A Winter's Day

A Paul Simon lyric in the making ... -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
“A winter’s day, in a deep and dark December”. I like that Paul Simon lyric, although he was probably in need of some Prozac when he wrote it. To me right now, it just evokes the season – the “Hallow-Thanksmas” period from October thru December. Technically it's still autumn, but let's not nitpick in this season of giving. I’m sitting in Starbucks with just a bit of holiday writer’s block and therefore choose to be reflective.

I just got back from beautiful Round Rock, Texas, where most of my relatives live. I know they say, “You can’t go home again” but I’ll probably end up back there in retirement. Austin has everything Dallas has, plus cedar-studded hills and rockabilly music. Throw in progressive politics, Sandra Bullock and Lance Armstrong – what’s not to love?

Looking at my previous blogs, I’ve already done a lot of reflecting about the election. It looks like Obama has picked a team of experienced “Clintonista” centrists for both his economic and foreign thrusts. It’s probably a good sign that he is putting a premium on practical experience. I love that Hillary may become Secretary of State – she is truly a cat with nine lives. She’s probably on her sixth about now. Also, the Clintons may have many epithets thrown at them – not one of them is “boring”. They do enough (Bill in particular) to keep the National Examiner in business. Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense is good for continuity – Gates has helped us shine a light on what’s needed in Iraq.

I rented a silver, Chrysler PT Cruiser for my Austin trip. The car was fun to drive – it handled like a sports car. I truly hope that Ford, GM and Chrysler lay out a good plan for Congress to give them a 25 billion dollar “hand up” as opposed to a “hand out”. All three companies are treasured parts of Americana that should be steered back to sound and healthy management.

Lastly, a pre-med student just asked me why I have a MacBook, not a PC. Well, my MacBook boots in 30 seconds and it dual boots to Windows. It doesn’t ask annoying questions when I want to open a file or load a program. Apparently a nation waits for Windows 7 to make PC’s relevant again. The pre-med lady (who admitted not being a computer nut) was told by a Best Buy geek-on-call to wait for Windows 7. Alas poor Vista, we knew ye well.

I guess that’s all I have to say for my “deep and dark” last day of November. I’m back to work tomorrow after a fantastic Thanksgiving week. Hope everyone had a great holiday and many more to come.

© 2008 blogSpotter

WALL*E Tells Us About Ourselves

Rogue Robots -- Picture courtesy of Pixar

by blogSpotter
This weekend I was under the weather so stayed in and watched a lot of movies. One that I watched is Pixar’s WALL*E about a lone (and lonely) sanitation engineering robot. The movie is set far in the future – where Earth has been horribly polluted and trashed up by an over-consuming society. The humans have fled to a giant mothership (called Axiom) while waiting for robots to clean and de-pollute the Earth for rehabitation.

WALL*E has Pixar’s stunning detail and beauty – it’s what we’ve come to expect from Pixar. But it has an allegory built in that many adults could stand to see and appreciate. The humans have been living on the Axiom for 700 years. The Axiom is a giant citadel spaceship with fabulous food and amenities for its inhabitants. It looks like a giant futuristic resort hotel inside a humongous space ship. The humans have been ship-bound and weightless for so long, they’ve become inactive and dependent on robot servants. Their bones have atrophied, their bodies have become large and doughy and most of them can’t even walk anymore, they ride around on air scooters.

A certain perniciousness becomes apparent – the humans all have floating hi-def TV screens in front of their faces. They’ve lost touch with each other. They’re barraged with junk food ads and most are chowing down on shakes or fries while they succumb to the pleasant blandness of TV commercials. It turns out that the robot pilots have slowly fattened and seduced the humans into complacency, with no intention of ever returning to Earth.

I won’t say what all happens (you could safely guess a happy ending and the good guys win). What amazed me about the Axiom society was how much it resembles Dallas in 2008 – all they did was push it to an extreme. Axiom featured a megalomaniacal corporation called “Buy and Large” playing a major role in the polluting of Earth, necessitating the cleanup. I challenge people to watch this movie and NOT see a family member among the humans depicted.

Of course the robots are highly humanized and adorable. Walle and Eve (Eve is the bio resurgence detection robot) make a cute couple at the movie’s finale. Pixar even did the impossible and they made a cockroach (Walle’s pet) extremely cute. For any number of reasons – sci-fi gadgetry, fattened space humans and cute cockroaches, WALL*E is an allegory well worth seeing for people of all ages.

