It's Over Now! "The Economy is Sound..."

...despite the temporary "mess" it's in, so says the White House economic adviser, Christina Romer.


Is this deja vu? Did I hear this somewhere before? Did someone get ridiculed for making this statement some time ago? Short answer is yes.



Then Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain made these statements on Monday, September 15, 2008: "the fundamentals of our economy are strong"even though as he described "tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street." Although at the time the U.S. economy was experiencing relatively low unemployment (6.1%) and had seen some modest growth. On this same day the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 498 points or 4.4%. Barack Obama's campaign issued this statement to those comments:

"Today of all days, John McCain's stubborn insistence that the 'fundamentals of the economy are strong' shows that he is disturbingly out of touch with what's going on in the lives of ordinary Americans...apparently his 26 years in Washington have left him incapable of understanding that the policies he supports have created an historic economic crisis."

Now the Obama administration would have you believe that the economy is sound? We have lost over 12% off the DJIA since January 20, 2009. Unemployment currently sits at 8.1% and we are to believe that the economy is sound! This from the same president who wrote in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post that the "recession could linger for years and our economy could lose 5 million jobs." Did something happen this week that I missed? Was it because we had the best week in many months on Wall Street they came to this conclusion? That I doubt since our President told us to not look at the "gyrations" of Wall Street as a measuring stick. I can't understand it. What a difference a day makes.

There is a silver lining is this announcement though. And that is finally this President and his team of "know-it-all's" have finally wised up and ceased with the FEAR tactics. I blogged about Obama's Hope over Fear a month ago. But it seems as though someone somewhere finally got to them and gave them a clue. If you keep saying its bad then it will continue to be bad. They may be trying a little psychology here with this sound economy strategy. Let's see, it just might work. I want to think that he is now trying to lead instead of scaring us into believing that it will get better even though he has now used FEAR on our food supply, but that's a story for another day. And maybe Santa Claus will come down my chimmney on April 15th too!

That's my word! Please post yours!

The Boogey Man is Coming, It's Friday the 13th

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear..." President Barack Obama inauguration address.

President Barack Obama's inaugural speech included choosing hope over fear. Yet every time he addresses the American people he tries his best to scare us. It reminds me of when as a kid, my parents would say that if I did not behave Santa Claus would not bring me any toys. Scare the people into following your directions. Since I have already wrote about Hope, here is your dose of Fear.

The Boogey Man

He tells us that we are entering "the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression." Yet the facts do no bear this out. The unemployment rate during the 1981-82 recession reached 10.8% versus the 7.6% that Mr. Obama inherited. During the Depression unemployment peaked at 23.6%. A far cry from where it is today. Inflation was at 13.5% at the beginning of the Reagan years yet you come in with an average from 2008 of 3.5%. Prime interest rates at the end of Carter's presidency stood at 20.5% while that same measure was 3.25% at the end of 2008. So if this is the most profound economic emergency then did he miss the early '80's that was caused by Jimmy Carter. Oooooh! The Boogey Man is Here! Maybe that was when he was toking on the Chronic.

Reagan pulled this country out of the doldrums by cutting taxes and reducing spending not by claiming that the Boogey Man was coming.

Here is more Hope Over Fear from Mr. Obama's op-ed piece in the Washington Post.

Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people will lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, then this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.

It is the responsibility of the President to present to the American people the state of affairs of the country in a Presidential manner. Not scaring the "bejeezus" out of us, but by instilling calm leadership. Let us know what the problems are and how you propose to fix them instead of bringing on the fear of the Boogey Man. I guess it goes along with the long list of campaign promises broken already i.e. no lobbyists, 5 days before signing any bill, transparency in government with even more to come because of over promising and under delivering. Hope Over Fear!

Unlike Henrietta Hughes, I am asking only two things of the President. That is to stop campaigning because "you won" and to lead like a President should without bringing up the Boogey Man.

It's Friday the 13th

That's my word! Post yours!

"Hope Is Not A Strategy....

...nor is it a goal."

I recall several years ago I was giving a quarterly presentation in front of my colleagues, Regional Manager, Regional V.P. and Division President on my business plan for my branch. Things were going well until I received a challenging question on my estimated sales growth. I begin the answer with "I hope to be able to..." then it went down hill. These words resonate with me until this very day from my Regional V.P. "Hope is not a strategy and definitely should not be your goal." I spent the next 30 minutes defending every aspect of my quarterly business review while my colleagues grimaced and some snickered(better you than me). I survived and learned a valuable lesson and so did they. Never use Hope as part of an answer. Yet we have allowed ourselves to believe that Hope is the panacea for our ailing economy.

Americans voted for Hope on November 4, 2008. And Hope is what everyone keeps talking about when it comes to our economy. Here is how Barack Obama defined Hope during a campaign stop in New Hampshire last January; “Hope is not blind optimism. Hope is not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside of us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that there is something greater inside of us.” That was then this is now!

I waited patiently for Timothy Geithner to bring forth his plan to spend the balance of the TARP funds in Hope of shoring up our financial institutions. Yet I am still waiting. He detailed a plan of still planning. I watched his boss, President Obama, tell us on Monday evening that "my Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, will present to you on tomorrow the plan..." Geithner did say that it would be costly, "This strategy will cost money, it will involve risk and it will take time." We Hope that all of this works!

Attacking the financial collapse on three fronts:

1.) Working to restart the flow of credit. I don't hear a detailed plan in this. Must be Hope.
2.) Removing bad debt from the books of troubled banks. He did give greater details on this front.
3.) Providing assistance for ordinary Americans and small businesses. I'll wait for the plan.

Hoping for the best is the same as not having a strategy. It is dangerous if you do not take into consideration that the worst could happen and act from that standpoint. The Obama administration along with our congressional leaders are not acting rationally. We are in for a tough and long haul. It is going to cost trillions to put this Hope into action.

The final stimulus package that will go to the president will be about $790 billion. It will include lots of spending that should be part of the normal budgetary process but because Obama believes he has to do something now it got rushed to completion. Yes, something had to be done but why did it have to be done so quickly without much thought and oversight? Why was Kruella D'Pelosi given so much latitude with which to comprise such a bill? Why did the entire Republican delegation vote against it in the House? Why did all but 3 Republicans not vote for it in the Senate? Mr. Obama insists that he has to do something. But things done in haste always end up with waste. Since I have no idea what the compromise package is I will reserve criticism until it is presented. But remember that if you borrow from the economy then put it back as spending you haven't added anything except debt. But remember this: Hope is not a strategy!

Yet the American people hold out for Hope! Its what keeps some us going each day.

Thats my word. Post yours!