing them to get away with stealing elections and kidnapping Americans as a pre-condition to talking to them.





Not only has the Obama administration ignored the Republicans and Independents in Washington even though he was elected to be the president of "all the people," but he has moved partisan politics to new levels of blatant discrimination by threatening to get even with those who do not support his freight train to socialism.

His $2 trillion first year deficit put more money in the pockets of his friends and campaign contributors than the special interest groups he so casually took for granted as a Democrat. The auto unions lost tens of thousands of jobs under his policies. Educators still work in lousy schools and student achievement standards continue to flounder.

His assault on Catholics and Christians seem as if he single-handedly intends to wipe God out of the foundation of America and leave issues of morality a shambles as he promises one thing to the faithful and Pope while doing just the opposite in his actions.

All those local government unions that supported him have suffered furloughs, layoffs and reductions in force while those rich bankers that backed him have received billion dollar bailouts, billion dollar bonuses and get out of jail cards for life I guess.





To demonstrate his fiscal restraint he allowed billions and billions of dollars in outrageous private sector bonuses while bailing out the companies, instead of prosecuting those getting the bonuses for destroying the national and world economies by manipulating the housing, oil and alternative energy stock and commodity markets. Speculation that leads to the destruction of national economies hardly seems like grounds for a $100 million bonus for one person.

His answer to a health care system that is out of control is to create another layer of greed with a public socialized system to compete with the greed mongers already there. The health care crisis is a matter of cost pure and simple.

the cost of health facilities
the cost of treatment versus cure
the cost of doctors intent on making millions rather than helping people
the cost of insurance companies with no incentive to reduce costs when all they have to do it raise premiums
the cost of pharmaceutical companies trying to squeeze every last cent out of our health insurance and government aid programs before they lose their patent rights
the cost of frivolous lawsuits by lawyers that continue to force up the price of malpractice insurance paid by the policy holders, not the insurance companies, lawyers or doctors
even the cost of regulators to keep track of the cost of health care.





Mr. Obama, you Harvard people make things too difficult. If you really want to fix a system out of control from greed, then get rid of the greed and stop pampering the greedy. The problem with health care is no different than Wall Street. You leave the door open and greed will dominate because your administration has shown nothing to indicate you can or will stop it any more than any previous Democratic or Republican president.

You coddle the rich while slamming those whose support you took for granted. Is that a legacy you want to leave behind? You refuse to reform political campaigns because in truth you bent the rules to spend the most in history to get elected. Nothing has happened to reform campaigns, clean up Wall Street, get corruption out of politics or help people. Your legislative agenda has been a boondoggle for the rich, protecting the haves while continuing to penalize the have nots.

If you are Christian like you claim though your actions certainly are no example, then find a church and go to it and stop trying to drive God out of the constitution and foundation of our nation. We came here to found a nation under God, not against God and not one that ignores the role Divine Providence plays in our lives.





Americans are not stupid. The collapse of your poll numbers should tell you that. We know you are using the office we elected you to for your own self-serving purposes. We know those closest to you are being helped while many more are paying the price. Maybe you will help all the people in the end but America will survive whether you are honest with us or not, whether you are honest with yourself, whether you become the king of socialism, or whether you dedicate yourself to helping all the people all the time rather than the chosen few that are your faithful and blind followers.

We don't care if you join Bill Clinton and Al Gore and go make a few hundred million dollars after you are president, just don't make it while you are president at our expense. Try vacationing where normal people go, not just $40,000 a week vacation homes for the elite and rich. Tell Michelle $400 sneakers are not a good example to set in the White House when greed and materialism got us here in the first place.





You made history getting elected, not for what you might do once you were elected. So far your record in office and your shot gun approach to governing has diminished your reputation. Perhaps it is time you take a courageous step and declare that in spite of your ability to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for political campaigns you will not run for re-election in 2012, and you might very well regain some of the credibility you have lost. For the first time you will prove you are not intoxicated by power and money but by what is best for all Americans.

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Political Promises Paid in Full - Obama Style

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Now that Obama has paid off those campaign contributors to the tune of billions of dollars perhaps they can pack their greed and run off to count their huge profits and let the rest of the country get the scraps left on the table.

