President-Elect Barack Obama
today announced his economic
team.  His choice for Secretary
of the Treasury is Timothy
Geithner, the currently of the
New York branch of the
Federal Reserve.  To head
Obama's National Economic
Council in the White House is
Larry Summers, a former
Clintonite.  Christina Romer
will chair the Council of Eco-
nomic Advisors and Melody
Barnes will head the Domestic
Policy Council.

Obama promised to create or
'retain' 2.5 million jobs over the
next two years.  He is asking
that the new Congress have
a stimulus package ready for
him one Day One.  Obama
would not put a dollar price on
what he wants, but current
Democrats in Congress are
talking somewhere between
$500 to 700 Billion dollars.
Obama wants to focus on a
wide range of infrastructure
and alternative energy pro-
grams to create the new jobs.

Meanwhile, the current team
managing the economy made
moves over the weekend to
save CitiGroup, America's
largest bank.  The bank had
lost some 57% of it's stock
value last week.  Current
Treasury Secretary Hank
Paulson authorized some
$20 Billion to buy 8% of the
bank's preferred stock. He
and the FDIC also pledged
some additional $306 Billion
dollars to back-stop the banks
bad assets.  While this move
helped save CitiGroup, nobody
stepped in to save the other
three smaller, retail banks that
went bust last week.

During his press conference,
Obama would not say when or
how he will implement his tax
cuts, or raise tax rates on the
top 5%.  He also passed on
how he intends to pay for the
new stimulus package.  What
does seem all-too apparent
is that Washington is going on
a spending spree.  The projec-
tions for this fiscal year's bud-
get deficit (from October 1st)
will exceed $1.2 TRILLION
dollars, a third of what the
government takes in via tax
revenues.  And the tally is
far from over.

Already, the Treasury, FDIC
and Federal Reserve have
pumped some $3.5 Trillion
into the economy to date,
with commitments for another
$1.5 Trillion looming ahead.
While the auto companies
failed to get their bailout bucks
last week, there is little doubt
that they will get some when
Congress returns from the
holiday break.  Today, the
U.S. housing industry asked
for $250 Billion to shore up it's
debts.  Some analysts now say
that the totals for the whole
recovery package to the econo-
my will top $7 TRILLION!

There is one bright spot in all
this bad news.  The FDIC, run
by Shelia Bair, told a House
committee hearing last week
that great progress has been
made in revaluing the bad
mortgages resulting from the
collapse of IndyBanc.  Under
terms that the new mortgages
will not exceed 38% of the
incomes of the homeowners,
the FDIC has cleared up some
70% of those who were offered
to refinance.  She went to say
that a similar formula may be
applied to the 'toxic' mortgages
of Freddie Mac and Fannie
May.  So there may now actual-
ly be a genuine game plan for
resolving the $2 Trillion dollars
worth of bad mortgages held
by these institutions, which led
to the whole financial and credit
crisis we are now in.

As for Obama's appointees,
it should be kept in mind that
Geithner has already had his
hand 'on the throttle', and was
involved in the collapse of
Lehman Brothers as well as
the bailout for insurance giant,
AIG.  Neither of which can be
called successes.  Larry
Summers, who served as
Treasury Secretary during the
last 18 months of the Clinton
Administration, is a free trader
and understands the global
economy.  I am surprised that
Obama picked him since, as
president of Harvard, Summers
was 'run out of town' by NOW
and environmentalists after
some comments he had made.
He had said that men are more
willing than women to commit
the time demanded by high-
powered jobs as well as being
better in math, science and
engineering.  He had also
remarked that developed
countries should export their
pollution to developing ones.
LOL!!!  This guy's a hoot!

Christina Romer is another
potential diamond.  She has
written papers on how low
tax rates are better than high
ones for an economy. DUH!!!
She has also written that the
gold standard was NOT a
contributing factor in the
deflation of the dollar during
the Great Depression. Yeah!
She is from Berkley, so I
suppose we should be wary
of her, but so far, she passes
my 'smell tests'.  Melody
Barnes, on the other hand,
comes straight out from
left field.  As president of the
Center for American Progress,
about her only claim to fame
was once being noted as one
of the ten best dressed women
in Washington, DC.  LOL!

