Recently heard being sung by B. Obama to Ahmadinejad

The color of your skin don't matter to me
As long as we can live in harmony

Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends

I'd kinda like to be president
So I can show you how your money's spent, ooh

Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends

Sometimes I don't speak bright, alright
But yet I know what I'm talkin' about

Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends
Why can't we be friends

(Sung by WAR on their 1974 album of the same name)

Another "Just Asking"

A few years ago Martha Stewart was sentenced to jail time and was locked up, the Enron guys did time, Bernie Madoff has begun doing his time, and countless others either have or will do the same, including just about every ex-governor of Illinois. So why is AIG getting off scott free? Aren't they stealing tax payer money? Just asking. Of course when the people who are running the show claim they "forgot" to enter part of their income in TurboTax, hey who's looking. I guess they didn't read the "Checking for errors" screen in TT after they completed their forms.

In a completely different direction, have you ever noticed that it can take a week to get a letter from just down the street? I'm sure this has happened to just about everyone. Well, I placed an order for some electronics. They were shipped from Korea on March 18. The package was in my hands yesterday, March 20. So, I can get a box from Korea in 2 days but a letter sent from the next zip code can take a week. And the price of a stamp is set to increase once again.

Just asking.

The End of American Hegemony?

Newly elected President George Bush proclaimed that America would not indulge itself in "Nation Building" when he took office. What he meant, and later ignored, was America would no longer be Imperialist. Today, not even ten years later, Americans are spread out all over the globe in the name of Democracy. Now spreading Democracy and freedom is a good thing, don't get me wrong. But only to places where we are wanted, and where it will not cost American lives. And we can no longer afford to give away billions of dollars in the hope that the recipients will welcome our way of life. This just does not work. Perhaps the economic decline we are going through will pull us away from American hegemony and back to the realization that Imperialism is a dead end. This was a lesson learned by the Greeks, the Romans, the Mongols, Spanish, English, and in more recent times by Japan and Germany. And it doesn't take much to bring Imperialism to it's knees. A Jew from Bethlehem began the downfall of the Roman Empire; a tall Virginia plantation owner began the dismantling of the British Empire; and a cigar chewing Brit refused to give in to the Third Reich. Remove Jesus, Washington, and Churchill from the history books and we live in a much different world. Who knows, maybe the history books of the future will look back on our time and someone from our era will have changed the world. Often times financial crises brings people back to reality, that worldly possessions are fleeting, and that the ties that bind us to each other are everlasting.

Today's Game: The DC Stimulants vs. The Middleclass OPMs

Maurice loves baseball. In fact he also loves baseball cards. He collects with reckless abandon, but only his specific favorite players. But his allowance doesn't cover his habit. In order to find cards of his favorite players he's got to buy lots of packs of cards. Sometimes he gets lucky and he'll find one in one pack. Sometimes he'll buy ten packs and not find even one favorite player. It's expensive, so in order to subsidize his habit he sells some of his older favorite cards to his Asian buddy Ker Lee. Ker Lee is kind of lucky because he's been wise with his cards and only buys the good ones. Now one day Maurice's friend Lawrence comes to him with a sad story. He, too, collects cards, but he owes money to so many people that he can't borrow any more, plus some of his friends are getting impatient and would like to put Lawrence out of commission for a while. He asks Maurice to help him out. So Maurice, being an altruistic buddy, sells some of his favorite cards to Ker so he can give the money to Lawrence to avoid broken bones.

Stay with me...

The next day he gives Lawrence the money, but a few hours later he sees him with a new carton of cards. "Hey, Larry, what the heck are you doing?" "Hey, Mo, I just couldn't help myself. When you gave me the money I was going to pay off those thugs but I went by the card store and couldn't resist the temptation." So now Larry is still in debt, Mo has cut into his collection, and only Ker Lee seems to have the upper hand.

But wait. Who are Mo's favorite players, the ones Ker Lee now holds for future gains when he sells them back to Mo?

Mo's favorite's: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Andy Pettite, Jose Canseco, and Alex Rodriguez.

If you aren't sure what the point of this tale is, here is a hint: Mo=?, Ker Lee=?, and Larry=? Refer to the title for more hints. Oh, and if you aren't a baseball fan (though baseball actually has little to do with the basic assumptions of my story), Google the names and you'll quickly get the point.

