It's Time

It's Finally Time for Answers

Finally, the candidates stand side by side and talk to each other rather than at each other. For a political junkie this was great. Of course the scoring by the pundits will take up the rest of the weekend. It’ll be interesting to see what the experts say. I felt that Obama was the clear winner of the debate. It appeared to me that Obama kept McCain back on his heels, defending his positions and trying to push forward the thought that Obama isn’t ready to be Commander in Chief. Watching the debates, I came away with the feeling that Obama is ready to be Commander in Chief. He gave thoughtful and well researched explanations of his views. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything he laid out, but I felt he made sense. McCain seemed to be stuck on the Surge and Iraq. I agree, the Surge did make things better, but I still ask the question, what is a win in Iraq? Haven’t we set up a democracy, haven’t they had elections, isn’t their economy in better shape than ours? What else do we need to give these folks ?

What I saw was a McCain who was getting clearly upset and clearly felt that he was being ganged up upon. I’m sure that tomorrow the McCain campaign will complain about the moderator, and claim that the press is in the tank for Obama. This is growing tired in my estimation. Again, if you don’t like the criticism you cry foul. When did politics become so thin skinned? If you don’t want to play hardball, don’t throw the first bean ball. Both of these candidates were going to be high minded and keep the campaign above the gutter. Obviously, they haven’t done that, they have let their campaigns throw brickbats to the right and the left. I truly believe that neither of the candidates are the authors of these ads, they may not even see them, but as long as they endorse the ads at the end, it’s their advertisement.

I was very disappointed in the way that the candidates handled the negotiations over the economic bill. McCain came in as the person that was going to solve the problem, and he left Washington with his tail between his legs. No one gave him the chance to be a leader or show his negotiation skills, he just appeared to be window dressing for the President during his meeting. Obama went and didn’t do anything except attend the meeting with the President. It would seem that something as important as this would be an opportunity to shine. It appears that they have decided they don’t want to be attached to the plan, in case it goes bad.

GOOD LUCK

It's Time to Return to Congress

It’s time that both the Presidential campaigns  suspend campaigning, return to Washington D.C. and put their expertise and oratory skills to work helping Congress sculpt the bailout plan.  Let’s face it; sitting out on the campaign trail coming up with plans is a total waste of time. As candidates they have no standing to be making a plan, if they were in their seats in the Senate, they would have a leadership position within their party and they could be reaching across the aisle, and working for consensus, which they claim in their expertise, and the reason they should be President. How better to prove their point and be Presidential.

The candidates are handling the questions on the economy with the same stumbling approach that they have used all along. The economy is a much more complicated and difficult issue .l I think both candidates are extremely unhappy that the Iraq war isn’t the centerpiece of their campaigns. They both made the war the keystone of their campaign, and now the economy has moved to the forefront, and ruined all their plans.

I really believe that both campaigns are sitting out on the trail hoping that Congress solves this issue without the candidates having to put their reputations on the line. They both realize that it’ll be political suicide to take a stand in support of the bill that comes out of Congress because it’s going to be ugly and messy, however it works.

I found it interesting to see both candidates discuss the bailout. McCain came out swinging, firing people and placing blame. Obama came out with a quiet measured response, waiting to talk to his advisors and collecting information before he came to a conclusion. McCain is no longer the deregulator, now he’s all for regulation, and wants regulations put in place, all over the place.

Obama is calling for deliberation and support for the bailout. We’ll see what direction the Congress takes.

GOOD LUCK

It's Time for a Change in East Bay Sports

               I’m tired of sports in the East Bay; we seem to be losers, and certainly not lovable losers. I was discussing the possible purchase of the Cubs, by Mark Cuban, with my son who lives in Chicago. He said Cuban is getting a lot of flack because he isn’t a real Chicagoan. What bull bleep!! I told him that Cuban should pick up the Raiders and Warriors.

                Let’s talk Cuban in to buying the Raiders and the Warriors. It would be so great to have an owner who had all his facilities as well as someone with a passion for the sports he owned. Cuban seems to be in sports because he’s a fan, not a businessman. That was the great thing about Eddie D when the Niners were great. He didn’t make a business decision; he made a fan’s decision.

                Cuban has the money and passion to make both teams great. The next step is to to build new facilities with state of the art amenities. Cuban is a tech geek and the stadiums would have all the best interactive features. He could build a football only facility that would have the right scale and sight lines. The A’s want to move to Fremont, let them go. We talked about moving both teams to new facilities on Alameda Air Station. It would be a great use of the property, and access would be easier for the public.