So far, the Obama cabinet will
be a mixed bag.  But there is
little doubt that government will
grow in size and power.  So
hold on to your wallets, things
will get very interesting very
soon!

We have had another fun week
of 'crazy-talk' in Washington,
DC.  For the past two days, our
hard working Congressmen
and Senators have been grill-
ing the CEOs of Detroit's Big
3 auto makers.  Ford, GM and
Chrysler came to Capitol Hill
seeking a $25 Billion dollar
"bridge loan" to keep them a-
float till the end of next year.
They promised that by 2010,
they would all have new, elec-
tric hybrid cars on the market to
compete against the other car
companies of the world.

It has been a bad year for the
Detroit-based corporations.  
While the first quarter looked
good, thanks to popular SUV
and truck sales, the spike in
gasoline prices, plus the credit
crunch, have put all three in
grave jeopardy.  General
Motors is in the worse shape,
burning through some $5
Billion dollars a month now in
cash reserves.  They are ex-
pected to run out of money
by the end of the year!

Congress had approved a
$25 Billion dollar loan back
in September to help them re-
tool their plants for produc-
ing the new hybrids.  But,
at the current 'burn rate' of
raw cash to keep afloat,
they claim they need more.
Without another $25 Billion,
one, or all three, could go
bankrupt, and it could mean
some additional 250,000
workers becoming unem-
ployed.  An additional
750,000 who work for auto
parts suppliers, plus nearly
a million who work for car
dealerships, could also be
unemployed.  Also effected
would be some 775,000
retirees and an additional
2 million people covered under
health insurance from the
auto makers.

Efforts in the Senate to get
a bill voted on Thursday have
come to naught.  The leaders
of the Democrats in the Senate
cannot muster the votes.  A
recent poll showed that some
74% of Americans are opposed
to bailing out the auto makers.
A like number were opposed to
the $700 Billion bailout for the
financial markets.  Senators
Harry Reid and Carl Levin had
stated late today that the ball
was now in the White House's
court.  Under the TARP bill,
they claim that Treasury Sec-
retary, Hank Paulson, has the
authority to dole $25 Billion
out of the TARP funds.  But
Paulson has made it clear that
he will not do so.  President
Bush will not do anything
either, other than request that
the original $25 Billion be expe-
dited.   A bipartisan committee
in the Senate is still working
out a scaled-down assistance
program of $8 to 10 Billion
dollars.

Harvard economist, Martin
Feldstein wrote in an op-ed
piece in Tuesday's Washington
Post, that the only real solution
for the Big 3 is to file Chapter
11 and reorganize.  On top of
his list of recommendations
is for renegotiating union con-
tracts.  Between paying some
40% more in hourly wages and
some $1200 more in benefits
above what companies like
Toyota and Honda pay their
American workers, the average
severance pay to a Big 3 auto
worker is roughly $105,000.
Faced with such overhead,
Feldstein argues that even if
Detroit was bailed out, and did
produce better cars, they still
could not compete in the long
run with foreign-based compe-
titors.  Another example is that
while Toyota only has some
1,000 dealerships nationwide,
GM has over 7,000, yet sells
about the same number of
cars annually.

Faced with such obstacles, it
does seem unlikely that even
if Detroit got the additional $25
Billion sought this week, it
would be enough to them in
business for very long.  Detroit
would probably need over four
times that amount just to retool
and survive through 2009,
which is expected to see a fur-
ther decline in overall sales.
Feldstein points out that
since the overall quality of
cars has improved, the new
car market will continue to
shrink domestically.  The
foreign-based companies
have also experienced a
decline in sales, especially
since July, but at a rate half
that of the Detroit firms.

