Can You Smell What the Prez Is Cooking?

Yes, my friends, the bacon is sizzling! The President's "porkulus" (stimulus) package passed with liberal colors during my absence. I'm not sure what kind of "change" this signifies. Democrats spending over $1.2 TRILLION over the next ten years with one swipe of the pen doesn't sound like change to me, unless "bad to worse" counts as change in the Obama dictionary.

I'm not sure what is the "real" crime in this bill. Could it be the fact that somehow they were able to compile over 600 pages of spending so quickly, or the fact that they expected lawmakers to fully digest the bill in about eight hours from delivery to voting? Of course, no one bothered to read the complete bill once it was printed, so just about anything goes as far as spending projects are concerned. Certainly, I have not had time to read the bill, but I hope to spend some time on it over the next couple of weeks. Of course, I have been waiting four days so far for it to finish downloading (just kidding), and I can promise that I will be spending more than eight hours reading and deciphering it.

What I really enjoy is seeing President Obama speak with a straight face and tell the American People that this bill does not have a single earmark in it! What a laugh! The definition of earmark is that money is allocated for a specific purpose, generally for a pet project of a senator or congressman, who brings money back home to the district, which will later result in reelection votes. Now, I'm not sure, but I heard that we are spending $8 billion to see if a mag-lev rail from Disneyland to Las Vegas would make any sense. (I'm sure that Harry Reid (NV) and Nancy Pelosi (CA) put this one together.) Give me half of that, and I'll give you the answer right now. (Uh, no!) See how easy it is to save money in America? I just cut $4 billion from the budget in mere seconds! Why can't the Democrats figure this one out? Now, before my Democrat-registered readers get up in arms, this bill was clearly a Democrat Party concoction, as less than a handful of Republicans supported the measure. I already have spoken on the failure of the previous bailout attempts, and why they were doomed for failure. What I find interesting is that we are going to have to borrow $2 TRILLION in order to fund all of this spending, between the new porkulus bill and the previous "bailouts." This money is going to have to come from the Chinese, to whom we already owe over $1 TRILLION from previous borrowing. What will happen when they foreclose? Perhaps, we should all brush-up on our Mandarin. By next week, I expect to have had some time to work on some of these issues. Perhaps, I will find a few issues to post sooner, so keep checking your inbox (if you are a subscriber) or check back here often.

---- On a personal note, please allow me a moment to thank many of my friends, fans, and readers who expressed condolences over the past week, since the passing of my mother. I appreciate all of the heartfelt support. Having been a financial planner for over ten years now, it is interesting that this is the first death claim I have had to handle in all that time. ----- Until next week, I wish you all well. Hang on to your wallets! It's going to be a bumpy ride!

Stimulus Package: WillI It Fix the Economy?

I am saddened by the fact that the people we choose to lead our country are trying to fix the economy when none of them has any clue about basic economic principles.

If you want to fix the economy, here is how you do it:

1) Let the banks fail. We already have the FDIC and Federal Reserve to bail them out and protect depositors.
2) Let non-competitive companies fail. The automakers have not been competitive for years, because the unions have ruined their cost structures with inflated salaries and unrealistic retirement and health benefits.
3) Give money to the consumers, and let them choose where to spend it. Let the people vote with their wallets for which companies and industries are offering the best combination of value and service.

The United States was established on sound economic principles and good morals. The productivity and ingenuity of the American people has long been our steadfast advantage. Unfortunately, our lame educational system and overzealous (greedy) unions have conspired to encourage stupidity and laziness.

The founding fathers would probably puke if they saw us today. We have gotten fat and lazy, and we have lost our ambition. People did not travel half-way around the world over 300 years ago, to an uncertain future, so that they could have a job at the local 7-11.

The Free Enterprise system is geared toward business ownership, not indentured servitude (jobs). The American Dream is not about home ownership, it is about business ownership.

Our people have been deceived, and it is about time that some REAL change is made. The country is destined to fail, and this fact is belied by the government trying to steer the economy by spending money it doesn't have.

Get ready for high interest rates, a very tough credit market, a continued housing crash, and rampant inflation. The government will have to start printing money in order to cover its debts. This will increase the prices of imports, drive inflation, cost jobs, and reduce purchasing power.

I hope everyone is happy with the CHANGE for which they thought they voted.

BTW, where is the change, when all I see is the same old people being appointed to important jobs? What changed, exactly? Democrats are still spending money, and Obama lied about the tax thing (we all knew he was lying, right?).

While you are waiting for the economy to correct, fix your credit!