Category: Economy

Blago The Destroyer

April 6, 2008
Democratic NewsEconomyRant
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Gov. Rod BlagojevichHis intransigence knows no limits. The people of the State of Illinois are hurting. These things are understatements.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do.

Until the next election.

We’re stuck with Blago the Destroyer, the Governor-Who-Won’t.

This is a sad time to be from the State of Illinois. I have had a number of conversations with State Representatives and State Senators about the governor. All bewail and bemoan the fact that Governor Rod Blagojevich simply doesn’t care. He wouldn’t even consider such a silly thing as compromise. His “no-new-taxes” pledge is running Illinois into the ground. The Pledge means no school funding reform.

Blago doesn’t get it that you don’t understand.

After all, he pledged to not raise taxes when he first ran for governor. He won’t raise taxes. He won’t consider creative alternatives for relieving the property tax burden on Illinois residents. He won’t work to ensure that Illinois is no longer 48th in the nation on school funding. He won’t work for equity in school funding, so students at Bloom Trail High School can some day read history books in their library that post-date the Cold War.

He won’t listen no matter what you say. Remember, Blago doesn’t get it that you don’t understand.

Wow. Remember how we all had hope back then? Remember how we actually believed that a Democratic governor would make a difference to the people of Illinois? What were we thinking?

Blago doesn’t care. He’s concerned about what might come next, what office he might run for next, his next fund raiser. School funding reform is not a real concern. Why should he care that Illinois still ranks near last in school funding? Why should he care that school districts like Bloom and Ford Heights have next to nothing while Naperville thrives?

Blago cares about his image. Haircuts are important as well. Must look good for the cameras, after all. But he is absolutely incompetent when it comes to critical thought, struggling to find real solutions to real-world problems and issues.

Lt. Governor Pat Quinn supports recall legislation, saying that Gov. Blago would certainly be a target if this legislation was passed. Blago says he supports the legislation, but his House floor leader, oddly, does not. From the Chicago Tribune:

Though Blagojevich publicly has embraced the concept of recall, his House floor leader, Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville), angrily denounced the bill. Also opposed are Comptroller Dan Hynes and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Quinn, a Democrat who said he has backed such an amendment for three decades, called the measure an important way to give power to citizens and to keep elected officials accountable.

According to Quinn, based on the number of votes cast for governor in 2006, it would take 418,401 signatures to put a gubernatorial recall on the ballot.

It may be an exercise in futility, but I’m certain signatures could be found in downstate Illinois.

And in the south suburbs of Chicago, where property taxes are choking businesses and home owners.

Blago really doesn’t get it.

During the last election, I attended a rally for the governor. As he passed by, I shook his hand and told him, “Governor, you have to do something about property taxes and school funding reform. Our residents are desperate.”

He gave me the same smirk in the photo above.

“Sure,” he said.

Then he walked away.

(Photo: Gov. Rod Blagojevich at the 2005 Martin Luther King Celebration in Matteson, IL, courtesy eNewsPF.com)

Iran, Oil, and the Neverending Story

January 12, 2008
EconomyGeneral
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I get it.  We’re stuck with oil and there’s no way out.  At least that’s what we’re supposed to think if we believe Robert Bryce at the Washington Post.   Bryce sets out to dismiss 5 arguments many make regarding our dependence on foreign oil:

  1. Energy independence will reduce or eliminate terrorism.
  2. A big push for alternative fuels will break our oil addiction.
  3. Energy independence will let America choke off the flow of money to nasty countries.
  4. Energy independence will mean reform in the Muslim world.
  5. Energy independence will mean a more secure U.S. energy supply.

The thread that ties all of these, according to Bryce, is that “we’re woven in with the rest of the world — and going to stay that way.”  While arguing that there has been terrorism before there was oil, indeed, “terrorism is an ancient tactic that predates the oil era,” he concludes there is no other alternative but to keep using oil.

But his arguments fall short.  In dismissing alternative fuels, for example, he relies on the United States remaining with the internal combustion engine, which may or may not happen.

I’m always loathe to believe anyone who claims to know the future.  The fact is that all of these arguments fall short of the wonderful, profound truth that we need to pursue alternative energy solutions for more important than Bryce’s confining arguments.  Alternative energy, energy independence, simply means imagining for just a few moments that we are actually dreaming once again.

And we may arrive at completely different and innovative solutions to our current energy problems.  And, for my friends on the Right, these may actually prove lucrative as well.

“George Bush Is A Genius!”

January 1, 2008
EconomyHumorIraqWhite House
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We all thought George Bush had no idea what he was doing. Little did we know he knew exactly what he was doing:

Thanks to Politics After 50 for pointing the way to this wonderful segment from the comedy of Bremner, Bird and Fortune, a satirical British television program.

Of greater concern, and not-so-funny, is an “oil revenue law that the American government is forcing down the throats of the Iraqi people, which will of course give the Americans control of most of the Iraqi oil.”

Check out HandsOffIraqiOil.org for information on that.

Jobs Lost In August

September 7, 2007
Economy
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The nation lost 4,000 jobs in August, the first time employment has shrunk since August 2003. Economists target several factors, but chief among them is the worsening housing market.

According to the Washington Post:

“We did not expect a report as awful as this,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist with the High Frequency Economics consulting firm.

Stock prices fell nearly 2 percent today, as investors concluded that the risks of a serious economic downturn have been heightened. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 249.97 points, or about 1.9 percent, to 13,133.38. The S&P 500 was down 25 points, about 1.7 percent, to 1,453.55, and the Nasdaq was off 48.62, or about 1.9 percent, to 2,565.7.

The article goes on to say that, “employers became more cautious about hiring before any impact of the breakdown of many credit markets in August could be felt.”

The number of construction jobs fell by 22,000. The manufacturing sector lost 46,000 jobs.

Once again, there was little acknowledgment of reality from the White House:

In response to today’s report, the White House noted that the economy had still produced 1.6 million jobs during the past 12 months and that the unemployment rate remained low.

“It’s not the kind of number I’d like to see,” Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Bloomberg Television. “Data does not always move in a straight line, so occasionally you will find some surprises. The economy will continue to grow in the second half of the year.”

How to interpret this? “Just sit tight. We’re doing fine, and you should too, eventually, we believe, because, you know, we have faith.”

But there were calls for more:

Others called on the Fed to act.

“Too little has been done to quiet the market’s justifiable fears that things are headed downhill,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee.