The Cranky Voter

Banking, Bailouts and Treasury - No Clue?

March 12, 2009 – 12:49 am by Cranky Voter
Does anyone in government have a clue? Are bailouts the answer to our economic woes? Do you trust Tim Geithner to come up with a plan to rescue our economy when he couldn't even pay his own taxes? Why doesn't he have a plan already? Heck, Why haven't they done something other than give Billions of dollars to failing companies and inspired so much fear that the stock market has lost 50% of its value? Yeah, maybe it sounds a bit cranky, but I don't think Geithner has a clue and neither does Saturday Night Live. Ok, I will admit it, I was watching Saturday Night Live (SNL) the other night and the opening scene was an actor playing Tim Geithner. But it seems that everyone else watched the opening scene also, since they showed it on Meet the Press, This Week with George and I saw it on Fox ...

Posted in Economy | No Comments »

The End of AIG

March 7, 2009 – 12:05 am by Cranky Voter
It should be the end of AIG! Kill it! Put it out of it's misery! Are we doing anyone any favors by keeping it alive? Billions of dollars have created a company in limbo, with no direction and no chance of survival. It is a money pit with no end in site. All the good talent at AIG is leaving and those that are left behind are like the walking dead with no direction and fearful of the eventual end. So do everyone a favor and let the end come. Long live AIG, now let it die! Do you think that is harsh? Maybe a little cranky? We the American Tax Payers have contributed $180 Billion dollars to AIG in order to keep it from failing? $180 Billion is a lot of money. So maybe I just don't understand. Perhaps I am missing it. Why did taxpayers have to give all ...

Posted in Economy | No Comments »

The American Dream - Blackmailing China and India

February 24, 2009 – 6:52 pm by Cranky Voter
So Hillary Clinton took her first trip as Secretary of State. Of all the places in the world she chose Asia. Most incoming Secretaries visit Europe first, but not Hillary. President Obama went up to Canada, well maybe that was to make sure a trade war wasn't started over his rhetoric, but not Hillary. Perhaps she is sending a message, that Asia is important, and the United States is going to focus on those guys .. over there .. on the other side of the world. Then again, perhaps Hillary wanted to get some silk pajamas. If you think about it, it makes sense, visiting Asia. Our President spent a lot of time in Asia as a child. He grew up in Indonesia and went to school there, although I am not sure it is acceptable to mention his schooling in Indonesia without being called a racist or a "religist" or ...

Posted in Economy, International Policy | 1 Comment »

Anointing of the King

January 21, 2009 – 4:35 pm by Cranky Voter
All praise the King of the United States. President Obama. He gives hope where there was none before. He finds solutions for things that can not be solved. He represents "Change that we can Believe in", yet most of his cabinet appointments have all worked in the Clinton Administration. He offers tax cuts for all people, especially those who do not pay taxes, I prefer to call it a welfare check. And promises that the rich, those that hire workers and get the economy moving, will pay their fair share .. so that maybe, they won't be able to hire any more workers. Obama has already talked about creating another stimulus package to save us from the next great horrible depression. He will continue the policy, the failed policy of George W. Bush, providing bailouts to poorly managed companies whose management should be punished for allowing the destruction of their ...

Posted in Economy, International Policy, Presidential Election | No Comments »

An Alternative Bailout option for the Big 3

December 10, 2008 – 12:04 am by Cranky Voter
The problem is that providing a loan to the Big 3 auto makers, doesn't solve the problem it perpetuates the problem. If these car companies can't sell cars, then does it really matter how much money you lend them? If the cost structure that these companies are burdened with can't be resolved, then these companies will never be able to compete with companies that don't have such a cost structure. In the days when these companies ruled the car industry, appeasing the Unions and giving them such huge pay and benefits perhaps was acceptable. The cost is passed on to the car buyer and in effect we are subsidizing their inefficiency. However you can't fight market forces, as you introduce competition, especially competition that hasn't made such concessions to workers, you see that these companies can not compete. It is not about quality any more. It is about the cost of ...