© 2008 blogSpotter

Saving General Motors

HHR on sale -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
"GM is really sort of a dinosaur", says Senator Richard Shelby with obvious derision. Shelby is the ranking Republican of the Committee for Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. He is of the Marie Antoinette tradition -- he might as well say, "Let them eat cake". Shelby is not alone in thinking that the struggling auto giant should be allowed to lapse into Chapter 11. Michael Levine of WSJ writes in an Op-Ed that GM could cut itself loose from smothering relationships (unions, unprofitable dealerships, pension obligations) if only it were made to operate out of Chapter 11. If it went into Chapter 11, according to Levine, you would have the new GM Lite.

Jeff Sachs, writing for the Washington Post disagrees. Airlines can function under Chapter 11, because a customer purchasing an airline ticket isn't expecting a long term commitment. A car buyer will want parts and service for possibly a decade into the future -- they want to believe that their car company is a solid, going concern. Potential car buyers won't even initiate a relationship with a company that's on the ropes. Chapter 11 is not a viable option for large auto companies.

In an odd alignment of Jupiter with Mars, Eleanor Clift and Pat Buchanan were in strong agreement on The McLaughlin Group this past Sunday. Eleanor and Pat hold down opposite ends of the political continuum but they converge on this -- both see that allowing GM to fail would cause immediate unemployment to 3 million people. It would cause untold damage to the nation's supply chain and very possibly put us into a depression. On top of all that, we the tax payers would still be liable to handle health care, unemployment and pension default problems for the millions of workers displaced. It would create pure havoc. As one Op-Ed writer put it -- we can pay for a wedding or a funeral. Wouldn't you rather have a wedding?

Of course there would be strings attached to any government largesse. There would probably be reorganization, streamlining and product realignment -- very similar to behaviors imposed under Chapter 11, but not as limiting or destructive to parties involved. Many people have said of this, as they said of Lehman's and AIG, "They behaved foolishly. Let them die from their own stupid mistakes". In less frenetic times, these would be words to consider. Unfortunately, because of the market meltdown and credit crunch, we cannot exact such vengeance. We cannot take these companies to task without zeroing out every 401K account and sweeping every American into a major depression. To restore credibility to the marketplace we must also engage in an unseemly form of market forgiveness. To forgive in this case isn't so much an act of emotional altruism as it is an act of outright financial survival.

I must point out a certain irony. I drive through Highland Park, Texas each way to work and look at the beautiful mansions along Armstrong and Belfort Avenues. Guess what vehicles are popular here? Suburbans, Tahoes and Yukons -- the gas-guzzling progeny of General Motors. Are the free market evangelizers this ready and willing to say goodbye to their vehicles of choice? I would think for consistency's sake that they would at least switch to the "dinosaur" offerings of Toyota -- the Sequoia for example or maybe a Nissan Titan.

Another thought which attends all of this is our lame duck President. Usually this holiday interregnum between Election Day and Inauguration is lame and tame -- full of golf, valedictory speeches and sweet goodbyes. Who would imagine that we’d have a nail-biter where we have to wonder what legislation a voted-out government can bring to the table, to prevent economic collapse? Let's hope they can bring something for GM and for all of us. Everyone fasten your seat belts – it looks to be a very bumpy ride.

© 2008 blogSpotter

America Needs You, Harry Truman

The buck stopped here -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Who was Harry Truman? He was the scrappy, outspoken 33rd President of the U.S. hailing from Missouri. He served with distinction in WW I as a battery commander and then as Colonel. His experience in the Great War served to advance his later political career. He had only been Vice President for 3 months when FDR died at the start of his fourth term, with WW II still going on. Truman was considered by many to be a rube, a hillbilly and wet-behind-the ears. He was (and probably by his own admission) not quite ready for prime time when the weight of a very troubled world was dumped in his lap.

When you look at the giant political tectonic plate shifts that were happening from 1945 thru 1953, you have to feel for anyone trying to manage any part of it. Here are just some of things Truman had to confront starting day one as President: the Cold War, union unrest, wage price control issues, race relations, restoration of Europe, Korea, Allied powers safe-keeping, use of atomic weaponry and recognition of both Israel and Pakistan. Any one of these could be a major stumbling block and a couple of them were for Truman.

Here is the Truman plus column: He vetoed Taft-Hartley (ant-labor law, though veto was overridden), desegregated the armed forces, started the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, initiated NATO, and recognized Israel as a new nation. His minus column should be considered in the context of the times: he initiated loyalty checks to search out communism in the federal government, initiated the Truman Doctrine to contain communism and tried to nationalize the steel industry when a strike threatened to interfere with the Korean War effort. (The seizure was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court). He fired General Douglas MacArthur when it looked like MacArthur might violate a delicate truce and bring the Soviets into the Korean War conflict. This single action gave Truman his lowest approval ratings and calls for his impeachment; in retrospect it seems altogether reasonable that he didn't want the Korean conflict to escalate into WW III. Truman also took a hit to his ratings when he approved the dropping of the Atom bomb on Japan in 1945. In retrospect it probably did bring the war to a quicker end -- the Dresden firebombings in Germany did similar scale damage but took much longer and cost more American lives.

