The End of an Era?

On last Tuesday, America made history. It inaugurated its first black president as the 44th President of the United States. After one week in office, Barack Obama’s approval rating stands at 67% which is higher than any other president in the past 50 years, except John F. Kennedy, who stood at 72% at this point in his presidency. Between this and the election of the new Congress, Republicans are the true minority across the country for the first time since the election of Ronald Reagan 28 years ago. Pundits are saying that the country has swung to the left and the age of conservatism as we know it is over.

I beg to differ. There has definitely been a swing to the left. But, in my opinion this swing is a short term event caused by President Bush’s unpopular polices. I too believe that Bush made many mistakes. The biggest being the amount of spending that went on during his administration. He was the first and hopefully the last tax and spend Republican.

As I have written here before, I believe that Bush’s foreign policy will be looked at much differently in the future. I truly feel the American public will grow to respect his foreign policy decisions and realize that he reacted in the proper manner after the 9/11 attacks. Remember, America was attacked for only the second time by a foreign power in its history. Bush had no choice but to react and he did. He made decisions that were unpopular, but he made them because he believed he was doing the right thing. In time, the American population and maybe even the world population will feel the same way.

However, Nancy Pelosi and her radical liberal partners will never feel that way. In fact, Ms. Pelosi, in her typical fashion has hinted that Congress may investigate potential war crimes of the Bush administration and prosecute if necessary. Obama’s initial response was to oppose this craziness. However, if he needs the support of Pelosi and her cohorts to get his agenda passed, he may have to cave. I, and many Americans, feel that the past is the past and should be left alone. The Bush administration did what was necessary to protect the American people. There have been many allegations of war crimes by the liberal media, but, until now there has been no evidence of any that warrants an investigation.

As for the “Change” that America needs, it is not the “Change” that I believe America wants. In his first week in office, President Obama has issued such a large number of executive orders that they may be more than the last few presidents combined. Among these are lifting the ban on offshore abortion funding and permitting more embryonic stem cell research.

These two orders alone may give the conservative pundits the energy they need to excite their bases. Remember, Obama was elected because he got a substantial amount of Reagan Democrats to vote for him. A large number of these voters are fundamentalist Christians who will have a tough time stomaching these two orders. Further, there are many centrists that also feel that abortion and stem cell research are wrong. These are controversial issues and Obama displayed some guts by dealing with them in his first week. However, this may backfire against him as he risks alienating the borderline voters that put him over the top in Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia.

Obama also ordered the Guantanamo Bay holding center closed within the next twelve months. I would like to question whether he knows what is going to be done with the prisoners currently being held there. Will he bring them back to the United States and have them tried in the American judicial system, or will he let potential terrorists go free, maybe back to their own countries where they can get back into the profession of terrorism. Many bad things happened at Guantanamo, but closing it is not the answer. Maybe just stopping the controversial interrogation techniques that went on there? I for one do not want terrorists, alleged or otherwise, living on the continental United States.

Even with these Executive Orders, Obama has not even begun his widespread change. This is coming. It will be to convert the Republican free market economy into European style socialism. Three months ago conservative pundits were using this fear almost as a passing reference, but now the reality of it is beginning to set in. Dick Morris, in an article that can be found at: http://thehill.com/dick-morris/, states, “We will shortly become . . . a socialist democracy in which the government dominates the economy, determines private-sector priorities and offers a vastly expanded range of services to many more people at much higher taxes.” I am not going to go into the detail of Mr. Morris’ article, but I highly recommend that you read it. In summation, the free market will cease to exist and our economy will be controlled by the free spending liberal activists.

The proposed economic stimulus package of approximately 750 billion to one trillion dollars is a means to this end. The American government will now be borrowing from lord knows who to pay for welfare in the form of tax cuts for the poor, infrastructure projects to rebuild roads, bridges and highways which traditionally and correctly is an obligation of the states, and various other liberal projects all disguised as a means of ending the recession. The only thing that is guaranteed by this package is that a small portion of it will be paid for by tax increases on the rich. I have no idea who will pay for the rest. Maybe the next ten generations of Americans.

Obama is insisting that this stimulus package be passed by the middle of February. In fact, he has made it his number one priority. As I have stated before in this column, it will not work. You cannot continue to print money to stimulate the economy. Keynesian economics did not work in the 1930’s. It did not work in Japan recently. And, it will not work now. Deficit spending will create just the opposite effect. If you pump what will be inflated money into the system, inflation will run rampant and the buying power of the American populace will be lowered. Once this happens, the recession will deepen thereby causing more layoffs and job losses. You must allow the economic cycle to play itself out.

Further, raising taxes on the rich will not solve the problem. The top one percent of income earners are the people who start businesses, risk money and create jobs for the rest of us. This is basic economics. If you raise their taxes, they will not invest in new businesses and create jobs. In fact, they will take what money they have left and hoard it. This is exactly what happened with the first stimulus package a year ago. Most of the free money that was given away went right into savings accounts because people feared for the pending economic crisis.

