I have been away for a while, partly because of the holidays and partly because I didn’t want to come across as whining or infantile. I did not vote for Mr. Obama. My candidate was Mike Huckabee or Fred Thompson. I think Mayor Giuliani would have made a great Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security (If we have to have the stupid agency). John McCain came out the winner of our primary (some day I will go into that process), because the conservative movement fractured into 10 different factions. People in our caucus found fault with all of the nominees. John McCain has an impressive background and could have made a great Secretary of State or Defense. He is a war hero a true conservative on some very key issues like abortion, the war, and traditional marriage. He lost because he did three things wrong and only one thing right. He didn’t come up with a clear conservative message to the economic crisis, he touted “working across the isle (First Amendment, federal judges to the Appeals Bench), and didn’t bring up Wright, Ayres, and Rezko. The one thing he did right was pick Sarah Palin as his Vice-President nominee.
The issues of Wright and Ayres, while important, were secondary to the issues this country was facing. The economy and two wars and the looming issue of Vladimir Putin invading the independent Georgian state. If you understand the economy more than just what you are told on the Fox Business Channel the problem of banks and financial companies like Merrill Lynch, Bear Sterns, or even AIG could have been meliorated with just a few accounting rules and loan guarantees to back stop the difference would have stabilized the credit markets. The looming recession is a different mess altogether. The current President will take this country in a totally different direction and blame the former President. He will say “you can’t blame me” “I am doing what President Bush did.” The argument is both specious and incorrect. President Bush did the right thing the wrong way. The proverbial right church wrong pew aspect of the problem will be misinterpreted for a long time. Sean Hannity, in interviewing Rush Limbaugh, put a handle on this issue when talking about FDR and his legacy. It is my contention that FDR was one of the worst Presidents of the 20th century.
I, as a banker, can tell you that while it is true that ACORN and other surrogates intimidated some banks to make these criminal loans. Loans, that financially devastated the poor for 10 years and maybe longer. The other banks didn’t care one way or the other. The American Bankers Association lobbied congress (Republican congress) to repeal Glass/Steagal. Glass/Steagal came out of the depression. Congress with the help of President Clinton reassured in the old way of banking (supposedly under the guise of competing with Europe) gave bankers the go-ahead to turn the banking system into a used car lot type of business. From that date if you wanted to work in an bank all you needed was proof that you can sell something. If you can convince the HR person you could make good money in commissions for selling loans or savings accounts. A bank isn’t in business to provide commissions to its employees like Raymond James or First Investors Company. A bank is in business to promote commerce in their communities. A Commercial Banks prime mission is to help companies carry on trade and commerce. If the employees want a checking account at the same bank then “all the better”, but the bank caters to the business. How do I know I am right? Look at the mess we are in today with the repeal of Glass/Steagal.
In the next 1,458 days Mr. Obama will be the President. It should be very easy to predict how he will govern. In the first 3 days the President has reversed everything that kept America safe for 2,688 days (from September 11, 2001 to January 20, 2009). It is irrelevant weather he will do it in 1 year or 4 years. The point is that he did it publicly. President Bush on many occasions said he wish he could close Gitmo. The difference was that Bush did it quietly so our enemy was kept guessing. As of this writing, the President will overturn Reagan’s, Bush 41, and Bush 43, ban on NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) from giving advice about abortion in foreign countries. Governing from the middle? I don’t think so. It is unclear at this early date, but the whole Gays in the military will come up again. The worst of all, in my humble opinion, is the issue of gay marriage. California may set the stage for Obama to put this issue forward claiming that California did it and every marriage didn’t collapse. I think it was Bill O’Reilly or Dick Morris on The O’Reilly Factor that argued that if Prop 8 is overturned again by the Court could make most religious services or openly praising God in public could cause criminal prosecution for hate speech. It is a idea that I didn’t think of. Court hearings on the bible and the Oath swearing to God be taken out of the Presidential Oath of Office.
What did Betty Davis say in “All About Eve”; “Fasten your seatbelt it is going to be a bumpy night.” In the coming weeks and months I will pick a topic on the economy, banking, pop culture (music, movies) the state of our youth (utes to Vinnie La Guardia Gambini), and finally I will comment on the Culture Warriors segments on O’Reilly’s show.