International forecaster August 2009
Recession Worse than Prior Estimates, Revisions Show
Do not be fooled, another major economic collapse could be coming soon
Card Companies Ready to Settle Up
Middle Class Suicide
The Collapse of Commercial Property: Towers of Debt
The Future Made Simple
Goodbye Bland Affluence
Job Levels Won't Rebound in California Until 2013
Unpaid Property Taxes Hit Localities
Disney Earnings Drop 26% on Weaker Theme Park, Media Results
Oil Slips Below $67 as Euro Stocks Falter
Gold to break $1,000 this August
Gold Will Hit $1,000 Again
Monday, August 3, 2009
The Three Triggers of the Global Gold Bubble
The Three Triggers of the Global Gold Bubble
http://www.moneymorning.com/2009/07/28/gold-bubble/
http://www.moneymorning.com/2009/07/28/gold-bubble/
Waiting on a Trigger Event
After the fall?; The collapse in world trade has stopped, but there is no sign of a recovery
Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden
Adrian Douglas: CFTC Conceals the Real Problem, the Infinite Dollar
Weak US 5-Year Debt Auction Raises Worries
Bernanke on the Record (video)
The Hole in Our Universe (The Mogambo Guru)
Dead Banks Walking
Big Banks Cashing in on Rash of Smaller Bank Failures
Copper Peaking as Inventories Signal Market Top
Detroit Area Jobless Rate Tops 17%
The Human Footprint - In N. America, less populated areas tend to be safer areas.
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE
Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden
Adrian Douglas: CFTC Conceals the Real Problem, the Infinite Dollar
Weak US 5-Year Debt Auction Raises Worries
Bernanke on the Record (video)
The Hole in Our Universe (The Mogambo Guru)
Dead Banks Walking
Big Banks Cashing in on Rash of Smaller Bank Failures
Copper Peaking as Inventories Signal Market Top
Detroit Area Jobless Rate Tops 17%
The Human Footprint - In N. America, less populated areas tend to be safer areas.
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE
Your Money out of the Country
Move Your Money Out of the Country…and Soon.
The new ‘retirement’ plan: Just keep working
Facing Retirement: 70 is the new 65
The weak dollar and the economy
Five Firms Hold 80% of Derivatives Risk, Fitch Report FindsWall Street's Gains Equal Main Street's Losses? "In sum, while a growing number of investors seem to believe that Main Street is on the mend, many of corporate America's senior executives -- who are normally not prone towards pessimistic outlooks -- are maintaining that they see no real evidence of a revival where it counts -- on the ground. In fact, amid an almost single-minded focus on reported earnings results, many of which only appear favorable in comparison to the low-ball, company managed estimates that clueless analysts have come up with, Wall Street hasn't been paying much attention to just how dicey things look at the top of the income statement."
Dollar Dying, Gold Gleaming
UK Oil Giants' Profits Plunge $10 Billion
Guaranty Bank Warns it's on Verge of Failure
Small Business Loan Defaults Expected to Rise
School Budgets Dip, Class Sizes Grow
Weiss: The Great Global Gap
Atlas Vacant - The Commercial Real Estate Bust: Gearing up for a $3 Trillion Headache. Increase in Vacancy Rates and Higher Defaults
Negative Folly (The Mogambo Guru)
Treasuries Fall as US Begins Auction, New Home Sales Rise
Call for Rapid Recovery is Bubble All its Own
SIGN OF THE TIMES?: 3,000 Low Temp Records Set This July!
The new ‘retirement’ plan: Just keep working
Facing Retirement: 70 is the new 65
The weak dollar and the economy
Five Firms Hold 80% of Derivatives Risk, Fitch Report FindsWall Street's Gains Equal Main Street's Losses? "In sum, while a growing number of investors seem to believe that Main Street is on the mend, many of corporate America's senior executives -- who are normally not prone towards pessimistic outlooks -- are maintaining that they see no real evidence of a revival where it counts -- on the ground. In fact, amid an almost single-minded focus on reported earnings results, many of which only appear favorable in comparison to the low-ball, company managed estimates that clueless analysts have come up with, Wall Street hasn't been paying much attention to just how dicey things look at the top of the income statement."