Most of the world understands this even though this is a worldwide recession. The dollar has risen to decade highs against both the Euro and the Pound. In fact, except for the Japanese Yen, the dollar is growing in value against all major currencies. Apparently, people around the world are hording dollars because they have confidence in the American economy. However, if we keep printing money with nothing to back it up, this may change as well. The dollar will become grossly inflated and devalued. The only people this will help are people in an export based business. And, other than aerospace and entertainment, there aren’t much of those left in the United States.

So, what is the answer? As I have said before, the only thing that will work is time. Time will allow the people to regain confidence in the economy. Once that is done, people will shop, entrepreneurs will invest and job growth will begin. Until then, you can pump trillions of dollars into the economy and it will do nothing except maybe make matters much worse.

If Obama insists on this rampant Keynesian approach to economics, there will be change. Only it won’t be the change he wants. It will be a change in 2010 to another Republican controlled Congress. All of the borderline voters that were willing to give the Democrats a chance will return to their Republican roots.

Of course, Obama is doing his best to avoid this scenario. He is telling people that it will take time to solve this economic crisis. Even he knows that the stimulus package will not work. He knows it is time that will solve the problem and that is what his constant comments about patience are really all about. The reality is that he knows the proposed stimulus package is only a means of converting the American free market economy to European styled socialism.

I invite your comments as I sit in my hotel room in Thailand ready to begin another week of pre-production. We begin filming two weeks from Monday. Until my next column, I wish you all the best.

© 2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. All rights reserved. Permission to copy and use excerpts will be freely granted.

A Few Thoughts from Abroad About Gaza and Economics

Well, I am now settled in Bangkok which will be my home for the next two months. I’m here prepping a film for the ABC Family Channel, entitled, “The Prince and Me 4.” It’s a cute little romantic comedy about the King and Queen of Denmark attending a royal wedding in the fictional Asian country of Sangyoon.

But, promoting my film career is not why I write these columns. I write them to discuss politics. And, I must state that being outside of the United States tends to cause one to hear things differently. People here and in other parts of the world, have vastly different opinions and viewpoints.

To begin with, Israel’s move into Gaza has very little support outside of the western world. The majority of the news I read and hear is anti-Israeli. This is a fact that I simply cannot understand. Hamas are terrorists. If San Diego was being constantly subjected to rocket attacks from Tijuana, would anybody complain, except some people whose thoughts are far to the left, if the United States invaded Tijuana to stop the attacks? Of course not.

So, then why must Israel be criticized for doing the same thing? The rocket attacks from Hamas into Israeli territory were almost constant and had gone on for months. It doesn’t matter if the rockets are crude or weak. They are still being launched into Israeli territory and may injure or kill Israeli civilians.

Now, Israel is facing the possibility of sanctions from the inept United Nations for defending itself. Doesn’t Article 50 of the UN Charter give a country the absolute right to defend its borders from enemy attack? Why must Israel be condemned for this defense strategy?

The critics are saying that Israel is killing civilians. I am sure these civilians are not the targets in this battle. There is no excuse for killing civilians, but during times of military conflict, the bombs do not always drop where they are supposed to drop. Hamas does not care where the rockets they launch land whether it be in an old folk’s home or an elementary school. Israel is not intentionally harming civilians and I am sure the Israeli armed forces feel pain every time it happens. Does Hamas hurt when they kill innocent bystanders? No! In fact, they are terrorists and thrive on harming bystanders. Al Qaeda and Hamas have much in common.

I applaud President Bush for standing up for Israel in these difficult times. He has proven his backing for Israel is absolute. I can only hope that the incoming president will also be true to our strongest ally in the Middle East. Although, I am not too sure since Obama continually hides behind, “There can only be one president at a time,” whenever questioned about anything. At some point, Obama will have to take a stand. I hope it starts on January 20.

Hopefully, the situation in Gaza will resolve itself in the next few days and all of this anti-Israeli propaganda will end. At the same time, I am sure that Israel will not back down until it has achieved its objectives. It does not cave into pressure from within or without. Israel stands it course. This is something we should learn.

On the domestic front in the United States, I am disturbed that the remaining 350 billion dollars in TARP money is going to be released. I guess I was hoping beyond reason that this bailout fever had finally come to an end. However, I am more disturbed when I see that Obama wants to give the money to aid in stalling foreclosures. Again, why are we bailing out people who bought houses they couldn’t afford? Where are the accolades to people who are actually making their mortgage payments? They are getting nothing for living up to their contractual obligations. Meanwhile, people who are not are getting gifts from the government. This is blatantly unfair.

Obama’s new stimulus package is expected to cost at least 850 billion dollars. Where is this money coming from? And, most importantly, who is going to pay for it? Are we going to burden our children with piles and piles of debt? Last week, the incoming president stated that we should expect one trillion dollar deficits for years to come. Is this “change we can believe in?” No, it’s more of the same old failed democratic policies that have gone on since the days of FDR. Do the words tax and spend come to mind?

Many economists feel that FDR’s New Deal did not end the depression, but instead extended and deepened it. Keynesian economics has not been proven to work at any time. It is a theory. You cannot just continue to throw good money after bad. The recession must run its course. Things will turn around, but we cannot continue to feed the bad news. The monetarists will probably succeed if they are only given the time.

