267. More Good News - Drill, Drill, Drill. REALLY?

Hooray (unfortunately not "hurry"). Drill, drill, drill. So be it says Obama in this article. I have no clue as to whether the areas he is allowing will actually produce a enough oil to significantly reduce our foreign imports, but it is progress towards that goal and should increase jobs which is of more importance. Thank you Mr. President. I would now like to see a more detailed explanation of expectations and a meaningful time table. Are we also going to have to tolerate Congress to actually finalize this action? Can I hear it for bi-partisanship? Oops....this is same message O gave in his State of the Union but with a few paragraphs more. We're still over 1.5 - 2 years away BEFORE WE ACT! So, not so good news. Looks like the anointed one is just positioning for November elections, i.e., politics! Sorry to get your hopes up. How many more times will we hear this story before November? And will the states highlighted be tickled in a way they want to be? That is, Californians don't want to drill, Virginia does, as does Florida; But, Alaska -- its so far up there nobody really cares and are its votes significant?

266. When is it Our Turn?

An article articulating desperate actions by Spain to cut deficits: Cutting civil servant hiring by 90% compared to last year. When will we follow suit? Or haven't blown up the balloon enough and, thus, continue to do the complete opposite? When do we put the fire out instead of fueling it? Similarly, this article re the Eurozone inflation increase is handwriting on the wall for America. How bad have grocery price increases gotten in your area? Usually food prices and energy prices aren't included in the most common measure of inflation. But, when Walmart raises a box of cereal, my staple, by 30% since last week -- total of 37.6% in last 12 months -- and MOST its food even more in last year, you know life is going to get worse. Here's a company that has made discount pricing a household reality. It's becoming uncertain how much of a bargain even Walmart is lately. With more and more of a family's budget going towards staples and oil prices again rising are we again beginning a cycle downturn? Will jobless rates again increase as reported in the Eurozone? Will America continue to print money to hide the real bad economic news? I wouldn't be expecting great company earnings next quarter. Hence, summer doldrums as I previously predicted. Yes, we just heard a report of increased Consumer spending. But, was this just a splurge to cure the long-time blues? A chocolate eating binge to temporarily fix extended depression? Well, I'm going to remain positive -- just ate pounds of chocolate chip cookies last night -- and will believe the rest of America's investors will also remain in a blinded stupor of euphoria as the newspaper rags turn their tales to positive worldwide news -- they report in "attitude" cycles too. Surely the good news like Obama visiting Afghanistan military and Karzai, plus holding Sarkozy's hand in "promising" Iran sanctions in just a few WEEKS (heard that a year ago), and promising the reduction of nuclear arms along with Russia are the special icing flowers on the chocolate cake. However, the real news is the hard efforts the Eurozone is doing to keep its countries from doing a belly-up. Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland have been in the news lately with REAL painful, but necessary actions to REALLY try to fix the problems on their side of the ocean. China is starting to crank up their engines again to ensure solid growth despite the protectionist debate by the West. So, in my opinion, while the rest of the world is actually addressing their issues, we continue to use rhetoric promising actions. This always leads to 3-4 weeks of waiting-to-see some results before the s**t hits the fan again. Darn. Just when I was feeling positive again, reality struck! Hang in there -- at least for a few weeks.

265. More HC Insurance Reform Company Woes

More businesses are added to the increasing list of companies taking losses as a result of the new HC Bill. If interested, read this.

264. Thank You George

Do we miss him yet? I want to thank ex-President George W. Bush for allowing the Iraqi people to have a Democratic election. This article summaries the political success they had in Iraq despite its continuing troubles. Here, instead we flail because our troubles are IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS! One country is building a stronger government, the other is destroying it. Canada is starting to look better and better.

263. Add 3M to the HC Casualty List

12 cents per share charge because of the HC Insurance Reform Bill! This article documents 3M's assessment and loss charge. Within WEEKS the major businesses are declaring their losses -- see previous posts during this past week. I getting scared that the stock market rally won't make it another 3 weeks as forecasted. Possibly this news will not be taken into consideration until actual earnings come out. I can only hope.