Dollar Dying, Gold Gleaming
UK Oil Giants' Profits Plunge $10 Billion
Guaranty Bank Warns it's on Verge of Failure
Small Business Loan Defaults Expected to Rise
School Budgets Dip, Class Sizes Grow
Weiss: The Great Global Gap
Atlas Vacant - The Commercial Real Estate Bust: Gearing up for a $3 Trillion Headache. Increase in Vacancy Rates and Higher Defaults
Negative Folly (The Mogambo Guru)
Treasuries Fall as US Begins Auction, New Home Sales Rise
Call for Rapid Recovery is Bubble All its Own
SIGN OF THE TIMES?: 3,000 Low Temp Records Set This July!
The World and Dollar
World Prepares to Dump the Dollar
Brazil and Canada Begin Dumping US Treasury Bond Debt - Our good friends the Canadians don't think our economy is going to survive. So why do you?
Abandoned US Dollar and Paradigm Shift "The foreign creditors continue to protect their core US$-denominated reserves, while clearly undermining the US$ on the margin, as alternatives are chosen."
Graduates Move Back Home
Americans Now Pariahs of Foreign Banks
Out of House and Home
The Doctrine of Preemptive Bailouts and the Biggest Bailout you Haven’t Heard About: The U.S. Treasury Plan C and the $3.5 Trillion You Will be Paying
Global Exposure in Financial Derivatives Surpasses One Quadrillion Dollars
Economist Shiller Sees 'Bad Recession,' Stocks Could Drop Again. "Shiller says that this is a dreaded "liquidity trap."
Fannie & Freddie: The most expensive bailout
Bernanke Terrified Over Commercial Real Estate, Seeks Still More Power Over Consumers
Cash-strapped states raid 911 funds
Global Exposure in Derivatives in Excess of One Quadrillion Dollars
24 Trillion Reasons to Buy Gold
Strategist: China Politely Moves Away From Dollar
US Foreclosure Crisis Spreads to New States
Awash in Nonsense (The Mogambo Guru)
John Galt: Welcome to the Eye of the Storm "Welcome to the eye of the storm. And that storm, as displayed above, is Hurricane Wilma, the most intense storm in recorded history. That storm is getting ready to move again and the most powerful part of the eyewall is about to slam into our economic fantasy land at full force."
Massive Airline Cuts as Business Travel Plunges
New Fed Role: "Super Cop" to Police Banks
No Jobs, No Insurance; Hard Times for Young Adults
Bernanke Says Jobs, Consumers are Key - According to Peter Schiff and many others, the primary flaw in Bernanke's economic policy is thinking that "credit and spending" is the foundation of the economy, when in reality, the US was built on "production and savings".
Bernanke Fights Threat by US Congress to Audit Fed
Brazil and Canada Begin Dumping US Treasury Bond Debt - Our good friends the Canadians don't think our economy is going to survive. So why do you?
Abandoned US Dollar and Paradigm Shift "The foreign creditors continue to protect their core US$-denominated reserves, while clearly undermining the US$ on the margin, as alternatives are chosen."
Graduates Move Back Home
Americans Now Pariahs of Foreign Banks
Out of House and Home
The Doctrine of Preemptive Bailouts and the Biggest Bailout you Haven’t Heard About: The U.S. Treasury Plan C and the $3.5 Trillion You Will be Paying
Global Exposure in Financial Derivatives Surpasses One Quadrillion Dollars
Economist Shiller Sees 'Bad Recession,' Stocks Could Drop Again. "Shiller says that this is a dreaded "liquidity trap."
