Winner winner chicken dinner

DP wins the prize for first to register. But, as DP pointed out . . . now that he went to all the trouble to register . . . I best make it worth his while.

Well, here goes . . .

Does anyone else have the feeling that things are spinning out of control in Washington? That nobody really knows how to get us out of the hole we are in and that there is the distinct possibility that what we are doing now with our monetary policy and stimulus packages may make things a lot worse before too long? Our policymakers can not even adequately explain what is wrong, let alone identify how to fix it.

There was a lot of hand-waving about how important the stimulus bill is, and about how it was so urgently needed . . . (or else). But no one, including our esteemed President, can quite explain why and how this bill is going to "make things better", other than to assert broadly that it will create jobs. Did anyone else catch the CEO of Catepillar today contradicting what he was reported to have said two days ago (that CAT would start adding back jobs recently cut once the stimulus bill was passed)?

Those of us that operate in the "real world" economy, where we need to meet payrolls, pay our vendors, and get sales in the door, know that we are on our own to protect our people and our companies. We are all hoping Washington will eventually do something that will help, but increasingly it looks like that is misplaced hope. And, it looks like the natural rhythm of economic cycles will determine when we will emerge from this downturn.

But, one thing is certain . . . and that is what will happen when we do finally snap out of this economic morass. There will, no doubt, be a mad scramble to take credit for the billiant economic polices that led us out of the wilderness. Just like the rooster taking credit for the sun coming up.

All for now . . .