Up, Down and Around Our Town

Whew!  What a week.  Perhaps one of the most emotionally draining weeks that we have had in decades.  On the minds of seemingly everyone wasn't the price of gas, the fate of the Cardinals, the lack of a Rams offense (or defense for that matter), but the State of the Union.  Not in January, either.  Things changed.  There were casualties.   Now comes the sorting out part.

Being a political admirer, I have always been somewhat taken back by the labeling that now coincides with what your beliefs (as an elected official) must now meet.  Red State/Blue State.  Pro-Life/Pro Choice.  Big Government/Smaller Government.  It all was fodder for the mills of the "what if" that generally didn't happen.

Until last week when the chickens did come home to roost.

I liken some of the endless rhetoric from the political pundits (Liberal/Conservative) to those networks carrying it (Fox/CNN) as they tried to make some degree of sense of out all of the financial mess that this country now finds itself in.  Amazingly, there was no agreement - not on a solution, but even on how we got there.  That's where the first casualty occurred.

The death of integrity.  The pending potential death of honesty.   I find myself, in the classroom, talking as a sooth-sayer.  Teaching the Fundamentals of Business to tomorrow's leaders while today's officials are stealing their way to prosperity.  The best job in the world?  Being a CEO of a company that just went belly up and walking out with millions of dollars.  Get me one of those jobs....now.

And, like is so often the case, we now fall prey to the "don't just do something, stand there" mentality.  Both Presidential candidates fled to Washington to work on a game-saving plan.  In 3 days this was going to be a reality and all that was needed was about $700 million dollars.  Where the hell did they get that number?  This is the same group that can't agree on where the end tables are supposed to be put in the various offices that they occupy and we are to entrust them with fixing a problem that essentially isn't even theirs.  Pardon me, but we're not that stupid.

The Fundamentals of Business is that we live in a Capitalistic society.  But now socialism, in the form of the United States Government, is making its way into the Capitalistic form of business.  The fundamental law of supply and demand has now been officially obliterated.  Now we can look to those who can't agree on anything try to fix a problem that they don't understand.

All under the leadership of a man who just a few years ago left Goldman Sachs with a ton of money.  Like the Watergate prosecutors found out years ago, "follow the money."  Only in 1973 the tax burden wasn't being handed to a tax-paying society.   Perhaps some form of a taxpayer revolt is about to happen.  After all, aren't we all stockholders?  Are we electing members of Congress or positions on the Board of Directors?  I, for one, would really like to know the answer to that question.

The first Presidential debate was interesting.  Not telling, but interesting.  We see John McCain, the believer in tax relief, looking to reform Wall Street.  We see Barack Obama looking to the plight of the working class.  Neither has the time, the experience or the moxie to pull this one off.

No, we would have been better off weathering the hurricane of AIG, letting the markets fall and keeping the Feds out of this mess.  Or maybe not.  That's a crap game that I don't want to necessary play into, but because of the greed and corruption on Wall Street, we have all been forced into the game.Back to the classroom.  We talk of making a product and selling it for a profit.  Pretty simple.  Like your neighborhood Kool-Aid stand.  Produce 25 glasses for $5 and sell for $8.  A profit.  This mess was caused by one mortgage being sold countless times and when the Federal Government decided to back this fallacy, why not?  Let's take the fundamental part of capitalism out of the equation - just this once - so that the Senators and the US Reps can become executives in businesses that they don't understand, can't fix and will only muck it up even more.

We judge our economy on housing, jobs and the cost of money.  Inflation, too, but more on that later.  Joblessness is over 6%, the money and credit flow is essentially frozen and housing is showing little if any heartbeat.  Why?  Because the carpetbaggers on Wall Street convinced those that couldn't afford a double-wide that they could afford a $500,000 mansion.   What did they care?  Arrogance.  Pure and simple.

And where were the elected officials prior to this massive march on Washington last week? Playing the petty political games that have now become routine.  Attacking, misquoting and dodging the responsibility that only they possess.  Mrs. Polosi - what's your take?  Mr. Bernacke?  Have an opinion.  It even took W about 3 days to respond and he looked like he was on crack.  It used to be when the chips were down, this is where we went for answers.  This time, all we got was more blather.

And where are we a week later.  Is FEMA coming to assist?  Will I get relief?  Will I have housing, shelter, a job and some money in my pocket? Is there a check in the mail? (Actually, there will be a letter in the mail, but you won't like it). No, this isn't a natural disaster, it has now become a political disaster.

Ameren didn't miss a beat and will extract another 10% of your dwindling paycheck in a month of so.  So they can invest in more ways to keep their monopoly going.  And why not?  The same politicians and lobbyists are making those boardroom decisions so they can be re-elected and that the rate increases go on unabated.   Inflation - paying more for the same service without getting anything more in return.  We'll be hearing that word again.  Break out the Gerry Ford Whip Inflation Now buttons.

Priorities.  We have become a country and a society so obsessed with money that we have not sold our inner souls to reap the benefits.  Yet those fields are drying up.  The economy always wins.  Choices will be made.  But don't worry.  Citibank and Goldman Sachs will soon be sending you your NEW credit card.  Use it often.  And if you run up a massive bill you can't pay, just call that 800 number and those folks will magically negotiate your debt down 90%. (ask them what their take is first).

We started the week in a mess.  The final casualty was one of consumer confidence.  While not dead yet, it is on life supports.  Here's hoping that this patient truly pulls through.

Because we have a lot of future ahead of us.  Regardless of McCain or Obama.  Perhaps in spite of both.  I have a hero that I want to protect and nurture.  It will take confidence, integrity and honesty.  Provided they're still around.

One final note - an icon of philanthopy and entertainment - Paul Newman died.  The lives he touched.  His presence will be impossible to replicate.  And his most famous role was that of the kid in a movie called The Hustler.  Perhaps with the script that Wall Street and Congress have concocked this week, we can have the sequel - Hustled!

Till next week and as always, I remain...