Here are the facts . . . draw your own conclusions.
1. It is common knowledge that President Obama and Warren Buffett have a close relationship (which will, no doubt, result in Obama being on Berkshire's Board of Directors within 12-18 months of getting out of office). Obama calls Buffett and talks about all sorts of things. Buffett writes Op-Ed pieces in the Journal that basically support Obama's calls for higher taxes. Buffett is the Poster Child for Obama's insistence that the wealthy can, and should, pay more taxes. After all, they say, even Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary!
2. Warren Buffett sits down with President Obama on Monday of this week to discuss the President’s pending "major jobs address" after Labor Day. Obama discusses his new jobs creation plan with Buffett, who gives him his opinions and the benefit of talking to someone who knows a lot about how the economy works (unlike . . .oh, forget it, that is just distracting from my point). Berkshire companies employ hundreds of thousands of workers and are involved in all sorts of businesses from carpet making to ice cream selling.
3. Two days later (on Wednesday of the same week), according to Buffett, he takes a bath (interesting . . . most men take showers, but that's neither here nor there). While contemplating his navel in the tub, Buffett gets an epiphany . . . "EUREKA!", he shouts, and leaps from the tub, dries off and calls Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
4. The following day, Buffett pulls the trigger on a $5 Billion investment in Bank of America Preferred Stock and Warrants, thereby buying a major stake in another one of the largest financial institutions in the USA (he also owns a major stake in Wells-Fargo).
5. Bank of America is one of the few remaining "too big to fail" financials. In other words, BAC has an implicit guarantee or backstop from the Federal Government and will not be allowed to fail.
6. Buffett announces, today, the same day he announced his $5 Billion investment in Bank of America, that he is hosting one of those multi-million dollar fundraisers for Obama’s 2012 Campaign, in New York City later this year. Coincidence. Pure and simple. It was in the works for a long time.
I am SURE that talking to the President on Monday about his as-yet-unannounced job creation plans (and whatever else they talked about) had NOTHING whatsoever to do with his Tub Epiphany, two days later, to buy a $5 Billion stake in the (toxic) Bank of America. Warren just figured that one out in the tub, while thinking big thoughts.
I am SURE that the fact that Buffett and the President have a close relationship will not affect decisions Treasury makes about the future of Bank of American ONE BIT. No way.
I am ABSOLUTELY SURE that there is just no connection between these dots. They are just the random walk of life’s silly little events. Ain’t it funny how they make that pretty pattern, though?
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Warren Plays Inside Poker
Here are the facts . . . draw your own conclusions:
1. It is common knowledge that President Obama and Warren Buffett have a close relationship (which will, no doubt, result in Obama being on Berkshire's Board of Directors within 12-18 months of getting out of office). Obama calls Buffett and talks about all sorts of things. Buffett writes Op-Ed pieces in the Journal that basically support Obama's calls for higher taxes. Buffett is the Poster Child for Obama's insistence that the wealthy can, and should, pay more taxes. After all, they say, even Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary!
2. Warren Buffett sits down with President Obama on Monday of this week to discuss his pending "major jobs address" after Labor Day. Obama discusses his new jobs creation plan with Buffett, who gives him his opinions and the benefit of talking to someone who knows a lot about how the economy works (unlike . . .oh, forget it, that is just distracting from my point). Berkshire companies employ hundreds of thousands of workers and are involved in all sorts of businesses from carpet making to ice cream selling.
3. Two days later (on Wednesday of the same week), according to Buffett, he takes a bath (interesting . . . most men take showers, but that's neither here nor there). While contemplating his navel in the tub, Buffett gets an epiphany . . . "EUREKA!", he shouts, and leaps from the tub, dries off and calls Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
4. The following day, Buffett pulls the trigger on a $5 Billion investment in Bank of America Preferred Stock and Warrants, thereby buying a major stake in another one of the largest financial institutions in the USA (he also owns a major stake in Wells-Fargo).
5. Bank of America is one of the few remaining "too big to fail" financials. In other words, BAC has an implicit guarantee or backstop from the Federal Government and will not be allowed to fail.
I am SURE that talking to the President on Monday about his as-yet-unannounced job creation plans (and whatever else they talked about) had NOTHING whatsoever to do with his Tub Epiphany to buy a $5 Billion stake in the (toxic, and Government backed) Bank of America. Warren just figured that one out in the tub, while thinking big thoughts.