Companies like Kia and
Hyundia have cars which
are significantly cheaper than
anything Detroit produces.
Honda and Toyota not only
beat Detroit in pricing, but
completely blow them away
with post-sale customer
service.  So any hope for the
Big 3 to rebound would require
a major overhaul from top to
bottom in their operations and
structure.  Such could only be
achieved quickly through a
Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Any way you slice it, Detroit
is in serious trouble.  As are the
communities in some 46 states
that also have production faci-
lities for the Big 3 and their
suppliers.  Many who are advo-
cating the bailout point to the
need for maintaining the firms
for national security purposes.
They point to how in World War
Two, the automobile manufac-
turing base was converted to
producing the armaments that
were needed to defeat Japan
and Germany.

However, given today's levels
of technology and spy satel-
lites, it would seem very un-
likely that history would repeat
itself.  A single B2 bomber can
attack, with great precision,
some 72 targets.  During the
Second World War, each
target would have required
hundreds of B-17 bombers to
do the same damage.  Any
aggressor nation that began
a major build-up of ground
forces would easily be seen
and would take enough time
for new factories to be built
here.  Germany's rearmament
took some six years before
they could attack Poland. The
largest American factories
built specifically to build wea-
pons, like B-29s or even the
massive Oak Ridge uranium
processing plants were con-
structed in less than two years.

While I am from Detroit, and
would feel the results of the
Big 3 failing, I have to say this.
They have been failing for
some 30+ years!  The Big 3
need to completely reorga-
nize if they have any hope for
surviving.  There is no doubt
in my mind that car companies
can function and produce cars
and be healthy and make
profits.  Most of the foreign-
based companies are doing
just that.  There is a new wave
of small, specialty vehicle ma-
nufacturers like SmartUSA.
A joint venture between
Mercedes Benz and Swatch,
the colorful Swiss watch
makers,  the SMARTcar is a
popular, inexpensive vehicle
sold worldwide.  Penske
Automotive builds and sells
the cars here in the USA.
The car is so popular, some
75,000 people are on a waiting
list to buy one.  One of GM's
best selling vehicles, the
Hummer, was originally built
by AM General in Indiana, a
spin-off from AMC's Jeep
division.  Dozens of other small
car companies have been
springing up across the country
building everything from pure
electric cars, alternative fuel
and hi-tech sports cars priced
in the hundreds of thousands
of dollars.

The Big 3 may find themselves
dying on the vine, but others
are ready to replace them.

My favorite Democrat, Ohio
Congressman Dennis
Kucinich, and others, grilled
Neel Kashkari thoroughly on
Friday.  During the Congres-
sional hearing on the financial
crisis, Kashkardi, the assistant
Treasury Secretary charged
with doling out the $700 Billion
of TARP money, made some
interesting statements.

For starters, he said that TARP
funds were not being allocated
to companies which were
deemed as at risk for failure.
Kucinich specifically wanted to
know why no money was being
given to National City Bank.
Upon hearing Kashkardi's
answer, Kuciniched remarked,
"That quote will follow you the
rest of your career."  LOL!  You
tell'em, Dennis!

Nearly all of the TARP money
has thus far been allocated to
some nine investments bank,
in exchange for stock.  This
was Treasury Secretary Hank
Paulson's idea for being the
best way to add liquidity into
the depressed credit market.
TARP was originally intended
for purchasing bad assets, in
the way of defaulting mort-
gages, being held by Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, as well
as mortgage 'traunches', bun-
dles of mortgages, deemed
as 'toxic', from other invest-
ment banks and holding firms.

Thus far, $250 Billion has gone
to buying stocks in the nine
'super-banks', like J.P. Morgan,
Goldman Sachs and others. An
additional $40 Billion of TARP
funds went to further shore up
insurance giant, A.I.G., which
so far this year has gotten
about $152 Billion from Uncle
Sugar.  Kucinich and others
also asked Kashkardi about
using TARP money for help-
ing the U.S. auto industry, but
his reply fell between vague
and negative.  Again, he does
not think that funding failing
companies is a wise use of
the funds.  He also told the
House panel that he was at
this time unaware if Secretary
Paulson would be asking for
the second half of the $700
Billion for TARP before the
end of the Bush Administra-
tion.