Fannie & Freddie: The most expensive bailout
Bernanke Terrified Over Commercial Real Estate, Seeks Still More Power Over Consumers
Cash-strapped states raid 911 funds
Global Exposure in Derivatives in Excess of One Quadrillion Dollars
24 Trillion Reasons to Buy Gold
Strategist: China Politely Moves Away From Dollar
US Foreclosure Crisis Spreads to New States
Awash in Nonsense (The Mogambo Guru)
John Galt: Welcome to the Eye of the Storm "Welcome to the eye of the storm. And that storm, as displayed above, is Hurricane Wilma, the most intense storm in recorded history. That storm is getting ready to move again and the most powerful part of the eyewall is about to slam into our economic fantasy land at full force."
Massive Airline Cuts as Business Travel Plunges
New Fed Role: "Super Cop" to Police Banks
No Jobs, No Insurance; Hard Times for Young Adults
Bernanke Says Jobs, Consumers are Key - According to Peter Schiff and many others, the primary flaw in Bernanke's economic policy is thinking that "credit and spending" is the foundation of the economy, when in reality, the US was built on "production and savings".
Bernanke Fights Threat by US Congress to Audit Fed
Finally Fessing Up
I can show you statement upon statement by Bernanke from the last year where he is saying that everything will be under control, there will be a Summer recovery, etc. NOW, he says that this "may be worse than the Great Depression"?
Just remember WHO got that news to you months ago!!! The article is below. ~CH
Jul 26, 2009, 10:21 p.m. EST
Bernanke: This may be worse than Great Depression
Fed chief says growth will resume at 1% in the second half of this year
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke discussed the economy with average Americans on Sunday, saying the current financial crisis could be even more virulent than the Great Depression.
"A lot of things happened, a lot came together, [and] created probably the worst financial crisis, certainly since the Great Depression and possibly even including the Great Depression," Bernanke said at the start of a town-hall meeting in Kansas City.
Bernanke defended the Fed's extraordinary moves, which have included slashing interest rates to zero, pumping billions of dollars to keep credit markets open, and buying Treasurys and mortgage debt to keep long-term interest rates low.
"I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression," he said.
The event is being televised over three nights, beginning Monday, by U.S. public television network PBS. Members of the public, screened by PBS, were able to ask questions.
Many questioners expressed unhappiness with the "too big to fail" doctrine. One asked when Bernanke would get around to firing the leadership of banks that had to accept government assistance.
Another participant said the only thing that was clear to him in the whole crisis was that his small business was "too small to save."
At first, Bernanke tried to argue that the Fed moved to save big banks to protect the global economy, but by the end, Bernanke simply agreed that "too-big-to-fail has got to go."
First-of-its-kind meeting
The dialogue marked the first time that a sitting Fed chairman has sat down to answer questions on the record from the public. For the first 80 years of its existence, Fed officials operated under the rule that the less said, the better.
But recent economic research has indicated that Fed interest-rate policy actually works better if the public understands its basic thrust. This has led the Fed, in fits and starts, to try to open up.
The results at the town hall meeting were choppy at times, although Bernanke seemed to get better as the event went along.
The first questioner admitted she didn't "have a clue" what the Fed did. It is doubtful that Bernanke's laundry list response -- the Fed is monetary policy maker, bank supervisor, crisis manager and consumer protector -- helped her very much.
Asked when "this [recession] is going to end," Bernanke said growth would return in the second half of 2009, likely at a 1% pace. The unemployment rate won't peak until next year, he said.
The Fed has put the "pedal to the metal" to try to get the economy growing at a faster pace.
Maybe because his earlier answers were on the scary side, Bernanke then tried to be a cheerleader, saying that the U.S. economy "couldn't be held down" and would eventually return to a strong growth pace.
Strong-dollar booster
One odd moment came when Bernanke said he was a supporter of the Obama administration's "strong dollar" policy.
Fed officials typically steer clear of commenting on currency issues.
"We think the dollar should be strong, and the best way we think to get a strong dollar is to have a strong economy," Bernanke said.
"Our whole strategy right now is to get the economy out of doldrums and back onto a growth path that will attract foreign funds and keep [the dollar] strong," Bernanke said.
