Why I really never got into the “joys of home ownership”. I forgot how you quickly become a slave to your house.
It is not that I cannot do things around the house-I can quite well thank you very much-it is just that I never enjoyed it. Not in my town house-not in Virgina Beach, not in Nevada-and not so much here in Shopping Mall USA.
The happiest times of my life were when I was in a BOQ where all I had to do was use the facilities-not fix them.
So its been an in and out day. Still can’t put Singapore out of my mind though-thought today about an evening hash run up by Seletar and the dark clouds of one of Singapore’s tropical rain showers threatening. It did not rain till the down down was over and we were all quite pleasantly toasted. Why I am thinking about the Lion City so much I am not sure-probably the idea of not taking a risk and having it turn out well, as I wrap plumbers tape and tighten wrenches.
Usually, one quick look at my finances disabuses me of the idea of just chucking it all and trying to find my way in the Lion City. And the current financial crisis seems sure to disabuse that notion in the future.
I for one do not understand what just happened. After years of espousing the glories of the market, and the idea that government governs best when it governs least-has taken on almost a TRILLION DOLLARS in debt. On which it thinks it will make money. The same people who are getting foreclosed on have even less money now-how exactly does this help?
Of course, I was not exactly keen to see my savings and mutual funds melt down either-but I can’t help but wonder-are we simply kicking the can down the road?
Beats me.
It befuddles Tom Friedman too:
Think how much better off McCain would be today had he nominated Michael Bloomberg as his vice president rather than Sarah Palin. McCain could have said, “I’m not an expert on markets, but I’ve got one of the best on my team.” Instead of a V.P. to re-energize America, McCain went for a V.P. to re-energize the Republican base.
So what would get my attention from McCain? If he said the following: “My fellow Americans, I’ve decided for now not to continue the Bush tax cuts, because the most important thing for our country today is to get the government’s balance sheet in order. We can’t go on cutting taxes and not cutting spending. For too long my party has indulged that nonsense. Second, I intend to have most U.S. troops out of Iraq in 24 months. We have done all we can to midwife democracy there. Iraqis need to take it from here. We need every dollar now for nation-building in America. We will do everything we can to wind down our presence and facilitate the Iraqi elections, but we’re not going to baby-sit Iraqi politicians who don’t have the will or the courage to reconcile their differences — unless they want to pay us for that. In America, baby sitters get paid.”
What would impress me from Obama? How about this: “The Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers union want a Washington bailout. The only way they will get a dime out of my administration is if the automakers and unions come up with a joint plan to retool their fleets to get an average of 40 miles per gallon by 2015 — instead of the 35 m.p.g. by 2020 that they’ve reluctantly accepted. I am not going to bail out Detroit with taxpayer money, but I will invest in Detroit’s transformation with taxpayer money, provided the management and unions agree to radical change. At the same time, while I will go along with the bailout of the banking system, it will only be on the condition that the institutions that got us into this mess accept sweeping reforms — in terms of transparency and limits on the leverage they can amass — so we don’t go through something like this again. To help me figure this out, I’m going to keep Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson on the job for a while. I am impressed with his handling of this crisis.”
Not to worry though-you’ll never hear them say those things. They are too busy worrying about who gets credit for the surge-that left a 90 billion surplus in the hands of Arabs who can’t or won’t help themselves, but on whose behalf we helped get ourselves to where we are today. Don’t think oil prices and the effect of a 4 trillion dollar war effort don’t play in all this some where.
Of course the domestic market bears the large share of blame-but then again, when was the President really paying attention to domestic matters though. We are at war you know.
Or as Friedman points out-some of the nation was at war the rest was at the mall:
In many ways, this election is about how we get our groove back as a country. We have been living on borrowed time and borrowed dimes. President Bush has nothing to offer anymore. So that leaves us with Barack Obama and John McCain. Neither has wowed me with his reaction to the market turmoil. In fairness, though, neither man has any levers of power to pull. But what could they say that would give you confidence that they could lead us out of this rut? My test is simple: Which guy can tell people what they don’t want to hear — especially his own base…….
George W. Bush never once — not one time — challenged Americans to do anything hard, let alone great. The next president is not going to have that luxury. He will have to ask everyone to do something hard — and I want to know now who is up to that task.
I’m not sure either one is.
On a side note though-CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!
I’m a little punchy tonight-its going to be a long week.