Archive for August, 2009

The federal government has run a deficit every year since 1961, except for the biennium 1999-2000, right before Republican George W. Bush took over the reins of the presidency and quickly proceeded to blow a hole in the federal budget that continues to gush red ink to this day under the leadership of President Barack Obama.  Our current-year deficit has broken the $1 trillion barrier ($1.2 trillion, to be more precise), and the national debt now stands at nearly $12 trillion; both continue to move in the wrong direction — up.  

With a managerial track record like that, Uncle Sam is not the person you want running your bank, your investment house, or your insurance company; in a position to dictate executive-level pay.  Yet, that’s exactly what will happen if legislation that just passed the House and awaits Senate action, is signed into law.

The cleverly-titled “Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act” (who can possibly be against …

Continue reading Uncle Sam Wants to Set Corporate Pay »

The Administration of President Barack Obama apparently is running out of ideas for projects at which to throw “stimulus funds.”  Last week, the House rushed to accomodate an urgent administration request for additional funds for the “Cash for Clunkers” givaway, which was close to using up its $1 billion allotment after less than one week.  And, in a recent move that raises serious questions about the government’s very definition of “stimulus,” the administration is spending some $1 billion to fight obesity!

The recipients of the so-called “fat money” include public transportation.  In other words,  government Brainiacs apparently have concluded that they can help reduce the number of fat people in America by increasing funding for public transportation — people walk less by riding public transportation more, and the pounds just melt away.  Pure genius.

The government reportedly will also allow these taxpayer-provided “stimulus monies” to be used to get more vegetables …

Continue reading Obesity Is Target of “Stimulus” Money »

So far, in what has become a mini-drama involving a white cop, a black professor and a president of the United States, we have had a racial confrontation, an arrest, a release, a presidential gaffe, a presidential back-track, a presidential invitation to quaff a brewski, a staged meeting at the White House and a promise of more meetings to come.

The saga involving Harvard’s Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley has been elevated to the status of a Rose Garden summit. Still, the attention devoted to the event’s racial angle has obscured the real importance of the incident.

The degree to which race played a role in the confrontation at Gates’ house will likely never be truly known to anyone other than the key participants themselves. What clearly did factor into the unfortunate encounter was the notion that, in the post-9/11 world, citizens must be prepared to explain themselves to the police and prove to the satisfaction of the authorities who …

Continue reading Gates’ arrest reveals loss of rights »