I am SURE that the fact that Buffett and the President have a close relationship will not affect decisions Treasury makes about the future of Bank of America ONE BIT. No way.
I am ABSOLUTELY SURE that
1. It is common knowledge that President Obama and Warren Buffett have a close relationship (which will, no doubt, result in Obama being on Berkshire's Board of Directors within 12-18 months of getting out of office). Obama calls Buffett and talks about all sorts of things. Buffett writes Op-Ed pieces in the Journal that basically support Obama's calls for higher taxes. Buffett is the Poster Child for Obama's insistence that the wealthy can, and should, pay more taxes. After all, they say, even Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary!
2. Warren Buffett sits down with President Obama on Monday of this week to discuss his pending "major jobs address" after Labor Day. Obama discusses his new jobs creation plan with Buffett, who gives him his opinions and the benefit of talking to someone who knows a lot about how the economy works (unlike . . .oh, forget it, that is just distracting from my point). Berkshire companies employ hundreds of thousands of workers and are involved in all sorts of businesses from carpet making to ice cream selling.
3. Two days later (on Wednesday of the same week), according to Buffett, he takes a bath (interesting . . . most men take showers, but that's neither here nor there). While contemplating his navel in the tub, Buffett gets an epiphany . . . "EUREKA!", he shouts, and leaps from the tub, dries off and calls Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
4. The following day, Buffett pulls the trigger on a $5 Billion investment in Bank of America Preferred Stock and Warrants, thereby buying a major stake in another one of the largest financial institutions in the USA (he also owns a major stake in Wells-Fargo).
5. Bank of America is one of the few remaining "too big to fail" financials. In other words, BAC has an implicit guarantee or backstop from the Federal Government and will not be allowed to fail.
I am SURE that talking to the President on Monday about his as-yet-unannounced job creation plans (and whatever else they talked about) had NOTHING whatsoever to do with his Tub Epiphany to buy a $5 Billion stake in the (toxic, and Government backed) Bank of America. Warren just figured that one out in the tub, while thinking big thoughts.
I am SURE that the fact that Buffett and the President have a close relationship will not affect decisions Treasury makes about the future of Bank of America ONE BIT. No way.
I am ABSOLUTELY SURE that
Monday, August 8, 2011
Will Someone Please Tell the President to Stop Talking?
I wish the President would stop talking about things he is either unwilling, or unable, to do anything about.
He had his chance to (to quote him) “put what’s best for the country ahead of self-interest or party or ideology”. Instead, he put self-interest (namely his own re-election chances), party and ideology ahead of what is best for the country by refusing to address our Nation’s biggest fiscal crisis. He had an historic opportunity over the last few weeks to mold a consensus on the Democrat side and take the road mapped out by Simpson/Bowles Commission, which he created (and who’s findings he has ignored). Instead, what he presided over was a sham of a negotiation which resulted in a non-solution. And no one was fooled by the charade, especially, it seems, Standard & Poors.
I think what he means when he says things like this is that the OTHER SIDE is the one that is pursuing its self-interest and ideology, but certainly not the President or Democrat leadership. The OTHER SIDE needs to set aside petty politics and get serious about addressing our Nation’s problems. The OTHER SIDE is selfish and obsessed with not raising taxes (which is the only way out . . . everyone agrees with this, right?) Obama is once again assigning blame, and strangely distancing himself from the issues at hand. The way Obama presents the political dynamic, he, the President, is powerless and an observer of other peoples’ actions. This is a constant pattern of this President who seems more interested in pointing his finger (or wagging it) at the daily “bad guy” group (“millionaires, billionaires, private plane owners, Goldman Sachs employees, bankers, hedge fund managers, S&P analysts, blah, blah, blah” . . . the list goes on and on . . . basically anyone who does not kow-tow to him).
THEY are all at fault and HE, had absolutely nothing to do with getting us into this mess. But, if you all behave a bit more like adults, then the President will be able to solve the problem. Today, Obama, once again, repeated the familiar canard that this mess was all created by his predecessor, and of course “the financial crisis”. At this point, nearly three years into his Presidency, this claim is such a tired old political hack line that not even his supporters are interested in hearing it. And, frankly, it is simply not true at this point. Obama has done, and said, many, many things to make matters worse. Much worse than he found them. But, there is no sense of responsibility for any of this on his part.
