OK, maybe I'm not tanned or rested, but at least I'm back. Greetings all! Boy it has been a while.
I have been threatening to get this fired back up since January, and though there has been plenty to talk about, I wanted to give Obama and his administration a chance to show me what they can do. If I were to nit pick every move, how would I be any better than the people I loathe like Keith Olberman, Rush Limbaugh, Rachael Madow or Anne Coulter? People who blindly follow the left or right agenda without any variance I tend to distrust.
That being said, I think I have a good idea now of what we are in for over the next three years, ten months, one week and three days. More of the same. That's what we will get. Partisan politics plain and simple. Sure the winner of the battles will be different. The outcomes will be different. But the losers remain the same.
Who loses? The American people, that's who.
Anybody who was not a left wing nut and bought into the "Hope" and "Change" rhetoric, I feel bad for them. I really do. How lost must they feel right now? These folks have seen a president who promised bi-partisanship continue to be the same left wing partisan he was in his days in the Senate.
Now I know there are still the ObaManiacs who have yet to come down form his historic victory in November and his luxurious coronation...I mean inauguration...in January. I have spoken to those folks and I know they will disagree with most everything I type here today, tomorrow or the next day. In fact my entire point of view probably offensive to them. Oh well. That's one of the things that makes America so great.
But I digress. Not that bi-partisanship really matters. Republican or Democrat its all the same to me, these are just synonyms for corrupt politician. How can anybody expect us to take either side serious when they are so similar.
8500 earmarks! Wow the Dems are really sticking it to us! Right Sean Hannity? No matter that 40% of the pork was requested by the GOP. No need to get bogged down in the details. Do the American people need to know that the GOP control 41% of the congressional seats and they requested and almost equal amount of the pork per member? Fiscal conservatives? I think not.
Not that the pork even matters. I am most concerned with the 8% budget increases being approved. You and I are being asked by our leaders to live on less and to tighten our belts, why cant they? Hypocrites!
Now, more than ever, we need leaders. Not charismatic empty suits who are easily lead around by Nancy Pelosi. That woman is Satan. (I admit I have blinders on about her. We all have people in our lives who we cannot see the good in even if they saved a bus load of kindergartners from a fire, she is mine.)
We need leaders like Evan Bayh and the "Blue Dog" coalition he is putting together to kill this pork ridden spending bill. He is my hero of 2009 so far.
Be well everyone! It's good to be back!
Erik
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Going on post election/holiday hiatus...
I'll be back in 2009, bigger and better than ever! Have a great holiday season everyone!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
What now?
It's time to turn the page and start a new chapter. The election chapter is over and my candidate did not win. That's life. Where do I go from here? I now enter into a weird place. For those of you who know me, you know I have strong beliefs in my own opinions. However, stronger than that is my love for this country.
What does that mean then? Well. simply put, I hope I am wrong about Barak Obama. I care more about my country than I care about being right. I believe he is the most divisive character to come into the national scene in a very long time. I also believe he is one of the most liberal people in national politics. I believe he is the most partisan person in Washington. I believe he is corrupt. I believe he is a liar. And the scariest part, I don't believe we have seen the worst of him yet.
I believe all of these things and yet, I pray I am wrong about all of these beliefs.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
PS- Choosing Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff is not a good first step. He is a Chicago politician with a history of being a pit bull against Republicans and he is a former Fannie Mae board member. Oye vey!
What does that mean then? Well. simply put, I hope I am wrong about Barak Obama. I care more about my country than I care about being right. I believe he is the most divisive character to come into the national scene in a very long time. I also believe he is one of the most liberal people in national politics. I believe he is the most partisan person in Washington. I believe he is corrupt. I believe he is a liar. And the scariest part, I don't believe we have seen the worst of him yet.
I believe all of these things and yet, I pray I am wrong about all of these beliefs.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
PS- Choosing Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff is not a good first step. He is a Chicago politician with a history of being a pit bull against Republicans and he is a former Fannie Mae board member. Oye vey!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
My mother always says...
Two things I like to refer back to when I feel like I'm being challenged...
1) Things happen for a reason.
2) God only gives you as much as you can handle.
I have given these two things a lot of thought recently. How are they relevant to today's political and social climate?
Well, what reason can I come up with for the impending disaster that is the Obama/Pelosi/Reid three headed monster? Perhaps the reason for this is because we need to be reminded as a country what is important to us. We have lost our way, but not in the way Barak Obama is implying (OK, lying) to you about.
We have lost our way because we have become a "me too" society. We not only believe that we should keep up with the Joneses but that if we are unable to keep up on our own, that the Joneses should subsidize our ability to keep up with them. Why? How does this make any sense?
What if you were the Joneses? How would this effect your perspective?
More importantly, would you be more or less motivated to make the sacrifice, take the risk and put in the work to be come one of the Joneses?
This is the problem. The redistribution of wealth thru tax policy demotivates people. There needs to be more motivation to achieve great things and I believe Obama's agenda is counterproductive to this end. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he ill eat for a life time. We need more fishermen. Fishermen create jobs. Fishermen create wealth. Fishermen pay taxes. The more Fishermen we have the more total tax revenue there is.
What made the Clinton presidency "successful?" It had a lot to do with the fact the Reagan/Bush policies created more Fishermen. More companies being built. More wealth being earned. More investment.
Personally, I want to fish. I don't want the government to feed me. But that's just me. I'm selfish.
So maybe, just maybe, the Obamanation will help people see we need to get back to fundamentals. Maybe this is the reason we need him now. And hopefully my mom is right, Obama will not burden us with more than we can handle.
God Bless America,
EG
1) Things happen for a reason.
2) God only gives you as much as you can handle.
I have given these two things a lot of thought recently. How are they relevant to today's political and social climate?