Speaking of which, Bush is
hosting a G20 summit this
weekend.  A number of
issues have been discussed
thus far.  It has been agreed
that no new trade barriers be
erected, which could foil any
plans by the in-coming Obama
Administration to renegotiate
NAFTA or other trade agree-
ments.  Also, it seems that
the remedy to the financial
crisis for now is to keep
throwing money at it.  Pro-
posed multi-national tax
reductions were dismissed,
along with extending the
authority of the IMF and the
World Bank to oversee all
nation's finances.  However,
China, Brazil, India and Saudi
Arabia will be given more
say in the operation of the
IMF and World Bank. New re-
gulations on such esoteric
markets, like derivatives and
credit default swaps will be
worked on.  The G20 will meet
again in April after Barack
Obama assumes the presiden-
cy.  At which time, more funda-
mental changes to the global
financial system may be decided upon.

China, which pumped some
$540 Billion into it's economy
this past week, also is in need
of stimulus.  For years, China
has had an average growth
rate of some 8%.  This rate is
not an accident, it was planned!
China requires such a high rate
of growth to meet the influx of
more surplus labor streaming
into the cities from it's rural
areas.  Without a high growth
rate, China would face political
turmoil from an unhappy popu-
lation.  With it's Number One
market, America, buying less
goods, China needed to help
bolster it's own economy, and
the future does not look like
bright and cheery should the
U.S. consumers continue to
consume less.

Happy Veteran's Day!!!  We
honor our living and fallen
heroes in many ways, as do
other nations.  This day was
chosen as it was on the 11th
hour, of the 11th day, of the
11th month, when The Great
War, World War One, ended.
An armistice was signed in
France, ending a brutality
which raged on for over four
years on an unprecedented
scale.

American’s entry into WWI
was late, but still, millions
of our young men went ‘over
there’ and many were killed
and wounded, including some
who fell victim to poison gas
weapons.  The carnage that
began in August of 1914 is
difficult to comprehend these
days.  It bled nations white
and toppled empires as the
bodies of the dead piled up
in the millions.  Individual
battles, like Verdun, cost
hundreds of thousands of
lives, with little to show for
the effort.

One of the few advantages of
living in the People’s Socialist
Republic of Michigan is being
able to watch the Canadian
Broadcasting Company, the
CBC.  Today, in Canada, they
celebrate Remembrance Day.
In many respects, it was WWI
which forged Canada into a
nation.  Before the Great War,
most people tended to think
of Canada as only a place
where beaver pelts and snow-
shoes came from.  Their
ceremony for Remembrance
Day is extremely beautiful
and full of pride.

Canada sent to Europe an all
volunteer, citizens army.  At
first, they were generally used
to supplement British military
forces.  During the 2nd Battle
at Ypres in 1915, Canadian
units distinguished themselves
in Flanders, and it was a
Canadian medical officer,
Lt. Colonel John McCrae, who
wrote the poem, “In Flanders
Field”, after watching his best
friend die from his wounds.

In 1917, the Canadian Corps,
while still attached to the
British Army, had more auto-
nomy under it’s own leaders.
The 1st Division was under
the command of Arthur Currie.
A school teacher and land
speculator in civilian life, he
took an intellectual approach
to his duties.  When ordered
to assault the strong German
defenses on Vimy Ridge in
France, Currie set about an
extensive training program for
his troops.

