25Oct

The President Got it Right

Posted by Jim
I know the public has lost interest in anything but the Republican food fight and unemployment. While both are very important, the President has scored an important victory in Libya and has made a good decision to leave Iraq early. The latter was overdue in my book. We should have packed up and left the day the statue fell. How could things have turned out much worse for the average Iraqi? Bush 41 knew when to fold his tent and leave town but Junior had other ideas. His tragic folly, a failed attempt to turn a makeshift tribal state into god-fearing Republicans and Democrats, has exacted a huge price from our country. Things did not need to turn out that way. The President’s insistence on staffing the occupation staff with party hacks will forever stain the history of his administration. He likes to proclaim that history will treat him kindly but I suspect he will remain mired in the cellar with other presidential losers like Warren G. Harding.
My heart goes out to the countless families affected by this bumbling mis-step. The men and women who fought this war were impressive; I was in awe of their skill and bravery. Now we have to hope this country has the gumption to take care of these warriors and their families. The tab for this adventure has not been totally settled. It is the nature of this conflict, and others like it, that the invoices never seem to stop.
I am not complaining. I can always write a check and pay my portion of the deficit. It is not so easy to replace a child.
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18Oct

Greece and California

Posted by Jim

Those of us who have travelled to Greece know what a magical country it can be for a tourist. History, breathtakingingly gorgeous islands, and charming villages are just part of the charms of Greece.

So it pains me to see that this country has devolved into the scapegoat for everything the West has done wrong economically. I know the people there have inefficient business and governmental institutions. Citizens are not too hard-working and get to retire early and well. Unfortunately, most of this lifestyle has been financed by foreign creditors.

Lest we feel too smug about all of this, I think Greek economic behavior has not been much different that we Californians. We are the poster children for the famous Ronald Reagan diet, “Eat all of the chocolate you want, don’t exercise, and lose weight” To put it another way, we want services and benefits as long as someone else pays for it. In the case of the residents of Santa Monica and Athens, that means borrowing it from somewhere else.

We are all suffering through this financial morass and will continue to do so until the body politic accepts the idea of no free lunch. The Greeks just had less money and natural wealth to start with so they are the first to crash.

Californians in the post-Prop 13 era enjoyed 30 years of fake prosperity. All of us lived beyond our means and financed the folly with equity lines and foreign debt. Since we have little credit left and our equity lines are maxed out, the masses are clamouring for more government cuts. This is exactly the wrong path to take. We need government spending on many levels; on roads and not on senseless wars, on schools and not on sports stadiums, and on infrastructure and no public spectacles. Oh yes, the other shoe must drop, taxes.

I like the way taxes have been referred to by pols as “revenue enhancements”.

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