respublica

It looks like...

Rush was right this past Thursday when he theorized that Obama and the rest of the campaign advisors are going to trot out a huge second stimulus knowing full well it will be opposed.  They're counting on running against this opposition. 

You can wave off Limbaugh if you want, but folks, it's already started and the plan has not even been announced yet.  David Axelrod was on CNN's State of the Union Sunday show today dropping the first volley in the' blame republicans' for opposing the not yet made public jobs plan. 

Amanda Carpenter Tweeted this morning:  "Sounds like Obama is planning to unveil an econ plan they want the GOP to reject."

"They'll unveil another big spending plan, knowing they can use the GOP press releases against it to cry "obstruction."

And so goes the 2012 campaign for president.  We'll see if this works, a lot will depend on how many friends the president still has in the journalism world. 

 

The blame game

With the S and P downgrade, the debt ceiling crisis, the stock market fall, all we're hearing is debates on who is at fault for all this. 

Maybe it's time to direct our thinking to how to get out of it, not raging against who or what got us into it.  Bringing congress back will just be more of the same.

Another drop in home value

The biggest drop in the value of homes since 2008.

Some cable pundits are saying the housing market isn't a true indicator of the health of the economy (re: Morning Joe), but this may be debatable.

If this keeps up it won't be long before home sellers will be trading their homes for 3 goats and 5 chickens.

13 things that cost more, or will

13 items which make up just about everything.

Don't like the gas prices? Buy a smaller car

Says Obama

Funny.  AP took this bit off their feed.

Anything keep the prez from looking clueless. At least someone got a screen shot before it vaporized.

Sheesh.  

Real time gas prices

We knew gas prices were shooting up, but it took a car trip halfway across the country to really feel the effects. When you need to fill the tank at least 3 times, whoa, that's a lot of money. By the time we get back home we'll realize we could have flown and spent a night in a hotel and still not spent the same amount as we pumped into the gas tank.

So what is Missouri doing?

See post below on North Dakota.

Meanwhile debate begins in the Missouri senate on a "Right to Work" bill.  Democrats and a bunch of republicans vow to defeat it. 

Aside from this issue, is Missouri using the inate resources they have as does North Dakota?  Does Illinois for that matter?  Or have they been blinded by the idea of high speed rail saving them? 

Look north for inspiration.

Shocking news-North Dakota is booming

North Dakota has the best job market in the country, an unemployment rate of 3.2. Its economy "sticks out like a diamond in a bowl of cherry pits".  The secret must be trickling out because the population is growing.

Why is this?

The biggest reason is the 4.3 billion gallons of oil sitting underground in North Dakota and the state is drilling, baby.  650 new wells last year and plans for 5500 more.  They also have huge coal supplies and are leading the way in wind energy. 

North Dakota is also attracting high tech companies, biotech and engineering companies. 

The state has not "bet the farm" on one thing like high speed rail or solar, but has encouraged the entire gamut of possibilities available to them. 

It is also a right to work state, something attractive to new business.

But they've done things right.  According to the WSJ, they are doing first things first, "producing energy, food, and specialized manufactured goods for which there is a worldwide market.

Using what they have for the world market creates the jobs and quality of life in their own state. 

 

Certifiably happy in Nebraska

According to Main Street. com's latest Happiness Index, Nebraska is, financially speaking, the happiest state in the nation. 

The Tata Nano

In India, a new car introduced in 2009, was supposed to take the country by storm.  It was billed as "the People's Car, a tiny egg shaped car priced so cheaply it would give mobility to anyone.  After an initial buying frenzy, the Tata Nano has stopped selling in large part because the manufacturer could not keep up with the demand and because the engines would occasionally catch fire. 

The engine catching on fire is a good reason not to buy, I'd say. 

My sister who just returned from a week in India may not see the need for more India people in cars.  See a few of her photos.  She observed:

"I went straight to the hotel in a taxi let me say that India is the scariest place in the world to be in a motor vehicle, even at 4 am!  Everyone honks at everyone, the cars sometimes have their lights on and bikes, scooters and walkers. Some cars have the headlights and some do not.

Never try to cross a seat in India.  We had dinner at the “sailing annex” this evening and had to cross a very busy street.  Three gentlemen for conference stepped out and held traffic back while we crossed. Thought I was dead.

Well, safe to say, I have never been in a place like India. The streets are jammed, I am putting up pictures to display the chaos in these streets. It is Sunday so everyone is out in the streets."

Amazingly, the economy in India is growing at a rate of 9 percent a year.  Certainly ours, for all our lack of chaos in the streets in not growing like that.