When asked about Bernanke, top Fed officials often use the word "decent" to describe him. This trait seemed to shine through and by the end of the event, at which point Bernanke was evoking gentle laughter from the audience.
Asked about the stock market, Bernanke said he was worried about getting sued for malpractice.
Bernanke has some other "never done before by Fed chairman" events under his belt. Earlier this year, he spoke at the National Press Club and took questions from the audience. And he took an interview for the CBS news program "60 Minutes," which included a walk down Main Street in Dillon, South Carolina, his hometown.
Bernanke did try to connect with the audience. When one member of the audience said he had been laid off and then found work, Bernanke stopped and congratulated him.
Asked what keeps him up at night, Bernanke explained he would probably get a good sleep tonight, saying: "I'm pretty tired."
Just remember WHO got that news to you months ago!!! The article is below. ~CH
Jul 26, 2009, 10:21 p.m. EST
Bernanke: This may be worse than Great Depression
Fed chief says growth will resume at 1% in the second half of this year
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke discussed the economy with average Americans on Sunday, saying the current financial crisis could be even more virulent than the Great Depression.
"A lot of things happened, a lot came together, [and] created probably the worst financial crisis, certainly since the Great Depression and possibly even including the Great Depression," Bernanke said at the start of a town-hall meeting in Kansas City.
Bernanke defended the Fed's extraordinary moves, which have included slashing interest rates to zero, pumping billions of dollars to keep credit markets open, and buying Treasurys and mortgage debt to keep long-term interest rates low.
"I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression," he said.
The event is being televised over three nights, beginning Monday, by U.S. public television network PBS. Members of the public, screened by PBS, were able to ask questions.
Many questioners expressed unhappiness with the "too big to fail" doctrine. One asked when Bernanke would get around to firing the leadership of banks that had to accept government assistance.
Another participant said the only thing that was clear to him in the whole crisis was that his small business was "too small to save."
At first, Bernanke tried to argue that the Fed moved to save big banks to protect the global economy, but by the end, Bernanke simply agreed that "too-big-to-fail has got to go."
First-of-its-kind meeting
The dialogue marked the first time that a sitting Fed chairman has sat down to answer questions on the record from the public. For the first 80 years of its existence, Fed officials operated under the rule that the less said, the better.
But recent economic research has indicated that Fed interest-rate policy actually works better if the public understands its basic thrust. This has led the Fed, in fits and starts, to try to open up.
The results at the town hall meeting were choppy at times, although Bernanke seemed to get better as the event went along.
The first questioner admitted she didn't "have a clue" what the Fed did. It is doubtful that Bernanke's laundry list response -- the Fed is monetary policy maker, bank supervisor, crisis manager and consumer protector -- helped her very much.
Asked when "this [recession] is going to end," Bernanke said growth would return in the second half of 2009, likely at a 1% pace. The unemployment rate won't peak until next year, he said.
The Fed has put the "pedal to the metal" to try to get the economy growing at a faster pace.
Maybe because his earlier answers were on the scary side, Bernanke then tried to be a cheerleader, saying that the U.S. economy "couldn't be held down" and would eventually return to a strong growth pace.
Strong-dollar booster
One odd moment came when Bernanke said he was a supporter of the Obama administration's "strong dollar" policy.
Fed officials typically steer clear of commenting on currency issues.
"We think the dollar should be strong, and the best way we think to get a strong dollar is to have a strong economy," Bernanke said.
"Our whole strategy right now is to get the economy out of doldrums and back onto a growth path that will attract foreign funds and keep [the dollar] strong," Bernanke said.
When asked about Bernanke, top Fed officials often use the word "decent" to describe him. This trait seemed to shine through and by the end of the event, at which point Bernanke was evoking gentle laughter from the audience.
Asked about the stock market, Bernanke said he was worried about getting sued for malpractice.
