Obama equals Bush

President Obama has been in office 17 months and now the baby is all his. The President is still moderately popular on a personal level, hovering around 50% approval, but when it comes to his policies, his poll numbers have fallen like a rock. His approval rating stands at an all-time low of minus 9.

Most people, including me, have been pulling for him. We want the country to do well, and we have been willing to give him a fair chance, but his time has just about run out. The Independents and Republicans are not his only critics. Many of his most loyal followers feel betrayed.

We cannot deny that Bush handed Obama a mess. The economy was struggling, and the war was dubious, but one of Bush’s worst failings involved the housing crisis. Oh sure, his team can deflect some of the blame for the Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac debacle by pointing to the likes of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, Democratic Congressman. They certainly played major roles as the instigators of the dumb “make a loan to anybody” policies that eventually caused the downfall in the national real estate market. But, the truth is the Republican President and his pals were willing to ignore all of the signs of risk as long as employment was high and people were refinancing their homes. As far as they were concerned those forces were creating plenty of people to tax and support the war.

In fairness to the former President, the Democratic Congress has done him no favors. The House is the body that originates bills and provides the money to spend. They came up with a stimulus package, but they are obviously playing politics because they have delayed releasing the money until it will buy them votes in the 2010 mid-term elections. But most politicians see through their “I will do anything to get reelected” policies and the polls say they are playing with fire. Besides, we all know that most of those “shovel ready” projects were not needed and even if they are implemented any “work” from them is short term. Real jobs would be much better.

So we can conclude that the Republican Bush handed Obama a big fat mess and the Democratic Congress made things worse for him, but we still look to the current President to set the course and solve the problems. Obama is not doing a very good job of it.

This is where Bush and Obama are so much alike. Bush was in over his head and so is Obama. Then to compound matters, they each charted their own course without much regard for anybody else. Bush went after Iraq and Obama wants to finance a transformation of the Country to something much less driven by Capitalism and more dependent on the Government, as evidenced by the Health Care debacle. That was the biggest power grab in American history and worse yet; the small amount of bi-partisanship that was exhibited was on the “opposes” side….that is a few democrats joined the Republicans, who all voted “No”.

They both alienated their most ardent supporters, right from the beginning. Bush spent money like a drunken sailor and did nothing about the illegal immigration issue. He also created a brand new Federal agency; The Department of Homeland Security. As for Obama, he has not drawn down the war, he has not created any “green” jobs or any others, he has not sufficiently investigated Dick Chaney nor closed Gitmo prison as promised although that may still happen.

Bush used fear and the media to justify some questionable policies such as the way he manipulated the UN; and, Obama uses fear and the media to manipulate his adversaries, such as Fox News.

There are many similarities of these two Presidents and one thing is for sure: The supporters of each man would say that they failed to live up to expectations.

what similarities have you noticed?

Here is my Family Finances Blog

This Is Hannah

My wife, Patty, and a small group of her high-school buddies have formed a quilting club. They have been getting together once per month for several years. Sometimes they compare what they have been working on, other times they all work on one project. Occasionally they each make a baby quilt which they give away to needy families, and sometimes they just enjoy each other’s company.

About a year ago, one of the women read a book about Hanna, who was an infant in a concentration camp during WWII. Many years later, Hannah had lived a remarkable life that has proved a great inspiration for others. The book was about her marvelous journey.

One of Patty’s quilting pals got a copy of the book and discovered that Hannah lived in a nearby Colorado town. After a little research and effort the group made contact with the elder Hannah. A meeting was set up between them and a fh was antastic idea was hatched. The quilters wanted to make a memory quilt which would identify all of the fascinating experiences she had. Naturally they wanted to give Hannah the quilt as a symbol of their respect.

Once that was agreed, the quilters wanted to know everything about Hannah. They were honored to take her to lunch to discuss the details. Once the story was clear the gifted quilters went to work, each one taking on a different role and a different part of the project. One of Hannah’s primary homes was a common theme depicted.

Eventually, the one-of-a-king piece of art was completed and the ladies entered it ina quilting contest about quilts with a story. They all gathered to share the glory of their combined efforts. Hannah had a brand new hand-made quilt as a symbol of her life and the new friends that she had made.