                Cuban owns the HD Network, and he could make money by putting together programming on the teams. I’m sure HBO or Showtime would love series on the rebuilding of the organizations and training camps etc. It would be great. It would give Cuban a great revenue stream to help pay for the needed changes.

                I know Cuban is a thorn in the NBA’s side, but I also think he is probably the most exciting personality in the NBA outside Kobe and LeBron. Think what he could do for the NFL. They need an owner with some enthusiasm, someone who prowls the sidelines and gets involved, Remember when Jerry Jones first hit the scene? He was a breath of fresh air, and controversy. Cuban could do that. Right or wrong, Cuban would make things happen for both teams. I hope Mark is in the habit of reading my blogs and will take this suggestion to heart. I’m ready to volunteer any help that he needs.

                While we’re at it, let’s release Eddie D from his imposed exile and let the King of the Niners ascend the throne again. I realize free agency and the salary cap would make it a different game, but again, a true sportsman is needed to bring the NIners back to their rightful place in the NFL firmament. While we’re at it lets bring back Carmen Policy, the Crown Prince, as well.

GOOD LUCK

               

               

               

               

It's Time To Take Back America's Commerce

I’m outraged .Not for the reasons that most people seems to be, I’m outraged that the government deregulated the financial sector, and that the government chose not to enforce the few laws that were left to enforce. The government made a conscious decision to let anarchy overtake the financial markets in the United States.

Corporate leaders are people, who are driven and creative, their job is to make as much money as possible for their stockholders, within the law. When you take the laws away, you’re letting their unbridled creativity take over. The people in the sector were basically bookies, taking bets on the rising stock market and housing market. The Government liked the idea of everyone in America becoming a homeowner, and the people loaning money saw it as a no risk situation, because home prices were rising as far as the eye could see. If people couldn’t afford the mortgage down the road, they could sell, walk away, and start over, no harm, no fouls. Then the economy started to slow, people couldn’t make the higher graduated payments and they started to walk away from their money pits. No one was waiting in line to pick up the property, and the house of cards began to teeter.

The mortgage companies had bundled mortgages in to securities that could be sold like stocks, sold them to the brokerage houses to sell to the public. That was going well, until the mortgages began to fall apart, then these instruments became an anchor around their necks, dragging them in to a sea of red ink. The mortgage companies could no longer sell the mortgages and they were out of money to loan, so no mortgages, and no home sales.

The government sat back and watched this all unfold, deregulation was good, everyone was happy and the lobbyists gave campaign contributions to the regulators to keep them from interfering. Now all this deregulation has led to the carefully constructed house of cards tumbling in around our ears. Economies are no longer limited by national boundaries and the world is fearful of what America has wrought. Obviously, there are International vultures circling who are ready to pick the bones of the carcass and gain a foothold in America. The government has to step in to keep our economy in the hands of Americans; they can’t let China or Israel, or even Russia buy American assets, so the government has taken the unprecedented step of nationalizing American businesses. Let’s face it, always before it has been socialist countries that have nationalized industries which was usually to reap the benefits and redistribute the wealth. In this case, the nationalization is to save those who have been reckless and put us a risk. The American economy depends upon it.

It seems that if we had mandated fiscal responsibility and common sense we could have avoided this catastrophe. I’m not a psychic, there have been a great many economists who saw this coming several years ago and warned of the issues, but apparently, as long as the campaign contributions kept coming, they clouded the politicians’ vision and will to place the needed boundaries on the process.

Should we attack the corporate leaders who hatched these schemes? I think not, we took the boundaries away and made a wide open playing field where they could do anything that they could imagine. The government’s job should have been to lay down rules to protect the public, and level the playing field. Now they are left with the task of deciding who to let go bankrupt and who to save. The job of corporate governance was to make money for their stockholders, and for quite a while they were wildly successful. The shareholders rewarded them with stock options, bonuses and money, hand over fist. In a free market, the shareholders control the company, and in those companies where the government is now the major shareholder, they can make the rules. In the companies that are still free, we need to let shareholders continue to operate the company. We can’t fall in to further socialist control of commerce. The people of America need to understand that the ballot, rather in politics or commerce, is the most important safeguard for our safety. We need to get control of the economy as soon as possible, put sane rules on all commerce, and walk away and let the markets do what they do best. We can’t continue down this slippery slope of government taking over businesses. It must stop.