262. Open Door for SEIU

Once again the anointed One bypassed Congress to please the unions. This time to appoint Craig Becker, a top lawyer for the SEIU and AFL-CIO to the vacant National Labor Relations Board. Here we go -- now we're heading towards bypassing the secret union election process next. This article highlights this appointment and others Obama decided had to be made by him because bipartisan decisions couldn't be made. So, like an Executive Order that he used to handle no abortion funding in the Health Care mess, he used recess appointments ONLY while Congress is in recess. When does the poor management of our country stop? I give an "F" to Congress re this issue AND an "F" to O. As Glenn Beck hinted many months ago, SEIU has the puppet strings -- just look at Pelosi and you can see that by the fixed expression on her face when she talks. She looks like Howdy Doodie (again kiddies, Howdy was our Sesame Street).

261. Swoosh. Down the Drain Again.

Do I really feel heart-broken about a police officer who took out more than a $390,000 loan for an oversized house and now gets to continue to live in it even though it is currently worth only $250,000? Well, NO. We knew even with better occupations that we couldn't afford a loan that big! Why didn't he? I'm talking about the latest sob story put out there in this article to support O's latest BAILOUT, the SECOND TIME! Yes, the poor people living in rich houses that are now under foreclosure. What happened to EARNING what you owned. Dig in your pockets folks -- O's coming collecting again to provide another smoke screen for a few months that hides a housing market blaze our children and grandchildren will get to extinguish or at least experience. Just sprinkle fairy dust O -- all will be well (IDIOT)!

260. Hello. Hello. Anybody Listening?

Certainly the Democrats in Congress weren't listening. Here's an article about how AT&T got hit by Health Care. Note: "AT&T rival Verizon Communications Inc. was among 10 companies that sent a letter to congressional leaders in December warning that their costs would increase with the health care changes" is a quote from this article that also indicates that they will take a $1B charge (that's a loss write off morons who pushed the HC bill) AND possible cut HC benefits to employees. As told by the Republicans, this HC Bill is going to bring lots of misery! Not just because of the negative changes, but primarily because of COST. Way to go O! Guess I can't blame him alone -- he didn't vote himself in.

Next stop? How about telling sob stories about the lowly immigrants that need to be given amnesty so they can also be added to the Health care mess. Immigration screw-up is next folks. So far O has stirred up mud in Health care, Education, Financial System, Yuan, Israel to list only a few areas. Isn't it time you supporters of the Democratic tactics and policies start slapping yourself in the face and wising up. Or, better yet, move to your own inferior Socialist country and leave this one FREE? It's time to listen for the POP -- that's the removal of your head from your own %&# or someone else's %&# like the one who read teleprompters and mesmerized you with charm. Also, read a book instead of reading the Hollywood gossip columns and TV series which infiltrate your mind with Leftist propaganda.

259. Let's Start with HMO Customers

Where best to start the increase in premiums caused of the newly passed HC Insurance Reform than HMOs -- the lowest cost health insurance policies for those who can't afford more! And these people thought they were safe from tax increases. Some day every one will learn about the many HIDDEN TAXES just like the increase in HMO plans CAUSED by increase to their business.According to this article the HMO customers will see STEEP rises in premiums immediately in anticipation of the huge expenses they will need to cover later (the new high-risk uninsured). So much for penalizing only the rich! Oh, and did I mention LOSS OF JOBS! Well no, but the article did. Let's all rise and praise the anointed one for the beginning of a new lost decade.

258. How Will the HC Insurance Bill Affect Companies and You?

This article sheds some light on how businesses are going to be affected by the recently signed HC Insurance Reform bill -- don't know it's correct "political" name, but since its really only INSURANCE reform let me call it that. Please realize that for every dollar a business loses, the investors get penalized -- yes your 401-K, pensions, and personal portfolios -- AND the company passes through these charges to its customers via product price increases -- ouch, a double whammy. I hope you fools who pushed this bill through, as well as voted for the anointed one, especially feel the pain that this bill will do to your wealth. Oh gee, middle class is exempt right? And below those are the welfare class recipients who will be given just enough crumbs to survive but not enough to get them any further up -- Socialism. I suppose its better that we all suffer together -- the Socialist way -- than to let anybody succeed and lead everybody ahead.

