CapitalistMarks

A 41 to 59 majority?

Posted on 10. Feb, 2010 by scott.

After the STN (state of the union) address it seems that Washington D.C. has come to a standstill.  Kind of like the circus has folded its tents and vanished . . . is no news good news?  Not when there is so much to do.

Health care?  Say what?

Jobs? Huh?

Debt management?  Oh come on, we are talking about  Washington.

I heard someone jokingly mention the above headline as if it were real.  Yikes.

There is a lot to do in order to move our nation along.  The democratic majority has been demoralized by a single special election.  Who are these smidgeons anyway?

Reid?  Gone fishin.  Pelosi? Hiding under a basket of wash.

No leadership from the White House either.  Appears Obama is already out on the campaign trail for 2012.  Flying here and there with an upbeat message . . . but not even  focusing on getting the things done that he promised on the ‘last’ campaign trail.

We still need universal health care–something that works for everyone and costs less. Hey, dems, swallow your dangburn pride and take another look at the repubs suggestions on tort reform (I don’t care how many of your are lawyers — you are working for the people now).  Then sit down and give serious thought to making health insurance available nation wide on the same networks available regionally or statewide now.  Finally, spend all the money the health care lobbyists gave you on watching Avatar a few hundred time, because then you can forget them and do something about helping to stop the rising costs of prescription medicines.

And you knucklehead republicans can forget saying ‘no’ to everything.  We, the people, see through your tawdry machinations.  Heck, in the past year you have even fought against things you originally proposed . . . just to make the party on the other side of the aisle look helpless.

And, voters, I remind you that the real control is in our hands.  So, stop the Washington mishmash and force our elected officials to take real action.  Vote ALL incumbents out of office and let them know now so that they will stop legislating for themselves  and think about us.

I love America . . . it has been great to me, and I thank my great-great-grandfather for leaving a freeheld farm in Norway to come here with not much more that the clothes on his back.  I wonder how many of us could do something like that today.

We have a lot going for us but we have got to make our voices heard.

I hope Obama, Reid, Pelosi and everyone else in D.C. come to the realization that the time for change in the way government practices their once honorable profession is now.

God Bless America and full speed ahead!!!  The race has just begun.

Thanks to flickr’s mcamcamca for the photo

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The Tigernomics recession.

Posted on 30. Dec, 2009 by scott.

Are we to believe anything about Tiger Woods?  I don’t know . . . the social media has grabbed the story of his infidelity and tried to turn it into the biggest of 2009.  Perhaps they are right –  but one thing is for sure.

Tiger’s folly has had a very real economic impact.

While I don’t trust much on the news (especially the paparrazi type) I do trust the recent careful and educated analysis of Tiger’s downfall on the stocks of companies he endorsed.

Two economists at the University of California did a careful analysis of stocks of such companies since the announcement of his ‘accident’,  ‘confession’ and disappearance.  They took into consideration all pertinent factors such as the relative value of the S&P 500 since the bust and also compared the changing valuations of the sponsor’s closest competitors. Their study determined the stock losses for the first 13 trading days thereafter.

The result:  shareholders lost about $12 billion as a result of the golf star’s philandering ways (so far more than a dozen women have admitted — and quite publicly in some cases — to adulterous relations with Tiger). Three of those companies (Electronic Arts, Nike and Gatorade) are responsible for about $6 billion of that loss.

To refresh you memory, I wrote about this earlier (see Tiger) and said that I would never buy or use products from any company supporting Tiger.  Guess I wasn’t the only one.  The boycott of those of us enraged enough to show our displeasure at the checkout counter has worked.

I am glad that the lies Tiger has been living and telling us has had significant consequences for Tiger (at least one terminated Tiger) and ‘those’ companies.  About time that dishonesty is proving to be both wrong and costly.

As for the Tiger recession?

I hope it continues.  One of my son’s, a fellow golfer, carefully chose my Christmas presents to avoid any products from Tiger’s sponsors (whew!).

It really is sad.

I am sorry for the shareholders loss, but the companies themselves should have done more due diligence before forking out more than $100,000,000 a year for a guy who has proven to be more disappointing that he ever was talented.

Go Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Jim Furyk and Padraig Harrington!!

Honesty, loyalty and commitment should have its rewards!

It is us big-slicing weekend golfers who are the real victims here (with appropriate apologies to Elin and the two children)

thanks to flickr’s bradlypjohnson for the photo

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President Obama on Afghanistan. Huh?

