Dear Governor Herbert

Governor Herbert-

You recently said on TV that you are tired of hearing about the gloom and doom of the economy recently.

However, when I talk to my friends, many of whom are Republicans that would probably vote for you, all I hear is gloom and doom.

Tell the teacher of 5 years who recently was laid off by her school district, and can't find a teaching job for next fall that we have turned the corner.

Tell the previously self-employed wedding photographer who had to take a job at Wal*Mart because nobody's getting pictures taken that we're right on target.

Tell my friend who has an increased workload because his employer is not hiring people for his department because of the economy that things are getting better. (His employer is the LDS Church, BTW.)

Tell my neighbor the dentist, or the employees that he has had to let go because business is down 75% the past 18 months, that you are tired of the gloom and doom.

I'm glad that you are showing how out of touch you are with common Utahns. It will help them vote for Corroon in November.

-Bob

Calvin Explains the Economy

One of my favorite all-time comic strips is Calvin and Hobbes. Given that the strip ended in 1995, it is amazing how topical the strip still is.

Take this strip, stolen from KVNU's For the People:

Keating Economics: FULL VIDEO

If McCain and Palin want to play the association game.....

On the bailout: We're a bad parent

I've been trying to find just the right words to explain my views on the bailout plan passed last week.

Well, words that sound more intelligent than "It's frickin stupid."

So, while those words have not come yet, I do want to pass on words from a friend of mine from high school, who talks about her experiences working at a bank several years ago:

I also saw several (and I am not exaggerating) several parents of college students come in because their daughter (and it usually was a daughter) was short $500 in her checking account. They would shake their heads and then deposit upwards of $2,000 in her account to "bail" her out. This irked me the very most of anything because at the time I was a full time student, working full time and paying for all my school by myself. I couldn't stand the lesson these parents were teaching their children. It was basically spend all you have and then some because I will always bail you out. These college students now have some of those mortgages that are in foreclosure because they had to have a home that was too big and too much money for them.

$700Billion Fraud: Kucinich, Ron Paul on same page

Can you really be on more opposite sides of the spectrum?

September Comment of the Month: Bailout Small Banks

This comment got misdirected to an old post from April, but it's applicable now.

Assume I had 500 dollars to give to one of two people. One says:I lost 500 dollars gambling. Would you lend me 500 dollars to cover my loss?
The other man says: I'm a little behind becauase my wife had an operation which cost me 500 dollars and I need it to tide us over.
Which would you lend the money to?
We have solvent banks that didn't gamble. They are small banks but very conservative. These are the banks that will help main street. Doesn't it make more sense to give the money to them then banks that gambled?
Who would yor rather have the money?
I never understod why the money has to go to the fat cat big banks.

Gordon B Hinckley -- get your homes in order -- in 1998

October 3, 1998, St Cloud Minnesota. Bill Clinton was President, Jesse Ventura was running for Governor. I was a 19-year old LDS Missionary in my first area of assignment.

The economy was good. It was rolling. Some people sitting in the chapel watching conference with me saw this with a sense of dread. Others ignored it. I was left with a lasting impression.

Don't get me wrong. In the first several years after I got home from my mission, I didn't pay heed to these words. However, I remember my thoughts that night.

From my journal, with spelling cleaned up, and names removed to protect privacy:

At the close of Priesthood Session, Pres Hinckley spoke of the need to reduce debt and live within your means. Things are good now, but who knows about the future. He made a point to say he wasn't prophesying, but he is the Prophet, so it might be a good idea to listen. Brother S.... told us after conference that they owe more on their home than it's worth. It's OK, because they can make payments now. But if he lost his job, they would be in trouble, and they can't sell their house because they would still owe the bank money. Like buying a brand new car or something.

I really don't think things are going to happen soon. Sure, Sister B.... said that she thinks the government is going under within the year when we had dinner at her house on Wed, but she isn't all there. However, in the long term, we may see it happen.

I've reprinted the second half of the talk here. I put in bold a paragraph that sums up part of the problem.

Now, brethren, I should like to talk to the older men, hoping that there will be some lesson for the younger men as well.

I wish to speak to you about temporal matters.

As a backdrop for what I wish to say, I read to you a few verses from the 41st chapter of Genesis.

Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him. The wise men of his court could not give an interpretation. Joseph was then brought before him: "Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

"And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

"And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed. . . .

"And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: . . .

"And I saw in my dream . . . seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

"And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

"And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: . . .

"And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, . . . God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

"The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. . . .

". . . What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

"Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:

"And there shall arise after them seven years of famine.

". . . And God will shortly bring it to pass" (Gen. 41:17­20, 22­26, 28­30, 32).

Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.

So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings.

We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.

I hope with all my heart that we shall never slip into a depression. I am a child of the Great Depression of the thirties. I finished the university in 1932, when unemployment in this area exceeded 33 percent.