A bold statement you say? Not with the record of Goldman Sachs, the United Auto Workers, the Health Care Industry, the Insurance Industry, the alternative energy industry, the various lawyers groups and the few and far between who have received a massive return on their investment just six months into the new Administration.





After shattering records in fund raising for his presidential campaign while spending over three quarters of a billion dollars to get a job that pays just $400,000 a year, there had to be a ton of IOUs that were due and these contributors wasted no time in claiming their prize.

Be that as it may we can only blame ourselves for electing to congress the very people who make such a lucrative investment possible, our elected representatives, who have perpetuated a system of campaign financing that breeds greed and generously rewards the greed mongers.

I don't know about you but I am sick and tired of the empty promises from Obama and everyone else in the house and senate who promised to clean up the mess. They have neither the morals nor fortitude to slam the door on corruption and as long as they remain in congress we, the people, get what we deserve for sending them.






At least under Obama we have proven that democratic liberals have an even greater propensity to rip off the system than Republican fat cats as most liberals have cashed out in just six months while it takes Republicans about eight years. Just look at Al Gore whose net worth went from $2 million when he lost the presidency eight years ago to $100 million when Obama got elected and now stands to pocket in the neighborhood of billions thanks to the largess of the Obama clean air policies.

Poor Gore went from a skinny liberal to fat cat capitalist at the blink of an eye while testifying to Congress that he was donating any money to non-profit environmental causes. I suppose the tooth fairy just dumped the hundred million into his accounts, the same tooth fairy that flies him around in private jets and drops him at his energy guzzling mansion when he is not earning $100,000 plus speaking fees. What in the world can he tell us that is worth $100,000 to hear?





All I want Gore to say is yes, I have a conflict of interest that is making me millions, maybe billions, but isn't that the American way? Because come republicans or democrats, it is sure the American way. So hopefully the Gold Man and others have squeezed every last cent out of our treasury and can get on to raping the coffers in China, India and Russia so we have a chance to survive.

As for the president, it would be nice to hear the truth about his relationship to Goldman. It would also be nice to hear who exactly benefitted financially from his actions as president and it would be really nice to hear how they intend to take care of the president after he leaves office. None of that will be forthcoming of course. Nor any truth about Gore's relationship to them.





Happy endings can't be found in politics but only in fantasy stories and what we have going on in Washington may look like a fantasy story but our treasury and your future are at risk because of the story now unfolding. Obama and congress have bailed out their friends with your bucks, even a lot of your bucks you haven't even earned yet.

Does anyone find it ironic that Goldman Sachs reports record earnings at the same time the US Treasury is reporting the first trillion dollar deficit in history achieved in just six months? Obama shattered spending records to get elected, he has shattered spending records since taking office, he has shattered deficit records trying to spend the money, and he is shattering the US national debt records trying to raise the money he has already spent.

Whew.....

Deflation - An Economist's Illusion or the Real Deal?

Okay, so the Obama administration says we are in a period of deflation as opposed to the typical inflation we normally see. Deflation, a rather pathetic word that reminds me of a flat tire. But deflation should be great because it means prices are going down, not up. But there is one problem, some major price categories seem to be going up to me.

To understand what people are talking about let us take a look at the Ask.com definition of the term "deflation" and what it really means.

Question: What Is Deflation?

Answer: The definition of deflation is when asset and consumer prices continue to fall. This may seem like a great thing to consumers, except that the cause for deflation is a long-term drop in demand.

Unfortunately, a drop in demand means that a recession is already underway, with job losses, declining wages, and an ongoing decline in the value of your home and your stock portfolio. Deflation is a result of businesses dropping prices in a desperate attempt to get people to buy their products.

Officially, deflation is measured by a decrease in the Consumer Price Index. However, the CPI does not measure stock prices, which retirees use to fund purchases, and businesses use to fund growth. It also does not measure housing prices, instead using rental equivalent. This often lags home price declines, and underestimates deflation in the CPI.

To combat deflation, the Federal Reserve executes an expansionary monetary policy. It reduces interest rates, and increases the money supply in an attempt to jump-start economic growth. In addition, the government can offset deflation with expansionary fiscal policy. It can put more money into circulation by lowering taxes, increasing government spending, and incurring a temporary deficit to do so. Of course, if the deficit is already at record levels, that tool may no longer be available.