Well, what reason can I come up with for the impending disaster that is the Obama/Pelosi/Reid three headed monster? Perhaps the reason for this is because we need to be reminded as a country what is important to us. We have lost our way, but not in the way Barak Obama is implying (OK, lying) to you about.
We have lost our way because we have become a "me too" society. We not only believe that we should keep up with the Joneses but that if we are unable to keep up on our own, that the Joneses should subsidize our ability to keep up with them. Why? How does this make any sense?
What if you were the Joneses? How would this effect your perspective?
More importantly, would you be more or less motivated to make the sacrifice, take the risk and put in the work to be come one of the Joneses?
This is the problem. The redistribution of wealth thru tax policy demotivates people. There needs to be more motivation to achieve great things and I believe Obama's agenda is counterproductive to this end. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he ill eat for a life time. We need more fishermen. Fishermen create jobs. Fishermen create wealth. Fishermen pay taxes. The more Fishermen we have the more total tax revenue there is.
What made the Clinton presidency "successful?" It had a lot to do with the fact the Reagan/Bush policies created more Fishermen. More companies being built. More wealth being earned. More investment.
Personally, I want to fish. I don't want the government to feed me. But that's just me. I'm selfish.
So maybe, just maybe, the Obamanation will help people see we need to get back to fundamentals. Maybe this is the reason we need him now. And hopefully my mom is right, Obama will not burden us with more than we can handle.
God Bless America,
EG
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
I wish someone would explain to me...
How U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick, when dismissing the case against Barak Obama requesting to have is birth records released, 'ruled that (Phillip) Berg lacked standing to bring the case, saying any harm from an allegedly ineligible candidate was "too vague and its effects too attenuated to confer standing on any and all voters?"'
What?
Now, as I'm sure the Obama campaign would agree, I don't really think this is the type of thing we should be discussing a week before the election. There are many more pressing issues to consider. However, I am offended by the implication that any voter lacks standing to question the eligibility of any candidate. The arrogance of the judge offends me at my core. The arrogance of the Obama campaign offends me more.
Do I believe Obama is a natural born citizen? Yes. Do I believe his actions are above suspicion? No.
Why is this even an issue? Give up the documents, prove you are who you say you are and be done with it. And while you are at it, release your school records. What do you have to hide? The unknown is making me ill.
We are about to elect a president whose actions indicate he believes he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone. He refuses to sit for tough interviews. Whats worse, his gestapo threatens anyone who asks tough questions. (See Joe the plumber.)
John McCain is far from perfect. But with John, at least I feel like I know what I am getting.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
What?
Now, as I'm sure the Obama campaign would agree, I don't really think this is the type of thing we should be discussing a week before the election. There are many more pressing issues to consider. However, I am offended by the implication that any voter lacks standing to question the eligibility of any candidate. The arrogance of the judge offends me at my core. The arrogance of the Obama campaign offends me more.
Do I believe Obama is a natural born citizen? Yes. Do I believe his actions are above suspicion? No.
Why is this even an issue? Give up the documents, prove you are who you say you are and be done with it. And while you are at it, release your school records. What do you have to hide? The unknown is making me ill.
We are about to elect a president whose actions indicate he believes he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone. He refuses to sit for tough interviews. Whats worse, his gestapo threatens anyone who asks tough questions. (See Joe the plumber.)
John McCain is far from perfect. But with John, at least I feel like I know what I am getting.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Friday, October 24, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
John Stossel gets it...
I have not always been a fan of John Stossel. In fact it wasn't until a good friend of mine lent (although I still have it) me his book "Give Me A Break" that I started to respect his views.
Prior to reading this book, I thought of him as a reporter version of the ambulance chaser. However this book is probably the single most influential reason why this blog is being written tonight. There was one section that really put things into perspective for me. This section was titled "Government Always Grows" and in this section Stossel points out that when America began government only cost $20 (in today's dollars) for every citizen.
Do you have any idea how much the federal government costs to run now? $100? $500? $1000? $2500? $5000?
No, none of the above? When his book was written in 2003, the federal government cost over $10,000 for every citizen to run. Are you kidding me? How is this even possible? It makes me sick just thinking about it.
Are YOU ready to get sick now?
Based on the FY 2009 estimated budget of $2.7 trillion and a 2007 estimate of 138 million taxpayers (including those who pay no tax), each citizen will carry an average tax burden of nearly $20,000. To make things worse. This is just the federal budget I am speaking of, we haven't paid for state and local governments yet!
Does anyone else find this rediculous?
What is worse, now we are just over two weeks away from electing a Socialist who is looking to further grow government and increase the tax burden on the US. I frankly don't care who he is planning on taxing, if he is incapable of paying for the programs he feels are needed, with the money they are already stealing from us, well then, I guess he is not nearly as smart and as gifted as many of you would like to believe.
Now that I have depressed you, and myself, let me recommend another John Stossel production from last Friday night on 20/20. You can find it at http://abcnews.go.com/2020 under "John Stossel's Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics."
If anyone could still feel like our government is looking out for us after watching this I feel sorry for that person. Our politicians have stacked the deck against you and me my friends. They think we are stupid and wont catch on.
If we decide to stand idly by and do nothing shame on us. I beg you, please, go to the polls in two weeks and one day and do two things...
1) Vote against all incumbents.
2) Vote against socialism. Vote against Barak Obama.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Prior to reading this book, I thought of him as a reporter version of the ambulance chaser. However this book is probably the single most influential reason why this blog is being written tonight. There was one section that really put things into perspective for me. This section was titled "Government Always Grows" and in this section Stossel points out that when America began government only cost $20 (in today's dollars) for every citizen.
Do you have any idea how much the federal government costs to run now? $100? $500? $1000? $2500? $5000?
