California FINALLY has a
budget!  Well, MAYBE!

On Tuesday, Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed a new budget passed
by the state legislature.  He
did so after making additional
line-item vetoes.  All told, the
new budget of $86 Billion dol-
lars will balance out the $24
Billion dollar budget deficit.
That is, IF it passes the sure-
to-come court challenges.

The bill makes cuts in spending
across the board.  Education
is to have some $9.3 Billion
in reductions.  Other cuts in-
clude $3 Billion from Health
and Human Services, $1.7
in general spending, $785 Mil-
lion for prisons, $1.4 Billion by
delaying payments in payroll
and health premiums, and
$802 Million in state employee
work furloughs.  The deficit is
further reduced by shifting
funds from other sources, in-
cluding from local governments
and the state's highway ac-
count.

Needless to say, those local
governments, plus teacher
unions, state employee unions,
and a wide range of special
interest groups, will be taking
the state to court to over-turn
the cuts and restore funding.
Given past cases in the State
Supreme Court and the U.S.
9th District Court, it would
seem very likely that some of
the funding will be restored.
So, while California may be
looking a tad better at the mo-
ment, don't count on it lasting.

California has been spending
money  excessively for a long
time.  They are, what my old,
favorite radio talk show host,
Mark Scott, would call, "hand-
out heaven"!  Free everything
for everybody!  You don't even
have to be a legal citizen, or
even a legal, foreign resident.
Come one, come all and join
the Sunshine Circus!

I haven't read the actual bill
(after all, as John Conyers
would say, what difference
would reading the bill make?)
so I do not know if funds for
helping non-humans, like
the sea otters, have been
slashed.  Fortunately, they,
too, have special interest
groups to defend them in the
courts.  So all those "tiny
actresses" in Hollywood can
sleep soundly.

Facing outright bankruptcy,
California was reduced to
paying bills with I.O.U.s re-
cently.  Some have been
traded on various markets
for 30-50% of face value.
I'm surprised they got that!
LOL!!!  The citizens voted
down earlier proposals to
cut spending and raise taxes
to balance their budget.
And why shouldn't they?
It's the voters who keep on
electing the heroes of hand-
out heaven into office.  They
want free everything for every-
body, they just don't want to
pay for it.

California is not alone in this
mentality.  Many states are
facing budget problems.  New
York is busy raising taxes and
driving businesses and the
productive out of their state.
Massachusetts,  the state
whose health care system the
Federal government wants to
copy for the rest of the nation,
has been forced to reduce the
health care provided to it’s
citizens.  Some are now even
being denied access, like
legal, foreign residents.  Illegal
aliens can still visit doctors,
though.

The states in trouble have a
few things in common.  They
are usually run by Democrats
(or RINO Republicans) and
have large, union voting blocks.
They also all have high tax
rates, and declining econo-
mies.  Hmmm?  Are we seeing
a pattern here?

No, I am not watching the
Obama press lecture.  I will
admit that I simply cannot
stand listening to him drone
on, like some haughty pro-
fessor lecturing an entry
level course to undergradu-
ates.  The only tolerable way
to hear Obama has been
devised by none other than
Rush Limbaugh.  He now
plays Obama sound-bites at
high-speed, symbolizing his
rush to promote his agenda.

Limbaugh's method is a win-
win!  First, it transforms the
dull, confused stammer of
Obama into a cartoon-ish
voice that is actually fun to
listen to.  Second, it reduces
those 8-10 minute answers
to simple questions by at
least a third of the time.  The
result is we are less bored
hearing him.  Not that we really
want to hear him at all, but I
suppose since he is our pre-
sident, we should give him an
ear (not that he needs anymore
ears..., HA-HA-HA!).

I heard a pre-speech state-
ment from Rahm Emanuel
that today's presser would be
a victory celebrating Obama's
six months of success in im-
proving the economy.  HUH?
I'd like to try what he's smokin'.
Obama's first six months have
been an utter failure..., if your
objective was to preserve
individual liberty, the Constitu-
tion, and facilitate the free
market to thrive and the people
to prosper.

