My father taught me to always do more than you get paid for as an investment in your future.
Jim Rohn
Lightning Round
- $25B Homeowner Bailout Settlement: Thumbs DOWN! Dick Bove is spot on: this is morally hazardous populist nonsense, and I might add, just the type of thing that led to Rick Santelli's clarion call spawning the Tea Party movement. Why should homeowners whom dutifully saved up for their conventional down payment and have seen their own home values drop during the recession see homeowners whom took on the risk associated with nontraditional mortgage loans with less of their own money on the line be rewarded with adjusted loans? Why not simply refinance the loan for a longer term to lower payments? If anything, any money recovered by authorities should be applied against the massive GSE (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac) bailout.
- Two nuclear plants approved: Thumbs UP! We haven't seen any meaningful progress on nuclear power development in over 3 decades. Nuclear power has had recent challenges lately with the shale gas boom, which has undercut relatively cheap nuclear power costs plus, of course, last year's Japanese Fukushima nuclear incident with a partial meltdown due to loss of backup power during cold shutdown. (The Fukushima problems are not relevant to the American nuclear power program for a number of reasons (better regulation, geological factors, newer/modified reactor designs, etc.)) The one thing that bothers me is the massive federal loan guarantees; to me, this smacks of crony capitalism, consistent, of course, with Obama's green energy agenda. I do not believe that any utility should expect effectively government subsidized loans.
- Romney Seems To Be Weathering the Tuesday Elections. Santorum seems to be delusional. One quote had him saying that he's the candidate that Republicans really want. Earth to Santorum: nobody wants someone whom lost reelection in a landslide in a purple state to face Obama. Well, maybe Obama's reelection campaign. Go back to the 2004 Illinois US Senate race when a high-profile social conservative lost to Barack Obama in one of the biggest landslides in modern American history. Santorum is toxic to moderates and independents, and the GOP has no chance of winning the battleground states with Gingrich or Santorum. Santorum has only won one primary, and two of his victories against Romney were narrow and more anti-Romney than pro-Santorum. Today's RCP poll summary shows Santorum with only a 1-point lead over Romney in his home state of Pennsylvania, and he is losing to Obama (while Romney is beating Obama) in his own state. Today's Gallup tracking poll shows Romney with a 16-point lead over both Gingrich and Santorum. The National Journal has an interesting short post showing a 4-pronged Romney approach: (1) showing his more empathetic side (such as what he learned during his mission work as a Mormon); (2) taking the fight to Gingrich and Santorum, particularly their Washington connection; (3) taking the fight to Obama (e.g., the ObamaCare birth control kerfuffle); and (4) keeping up the fundraising.
Birth Control Funding Kerfuffle
From an ABC News news tease:
Internal Debate - Several Catholic men at the White House, including Joe Biden, Bill Daley and even Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, opposed the contraception mandate, according to Jake Tapper. They faced off against other Catholics such as senior adviser David Plouffe and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who were joined by senior White House advisers Valerie Jarrett and Pete Rouse, and then-Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes. Also lobbying by former White House communications director Anita Dunn, Senators Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Cecile Richards.Obama, despite his considerable political skills and charisma, happens to lack Bill Clinton's street smarts in knowing how to choose one's battles. And he has a certain stubbornness; it showed in his politically disastrous rhetoric about clueless Midwesterns clinging to their guns and Bibles during the 2008 Democratic Presidential campaign, his insistence that the anti-ObamaCare backlash would melt away in time, and finally conceding to the Republicans in an extension of the full Bush tax cuts three weeks before their expiration.
No doubt Obama is seeing this as little more than an internal Catholic dispute--after all, he seems to have at least as many Catholics in his Administration for the policy as against the policy. He would be wrong (and I saw some news stories yesterday floating around the idea that Obama was looking to cut a deal; when that happens, you know they realize they're in big trouble). How wrong is he? Take, for instance, the fact that for the first time I can remember, Protestant ministers are openly supporting the Catholic Church in fighting the mandatory funding of birth control (particularly abortifacients), which violates the very core of religious liberty and freedom of conscience. (Apparently progressives recognize freedom of conscience when it comes to killing on the battlefield, but not when it involves the killing of preborn babies.) Rick Warren, who gave an invocation at Obama's inauguration, had this to say: "I’m not a Catholic but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure. I’d go to jail rather than cave in to a govement mandate that violates what God commands us to do. Would you? Acts 5:29." [But Peter and the apostles said in reply, “We must obey God rather than men."] Both thumbs WAY UP!
I'm pleased that other people are making the same point I have about the ObamaCare policy being manifestly unconstitutional. Here's another news excerpt:
Urging the court to rule the policy unconstitutional, EWN [for those who don't know, this is a well-known Catholic cable network, in fact my Mom's favorite channel] became the first lay Catholic organization to file suit against the mandate. Two institutions of higher education, Belmont Abbey College and Colorado Christian University, have already filed suit.The way that Obama dodges questions on the kerfuffle during this media clip below, maybe the New England Patriots will recruit him after Obama loses in November and has to look for work...
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Guess Who, "Share the Land". Hmmm. Clearly I didn't choose this pop gem based on its lame naive lyrics, which seem to reflect a recycled Marxist utopia of a classless society, where the state will wither away. Methinks singer/songwriter Burton Cummings wouldn't be happy if people wanted to "Share the Song" residuals. But as Randy "Yo, Dawg" Jackson would say, Cummings has "mad vocals"; the chorus/harmony is irresistible, and the arrangement is glorious and memorable (I particularly love the guitar work). And now, for dessert, may I recommend another feel-good song, the Youngbloods' "Get Together"?