257. I am So-o-o Proud of Mr. Blabber's party

YEAH, RIGHT! Can you believe the Democrats sided with sex offenders? Here's a quote from an article stating that not only did the Democrats vote down EVERY Republican amendment to the Health Care INSURANCE reform bill signed by Obama, but decided even sex offenders should be allowed to get it up should they need to offend again: "By 57-42, Democrats rejected an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., barring federal purchases of Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs for sex offenders. Coburn said it would save millions of dollars...". Even the millions of dollars savings couldn't convince the pea-brains of the Democrats (the REAL Arrogant Party of NO) to vote what's right for the country! Guess you know where their brains were. Didn't know the female Democrats had brains there though too. I bet Mr. Blabber got two votes. Does this stink or do my Common Scents need to be recalibrated?

256. Have the Investors Gone Mad?

As I look at the technical charts and compare them to the political and economic news across the world, I can only wonder whether the investors have gone mad. My charts still indicate 3-4 weeks of upward movement at least. Yet, the continuous Billions of Dollars the Democratic congress is pushing through via Job bills amidst Portugal's downgrade and Greece crisis dragging the Euro down confuses me. As the world problems continue to burn the other side of the world (Euro Zone), our largest importer, the dollar continues to gain strength against the Euro pushing commodity prices down and American exports down. The additional protectionism verbal battle over the price of the Yuan is background noise at the moment, but will play a more important role should any actions be taken by America -- note, the imbalance of trade is always a finger-pointing issue when world economies are under attacked by their own foolish spending and financial controls. What was that? An insinuation that America is spending too much? Oh no, we being the biggest debtor nation says we need to spend more and more to keep the number one spot. With over 20% of GDP in debt, compared to 9% in the 70's, when do we QUIT! We're following closely in Greece's shoes BUT have nobody but the IMF to bail us out -- and that would be UGLY for everybody, meaning not just We the People folks. Plus, what all the rumbling lately about the Housing Market again flailing? Well, for the last 3 months it has, right back to the slightly straight line growth, if you want to call it that, before the government threw the taxpayer money away -- just like the Cash for Clunkers. Too Big to Fail? Is America too Big to Fail? What if we run out of special money paper and ink?

So, how do we play the market? "Play" being the correct word at the moment. We certainly aren't "investing" (meaning long-term) at the moment. I would continue to be a bias technical gambler at the moment looking at 11,200-11,300, but with a safety parachute by my side and a quick release sell lever. As I said earlier, the ride might continue another 3-4 weeks. Ignore the Yuan, the Euro crisis, the home market issues, the government spending, the Health Care bill lawsuits. Put on your gambler's hat and keep you cards close to your chest. Sucker in some chips and get up AND WALK later (don't forget this latter piece of advice). I'm predicting huge summer doldrums. Not a gambler? Drop back ten and punt while you can. Don't forget to plan long-term too when taxes are higher -- take your long-term gains this year and start over with your hold strategies if that is your strategy.

255. Country Kickin'

You're gonna love this YouTube country western song "The Great Reneger". Really sums up President O. Thank you Squirrel Man for your contribution.

254. O's Begging and Keeping All the Truth from Seniors

Old Folks! Do I have your attention. I don't yet qualify for Medicare, but will in a couple of years. So, like most of the seniors too, I still have the logic to determine that O is again flapping his lips for votes instead of for We the People. This article summarizes his Ohio trip to beg for Obamacare votes. It highlights his visions for the seniors and Medicare. Please, someone tell me HOW his Obamacare will EXTEND THE SOLVENCY of Medicare ten years when he plans to ADD coverage for preventive care and fill the drug doughnut hole? Seems to me these alone will ADD to the cost the government will have to pay, meaning senior medicare payments from their Social Security checks WILL INCREASE! Duh! Of course President Non-specifics can't tell you where he's going to get $500B FROM Medicare to fund his overall Obamacare! Hmmm. Take $500B out, add preventive, plug the doughnut hole with more money -- simple logic and common sense tells you to don the gas masks and watch O's nOse grOw sOme mOre. We'll need to drag out the wood chippers to trim his nose soon. Isn't it time we hear the TRUTH and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH from Washington? Jack Webb ("Dragnet" kiddies). Come back.

253. The French Don't Need "Protectionism" Translated

All aboard. Free handouts. Join the party. The French sure love to join the band wagon, or are they responsible for leaking "protectionism" to the press? I just posted about protectionism and now I return to the news mill and see this article where France is blaming Germany for its woes. Does this yield more credibility to my warning that the press is catching on and starting to make the air stink again? Be prepared for article after article re to protectionism-like activities throughout the world. Can we rise above the muck from the press? All SHOULD be well until some action of protectionism actually occurs! But, will the investors wait that long?