Like inflation, deflation is very difficult to combat once it is entrenched. As businesses and people feel less wealthy, they spend less, reducing demand further. Prices drop in response, giving businesses less profit.

I don't know about you but it seems to me gas has started rising again. In fact the price per barrel of crude oil, which impacts on many supplemental products from transportation to fertilizer, has increased 90% since the beginning of this year alone and now stands at about $62.00 a barrel. No wonder OPEC did not reduce the amount of oil produced this week when the price now is above the 2007 prices in place before the outrageous price spiral.

Taxes are certainly up, especially state and local taxes, and you can bet the aftermath of the incredible federal spending will be substantial future price increases. Obama has already set a new record for the annual federal deficit and the stimulus and bailout programs are just starting to spend money with multi-billion dollar bailouts waiting in the wings for a bankrupt Chrysler and General Motors and a teetering AIG insurance giant.

A lot of food prices are up or they have cleverly repackaged items so we are paying the same for less goods, thus really increasing the price. Organic foods are not dropping either even though there has been a push to be healthy and sales are up.

Certainly restaurant prices do not seem to be falling. In fact with the addition of designer coffee in McDonald's some prices are actually going up as well. When there are "specials" it usually means you get a silver dollar sized hamburger instead of the meat eaters delight we've grown to love.

Medical and health insurance rates continue to spiral in spite of the Obama efforts to overhaul the health care industry. After a decade of double digit annual price increases this year prices are expected to drop down to just a 7% increase. Only in our nation's capitol could a 7% increase be treated as a drop in prices.

As the definition said, two of the most important cost factors missing from the deflation figure are stock prices and housing prices. No one will question that these two have dropped with stocks, and your retirement funds, still about 40% less in value than a year ago.

Housing prices have also gone down, a lot in some areas. But the national market tends to be local market driven so one area may have no loss in value over the recent years (2006 - 2009) while a neighboring area could have substantial loss of value.

Take, for example, the case of Coltons Point. The Washington, DC metro area including Northern Virginia and Maryland has suffered an overall loss of value of about 24% the past year. However, a Washington Post survey of all home sales in the metro area the past year shows there are a few locations where prices have actually increased. One of these unique areas is the riverside resort of Coltons Point where values have increased by over 3% the past year.

Still nationwide stock and housing prices have dropped but neither is even factored into the deflation model which makes me wonder just what value is the economic news on deflation? It is distorted since it missed two of the biggest cost factors. The Consumer Price Index which is the basis for determining inflation or deflation is often a lagging indicator of economic performance much like unemployment figures. Conversely the stock market is a forward indicator of economic growth having already factored in jobs reports before they are even released.

The Labor Department figures on new unemployment claims this week dropped well below analysts expectations for the 2nd time in three weeks yet the unemployment rate climbed to 8.9% and the lagging figure could reach 10% later this year even if the economy is in a full recovery cycle as the Coltons Point Times and more recently other financial news services are beginning to predict.

In light of all this conflicting information and simultaneous upward and downward economic pressure my advice is for you to ignore deflation and inflation reports and the endless speculation about them as it is something the Federal Reserve must manage and we the people have no role in what the Federal Reserve does with our money anyway.

The Price of Being President

I guess it is too much to expect the new royalty of American politics to get it all right but at least we know they do make mistakes.

Like Michelle Obama addressing workers at a food program for the poor in $546 sneakers.



Or maybe what happens to our President when the teleprompter fails to work. Without the script he is just another clumsy speaker.



Of course there is also the next in line for the presidency, just plain Joe Biden.



Even the late night rulers have found fun with Obama on occasion.



Finally there was the top secret challenge between Obama and McCain to decide who would win the election, the Dance Off for President.



Have a good day.

Obama Report Card - 1st 100 days - Chaos or Calculated Choreography

Everyone deserves a chance to know their grades so here is President Obama's chance to see how the Coltons Point Times grades his first 100 days as president. There are two elements to the grade, the personal actions of the president and the policy actions of the president. The true performance in both these areas is a reflection of just what type of leader he will become.

In terms of international relations the grade is quite good as most nations of the world are now more interested in photo ops with our president than trashing the USA. Yet we have received nothing tangible from other nations in terms of the things he asked them to do. Korea shot off the missile, Iran builds nuclear weapons, terrorists rule Afghanistan and Pakistan, drugs flow through Mexico, there is little coordination between nations in stimulating the economy and on and on but at least they are now smiling when they stick it to us.

