On the road to that one vote

The California budget has passed — 106 days of stalemate have been broken.
An interesting tidbit surfaced yesterday — the state senate minority leader was ousted from his position.  He had been one of the Republican senators who was willing to buck his party.  True to recent form, he was replaced by someone who is more [...]

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Stimulus vote post-mortem

Each week my local paper encourages readers to have their say on a particular issue.  While it’s certainly not a scientific survey, it does provide some amusing and maddening reading.  Many of the same people voice their opinions on a weekly basis, and given the frequency with which their comments appear, I figure there aren’t [...]

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Job Creation: Spending v. tax cuts

There has been a lot of heat generated recently over the proposed stimulus package.  But let’s all take a deep breath and really look at what is proposed.  And let’s look at what most economists say is needed — jobs.  Tax cuts can be a short-term stimulus, but jobs provide a long-term stimulus effect.  That’s [...]

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No bluster, no swagger, no threats

I continue to be impressed with our new President.  He understands that communicating (both talking and listening) is a vital part of governance.  He is willing to compromise without sacrificing principle.  And he understands that power comes in many forms. He also seems to understand that influence is often more effective than raw power.
President Obama [...]

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Negotiating a compromise — now that’s a good thing

A couple of final thoughts about the bailout…

Text of what Congress will vote on has been posted here.
The individual tab doesn’t sound nearly as bad as the aggregate.  It’s actually less than $2300 per person.  When stacked up against what your 401(k) or pension or IRA or stock portfolio or your kid’s college fund has [...]

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