252. The PROTECTIONISM Word

Lo and behold, protectionism rhetoric and actions raises the dragon from its lair. Remember the CAUTION I gave you about steer clear of the protectionism word? O's administration didn't hear it I guess and has hurled one more egg at the red dragon. Less than a month ago the administration ignited a battle with China when they indicated that we will be selling arms to Taiwan. Was this because China is selling arms to Iran and won't cooperate with our sanction desires? The egg was the latest berating of the Chinese government for its Yuan policy, specifically if a country's currency is low compared to other countries it has an advantage in selling its products, i.e., Export Advantage. What's true these days is unknown. However, I did see numerous reports the last week that the Yuan actually gained strength against the dollar which would suggest that OUR exports to them and others have the advantage. Go figure. But, back to the bad economy finger-pointing, which is how I see it. O and crew think China is the blame for our bad economy. Couldn't be the mismanagement of our spending could it! Or the stupid Housing and financial crisis caused by OUR government. Or the ridiculous bailouts of companies that should have been left to fail. No. Now we are strapped with further increasing debt and have to BLAME it on somebody else. Hence PROTECTIONISM wars are starting. NOT good for the stock market. We are still in the infant stages of any protectionism war, but the NEWS PEOPLE are starting to pick up on it and that in itself is bad because we all know how much the news people influence things despite being wrong 80+ % of the time. So, watch your back -- we're on shaky grounds again. Hopefully this minor incident where China is reducing its Treasury debt (or is it -- see bottom of article) could just be more NEWS sensationalism. Yet, the news people are the WORD-people and next time they may just come out and use the actual word "protectionism." That would send markets spiralling down -- for today's actions see this.

251. Fairy Dust or Sugar?

"Still seeking votes for his proposed health care overhaul, President Barack Obama appears ready to reverse his position and allow unpopular deal-sweetening measures in the hopes of finding Democratic support for legislation whose future will be decided in coming days," so states the Associated Press in their article. It also mentions his visit to a cancer patient who dropped her insurance after it went to $8,500 a year. Let me see now. Hmmm. Our insurance was over $9,900 a year a few years ago and then we modified it 2-3 times selecting larger and larger deductibles to make the premiums more affordable (down to around $8,220 per year -- like this patient's premiums before canceling). What you HAVE to do to keep costs down. We also switched carriers to get an even lower premium (down to $5,688 per year) -- we won't compare this to hers because we were healthy. So, what does this mean? We pay out-of-pocket $10,000 plus the premium $8,220 or $18,220 per year. Surely that would be cheaper than NO insurance and paying for cancer treatments! I suppose I would have more sympathy for this patient had the insurance company canceled her policy on her. She took the risk to pocket the $8,500 per year and save or spend it instead. No different than investing in the stock market versus putting the investment money under your mattress. Without the specifics (President Non-specific Obama doesn't give specifics), we only get the tear-jerky version of the story. Sure, now she will never be able to get insurance since she dropped it and has cancer. My questions are: did she already have cancer when she dropped it? How old is she? Is this a family policy or individual policy she dropped? Is she out of work? If so, why? What is her income (surely no less than ours)?

But, the real PrOblem I have here is Obama using this wOman to draw the tears of the OhiOans and OhiO Senator to get the senatOr's Obamacare vOte! He's Pitting the Public against this senatOr using a tear-jerker stOry. MOre campaign crap rather than hOnesty. Can't we reverse the PinOcchiO stOry and turn Obama back tO the useless wOOd he's made Of?