No, none of the above? When his book was written in 2003, the federal government cost over $10,000 for every citizen to run. Are you kidding me? How is this even possible? It makes me sick just thinking about it.
Are YOU ready to get sick now?
Based on the FY 2009 estimated budget of $2.7 trillion and a 2007 estimate of 138 million taxpayers (including those who pay no tax), each citizen will carry an average tax burden of nearly $20,000. To make things worse. This is just the federal budget I am speaking of, we haven't paid for state and local governments yet!
Does anyone else find this rediculous?
What is worse, now we are just over two weeks away from electing a Socialist who is looking to further grow government and increase the tax burden on the US. I frankly don't care who he is planning on taxing, if he is incapable of paying for the programs he feels are needed, with the money they are already stealing from us, well then, I guess he is not nearly as smart and as gifted as many of you would like to believe.
Now that I have depressed you, and myself, let me recommend another John Stossel production from last Friday night on 20/20. You can find it at http://abcnews.go.com/2020 under "John Stossel's Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics."
If anyone could still feel like our government is looking out for us after watching this I feel sorry for that person. Our politicians have stacked the deck against you and me my friends. They think we are stupid and wont catch on.
If we decide to stand idly by and do nothing shame on us. I beg you, please, go to the polls in two weeks and one day and do two things...
1) Vote against all incumbents.
2) Vote against socialism. Vote against Barak Obama.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Thursday, October 16, 2008
I have a purpose...
When I bought the domain name www.exchangeyourgovernment.com my motivation was to just get some frustrations out by getting my thoughts out in cyberspace and to see if there were others who shared my concerns. Since early August, just 10 short weeks ago, I have gotten my answer. Not only has the world and our economy changed since then, my opinion of our electorate has changed too.
I believed our voters were just lazy and apathetic. Why else would we continue to nominate and elect the wrong people? Though I believe there is a level of apathy out there far beyond what we should accept, in general it is not apathy but frustration our voters are feeling. More over, over the past 10 weeks, I have seen that frustration turn to anger.
Frankly, I love it. Now what can we do collectively to harness this anger and put it to good use?
I believe strongly that we need to create a third party. This party will not be named. This party will not have any "members." This party will only have one focus. This party will only have two tasks.
What will the focus be? Simple...the focus will be on defeating all incumbent politicians in the 2010 congressional election cycle. The task? Educate others about the danger of incumbency and vote against those same incumbents. Simple, right?
Now I understand that many of you may be saying to yourselves that you like your senators or representative or both. I realize that there are probably at least a few good members of congress. But the fundamental truth is this, as I wrote about last week, congress has failed us. So, if you really want to be serious about taking control back from the special interest and if you want to stand a chance of making real change, there will need to be casualties of this war.
The casualties may be YOUR senator or YOUR representative who you like and support. If you truly want change, I'm sorry, this is a necessary step. Unless and until we create a little chaos in the political system, there will be no change. Chaos!
Maybe we do need a name...the Chaos Party has a nice ring to it.
Remember, the average tenure for a member of congress is 12 years. Their length of tenure is exactly the reason why these special interest groups are able to peddle their influence all over Capital Hill. Relationships take time to develop. Representatives come up for election every two years. Lets face it, two years is not enough time to fully corrupt a well intentioned person. So, if we repopulate congress with a complete exchange of representatives in 2010 and then again in 2012, we may stand a chance of regaining control and sending a message.
Will you join me? Will you spread the word? Will you start early and begin voting against incumbents in the 2008 election cycle?
There is hope if we work together to spark this revolution in our voting booths!
God Bless Us All,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
I believed our voters were just lazy and apathetic. Why else would we continue to nominate and elect the wrong people? Though I believe there is a level of apathy out there far beyond what we should accept, in general it is not apathy but frustration our voters are feeling. More over, over the past 10 weeks, I have seen that frustration turn to anger.
Frankly, I love it. Now what can we do collectively to harness this anger and put it to good use?
I believe strongly that we need to create a third party. This party will not be named. This party will not have any "members." This party will only have one focus. This party will only have two tasks.
What will the focus be? Simple...the focus will be on defeating all incumbent politicians in the 2010 congressional election cycle. The task? Educate others about the danger of incumbency and vote against those same incumbents. Simple, right?
Now I understand that many of you may be saying to yourselves that you like your senators or representative or both. I realize that there are probably at least a few good members of congress. But the fundamental truth is this, as I wrote about last week, congress has failed us. So, if you really want to be serious about taking control back from the special interest and if you want to stand a chance of making real change, there will need to be casualties of this war.
The casualties may be YOUR senator or YOUR representative who you like and support. If you truly want change, I'm sorry, this is a necessary step. Unless and until we create a little chaos in the political system, there will be no change. Chaos!
Maybe we do need a name...the Chaos Party has a nice ring to it.
Remember, the average tenure for a member of congress is 12 years. Their length of tenure is exactly the reason why these special interest groups are able to peddle their influence all over Capital Hill. Relationships take time to develop. Representatives come up for election every two years. Lets face it, two years is not enough time to fully corrupt a well intentioned person. So, if we repopulate congress with a complete exchange of representatives in 2010 and then again in 2012, we may stand a chance of regaining control and sending a message.
Will you join me? Will you spread the word? Will you start early and begin voting against incumbents in the 2008 election cycle?
There is hope if we work together to spark this revolution in our voting booths!
God Bless Us All,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Trust...
I do not trust government. I do not trust the President. I do not trust the mayor. I do not trust the members of the school board. I do not trust politicians. I do not trust bureaucrats.
This is not a new revelation mind you. However my distrust has grown over the past several weeks. I am now to the point where I feel like a conspiracy theorist. I feel paranoid. Its almost to the point where I believe any person who holds elected office or draws a paycheck from the government is corrupt.