Back here in the USA his grade is more mixed. There is little doubt he controls Congress and in order to take advantage of this he is flooding Congress with requests for legislation, appropriations and new programs. In fact the volume of requests from the Administration has clearly overwhelmed the ability of Congress to absorb them so we have the Pelosi & Reid Rubber Stamp which means if the president wants something and it is liberal enough, it gets rubber stamped.

The House and Senate Democratic leaders and even the president seem to think all those people who voted against Bush wanted immediate socialism when they wanted change but I don't think so and when people realize how far left we have already drifted they are going to be shocked. They also seem to forget that 47% of the people voted against Obama and another 45-50% of the people eligible to vote did not register or vote. That means in truth Obama got about 25-27% of the eligible vote, hardly a mandate from the people.

Campaign Spending

After promising to limit the cost of the campaign by taking public funds, Obama changed his mind and proceeded to spend the largest amount in history, $775 million. Add in another $160 million for his Inauguration and $18 million to be spent after the election and he is the first BILLION DOLLAR president in history. So much for limiting campaign spending. With tastes like that it is no wonder over $3 trillion has been allocated by the government for bailouts and bribes, payoffs and profits, all of which was approved by Obama.

It seems the same problem existed in his selection of talent when he promised all new people to replace the old gang of Washington insiders. He is surrounded by Clinton and other Democratic hacks along with a legion of former Goldman Sachs and other lobbyists who have now turned their attention from wrecking Wall Street and the economy to sucking every last cent from the federal government and Federal Reserve. In the process he also was the first president to nominate seven tax cheats to the highest offices in the nation.

Latin American Relations

Obama seems to have impressed the leaders of the Latin countries just as he did the Europeans and Asians and I don't get too concerned about him getting cozy with Fidel's brother in Cuba and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela even if they are playing him. We need to do a lot of work with the Latin countries and Canada, like form some kind of American Union, so we can fix the mess we are in. Maybe Obama can help?

Middle East Relations

In spite of our presence in Iraq and the Middle East, our troops stationed there, and our massive foreign aid expenditures to both sides of the Israel and Palestine groups, we have little impact on anything that happens there. The Middle East is oil rich country, oil we could temporarily replace with drilling offshore and in Alaska and sharing the resources of Canada, Mexico and South America. If we were moving in the direction of eliminating oil consumption over a period of decades we could supply our own oil and gas right from the Americas.

The Middle East problem cannot be solved at this time. Hatred runs rampant between Moslem Shiites and Sunni, between Moslems and Israelis, between the Taliban and traditional Moslems, between the Christians and radical Moslems, between just about everyone. There will be war in the Middle East because there is always war in the Middle East, for as far back as our history takes us. Obama could be a Moslem, Jewish, Coptic Christian and it will not matter, there will be war.

Our policy so far has been to aid and arm all sides, a technique perfected by the European bankers that helped fuel a constant state of war in Europe for a couple of centuries. The Christians, Buddhists and Hindus of the world can sit back and watch as the Arabs and Israelis battle it out once again. It seems ironic that the Talmud of Israel is like our Old Testament and the Moslem Koran is like our New Testament yet the nations following them seem oblivious to the most important Commandment of all, love thy God and love thy neighbor.

Banks and Credit

Now that we have pumped about $3 trillion into economic stimulus and corporate bailouts what have we achieved? We are still here. Credit remains a problem but VP Biden finally got his way and Obama will be meeting with the credit card companies to discuss ways to save them. Most of these companies are located in Delaware, the same state Biden used to represent. What a coincidence. Biden should have the agenda down pat, he took care of these companies when his son was their lobbyist. He even sponsored a bill to change the personal bankruptcy law to protect the delinquent bills of credit card companies during a bankruptcy action.

Goldman Sachs continues to rule Wall Street and Washington, DC meaning anyone who owes them money through loans, warrants, derivatives or other manipulations will get a government bailout at least enough to pay off their debt to Goldman. So AIG teeters on the brink of disaster and gets $173.3 billion in federal aid then pays off $30 billion to Goldman. A failing company and Goldman gets 100% of all the money owed by AIG. It does go to show how firms like Goldman have seemingly unlimited access to the US Treasury and Federal Reserve.

