Category: Politics, Religion & Money

A few months ago I featured the story of a Chicago ER nurse being arrested for refusing to obey the order of a cop who wanted her to take blood from a drunk driving suspect. Now here’s a story about a couple in Phillie who were arrested for refusing to leave a tip at a restaurant for what they say was poor service.

Obama is a disappointment. But you know that. The speeches no longer inspire, because in every instance he seems to seek the middle ground in the extreme policies that he inherited from Bush, rather than undoing them.

The Sarah Palin circus reminds me that McCain would have been much worse as President, and whenever I hear Dick Cheney mouthing off, I mutter “Shut the f–k up, Dick,” but Obama isn’t wowing anybody, is he?

There was a time when throwing everything we had at Afghanistan would have worked, even after the mistake of going into Iraq, but now it’s too late. Did you see the faces of those West Point cadets tonight? Nobody in that room, even Obama, seemed convinced that sending more troops to Afghanistan will work.

But it’s the economy where Obama has really failed to impress. Reagan, with the advice of Fed chief Paul Volker, had 10.5% unemployment one year into his first term, in 1982, but that was necessary to break the back of inflation. After that, Reagan spent his way back to prosperity, including a massive defense buildup, and with Gorbachev in power in the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall came down. As a direct result of that event, George Bush Sr. opened up the Internet to commercial development, and Bill Clinton exploited that effectively to turn Reagan’s deficits into a healthy surplus. A surplus that was squandered by George Bush Jr. on tax cuts for the rich, and in Iraq.

Now unemployment is 10.2%, and obviously it’s going to blow past 10.5%. How about 12%? Sure. Interest rates are ridiculously low, and vast amounts of borrowed money have been handed over to Wall Street and banks, and yet credit remains tight. But that’s good, because consumers need to pay down their debt anyway.

What bugs me about the way the tax money has been dished out is that it’s another form of trickle-down — give money to the rich and they’ll create jobs. Well, it’s not working. We owe the Chinese vast amounts of money, and I think borrowing more isn’t the way to go. We’re going to have to accept entrenched, chronic unemployment of ten percent for some years to come, and a lot of people need to seriously lower their expectations. But what these people shouldn’t be expected to accept are huge bonuses for Goldman Sachs executives. Wall Street must also seriously lower its expectations.