Posted on 02. Dec, 2009 by scott.

I am sure most of us were waiting with bated breath for President Obama to reveal his new strategy on the war against terrorism in its Afghanistan spectre yesterday.  What a disappointment.

Attendance was mandatory at West Point (he is the Commander-in-Chief afterall) and still the reception there was muted at worst and respectful at best.

What up dude?  Why did this strategy take more than 3 months to formulate?

What’cha got?

Adding more troops as General McChrystal (the commander in the field) had requested, though not as many as the good General had hoped for.  A plea for help from our allies (who are they any way?).  And the incredibly naive promise of beginning withdrawal by the summer of 2011.

Hello!  That wasn’t a strategy, it was an admission of failure to date and an unequivocal assurance to the Afghan people that America is tired of this war and will try a bit more but not too much before leaving with our tails between our legs.

Yechh!

I am flat out disappointed.

You should be too.

Why is it that our political leaders never seem to reflect the views of our military leaders (which they always seem to seek).  The military types are professionals, the political types are glad handers.  It should not be too difficult to recognize that professionals have a broader and better perspective on any issue than part-time thinkers (congress–you pick the subject).

You can’t run a war on a schedule and President Obama should know that despite his lack of real experience.  Putting an end date on a war that has lasted 8 years while Americans died (a century or more if you want to count the Russians and British) is downright  folly.

With all the hype leading up to the speech at West Point yesterday we should have been given more.  How in the world do the democrats put a positive spin on this mess?

President Obama was perfectly clear vague on the details and preciously void of any understanding of what is happening in Afghanistan relative to the Taliban and Al Queda.  Where has he been for the last 8 years?  Doesn’t give me any confidence and it sure can’t be very promising to our men and women-at-arms.

If you want my prior views (unchanged to date) on the Afghan war go back to here.

My worst fears at the election of Barrack are being realized and I don’t see any turn for the better in the near term.

Hew as a great campaigner and does really well reading off scripts from the teleprompters . . . but what happened to the great ‘mind’ the democrats and broad minded independents were voting for?  To the Nobel Peace Prize winner who ‘earned’ the medal before doing anything to merit it?

91 days to come up with this plan?

If our President doesn’t understand the issues in this war then how is he going to get our allies (again who are they?) to step up more than they have in the last 8 years.

Here is what I see with the plan as it now stands: 30,000 more Americans will show up (but with uncertain directions), $30 billion more will be spent next year on this ‘war’, a few (compared to our 100,000) troops from other lands will arrive to direct traffic (but not fight), the Taliban and Al Queda forces will rally their own troops (knowing they only have 18 months left to kill infidels with hidden bombs and suicide idiots), and then . . . America will withdraw like we are doing in Iraq and declare that the local government is going to be in charge from now on because we trained them so they can . . .

End of story.

The political bottom line:  President Obama is NOT proving possession of great intellectual capacity, is proving to be indecisive, continues his efforts to change perceptions of America in the rest of the World (with a hopelessly inept diplomatic approach — Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, California . . . ) at a cost to be determined later, watches as unemployment keeps on climbing, AND . . . proves why his popularity diminishes further.

Oh, what great hopes I had.  At least President Bush (the worst President in my memory), didn’t care about celebrity.  He always (when not on vacation) seemed focused on the job.

Come on President Obama, you still have 3 years left to show us what you got.  The first year is a dismal failure in my estimate but hope reigns eternal!  I don’t know who I am more disappointed in — Tiger Woods or Barrack Obama.

Forget the celebrity, stop needless travel (foreign leaders can come here for crying out loud!), start focusing on the real problems and pay attention to the ‘experts’ you hired!!

thanks to isafmedia at flickr for the photo

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T-day views before the feast.

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by scott.

In this time of thanksgiving and being grateful . . . I look for signs to rejoice about the economy and the political/social scene.  Here are a few to ponder on while you rest from gorging yourself  with the traditional feast.

The national credit card delinquency rate fell for the first time in 10 years.  Smakin’ and smokin’ this really is good news.  Details:  the % of U.S. credit card holders who are more than 90 days delinquent fell from 1.17% in the second quarter to 1.1% in the third quarter.  Means that consumers are paying off debt and controlling new debt at a much better pace.  If that is real then they must also be feeling better about both saving and spending.  Three stars!