250. Both Parties After the Employer-tax Exclusion Money

This article re GOP Representative Ryan's Roadmap reveals that the Republicans have a thorny road also towards Health Care. After Goolging employer-tax exclusion, I was presented with a high level explanation from Ezra Klein of the Washington Post. But, the best article I found was one referenced by Mr. Klein here. In short, both parties want to tap the now untaxed, hidden costs of employer Health Care by taxing it and distributing the new revenue. The Dems want to use it on "programs". The Reps want to give it back to the tax payers as a credit. But, the important issues discussed in the latter highlighted article is the unbelievable complexity in the current tax laws that bind this exclusion to not on the normal health care insurance, but also disability, health savings accounts, and other things, meaning it will be a bugger-bear to repeal entirely and no longer easy to dissect. The article also brings up dozens of considerations that have yet to be examined and a few that are practically impossible to predict. The bottom line conclusion of the report was to first decide WHY it should be repealed. Both parties have already decided it should be repealed, but have yet to state the WHY other than to provide real/virtual money to help pay for their reform ideas. Meanwhile, HOW will the repeal affect the lives of taxpayers? I would think the companies providing the Health Care policies would first cut back on all the perks in them to reduce the premium costs, but then also charge the employee more (their apportionment of the cost) while increasing their pay that amount (to give the impression that it's no change in cost) which would now be TAXED. Now, the Republicans would give some or all of it back to the employee as a credit on their tax return (how about those who don't have a large enough income to file taxes?), while the Democrats would run with the new taxes and apply them to new things in their "government" takeover of Health Care. You decide. But consider the complexity in this ONE issue (i.e., read the latter article) and tell me HOW any body can even comprehend the Democratic 2700+ bill when this SINGLE issue is monumental in itself! Hence, why the Republicans want to address the Health Care issues one at a time in a logical order of best return and less risk. This s no longer a Life of Riley -- hey youngsters, see Wikipedia for this ("The expression, 'Living the life of Riley' suggests an ideal contented life, possibly living on someone else's money, time or work."). My head is spinning from just this issue!

249. O's Back To Dealing Aces from Up His Sleeve

You just can't reform a cheat and liar! Not ONE dime! Bipartisan! NO SPECIAL deals for states! Yeah, right! Axelrod now claims O only meant special deals for a SINGLE state, like Nebraska's deal. But if it applies to than one state, like one for Montana and Connecticut, than the special deal is fine. Obamacare votes are still not there. So, the Dem continue to lie and cheat the taxpayers and BUY senator votes, not to mention, rewrite other laws or procedures to weasel their PARTISAN Health Care bill through the house. What did I mean by the last statement? Well, they can't get enough votes for the House's interests, so they now want to vote the Senate Bill in and then, after it is signed by O make changes to it to appease the members of the House who would have voted NO by including their BUY OUT deal for them. BUT, they can't do that. So instead, they want to claim that they already voted for the Senate bill before by changing some procedures and then implement the nuclear provision (majority vote in the Senate) to sneak the bill through. Don't we have the most corrupt administration ever? This is looking more and more like a Fascist government. I think the states should get ready to sue the government for passing an unconstitutional bill and drag the 2700+ page kludge into the Supreme Courts lounge for a couple of years, or until the Republicans can repeal it. For more information re the latest House voting outlook and O's change-of-mind, see this article. I especially loved the comments to the article after it. SOOn I'll be capitalizing my P's and O's since O is back tO his PinOcchiO ways. Aren't yOu just lOving all the hOPe and change we're getting?

248. A Better Way to Dumb Down our Kids?

Continuing to throw out as much diversion (from anti Obama-Care) as possible and focusing on image improvement, President O chalks more categories of interest on his blackboard for you and I to concentrate on. Here is his new fire: Education, specifically, REWRITE Child Left Behind. Again, without any specifics, O utilizes his rhetoric and, what else can I call it these days but trickery, to convince the people of the "pains" in his heart and desires to make it ALL right (or Left?). Will his plans for education dumb our children down even more? And at what cost (oh come on now, its just Monopoly money).

What do I think? Heck, I'm just a dog who learned from my master. I was taught what I wanted to learn and I was given unbelievable time and attention, not to forget, challenges. I didn't learn what I know from the dog parks where distractions abound and only "come here" and sometimes "stay" and "fetch" are taught and practiced. No, I learned to fade left or right, in and out, sit, and stay from hand signals. I learned to fetch objects without seeing where they were thrown. I learned to pick live animals up in my mouth without hurting them rather than sinking in my canines and drawing blood. I wasn't dumbed down! So, who benefited most? Me , my master, or everybody around me? Yes, yes, yes to all of these. More than you can say about our human children who go to public schools. Right?

Will we see a revolutionary change where our cream-of-the-crop scholars will get the opportunity to excel and land premier jobs in research and technology, teaching, management, and entrepreneurship? Will those who want a blue-collar job get the education to allow them to design and build better houses (even green ones), better highways and bridges, etc.? Or will we continue to educate everyone to at a minimum flip burgers only?

By this time I suppose you see how I feel. "Child Left Behind" just doesn't ring my bells for a better America. Children wouldn't be left behind if jobs were available to the parents and the cost-of-living was affordable to even the poorest. If every parent could get some of the misery out of their lives, they would have more time and money available for their children; hence, less time unsupervised, more things available to them to keep them off the streets and out of trouble. I truly believe the HOME is the key in keeping kids in school until they graduate and not just more undirected or misdirected money for schools and teachers. States and municipalities need to step up and make some "easy" hard decisions. A good example was a school district in Kansas City that recognized that their student base declined from 75,000 students to less than 11,000 today in the last 10-15 years due to suburbia living. Why spend the money on x-number of schools when they only need y-number of schools? Why shouldn't they take only the cream-of-the-crop teachers to teach more of the students? Wow -- a solution that actually SAVES money rather than taking more taxpayer money. Wouldn't this lower school taxes? Wouldn't this leave more money in the parent's pockets? Wouldn't the parents be able to better provide for their children? Wouldn't the children better appreciate the parents? Wouldn't the children be less distracted by the low-lives and vices on the streets? Was a Federal government organization (people and expenses) and taxpayer money needed for this solution? Then, why do we continue to throw money from helicopters? Isn't this how the Federal government handles fraud in Medicare? That is, instead of stopping the fraud and recapturing the money we just keep throwing more money into the hole.

Unless I see something revolutionary from the O that CUTS costs in education AND benefits both the cream-of-the-crops students and helps both the disadvantaged students AND their parents, I will again have to jump all over O and call his latest scheme just another hoax, a trick to make him look appealing. Please O, do SOMETHING right (sorry for the pun -- not left). Maybe name your program "Child RIGHT to Graduation" rather than "Child LEFT behind".

247. Kudos for Obama

It's finally nice to find something positive re our president. But the donation of his Nobel Peace Prize to charities (see this article) shows his heart is in the right place (sometimes). I would like to think so all the time and just blame all the mismanagement on a very poorly selected staff and administration due to his belief in others doing the right thing too. Is there still hope?

246. The Blistering Continues

As the private industries start to recover from the recession and get to the point of creating more jobs, O and his idiots continue to try to destroy the industries (insurance, health, banks, any with a profit). This article about his 0.15% tax on bank liabilities/profits is another way of getting federal money to spend, spend, spend. So, make some stupid decisions on bailouts and then blame others, but this time with punishment charges. O, O, O ... when you going to wise up? Most sixth graders wouldn't have followed your path with nose attached to incompetent advisers without rebelling after just ONE MONTH. Why is it that with over 1 YEAR in office you still yield to the rotten scents spewed from your administration adviser's butts? Can't you see the damage you are imposing on America? Or do you see it? You aren't going to resolve your deficit problems with taxing our livelihood. You need to reboot AFTER running CCleaner to rid your self of the garbage stinking up your White House and Congress.

245. Dodd the Dudd

O wants a new Export group, Dodd wants a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency as noted here. The USS Government is being built board by board, UNLESS WE STOP IT! Here's a guy (we'll now call him Mr. Dudd), who with Mr. Blabber (Barney Frank) pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with their CRA stick (Community Recovery Act -- thank you Jimmy Carter) to prime the mortgage meltdown and cause the housing crisis (read this for an update if you don't already know this). Now he wants We the People to believe he can once again ignore Republican and conservative input, close his door, and secretly pen another kludge of a bill for his Democratic sheep to follow. Do you want a financial regulation bill drafted by a crook like Mr. Dudd who not only had dirty hands in the housing crisis, but also received low rate loan from his pals for his house but knew nothing about how special and privileged it was compared to all others obtaining a mortgage at that time? Mr. Dudd and Mr. Blabber. Front and Center. The plank awaits you. Do these jerks believe We the People will tire if they just keep their foots on the trash accelerator? Sounds like a Toyota story. How do we stop the fools? 2010 elections are a start. Please, pour me a cup to tea.

244. Time to Export O to Shrink the Deficit

Here we go again building up the government! Check out this article about O's latest awakening that by increasing exports we can reduce the deficit. Is this guy naive or what? Like private companies have not already been focused on the world markets for the last several DECADES! Is O just waking up? So to accelerate marketing American products we need a new government organization! Time to abandon ship O! We need you OFF our ship. Once again, CUT CORPORATE TAXES and you will see American companies increase their output, INCREASE JOBS, AND flood the export market with more products. HELLO! You really awake O, or still dreaming your 3-decade old dreams? Does he really think he can pull the wool over the eyes of We the People? Even the less savvy and uninformed people in America are becoming knowledgeable beyond his pranks. Stay awake America and shout this guy OUT.

