Wall Streeters and the Crisis

I saw Jim Cramer (pictured right) on the Today Show where he acknowledged his apology for recommending that viewers of his "Mad Money" TV show buy Wachovia stock just two weeks ago - a recommendation that he acknowledged was spurred by the appearance of his longtime friend and former boss, Wachovia CEO Bob Steel, on his program. Mr. Cramer has been an advocate of the 700 billion dollar US government bailout of Wall Street.

Yesterday The Motley Fool reported this:

WaMu's new CEO, Alan Fishman, might go down as the ultimate showcase of executive greed if he doesn't do the right thing in the next few days. After just 432 hours on the job -- during which time he presided over the complete collapse of the company -- Fishman stands to collect more than $19 million in pay.

That's right: $19 million for 18 days work, or an annualized rate of $385 million. $1.05 million per day. $44,000 per hour. More money than most people will make in several lifetimes, all to watch one of America's largest banks spiral into failure.

I don't know about you but when I read this stuff I think that people like Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (one time CEO of Goldman Sachs) just don't get it and are not the right people to be formulating a fix to this Wall Street crisis.

I think that we need Wall Street outsiders like Dave Ramsey structuring and approving this bailout legislation.. we just don't need Wall Streeters trying to fix the problems that they created.

The Veep Debate

I watched former president George HW Bush and former democratic VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro talk about their ground breaking 1984 Veep Debate this morning on the Today Show. They discussed this 28 second exchange shown in this video clip in such a congenial way. I loved the way that they seemed to have survived that debate and how they told everyone that they have remained friends. They each seemed to exude a grace that is so rare amongst politicians these days.

I will be watching the Veep debate on Thursday night and hope to see this kind of grace and civil discourse surface. I am also hoping to hear the Veep candidates speak to the issues of our day. Lets all hope to get a better picture of who these folks are and how they might serve our country as Vice President.

Home Remedies

This morning I read a Reuters article titled

Glucosamine and chondroitin
don't slow arthritis.

It reminded me of when I was first diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my wrists and ankles about 10 years ago. On the advice of an orthopedic surgeon I tried these glucosamine and chondroitin horse-size pills for about six months and got absolutely no relief and saw no improvement.

This spring, on the recommendation of a doctor friend, I tried a daily vitamin regimen of a product called Vemma.. this nasty tasting stuff.. after taking it for 5 months... also did not produce the advertised results.

I have been battling a cold and congestion for few weeks now. All of these 'natural' cures remind me of the old saying:

If you take care of yourself and drink plenty of liquids you can beat a cold in about 2 weeks. If you do nothing the cold will hang on for 14 days.

So I am wondering if any of you all have gotten any real help from home remedies.

Please share with us a bit of your wisdom.. everything from chicken soup to health food.. from one-a-day vitamins to mega-fish-oil pills. Please feel free to share about things that didn't work as well.

Perspective on the Bailout

Here is how I responded to Brian's post on the Bailout:

I think that leadership on this bill came from main street Brian. Many DC politicians are afraid of the backlash of voting for this bailout.. especially the ones that are up for re-election.

My thinking is that they need to take their time on this legislation and get it right.. the word of the day should be patience not expediency.

I think that wisdom might come if our congressional leaders stand up to the pressure to get-er-done and find a way to insure that the interests of American taxpayers are at the heart of legislation.. the bill needs to protect Main Street and not Wall Street.

Of course, if you can believe this, Congress unbelievably did bailout Detroit last Saturday to the tune of 25 billion dollars.. wonder why we haven't heard more about it?

What do you think congress should do?

Chiefs 33, Broncos 19

Who would have guessed after last Sunday's ugly loss to the Raiders that the Chiefs had a good game in them? A few player highlights:

• Quarterback Damon Huard started the game and played well with no interceptions and a decent passing game.. an improvement over last weeks play by novice QB Tyler Thigpen.
• Overpaid superstar running back Larry Johnson had a great 198 yard running game with two touchdowns.. the offense clicks when he clicks.
• Tightend Tony Gonzales almost broke Shannon Sharps' total lifetime yardage stats for a tightend.. only a couple of yards short.. probably will break it next week.
• Kicker Nick Novak was solid kicking 4 field goals and 3 PATs.

Even the defense played okay against the highly volatile and high scoring Denver offense. Overall a great way to end the Chief's 12 game losing streak.

Dave Ramsey on the Bailout

A few excerpts from this Christianity Today interview with Christian author and financial guru Dave Ramsey on the $700 billion plan for the government to purchase troubled mortgage assets.

What do you think of the bailout?

I think it's a disaster. It's the largest government department ever formed in the history of man, and they are doing it in five days, and they are doing it based on a spirit of fear.

There are other things we could be doing to calm markets. All of the Bush administration appears to be in a dead dog panic. I'm afraid it's going to pass, but that doesn't mean we're going to like it.

What do you recommend instead?

Change the market accounting rules. Do away with the capital gains tax, which will cause money to flood into the market instantaneously in 24 hours. Last, if we do need to do some insurance of some of these bonds, we can insure them rather than just buying them all. Only 7 percent of them are in foreclosure, while 93 percent of them are paying, so why are we buying them all—so we can make Paulson king?

Regardless of your take on this enormous bailout I think that you will agree that the congress needs to slow down and take a more thoughtful measured reaction to this Wall Street crisis.

Paul Newman, 1925-2008

This just in from the Associated Press:

A spokeswoman for screen legend Paul Newman says the actor has died at age 83.

Spokeswoman Marni Tomljanovic says Newman died Friday of cancer. No other details were immediately available.