The somewhat powerful influencer ‘Conference Board’ has informed us that consumer confidence rose from a 48.7  revised figure in October to a preliminary 49.5 in November.  Also good news even though it takes a number above 90 to reflect a more balanced economy.  Two stars!

President Obama has finally made up his mind about Afghanistan and will announce his revised strategy at a nationally televised press conference next Tuesday.  Whisper numbers are an increase of around 35,000 troops.  More than anticipated but less than the General in charge wants.  Two stars!  (would have been more if he had decided earlier)

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has met with President Obama this week and bowed when he met our President.  Even lower than Barrack Obama (apparently as a private individual since American’s have a general disregard for hereditary leaders) bowed to the Emperor of Japan recently.  Four stars!  (just kidding but wouldn’t that be great!)

On that note I am leaving to buy the biggest bird in the city which I will proceed to masacre in a cruel and unusual manner which will make it barely edible but certainly something else to be grateful for.    5 stars and counting.

thanks for the photo to cygnus921

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The most important decisions in the future . . . in the home!

Posted on 19. Oct, 2009 by scott.

I have a huge list of important things to write about today.  I pushed them all aside to point out  an issue that is bothering me about America.  I write about something more important to our future than any economic data, political debate or honorary award.

Yesterday I read that 40% of births in our country are to single moms.

How can this be?

What has happened to the family and why is it no longer the most important thing in our lives?

And the problem is bigger than just the single mom birth rate.  The divorce rate in this great nation is roughly 50% (i.e. about 50% of marriages will end in divorce).

So 40% of births are without a family and 50% of those that start a family (a marriage) will end in divorce.   Hardly comforting don’t you think?

Statistics like these are a huge reason why our crime rates are so high (over 11 million crimes committed in 2006) and why there are more murders in the U.S. than in any other non-combat country (17,000 in 2006).

However, America has also long been touted as the most religious country in the world.  More people claim a belief in God and attend a church regularly that in any other predominantly Christian nation.

I grew up (from 3rd through 8th grade) in Norway, where my father was stationed in the Air Force.  Shoot, there was hardly any crime and yet it was widely known that the Norsk people rarely have anything to do with church — only about 3% attend a church regularly.  That is compared to 25% in the U.S.

So why, with relatively strong religious statistics do we do so poorly in crime, murder and other depressing statistics?

It is so much about family.  We, as a people, are drifting away from the Christian ethic of marriage and family.  This leaves children with poor examples and poorer living conditions.   The two-parent family is a super-strong indicator of how well a child will do in education and social maturity as they grow up (you can look up the statistics yourself).

Hollywood glamorizes single parents, they make fun of marriage, they fill young people’s minds (and old people too) with faldoral about sex, drugs and commitment . . . among other things.  TV and movies are rampantly filled with unsavory references to things that my mom would NEVER permit in her home and that we should not permit in any of our homes either!

Our political leaders, sports stars, movie stars and entertainers all are horrible examples regarding fidelity, integrity, marriage, honesty and so many other moral and social issues of importance.  And they get away with their ‘crimes’ and even benefit from their reprehensible behavior!  It is us, the common — street level people — that are allowing this to happen.  All about decisions isn’t it?

One way or another this all comes down to the importance of families.  How?  In raising kids so they have a fair chance.  In encouraging education or training for trades or arts.  In preparing for a career.  In examples of military or public service.  In short, in just about every thing that is important to a kid growing up — including most of all the decision to get married and not have children out of wedlock.

I am a Mormon and one of our Prophets, David O. McKay, said:  ‘No other success can compensate for failure in the home.’   That really says it all . . . particularly if you believe in a life after this one.

Are we as a people losing our perspective about life?  You can answer that yourself.  But remember the above quote the next time you face an important decision.  Family comes first.  If we lose that then we really don’t have to worry about health care, deficits or anything else.

Thanks for the photo to flickr’s randy son of robert

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Obama’s Triumph?

Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by scott.

I woke up this morning to the news that President Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  Then I ran to the calendar to check if I’d been ‘time-warped’ to April 1st (either back or forward).

Holy Moses this story was real.

The London Times called the award ‘absurd’ and I have to agree.

First a caveat, I did not vote for Obama, however I have had high hopes for the changes he promised on the campaign trail and personally (though we haven’t and will never meet) I like the guy.  I’d love to sit down and have a Rootbeer and talk basketball and golf . . . and especially politics and economics.