In 2008, many of the GOP faithful have likened W. Bush to Truman -- a straight shooter that makes difficult-but-accurate decisions under duress. Truman's plate was very full -- he probably had more monolithic decisions in his two terms than later Presidents would encounter, including W. Bush. Truman's actions were never myopic or arrogant -- he was an earnest man trying to do a good job. The greatest critique mounted against him (for firing MacArthur) seems narrow and partisan now -- it probably kept us out of a 3rd world war. Truman's greatest malfeasance was surely his McCarthyist red-hunting but that was more a sign of the times. It was more a reaction to a national hysteria than anything else. If you do the grand tally of harm versus good, Truman comes across very positive -- he basically helped to organize the free world in a time of amazing transitions. For W. Bush, the tally of his deeds would be in the red for so many things – he borrowed trouble (Iraq) and fiddled while Rome burned (derivatives crash, gasoline prices). New Orleans never got cleaned up and Osama is still at large. In the final analysis, Chicago’s song from the 70’s is very prescient – American Needs You, Harry Truman.

© 2008 blogSpotter

End of the Bubba Curse?

Violence at a 1977 KKK march -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
It's time to reflect a little bit on some prior posts. I actually have some corrections to make -- one of them I'm very glad to make.

END OF THE BUBBA CURSE

In "The South has Risen Again", I basically reiterated the George Will view that only "bubba" (white, Baptist, southern) men could win the Presidency as representatives of the Democratic Party. The thinking has been that since Kennedy was elected in 1960, and partly due to the Civil Rights Act passed subsequently by Johnson, all the Democrat Presidents (and even the most recent Republican President) have conformed to the Bubba profile. They all speak with a twang and might have "gone fishin'" for the weekend.

Obama has thoroughly trounced this rule -- he is a black Chicagoan; furthermore, he's a sitting senator, not a governor. He speaks good, eloquent English -- nothing like the mangled Texan language of Bush or the good 'ol boy homilies of Bill Clinton. America has been represented by Texas or Arkansas for the last 16 years -- hardly places of erudition or tolerance. Let us please now have a break, a very long break from presidential bubba-dom.

HENRY PAULSON

When the market melted down two months ago, it looked like Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was being proactive about a rescue plan -- I gave him a fairly glowing tribute. After reviewing other economists and commentators views of Paulson, I may have spoken too soon. Paul Krugman (who has recently garnered a Nobel for economics) dissed Paulson and I hoped at the time that it was just a grudge match of some sort between the two men.

Now, financial analysts Dylan Ratigan and Jim Cramer have chimed in to bolster Krugman's argument. Apparently Paulson was one of the very people that allowed investment banks to develop highly risky portfolios -- some of them knowing that they could be paid up front and transfer the risk on to others. This is a sublimated form of THEFT and should not be tolerated in any civilized financial trade system. Then, Ratigan, Cramer and other have thrown a spotlight on what they see as a "raid" on the $700 billion bail-out fund. Wall Street is using the money to pay executive bonuses. Rather than US taxpayers having any say, it's somewhat the reverse. The bailout money is feeding "the Beast" that got us into trouble already.

If these assessments are true, it would be shame on Mr. Paulson and Godspeed to the Obama transition.

OVERALL

The nation is in awe of itself, rightfully so, that we just elected a black President. As cartoonist Toles pointed out, we have just ratified a portion the Constitution two days ago -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men were created equal". Let's hope that the nation stays the course this time, but not in the Bushian sense of that phrase.

© 2008 blogSpotter

Yes We Can

Is Obama's Election a Repudiation? -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
This is the morning after the 2008 Presidential election and I'm trying to piece together some of the outcome's implications. I think that Obama's election is above all, a repudiation of the W. Bush years. But it's also a reaction to the September 15th stock market crash -- you'll recall that McCain had a small lead over Obama after the GOP convention and right up to that point. Liberal pundits like to draw more from Obama's victory than there might even be -- it isn't the end of conservatism or the end of America's center-right political orientation.