243. Nice Management O

This article makes a clear case that O should be managing a Girl Scout cookie drive instead of the Federal Government. Holy Thin Mints Batman! I wonder how many cookies a missed $1.2 Trillion would buy? Enough to feed the WORLD? Let's spend another $2-3 to screw up Health Care. Jimmy Carter must be smiling that he no longer holds the status of worse president ever.

242. Time to Give a Market Update

It has been a week since Post 237 Convergence Day. As expected then, the market hovered for a while then rose to current levels around 10560 at this time. Now where? I expect about 4 more days around this level, pushing the 10600-10625 mark before taking a breather. How long a breather? Not long. Signs, I mean the red squeaky toy, indicate a strong pull upward. Are we learning the words from the administration are only words and no action? Seriously though, China, the country to be watched, announced it expects a strong growth year despite their banking restrictions -- good for them, good for commodities, good for their importers. Greece it fighting hard to regain stability on their own and had some successful bond sales. UK still upbeat. Euro Zone negotiating with India re free trade. Southeastern Asian countries, like Indonesia, Singapore, etc. discussing their own free trade talks. Iraq continues on. Afghanistan and Pakistan showing some positive signs of progress. Please O -- keep your mouth shut for a while and let the world progress. The Health Bill NEEDS to be KILLED. America needs to get back on the track. Out with the jerks -- TY Rangel (Mr. Cheat) for resigning. Maybe the NY Governor will too! And isn't it time for the glitzy Hollywood bunch to retreat from socialism and their imaginary false thought that they control this country? Like they helped California any -- into bankruptcy maybe! We're at a point where the negative news is simply the word of news people who think they only need to report negative news. We the People are wiser and having been forced this crap for decades are finally wising up. Let's just get rid of the naysayers and bad-news and bad-policy controllers. The market will take a breather in 4 days. Then we're going to get back on track upward once we right the train. The anointed One WILL NOT speak the word protectionism! (We sincerely hope).

241. Are Schools the Problem?

This article addresses throwing money at the schools to resolve the issue (problem, or is it a symptom) of school dropouts. I commend the current and past presidents for their dedication to resolving the issue and am sure we do get something from the additional dollars flowing into the education system. But do we really think new desks, supplies, even an additional guidance counselor is going to resolve issues for dropping out like: teen pregnancy, drugs, financial hardship? WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? I wish I knew the solution to the issue. How do we ensure the families, probably largely single-parent, can provide and WILL provide a positive environment to instill confidence and self esteem for their teens? My answer is you just can't expect 100% success when at least the three problems I have already listed are high on the list of removing kids from our schools. Plus we must realistically assume not everyone will be intelligent enough to cope with a college curiculum and not everyone wants a college education, nor do we need everyone to get a college education. Building houses has always been a dream -- college kept me from this. I wish I had spent much more time with auto mechanics, welding, building, creating. So, the question is how do we measure worth. And, who can measure what is worthy for another individual? Do we say Bill Gates is a failure because he dropped out of college? Do we think the thousands who never went to college who own or owned their own businesses, for example our Peggy, haven't accomplished anything or contributed to the fullest to this country? So, here is what I think: of the 30% (using some statistic from the article without any clarification of accuracy), a significant part will be people who contribute to the country in capacities needed by this country. Has anybody ever reported the number of homeless that ARE educated? We need to continue to improve our schools, but not to try to get 100% to graduate. We need to try to get those already committed to a college much more better prepared and skilled. America is floundering because our focus is to make everybody equal despite THEIR wishes and capacities. This robs those who can excel beyond belief by giving the time and money to those who eventually throw their high school diploma in the trash. So, Mr. President, give us the specifics instead of just throwing money at the schools. How can we ensure America's future? With more high school graduations, or just higher educated and skilled people? How do we solve teenage drug addiction? How do we help pregnant teenagers who do want to go to college? The issues are much more difficult to address than to drop more money from helicopters without deep consideration and plans. It's always so easy to create a smoke screen. It's about time we ask for substance.