Newman was nominated for Academy Awards 10 times, winning a regular Oscar in 1987 for "The Color of Money" and two honorary ones. He was equally at home in comedies such as "The Sting" and dramas such as "Hud."

He sometimes teamed with his wife, Joanne Woodward, also an Oscar winner for the 1957 film "Three Faces of Eve."

I will always remember Paul as Fast Eddie Felson in that wonderful movie titled The Hustler. Other movie favorites of mine that featured his outstanding acting prowess have to include The Verdict, The Sting, Cool Hand Luke, and Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.

What are your favorite Newman movies?

The Evangelical Vote

Once upon a time the likes of Ronald Reagan spoke at conferences held by the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). So it surprised me when Richard Cizik, chief NAE lobbyist, gave this somewhat anti-Republican interview reported in Christianity Today. Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

I'm of the opinion that some people are going to vote Republican no matter what.... Party line voting in my opinion is unbiblical. It says you don't think. If you're simply voting on same sex marriage and abortion, you're not thinking. What I'm saying is that a lot of evangelical don't think, sad to say.
...
There's a demographic shift that's occurring. Young [evangelicals] are less tied to the Republican Party. Those who are disaffected with the GOP are not becoming Democrats. They're becoming Independents. It's a slow moving earthquake that you don't fully recognize.
...
Evangelicals are 50-percent conservative. There are 10 percent that are liberal, and you've got 40-percent that are swing voters. They're the people that McCain has to worry about because if, for whatever reason--the economy, etc.--they go for Obama, then McCain is in trouble. If they decide to vote on economic reasons or the war, then McCain is in trouble.

I think that Cizik gave this kind of interview because the McCain campaign has been snubbing his requests for a meeting and the Obama campaign has been listening to him. That said, I have to say that I found some of his perspectives to be very interesting.. helps explain the way that I have been feeling.

Can anyone else relate?

The Politics of Satire

Poking fun at the New Yorker magazine's cover depicting the Obama's as Muslim Terrorists Vanity Fair magazine countered with a cover featuring a geriatric depiction of the McCains.

In next week's issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are bumping fists further satirizing that New Yorker magazine cover. I think that, for once, the right kind of magazine is showcasing this kind of satire. Stewart and Colbert both broadcast (as Stewart calls it) The Fake News and do a pretty good job satirizing the whole political process. I find this kind of satire helpful because you know what it is when you are watching it.

Of course many people have a hard time seeing this kind of satire when they listen to Rush Limbaugh or watch Keith Olbermann. Folks on the right and left side of the political aisle substitute this kind of satire for real news and believe the hype. The sad part is that people are not open to factual reporting and demonize the media deferring to their favorite radio or TV squawk-spinner.

I think that satire has it's place in politics but should not be embraced as hard news. We Americans should not be making our voting decisions based on satirical TV ads, spinning-talking-heads or the views presented on the Comedy Central cable TV network.

Just my opinion. What do you think?

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) worked in agricultural extension at the Tuskegee Institute, in Tuskegee, Alabama, teaching former slaves farming techniques for self-sufficiency. His exact birth day (and year) are unknown, yet it is known that it was some time before slavery was abolished in Missouri in January, 1864.

In addition to his work on agricultural extension education, Carver's important accomplishments also included improvement of racial relations, mentoring children, poetry, painting, and religion. He served as a valuable role model for black Americans and others, and as an example of the importance of hard work, a positive attitude, and a good education. His humility, humanitarianism, good nature, frugality, and lack of economic materialism also have been admired widely.

One of his most important roles was in undermining, through the fame of his achievements and many talents, the widespread stereotype of the time that the black race was intellectually inferior to the white race. In 1941, Time magazine dubbed him a "Black Leonardo", a reference to Leonardo da Vinci. Here are a few things that he said:

Most people search high and wide for the keys to success. If they only knew, the key to their dreams lies within.

Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.

Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.

If you love it enough, anything will talk with you.

Learn to do common things uncommonly well; we must always keep in mind that anything that helps fill the dinner pail is valuable.

No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving something behind.

There is no short cut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation - veneer isn't worth anything.

Blessing Entitlement

Commenting on Meltdown, USA I said the following about our current econmic crisis:

I think that a lot of the problem in our American culture is the notion that we deserve to be blessed.. it permeates the church as well the rest of the country. Some health and wealth preachers capitalize on it but all Americans buy into it.. you do and so do I.

This “right to be blessed” causes people to over-extend themselves, making purchases that they cannot afford today but feel that future earned blessings will cover the bills. Personally, I think that if I work hard and save I deserve to be blessed.. and I go to some strange places believing this American dream.

I think that the baby boom generation has bought into this “blessing” mentality because, unlike our parents, we did not have to experience hard times like the depression. I am hoping that the current economic meltdown is not of that “great depression” magnitude but if it is I suspect that our kids and grandkids might have a different perspective on blessing.

Annoying TV Commercials

Making your own Capitol One Credit Card - one of the most annoying.. be it Armadillo Man or the old submarine captain these commercials play to ignorance and our desire to persoanlize our materialism.

Singing about how life would be better if they only used freecreditreport.com - again we see this theme of how credit is the answer if we just don't borrow too much. I don't want to say much more lest I find myself singing that really bad song later in the day :(

And I have to say that the Geico caveman commercials are getting old. The most recent installment with Billy Jean King is just stupid.. maybe that is the point.

Commercials like these make me glad that I usually DVR most TV shows and fly past the commercials :)

How about you? What is your most annoying TV commercial?

gPhone

T-Mobile just introduced this phone by Google that is like the iPhone but has a slide out keyboard.. hmmm.. Google doing phones?

Roofers Roofing

Out with the old today.. in with the new tomorrow :)