The sad thing is, I am not the only one who feels this way. There are thousands, if not millions of Americans just like me. How did we get here? Follow the money. Follow the power. Our answers will be found if we ask two questions to any problem.
Who got paid? Who gained power or influence?
These are the only important questions now, and we need to get the answers. The only problem though, is that it will require government involvement to investigate and gain answers to our questions. Is the problem worse than the cure?
The bottom line is, I do not want any more government under any circumstance. Government never solves anything. They are kind of like the pharma companies in that way. Since there is no money in a cure, big pharma researches how to mask or inhibit symptoms, not cure them. Got to love the recurring revenue.
Since there is no more budget if a division of government were successful in solving the problem they were brought in to address, they simply create a system of oversight and management over the issue. Got to love the recurring revenue.
Take for example the Department of Energy. This cabinet level department was founded under the Carter administration and was responsible for energy policy and nuclear safety. In the over 30 years since it was founded this department has grown to over 16,000 federal employees with an annual budget of $25 billion. For what?
What have these people solved? We now are in the midst of the worst energy crisis in our history. If we are out to make the CEO's of Freddie, Fannie, AIG and others pay, why not the politicians and the bureaucrats in charge of departments of government who are derelict in their duties?
Whats worse? Now we are three weeks away from electing a President who wants to nationalize health care. My God, what have you forsaken me?
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
This is not a new revelation mind you. However my distrust has grown over the past several weeks. I am now to the point where I feel like a conspiracy theorist. I feel paranoid. Its almost to the point where I believe any person who holds elected office or draws a paycheck from the government is corrupt.
The sad thing is, I am not the only one who feels this way. There are thousands, if not millions of Americans just like me. How did we get here? Follow the money. Follow the power. Our answers will be found if we ask two questions to any problem.
Who got paid? Who gained power or influence?
These are the only important questions now, and we need to get the answers. The only problem though, is that it will require government involvement to investigate and gain answers to our questions. Is the problem worse than the cure?
The bottom line is, I do not want any more government under any circumstance. Government never solves anything. They are kind of like the pharma companies in that way. Since there is no money in a cure, big pharma researches how to mask or inhibit symptoms, not cure them. Got to love the recurring revenue.
Since there is no more budget if a division of government were successful in solving the problem they were brought in to address, they simply create a system of oversight and management over the issue. Got to love the recurring revenue.
Take for example the Department of Energy. This cabinet level department was founded under the Carter administration and was responsible for energy policy and nuclear safety. In the over 30 years since it was founded this department has grown to over 16,000 federal employees with an annual budget of $25 billion. For what?
What have these people solved? We now are in the midst of the worst energy crisis in our history. If we are out to make the CEO's of Freddie, Fannie, AIG and others pay, why not the politicians and the bureaucrats in charge of departments of government who are derelict in their duties?
Whats worse? Now we are three weeks away from electing a President who wants to nationalize health care. My God, what have you forsaken me?
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
More? You have to be kidding me...
The pigs are back feeding at the troth. The Fed has made an additional $37.8 billion available to AIG as part of its liquidity rescue package. Apparently $85 billion was not enough. Is anybody surprised by this? I wish I was. I wish this type of news would shock me again.
I was surprised though by the McCain announcement last night that his administration would dedicate $300 billion to bailing out home owners who are in upside down mortgages. This guy is supposed to be the fiscal conservative of the two choices. Every day I become more disenfranchised with these idiots we have hired to be our representatives.
I am, however, no longer going to blame them for their corruption. I am taking off the gloves and placing the blame exactly where it needs to be, on the voters shoulders. This is our fault people. We are the ones to blame.
A few weeks ago I started researching approval ratings of the members of congress. At the time, congressional approval was at an all time low of 9%. (Congrats Reid and Pelosi, you must be very proud.) Can you guess what I found?
Of 100 sitting senators, I was unable to find an approval rating below 34% for any of them. Not only that, 80 of 100 had approval ratings at of above 50%.
What does this mean? Well, to me, it helps prove my theory our electorate is blaming the problems with congress on everyone except their own congressional delegation. Are you people insane? How does this make any sense?
Congress has 9% approval yet your congressional members have average approval of 54%.
What can we learn from this? Well first of all we need to stop blaming everyone else for electing these idiots. The sooner we as an electorate realize we only have control over three votes and three members of congress, the better off we will all be.
Simply put, if you are unhappy with congress, get rid of your own delegation. Simple, easy, done. If you do not start there, you have no right to complain. YOU are the problem.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Debate pre-game...
Well here we go. Debate number two of three. (I am still angry that Obama backed out of the other 10 town hall style debates, what a coward.)
You know what. It doesn't matter. I want to vote "none of the above." In keeping with my theme of wanting every and all incumbents voted out of Washington, I want BOTH Obama and McCain gone. Neither of them are worth my vote. McCain, the maverick, has lived his life straddling the fence. Obama, the agent of change, is spewing rhetoric from the Carter presidency from 1977.
Don't get me wrong, I will vote. It is my duty to myself and to the country. Unfortunately and fortunately though, it really doesn't matter who wins. My biggest fear heading into this election is that Obama and a Democrat Congress will be able to push thru socialized health care. Since there is no money left, Obama's socialist agenda has no chance of taking off. Thank god.
I'll be interested to see what is said in the coming moments, buts lets face it, unless McCain becomes Jeff Gitomer (Google him, great salesman) tonight the race is over.
God help us,
EG
You know what. It doesn't matter. I want to vote "none of the above." In keeping with my theme of wanting every and all incumbents voted out of Washington, I want BOTH Obama and McCain gone. Neither of them are worth my vote. McCain, the maverick, has lived his life straddling the fence. Obama, the agent of change, is spewing rhetoric from the Carter presidency from 1977.
Don't get me wrong, I will vote. It is my duty to myself and to the country. Unfortunately and fortunately though, it really doesn't matter who wins. My biggest fear heading into this election is that Obama and a Democrat Congress will be able to push thru socialized health care. Since there is no money left, Obama's socialist agenda has no chance of taking off. Thank god.
I'll be interested to see what is said in the coming moments, buts lets face it, unless McCain becomes Jeff Gitomer (Google him, great salesman) tonight the race is over.
God help us,
EG
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Credit default swaps...Huh?
I have to admit, I am no economist. I use reason and common sense to evaluate what is going on in our economy. I try to watch as much news as possible, both left and right, since there is no truthful news, and I try to read as much as possible. So when I was watching "60 Minutes" tonight and heard the term "credit default swaps" or "CDS" and their assessment that they will be the next shoe to drop in this financial meltdown, I had to get online and learn about what they are.
The long and the short of it is this, its an insurance policy a lender buys to protect against the default of a loan. It is not, however, an insurance product technically so therefore it is not regulated. Not that regulation would have helped.
Why will these CDS be the next problem to face the global economy? Well, the Wall Street Journal estimates the world wide face value of outstanding CDS at about $50 TRILLION!
Consider this, the estimated size of the US Stock Market is $20 trillion. Holy cow. These instruments are covering debt 2.5 times the size of the entire US market? I need a drink.
I am beginning to think the world economy is all a big Ponzi scheme. The more I learn, the more I want to curl up in a ball and cry. Unfortunately this is not an option for me or for anyone else.
I do have one option though, I will vote against every incumbent this fall regardless of party affiliation. I just don't think there is any other solution to this problem. Not only are the enemies at the gate, the enemies are guarding the gate.
Maybe if we start to get some honest people minding the store, we can stand a fighting chance. Maybe with a fresh start our politicians will begin to write laws with some teeth which will deter white collar criminals from ever trying these corrupt practices again.
I beg you all, please join me. Incumbents must go. The only way we stand a chance is if YOU take back your own voting booth.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
The long and the short of it is this, its an insurance policy a lender buys to protect against the default of a loan. It is not, however, an insurance product technically so therefore it is not regulated. Not that regulation would have helped.
Why will these CDS be the next problem to face the global economy? Well, the Wall Street Journal estimates the world wide face value of outstanding CDS at about $50 TRILLION!
Consider this, the estimated size of the US Stock Market is $20 trillion. Holy cow. These instruments are covering debt 2.5 times the size of the entire US market? I need a drink.
I am beginning to think the world economy is all a big Ponzi scheme. The more I learn, the more I want to curl up in a ball and cry. Unfortunately this is not an option for me or for anyone else.
I do have one option though, I will vote against every incumbent this fall regardless of party affiliation. I just don't think there is any other solution to this problem. Not only are the enemies at the gate, the enemies are guarding the gate.
Maybe if we start to get some honest people minding the store, we can stand a fighting chance. Maybe with a fresh start our politicians will begin to write laws with some teeth which will deter white collar criminals from ever trying these corrupt practices again.
I beg you all, please join me. Incumbents must go. The only way we stand a chance is if YOU take back your own voting booth.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The day after yesterday...
The apocalypse is upon us! Everybody panic! Or not. Just kidding! Lets just create panic in the little guy on Monday so we can reap large profits on Tuesday. Whew, that was easy money. Thanks Congress!
Try to make sense of the last two days. I dare you. I'm not afraid to admit that I am completely lost. Is it necessary to help out the credit markets? I still think yes. But I am not as sure as yesterday.
I am more sure today of one thing though, these buffoons in Washington need to be taught a serious lesson. I have said it before and I will say it again, we need to get rid of every last one of them and it needs to start in November.
The more interviews and press conferences I watch of these poor excuses for human beings the more I am sure they have stopped being useful to any of us. In fact, I am now of the mind set that any voter who pulls a ballot for an incumbent needs to have his or her right to vote revoked and have their head checked.
Why would we vote for an incumbent? How have they served us so far? Have they not completely failed us and stewards of this great nation? We gave them our trust and they took that faith and have destroyed it. They are all corrupted by the system.
I know the system must change too, but changing the components is a good first start. Its harder for special interest to get their hooks in to a chaotic system.
Yesterday I asked for the finger pointing to begin. I chose the wrong words, let the finger pointing continue. You see that is all they are good for, covering their asses and assigning blame. Here is a news flash folks, they are BOTH to blame.
Listen to the white noise and you will hear 535 congressional members lying to the American people. Do you know how I know they are lying to us? Because they are talking! These wastes of space are incapable of telling us the truth, and to tell you the truth, I am sick of it.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Try to make sense of the last two days. I dare you. I'm not afraid to admit that I am completely lost. Is it necessary to help out the credit markets? I still think yes. But I am not as sure as yesterday.
I am more sure today of one thing though, these buffoons in Washington need to be taught a serious lesson. I have said it before and I will say it again, we need to get rid of every last one of them and it needs to start in November.
The more interviews and press conferences I watch of these poor excuses for human beings the more I am sure they have stopped being useful to any of us. In fact, I am now of the mind set that any voter who pulls a ballot for an incumbent needs to have his or her right to vote revoked and have their head checked.
Why would we vote for an incumbent? How have they served us so far? Have they not completely failed us and stewards of this great nation? We gave them our trust and they took that faith and have destroyed it. They are all corrupted by the system.
I know the system must change too, but changing the components is a good first start. Its harder for special interest to get their hooks in to a chaotic system.
Yesterday I asked for the finger pointing to begin. I chose the wrong words, let the finger pointing continue. You see that is all they are good for, covering their asses and assigning blame. Here is a news flash folks, they are BOTH to blame.
Listen to the white noise and you will hear 535 congressional members lying to the American people. Do you know how I know they are lying to us? Because they are talking! These wastes of space are incapable of telling us the truth, and to tell you the truth, I am sick of it.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Monday, September 29, 2008
Politics as usual.
Was anybody shocked by the fact the bailout package was not passed? This is not a popular piece of legislation. Politicians do not want to vote for bill that could possibly cost them their jobs. These people are not leaders, they are chickens and I think its time to turn the chickens over to Frank Perdue for processing.
Let the finger pointing begin. Oh yeah, and let the holiday recess begin. Congress will not be back in session until Thursday and the Dow is down 700+ points. They worked hard over the weekend after all.
Do you need a clearer argument to unseat the people in power in Washington? There are no leaders among them. This bailout is a tragedy. We should not have to bailout Wall Street, however it is imperative for us to do so. Credit markets need to be opened, and they will not be, at least in the short term, without something being done.
Think about this, unless you work for a well capitalized, cash rich company, your employer may not have access to enough short term cash to make payroll. Does that make this problem close enough to home? Something needs to be done!
I cannot begin to express my anger that we are here. I am even more angry that I cannot see any other way to fix the situation we are in without crippling our economy.
Even worse, I now find myself agreeing with Jack Cafferty from CNN, he just called for the unseating of every incumbent in Washington. The train is leaving the tracks ladies and gentlemen.
God Help America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Let the finger pointing begin. Oh yeah, and let the holiday recess begin. Congress will not be back in session until Thursday and the Dow is down 700+ points. They worked hard over the weekend after all.
Do you need a clearer argument to unseat the people in power in Washington? There are no leaders among them. This bailout is a tragedy. We should not have to bailout Wall Street, however it is imperative for us to do so. Credit markets need to be opened, and they will not be, at least in the short term, without something being done.
Think about this, unless you work for a well capitalized, cash rich company, your employer may not have access to enough short term cash to make payroll. Does that make this problem close enough to home? Something needs to be done!
I cannot begin to express my anger that we are here. I am even more angry that I cannot see any other way to fix the situation we are in without crippling our economy.
Even worse, I now find myself agreeing with Jack Cafferty from CNN, he just called for the unseating of every incumbent in Washington. The train is leaving the tracks ladies and gentlemen.
God Help America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Friday, September 26, 2008
If I hear one more time...
that Barak Obama is going to lower the taxes for 95% of Americans, I am going to lose my mind.
I was having a conversation with a friend a few weeks back and he pointed out this statistic is mathematically impossible. The only way you could give a tax cut to 95% of taxpayers is if at least 95% of the population is currently paying taxes. It is estimated 40% of tax payers don't pay any federal income tax at all. (Before anyone gets on me, I realize we all pay Social Security and Medicare tax.)
How then, can you give a tax break to 95% of Americans if only 60% of Americans pay federal income tax to begin with? It must be the new math they are teaching in our schools. When I learned basic math, I was told you cannot have a number less than zero. What then is Barak Obama talking about?
My fear is that he is talking about the expansion of welfare payments and income redistribution thru the IRS. Did you know it is possible to get a larger refund than you paid in withholding? Depending on your deductions this is possible.
Let me put this plainly to you. There are "taxpayers" who have $7000 withheld thruout the tax year and then get $8000, or probably more, back from the IRS. Is that tax policy or social welfare? Not only are these folks not paying their share, they are a burden on the system.
Now I realize there is a need for basic social services and welfare. US citizens deserve a helping hand when they are in need. However, as I have discussed before, there needs to be limits to these programs and there needs to be value delivered by the recipients of these programs.
The problem here is that our "leaders" have been allowed to bastardize the tax system to provide subsidies. This practice needs to stop and Obama wants to expand it! How else would he give a "cut" to the 40% of the population who pay nothing to begin with?
I need a drink. This debate is driving me crazy.
God help us all, and God bless America,
EG
erik@exchngeyourgovernment.com
I was having a conversation with a friend a few weeks back and he pointed out this statistic is mathematically impossible. The only way you could give a tax cut to 95% of taxpayers is if at least 95% of the population is currently paying taxes. It is estimated 40% of tax payers don't pay any federal income tax at all. (Before anyone gets on me, I realize we all pay Social Security and Medicare tax.)
How then, can you give a tax break to 95% of Americans if only 60% of Americans pay federal income tax to begin with? It must be the new math they are teaching in our schools. When I learned basic math, I was told you cannot have a number less than zero. What then is Barak Obama talking about?
My fear is that he is talking about the expansion of welfare payments and income redistribution thru the IRS. Did you know it is possible to get a larger refund than you paid in withholding? Depending on your deductions this is possible.
Let me put this plainly to you. There are "taxpayers" who have $7000 withheld thruout the tax year and then get $8000, or probably more, back from the IRS. Is that tax policy or social welfare? Not only are these folks not paying their share, they are a burden on the system.
Now I realize there is a need for basic social services and welfare. US citizens deserve a helping hand when they are in need. However, as I have discussed before, there needs to be limits to these programs and there needs to be value delivered by the recipients of these programs.
The problem here is that our "leaders" have been allowed to bastardize the tax system to provide subsidies. This practice needs to stop and Obama wants to expand it! How else would he give a "cut" to the 40% of the population who pay nothing to begin with?
I need a drink. This debate is driving me crazy.
God help us all, and God bless America,
EG
erik@exchngeyourgovernment.com
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Buffett buys into Goldman...
Makes sense to me. I was having conversations with friends a couple weeks ago after reading an interview with Warren Buffett where he said the worst was yet to come. We agreed that the turn around will begin when Buffett starts investing.
Well, he was right, the worst was right around the corner. Is this the end? Will we begin to see the market turn around? Probably, but at what cost? I would have much rather seen the investment banks go under, cut the cord and move on. Sure there would be pain, but in the end we would not me mortgaging our future on a high interest credit card held by the Bank of China.