Unlike in previous battles, the
soldiers of Currie’s division were
well prepared.  He had maps and
battle orders issued to each man,
regardless of their rank.  Some-
thing unheard of before.  Currie’s
plan called for his troops to
advance behind a rolling artillery
barrage. The soldiers were trained
to walk at a specific rate, which
became known as ‘the Vimy
Glide’.  The combination of
these and other tactics proved
highly successful.  Currie’s
men overran the Germans and
captured the defenses and
advanced many miles with
nominal casualties.  Nearly
4,000 Canadians were killed,
relatively light compared to
losses in other, less success-
ful battles that would claim 4
times or more men.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge set
new standards in combat tac-
tics, and earned the Canadians
great respect from all, including
from the Germans.  By the end
of the war, Canada distinguish-
ed itself by having the best
overall record of any combat
force in terms of success on
the battlefield.  Currie was later
knighted by King George V
and was given command of
the entire Canadian Corps.

Today, it often seems that
holidays like Veteran’s Day
have devolved into excuses
for appliance and furniture
stores to have sales.  Our
ceremonies and parades, at
best, get 45 seconds worth
of mention during the evening
news.  So I find it a true plea-
sure to be able to watch a
moving, thoughtful, two-hour
ceremony, honoring those who
have defended freedom on a
national television broadcast,
live and complete.  Though an
American by birth, I appreciate
all those from around the world
who answered the call and put
their own bodies between
tyranny and liberty.  Thank you
to all veterans of all wars!

Barack Obama has been the
President-elect since Tues-
day night, and already, we
are beginning to get a taste
of what to expect from him.
His selection for Chief of
Staff, Rahm Emanual, shows
he wants a well-disciplined,
tight organization.  Emanual
is also hardly a sign of any
bipartisan approach to the
way Obama will govern. His
choice also sends a signal
to the Democratic leaders on
Capitol Hill to 'watch their
step'.  

Another major sign of what
is coming can be found on
the transition team website,
http://change.gov.  There is
a long laundry list of the pro-
grams and new policies that
the Obama Administration will
be pushing, most likely in the
first months.  A new stimulus
package (which Obama would
rather Bush initiate), mortgage
relief, credit card relief, jobs
programs, student subsidies,
etc., the list goes on and on.

Finally, Obama gave his first
press conference on Friday.
As he did before in previous
'pressers', it was late and short.
He only answered a few ques-
tions, including on silly things
like what puppy he'll buy for
his children.  Obama even took
the time to levy a cheap shot
at Nancy Reagan about com-
muning with the dead, despite
the fact that it was Hillary who
talked about having séances
for Eleanor Roosevelt.  The
only question asked of sub-
stance, concerning tax rates
for the wealthy, Obama glided
by without an answer.  But his
opening remarks were enough
to indicate that the budget defi-
cit would be blown sky-high.

Already, this year’s deficit will
easily exceed a Trillion dollars!
Adding up all the current bail-
outs, plus potential new ones
for the auto industry, some 35
states and dozens of cities, all
clamoring for cash, on top of
the estimated $850 Billion for
Obama’s new programs, who
knows where next year’s defi-
cit will come in at?  $2 Trillion?

With all this new money being
pumped into the system, one
wonders the impact it will have
on the U.S. dollar?  Obama
stated Friday he wants a strong
dollar.  Oh really?  How will he
pull that off and still pay for
everything?  Some analysts
predict the dollar may collapse
by next summer.  Some even
say before the end of this year!

The implications of a dollar col-
lapse are serious.  One may
wonder why it is not currently?
Indeed, the dollar has actually
strengthened the past few
weeks, despite the financial
meltdown.  The reasons why
are simple.  First, banks and
other companies are hoarding
cash.  It is not circulating, yet.
Much of the money allocated
from the bailouts is being held
on to by the large investment
banks.  The top nine are esti-
mated to be sitting on over
$400 Billion worth of cash right
now.  The second major rea-
son why the dollar is staying
strong, for the moment, is that
other world currencies are get-
ting hit hard, too.  The crisis is
effecting Europe and Asia in
harsh, but different ways.

Another major reason is that
up until October, consumer
confidence in the U.S. was still
reasonably strong.  Retail sales
were still going well, and since
most of what U.S. consumers
buy is from overseas, a big
trade imbalance is actually a
good thing for the dollar.  But
that may no longer be the case
in the upcoming months. We
are already seeing the signs of
a slow down in retail sales, as
well as the sharp drop in oil
prices.  Consumers are cutting
back.