When is Obama going to have Treasury tell us how much money is yet needed to cover the toxic loans, the commercial real estate loans, and the credit card delinquencies? Someone knows the numbers but the transparency of the president seems to have no effect on his people. Do we face trillions more in socialist subsidies and bailouts before we see light? Maybe!

Health Care Reform

Somehow the notion of spending $634 billion as a "down payment" on health care reform is not how reform is achieved. Normally you identify the savings and then reduce the budget, not increase it. As the changes work, a rather bold assumption, you bring in the people not covered by health insurance. Did you ever see health and life-expectancy statistics on people with no health care? What if they live longer and happier than those covered by insurance? Just how many billions and billions of dollars are spent on unnecessary operations and medication?

If Obama is really an advocate of transparency, then he should publish the total income of doctors, hospitals and clinics from government programs like Medicare, Medicaid and veterans treatment, or did they contribute so much to the campaign they are protected like so many other groups? This entire industry from professional services to hospital facilities, drugs to treatment costs to insurance must be investigated from top to bottom to find where greed took over and then eradicate it.

Obama and Religion

"America is not a Christian nation!" so echoed the words of our new president in his first major address to the Moslem people of the world. Since taking office his liberal media allies have been foretelling the death of Christianity in America and his actions have helped pound a couple of nails into the coffin of Christianity. Our founding fathers might have found his words a bit hard to swallow.

It took Obama 8 weeks from the day he was inaugurated to find his way to a church with his family. At that pace he will attend church service 6 times his first year in office, or about 100 less times than he gets on the basketball court for a little b-ball. Of course after his experience with his big mouth minister during the campaign maybe he is a little gun shy. At least we found out he doesn't pay attention while at church since he didn't hear a thing his radical minister bellowed from the pulpit.

He has liberalized abortion in the year when America has now reached over 50 million legalized abortions performed. For every 6 Americans living one was aborted and for every 2 abortions performed for medical reasons (either the fetus or the mother) 25 abortions were performed for no reason. Add in the expansion of stem cell research Obama approved, research certain to lead to even more abortions for profit, and we fail to find much of anything that would appeal to Christians.

Global Warming

So what can we say about the Obama multi-billion dollar Global Warming initiative? Well I've studied a little bit of history and seems I've found a little information that casts doubt on this Global Warming thing. It seems global warming and cooling are a natural part of the existence of Earth.

In fact the worst ice age of all time occurred between 850 million and 630 million years ago during the Cryogenian period. Scientists believe it produced a Snowball Earth in which the entire globe was covered in permanent ice. Back then the accumulation of greenhouse gas, the stuff we are trying to get rid of, was produced by volcanoes which melted the ice and saved the Earth.

At least four major ice ages took place in our Earth's history. The current age started 2.58 million years ago and we are currently in the warming phase. These cycles of warming and cooling complete their cycle at 40,000 and 100,000 year time periods. The next ice age can be scientifically predicted to begin about 50,000 years from now, with or without human generated global warming. Nature will follow it's course no matter what we do.

Since the last ice age was longer than 2.58 million years ago and at least four ice ages have taken place with most if not all of the entire globe frozen, and this was before civilized man, before any man we know of, what caused the natural cycle? Either volcanoes explode, and there are still many around the world and in America, they create a dense layer of soot and ash in our atmosphere, and the debris blocks the sun from hitting the Earth. A few hundred years are required for the Earth's atmosphere to clean up and then we have another ice age. A large meteor could do the same and some have hit the earth.

How could we have had four major ice ages and thousands of warming and cooling cycles like we are in without mankind populating the earth and no advanced technology? No doubt mankind can speed up the process of global warming with our excessive consumption and emissions. But no matter what we do the global warming and cooling cycles will come and go

Personally I think if we want to stop polluting we should just ban all plastics which are made from oil, ban imports from countries that are polluting with their factories, and give a tax rebate of $2,500 for every car bought getting 35-49 miles per gallon (mpg), $3,500 for cars getting 50-75 mpg and $5,000 for cars getting 76-100 mpg. That kind of subsidy will make the hybrids, hydrogen and electric cars profitable to the car makers.