This bailout, were being told, is necessary. Why? Do these investment banks and insurance companies we are saving produce anything? It's all paper transactions. They only produce paper transactions, and those can be replaced.
Sure, people will get hurt. Rich people, middle class, and the poor. But, and I am no economist, I feel that letting them fail is the better long term solution. It would show consequence to poor judgement and investment.
What then are we bailing them out? Simply put, I believe this is a less painful solution for the politicians who let this happen on their watch, so that is why they are heading down this dangerous path.
Does Congress want you to know how badly they messed this thing up? Of course not. Does the White House want you to know they knew this was going to happen, yet did nothing to avoid it? Of course not.
I find it laughable that the Democrat led Congress is blaming the Bush Administration completely for this failure. Did they have something to do with it? Yes, however, since the average tenure of a member of the House, at the beginning of the 110th Congress, was over 10 years and just short of 13 years for Senators, I think they have had more to do with the creation of the issues at hand. (Plus, Bush is out in January, where will they be?)
Please, I beg you, join me in voting out and and all incumbents in November. It may not solve our issues, but it will be a good first step.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Well, he was right, the worst was right around the corner. Is this the end? Will we begin to see the market turn around? Probably, but at what cost? I would have much rather seen the investment banks go under, cut the cord and move on. Sure there would be pain, but in the end we would not me mortgaging our future on a high interest credit card held by the Bank of China.
This bailout, were being told, is necessary. Why? Do these investment banks and insurance companies we are saving produce anything? It's all paper transactions. They only produce paper transactions, and those can be replaced.
Sure, people will get hurt. Rich people, middle class, and the poor. But, and I am no economist, I feel that letting them fail is the better long term solution. It would show consequence to poor judgement and investment.
What then are we bailing them out? Simply put, I believe this is a less painful solution for the politicians who let this happen on their watch, so that is why they are heading down this dangerous path.
Does Congress want you to know how badly they messed this thing up? Of course not. Does the White House want you to know they knew this was going to happen, yet did nothing to avoid it? Of course not.
I find it laughable that the Democrat led Congress is blaming the Bush Administration completely for this failure. Did they have something to do with it? Yes, however, since the average tenure of a member of the House, at the beginning of the 110th Congress, was over 10 years and just short of 13 years for Senators, I think they have had more to do with the creation of the issues at hand. (Plus, Bush is out in January, where will they be?)
Please, I beg you, join me in voting out and and all incumbents in November. It may not solve our issues, but it will be a good first step.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Monday, September 22, 2008
Where does the time go?
Seriously. I would love an answer. The last week went by so fast that I am not positive it actually happened. Thank God I have the internet to catch me up on things.
I sometimes try to imagine how things would be different if my ability to access information was limited to the daily newspaper and one of the three talking heads from the nightly news cast. How much would I miss? How much harder would it be to catch up?
My father would read all the newspapers from the previous week after we would get back from vacation just so he could keep up. I don't think I would have the time to do that today. Who would?
Anyway, I'll move on. I have read a number of articles assigning blame for our financial crisis to everybody from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton to GW Bush to Barak Obama (Really? He's only been in the Senate for 3 years, how would this be possible.) to the Easter Bunny. A good number of them were well written, however, except in very few cases, they were mostly filled with partisan agendas.
Where have all the journalists gone? Are all of the media members in the tank for someone? How could any sane individual look at our financial crisis and deduce that it all one person or one party's fault?
Our economy is in crisis right now because both parties were too busy pushing the agendas of their party "bases" and not busy enough minding the store. Freddie and Fanny are in trouble because of bad underwriting. Wall St. is in trouble because of lack of government oversight.
Who benefits from poor underwriting? Who benefits from little government oversight over our financial banks? I'll let you answer those for yourself. A little hint though, they are not the same answer.
If these two questions cannot be answered the same way, why then can I find thousands of "news" articles assigning blame to one side or the other? I am disgusted. Some honesty would be nice.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
I sometimes try to imagine how things would be different if my ability to access information was limited to the daily newspaper and one of the three talking heads from the nightly news cast. How much would I miss? How much harder would it be to catch up?
My father would read all the newspapers from the previous week after we would get back from vacation just so he could keep up. I don't think I would have the time to do that today. Who would?
Anyway, I'll move on. I have read a number of articles assigning blame for our financial crisis to everybody from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton to GW Bush to Barak Obama (Really? He's only been in the Senate for 3 years, how would this be possible.) to the Easter Bunny. A good number of them were well written, however, except in very few cases, they were mostly filled with partisan agendas.
Where have all the journalists gone? Are all of the media members in the tank for someone? How could any sane individual look at our financial crisis and deduce that it all one person or one party's fault?
Our economy is in crisis right now because both parties were too busy pushing the agendas of their party "bases" and not busy enough minding the store. Freddie and Fanny are in trouble because of bad underwriting. Wall St. is in trouble because of lack of government oversight.
Who benefits from poor underwriting? Who benefits from little government oversight over our financial banks? I'll let you answer those for yourself. A little hint though, they are not the same answer.
If these two questions cannot be answered the same way, why then can I find thousands of "news" articles assigning blame to one side or the other? I am disgusted. Some honesty would be nice.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Dow off nearly 1000 points in two days...everybody panic!
Just kidding.
Make no mistake about it, this is a problem, and it has been a problem for a long time. Our "leaders" have just chosen to ignore the issue. And now, we all have to pay.
Can someone explain to me why the directors and executives of these companies are not being indited today? How is it possible no laws were broken here? That's a trick question, of course laws were broken, but nobody will be prosecuted. Not under this corrupt bureaucracy, not under these corrupt politicians.