Bernanke has some other "never done before by Fed chairman" events under his belt. Earlier this year, he spoke at the National Press Club and took questions from the audience. And he took an interview for the CBS news program "60 Minutes," which included a walk down Main Street in Dillon, South Carolina, his hometown.
Bernanke did try to connect with the audience. When one member of the audience said he had been laid off and then found work, Bernanke stopped and congratulated him.
Asked what keeps him up at night, Bernanke explained he would probably get a good sleep tonight, saying: "I'm pretty tired."
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Obama White House
Obama’s White House is falling Down
By Daniel Greenfield
"A shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head"
In the sixth month of his presidency, Obama has turned an economic downturn into an economic disaster, taking over and trashing entire companies, and driving the nation deep into deficit spending expected to pass 10 trillion dollars.
Abroad, Obama seems to have no other mode except to continue on with his endless campaign, confusing speechmaking with diplomacy. It is natural enough that Obama, who built his entire campaign on high profile public speeches reported on by an adoring press, understands how to do nothing else but that.
Ego driven photo op appearances and clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries
While the press is still chewing over Obama's Cairo speech, this celebrity style coverage ignores the fact that Obama's endless world tour is not actually accomplishing anything. Instead his combination of ego driven photo op appearances and clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries have alienated many of America’s traditional allies. Those who aren’t being quietly angry at Obama, like Brown, Merkel or Netanyahu, instead think of him as absurdly lightweight, as Sarkozy, King Abdullah or Putin do.
While his officials carry out their dirty economic deeds, Obama responds to any and every crisis as if it were a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland musical, with a cry of, "Let's put on a show." Thus far Obama has put on "shows" across America, Europe and the Middle East. And what the adoring media coverage neglects to cover, is that Obama's shows have solved absolutely nothing. They have served only as high profile entertainment.
Neither alienating America’s traditional allies, through a combination of arrogant bullying and ignorance, nor appeasing America’s enemies, has yielded any actual results. Nor does it seem likely to. Islamic terrorism is not going anywhere, neither are the nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. While Obama keeps smiling, the global situation keeps growing grimmer.
At home, if Obama was elected as depression era entertainment, the charm of his smiles and his constant appearances on magazine covers appear to be wearing thin on the American public. Despite the shrill attacks on Rush Limbaugh or the Republican Enemy of the Weak-- the Democratic Party of 2009, is polling a lot like the Republican Party of 2008. The Democrats have suddenly become the incumbents, and the only accomplishment they can point to is lavish deficit spending, often on behalf of the very same corporations and causes they once postured against.
The European Union Parliament's swing to the right cannot be credited to Obama, though doubtlessly some European voters seeing socialist economic crisis management on display in the world's richest country decided they wanted none of it, but it is part of a general turning against federalism. And Obama's entire program is dependent on heavily entrenching federalism at the expense of individual and state’s rights. Yet that is precisely his Achilles heel with independent voters who are polling against more taxes and expanded government. And no amount of speeches by Obama can wish away his 18 czars or the national debt he has foisted on generation after generation of the American people.
That leaves Obama with a choice between socialism and the independent voter. And thus far he has chosen socialism.
Obama's tactic of hijacking Bush Administration era policies on the economy and the War o n Terror, and exploiting them as Trojan horses to promote his own agenda, have left him coping with a backlash from his own party, as well as general Republican opposition.
His Czars are meant to function as the bones in an executive infrastructure accountable to no one, but a lack of accountability isn't just another word for tyranny, but for incompetence. A functional chain of command is accountable at multiple levels if it is to function effectively. Obama's White House by contrast is in a state of over-organized chaos, the sort of organized disorganization that undisciplined egotistical leftists naturally create for themselves, complete with multiple overlapping levels of authority and no one in charge but the man at the top, who's too busy doing other things to actually be in charge.