Starting last summer, Asia, and
primarily China, had begun a
policy of diversifying it’s cash
reserves away from Yankee
dollars.  In 2007, it dumped
some $300 Billion.  By July of
this year, over $1.2 Trillion
was used to buy non-dollar
holdings, especially gold.
India is leading the way in
gold purchasing, more than
1300 tons this year!  With
20% of the world’s popula-
tion, India now has nearly
20% of all the mined gold,
making them #1 in gold
reserves, over 25,000 tons
of the precious metal!  The
United States, in comparison,
has roughly 14,000 tons.

When people speak of a col-
lapse of the dollar, the classic
definition is a depreciation of
about 20% in a single year.
This does not mean that our
rate of inflation will be 20%
But it would not be pretty.
For example, when the Peso
collapsed in 1995, by about
50%, Mexico’s rate of infla-
tion hit about 35%.  Some
analysts are predicting, based
on the amounts of new cash
being pumped into the system,
that by next summer, the U.S.
dollar could fall as much as
40% in current value.  

The implications of such an
event are the following;
1)  Prices go up, consump-
tion declines.  Higher unem-
ployment dues to less goods
and services being used.
2)  The nation’s debt load
is financed by short-term
T-bills, mainly bought by
overseas trading partners,
like China and Saudi Arabia.
With less consumption in
the U.S., there will be less
purchasing of our debt from
overseas.  This will force our
governments (Federal, state
and local) to reduce services
and raise taxes.

During the Great Depression,
the economy declined but the
dollar actually remained rela-
tively strong.  It was still backed
by gold, plus the Federal debt
was low enough where FDR
could get away with running
the printing presses.  Neither
is the case today.

Obama and the Democrats in
Congress will be gambling
come 2009.  They may believe
that by pumping enough cash
into the system quickly, they
can get consumers spending
and the game floating long
enough for confidence in both
domestic and foreign investors
to buy more debt.  But given
the trends of the past year and
a half, that seems very unlikely.

The other chance of hope is
that at next year’s G8 meeting
in Italy, a serious discussion
on reforming the world’s
currency systems will take
place.  A number of Euro-
pean finance ministers are
already calling for the G8
meeting to be a Bretton Woods
Part 2.  It was at the 1944
Bretton Woods meeting where
our current financial system
was devised.  There are many
who feel it is high-time to no
longer tie the dollar to the
world’s currencies, or to oil.
This would be bad for the
United States, initially, but
would have the effect of de-
fining a bottom.

Other economists are also
talking more openly about a
revaluation of currency and
the current debt load.  This
would be a very dramatic
event.  Even a modest ad-
justment in central bank
policy on how interest rates
are set would have major
implications.  Unfortunately,
in the short-term, this means
that those who thought that
markets may begin to re-
bound after the elections may
have to wait until after the
July, 2009 meeting until some
certainty is restored.

Barack Obama is now the
President-Elect.  He won a
tough campaign, earning
52% of the popular vote to
John McCain's 46%.  Roughly
62 million to 55 million.  On the
electoral college map, the only
map that truly counts, Obama,
thus far, has 349 to McCain's
162.  McCain has a slight edge
in Missouri and Obama a thin
lead in North Carolina. So the
final tally will probably be 364
to 173.

How did Obama win?  He won
thanks to a well organized
ground game and the crash
of the markets in mid-Septem-
ber.  For 63% of those who
voted, the economy was their
deciding issue.  93% of all of
those who voted think the eco-
nomy is bad, and 85% are
worried about it.  Obama also
benefited greatly from having
the entire Main Stream Media
is the tank for him very early
on.  Without their help in sup-
pressing issues about his
past, as well as who he is now,
Hillary Clinton would have won
the nomination.

