Category: Current Events

The 2012 Vice-Presidential Debate

Overall: On the style of the debate, I am not a big fan of the table style debates. I prefer the podium. The moderator, Martha Raddatz from ABC News did a very poor job of preventing Joe Biden from interrupting Paul Ryan, and from preventing Biden from rambling. Joe Biden was obviously a much more experienced debater. Paul Ryan obviously had less debate experience. However watching Joe Biden left a rotten taste in my mouth. He was childish at times, talked down to the audience at times. He fabricated facts, and acted like what he said was the word of god. I think Paul Ryan was a little too nice at times. However if you listen to the facts being cited, I think Paul Ryan held his own and demonstrated his abilities.

The CNN Arizona Republican Presidential Debate

On the various issues brought up during the debate I have the following:

Auto Bailout: Rick Santorum said he opposed the bailout because he did not think that government involvement is not the best method for the restructuring. Mitt Romney said that he wrote an Op-Ed in the WSJ opposing a loan package, recommending a managed bankruptcy and help coming out of bankruptcy. He said he supported TARP in order to loosing all the banks and having the entire financial sector going down. Then later the companies actually went through a managed bankruptcy, and the President gave the companies to the UAW; which was a big part of the problem. Newt Gingrich said the problem with the US auto industry was a management system that could not deal with the UAW. Newt said that he agreed to with Mitt, and that President Obama violated 200 years of bankruptcy law in an unprecedented manner and screwed all the bond holders. Ron Paul that the government and politicians were the primary problem in the auto industry.

The CNN South Carolina Republican Presidential Debate

Overall: I was about 30 minutes late tuning into the debate, so I missed the a couple of the early items. Hats off to the crowd for showing their displeasure when Ron Paul was passed over on the Right to Life question. They forced John King to back up and include Ron Paul on the issue. I give the South Carolina crowds 5 Stars in these 2 debates……..

A Few Thoughts on the Fox News South Carolina Republican Presidential Debate

Newt scored big points by referencing the Galveston, Texas and Chilean system. He really knew this subject well. His mention of the Principal Group in Des Moines helping administer the Chilean system was great. It is a good starting point on being able to get the facts on this system out to the public. Also, his comments about the estimates by the Social Security Actuary estimating 90-95% of younger people opting into the system, and the building up of an asset that they own where extremely good. He also referenced Martin Feldstein of Harvard for estimating that this system would reduce wealth inequality in America by over 50% over the next generation.

Thoughts on the Future of Cable TV, A La Carte Please

I do not watch a lot of television. I generally find 4-6 shows I like during a season and stick with them. I guess you could say that I am pretty loyal to the shows I like. I do like to follow the entertainment and media industry because I think it has some rather unusual quirks of personality that are unique to entertainment. Things that would get you fired in any other industry are perfectly acceptable in the entertainment industry. Things like the head or the WB Network canceling its top rated show, “Angel”; or ABC firing the creators of “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” before the shows even aired their pilot episodes. I think this has been made all the more interesting over the last couple of years due to the writers strike and advancements in internet technology………

A Look at MF Global

The act of a brokerage firm taking funds from customer and client accounts for its own use is not something that is not done lightly or by low level employees. It is something that requires approval from the top levels of a firm. In my opinion in the MF Global situation, it was either an act of extreme desperation or arrogance. Either someone at the top was extremely desperate to save the firm, or someone was arrogant enough to think that they were far smarter than the market and they would be proven right while the naysayers would be proven wrong. Either way, it was

A Few More Thoughts on Yahoo

It looks like Marc Andreessen’s firm may be thinking of making an offer and installing Jeff Jordan to run the firm. It looks like Thomas H. Lee Partners may be thinking of making a $5 Billion offer for Yahoo’s U.S. operations, while Alibaba Group may be trying to round up financing to make a $4 Billion offer for Yahoo’s Asian operations.

A Few Thoughts on the CNBC Republican Presidential Debate

this election is going to come down to a question of who best suited to guide the economy going forward. I feel that the CNBC staff brought a level of knowledge about the economy, how businesses work, and the important issues facing us that were sorely missing in previous debates. I thought the questions were very good, much better than any other debate. I also liked the format that spread the time out much more evenly among the candidates and did not simply focus on the front runners. I think this gave the viewers a chance to better understand all the candidates and their positions.

On the various topics in the debate I have the following:……

A Few Thoughts on the CNN/Las Vegas – Republican Presidential Debate

On the various topics in the debate I have the following:

Tax Code: On whether we should replace the current income tax system with a national sales tax? Michele Bachmann said that the government would be too tempted to raise taxes and that we should give the government a new tax. Herman Cain on claims that 9-9-9 would actually raise taxes on low income, he directed people to the analysis on his web site at www.hermancain.com He said that politicians were attacking his proposal because they wanted to