201: The Obama Syndrome

The disappearance of any trace of civility in the business of governing has its roots in the first Clinton administration.  I don't think it was Bill Clinton himself as much as it was his henchmen who viewed politics as "war."  I think Bill was just an awkward kid who couldn't get any decent sex until he got himself into a powerful position.  He didn't really care about any specific policies.  He just wanted people to like him.

The people around Bill however (led primarily by Hillary), developed the Clinton philosophy of, "I'm right, and if you don't agree with me, you're evil."  With a mentality like that, how are you ever going to have a rational, civil conversation between two parties with different beliefs?

The Obama Syndrome take the Clinton philosophy even further, and the Obama Syndrome is a direct extension of BO himself.  It has almost nothing to do with his henchmen.  The BO Syndrome is, "I'm right, and if you don't agree with me, you're stupid."

Evil people can be smart, so Clinton had to grudgingly respect his enemies.  But since BO's enemies are stupid, they are like gum on his shoe.

I don't see how rational, civil discourse ever returns to our politics.

200: Proof Of Stupidity In Organized Sports

As proof that stupidity rises to the top in organized sports, consider the "Taunting" rule in the NFL.  Currently, almost all defensive players strut like mentally deranged peacocks after every routine tackle, and they are never penalized.  Yet a player on offense who spins the football (which is called a "fuhball" in the sport's vernacular) on the ground too close to the defensive player, is penalized. 

The rules of course are promulgated by the best minds the NFL has to offer.

199: Discovering BO With No Clothes

In the midst of this current "crisis du jour," that being the ISIS threat, the usual fawning coverage of BO has turned sour.  It seems there are more and more lefty so-called "journalists" (who are really just editorial writers and talkers) who have discovered that BO can neither manage nor lead anything, let alone the most demanding and complicated executive office on the planet.  These stupid BO voters, supporters and apologists deserve what they get.  Unfortunately, those of us who could easily see that BO had zero experience to become the most powerful man on the planet also get the short end of the stick, even though we knew BO would be a disaster.

Let's face it.  This is what you get when you vote for someone just because he is black.

198: Economic Prediction

The "Fed Funds Rate" will not exceed 1% until sometime in 2017.  That means that interest rates on money market funds and other short term accounts for savers will continue to be close to zero.  It also means that mortgage interest rates will continue to be near the lows of my lifetime, and I'm almost 64 years old.  The ocean of money that circles the globe every day will seek historically "reasonable" returns, perhaps something in the range from 5% to 15%, depending on the risk tolerance of that particular segment of the ocean.  This means that bonds, stocks and real estate will all continue to rise.  This trend has been in existence since mid 2009.  It may well continue for another five or ten years.  But it will not always be so.

This super low interest rate environment is seen as normal to the world's consumers who are in their early 30s or younger.  Eventually abnormally low interest rates will cause abnormalities, which in turn will cause economic turmoil and dislocation - in other words a recession or something worse.  Those politicians and government bureaucrats responsible for fostering the environment to create the turmoil will all be doddering and drooling oldsters or dead. 

You can thank Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke for most of this mess.

197: Home Ownership and FNMA

"According to consumer research conducted by Fannie Mae, the primary barrier to homeownership for first-time home buyers is saving money for the down payment and closing costs."  This is the first sentence on a fact sheet published by FNMA to promote the 97% LTV mortgage.  So if you are too lazy or stupid or undisciplined to save enough money for a down payment, FNMA will help you make the biggest financial commitment of your life, for which you are completely unprepared and unqualified. 

This entire proposition is being backstopped by none other than YOUR FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS. 

196: More Idiots For Obama

Today, BO officially killed the Keystone Pipeline project.  After wimping out for six years, BO now comes out, chest thumping, and flanked by Kerry the House Boy and Biden the Plagiarist, and tells business people who were willing to risk personal fortunes that they cannot hire thousands of workers who would have used their wages to support their families and contribute to the overall economy.  Congratulations BO.  You really know how to drive economic growth.  Hire more government bureaucrats to clog the arteries of American business.

195: Idiots For Obama

I just received my Obamacare notice of premium increase for 2016.  An increase of 41%.  Thank you every one of you Democrat morons who do not know how to support yourselves, or turn down another doughnut or cheeseburger.  Also a shout out to Chief Justice John Benedict Arnold Roberts, who twice had the chance to do something good for his country, but sold out instead.

194: I Was A Chicago Cubs Fan For Two Weeks

I was born in Chicago in 1952.  I have lived in the Chicago area on and off for 49 of my 62 years.  This year, after the Cubs won 97 games in the regular season, I decided to become a fan.  Having observed the Cubs (and Cubs fans) for the previous 63 years, it was clear that both the team and the fans were incorrigible losers.  So when the Cubs beat the Pirates in the one game do or die wild card playoff, I decided to get on the band wagon.  What a glorious 14 days!  The Lovable Losers went on to handle the sturdy Cardinals.  Then REALTY set in.  Losing four straight to the Mets proved the "once a loser, always a loser." Watching the Cubs crumble was truly painful.  How do the fans do it year after decade after century?