But if your objective is to de-
stroy the nation, then I'll give
Obama an A+.  Absolutely
everything he's done since
taking office has been ideal
for turning America into a
banana-republic-style Marx-
ist dictatorship.  He's even
adopted the time-honored
traditions of a Castro or a
Chavez in appearing on TV
nearly everyday, giving long,
boring speeches full of lies.

As of June, America is now,
for the first time in history,
as a Federal budget deficit
of $1 TRILLION dollars!  Of
course, a trillion doesn't seem
to have the same significance
as it once held in pre-Obama
times.  For example, last year,
the Federal Reserve pumped
at least $3 Trillion dollars into
the economy.  Nobody really
knows how much, since they
are a private entity and keep
their books secret.  But it's
been reported that the number
now is up to $9 Trillion dollars!
Who knows where it's all been
going?

One fellow who's been trying to
keep tabs is TARP Inspector
General, Neil Barofsky.  I wrote
about him recently as being
one of three I.G.s that the
Obama Administration is trying
to fire.  Barofsky released a
report estimating that the USA
may be in the hook for some
$23.7 TRILLION dollars in
debts and obligations due to
all of the government and
Federal Reserve money that
has been spent or promised.
Obama's budget projections
alone will double the National
Debt in 5 years and double
it again the next 5.  So he's
already matched ALL of the
over-spending of ALL previous
America presidents all by him-
self.

The stimulus bill, which Obama
promised would keep unem-
ployment at 8% has already
failed, with unemployment at
9.5% now and probably be-
tween 10-11% by year's end.
The Cap & Trade carbon tax
initiative, yet to be finalized, will
cost us another $5 Trillion or
more and several million more
unemployed.  Not content with
the government in control of
the financial, automobile and
soon the energy industries,
Obama now wants control of
1/6th of the economy which
is our medical and pharma-
cuetical industries.

Obama is beating the drum
daily for Congress to rush
through a new health care
that will put Uncle Sugar in
every aspect of health care,
despite the fact that the
proposed plan won't take
effect until 2013.  So why
the hurry?  Well, Obama is
now starting to slip in the
public opinion polls.  Worse
yet, many of his allies in the
Congress are concerned that
voters may remember what
they're doing and vote them
out of office.  They've already
been hammered by over-
whelming numbers of phone
calls and emails against pre-
vious legislation, like Cap &
Trade and the stimulus.

I suppose I could also men-
tion some of Obama's other
missteps, such as foreign
policy gaffes.  The famous
misspelled "ReStart" button,
the wrong-format DVD gift
set, or the video I-pod as a
gift to the British Royalty.
Or how he's been scolded
by Europe, Russia, China,
and even Iran.  His trashing
of America a broad with his
apology tours.

Under Obama, America is
now poised for the govern-
ment to have direct control
of 60% of the nation's econo-
my.  The value of the dollar
is in decline and may be
replaced as the currency of
international trade.  The
cost of food, energy, and
everything else will increase
while income declines as
taxes and interest rates gob-
ble up earnings.  Our legal
system has already been
trashed as a result of the
government's bail out of the
automobile industry.  

Yes,  he's done quite a bit
in his first six months.  None
of it good by any rational
standard.  But then, we are
no longer interested in the
rational.  All that matters is
the Obama worship cult.

Since switching from CNN to
Fox News, Glenn Beck has
become the new favorite
whipping boy for the Main
Stream Media and their evil
cousins in the Far-Left Blogo-
sphere.  Beck is probably the
most dangerous man on TV
these days.  Being a Libertar-
ian, he attacks both Democrats
and Republicans, holding all
politician's feet to the fire de-
spite party affiliation.

Beck is also the only regular
TV personage to raise issues
with the most powerful and
secret organization in America,
the Federal Reserve Bank.
This past week, he's taking on
another major power-broker:
Goldman Sachs.

Glenn's blackboard examina-
tion into the spider-web of
Goldman's power and influ-
ence in Washington has be-
come one of the most popular
videos on You-Tube.  Beck
outlines the connections and
time lines for how many of the
decisions made in the past
year have favored Goldman
Sachs.

