Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Joe Plumber

I actually think this video shows Obama in great light. Yes, he take a bit getting into it, but by the end he basically states what most of us on the left believe is the best way to go, tax the rich more than the poor to even out the wealth and keep the middle class strong.


Friday, October 10, 2008

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Town Hall Meeting

I am going to edit this entry as things pop up during the 2nd debate, which happens to take place in our neighboring university Belmont:

1. Where are all the black folk in this town hall meeting? I see but a few out there. Were these 100 undecided townsfolk not supposed to include a nice cross-section of the population?

2. Second question from a young black man. I hate to continue the race talk, but if a black person votes for McCain will he ever be welcomed home? On a serious note, I guess it looks like it is you white folk out there that need convincing as to whom you are going to vote for.

3. Don't know if you have heard, but McCain said that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong."

4. Message to Teresa Finch: if you are asking a question in a presidential debate that contains about 10 words, I suggest that you do not pause after every 3 words.

5. I had not noticed this before, but McCain is looking a little tired and worn down and he hasn't even started the presidency. Just look at before and after pix of past prez. What will happen to McCain? Do you trust cheerleader Palin to lead your country?

6. Just as I thought we had heard it all before, because this seems more like an hour and a half of stuff we have heard before, Tom Brokaw pulls out his veto pen and asks a question of his own over an online voter question.

We interrupt this townhall meeting for a message from our sponsors (ok, not really), but this is really funny.

After 49 mins I call it quits. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the debate and go Obama!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

An FDIC Catch 22

I am sure you have all heard about the bail out plan ad noseum over the last week or two. I am also sure a lot of us are unsure what to exactly make out of the plan, never mind understanding where all the money could and would go and whether this is a good thing. I myself, have wavered about whether this is a good thing or not. In general, I tend to believe the economic folk in charge (I am looking at you Ben Bernake). So, if they say the economy needs this, I will tend to believe you know your stuff. After all, if you are sick, you tend to listen to what the doctor says. If you want to double check what the doctor thinks, you get 2nd and 3rd opinions. In this case, 2 big heads of the economy, Bernake and Henry Paulson say we need this. So, I tend to lean towards listening to their opinion, especially Bernake who should not care who carries the election. My only request is that we add some regulation, or at least some oversight, to the banks so that this does not happen again.

One item I do want to bring up is related to the talk about increasing the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) limit on bank deposits from $100,000 to $250,000. The reasoning behind this is to stop people with large deposits (currently anything over $100,000) in banks from withdrawing their funds. In other words, by raising the FDIC limit to $250K, people's bank deposits would be insured up to that dollar ammount. The result would, in theory, be that people with large bank deposits would leave their money in the bank so that the bank can then turn around and lend the monies to someone else, thus helping the credit situation.

One catch with raising the FDIC limit, is that since the FDIC is an insurance, raising the coverage from $100,00 to $250,000 should result in an increase in the premium charged to the banks. In doing so, the banks would have to dole out more money to pay for the increased coverage as opposed to having that money to lend it out to businesses and people. As such, there has been some talk about increasing the FDIC coverage without increasing the premiums for the banks. However, doing so could be tragic in a future economic crisis as the FDIC would likely not have enough funds to cover all the deposits.

While I now believe some federaly sponsored aid is needed, I just hope that legislators do not remove so many safeguards/oversight measures now to help banks that in a few years we find ourselves in a bigger hole that we currently find ourselves in.