Posted in Economy | No Comments »

Paris Hilton Campaign Ad - The Best Position on Energy

August 6, 2008 – 10:49 pm by Cranky Voter
Paris Hilton strikes back. The Hotel heiress has put out a political campaign ad out on the internet in response to McCain's ad which included her image while comparing Obama to a self import publicity hound. The reference to Paris did not go unnoticed and she responded. The problem is the response wasn't just funny, it actually made a lot of sense. She took time out from her sunbathing, and actually articulated what many Americans are probably thinking. We should try anything and everything to solve our energy problems. That by prohibiting offshore drilling in the short term while we are waiting for some of this advanced technology to ease our dependence on foreign oil doesn't make a lot of sense. Let's try everything we can including offshore drilling in order to break our addiction to foreign oil. And the most important point she makes is that she is running because ...

Posted in Economy, Presidential Election | No Comments »

Leadership and the Presidency - Prisioner vs. Community Organizer

July 29, 2008 – 3:27 pm by Cranky Voter
So there has been a lot of talk about Leadership this political season, who has exhibited leadership and who has the experience to lead. The President of the United States is referred to as the leader of the free world and we expect the person who is elected to that office to have the skills required to manage this country and the world effectively. A poor leader can have a disastrous impact on our country. Can we all remember the one term President who presided over the worst combined Inflation and Unemployment in our history. Allowed gas prices to soar, allowed a terrorist nation to invade our embassy and capture our citizens for hundreds of days. It took the leadership of the next President to free those hostages, which shows how important leadership is for a president. If we choose a President who can not lead or worse leads ...

Posted in Presidential Election | No Comments »

Is it Snowing in Hell?

July 28, 2008 – 3:22 pm by Cranky Voter
Yeah this is another article on Tony Snow. Everyone says he was such a great guy and that he was smart and likable and he died too soon .. but no one is perfect and he must have done something that could have made him a candidate for hell. Besides, it is a great title! Would you be reading this if it was called Is it Snowing in Heaven? So what made Tony Snow such a great person .. well I don't know, I never met the man nor did I work with him, but he was a good interviewer and I enjoyed watching him on the Sunday Morning talk show on Fox. He had a unique way of actually engaging the person that he was interviewing in such a way as to not let them get away with any fabrications or contradictions. In many ways he seemed to be tougher ...

Posted in Tribute | No Comments »

An Inconvenient Mayor

July 13, 2008 – 12:37 am by Political King of New York
When Rudolph Giuliani took the reigns of New York City, my town was not a fun place to live. Well over 2,000 murders per year, an economy in the toilet and rabble rousers all over the place that caused the perception (if not the reality) of a lawless society to grab hold of the city. Anyone who was in New York at the time of his inauguration remembers his slogan of "It should be so and it will be so" as his kid was climbing all over the podium, waving to family and friends in the audience. Oddly, some at the time questioned if he couldn't control his kid, how would he control the city? Clearly, he did! Move ahead eight years. Giuliani is best remembered and revered for his leadership after the country was attacked on 9/11/01. I remember, distinctly, watching him on TV as he replied to question about whether ...

Posted in Tribute | 1 Comment »

A Rebelious Tribute to July 4th and September 11th

July 10, 2008 – 2:15 pm by Cranky Voter
Well happy fourth of July! So I am a little cranky. It is a little noisy out there and I am thinking, why? The forth of July is Independence Day in the United States. So what does Independence day have to do with Fireworks, loud noise and people blowing off their right hand? It is a day that we celebrate with bombs bursting in air and under the rockets red glare. Is it ironic that we celebrate the birth of a nation by simulating war? Not at all, since we celebrate with fireworks to remind us of the bombs that we used in winning our freedom from the British. A holiday celebrating a violent separation of an occupied territory with no representation in the occupying government to clearly declare it right to independence and freedom. There were many smart men had contemplated for a long time the noble proclamation and high minded ...

Posted in International Policy, Tribute | No Comments »