A few months later, a weird phone call was received. It revealed that the charming Hannah had accomplished a lot more than the ladies ever knew, but not the particular things they thought. She was even a a part of the activities at Holocaust Week at the Universit of Colorado. (April 22) She had been convicted of fraud. She never was in a concentration camp and her whole story was a giant lie. Before anybody could catch up to her, she packed up her bags and disappeared into the night with a brand new quilt - a quilt created by truly extraordinary women.

Hannah’s real name is Rosemarie Pence. The writer of the book, Jean M., can’t help but feel partially responsible for perpetuation the lies about the 71 year old con woman: but Jean is just one of many who followed the string of lies. For more details visit the story as told in the Longmont newspaper, the Times Call.

whaddya think?

Michael Jackson: Icon or Beast?

Michael Jackson: Icon or Beast?

Michael Jackson’s memorial service was yesterday. Like most everybody else, I have been drawn into a couple of conversations about him this week. Nearly everybody recognizes his talent as a dancer, singer and entertainer. Still, there are all of his questionable activities with children. In our country a person is innocent until proved guilty, but that "benefit of the doubt" concept is reserved for the courts. In the arena of personal opinions, there is a lot more room for speculation and suspicion.

The people who love the fallen star, point to his successes. My youngest sister (I have 6 of them) grew up with the now-famous moon walk and the lone white glove. They think he is one of the greatest of all times; right up there with the Beatles and Elvis, but is that really true? Let’s take a look.

According to Billboard 200 He is not in the top 10 in total number of top-ten albums, number of number-one albums, or most weeks on the charts, but the Thriller Album stands proud among the very best of individual albums. Count me among the buyers.

There was only one album that stayed at number one for longer than Thriller (West Side Story holds the record at 57 weeks) which held the top spot for a remarkable 37 weeks. Thriller remained in the top ten for 78 weeks, which is 5th place on the all time list. Both of these accomplishments exceed any single album of the Beatles or Elvis. However, both of those artists exceeded MJ in the previously mentioned categories.

All of this will get revised soon because one week after Michaels death, nearly another million albums have been sold and the number is still climbing.

Given the fact that Elvis started in the 50’s and the Beatles were just a few years behind him we have to admit they have had a big head start on MJ unless you count the cutsie music of the Jackson Five. It is hard to know what the final results will be but there is no doubt when it comes to musical success, Mr. Jackson deserves his props, even if most of his fame comes from just one album.

So Michael the entertainer deserves his respect but what about the other Michael Jackson, the one who has had to hire every attorney west of the Mississippi to stay out of jail?

A little research reveals that Michael paid off the Chandler family somewhere between 10 and 22 million in 1994. Thereafter he settled another case without going to court. In both cases, many people believe that there was misbehavior, but the parents of the alleged victims either wanted the money or they wanted to spare their kids the embarrassment of a full-blown court case.

After that, our star was also charged with four counts of lewd conduct with a child younger than 14; one count of attempted lewd conduct; four counts of administering alcohol to facilitate child molestation; and one count of child abduction. He was found not guilty but he never proved his innocence. There is a big difference. Just ask O.J. Simpson, who was found not guilty in criminal court but held responsible for two deaths in a civil court.

There are plenty of Michael’s loyal followers who grant him the benefit of the doubt. Even the United States Congress had a moment of silence for him, which I found odd. A black leader (Sheila Jackson) pushed for it and nobody else had the backbone to point out the absurdity of that. Are we going to honor all entertainers now? Or just black ones? Or just the ones with a dubious past? Or just the black ones with a dubious past? Where do we draw the line? No such respect was accorded Farrah Fawsett who died the same day as Jacko.

As far as granting Michael the benefit of the doubt, color me very skeptical. I can’t help but think of the time he subjected his own child to unnecessary risk by dangling the youngster over a balcony, several stories above ground. This is not evidence of somebody who has the best interest of children at heart. That reckless disregard for children lends me plenty of doubt about the activities at Neverland where young ones were drawn in by all the glamour and may very well have gotten more than they bargained for. Naturally, I don’t really know what went on between the sheets but there is just too much circumstantial evidence to make me comfortable.

So, given all of the above, Michael has proved he is an icon and we are left to speculate about his dark side, if any.

Regardless of what the truth is, may he rest in peace.