The big news on the economic front today and believe me that there has been a lot of that in the past week is that government rebate checks may be going out to families some time this year. Families making under $150,000/year may get up to $1200 though it is not tax free; it will be treated as ordinary income for tax purposes. This is coupled with a business stimulus plan that focuses on tax rebates, deductions among other things. Total price between the two is somewhere around $190 billion.
This week we saw a massive cut in the interest rates. There is government talk again to bail out the mortgage bond backers. All of this is set against a wave of news of a 14% drop in the stock market, retail sales drops, rising unemployment, house foreclosures and so much more.
It seems that the stewards of the economy have failed miserably in their handling of the economy. What could have been a very mild recession if one at all, now has the potential to blow up into a recession along the lines of the one in 1991-92. It is going to be rough. Everyone apparently though that a economy run on cheap credit and a robust housing market was all that was required. No matter that the signs were present three years ago that such an economic basis was unsound and that when the adjustments came due, the fallout was going to be tremendous.
Yet no is learning anything from the current conditions or the past. The stimulus package when compared to a $14 trillion economy is not going to do much. It is more of a pyschological boost than anything else. The money has to come from somewhere to pay for it whether it be higher taxes on high income earners or borrowing it on the markets. No real money is being created unless the Federal Reserve start printing money which means higher inflation in the medium and long term. Is the $1200 per family do much for the economy? Not if people start spending it on big screen televisions and other imported goods. The money will go overseas and do little in creating local jobs.
If I had a choice I would take that $190 billion which is equivalent to what the United States is paying each year to run an occupation of Iraq and spend it on a massive infrastructure program. Lord knows that the roads, bridges, schools and other facilities could use the money. Jobs are created locally and the materials are mostly sourced locally. If you see construction going on around you and know that your neighbours all have jobs because they work in the trades or related services, then that is more of a morale boost than a one time visit to Best Buy.
As always, the best lessons in life are the ones that are the hardest to take. But it seems when it comes to the economy, no one is learning very much.
Had a chance to update the photo albums this weekend with the remainder of our Christmas in Jacksonville along with some flower photos which can be seen in the In the Garden photo album. I still have more autumn photos that need to be updated and that will be forthcoming soon.
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This is our new new home. We are now starting to move into our new home after finishing the purchase this week. It has been hectic getting the financing in place and then start the move process but it is happening. It is a good looking home and the interior is quite fine but we will make our touches upon it to make it ours. Over the next several months, we will chronicle the changes to the home in the photos set on Snaps
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Three seagulls posing in a line. Very sporting of them
(This is something I wrote about Barack Obama back in August 2007. With his victory in the Iowa caucuses and strong position in the upcoming New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, everyone seems to jumping on the Obama bandwagon. I have been on his side for months now but even though the bandwagon is getting a bit crowded now, everyone is welcome. )
I know, traditionally, it is way early yet to start considering who should be the next President of the United States but with the various party candidates engaging in serious campaigning and debating, it is becoming easier for the general population to start making preliminary decisions on what candidate best matches their own political philosophy and expectations for the future.
It is still nearly six months until the first set of primaries and caucuses for each party but moves by various state parties have created a front loading of the elections that it may be all over by the second week of February. So it is critical for all of the candidates to have all of the groundwork established by now in their state organisations, media advertising and most importantly their positions on fundamental issues of today whether it be terrorism, the War in Iraq, health care and the economy.
I have been monitoring what is happening with the Democratic party candidates in what they have been saying. While things may change between now and January with the start of the first primary, the more I listen to him and read what he has been saying, the more I have been impressed with Senator Barack Obama. This is a man who for all intents and purposes has a firm grasp on what is important in this world and understands it better than anyone in the campaign despite and maybe perhaps because of his lack of experience at the senior levels of government.
Consider this speech he gave today on the his approach in dealing with the terrorism threat.
Just because the President misrepresents our enemies does not mean we do not have them. The terrorists are at war with us. The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims, but the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for…
The President would have us believe that every bomb in Baghdad is part of al Qaeda’s war against us, not an Iraqi civil war. He elevates al Qaeda in Iraq – which didn’t exist before our invasion – and overlooks the people who hit us on 9/11, who are training new recruits in Pakistan. He lumps together groups with very different goals: al Qaeda and Iran, Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents. He confuses our mission…
By refusing to end the war in Iraq, President Bush is giving the terrorists what they really want, and what the Congress voted to give them in 2002: a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.When I am President, we will wage the war that has to be won, with a comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on to the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan; developing the capabilities and partnerships we need to take out the terrorists and the world’s most deadly weapons; engaging the world to dry up support for terror and extremism; restoring our values; and securing a more resilient homeland.
The threat he realises and which this administration fails to grasp is a still viable terrorist organisation hidden in the mountains of Pakistan and not what was happening in Iraq before Saddam’s Hussein’s downfall and what is happening there today. So while al-Qaeda rebuilds, this administration keeps talking about a ’surge’ in Iraq which given the political realities within that country, is nothing more than a holding action which can not endure forever.
I appreciate also that after the little spat that arose between him and Hilary Clinton after the Youtube debate, Obama was forceful in stating his position on how to deal with foreign leaders and I believe that by the end of week, most people concurred that Obama got the better of the exchange.
There are still some issues that perhaps to be addressed more forcibly on the domestic front. John Edwards has established himself as the champion of the poor as his major domestic initiative. Obama can do likewise through a strong focus on affordable health care for all because for everyone health care is becoming their number one concern.
So I think my choice is clear, it is Obama all the way from now until Election Day. Let’s hope others think the same way.
The awards for the best photo blogs have been announced and the winner for 2007 is Wink.
Of the various candidates for this year’s award, I kind of prefer the sites Chromasia and JR photoblog ; the layouts and interactivity of the sites make them a more enjoyable browsing experience.
At several points over the past year, I have thought of converting the site to a photoblog as my interests seem firmly entrenched in the area of photography whether talking about technique or just posting pictures. In the end, though, I find that the need to ponificate on topics wide and far preclude me in just writing about just about photography.
Still, I do have a layout and photos set up to handle a photoblog. The better photoblogs try to showcase a variety of their most professional looking shots. That is a lot of photos if you try to maintain a steady posting of photos, particularly if you are going for a daily frequency. That is a little difficult for me to do as nearly half of my photo output is based on my family and while Madeleine makes for an interesting model and subject, I do not think I can sustain interest in such a personal photo blog. Indeed, the best sites seem to be based on the author’s ability to travel to diverse locales which again is more difficult for me to do considering that I am family with responsibilities.
So for now, I will restrict myself to my current site but with ample posts about photograpghy and showcase the best pictures currenly in my gallery. Best of both worlds I guess.