The U.S. Government first
allowed Bear Stearns to fail.
Why?  Could it be that they
were a competitor of Goldman
Sachs?  Former Treasury
Secretary, Henry Paulson,
then allowed Lehman Brothers
to fail.  Why?  Could it be
because they were Goldman's
largest competitor?  Paulson,
it should be noted, used to be
CEO of Goldman Sachs.
Hmmmmmmmmm...

The day after Lehman crashed,
Paulson held a meeting to de-
cide the fate of insurance giant,
A.I.G..  The only non-govern-
ment attendee to that meeting
was the CEO of Goldman
Sachs.  Paulson chose to save
A.I.G. and $85 Billion taxpayer
dollars went to bail them out.
A.I.G. then paid off their largest
creditor, who, incidentally, was
none other than Goldman
Sachs, to the tune of nearly
$20 Billion dollars.

Coincidence?  Conspiracy?
Beck reports, you decide.

Who does Paulson appoint
to over see the TARP bailouts?
Neel Kashkari, from, where
else?  Goldman Sachs.  He in
turn decides, with Paulson’s
approval, to allow Goldman
Sachs to become a chartered
bank.  This gains access for
Goldman Sachs to more TARP
money, as well as money from
the F.D.I.C. and from the
Federal Reserve.

Hmmmmmm???

Enter the Obama Administra-
tion and the appointment of
Tim Geithner as it’s Treasury
Secretary.  While Giethner
is not part of the Goldman
Sachs alumni, his chief of
staff is, Mark Patterson.  He
was even given a waiver by
Giethner so Patterson could
still sit of Goldman’s board
of directors, and trade in their
stock, while working for the
U.S. Treasury.  Nice, huh?

Goldman Sachs reporting a
profitable 2Q this past week,
and a lucrative bonus program
for it’s employees.  Yet, there
is little outrage in the media,
despite the fact that the bonus
plan is several times larger
than those proposed by A.I.G.
and other.  True, Goldman
was ‘allowed’ to pay back
the TARP money Uncle Sugar
had lent them.  But a good part
of the reason that Goldman
Sachs as weathered the rec-
cession so well was due to
the pay-out from A.I.G. and
the access they now have to
other money sources, the
F.D.I.C. and the Federal
Reserve.

Perhaps if Goldman Sachs
is doing so well, maybe their
status as a charter bank should
also be retracted?  After all,
they are still dealing in very
speculative investments, such
as CDO’s.  Goldman recently
turned a tidy profit in oil specu-
lation, doubling their money
after they borrowed it from
the Federal Reserve at 5%
interest rate.

Beck isn’t the only one
railing against Goldman
Sach’s.  “Rolling Stone
Magazine” Matt Taibbi
has been writing about the
Goldman ‘cabal’.  How they
have been behind many of
the economic bubbles of the
past decade or so.  From
tech stocks, to energy specu-
lation (financing Enron), and
manipulating currency markets.
They are clearly a firm which
has benefited nicely from their
relationships with government,
primarily due to many of their
alumni being appointed to
government positions.

Goldman Sachs is now set to
exploit the carbon-credit
trading market and is sup-
porting the Obama Cap &
Tax legislation.  General
Electric, another corporation
well connected in Washington
is also looking to profit from
this bill.

It was bad enough when our
leaders in Washington were
too cozy with corporate lob-
byists.  Now, the lobbyists
and Wall Street execs are
part of the government!  The
laws they are passing are
such that benefit the corpor-
ations they came from.  
Meanwhile, small businesses,
which employ over 60% of
the people in America, and
are responsible for nearly
99% of new jobs created in the
past year, are left out to hang.
CIT Group, which has some
$70 Billion dollars in loans
outstanding to small business-
es, is on the verge of bank-
ruptcy.  Giethner has already
made it clear that TARP will
not be used to assist them.
The net result could see a
very long list of companies
going belly-up, this at a time
when unemployment is al-
ready soaring at unprece-
dented rates.

