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Investing and Politics

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Capitol-Markets.jpgIf folks stowed their money away in fixed rate investments during the latter part of the Bush economy, and then reallocated that money into stock investments for the Obama economy, those folks have to be pleased at having saved as much as a 50% loss at the end of the Bush economy, and approaching as much as a 50% gain during this Obama economy, starting in March of this year.

Of course, President's don't control the stock markets. Myriad factors, most knowable, some not, play roles in the direction of market investments. The trick is to acknowledge and accept the trends without prejudice, political or otherwise. As far back as 2006 and 2007, there were clear indications the Bush economy was going to implode.

The House narrowly passed what has long been considered to be an impossible bill to push through during a recession. It was bi-partisan in its passage, as 8 Republicans voted for it, and 44 Democrats voted against it. However, this sweeping energy innovation and climate protection bill, faces a short life as it heads to the Senate later this year.

Congress is working on reforms to be applied to the credit card industry. Good. They need it. But, when it became clear that the government was going to bail out floundering corporations, did credit card companies begin to make themselves insolvent in order to get in line for tax payer dollars? With a few exceptions, the credit card companies did not begin to shut down consumer credit until government handouts were known to be coming and the recession underway.

If America doesn't pursue Pres. Obama's agenda, there is no agenda to follow to meet America's crises and challenges. And if there is no agenda to follow for the next 4 years, America will fail. This is a reality of current events which critics of Obama and his administration refuse to acknowledge, rendering all their criticism irrelevant. Let's examine the veracity and logic of these statements.

Before answering the question of whether taxpayers should rescue the auto industry, we have to know what the situation is, and what the pros and cons are for a rescue or allowing one or more of the Big 3 to bankrupt. Hearings yesterday and today before Congress provide a good deal of information on the topic, and almost no hope of an immediate rescue to come this week.

As always, elections are about variables so myriad as to make polling effective only in trend for some elections, and entirely unreliable in others. It appears to me this 2008 election however, is about a crisis in confidence toward authority and the presidential winner will be the person having shown the most credible judgement.

Most American tax payers could not give a definition of the term "opportunity cost". Just as most Americans could not tell you what al-Queda was, prior to 9/11, 2001. Not knowing however, did not stop al-Queda from attacking America, and not knowing what opportunity cost is, will not stop those oppressive and suffocating costs from forcing future tax increases on income earners in America and pushing the nation toward bankruptcy.

Parenting Politics

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Would you teach your children to make up their own minds about political party and candidates? Or, would you insure their politics were the same as yours? Parenting politics should be a fascinating topic, but, it is under researched. Scholastic Magazine sponsored an election conducted by school age kids, grades 1 - 12, on the presidential races. Obama 54% to McCain's 39% if I recall their interview on TV this morning, correctly. What is interesting is how those percentages mirror the adult population polls.

America has a future. American's have a future. In many ways, it will not look like our past. What is happening right now is a revolution, a political, economic, and cultural revolution. There is no choice about it. When Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, certain concepts and ideas were put to the test, and in 2007 and 2008, those concepts and ideas brought our economy crashing down, driving 10's of millions of voters to leave the two major political parties, and opening the door to dramatic cultural change going forward.

The title of this article (above) is the name of the Bill which passed the Senate last night. It is voluminous and the time between its issuance from the Banking Committee to its vote on the floor likely precluded most Senators from having time to read it themselves. But rest assured their staffers did. Visit and support the Sunlight Foundation for the full text of the Bill. Or, read this article, for an overview of what is happening, the rest of us can understand.

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