Second — the reality.

Obama has not accomplished anything yet.

Apparently that does not bother the Nobel Committee.  They awarded it for his ‘promise and potential.’ I don’t know if he will ever be entitled to the award but in any event this award is at least 5 or 6 years to early.  Ya gotta do something real to get an award don’t ya?

Maybe not.  But…

Why didn’t Pons and Flieschman get the Physics award a decade or so ago when he promised to have found the potential of Cold Fusion?  Why didn’t I get it whey my high school English teacher told me I had great promise and potential?  If we get awards for promise and potential then all of us should be collecting big checks from the Nobel people . . . tank you bery much.

According to reports Obama was nominated only days after his inauguration.  That is unbelievable.  The voting was based on his stumping speeches and promises on the campaign trail.  Whooeeee!

On the face of it, this award is ridiculous.  All I can think is that the Europeans and Scandinavians who voted for this have bought into the ‘celebrity’ status of our new President.’  Too bad.  This will surely put more pressure on  him to perform.  Not like he needs any more.  But the sad thing it will also give him and his majority party new ‘political’ capital.

In his comments about it, this morning, Obama said that the award is historically made to give momentum to worthy causes.  Okay.  To be fair he is not the first sitting president to receive the award.  Roosevelt and Wilson also had the honor.  Of course they weren’t only in office for nine months at the time, but whom am I to wonder?  Continuing, President Obama was sufficiently humble and mentioned that the award should be shared with all people who strive for progress, independent of faith, race or religion.   He further recognized that it was probably for his ‘engagement’ with other nations and desire to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.  Okay.

All good stuff.  But, nothing accomplished yet.  Just words. . . a mighty wind, so to speak.

The republicans immediately embarrassed themselves with critical comments about our Commander in Chief.  Of course they should have been critical of the knuckleheads in the Nobel Committee but then who is counting?  Then the democrats came back with a volley of their own and characterized the republicans in the same breath as the Taliban and Al Queda.  What idiots!  Again, I remind you of the power we (the people) would have with term limits!

Of course I am proud that our President will receive the award.  I am also hopeful that someday he will actually deserve it.  But not so much now.

Where does Obama go from here?  He was placed on a pedestal by the right wing in America.  Now that pedestal has been gold-guilded by the left oriented Nobel Committee.  It is going to be an all uphill journey for Obama from here on,  that is for sure.

All because a bunch of people back in the ‘old’ world . . . think he is cool and want to show how liberal and accepting they are.  Dangit.

Expectations?  Hope?  Change?  Now it will become a democratic stronger mandate that will ruin any hope of bipartisan cooperation on the many important issues facing all of us.  I guess that celebrity trumps ‘blue collar’ accomplishment every day in the rarified atmosphere of the rich and famous.  Sad.

Nine months.  Nothing.  Nada.  What will the next year bring?  I am afraid to contemplate the unrestricted power of a democratic majority backing our newest ’super-hero.’  Can hardly wait for the movie.

I can only hope for reasonableness.  We can only hope that the dems don’t get too carried away with this newest and ultimate ‘approval’ of their socialist and anti-business leanings.

Congratulations President Obama.

And good luck, our man!

thanks to rubberpaw for the photo from flickr

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Civil debate leads to real knowledge.

Posted on 05. Oct, 2009 by scott.

Yesterday I was talking to a neighbor who is a pleasant and conservative friend.  She told me that at her book club this week a discussion about health care was initiated.  Within a few seconds one of the members said ‘lets not talk politics’ and immediately the discussion ended.

Hearing this bothered me at the time but I did not offer my opinion.  I wished I had.

The fact is that we (Americans) tend not to talk about things that might cause potential conflict.  This is sad and was certainly not the case when our nation was founded.  I am a fan of our early history and many times in my readings I have found examples of open discourse about difficult political or social topics.  Good resolutions were the outcome, more often than not.

Why has this changed?

One of the reasons is that our congressional members have turned historically frank and open debate into an awful bout of name-calling, blame-gaming, and even hate-mongering (they cal it politics).  Congress, as it now operates, must not be our example.  As Jonathan Alter recently reminded in Newsweek, Mark Twain once said: ‘Suppose you were an idiot.  And suppose you were a member of Congress.  But I repeat myself.’  And so it goes with Congress — a particularly bad example of eloquence in any kind of discussion.

