Loose Ends... Vol. XXVII

A few items to discuss to wrap up the week.

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First, I want to give a thumbs-up to President Obama for his two Executive Orders on January 21 - one on transparency in Presidential records and the other on ethics in the Executive Branch. I frankly haven't researched the constitutionality of such moves, but I do support them on the surface.

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I do want to give a thumbs-down to Congress and, in particular, my representative, Dan Burton (R-IN). I'm doing my best to follow Mr. Burton and give him the benefit of the doubt despite my reservations (I did vote for him). This week in his blog, he indicated his support for a resolution which honors Tony Dungy. This is a waste of taxpayer dollars. I don't know Tony Dungy personally - every indication is that he is a good man. But, it is a waste of time and money to draft such legislation. It's kind of like recognizing sugar cream pie.

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The economic stimulus which is intended to be provided via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a hot topic. I've been trying to follow it closely, but time has been my enemy. I did catch some of the subcommittee hearings on C-SPAN. This is good stuff as they get into the detail more than they do on the House floor. The action in the Appropriations Committee and the Ways and Means Committee was solid.

One thing I've noticed in the last week or so is referencing Mark Zandi (of Moody's Economy) as a conservative economist. Mr. Zandi was apparently an economic adviser to the McCain campaign. This frankly does not qualify him as "conservative" - in fact, I'm not sure what a "conservative" economist really is... I thought that big government deficit-spending was the antithesis of "conservative" economics. By the way, Zandi is on the stimulus boat.

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My fellow blogger at "My Simple Life" pointed me to a request from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) to Microsoft regarding his thoughts on how they should run their business. Sen. Grassley is urging Microsoft, who announced that they will be cutting up to 5,000 jobs, to preserve jobs for Americans over foreigners who are working here with a visa on the basis of morality.

I'm sorry. This is disgusting and the type of garbage that has helped put our economy where it is today. The U.S. economy is at its best when it employs the best talent for the job at the right price. Every time that the government meddles in this, it will inevitably lead to a deterioration of our overall economic condition. We should be careful what we wish for.

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Two last articles for you to read at your pleasure on the economic crisis. Economist Nouriel Roubini is now predicting that the losses in the U.S. financial system may reach $3.6T which would leave the banking system effectively insolvent. Speaking of insolvent banks, it is being reported that the U.K. banking system was facing a collapse on October 10 before deals were reached in secret to prevent the meltdown.