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Feb. 22, 2010 Talking Loud and Saying Nothing Politics over progress has created the gridlock in Congress. Recently retired Indiana Senator Evan Bayh stated that he had a bill co-sponsored by seven Republicans who then voted against that same bill. Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma sought and received stimulus money for the Tax Creek (a Supefund site) clean up. He later turned around and denounced Obama’s stimulus plan as “corporate welfare.” to continues to be a major player in the project and has been instrumental in securing about $50 million to fund it. Conservatives are creating a political rift in America —from the Birthers, Tea Party members and conservapediacs, to right-wing talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al. They have even stepped up the pressure on John McCain, whom they feel is too far left. It was one thing for his party to denounce his winning the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, but some of the criticism subsided after he named the rigidly e conservative Sarah Palin aboard the GOP ticket. These new attacks are an attack to get another shark in the water; one that thinks he can smell Obama’s blood. This rift, merrily supported by Rush Limbaugh and the poster child for mediocrity, Palin, is one of the reasons the publics opinion of politicians is at an all-time low. Palin is particularly sickening as she chastises the more cerebral Obama as being part of the “elite,” and who chides the President for using a teleprompter (as most polit9icians do). While doing so, she was reading from crib notes printed on her hand! Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. hopes that the tête-à-tête between Palin and the Obama administration is a prelude to the 2012 presidential election. Pitts writes that he wants Palin to run because “…a Palin candidacy would force upon this country a desperately needed moment of truth. It would require us to finally decide what kind of America we want to be…[Palin represents] the latest iteration of Anti-intellectualism that periodically rises in the American character.” With this sort of divisiveness, how can Obama expect to move anything through Congress? Lacking a super majority, Republicans can (and have threatened to) filibuster every major piece of legislation our young President would like to see passed. Everything from healthcare reform, to expanding nuclear power, to the spread of green technologies and tax changes—i.e., cuts for the middle-class and increases in taxes for the top 2%--will face tough opposition from a party that is more concerned with doing what’s Republican rather than what’s right. In short, if the Dems favor it, no matter what the benefit, the GOP will oppose it.. The Bail Out The general consensus in Congress was that it was necessary to bail the banks out. Once these banks received their taxpayer sponsored windfall, they continued business as usual, doling out bonuses to the same executives who mismanage these institutions in the first place. Later the Obama Administration drew a line in the sand and declared that there would be no more bailouts for companies that continued such practices. (Meanwhile, European Union (EU) counterparts had already decided to cap management bonuses and enacted tougher hedge fund regulations.) This stance was taken despite the fact that some companies had repaid their loans, including ten that repaid more than $76b. As for the auto industry, two of the Big Three automakers showed 2009 sales improvements. General Motors sales were up 12% and Ford, the lone member of that triumvirate that did not seek bailout money, saw sales rise 14%. Chrysler saw a 8% dip. Housing sales remained relatively unchanged, despite an 11% sales increase in June and another 9% in July. This was preceded by home price increases in April and May. However, the year ended with sales up only .6%, even with the precipitous drop in home prices. Low home sales are an indicator that Americans are wary about the purchase of big ticket items. Consumers know that if the economy does grow in 2010, it will be slow and small. According to a Reuters news release, Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services, suggested that consumers “…are not taking into account the demographic cycle that is changing. The biggest thing going on is you have an aging demographic turning from net spenders to net savers.’ Retirement-age Americans, many of whom have seen the value of their savings decimated by the drop in stock and house prices, are selling the large homes they raised their families in and buying smaller, more affordable dwellings.” (Scott Malone, “Weak U.S. Home Sales Show Recovery’s Shakiness,” Dec. 23, 2009.) More telling is the dilemma that states find themselves in. No fewer than 21 states project deficits for 2010, with California ’s expected to be no less than 25 billion dollars. Another twenty are on the precipice of a negative cash flow. The Stock Market has yet to recover to it’s October 2007 high. More than three trillion dollars of wealth have been lost since that time The economy will continue to teeter until we can check greed, sub-prime lending and reckless speculation that overstates the value of commodities. Meanwhile, Republicans skewer Obama, even though it is the policies of Bush, Cheney, et al. that led to the collapse of America ’s economic house of cards. The same party that accuses Democrats of trying to ram through legislation, sits on the sidelines and refuses to