The economy could have
been helped for far less tax-
payer money if the assistance
had been directed to improv-
ing the financial climate of
America’s small businesses.
The credit crunch still exists,
despite bailing out the big
banks.  Pending legislation,
like Cap & Trade and Obama’s
health care plan will only serve
to cripple small business more.

What the hell are they thinking
in Washington?  They seem to
only being concerned about
what is best for Goldman
Sachs.

They came from Middle
America.  From farms, small
towns, humble beginnings.
For many, the first uniform
they ever wore was that of
a Boy Scout.  Some were
even the children of immi-
grants.  They were the
quintessential product of
the Horatio Alger Era.  Where
anybody, with patience, hard
work and ambition, could
rise to "the top of the pyramid".

My fondest childhood memor-
ies are that of the Space Race.
Especially during Project
Gemini and Apollo, there were
frequent space flights.  Every
few weeks it seemed like our
astronauts were excelling,
doing more and more amazing
things as we aimed for
The Moon!

This weekend marks the 40th
Anniversary of the Apollo 11
mission, the first landing of
men on the Moon.  So it is
with fondness and some
lamenting that I think back
on the event.  The awe and
joy I felt as a child watching
this most amazing adventure.
And the reflection and dismay
over how distant we seem to
be as a nation from that age
of enthusiasm.

Those who journeyed to that
silvery orb were all rugged
individuals.  They achieved
their position through the
purest of meritocracies.  From
Boy Scout, to pilot, to test pilot,
to astronaut, and finally, a walk
on the Moon.  Only in America!
What a legacy!

I could drone on and possibly
bore you with trivia.  But I'd
rather just say that here we
are, 40 years after that first
moon walk.  This country has
been through rough times
before.  Sometimes even close
to the brink of societal collapse.
But out there, in the country-
side, there always seems to be
individuals who defy the odds.

The astronauts of the Great
Space Race, as well as the
thousands of scientists and
engineers who built their
machines, stepped forward
to inspire the nation and the
entire world.  They epitomize
the power of the individual.
It may sound hokey or out
of fashion, but at the time,
when little else made sense
or could be trusted, these
people were the ideal of
America.  They were confi-
dent in themselves and in
those they worked with. They
had the hope and courage
to face uncertainty and accept
any challenge.

When I look about today, and
wonder who inspires us to
that same sense of greatness,
it's a hard sell.  Certainly, very
few people whom we see on
a regular basis in today's
media organs qualify.  But
America's heroes are out there
today.  They get little fanfare
and frankly they aren't seeking
it anyway.  

Like the heroes of the Space
Race, they come from humble
origins.  They live quietly and
with conviction of the mind and
soul.  They believe in God and
in themselves.  That whatever
talents they've been blessed
with should be used for good.
Yeah, it's corny, but we need
some corn to balance out the
daily helpings of cynicism and
detraction.

So here's to the 40th Anniver-
sary of the Apollo 11 Moon
mission!  Thank you all for
the memories and for those
dreams yet to be fulfilled!

Some have wondered with all
of the economic doom and
gloom, if there are any actual
success stories.  Any easy one
lies just north of the border...

Canada is weathering the
global crisis fairly well.  Sure,
unemployment is rising there
as well, manufacturing and
exports are down (as we in
the U.S. buy less from our
favorite trading partner) and
the Canadian stocks have also
been hit hard.  But on the plus
side, their banks were generally
in better shape at the beginning
with less leveraged in specula-
tive markets.

Another key factor is that the
Canadian government has
been practicing better fiscal
policy.  Their reaction to the
financial upheaval has been
more sound as well.  Taxes
have been cut!  There's a
novel approach!  LOL!  Yes,
apparently the Canadian
government understands that
any recovery will start in the
private sector.  Lower taxes
and creating incentives for
markets to invest, expand
and employ people are work-
ing!  Early forecasts that
Canada's GDP would drop
about 4-5% has been revised.
A new report from the IMF
predicts Canada's GDP to
only decline 2.3% and the
INCREASE 1.6% in 2010,
nearly double previous pre-
dictions.