This awful example has been seized upon by talking heads on the radio and TV programs and multiplied just to increase ratings.  Anger is indeed wasted energy.  But so it goes even further.  Now few dare engage in open discussion regarding ’sensitive’ issues because it might offend or cause rifts and anger.

What has happened to civil discourse?  The kind without profanity and negative imagery.

Sad, really, because we all lose when open, civil and knowledgeable debate is thrown out the window and replaced with crude, idiotic, and self-serving soliloquy.  Since this has become the norm in Washington and over the airwaves, we have lost the often important viewpoint of those with opposing ideals and intelligent consideration.  This leads to a nation of sheep (following the worst kind of influence).  As Confucius said ‘do not blindly follow others.’   It really does take others opinions in order to think for ourselves!

We desperately need to once again become a nation where our ideas and ideals are open books — to our neighbors, friends and even the dude who jumps in front of us at the prescription counter (a story for another time . . . believe me!).

Americans should NEVER be afraid to express their opinions . . . and when others are ventured in opposition we should NEVER be so dull as to consider they just might be  an improvement or better thought out than our own.  This goes for you sure, but particularly for our elected officials and the high-paid bigots on radio and TV.  Just once I would like O’Reilly, or Beck, or Maddow to admit that anyone from the opposition might have a well-reasoned point-of-view!

Our founding fathers debated valid issues for weeks and months, not days.  Without that debate The United States might be far different and far less inspirational.  Thanks heavens they came to a well-thought out and balanced conclusion.

We need to do the same.  In our homes (my wife and I often have differing views on MANY things . . .  and I rarely prevail), in our schools, in our churches, in our book clubs, in our offices and just about everywhere else (except during movies etc.).

If you get only one thing from capitalistmarks.com ever, let it be this:  our future is just that . . . ‘ours’ and if we don’t participate and debate issues with others then we have let ‘our’ future become theirs. Don’t loose the power to think!

God Bless America (our country needs it).  God Bless our President(he needs it).  God Bless our Congress (oh my gosh do they ever need it).  And God Bless you and I (we need it too)!

thanks to the world economic forum for the photo from flickr . . . the civil debate shown was on CCTV (China’s national network) for crying out loud!

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Terrorism . . . when . . . not if.

Posted on 25. Sep, 2009 by scott.

I sit here and ask myself if we can really be as naive as the media makes us out to be?

In the last couple of days there have been at least 5 separate terror threats right here in the homeland (that is the ones we know about).  All stopped thank heavens.  The Philadelphia subways, Illinois Federal buildings, a Marine base, a Dallas skyscraper, and who knows what in New York, Denver and, San Francisco?  All with great big targets somewhere.  Scary!

The perpetrators?  Legal and illegal immigrants and some of our own home grown whackos.

How can we be surprised?  And more importantly why aren’t we scared witless and listening to current news developments every few minutes?  And taking notes for crying out loud!

Remember those magnificent buildings in the picture above?  Boy, the day they went down, I skipped work and didn’t even bother to call in.  I spent all day in front of the TV and kept flipping through the channels just trying to get more news.

What happens today?  A few stories and then back to Jon and Kate’s divorce or Obama’s next talk in ‘Wherever’  Nebraska or someplace.

How can this NOT be the biggest news of the day?

Why aren’t we hearing about Homeland Security going ballistic?  Why isn’t the President and his people working overtime rather than flying off to some meeting?

Come on folks, demand that something real be done.  Demand that we get all the relevant news and let us do our part to identify potential terrorists.  Like the truck rental guy that was suspicious when a couple of ‘middle eastern’ types wanted to rent a big truck (think the Oklahoma City bombing) and do it with cash and no identification?  Of course there was something there and that rental guy is a hero for sticking his neck out.

If only our government would CONTINUALLY tell us what to look for and how to do it without blowing our ‘cover’ (sounds clandestine but it doesn’t have to be).  300,000,000 Americans can take a part in protecting our country and it sounds like we need to.

Also sounds like we need to light a fire under Homeland Security!  Get the government spending time and money on planning for the eventuality and doing everything they can to intercept these suicidal maniacs before they wreak their toll on us red-blooded American types.

It has been a while since 9/11 but I sure as heck haven’t forgotten it and I would do anything I could to help stop something else like this happening.

How do we go about it?

Time the government stopped blabbering about health care for a while and help us get ready for an even more imminent tragedy.