We pay this man to run our country.
He is not very good at it.
I think he would make a very good college professor. He likes to lecture people and he doesn’t like it when the “real World” misbehaves. He basically wants things to be a certain way and, not finding them that way, he lashes out at the World because it isn’t doing what he says it should. When you teach, you don’t have to worry about any of that. It goes back to being all theoretical, which is what someone like Obama likes better than reality anyway.
By the way, can anyone explain why he walked outside in a lightening storm holding aloft his 5-iron? In the midst of market meltdown, he turned the focus onto him, which can’t be good . . . for him.
Obama just does not know when to stop talking.
He had his chance to (to quote him) “put what’s best for the country ahead of self-interest or party or ideology”. Instead, he put self-interest (namely his own re-election chances), party and ideology ahead of what is best for the country by refusing to address our Nation’s biggest fiscal crisis. He had an historic opportunity over the last few weeks to mold a consensus on the Democrat side and take the road mapped out by Simpson/Bowles Commission, which he created (and who’s findings he has ignored). Instead, what he presided over was a sham of a negotiation which resulted in a non-solution. And no one was fooled by the charade, especially, it seems, Standard & Poors.
I think what he means when he says things like this is that the OTHER SIDE is the one that is pursuing its self-interest and ideology, but certainly not the President or Democrat leadership. The OTHER SIDE needs to set aside petty politics and get serious about addressing our Nation’s problems. The OTHER SIDE is selfish and obsessed with not raising taxes (which is the only way out . . . everyone agrees with this, right?) Obama is once again assigning blame, and strangely distancing himself from the issues at hand. The way Obama presents the political dynamic, he, the President, is powerless and an observer of other peoples’ actions. This is a constant pattern of this President who seems more interested in pointing his finger (or wagging it) at the daily “bad guy” group (“millionaires, billionaires, private plane owners, Goldman Sachs employees, bankers, hedge fund managers, S&P analysts, blah, blah, blah” . . . the list goes on and on . . . basically anyone who does not kow-tow to him).
THEY are all at fault and HE, had absolutely nothing to do with getting us into this mess. But, if you all behave a bit more like adults, then the President will be able to solve the problem. Today, Obama, once again, repeated the familiar canard that this mess was all created by his predecessor, and of course “the financial crisis”. At this point, nearly three years into his Presidency, this claim is such a tired old political hack line that not even his supporters are interested in hearing it. And, frankly, it is simply not true at this point. Obama has done, and said, many, many things to make matters worse. Much worse than he found them. But, there is no sense of responsibility for any of this on his part.
We pay this man to run our country.
He is not very good at it.
I think he would make a very good college professor. He likes to lecture people and he doesn’t like it when the “real World” misbehaves. He basically wants things to be a certain way and, not finding them that way, he lashes out at the World because it isn’t doing what he says it should. When you teach, you don’t have to worry about any of that. It goes back to being all theoretical, which is what someone like Obama likes better than reality anyway.
By the way, can anyone explain why he walked outside in a lightening storm holding aloft his 5-iron? In the midst of market meltdown, he turned the focus onto him, which can’t be good . . . for him.
Obama just does not know when to stop talking.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Kick the Can
1. The President and our fearless leaders in the Congress have decided to kick the can down the road once again. The $917B in "cuts" they agreed to yesterday, over 10 years, amounts to basically 1% of spending over that period. Wow. What a brave step. The $1.5T of additional spending "cuts" they agreed to pursue . . . will never happen.
2. Why won't the additional $1.5T of spending reductions occur? Because no new "committee" is going to be able to solve this problem on its own. How many "commissions" or "gangs" or "posses" do we need to create to get this through our heads? Both the Bowles/Simpson Commission and the Gang of Six put forth decent plans to solve the problem. These plans went . . . nowhere, because as soon as the details got out, politicians started posturing and primping and preening for the cameras (hello Barney Frank). Out went the idea that their job is to solve our big problems. In came self-preservation.
The only way to solve these fiscal problems is for brave legislators to look into the camera and stop lying to the American People about the fact that there is actually a price that needs to be paid by all of us. We can not eat as much ice cream as we want and have someone else get the calories. Congress, with our support, made promises that we can not keep.