Another step in the right
direction are the policies
of Canada's central bank.
The Banque du Canada
is sticking to it's bible of
printing money such that
the rate of inflation stays
in the 2-3% range.  The
Canadian dollar is gaining
strength against the Green-
back of the U.S., as well
as other currencies such
as the Yen.

While America is Canada's
#1 trading partner, the de-
cline in exports to the U.S.
is making the Canadians to
look elsewhere for markets.
China is the obvious place
to do business.  With the
Chinese also practicing sound
Capitalistic solutions, such
as lowering taxes and easing
regulations, China is expected
to grow their GDP some 7-8%
this year.

Sure, Canada has a lot of pro-
blems.  Their health care sys-
tem is a disaster.  Their pro-
gram to digitize all medical
records is ripe with corruption.
They are also handicapped
by the problems of the North
American auto industry.  But
an interesting trend is unfold-
ing.  A major Canadian chain,
Tim Horton's, which had moved
it's headquarters to Delaware
for tax purposes is now moving
back to Toronto!  Why?  For
tax purposes!  Also to avoid
the ridiculous flow of new Fed-
eral regulations being unleash-
ed by Washington.

Perhaps the most amusing
moment of this past week
was Obama's trip to Russia.
While being manhandled by
Putin and others, Obama was
also scolded by Pravda and
the Russian media.  He was
informed that Russia has much
more freedom than the U.S.,
since people can smoke any-
where they damn please!
They invited Obama to light-
up!  LOL!  This, while Obama
tightens tobacco regulations,
increases tobacco taxes and
now is going to target the U.S.
military's tobacco policies.
China, too, is far more 'liberal'
about allowing people to smoke
as well.

John Clark, one of the heroes
of Tom Clancy's 'Jack Ryan'
and "Rainbow Six" series of
novels, once described how he
rated countries by their
"Saturday nights".  The more
fun the better.  Perhaps we
can now rate countries by
similar measures.  If they
allow smoking in public? Are
their governments cutting
taxes?  Reducing regulations?
Lessons to be learned...

In case you were wondering
all these past few months, it
is now official:

The U.S. Economy is indeed
a TRAIN WRECK!

Morgan Stanley's chief econo-
mist, Richard Berner declared
that, "America's long-awaited
fiscal train wreck is now under
way."

Mr. Berner says that the out-of-
control federal budget deficits
will surely drag the economy
under.  "Depending on policy
actions taken now and over the
next few years, federal deficits
will likely average as much as
6 percent of the gross domestic
product through 2019, contri-
buting to a jump in debt held by
the public to as high as 82
percent of GDP by then -
doubling over the next decade."

Writing for Morgan Stanley's
online Global Economic Forum,
Berner has more conclusions.
"Worse, barring aggressive
policy actions, deficits and debt
will rise even more sharply
thereafter as entitlement
spending accelerates relative
to GDP.  Keeping entitlement
promises would require unsus-
tainable borrowing, taxes or
both, severely testing the cre-
dibility of our policies and
hurting our long-term ability to
finance investment and sus-
tain growth."  Berner adds,
And soaring debt will force up
real interest rates, reducing
capital and productivity and
boosting debt service."  He
concludes, "not only will those
factors steadily lower our
standard of living, but they
will imperil economic and
financial stability."

This comes on top of our
Vice President, Joe Biden,
declaring on Sunday that
the Obama Administration
got it wrong.  They under-
estimated just how bad the
economy is.  That the stimu-
lus bill has not produced
any beneficial results.  In-
deed, Congressional hear-
ings today attested to how
the $57 Billion already spent
has done little else but help
state governments meet their
payroll and Medicare tabs.

Many of the so-called, “shovel-
ready” projects have turned out
to be either boondoggles or
less than originally billed.  For
example, the funds to begin
construction of NEW roads is
being spent instead on filling
in potholes on existing roads.
Many states have used their
stimulus money to pay salaries
for teachers and state troopers.
During the hearings, the price
tag for each new job allegedly
created costs the taxpayers
nearly $400,000 each!  Seems
it might have been better to
just hand out $50,000 each to
eight people if you wanted to
stimulate and spread the
wealth around.