Dennis Blair as National Intelligence, who collaborated with the Muslim genocide of Christians in East Timor, trying to muscle out the CIA to create his own intelligence network, is typical of the kind of chaos being spawned by every chief in an expanding government bureaucracy working to make sure that all the Indians answer to him. Similarly the National Security Council wrestling with the State Department, highlighted by Samantha Power getting her own specially created NSC position to butt heads with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, illustrates the state of conflict and chaos in American foreign affairs. A state of chaos so pervasive that incompetence has now become commonplace and no one can even be found to double check the spelling of a Russian word that is meant to be the theme of American’s diplomatic reconstruction with Russia, or to pick out a gift for the visiting British Prime Minister.
The death of Chrysler at the hands of Fiat and the UAW
Meanwhile on the economy, Obama exploited the ongoing bailouts, transforming them from bailouts into takeovers meant to shift the balance of power in what had been a democracy and socially engineer not only corporations, but the live s of ordinary Americans. But the public's patience with corporate bailouts is at an end, most Americans were never happy with them to begin with, and want them to end. The death of Chrysler at the hands of Fiat and the UAW might look like a victory in the union ranks, but it doesn't play too well outside Detroit. And tacking on CAFE standards that will kill the pickup truck and the SUV will badly erode Obama in the swing states, if exploited properly in 2010 and 2012. Despite the constant media barrage, orchestrated out of the White House, the public is growing disenchanted with the performance of Obama and the Democrats.
With unemployment booming and the economy dropping, the jobs aren't there and the spending is out of control. Republicans today are polling better on ethics and the economy, than the Democrats are. That shows a trend which is likely to register in the mid-term elections in 2010, in the same way that the EU parliamentary elections served as a shock to the system.
In the opposition, Republicans are free to embrace the rhetoric of change, to champion reform and push libertarian ideas about the size and scope of government. In turn all Obama has is his celebrity fueled media spectacle world tour. A charade now serving as a parallel to the depression era entertainment that functioned as escapism in a dour time, but before long, it may be Obama that the American public will want to escape from.
A shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head
Obama has tried to play Lincoln, Reagan, JFK and FDR-- but in the end he can only play himself, a shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head, and trying to drag the country down with him. Obama’s White House is falling down and while the flashbulbs are still glittering and the parties are going on in D.C. and around the world, Obama and the Democratic Congress may be headed for a recession of their own.
By Daniel Greenfield
"A shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head"
In the sixth month of his presidency, Obama has turned an economic downturn into an economic disaster, taking over and trashing entire companies, and driving the nation deep into deficit spending expected to pass 10 trillion dollars.
Abroad, Obama seems to have no other mode except to continue on with his endless campaign, confusing speechmaking with diplomacy. It is natural enough that Obama, who built his entire campaign on high profile public speeches reported on by an adoring press, understands how to do nothing else but that.
Ego driven photo op appearances and clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries
While the press is still chewing over Obama's Cairo speech, this celebrity style coverage ignores the fact that Obama's endless world tour is not actually accomplishing anything. Instead his combination of ego driven photo op appearances and clueless treatment of foreign dignitaries have alienated many of America’s traditional allies. Those who aren’t being quietly angry at Obama, like Brown, Merkel or Netanyahu, instead think of him as absurdly lightweight, as Sarkozy, King Abdullah or Putin do.
While his officials carry out their dirty economic deeds, Obama responds to any and every crisis as if it were a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland musical, with a cry of, "Let's put on a show." Thus far Obama has put on "shows" across America, Europe and the Middle East. And what the adoring media coverage neglects to cover, is that Obama's shows have solved absolutely nothing. They have served only as high profile entertainment.
Neither alienating America’s traditional allies, through a combination of arrogant bullying and ignorance, nor appeasing America’s enemies, has yielded any actual results. Nor does it seem likely to. Islamic terrorism is not going anywhere, neither are the nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. While Obama keeps smiling, the global situation keeps growing grimmer.