Commissions are created to deflect pressure. To get the public to shift its focus to some other problem while the "commission" works on the issue at hand and reports back its findings six months hence. By which time, the public completely forgot what the commission was set up to do. And, the problem rolls on.
This is the kind of "solution" that has gotten us into this mess.
3. A cut is a cut is (not) a cut. The other smoke and mirror technique Washington politicos are fond of is using big headlines to keep people from reading the fine print. They did not agree to cut spending. They agreed to cut the rate of increase of spending. Spending will keep going up and up and up. Just at a (very) slightly slower rate, if this plan goes forward. That's not a cut. A cut is actually spending less money than you spent last year.
4. Trust. The reason new taxes are not a solution today is because we do not trust Washington with more of our money. It is actually very simple. First, show us that you can be good stewards of our money by making hard choices and being truthful. Then, we will send you more money. Not the other way around. The Tea Party, for all its warts, stands for the proposition that we are no longer the patsies that our politicians have known us to be for so long. We are paying attention and we will not get distracted by the shiny object in their hands.
5. Missed Opportunity. We missed an opportunity to use the pressure of the current situation to solve the problem. We let the politicians off the hook. Eventually, we will need to have an adult conversation about spending. It looks like Washington is not ready for that.
6. Wet Blanket. The current situation is dampening spending and curtailing job creation. Lower growth equals less jobs created. The threat of default scared everyone, inside and outside of this country. Not good. Don't go out onto the ledge if you don't really intend to jump. We scared everyone and now it will take a while to get people to start spending again. We may have actually caused another recession. The enemic growth in the 2Q seems to indicate the economy is slowing. We never really know we are in a recession until well after it has started, but anectdotially, it feels like a recession has already begun. Firms are announcing layoffs. Business seems sluggish. I would say that it is very bad news for the President if we are going into another recession.
Out
2. Why won't the additional $1.5T of spending reductions occur? Because no new "committee" is going to be able to solve this problem on its own. How many "commissions" or "gangs" or "posses" do we need to create to get this through our heads? Both the Bowles/Simpson Commission and the Gang of Six put forth decent plans to solve the problem. These plans went . . . nowhere, because as soon as the details got out, politicians started posturing and primping and preening for the cameras (hello Barney Frank). Out went the idea that their job is to solve our big problems. In came self-preservation.
The only way to solve these fiscal problems is for brave legislators to look into the camera and stop lying to the American People about the fact that there is actually a price that needs to be paid by all of us. We can not eat as much ice cream as we want and have someone else get the calories. Congress, with our support, made promises that we can not keep.
Commissions are created to deflect pressure. To get the public to shift its focus to some other problem while the "commission" works on the issue at hand and reports back its findings six months hence. By which time, the public completely forgot what the commission was set up to do. And, the problem rolls on.
This is the kind of "solution" that has gotten us into this mess.
3. A cut is a cut is (not) a cut. The other smoke and mirror technique Washington politicos are fond of is using big headlines to keep people from reading the fine print. They did not agree to cut spending. They agreed to cut the rate of increase of spending. Spending will keep going up and up and up. Just at a (very) slightly slower rate, if this plan goes forward. That's not a cut. A cut is actually spending less money than you spent last year.
4. Trust. The reason new taxes are not a solution today is because we do not trust Washington with more of our money. It is actually very simple. First, show us that you can be good stewards of our money by making hard choices and being truthful. Then, we will send you more money. Not the other way around. The Tea Party, for all its warts, stands for the proposition that we are no longer the patsies that our politicians have known us to be for so long. We are paying attention and we will not get distracted by the shiny object in their hands.
5. Missed Opportunity. We missed an opportunity to use the pressure of the current situation to solve the problem. We let the politicians off the hook. Eventually, we will need to have an adult conversation about spending. It looks like Washington is not ready for that.
6. Wet Blanket. The current situation is dampening spending and curtailing job creation. Lower growth equals less jobs created. The threat of default scared everyone, inside and outside of this country. Not good. Don't go out onto the ledge if you don't really intend to jump. We scared everyone and now it will take a while to get people to start spending again. We may have actually caused another recession. The enemic growth in the 2Q seems to indicate the economy is slowing. We never really know we are in a recession until well after it has started, but anectdotially, it feels like a recession has already begun. Firms are announcing layoffs. Business seems sluggish. I would say that it is very bad news for the President if we are going into another recession.
Out
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)