Okay, so what about the report card? Well, I say forget the grades, the Democratic leadership in Congress will just change the grading system in America to accommodate and cover up the fact we no longer lead the world in much of anything. It is not politically correct to encourage individual excellence, leadership, innovation or exceptional performance in a socialist world if that is what the left wing wants. I say give them a blank report card just like the report cards our public school students get. How else could we have the highest cost of education in the world and the worst results of most developed nations?

WILL THE REAL OBAMA PLEASE STAND UP?

It is sure a good thing our new president is a people's president ready to return the White House to focusing on the needs of the "little people". Of course there are a few contradictions in what he has done to date that raise eyebrows but his loyal staff seem able to sugar coat these actions with the adoring media and thus deflect attention from the contradictions.

I mentioned in an earlier article how he vowed to keep lobbyists out of government and then violated his own executive order and hired lobbyists. There are the seven senior executive nominees who owed back taxes, quite significant sums in some cases. He promised to bring reform to campaign laws which are yet to be seen while his people's campaign shattered spending records more than doubling the most ever spent in a presidential campaign.

He has given no explanation to his secret relationship with Goldman Sachs other than to help them remain the dominant investment banking house in the world, keeping their stock value at a level far beyond their closest competitors, and even giving billions to AIG of which $30 billion were passed on to Goldman Sachs. That is quite a return on their investment of a few millions into his campaign. More important, in spite of his highly publicized ranting and raving about the greed of bankers and Wall Street, he has never mentioned the biggest and greediest of all Wall Street, Goldman Sachs.

This Ivy League by product, we are now in the 21st straight year of having an Ivy League president and will reach 24 straight years by the end of his first term, has little in common with the little people. He attended Columbia and Harvard, his wife attended Princeton and Harvard. Both spent under-graduate and graduate years in the Ivy League at the most expensive schools in the world. Today it would cost about $435,000 for the law degree, meaning Michelle and Barack spent nearly $1 million ($868,000 in today's dollars plus other expenses) for their Ivy League educations.

Since he entered public service as a community organizer and state senator, both quite low paying jobs, one wonders how all those education loans got paid. I don't remember anyone in the media asking who paid the million dollars during the campaign. Still, even with the huge debt they were able to spend another $1.6 million for a home when he was first elected to the US Senate. His close advisor who arranged that deal is now in jail, Tony Rezko, a Chicago multi-millionaire fixer who lived across the street.

Then Obama enters the White House promising to change things, clean out the old Washington and bring in new people. His top advisor is a hand-me-down investment banker from Clinton and his top five White House advisors are all multi-millionaires. Again it seems rather unusual for a people's president to be surrounded by millionaires. Of course when his daughters toured their new home in the White House and found the Jonas brothers recording stars in their bedroom, it once again seemed rather unusual for a populist.

Now that he has been in office a couple of months he has added a couple of trillion dollars to our budget and his first budget increased government cost by another trillion. At the rate he is spending he will double our national debt in about three years, twice as fast as Bush did in spite of 911 and two wars. In fact our taxes for his budget next year only pay for 44% of the cost. Where in the world is the rest coming from?

Okay, so there are a few conflicts, but what about the dog. After the election he promised his kids a dog and the family promptly decided to set an example by getting a pound pup. Three months later it turns out there will be no pound pup but a Portuguese Water Dog from one of the most exclusive breeders in the world where the dogs can cost over $2,500. Did I mention the Texas breeder where he is getting the dog is the same who breeds Portuguese Water Dogs for the Ted Kennedy family?

Tonight, Good Friday, one of the holiest days in Christianity, he is throwing a party for 140 of his closest friends at the White House and having Chicago deep dish pizza brought in from St. Louis, not Chicago, which I suppose is the Ivy League way of honoring the death of Jesus.

Finally there is the mysterious selection of Joe Biden, resident pit bull and bionic tongue and godfather to America's credit card companies and their insane interest charges as Vice President. You do understand he is a heartbeat away from the presidency? With his tongue he is the time bomb of the Obama team. Now to be fair, he did predict a major international crisis within a few months of Obama taking office. I guess the attempted hijacking of the American cargo ship by Somalia pirates and taking the captain hostage qualifies.

Does anybody know just who we elected to be president?