Disillusion

Remember how Obama was going to save us all? He inspired everyone, provided hope, gave us a reason to believe that change in Washington, D.C. was a real possibility, not a pipe dream. Well, he hasn't been in office very long, though oddly it seems like an eternity. But, his accomplishments -- I mean REAL accomplishments -- have been few and far between.

Yes, he's been nagged by a bad economy, the remnants of George W. Bush's endless stream of bad policies. But Obama also has failed to do the one thing that a President needs to do: LEAD. Instead of driving the bus, he's riding on it, and too often he's sitting in the back. Health care reform was needed, and although the law that was passed was an improvement, it didn't go far enough. It also contains so many loopholes that most people aren't going to notice it.

The same goes for tax cuts for the middle class. Yep, he lowered taxes for many people, but it was a minor reduction, piddled out in nickels and dimes from one paycheck to the next. He did that by design so people would spend the money and help lift the economy. But taxes need to be LOWER for the middle class and HIGHER for the rich.

I know all you Tea Partiers think that no one should pay anything. Or have some misguided belief thanks the shit that spews from Glenn Beck's mouth, that taxes have gone up for everyone. They haven't. Glenn Beck would also have you believe that our founding fathers were against taxation of all people. This, too, is untrue. He was in favor of taxing the rich, asking them to support the poor as a means of making our country stronger.

To quote Thomas Jefferson:

"The rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the General Government are levied. ... Our revenues liberated by the discharge of the public debt, and its surplus applied to canals, roads, schools, etc., the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spend a cent from his earnings."

Glenn Beck and the Tea Party folks are driving this country to ruin. Obama needs to take a stand and correct their skewed view of history. He needs to push his agenda forward and start making a case for why his ideas will work rather thank shrinking from the politics and allowing the right to drive the debate. He needs to do it quickly, too, before we our hearts are filled with disillusion and we once again believe that voting doesn't matter.

Odds and Ends

First off, thank goodness we dodged the Olympics. Every city that ever hosts things things gets saddled with mountains of debt. I didn't realize until after the fact that South America had never played host to the Olympics. It's all the more reason why Rio was the right choice. I just hope they manage to do it without bankrupting the city or the country. They really need to find a way of making these things less of a burden on the communities they invade. Having said all this, I'm disappointed that I won't get to see the Olympics in person. It'd be kind of cool.

Second, I can't say I'm surprised at all about what David Letterman did. He has a long history of drooling over his female guests. What I can't believe is that a respected, Emmy-winning producer could be so stupid. Then again, these days people think they can get away with anything. Letterman has always been great under pressure. He's handled interviews with some very important figures better than the people who are supposed to get it right. With this, he's turned a very bad situation into something heartfelt, personal, and funny, yet horribly painful. You can see it in his face as he talks about what happened. He genuinely feels like a buffoon, and he should. He also hasn't tried to brush it off. Instead, he has embraced it right up front, dealing with it on a very human level. What he did was wrong, but in the end, he handled it just right.

I'm not a huge Michael Jackson fan, but I have to say I'm very curious about the upcoming move This Is It. I don't know if the police will ever bring charges against his doctor, but after the autopsy results showed that he was actually pretty healthy when he died, I'm left feeling pretty saddened by the whole thing. I didn't think I'd care, but it just doesn't seem right that the people who were supposed to take care of him wound up killing him, maybe not intentionally, but definitely out of their negligent, misguided actions.

Finally, I can't get enough of Jefferson Airplane's rampaging set at Woodstock. Yes, there are times when they fall into complete disarray. But Wooden Ships is so damn mind-melting I keep coming back.

President Obama on Letterman

I caught President Obama on the Letterman show last night. As always, Letterman did a terrific job querying his guest. There was something about the appearance that bugged me, though. I don't know quite why it did, but it was just very strange to see a sitting president on the talk show circuit. It doesn't seem right to me, and it just felt wrong. I understand why President Obama did it. He's trying to reconnect with the average American to push his agenda and his health care program, all of which I happen to agree with. Seeing him sitting there, joking about a heart-shaped potato and whatnot...it just was too much.

They don't have the full interview up at CBS yet, but here's a segment that features the President and Letterman chatting about racism.

America's Economic Collapse

After America's economic collapse, there is plenty of blame to go around. News programs and magazines have levied numerous charges at everyone from Countrywide to AIG. One thing I hadn't really seen or considered before is the role that Goldman Sachs played in the whole debacle. As it turns out, Goldman Sachs has a history of pumping up the U.S. economy, skimming a ton of money from the pockets of everyday folks, and then crashing the whole system. It's a way of life, and they've gotten away with it, too, because the company has managed to insert its executives, past and present, into every aspect of America's capitalist society. They've taken over both parties, Democrats and Republicans, and while I'm annoyed to no end with Ralph Nader for the role he played in putting Bush into the White House by stealing crucial votes from Al Gore, the recent article by Matt Taibbi that ran in Rolling Stone last month makes the case that maybe Nader isn't so crazy after all.

Bye, Roland. Nice Knowing You...

Roland Burris has decided not to seek a full term in the U.S. Senate when his seat comes up for election in 2010. He could have saved everyone the trouble by not showing up for work in January and insisting he be seated. He was appointed by our infamous former governor Rod Blagojevich, and he forced the issue about joining the Senate rather than allowing the citizens of Illinois to have a say in who filled President Obama's seat. Now that he's there, he is deciding not to come back.

This puts the Democrats at a huge disadvantage since it levels the playing field for the next election. Incumbents always have a huge, huge advantage over their challengers. In 2010, since Burris isn't returning, there will not be an incumbent running.

The only good news is that Republicans in the state of Illinois are worse off than the Democrats. Believe it or not, they also are worse off than the national Republican party. We can only hope they can't resurrect themselves before the 2010 election.

Barack Obama's Inaugural Speech

Everything is on YouTube, including a lot of nonsense. Still, I easily found Barack Obama's inauguration speech, which likely will go down in history as one of the better ones. Great speeches do not make great presidencies, and it remains to be seen what Obama can do. He has a lot that needs to be accomplished quickly. Still, for those few who haven't seen it. Here it is:

Economic Stimulus: A Matter of Perspective

Those who know me have heard me kvetching endlessly about the proposed economic stimulus package, and specifically, the idea that simply slinging money at the problem prove to be its solution. In particular, the money to be distributed to the average taxpayer is no bigger than what outgoing president George W. Bush gave out a year ago. We all know how well that turned out. It didn't help the economy one bit, and things actually worsened considerably.

Well, the latest issue of the New Yorker features a column by James Surowiecki, who, for my money, is one of the smarter financial columnists in the business. In "A Smarter Stimulus," he makes a convincing argument that Obama's plan actually is a pretty decent idea. Yes, the infusion of money to the taxpayers alone won't solve the problem, but the way in which the rebate will be distributed (in smaller, weekly increments rather than a lump sum payment) is a far better proposal because people view the former method as additional income to spend and the latter one as wealth that should be saved.

It's all a matter of perspective, and in an age when no one trusts the government to get anything right, we need people like Surowiecki to set the record straight.