compromise with their counterparts across the aisle. Congress is’s about one party trying to make the other look bad, and thankfully that strategy is failing. Recent polls indicate that Americans are tired of incumbents and their “business as usual” philosophy. Foreign Influence According to an Associated Press article, the Bank of England “began buying government bonds from financial institutions as it turned to new ways to help revive Britain 's moribund economy. The Bank of England, like the Fed, already had lowered its key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent. Finance leaders from top economies have discussed coordinating actions from their governments and central banks to provide a more potent punch against the global financial crisis.” ( Aversa , March 18, 2009). Patrick McGroarty wrote, “…Analysts say other G-20 members, including the U.S. , China , Japan and developing nations like India and Brazil , might not share Europe 's zeal for blanket global regulations. During Germany 's turn at the presidency of the Group of Eight two years ago, [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel pushed hard for more transparency on global financial markets and, especially, hedge fund regulation. But her efforts ran into against stiff resistance from Washington and London .” (Patrick McGroarty, EU Leaders Back Sweeping Financial Regulations, Associated Press/Yahoo News, 2009; Specific date unknown) Japan is America ’s largest creditor, but it is China doing the most saber-rattling. That country, however, might have its own impending recession. Wall Street guru James S. Chanos is predicting that country’s economy will collapse. According to a David Barboza that appeared in the New York Times (Contrarian Investor Sees Economic Crash In China , January 8, 2010), “… China 's hyperstimulated economy is headed for a crash, rather than the sustained boom that most economists predict. Its surging real estate sector, buoyed by a flood of speculative capital, looks like ‘Dubai times 1,000 -- or worse.’ …He even suspects that Beijing is cooking its books, faking, among other things, its eye-popping growth rates of more than 8 percent.” >br> A Chinese collapse could trigger a worldwide panic, and with America already on shaky footing, we could find ourselves where we were before Obama took office: In a recession that has the potential to become a depression. Like the blind eye turned to Wall Street, no one is talking about this Chinese house of cards. Instead, what concerns overseas financiers is America ’s soaring debt. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on a speech at Peking University in China , “As we recover from this unprecedented crisis, we will cut our fiscal deficit, we will eliminate the extraordinary government support that we have put in place to overcome the [deficit].” From last October to December\, jobless rates dropped, but building momentum has been difficult. Despite the rosy claims of Joe Biden that the stimulus had created a quarter of a million new jobs, unemployment rates, particularly in California and the “rust belt” are well over 10% and that is unacceptable. The new rules for Wall Street that the House approved in December (223-202), with no GOP support), will have to pass the Senate, and if so, these laws will need to be enforced. These two things alone would be the major legislative breakthroughs he needs to earn re-election. Without those two things, I could see him losing in 2012, unless the GOP throws another liability candidate out there—such as Palin, or the far-too-old Dick Cheney. Obama will have to do more than promise further aid to small businesses, make changes in the credit card industry, and close tax loopholes. Tax revenues are at their lowest point since 1932, but the Federal Reserve posted a record $46.1b in profits due to the securities held in financial institutions that were bailed out. (Jeannine Aversa, Fed Posts Record Profit For Last Year, The Associated Press, January 12, 2010.) Eloquence alone will not reduce federal spending. At the same time, the GOP cannot just sit back and do nothing. Republicans must be willing to cooperate and compromise, lest Obama deliver the goods. Should that be the case, they ruin any chance of capturing the White house in 2012 and could lose whatever gains they make in this fall’s elections. It will take more than Bidem’s bloviating and exaggerations by White House officials to convince the American people that the economy is recovering. The public is calling for creation and confirmation of new (and green) jobs. To use a baseball analogy, the President is a solid spray hitter, with an impressive average, but with two out in the bottom of the ninth, he needs to muscle up and hit a homerun. ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly is a poet, essayist, novelist and screenwriter from northern California. His novel, HUMAN TRIAL, is the first part of a sci-fi trilogy and is available from Amazon.com, allthingsthatmatterpress.com and in e-book format at mobipocket.com. HUMAN TRIAL II: ADAM’S WAR is pending review and editing. Stelly also has a short story included in the AIDS-themed anthology, THE SHATTERED GLASS EFFECT, due out in February 2010. His story, SNAKES IN THE GRASS, Is a tale of love, betrayal and its deadly consequences. Reviews of HUMAN TRIAL can be read at amazon.com Visit me at: http://www.myspace.com/pittwit website: http://www.stellyhumantrial.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com 
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