One thing that was good about the incoming president was that he brought hope to the people. Now, he is dampening that hope by telling people that the recession is going to last long and that we are going to have large deficits for years to come. Maybe what he’s really doing is dampening expectations. I’m sure this makes the 7.2% of the American population that is unemployed quite happy. By the way, when was the last time that the unemployment rated jumped four tenths of a percentage point in one month? I can’t remember, can you?

This recession will end when the cycle has ended. Housing prices will stabilize when the bubble has fully burst. Unemployment will go down when confidence in the economy returns. Whether this happens next year or five years from now is anybodies guess. However, one thing is for sure, throwing another one trillion dollars into the toilet is not the answer. In fact, it could make this recession last much longer and actually turn into a depression. If it isn’t already that is.

America's Royal Family

Well, now that Caroline Kennedy has decided that she wants to join the family business, I think it’s apropos to say a few words about the Kennedy Clan. As with all Kennedys, Caroline has surely proven her abilities to be in the family business: She wants to be appointed to the US Senate with absolutely no experience whatsoever.

I was sitting at lunch yesterday with a younger member of the electorate who was obviously enamored of the Kennedy clan and all of the myth surrounding them. Of course, she was from Massachusetts. Just the mere mention of the family and my lunch partner became starry eyed. After feeding her a true history of the family, her attitude seemed to change. So, maybe a little “straight talk,” to coin a phrase, about the Kennedys is in order.

Let’s start with the ultimate patriarch of the family, good old Joe. There is substantial evidence that the majority of his riches came from stock manipulations and insider trading. Although, these schemes may not have been technically illegal when he was doing them, prior to the 1929 crash, they were definitely as immoral then as they are now.

In addition, there is much circumstantial evidence, though never proven, that a large majority of the family wealth came from bootlegging during prohibition. In fact, noted mobster, Frank Costello, stated “I helped Joe Kennedy get rich.” At the time he was talking about having Kennedy as his business partner in a bootlegging scheme. Sam “Momo” Giancana has been quoted as saying that, “Joe Kennedy is one of the biggest crooks that ever lived.”

A good start for America’s Royal Family, huh?

John, the man who is most revered by the American populace and, in some circles, is considered even more than a royal figure, was probably elected only because the mafia helped rig the primaries prior to the general election and, some say, the election itself. Sam Giancana, a name that keeps coming up when talking about the Kennedys, wrote a book with his brother entitled “Double Cross.” In that book, Giancana states the mafia stuffed the ballot box in Illinois. As many people know, the election in 1960 was so close that if Nixon had won Illinois, he probably would have been president. In fact, if ballot stuffing in Illinois were not the norm, then maybe we would not have this Blago problem now. But, that’s another column altogether.

John showed the true Kennedy governing skills in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. After authorizing the invasion upon briefings from the CIA, he did not follow through at the time when the invasion force needed American support the most. Kennedy’s failure to order the necessary air force bombings left the invasion force as sitting ducks. If he had followed through with the initial plan, the Cuban Missile Crisis two years later probably would have been avoided. In fact, Kennedy admitted that he was responsible for the failure and stated that in a parliamentary form of government, this would have been his downfall.

John’s personal life is again worthy of a Kennedy. A known womanizer, John was well known in entertainment circles and is generally accepted to have been hooked up by certain members of the Rat Pack. In fact, there are even rumors that Sam Giancana and John were sleeping with the same woman during a period in which John was president.

Now, let’s talk a little bit about Teddy. Here is a man that the Democratic Party considers their elder statesman and a man that could do no wrong. In fact, at the Democratic Convention this year, Teddy was idolized. To state it quite simply, in my opinion, this man in reality is an un-convicted murderer. I’m not going to go into the details of Chappaquiddick as they are available all over the internet, but suffice it to say, that a conviction for leaving the scene of an accident is a joke. He should have been, at least, charged with manslaughter. But, being a Kennedy, he skated.

I won’t even get into his personal drinking habits which have become a bit of a joke on capital hill. The man is known as a lush among his peers and the general public at large.

Now, let’s talk about Caroline. This approximate 50 year old has never held public office in her life. Now, she wants to achieve public office by appointment, not by a general or special election. She wants an appointment to the United States Senate representing New York, replacing Hillary Clinton who may become Secretary of State. When asked last week, why she wanted this appointment, Caroline couldn’t even complete a sentence without saying “You Know,” multiple times. In fact, she could not even respond to the question. She simply does not know why she wants to in the Senate. Maybe, it is just because it’s the family business?

If this were Sarah Palin, the poor woman would have been crucified. But, being a Kennedy and a Democrat, she is given a free pass. In fact, her responses last week made Sarah Palin look like a nuclear physicist.

My opinion is real simple here. Enough with the Kennedys. It is time the people in this country stopped glorifying them and put them out of politics and the public eye. Caroline should not get any Senate seat, especially by appointment, and good old Teddy should be slowly walked away from his.

In closing, I wish you all a happy and healthy new year. I am off to Thailand to shoot a movie and will be writing this column from a foreign perspective for the next two months.

© 2009 Frank T. DeMartini – All rights reserved. Permission to be copied will be granted freely upon request.