"Did you plug the hole, Daddy?"

On the morning of May 27, 2010 as the 45th President of the United States began his day - as we all do, in the bathroom grooming himself.  Little Malia took time away from her standard morning preparations to ask her father, in her own way, the question that is seemingly on everyone's mind:  "Did you plug the hole, Daddy?"

Does anyone besides me find this an odd question, for the President of the United States to draw upon for addressing the media?  Never mind the President's (rightful) disposition about the media highlighting the goings on of his young children.  Never mind the supposition that most of our - non-presidential - children rarely pay too much attention to what we do in our day to day.  Never mind the ubiquitous notion (at least in my mind) that the presentation may have been for dramatic purposes only and using what may generously be termed as poetic license to do so.  His opinion that he must command and control - this is a recurring one. Days before that we are treated with insider accounts of the President demanding staff to "Plug the **** hole!".  He felt the same way about GM...and AIG...and Health Care.  

I, for one, would like to give the President a pass on "plugging the hole".  If you are tea party faithful, I think you should too.  In fact, I think that the interests of the country would be better served if President Obama simply maintained pressure on the companies in charge to corral  the resources of the American people - and get the hole plugged.  They will get it done.  Then he can use what he does control:  the regulatory agencies that monitor this situation to correct, rebuke and penalize the appropriate parties at an appropriate time and in an appropriate way.  In this he would be condoning what is good (creativity, inginuity and efficiency of the American people).  And punishing evil.  (Those who through neglect, greed, or political posturing allowed this to occur.)

I know, my republican friends are secretly behind the scenes, even as I write, trying to figure out how they will follow the advice of the Presidents Chief of Staff.  Who famously stated out loud what every politician intuitively knows, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."  And make no mistake, politically, this will be a "great" crisis for the opposition.  I'm not from that school of thought, anymore.  I am tired of living in a world that is so caught up with the "social investment" by our government  (read: taxes) that we don't know where our ownership ends and government control begins.  Let me rephrase that, "I am petrified of living in a  world that is so caught up with the social investment by our government that we don't know where our ownership ends and government control begins.   

We demand our medicare; We demand our social security; We demand our public school funding; We demand our unemployment compensation; We demand, we demand, we demand. And then we rally ourselves Washington, or Chicago, or Madison, or Atlanta and demand that government get out of the way. Shame on us. We should be appalled at the notion of which our President burdens himself: that he "is in control". That is exactly the problem. And that would be true whether the President of the United States who held the notion were Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln. So, please, take a step back Mr. President, give yourself a break. Let the creative and fiduciary forces available in this country (so far) create a solution to "plug the hole." The result will be a more efficient and effective solution than a distant central government could ever provide.

I am tired of the hypocrisy. I am tired of it in myself and I'm tired of it in those around me. When will we repent of this? When will we acknowledge the need for sacrifice and when will we take action based upon those prerequisites?  Give yourself a break Mr. President, you can't control this - nor can you control GM, AIG, Healthcare, the student loan industry, ad infinitum...   Please stop trying to control - guide, enforce and lead.  Punish evil and condone what is good.  Then stand back let the people come together and take care of themselves.

Banking in America - 2009

We have been told that this is the worst economy since the great depression.  So should we run for the banks and hide our money under a mattress?  Let me offer some insight.  Now, I am no financial guru as anyone in the "know" could clearly observe, but I can offer the following.  During the great depression the citizens of the United States ran to their banks to pull money out, then watched as 9000 banks went under.  FAILED.  

Fastforward 2009.  We now have a back up system which is the FDIC,  rightly or wrongly, that guarantees that our funds will be available.  This means that when confidence wains, and folks run to get their cash (ala' the run on George Bailey's bank in "It's a Wonderful Life") it is always available long enough to calm fears, and allow folks to get the cash back in the bank.  So far in 2009, under this "crisis" we have lost a grand total of 52 banks.  If we add 2008 totals to that we get a whopping 57 banks.  In fact, if we go all the way back to 2000 we get a total of less than 80 banks that have failed on us.  (see 'em all here)  Now, the banks on the brink right now are admittedly big, big, BIG banks.  But I have to wonder, why don't we simply let them go?  Won't we be better off?  We have over 6,000 banks in the US that are opting out of the government guarantees.  Why?  Because there are thousands of profitable banks that are realizing the cost of this money is too great.  

My suspicion is that hundreds of banks will realize soon enough that this program is going to lead them exactly the same place that CRA led Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Insolvency.  Stick with community banks.  They seem to know how to make it work.  Welcome the old axiom:  "They'll only lend money to people who don't need it?"  The people who "don't need it" are also the people with a proven propensity to create and sustain jobs for the rest of us.