Why did McCain lose?  The 8
years of George W Bush,
Dick Cheney and Karl Rove
did not help.  Nor the casting
off of the Congressional Re-
publicans of the principles of
smaller, limited government.
Add to these ideological rea-
sons, an unpopular war in
Iraq.  But McCain also has
himself to blame for losing,
and he was man enough to
accept that responsibility
during his concession speech.

McCain was leading in the polls
up until the economy tanked.
During that first week, especial-
ly the first 24 hours, he blew it.
His message was somewhere
between wrong and confused.
He might have been able to
recover the fumble had he ac-
tually done something when
he suspended his campaign
and returned to Washington.
Had he gone Maverick and
went against the bailout, he
might have tapped into the
general mood of the country
which was upset with the Wall
Street bailout.

From that point forward, his
message was in a constant
state of flux.  With the clock
rapidly ticking down, McCain
lost any credibility with any
economic issues.  If it had
not been for Joe the Plumber,
McCain probably would have
lost the election by 10% or
more, and put Obama over
the 400 mark for the electoral
map, a sign of a true landslide.

While some may argue the
technical definitions of a land-
slide victory, I do not believe
that the 2008 election will
qualify.  Obama won by very
narrow margins in many key
states.  Furthermore, his win
does not mean that the con-
servative movement has died.

In Florida, where Obama won
by about 200,000 votes, rough-
ly 1.5%, a law designating that
"marriage" is ONLY between a
man and a woman easily pass-
ed.  In California, a state that
was an easy win for Obama,
there too, a ban on gay marri-
age is very tight and still being
tallied. Such bread-and-butter
issues which lie at the heart of
the conservative movement
remain strong.

America wanted change and
now it has it.  Over 125 million
people voted, many spending
2 to 8 hours standing in line
to cast their ballots.  Yesterday
was democracy in action,
something we should all be
proud of.  And yes, even the
cynics must now agree that
Obama's victory is a defining
moment in America's history.
That we are indeed a nation
that is a great melting pot of
peoples and ideas.  That any
individual can achieve their
dreams and goals.

Obama will get a longer honey-
moon than most presidents.
Most voters accept the fact
that taxes will go up and there
may be other consequences
to his election.  The real ques-
tion now is how will he han-
dle his first major crisis?
Will he compromise many
of his more left-leaning
agendas to get what every
politician wants, to be re-
elected?  Just how much
change will there truly be?
In many observers eyes,
Obama was actually much
closer to George Bush's
policies than McCain was.
How will that irony play out?

Can John McCain still win
the election?  With only 2
short days left to go, it may
seem highly unlikely.  But
that is what Barack Obama
is counting on.

The past two week have not
been very good ones for
Obama.  Joe the Plumber has
given McCain a clearer mes-
sage to distinguish himself
from Obama, and even Bush.
Tito the Builder has now also
joined ranks, comparing tax
policies of Obama, and other
programs and behavior, to
those of Venezuela's Hugo
Chavez, and old pal of Bill
Ayers, Obama's Chicago
neighbor and sponsor.

Joe Biden gaffed that Obama
would be tested in an inter-
national crisis in the first six
months.  He also gaffed on
who will be subjected to the
Obama tax increases.  That
seems to be a real problem
as Bill Richarson and even
Obama himself cannot stick
to a single number.  It keeps
changing day-to-day.  The
simple fact that Obama will
repeal the Bush tax cuts
means everyone's taxes will
go up, even those earning
as little as $20,000 a year.

And then there are media
issues.  Biden's performance
on a TV station in Orlando,
Florida caused that station to
be black-balled by Obama's
campaign.  This week, three
reporters from newspapers
which endorsed McCain
have been booted off the
great one's jet to make room
for friendly fluff magazines.