The stock market has been
anemic.  Since bouncing back
from it’s lows below 7,000,
the DOW Jones has made
zero progress.  The last week
it’s lost more ground and is
once again threatening to
dip below 8,000.  The bond
markets have become a joke
with the U.S. Treasury holding
more auctions than eBay.
Even commodities like gold
and oil look shaky at the
moment.  So much oil is now
going unused that it’s being
parked in tankers all over the
world, waiting for better days.

Biden’s comments come only
a week after Obama declared
that the stimulus was a suc-
cess, accomplishing it’s ob-
jectives.  After Biden’s Sunday
talk-show remarks, Obama
has modified his tone while
abroad, acknowledging that
unemployment probably will
continue to increase and rise
above 10% by year’s end.
This, after promising that the
$787 Billion dollar stimulus
package would keep unem-
ployment below 8%.  Some
states have it even worse.
A recent study by the Uni-
versity of Michigan says that
the state’s current level of
14.2% unemployment will
rise well above 15% by the
end of the year.

Talk in Washington of the
need of another massive
stimulus package, or of
several smaller ones, is in-
creasing, despite polls
showing that American tax-
payers are unhappy with all
of the runaway spending
and deficits piling up.  Even
a TARP-2 is being discussed,
despite the fact that TARP-1’s
$700 Billion dollars did little
more than allow a handful of
corporations to be bailed out.
Many of which used TARP
money to buy other assets
like banks and tankers full
of oil at 3% interest.

The biggest problem looming
on the horizon, of course, is
the Federal Reserve and the
value of the U.S. dollar.  As
deficits increase, the need to
cover the debt with more
Treasury bonds seems to have
reached a saturation point.
For nearly two months now,
the Fed has had to step in and
buy bonds themselves when
nobody else would.  This using
money they just simply print.

The goal of every typical poli-
tician is to get re-elected.  They
achieve this by appeasing the
public and industries with good
lobbyists with spending bills
to benefit the constituents.  As
this method tends to add to
the National Debt, the old-
fashioned way to deal with the
Debt, other than cut spending
or raise taxes, is to make the
Debt worth less through infla-
tion.  As the dollar gets weaker
and more plentiful, the Debt
becomes easier to manage.

But this scheme only works
if the economy is growing
enough to accommodate
a reasonable rate of inflation.
As Lyndon Johnson, Richard
Nixon, Gerald Ford and James
Earl Carter came to realize,
once the rate of inflation ex-
ceeds 5%, it effects the interest
rates in the private sector
enough to slow down an eco-
nomy.  Houses become too
expensive to finance, as do
cars and other products.  The
average consumer does less
consuming, only buying what
he or she needs, and then so
only with cash.

This then begins a downward
spiral of less production, less
employment, and then even
less consuming, etc, etc, etc.
LBJ’s Great Society programs
and the Vietnam War led to
the ‘stagflation’ of the 1970s.
Even with the Reagan Revolu-
tion of lower taxes and less
regulations, coupled with
Paul Volker’s tightening of
Federal Reserve policy, while
ending stagflation, caused
a deep recession that lasted
nearly three years.  Economists
are split as to whether our
current situation is worse than
or better than the 1970s.

Already Obama has expanded
federal deficits to levels that
rival actual entire budgets only
a decade ago.  If his additional
programs, like health care and
Cap & Trade, are made law,
the impact could be enough to
completely cripple economic
growth for many years to come.
By 2012, the entire nation may
become like Michigan!  Or
even worse, bankrupt like
California.  Would you accept
an I.O.U. from Uncle Sugar?

Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin
announced today that she will
not be seeking a second term
as governor.  In true, Palin
fashion, she reasoned that to
be a lame-duck would not be
a benefit to Alaskans.  So she
also announced that she will
resign her office as of July 26
and turn the reigns over to Lt.
Governor, Sean Parnell.

Immediately, the hyenas
crawled out of the brush to
call her a coward.  That she
couldn't take the heat.  That
she's a quitter.  She's com-
mitting political suicide.  That
she's crazy.

