2008 Draws to a Close


It certainly hasn't been the best of years for most of us. The economic crisis has deepened and could well reach Depression proportions before the new year comes to an end twelve months from now. American consumer confidence is down to almost floor level and nothing on the horizon seems likely to change it. About half of the money Congress approved last month to bailout the financial sector of the economy has been paid out and nobody knows what has improved because of it. The Federal Reserve continues to lower interest rates despite no indication it is helping to stop the downward spiral. GM and Chrysler are close to going under and are seeking money to tie them over to Spring but no one knows what is supposed to happen then. Ford says it has enough capital to enable them to avoid asking for money right now. The latter is the only good news for now.


Politics and Corruption


The country elected the first African-American President in November in the form of Barack Hussein Obama despite a cloud of uncertainty about his place of birth and the influence some of his past associates may have on him. The uncertainty started with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and the list grew from there...Bomb Thrower Bill Ayers, Shady Dealer Tony Rezko, Father Pleger, Minister Farrakhan and moving up the list fast, Rod Blagojevich. The latter's contribution is yet to be exposed, but as one respected observer of the USA political scene reportedly said this morning, what has been revealed already is but a ripple, that there is much more to shock the citizenry in the days ahead.

2009 Outlook

The year ahead is not going to be the brightest for most of us, I'm afraid. With consumer confidence at an all time low, business is off in every field known to mankind and unemployment continuing to rise, gloom doom and dispair is rampant. Rather than risk a totally failed U.S. auto industry and businesses dependent on that industry, President Bush approved $15 billion in loans to GMC and Chrysler on the condition those corporations get their organizations back on a definable improvement track by March 31, 2009. Many are concerned that it's more money going after bad, that the auto companies should be allowed to go into bankruptcy in the belief it's the only way to get them to make the tough decisions and changes necessary for them to achieve salvation.

The incoming administration in Washington, DC is going to have more than its hands full for sure. Most of Obama's campaign promises don't stand a chance of fulfillment, at least not in the next 2-3 years. Even then, many of those promises, if put into place, will hurt more than help get us out of the current economic mess because of the costs involved. There is no way we can tax our way out. It's been tried before and it doesn't work.