GOOD LUCK

It's time for sanity

9/11 was a day of remembrance. We all remembered back to that day in 2001, where we were, what we saw and heard and how we reacted. I think everyone realizes that the events of that day were a game changer in the way the world works. It certainly remains a force in American politics, it is the background of almost everything that happens in politics, impinges on most decisions and programs that are put through as legislation.

9/11, this year, was also a blessed event from the view of the current campaign. All the sniping, half truths, outright lies, and facts that can make a candidate look bad were halted for the day. Both candidates were able to go out and be statesmen, and not politicians, they were able to explain their points of view on the subject of volunteerism without having to take a swipe at their opponent. Sarah Palin was able to see her son off for Iraq and not have to snipe at the Democrats or make his departure a partisan event.

You know I almost believe that the Presidential candidates themselves aren’t comfortable with the way that the campaign has degenerated from policy discussions to personal attack polemics. Both of the Presidential candidates seem to be men with a sense of decorum and they both realize that their policies are so different that they have clear visions of America’s future. I would love to see them stop letting the handlers paint their pictures of the campaign, and go from coast to coast having town hall meetings with real Americans, not prescreened sycophants manning the audience. It would help the public see the real personalities of the candidates, and it would let the candidates view what’s bothering America. It would be face to face, and not a filtered version by pollsters. It could be great.

The VP candidates were both chosen by the campaigns to be the attack dogs, again, that became important to the campaigns because the candidates weren’t comfortable doing their bidding. If we’re to believe the information that’s being passed around out there, McCain was pushing for a Democrat, Joe Lieberman, as his VP, but the campaign and the conservative right would have rebelled at that, so Palin was brought in as a game changer, and that has certainly worked.

I firmly believe that because the campaign season has been so long, and because the media has been fighting to fill hours of programming by following every word that comes out of a candidate’s mouth, we will reach the point that every attack will be declared as an off limit statement or attack, and the campaigns will be forced to address the issues. I think these personal attacks are an easy way out for the campaigns. Trying to explain real policy is dry and time consuming; an attack is quick and flashy, which would be easier? But now attacks on animals, lipsticks, children, patriotism, race, relationships, and a number of other subjects have been taken off the field, so hopefully policy will be the only thing left to discuss.

GOOD LUCK

It's Time for a Change in Fairfield

A horrible thing happened to the community of Fairfield this week. Matt Garcia was killed by an unknown assailant. This attack on Matt brings home the fact that Fairfield has become a totally different community than the town I moved to twenty-eight years ago.  I am personally angry that this could happen here. As a community, we need to find this unacceptable and press for a quick resolution of this crime.

In politics they always speak about the failure of today’s youth to be involved in the politics of the community. If you talk to youth, they will tell you that they don’t become involved because they feel that they can’t change anything. Obviously Matt Garcia didn’t share that belief.  As a person who loves to follow politics and watch players enter and leave the field, I was excited to see someone with youth and enthusiasm step up to play the game. Matt had stepped forward to run for the City Council up against a list of much more seasoned candidates. I’m sure many people believed his would be one of those Don Quixote campaigns with no hope of victory.  That didn’t come to pass. Matt was open with the community, honest, with no falseness, and built bridges that led to his being elected.

I was at a Neighborhood Watch Organizing meeting several months ago, and Matt was one of the speakers. As he spoke about the city and the improvements to services in the community it was easy to see his enthusiasm for what the Council had done, as well as plans for the future. There was a discussion about gang activity in the community and the city’s plans to try to curb it.  Garcia and John Mraz both spoke about how upset the gangs were regarding the new plans.  I hope that Garcia’s death isn’t tied to any of the gang activity that was spoken of that evening.

As members of this community we should all feel betrayed that something like this senseless death could occur here. The fact that no information that could help solve this case has come forward is disappointing. We need to remain incensed about the crime and we need to demand that all the resources of this community be put towards solving the crime. Matt Garcia stepped up as a community leader and he worked very hard to help move a number of issues forward in our community. He and his family deserve closure on this horrendous crime.

I would also hope that this crime doesn’t cause others, who may be thinking of a career in politics, to reconsider their decision. As we have seen through the politics of the last eight years, it’s time for new ideas and different ways of governing to come to the fore.  The way things have been done in the past isn’t getting it done. We need to find more young people ready to pitch in and help build the future. I want to thank Matt Garcia and his family for their work. As we grieve for Matt, in his honor, we need to celebrate and build upon the beginnings for which he was responsible.

GOOD LUCK