Stamp Acts, Bill Posey and Grover Cleveland, too

Most people I know are groaning about the state of the economy, and rightfully so. But like most of the generations before us, we simply take what we are fed and go on with our lives. But our history was not always so complacent. In fact, Americans once protested a tax so loudly that it was repealed. In 1766 the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act on this very day. So wake up America and let your Senators and Congresspeople know that you are fed up and you're not going to take it any more. If you think they don't listen, think again. I have written and received replies from Florida Senator Mel Martinez, Senator Bill Nelson, and just today had an email from Congressmen Bill Posey which was well thought out and deserves praise from even a long time Democrat like myself. It was a rather lengthy reply but it concluded with:

"Lower taxes, not higher borrowing, spending, and debt, will put our economy back on track. I urge my colleagues to vote for lower taxes and against higher spending and debt.

Thank you again, Alan, for contacting me. It is an honor to serve you in Congress. If I may be of service to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Bill Posey
Member of Congress"

Also, today is the 172nd birthday of Grover Cleveland, the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms in office.

I Blame Diners Club

The biggest Ponzi scheme in history has been pulled off right in front of our eyes. A Ponzi scheme is where an individual or investment company pulls in money from investors, but uses that new money to pay previous investors without actually investing the money at all. The biggest, largest, most insidious Ponzi scheme of all time is...ta da...the United States of America Treasury!!! Yay! Here is the idea: Let's run this thing with OPM (other people's money). We can pull all sorts of shenanigans (see Iraq) and dump billions of bucks from the Treasury without asking anyone (except the clowns in Congress) if they think it's a good idea. We can spend spend spend and none of us ever have to worry about paying it back. It's like a credit card with no limit and no monthly bill. So we keep borrowing from the Treasury, sell the Treasury bills to China, owe them an unimaginable amount, and let the OPM take care of biz. Of course this makes the Chinese a little nervous about their rather large investment, but what can they do about it? Nothing really. If they protest too loudly then the Treasury notes fall in value and they lose money. They need us big time, and we need to keep borrowing to prop up the banks that started this mess to begin with.

I blame Diners Club. Back in the 50s they thought it would be a good idea to offer a card to diners. With that card you could eat dinner and pay for it later. It was a good idea because lots of traveling salesmen (remember them) were always on the go and treating their clients to dinner. This way they didn't have to have lots of cash and could pay the bill later. Then American Express caught the idea and the credit card miracle took off. Except the credit card companies were later deregulated (thank you Supreme Court) and charges and late fees took off. People started using their cards way beyond their means and defaults became a problem. On top of that the greedy banks gave out mortgages in the same way, beyond people's means.

Voila! 2009.

Happy Birthday James Madison, we owe you dude!

Madison, perhaps the most brilliant and undoubtedly the most widely read president, was born in Port Conway, Virginia, in 1751. Madison, though frail and a hypochondriac, was a tireless worker throughout his political career. He worked long and hard for the ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Though he faced strong opposition from founders such as Patrick Henry, his dedication to the Constitution won the day. He later claimed it was almost the death of him. His brilliant essays, along with those of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, can be read in "The Federalist Papers."

A few interesting Madison tidbits: He was 5'4" by far the shortest president. He weighed less than 100 pounds and suffered from bad bowels among many other ailments. He and Dolly were childless. He was criticized for America's participation in the War of 1812 when the British attacked Washington and burned down the Executive Mansion (now known as the White House). Madison and Thomas Jefferson, both anti-Federalists (the only powers granted to the Federal government were those specifically written in the Constitution...states by implication gained all other rights) strongly opposed Hamilton's attempt to create a National Bank. They feared that this power, not stated in the Constitution, would open the Federal government to unlimited power and violate the Tenth Amendment (they were right). Hamilton won the day, and ultimately the question of slavery came under Federal scrutiny. It's a long story, but one worth reading about.

A few books I would recommend with Madison as the "hero" or "villain" depending on the author's point of view: American Creation by Joseph Ellis, James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights by Richard Labunski, The Summer of 1787 by David Stewart, Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by Woody Holton, Liberty's Blueprint by Michael Meyerson. All of these are in my collection and I recommend them highly.

Oh, and Hamilton, though never President (he was born in the West Indies and therefore not eligible) is on the ten dollar bill. Madison, sorry Jimmie, isn't on anything but the list of facts about presidents under "Who was the shortest president?" In fact, we owe as much if not more to Madison as any of the more famous Founding Fathers.