BEFORE THE NEXT EXPLOSION AND NOT AFTER IT!!!!

thanks to flickr’s whale05 for the photo

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Ohhh, the United Nations.

Posted on 23. Sep, 2009 by scott.

The U.N. is going thru their annual ‘carnival.’  Leaders of various nations are given free hand to talk (generally limited to 15 minutes — and thank you President Obama for following this) about anything they want to.  Many are inspiring and offer hope in today’s difficult economic and political environment.

But . . .

Some of these guys are NUTS and give hateful and ignorant speeches.  And America provides this forum.  Something is wrong with this picture.

I don’t know where Gadhafi and Ahmadinejad come up with their ideas.  I know that at least Ahmadinejad has a real education (Ph.d. in traffic management — well qualified to run a country heh?).  Others have less than a highschool degree.  Gadhafi, probably the national leader with the LEAST to contribute in this international forum, went on for ONE AND ONE HALF HOURS today.  I listened to part of this (on various news channels) and found nothing worthwhile, intelligent, or even realistic in his rambling and boring diatribe against western culture.

I just don’t get why we let this UN anti-American agenda go on in New York for crying out loud.

Many of the leaders are dictators, at best, and tyrants or worse in reality.  They do not represent their people (at least I hope not).  Those who speak who are elected in legitimate democratic countries generally have more intelligent and worthwhile speeches.  Those with less legitimate claim to leadership are usually paranoid idiots.

So, why do WE permit the dredges of the world’s leaders to get so much time (or any at all) in this forum that grants them TV and radio coverage throughout the world?

Why do WE allow UN diplomats to run up thousands of $ in traffic or parking tickets?  Why are they immune from civil or criminal prosecution while they are on our soil?  Why do we allow a killer (Gadhafi — as an accessory at least and probably directly if we were to know the facts) to erect his stupid and egotistical ‘tent’ anywhere on our soil?

The U.S. — the primary funder of UN operations for decades — has little or no real impact in the UN general assembly.  Small, insignificant and/or dictatorial nations have a completely unbalanced and far to significant impact instead and they contribute almost nothing to the budget.

If the UN is to continue there has to be someway to balance the status, population and contribution of the larger nations to UN decisions.

If I get a vote I would suggest we let the UN move to some other country and turn their campus into something worthwhile like an international University.  The money we spend on the UN and ancillary services (our regular assessment for UN operations is $425 million a year — but the cost to New York and the federal government for the hidden costs of having the UN here is probably twice that) to support operations and ‘bail out’ the diplomats that are part of it could be better spent elsewhere.

The UN in a perfect world could do a tremendous amount for world peace and diplomatic resolution of international disputes . . . but right now it is not even close to achieving that.  I think WE are better off dealing with nations on a direct basis and leaving the UN entirely.  Perhaps things can change but the one thing we should NOT do is give the UN so much credibility unless it is willing to alter the way they do business.

When it was created, the idealistic charter might have made sense.  However, today with instant communications from phone and TV to internet and teleconferencing makes the original format of the UN obsolete.

I am sure some other country would jump at the chance to build a whole new UN campus and I would love to see it happen (just not at our expense — we pay about 25% of the total Un budget).  There are many reasons I would like to see this move but one is that I just don’t like having knuckleheads like the leaders of Libya, Venezuela, and Iran show up in New York and take advantage of our hospitality to ‘rail’ on our political, economic, and social system.

Let ‘em do it in someplace hot and uncomfortable like say . . . IRAQ!

thanks to flickr’s stevecadman for the photo

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Unemployment. Obama’s Rubicon.

Posted on 14. Sep, 2009 by scott.

Sure health care is important (I agree totally), and the war in Afghanistan is critical (Iraq is winding down), and the search for Osama must go on, and better education in the U.S. is key to our children’s future . . . but the MOST IMPORTANT issue facing the President today is unemployment.

This is his Rubicon.  With everything else on his plate (he is at a smorgasbord as far as that goes) only one thing really matters today.

Unemployment.

It is at near record, post depression, highs (9.7%) with only the early 80’s recession leading (10.1% in 1982).  And the truth is that few economists, and certainly not this one, believe we will stop at 9.7% nor even 10.1%.  Eleven percent would be a good place to stop, and I think we should shout with glee if that were to be the case.  Sadly, 12% or even higher is not out of the question.

Why?