Today's announcement was
Classic Sarah.  She is show-
ing once again that she has
the moral responsibility to be
a true leader.  Already under
fire for taking trips out of the
state to promote her charities
(such as Autism Speaks) and
causes she believes in (such
as the Right to Life), today's
move clears the path for
Palin to assume a more
national presence.  She will
no longer be restricted by
the critics, nor the great
distances to travel.

Palin is no coward!  I did not
hear the pundits recall how
she resigned from her pre-
vious position, on Alaska's
Oil Committee, because she
became frustrated by the
"politics as usual".  For over
a year she fought against the
stale and the corrupt, then
resigned to take up the sword
and run for governor.  And
successfully, so.  

Upon becoming governor, Palin
quickly went on the offensive to
clean up Alaskan politics.  Her
strong ethics legislation, in fact,
may have proved to be too
strict, as it allowed a flurry of
ethics charges to be leveled
against herself, all of which she
has been cleared from.

She took on the most powerful
forces in Alaska, the oil com-
panies.  Thanks to her, the
citizens now get a larger share
of oil lease monies.  Palin cut
through 30 years of red-tape
to finally get a natural gas pipe-
line built.  It will be the largest,
privately funded infrastructure
project in American history and
will deliver cheap, clean energy
to the "Lower 48".

During her first two years, Palin
also opened the door to more
exploration for oil and gas in
Alaska.  Been an advocate for
the state's resources and wild
life.  Protecting Alaska from
all exploiters, including the
Federal government.  The state
just won two major lawsuits
against unconstitutional regu-
lations and mandates.  Palin
accomplished her campaign
objectives and kept her
promises, something very few
politicians do.

During her announcement,
Palin made it clear how unhap-
py she was about the amount
of time and money the state
was spending just to defend
her from frivolous charges.
Some as inane  as her wearing
a store-bought jacket that has
a company logo on it.  Like
who in ‘normal America’ does
not own one jacket, t-shirt or
ball cap with a corporate logo?
Can you say “NIKE”?

Palin also cited her disdain
for the usual role of a lame
duck politician.  To mark time
with junkets and banquets,
all the while drawing a public
paycheck and using the office
for personal gain.  This woman
IS A TRUE MAVERICK!  Far
more so than John McCain
ever dreamt of being!

Resigning now was a bold
and smart move!  Palin may
now freely travel to promote
her causes and prepare for
2012.  She knows she has
more ‘star power’, or celebrity,
than any other potential GOP
candidate.  Romney already
had a shot and blew it, coming
off as somewhere between a
slice of milk toast and the boss
who lays you off.  Huckabee,
while self-promoting himself
as a God-fearing populist,
also hit a brick wall, due to his
tax and regulating policies as
Governor of Arkansas.  The
Governor of Minnesota, Tim
Pawlenty, is another stale
politician with a mediocre
record as a chief executive.

Palin shattered the mold of
your typical politician from
Day One!  A humble, REAL
person, who’s life story any
of us can relate to.  McCain
energized his anemic cam-
paign when he selected her
to be his running mate.  Across
America, Sarah Palin electrified
crowds and large they were!
She saved McCain from total
disaster, despite the mishand-
ling by jealous McCain staffers
and Democrat smear mer-
chants.

So Palin now has the freedom
to due what she needs to for
her family and future ambitions.
She can help pay the $500,000
some-odd dollars of legal fees
she’s been forced into defend-
ing her honor and integrity.  I
hear she can easily get as
much as $50,000 for a speech.
Palin can now spend the next
18 months writing her book,
raising money for charities, and
helping kindred spirits run for
offices across the nation.  And,
of course, carefully prepare
and build an national campaign
organization to run in 2012.

This is not the end of Sarah
Palin.  It is the beginning of
the next chapter.  A recent
Rasmussen poll showed that
Palin was way ahead of any
of the other GOP contenders.
Palin has chosen not to be a
typical politician, who uses
their elected office while run-
ning for another.  (Hint, hint,
Obama?  LOL!).  That she is
not some power-crazed
egotist who has to cling to
their office.  She got a taste
of national politics.  She met
real people from Florida to
California.  Palin knows how
unhappy the public is right now
of our nation’s political class.