At home, if Obama was elected as depression era entertainment, the charm of his smiles and his constant appearances on magazine covers appear to be wearing thin on the American public. Despite the shrill attacks on Rush Limbaugh or the Republican Enemy of the Weak-- the Democratic Party of 2009, is polling a lot like the Republican Party of 2008. The Democrats have suddenly become the incumbents, and the only accomplishment they can point to is lavish deficit spending, often on behalf of the very same corporations and causes they once postured against.
The European Union Parliament's swing to the right cannot be credited to Obama, though doubtlessly some European voters seeing socialist economic crisis management on display in the world's richest country decided they wanted none of it, but it is part of a general turning against federalism. And Obama's entire program is dependent on heavily entrenching federalism at the expense of individual and state’s rights. Yet that is precisely his Achilles heel with independent voters who are polling against more taxes and expanded government. And no amount of speeches by Obama can wish away his 18 czars or the national debt he has foisted on generation after generation of the American people.
That leaves Obama with a choice between socialism and the independent voter. And thus far he has chosen socialism.
Obama's tactic of hijacking Bush Administration era policies on the economy and the War o n Terror, and exploiting them as Trojan horses to promote his own agenda, have left him coping with a backlash from his own party, as well as general Republican opposition.
His Czars are meant to function as the bones in an executive infrastructure accountable to no one, but a lack of accountability isn't just another word for tyranny, but for incompetence. A functional chain of command is accountable at multiple levels if it is to function effectively. Obama's White House by contrast is in a state of over-organized chaos, the sort of organized disorganization that undisciplined egotistical leftists naturally create for themselves, complete with multiple overlapping levels of authority and no one in charge but the man at the top, who's too busy doing other things to actually be in charge.
Dennis Blair as National Intelligence, who collaborated with the Muslim genocide of Christians in East Timor, trying to muscle out the CIA to create his own intelligence network, is typical of the kind of chaos being spawned by every chief in an expanding government bureaucracy working to make sure that all the Indians answer to him. Similarly the National Security Council wrestling with the State Department, highlighted by Samantha Power getting her own specially created NSC position to butt heads with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, illustrates the state of conflict and chaos in American foreign affairs. A state of chaos so pervasive that incompetence has now become commonplace and no one can even be found to double check the spelling of a Russian word that is meant to be the theme of American’s diplomatic reconstruction with Russia, or to pick out a gift for the visiting British Prime Minister.
The death of Chrysler at the hands of Fiat and the UAW
Meanwhile on the economy, Obama exploited the ongoing bailouts, transforming them from bailouts into takeovers meant to shift the balance of power in what had been a democracy and socially engineer not only corporations, but the live s of ordinary Americans. But the public's patience with corporate bailouts is at an end, most Americans were never happy with them to begin with, and want them to end. The death of Chrysler at the hands of Fiat and the UAW might look like a victory in the union ranks, but it doesn't play too well outside Detroit. And tacking on CAFE standards that will kill the pickup truck and the SUV will badly erode Obama in the swing states, if exploited properly in 2010 and 2012. Despite the constant media barrage, orchestrated out of the White House, the public is growing disenchanted with the performance of Obama and the Democrats.
With unemployment booming and the economy dropping, the jobs aren't there and the spending is out of control. Republicans today are polling better on ethics and the economy, than the Democrats are. That shows a trend which is likely to register in the mid-term elections in 2010, in the same way that the EU parliamentary elections served as a shock to the system.
In the opposition, Republicans are free to embrace the rhetoric of change, to champion reform and push libertarian ideas about the size and scope of government. In turn all Obama has is his celebrity fueled media spectacle world tour. A charade now serving as a parallel to the depression era entertainment that functioned as escapism in a dour time, but before long, it may be Obama that the American public will want to escape from.
A shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head
Obama has tried to play Lincoln, Reagan, JFK and FDR-- but in the end he can only play himself, a shallow, manipulative and egotistical amateur who is in over his head, and trying to drag the country down with him. Obama’s White House is falling down and while the flashbulbs are still glittering and the parties are going on in D.C. and around the world, Obama and the Democratic Congress may be headed for a recession of their own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)