Unless and until our legislators begin to prosecute white collar criminals with crimes, this kind of stuff will continue to happen. Maybe not today, there will be a lot of eyes on Wall Street now, but not to far from now, when we have all forgotten the pain of today, it will happen again. Remember 1987?
The penalties for these kinds of white collar crimes need to be almost usurious in nature to have any effect at all. Say, life in prison in a federal penitentiary with murderers and rapists for people like the CEO of Lehman, Bear Sterns, Enron, etc. How do you think Ken Lay would have fared in the general population? I would have loved to find out. Rot in Hell Ken.
You see, the problem with our current system of justice is that is is not based on how the crime effects the general public. The former CEO of AIG, Martin J. Sullivan, in concert with his unscrupulous henchmen, has done more damage to this country than any serial killer, yet Jeff Dahmer was sentenced to death. FYI...Sullivan received a $47 million severance package in June for resigning after AIG write of $20 billion in losses. I need that pay plan.
Don't get me wrong, I am not defending serial murder, I am just trying to make folks understand that the true evil in this world largely goes unpunished or at least under punished. Jeff Skillings is currently serving a 24 year sentence in a country club jail. I know that is a long time, however, since he caused the Enron collapse, that seems light to me.
Corruption in our financial markets effect us all. Murderers only effect the immediate and extended circles of their victims. Who deserves the longer sentence?
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Make no mistake about it, this is a problem, and it has been a problem for a long time. Our "leaders" have just chosen to ignore the issue. And now, we all have to pay.
Can someone explain to me why the directors and executives of these companies are not being indited today? How is it possible no laws were broken here? That's a trick question, of course laws were broken, but nobody will be prosecuted. Not under this corrupt bureaucracy, not under these corrupt politicians.
Unless and until our legislators begin to prosecute white collar criminals with crimes, this kind of stuff will continue to happen. Maybe not today, there will be a lot of eyes on Wall Street now, but not to far from now, when we have all forgotten the pain of today, it will happen again. Remember 1987?
The penalties for these kinds of white collar crimes need to be almost usurious in nature to have any effect at all. Say, life in prison in a federal penitentiary with murderers and rapists for people like the CEO of Lehman, Bear Sterns, Enron, etc. How do you think Ken Lay would have fared in the general population? I would have loved to find out. Rot in Hell Ken.
You see, the problem with our current system of justice is that is is not based on how the crime effects the general public. The former CEO of AIG, Martin J. Sullivan, in concert with his unscrupulous henchmen, has done more damage to this country than any serial killer, yet Jeff Dahmer was sentenced to death. FYI...Sullivan received a $47 million severance package in June for resigning after AIG write of $20 billion in losses. I need that pay plan.
Don't get me wrong, I am not defending serial murder, I am just trying to make folks understand that the true evil in this world largely goes unpunished or at least under punished. Jeff Skillings is currently serving a 24 year sentence in a country club jail. I know that is a long time, however, since he caused the Enron collapse, that seems light to me.
Corruption in our financial markets effect us all. Murderers only effect the immediate and extended circles of their victims. Who deserves the longer sentence?
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Monday, September 15, 2008
Good Bye Lehman/Merrill...
It is going to be a bumpy ride today! When American wakes up and sees that Lehman Brothers has filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America and AIG is seeking a $40 billion loan from the fed, I fear the news will be too much to avoid a huge correction in the market.
Is this a surprise to anyone? Didn't we all know this was coming? The failings of the government to provide proper oversight over our financial institutions has gotten us to this point. Thankfully this time the Fed showed the restraint to not bail out Lehman. I was fully expecting another round of corporate socialism once I heard the Korean investors had backed out of the Lehman purchase last week.
Despite the restraint in this instance, what got us here was a failing of our leadership at all levels, across both parties and all three branches of government. This is precisely why we need a wholesale exchange of the folks in power and to get back to basic fundamentals. Oh yeah, and by the way, we need to get rid of the lobbyists who have been allowed to corrupt our system of government.
As yourself this...if Congress has a 9% approval rating and the country is looking for a change, then why will 70%, or more, of incumbents win their elections in November? I believe it has to do with the "not in my backyard" factor.
Too many of us believe our senators or house leaders are doing a fine job and that it is everyone else's congressional delegation who is the problem. What? That is insanity. I beg and plead with the American voter to wake up and realize the problem is "All of the Above."
I am currently researching the stare specific individual approval ratings of the 535 members of Congress and will report my findings prior to the end of the month. What will I find? So far I have yet to find a rating approaching 9%. Interesting? I think so.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
Is this a surprise to anyone? Didn't we all know this was coming? The failings of the government to provide proper oversight over our financial institutions has gotten us to this point. Thankfully this time the Fed showed the restraint to not bail out Lehman. I was fully expecting another round of corporate socialism once I heard the Korean investors had backed out of the Lehman purchase last week.
Despite the restraint in this instance, what got us here was a failing of our leadership at all levels, across both parties and all three branches of government. This is precisely why we need a wholesale exchange of the folks in power and to get back to basic fundamentals. Oh yeah, and by the way, we need to get rid of the lobbyists who have been allowed to corrupt our system of government.
As yourself this...if Congress has a 9% approval rating and the country is looking for a change, then why will 70%, or more, of incumbents win their elections in November? I believe it has to do with the "not in my backyard" factor.
Too many of us believe our senators or house leaders are doing a fine job and that it is everyone else's congressional delegation who is the problem. What? That is insanity. I beg and plead with the American voter to wake up and realize the problem is "All of the Above."
I am currently researching the stare specific individual approval ratings of the 535 members of Congress and will report my findings prior to the end of the month. What will I find? So far I have yet to find a rating approaching 9%. Interesting? I think so.
God Bless America,
EG
erik@exchangeyourgovernment.com
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