Because our President has his eyes on other things, issues that will (at least in his mind) help him go down in history as a genuine ‘doer.’  And, while he is giving speeches and holding town hall meetings about health care, more loyal Americans are losing their jobs.

What is it going to take for Obama to push these other important (much less so than unemployment) issues to the background and focus on the ONE thing that nearly all of us on Main Street worry about the most . . . our jobs (or the ones we used to have)?

Most of the ‘up front and center’ members of this administration are touting the ‘fact (?)’ that the recession is at (or coming to) an end.  But, they are jumping the gun.  I don’t think we have come close to seeing the end of the financial crisis and unemployment is one of the key reasons why.

Think about this:  with more people out of work consumer spending will continue to drop, that will lead to further cutbacks which will lead to further layoffs which will lead to more consumer debt defaults which will lead to companies going out of business which will lead to commercial rents disappearing which will lead to foreclosures on commercial property AS WELL AS further defaults on home loans!!

All of that means further bad news is coming and the recent run up is just wishful thinking (I am talking here about the stock market).  Until we can get these other ‘forgotten’ financial issues taken care of we simply can’t count on the recession ending (at least not for very long).

At the center of this perfect storm is unemployment.  It is the first and the last thing our economic wizards in the government should be addressing.

Hey, at 9.7% unemployment we even in worse shape that Europe (9.5%) for crying out loud!!

President Obama is right on the bank of his Rubicon and maybe even leaning a bit.  He can choose to cross it with an active engagement of the problem or he can stay where he is and play the passive ‘wait and see’ game (no one ever wins big taking that approach).

He must know how terrible this is.

Since December of 2007 we have lost about 7,000,000 jobs in our economy.  That is a decline of incredibly fast and historic proportions.  But it is even worse than it seems because the relevant statistic is actually the unemployment rate combined with the ‘under employment’ rate (includes those who have taken part-time jobs or have quit looking out of despair).  That rate is an amazingly awful 16.8%!!  In other words roughly 20,000,000 citizens of our country simply can NOT find a decent job!!

Think of everyone in the intermountain west (Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado) being out of work AND then throw New Jersey in just for good measure!!  OUCH!

It really strikes home to those in cities where employment is unbearably high:  Detroit (17.7% –roughly one out of five unemployed), Riverside, California (14.3%) and Las Vegas (13.1% ).

We have to start generating new jobs . . . right now.  Americans need to see sufficient employment growth to cover not just the current unemployed but ALSO the natural growth from the increases in the labor force due to immigration and young people entering the job market.

And the implications of continuing high unemployment are generational not just a current problem.  Among them, a deteriorating labor force (in training, skills and motivation) packed on top of increasingly higher poverty rates and subsequent lower taxes for our government to pay off the incredibly obscene debts that they have recently burdened us with (and will continue to do so for YEARS!).  There is simply no rosy picture that can be painted from the present scenario.  Obama and his minions have to do something NOW!

The only growing segments of our economy (relative to employment) are health care, government and education.  That is bad news because we need health care and government to decline in employment in order to cut costs and reduce deficits.

Obama, do you get this?

Cross the Rubicon, man.

Stop worrying about health care (at least right now) and plain old forget about ‘cap and trade’ in the House’s Environment bill (a real job killer).  Pull out all stops and start spending billions on productive and useful programs that will improve our future by making our nation more competitive and with improved consumer confidence (i.e spending).

Fix our roads, our bridges, our airports our sea-ports, our dams, our electric grid and such.  Pile on with new and better schools, more teachers, better text books, safer playgrounds, improved national parks and access.  Fix our tax system so that it is easier and more fair.  Limit harassment (blackmail) lawsuits.  Lighten up the regulatory restrictions and requirements on small business (the BIGGEST segment of employment in the country).  Eliminate capital gains taxes.  Make investment easier and more profitable and thereby promote private-sector spending to create jobs.  I could go on but your economic geniuses must surely have the brains to get this done.

Unemployment is not just the defining issue of your first term, Mr. President.  It is the defining issue for your ONLY term if you don’t get the job done.

Join in the effort folks.

I suggest you copy this message and send it to your congressmen and then directly to the WhiteHouse.  Send it to your Governor as well.  Send it to your friends and neighbors.

NOTHING in our economy or political system is more important right now.

Urge the President to cross that torrential river of political ‘whitewater’ and get the job done . . . if  not you just might be losing your (if you haven’t already)!

thanks to flickr’s travelingtamas for the photo

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