My father was then president of the largest stake in the Church in this valley. It was before our present welfare program was established. He walked the floor worrying about his people. He and his associates established a great wood-chopping project designed to keep the home furnaces and stoves going and the people warm in the winter. They had no money with which to buy coal. Men who had been affluent were among those who chopped wood.

I repeat, I hope we will never again see such a depression. But I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people. In March 1997 that debt totaled $1.2 trillion, which represented a 7 percent increase over the previous year.

In December of 1997, 55 to 60 million households in the United States carried credit card balances. These balances averaged more than $7,000 and cost $1,000 per year in interest and fees. Consumer debt as a percentage of disposable income rose from 16.3 percent in 1993 to 19.3 percent in 1996.

Everyone knows that every dollar borrowed carries with it the penalty of paying interest. When money cannot be repaid, then bankruptcy follows. There were 1,350,118 bankruptcies in the United States last year. This represented a 50 percent increase from 1992. In the second quarter of this year, nearly 362,000 persons filed for bankruptcy, a record number for a three-month period.

We are beguiled by seductive advertising. Television carries the enticing invitation to borrow up to 125 percent of the value of one's home. But no mention is made of interest.

President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the priesthood meeting of the conference in 1938, said from this pulpit: "Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103).

I recognize that it may be necessary to borrow to get a home, of course. But let us buy a home that we can afford and thus ease the payments which will constantly hang over our heads without mercy or respite for as long as 30 years.

No one knows when emergencies will strike. I am somewhat familiar with the case of a man who was highly successful in his profession. He lived in comfort. He built a large home. Then one day he was suddenly involved in a serious accident. Instantly, without warning, he almost lost his life. He was left a cripple. Destroyed was his earning power. He faced huge medical bills. He had other payments to make. He was helpless before his creditors. One moment he was rich, the next he was broke.

Since the beginnings of the Church, the Lord has spoken on this matter of debt. To Martin Harris through revelation, He said: "Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage" (D&C 19:35).

President Heber J. Grant spoke repeatedly on this matter from this pulpit. He said: "If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means. And if there is any one thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet" (Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham [1941], 111).

We are carrying a message of self-reliance throughout the Church. Self-reliance cannot obtain when there is serious debt hanging over a household. One has neither independence nor freedom from bondage when he is obligated to others.

In managing the affairs of the Church, we have tried to set an example. We have, as a matter of policy, stringently followed the practice of setting aside each year a percentage of the income of the Church against a possible day of need.

I am grateful to be able to say that the Church in all its operations, in all its undertakings, in all of its departments, is able to function without borrowed money. If we cannot get along, we will curtail our programs. We will shrink expenditures to fit the income. We will not borrow.

One of the happiest days in the life of President Joseph F. Smith was the day the Church paid off its long-standing indebtedness.

What a wonderful feeling it is to be free of debt, to have a little money against a day of emergency put away where it can be retrieved when necessary.

President Faust would not tell you this himself. Perhaps I can tell it, and he can take it out on me afterward. He had a mortgage on his home drawing 4 percent interest. Many people would have told him he was foolish to pay off that mortgage when it carried so low a rate of interest. But the first opportunity he had to acquire some means, he and his wife determined they would pay off their mortgage. He has been free of debt since that day. That's why he wears a smile on his face, and that's why he whistles while he works.

I urge you, brethren, to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.

This is a part of the temporal gospel in which we believe. May the Lord bless you, my beloved brethren, to set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts. That's all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable.

McCain/Palin: Question from voter "Gotcha Journalism"

Notice a few things from this clip:

1) It's both a question from a voter and gotcha journalism
2) Katie Couric Twice shoots them a "are you effing kidding me!?" look
3) Instead of allowing her to be the strong woman she supposedly is, John McCain has to jump in and save the day.
4) Palin *does* try to get cute when backed into a corner....

Much like he jumped in to save the economy or something....

Kudos to Bishop, Matheson on Bailout Bill

I just wanted to applaud Reps Bishop and Matheson for voting against the bailout yesterday.

Matheson explained his vote, saying "Utahns are outraged that even as they try to cope with a weakening economy, Congress wants them to come to the rescue of big banks who contributed to this financial mess."

He added, "I don't agree with government being in the business of bailing out private companies that make bad business decisions. I'm uncomfortable with granting one individual so much power to distribute taxpayer funds."

Matheson concluded, "While the current financial crisis is unsettling, I believe more thoughtful attempts are needed — including necessary reforms — to calm the volatility in the markets."

Bishop said: "We are in a tough financial spot, and things could get worse fast, but Congress is acting too quickly based on what you've really got to admit is an artificial deadline. We should be focused on acting correctly rather than just quickly.

"The first proposal that (President) Bush and (Treasury Secretary Henry) Paulson sent up was totally unacceptable," Bishop added. "The apparent 'deal' with the Democrats short after that was even worse." He said the latest proposal was better, "but there are still a couple of major problems."

Oh, and props to Orrin Hatch for being against the bill, also.

