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Monday, September 8, 2008
Politics: Whose Country Is It Anyway?
For anyone that watches ESPN's Jim Rome, this is my burn. I am going to talk politics here, but I am not going to give away my party preference. It is not necessary. This is a commentary against both Democrats and Republicans, and the way that the people's business is conducted.

The reality, unfortunately highlighted by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, is that our business is always secondary to the business at hand. That business is the never ending cycle of re-election. The tough decisions are never addressed until we reach crisis mode. Once that point is reached, it turns into a game of partisan finger pointing leading to a decision made out of desperation.

It has been known for some time that there were problems brewing. Accounting irregularities were announced on a fairly regular basis. Fortunately for these two companies, they had a strong and extremely effective lobbying and political contributions team that kept both parties at bay.

By doing nothing to address the problems, these political contributions remained safe, and the end result is what it usually is. You and I are going to bail it all out, there will be a couple of fall guys with beautiful golden parachutes, and no one in government will be held responsible.

Let's hope that this government takeover will relieve the situation, rekindle mortgage liquidity, save the banks and brokers and stabilize housing prices. Without costing the taxpayers a fortune. Watching trading today in some financials leads me to believe there may still be some issues. We'll all keep our fingers crossed on this one.

What could our next big problem be that our politicians will have to "deal" with after this one is "resolved"? Cast a glance over to the partisan bickering that is going on with drilling for oil and our foreign dependency, and get a front row seat to the self serving rhetoric by people who say that they understand the pain at the pump that you and I are going through, but who I suspect have absolutely no idea. It could be a long cold winter.