The thing of it is, I know many Cubs fans who are really smart.  Investments bankers, medical doctors, and George Will.  Most Cubs fans are smart enough to have never voted for BO.  But they can't shake the inevitable fate of the Cubs.  RIP Cubs and Cubs fans.

193: Respect For the Office of President

I have been a student of history since my earliest memory.  I have collected and read more history books than a lot of history teachers.  I have studied North American history going back before the French and Indian Wars.  I have read countless autobiographies and biographies of American presidents.  I respect the office of the president of The United States, and all of the duties and responsibilities that go with that office.  That is why it gives me such pain to say:  Barack Obama is an arrogant asshole.   If he wasn't black, he never would have been president.  And being black doesn't qualify one for being president any more than being white or green.  He has done perhaps irreparable damage to the U.S. economy and America's standing in the world.

192: Ben Stein For President

Ben Stein wrote an article in The American Spectator recently arguing that rather than take in Syrian refugees, we should address the pitiful state of black Americans.  Ben recites economic, medical and social statistics, and makes an argument that no reasonable American could disagree with.  Mr. Stein's logic and common sense, combined with an obvious solid moral foundation would make him an excellent leader. 

Send me money, and I'll start a Draft Ben Stein petition.

191: I Read The Fed Minutes

I've read about the minutes of the FOMC meeting for forty years.  A couple of days ago, I read for myself the actual minutes from the most recent meeting.  My considered opinion?  What a bunch of crap!  First of all, there were 75 people in the meeting at one time or another.  Most of the 75 were there for the duration.  Almost all the decision makers are egg-heads, who have never managed anything, but feel perfectly capable of managing the globe's biggest economy.  They have committee, after group, after consultant, after economist, after lawyer, after bureaucrat, after, blah, blah, blah.  The set up new committees to investigate the possibility that something could eventually happen in the future, or maybe not.  Throughout the meeting, they all remind themselves that they are really smart.  By the end of the meeting, they decide they are so smart that they cannot make a decision, and so adjourn until the next round of the mutual admiration society.

190: Linked OUT

Several years ago I canceled my Linked In account, primarily because I was getting bombarded by requests to link up with whomever.  I never received any value from it.  Recently, a good friend sent me a Linked In request, so I reactivated my account.  What a mistake!  Several emails each day cluttering my phone and computer.  I just don't see the value.  What am I missing?

189: Democracy Is Not Good For USA

Democracy only works in small groups.  Countries as large and diverse as the USA should really have some more dictatorial form of government.  Democracy always boils down to decision-making by groups, and the larger the group, the more incompetent the decision.  Take for instance the United States Congress.  Here we have 535 individuals almost all of whom are simply looking out for number one.  The wind up passing laws and making decisions using the lowest common denominator of IQ in the group.

Either a benevolent dictatorship or a confederation of states would be better for the citizens of the USA.

188: How Does AMZN Do It?

I am a HUGE AMZN fan and customer.  Amazon Prime is amazing.  But financially, how the hell does AMZN stay afloat?  Last year (2014) AMZN had almost $90 billion in revenue and lost money.  The stock is solid at over $400 per share.  The market cap approaches $200 billion.  Is Amazon a house of cards?

187: Ignorance At Well Fargo

I do a lot of estate planning work.  Trusts of all sorts, wills, probate, etc.  It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant the employees are at big banks when it comes to the legal aspects of the relationship between a trustee and the bank (or brokerage). 

In this instant case, I am co-trustee of a brokerage account at Wells Fargo.  The other co-trustee has died, leaving me as sole trustee.  WF has now frozen the account since the SSN of the deceased trustee was associated with the account.  WF seems to think that there can be no tax liability for a SSN after the death of the SSN holder, which of course is not true.

WF is frustrating the whole purpose behind establishing a revocable trust.  The purpose is to avoid any interruption in ownership of the asset upon death. 

As I've said and written before, anyone with less than $100 million that does business with a money center bank is an idiot.

186: Corporate Charity

Recently, the Chicago Tribune did an excellent article on ComEd's (an operating unit of EXC) sleazy practice of taking money from ratepayers so that ComEd can then pass the money out to charities ComEd likes or needs.  Many corporations do this.  Some, blatantly ask you at the cash register if you want to donate this or that to some charity.  Only an idiot would say "yes" to that, but most people are idiots, so a lot of money gets raised for the company which then gets credit for the donations.  I always answer "no" to these requests.  I only wish I could say "no" to ComEd, but ComEd has the Illinois regulatory people practically on the ComEd payroll, so I along with all ratepayers will continue to get screwed.

After the above mentioned Tribune article, the CEO of ComEd, one Anne Pramaggiore, wrote a huffy and self-serving letter to the editor trying to defend ComEd's legal theft.  Do we really need Anne to decide who should be the beneficiaries of our largess?

185: Brian Williams

BW six month suspension for lying about war correspondent experience is a joke.  He should be banished from any type of broadcast journalism forever.  Sure, it's a tragedy for BW and his family.  But here was a guy making in excess of $10 million a year for reading what passes on network TV for "news."  Then, on top of that obscene compensation, he has to lie about his role in covering military ops.  He should take his lumps and retire to a life of cushy life of teaching young news readers how not to self-aggrandize.