Pay Compensation Restrictions, Cash for Clunkers, Health Care Reform

Are the power mad Democrats over reaching? Don't get me wrong, President George W. Bush helped create the mess. The Dems are just adding fuel to the fire.

The federal government shouldn't have bailed out financial institutions to begin with. They made bad business decisions and took on dumb risks. They got exactly what they paid for. A mess. But Uncle Sam's deep pockets lent them the money to stay afloat. High risk, bad decisions were still rewarded.

Don't get me wrong. I think there must be some government regulation of banks, business and capital. The beauty of free market capitalism though is that good decisions and business ideas are rewarded. If someone creates a service or product others are willing to pay for then they are rewarded with sales and profit. If they come up with something folks don't want then the business fails. It's almost that simple.

Government regulation now is trying to go to far. The Democrats want to limit Wall Street pay and bonuses. I think this is just a bad idea. According to the article:

The legislation's ban on risky compensation would apply to any firm with more than $1 billion in assets, including bank holding companies, broker-dealers, credit unions, investment advisers and mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The problem becomes who in government gets to decide what's risky and what's not? Also the $1 billion number is more than likely an arbitrary number the picked because it sounds so big. There is no economic theory to suggest limiting risk by companies over $1 billion in assets would improve or prevent the current mess. There really is no rhyme or reason for the House's bill.

I'm not even sure why there is a Cash for Clunkers program funded by the federal government. The program is supposed to help subsidize cars purchases for those who purchase a new car with significantly higher mileage. The House has approved $2 billion more for the program. Then again with a $1 trillion deficit what's another $2 billion among friends?

Finally, this health care overhaul needs to slow down drastically. In my idealistic youth I believed everyone should have access to health care. I still do but we have to figure out a way to pay for it. Sensibly. President Barack Obama and the Congress wanted to have a bill signed into law before the summer Congressional recess. Reportedly the bill was over 1,000 pages. Can anyone honestly say they've read it, understand it and know the true cost of it? Absolutely not. It's probably a hodgepodge of ideas piled on top of one another. Every legislator more than likely put in his request for favorite ideas and programs. I truly doubt a bill so hastily put together will improve the health care system or lower costs. Something this mammoth needs a good study by experts in the field and in economics and not a bunch of Congressional aides piece mealing a bill into law.

Paris Palin, Senate Super Majority, Hope for Obama

Alaskan governor and former Vice-Presidential candidate Paris Palin announced her resignation effective at the end of the month. (Note: I credit FoxSports.com's Jason Whitlock for the Paris Palin moniker). All I can say is don't let the door hit your cougar wannabe ass on the way out.

That Palin was on the presidential ticket still amazes me. She has the intelligence of a box of rocks (my apologies to the rocks).

My opinion of her was pretty much shaped by the Tina Fey faux interviews. I saw the Fey bit before the actual Katie Couric interviews. The first thing that stuck out was how much Fey resembled Palin. I laughed, of course, and thought man that was a bit overboard. Then I saw the real interviews. Wow. Fey was dead on. She didn't go overboard at all. She mimicked Palin to the bone.

My opinion went from being amused to appalled. I started thinking do I really think Palin should be the literal one heart beat away from the presidency. It's not being morbid. It's being realistic. Her ticket mate isn't exactly a spring chicken. This is the first election that a VP candidate influenced my vote. For the record, I voted for Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party.

Palin didn't announce the reasons she resigned. Some speculate it's her political swan song. Others think it's a precursor to a presidential run in 2012.

My assumption, based on the wind direction, is that Paris Palin is gearing up for a behind the scenes presidential run. She's going to spend time working the power brokers and money people. She doesn't have to work the GOP right wing to hard. They are firmly in her back pocket. It's the moderates and independents she must win over. My guess is she'll keep herself in the public eye. It's easy to criticize when you don't have any say in the game. She'll be able to run her mouth at the Democrats and President Barack Obama. What she won't do is leave a voting record behind for others to scrutinize.

As the 2012 election cycle gears up, my guess is she re-evaluate her chances based on polls, the party power brokers and the money bags. Unless she has a strong hand, she won't run. Failing at that, she'll fade to the Alaskan wilderness and return to putting lipstick on bull dogs or pitbulls or whatever it is they do back there.

Super Majority

Al Franken will finally take his seat in the Senate. His arrival gives the Democrats the 60 votes they need to shut down any Republican filibuster. What scares me is the potential for damage the Donkey party has to inflict before 2010. My hope is the moderates and conservative state Democrats can keep things in line.

Nothing scares me more than when one party has so much control. The GOP seems to be reeling with scandal and disunity. The Democrats seem drunk with the new found power. Remember it wasn't to long ago during the Bill Clinton administration and Newt Gingrich's revolution that the Democrats were being written off. Fortunes can change quickly for the parties. If the economy is still in the doldrums, health care reform tanks and terrorism or one of the wars goes bad, I can see the public turning the Dems out. If the nation is suffering still then historically the ruling
party is on the outs.

Hopes for Obama

Only time will tell. I'm no Obama supporter but I hope he does well enough. I hope he brings the war in Afghanistan close to an end. I hope he finds Osama Bin Laden. I hope there is some way to flip the tables on North Korea and Iran. I definitely hope he turns the economy around.

There are things I hope he doesn't do either. I hope he doesn't run wild with tax hikes. Tax hikes are the bane of a free market. The more capital at work the better the economy. Free markets definitely spend money more efficient than the government. Taxes are a necessary evil but they should be kept to a minimum.

I hope the Dems can find a reasonable way to reform health care. If not they should leave it alone until someone smarter can do it. I think it's better to leave a bad system, and I don't believe it's bad, in place than let the government come in and make it worse.

Update Frequency

I usually have plenty of topics to weigh in on. The problem is finding the time to write. I used to do a lot of my writing at work. I don't have as much time anymore due to a transfer. I hope to update at least once a week on one of the websites blogs. Right now is just a slow time in sports. Football season is my big time for writing the sports blog and the Houston Texans Bull Site. I really haven't made any financial moves so I haven't updated the Monkee Portfolio. I found a few things I want to put up on the main web page.

That's all for now,
Unkle Monkee