-Bob

Barack Obama: We Can't Afford to Gamble

When Katie Couric Owns You, You're Not Ready For VP

My least favorite interviewer with my least favorite VP candidate:

Couric: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

Debate Funnys

If you haven't seen this quote, you're missing out:

"It's the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys." - Barney Frank on McCain's proposal to postpone the debate.

From Facebook:

"Christian Burridge is in the middle of getting a haircut. Just a minute, I need to suspend my getting a haircut so I can unilaterally fix the economy."

David Letterman, who was supposed to have McCain on last night:

Dear Senator McCain ... You Can Debate

Dear Senator McCain-

You are a United States Senator. You are asking the American Public to give you a promotion in 40 days. The pay raise comes with a significant increase in responsibility.

You recent performance in you current job has been, well, non-existent. The last time you voted in the Senate was April 8. Yeah, you've been busy. To be fair, the other person being considered hasn't been around much recently, but he's been there since April 8. At this job, you are one of 100 people.

You have an important job interview coming up this Friday. You want to cancel the interview to return to your job. Really? You can't do both? You have a driver that can run red lights and go as fast as he wants. You have a plane that has priority takeoff and landing at airports. You can go to work today and tomorrow, and leave Washington at 5. You can work from your plane. That gives you four hours to get to Mississippi and sit through makeup. Then, after the interview, you can get back on the plane, and head back to the office.

I'm sure that those who run the show in DC won't schedule the vote between 5PM Friday and, say, 2AM Saturday, giving you plenty of time to get back to the District.

You can concentrate on more than one thing at a time. I have faith in you. I have to have faith in you. After all, you say you want a job where you will be in charge of the world's biggest military, who happens to be fighting on two fronts.

If you can't handle this as 1% of the US Senate, how are we supposed to believe that you can handle the job when you are the Decider-in-Chief? What happens when you have two wars, a fragile economy, and an earthquake destroys a sizable American City? Can you handle all of that going on? And, if you can, could you handle a call from you National Security adviser letting you know bin Laden is in the Rose Garden and would like to speak to you or he's going to blow up Phoenix?

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the fact that be wanting to cancel the debate to go back to DC, you are saying that you are the white knight that is coming in to single-handedly save the economy. Which you have admitted several times that you are not an expert on. Really?

So, Senator, you can debate. You need to debate. Show the American people you can do it.

-Bob Aagard
Holladay, Utah

The Bailout Will Cost You $2,324.50

Just thought I'd let you know.....

Oh, and can I borrow a couple of bucks? I'll be a little short.

America's Newest Game: "Wall Street Bailout"

I have a new favorite Congressperson....

Morgan Bowen on Bailouts

I smell a scam.....

I just got this in my email. I'm thinking I might respond, but I want to run it by you to see if it smells fishy to you.....

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Dear Mr. American,

Good day and compliments.

I am HENRI PAULSON, the Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America, and the personal financial adviser to GEORGE W. BUSH (the eldest son of the former dictator of America, GENERAL GEORGE HUSSEIN WALKER BUSH).

This letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to determine the future and continued existence of the entire members of my country.

It is with deep sense of purpose and utmost sincerity that I have the privilege to write you this letter knowing full well how you will feel as regards to receiving a mail from somebody you have not met or seen before. There is no need to fear, I got your address from a Wall Street business directory which lends credence to my humble belief. I also assure you of my honesty and trustworthiness. I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

During the last Military Regime here in America, the Government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over-invoiced in various ministries. My country has had great crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of US$800,000,000,000.00 (eight hundred billion US dollars) in cash for safe-keeping. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be of most profitable for you.

I am working with the honourable MR. PHIL GRAMM, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As Senator, you may know him as leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s.

This is a matter of great urgence. We need a immediate blank cheque. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because as civil servants we are constantly under surveillance by Democratic members of Congress, the media, and the American public. My family lawyer, MR. RICK DAVIS, advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please note that this transaction is 100% safe and we hope to commence the transfer latest seven (7) banking days from the date of the receipt of the following information: all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. This way we will use your country's name to apply for payment in your name. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds. That's all. Let me know what you think about this.

We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit your confidentiality in this transaction.

May Allah show you mercy as you do so?

Your faithfully,

Dr. Minister of Treasury Paulson

New ARG Poll: Bush <20%, Literally Nobody Says Economy Getting Better

American Research Group, September 16-19, 2008. MoE +/-3% (Previous Results August 2008)

*Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?
Approve 19% (30)
Disapprove 76 (64)
Undecided 5 (6)

*Do you think the national economy is getting better, staying the same, or getting worse?
Getting Better 0% (18)
Staying the Same 13 (19)
Getting Worse 82 (60)
Undecided 5 (3)

McCain’s Economic Plan For Nation: "Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress"

It's sad when The Onion is that close to the truth....


McCain�s Economic Plan For Nation: "Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress"

Barack Obama Takes on John McCain, using McCain's own words, Actions