What is conservatism anyway? I have to examine my own psyche to see where this fundamental difference in perspective lies. Much of my own family is conservative -- it would do me well to understand. Conservatives strike me as people who are happy with the world as it is. Life to them is a fragrant dream, occasionally interrupted with the unpleasant noise of disruptive hellions -- be they blacks, gays or Al Quaeda. Conservatives must think that God is basically finished with his handiwork -- only finishing touches needed here and there. Their concerns seem to fall into the materially mundane: Will Jim be admitted to Dartmouth? Does my Christmas centerpiece look good for the gala? Will the Highland Park Scotties win the football game? Their lives appear to unfold like a series of Groundhog Days -- if they just give alms and think "nice thoughts" (in the Hallmark since of that expression) it's a life well-lived. They aren't angry -- they also aren't especially curious or creative. They live in a rarified world which they hope will stay insular and "happy" if by happy you mean insensate.

Liberals don't see the world as a dream so much as a complex narrative -- a narrative nowhere near its resolution. Liberals see the world as one of relativity and connectedness, a world that requires both intelligent caring and sensitivity. It's a swirl of ying, yang and chaos theory -- what happens in Tupelo just might affect you. And the world is far from finished -- there is religious extremism, greed, pollution, racism, homophobia, sexism and a whole slew of world problems and human character defects. The actors in the play are so drastically flawed. Not only is God not finished, he's barely started.

What are your major care-abouts? Please don't say silverware patterns or sporting events. Please don't tell me if it's about finding shoes to match the $500 handbag advertised in Paper City. Speaking for me, I have some economic insecurity and worries about future health care. It worries me that parts of Dallas are more dangerous than Baghdad. I wish we had cures for breast, prostate and colon cancer. To the extent that federal tax dollars might advance these "narratives" I have no real objection to tax money being collected toward those ends. No galas, wine tastings or regattas in this corner to be sure.

A popular expression among the wealthy is noblesse oblige, "I give to charity". That's well and good if your contribution is reliable and consistent. If not, you've put an important enterprise at the mercy of human capriciousness. If in fact it is a service that summons such interest and concern, it should probably be supported by mandatory taxes and not charities.

Getting back to my Obama ruminations, I don't think his election necessarily signals a sea change in American thinking. I do think that young people and racial minorities have felt disenfranchised in previous elections -- they also tend to follow a more liberal philosophy. Maybe, just maybe they will participate more in the future. When everyone participates it's more like a Democracy.

© 2008 blogSpotter

Taxing Issues

Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr., The great Justice -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
With only 3 days to the election, realclearpolitics.com is showing Obama with an average 6.8 lead, across all the major polls. With all the hullabaloo, I’m reminded of a 1990 Robin Williams movie, Awakenings. The movie isn’t particularly great or note-worthy except that the current election scene brings it to mind. In Awakenings, patients in long-term encephalitic comas are brought back to consciousness by a new miracle drug. They take up mentally where they left off when the disease robbed them of consciousness.

I feel as if the United States has been in such a coma since 1980. The Clinton years are a “one-off” – Clinton was a Southern bubba who actually kowtowed to a Republican congress by enacting such things as Don’t-ask-don’t-tell and the Defense of Marriage Act. To be fair, his Democratic administration was still good in that it was like a truly moderate Republican term – balancing the budget and engendering a financial boom period.

America is a political anomaly – the poor and lower middle class in the U.S. will actually vote against their economic interests to bolster social issues such as abortion or gay marriage. In Europe and Latin America, these issues receive separate treatment – social and financial conservatism are not commingled. Middle-class Europeans are more inclined to vote for social Democratic (big government) parties. It’s outrageous that so many wealthy American individuals and corporations are able to shelter their income so completely from taxation. This shield is provided by the great swirl of the middle class who vote as if they were in the shelter class.

This week’s TIME magazine has an Op Ed piece about the laughability of deriding taxes as the “redistribution of wealth”. In point of fact taxes are a redistribution of wealth – a healthy and necessary redistribution. As Oliver Wendell Homes said, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society”. A favorite conservative argument is, “I should only be taxed for what I use, or what is of merit to me”. Well, that is pretty much roads, highways, airports, postal delivery, school, research & development, national defense and virtually every non-direct-market human activity. The wealth is indeed taken and redistributed – without this we would devolve to feudal states with toll roads, tariffs and jousting matches between Machiavellian city-states.

A tax must be levied, and a graduated income tax is the fairest way to assess the dues. As America loses ground to BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), it may finally have another Great Awakening – it should awaken to the fact that great societies must sometimes engage in great collective enterprises, and taxes, fairly assessed and collected, are the only known way (here or anywhere) to accomplish that.

© 2008 blogSpotter