The Los Angeles Times did
not help matters when the
story broke that they have
had a videotape of a 2003
going-away party honoring
Rashid Khalidi, who was
leaving Chicago for a new
job at Columbia University.
Khalidi was once the PR
man for the PLO back when
they were a terrorist organi-
zation (like they aren't now)
and attending the party
were Barack and Michelle
Obama, Bill Ayers and his
former-terrorist wife,
Bernadine Dohrn, as well
as other Chicago-based
Jew-haters.  The L.A. Times
refuses to release the tape
or a transcript of what was
said during the testimonials.
It should be also noted that
it was Khalidi who arranged
for Iranian president,
Ahmedinejad, to appear at
Columbia and deliver a
hate-filled speech.

More news on Ayers popped
up this week when another
book he co-wrote with his
wife, "Prairie Fire" back in
1974 turns out to be dedi-
cated to numerous radicals
and killers, like Sirhan
Sirhan, the assassin to
killed Robert F. Kennedy.
One has to wonder how
Ted and Caroline feel now
about supporting Barack
Obama for president?

On top of all of these so-
called side-issues, Obama's
big primetime infomercial
was a snoozer.  Most of it
dealt with showing how
awful America is.  A new
campaign ad takes a cheap
shot at Sarah Palin, which
has had some unexpected
results.

Several women within the
Obama campaign have
begun to blog about their
experiences and decisions
to not vote for Obama. One
such lady, who's post ap-
peared at redstate.com
and caused the website to
be assaulted made some
interesting points.  She
claims that their internal
polling shows that 25% of
Hillary supporters are
voting for McCain.  40% in
Pennsylvania!  She goes
on to say that the campaign
is worried about losing
there, as well as in Iowa
and other states thought
to be solidly for Obama.
Another cause for concern
is that nearly 80% of those
called during polling refuse
to answer.  One would think
if they are proud Obama
voters, they would gladly
reveal such.  There appear
to still, at this date, some
9-14% undecided, which
would trend more so to
McCain than Obama if they
were to vote.  The youth vote
has not been turning out in
any great numbers either,
and in Nevada and New
Mexico, Hispanics are also
shying away from Obama.

She, as well as another for-
mer staffer, Wendy Buttons,
have also stated their dis-
pleasure about the way
Obama went after Hillary
and now Palin.  They both
confirm what we have known
all along, that the Main
Stream Media has been in
the tank for Obama since
the beginning.   They are
deliberately manipulating
the public into believing
that the race is all but over
and Obama won this race
weeks ago.

On Thursday night's episode
of PBS, "Charlie Rose" guest
Tom Brokaw of NBC News
admitted that very little on
Barack Obama is known or
has been reported.  Brokaw
told Rose he does not know
how Obama would handle
China or other nations, nor
does he know what Obama's
philosophical base is.  He
could not even tell Charlie
what books Obama reads or
which one have influenced
him.  LOL!  How about Ayers'
book, "Prairie Fire"???

It is remarkable that at a time
when this nation faces chal-
lenges ranging from wars to
economic disasters that we
are about to vote with the
choices we have.  I am no
big fan of John McCain, but
compared to the hollow shell
and mystery of Barack Obama,
what rational choice do we have?

People who support Obama
believe that he will help them
and the nation as a whole.
Keep in mind that this guy
does not even help his own
family members, like his
step-brother in Kenya who
exists on $12 a year nor his
aunt who lives in a slum in
Boston!  Obama claims he
did not even know his aunt
was in Boston for the past
five years!  This, despite the
fact that he wrote about her
extensively in his autobio-
graphy, "Dreams From My
Father".  How can Obama
care about America when he
does not even care about his
own family?

Yes, the past two weeks
have been rough ones for
Obama.  And, YES, John
McCain can still win this
election.  Reports show
that this year will have a
record turn out, perhaps
over 130 million voters
casting ballots.  With so
many voting, with so much
at stake, it is impossible
for anyone to call this
election over.  We will pro-
bably not know the outcome
until sometime Wednesday,
and even that may be mud-
dled by problems and court
cases.

If ever there was an election
to vote in, this one is it!  SO
PLEASE VOTE ON TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 4TH!!!  Make your
voice heard, while you
still have one!