So Palin has shed herself of
any restrictions.  She is now a
free agent.  Independent of
all ‘official’ scrutiny.  Able to
go where she wants and say
what she wants.  Palin has
cast off the shackles of stale
conventions.  

RUN, SARAH!  RUN!!!

During the 'staged' townhall
meeting on health care yes-
terday, President Obama de-
clared that the stimulus pack-
age passed earlier has done
it's job.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Not as dramatic as from the
deck of an aircraft carrier, but
then Obama is not a pilot.
None the less, we have to
shake our heads and say...

           HUH???

The economy is hovering
between stagnation and
disaster.  Unemployment
continues to rise.  Today's
numbers for June show the
nation with an average unem-
ployment rate of 9.5%.  If
you factor in the under-em-
ployed, such as those with
part-time jobs while seeking
full-time, the number is closer
to 16.5%.  The number of
those unemployed for more
than six months is 4.38
million people, 29% of all
of the 14.7 million who are
unemployed.

Another Chinese minister
spoke out again the other day
warning America to defend it's
currency.  The U.S. dollar is
getting weaker and weaker.
China, and the rest of the world
would like us to stop spending
so much, stop borrowing so
much, and stop printing so
many dollars and Treasury
bonds.  Even a United Nations
committee denounced the
"Cap & Trade' bill passed
last week by Congress as bad
economic policy.  Things are
really bad when the U.N. says
we're too Socialistic!

On Wednesday, the State of
California began paying credi-
tors in I.O.U.s!  About $3
Billion dollars worth!  Next
month will be $4 Billion.  Many
of states, especially those in
the Northeast or run by
Democrats, are deep in debt
and forced to raise taxes
and cut services.  California
has declined deeper and faster
as they have policies, regula-
tions and tax rates which are
stifling employment and driving
businesses to flee.  The same
policies, regulations and tax
philosophy which is embraced
by Obama and the Democrats
in Congress to inflict upon the
rest of the nation.

The prospects for improvement
are very bleak.  Just the threat
of Cap & Trade has already
forced two new steel plants to
relocate to Brazil and Malaysia.
They had originally fled Europe
due to their Cap & Trade regu-
lations.  Major industries, espe-
cially the auto makers, are in
the process still of down-sizing.
Chrysler is still scheduled to
eliminate 25% of their job base
and a like number from GM.

Small businesses, which em-
ploy more than half of the work
force, are stagnating.  The new
rounds of taxes and regulations
unleashed by the Obama Ad-
ministration, coupled with the
still looming credit crunch
(which Obama has done
NOTHING to rectify) have
caused small businesses to
sit on the side lines and wait.
Many are struggling to just
survive.  In EVERY PREVIOUS
recession, it was ALWAYS
small businesses which led
the way to economic recovery.
Yet, Obama has given them
absolutely ZERO INCENTIVE
to grow, expand, invest or
hire new employees.

So I have to wonder how
Obama figures that his $787
Billion dollar stimulus package,
of which only a small fraction
has actually been spent on
such notable projects as
turtle tunnels in Florida and
sex worker studies in Puerto
Rico, has accomplished it's
mission?  Even those 24
policemen hired in Columbus,
Ohio with stimulus money have
already been laid off!  I wonder
when they'll be appearing on
stage with Obama again?

NO!  It's time for those mem-
bers of the Congress as well
as state government officials
to put an end to this madness!
The Congress must reopen
the stimulus bill and rewrite it,
this time carefully and thought-
fully, with an eye to using the
funds to slash taxes and pro-
vide true incentives to the
private sector, especially to
small businesses!  At the same
time, those U.S. Senators who
claim to be rational MUST
reject the Cap & Trade bill,
as well as any new major
government programs, like
national health care, and other
job-killers, like 'Card Check'.

Only then we MAY see some
improvement in our economy.