Posts Made By: Mike Strieber

President Obama's remarks on Cheney were certainly clear and unambiguous. I believe in a matter of a couple minutes Obama made Cheney pretty much irrelevant, that of course assuming he had some relevance left to lose. I guess the bigger news out of it will be Kroft pressing him on laughing while discussing economic issues. For me personally, I didn't find it offensive or flippit in the slightest bit. In fact I had a couple chuckles along with him. Yeah, it's a very serious subject but I believe it falls in line with his efforts of late to not "Chicken Little" the situation. More positive talk from him appears to have helped, at least for the time being in the market. It also kind of sends a message that perhaps it's not as serious as he suggested in the past, or maybe there are some signs of progress (a few of which he highlighted). Think of it this way, if he was discussing 9-11 within days of the attack I doubt he would be injecting a bit of "gallows humor" into the discussion. Maybe it presents a false sense of security if I read it wrong but for him to continue to show a human side I think is important. Saying that, I'm sure it will be the headline out of his interview. I only wish Kroft would have asked him about the CBO assessment this week that his projection of the defecit based on his proposed budget might be flawed.
Mike

FWIW, a realtor friend of mine told me this week they are starting to see some positive signs in the housing market here in Las Vegas. Prices are begining to stabalize and the super deals on nice foreclosures are pretty much gone. If you want a foreclosure now you're going have to buy a severly trashed one. Also last month was the first in quite a few that inventory actually went down. Maybe wishful thinking, after all she is a realtor but hopefully not. Then again, folks are looking for any positive sign in the housing market in Las Vegas.

While it appears the market is initially receptive to the feds plan laid out today, what a horrible time to announce it (some of that market joy may be over more good housing news out today also). The week after Congress lynches AIG, unconstitutionally, with mob-like justice; they come out and ask private industry to invest in toxic assets with them. Who in their right mind would trust the government at this point?

Not all the cylinders are firing yet in the Obama administration. I don't recall a time when the administration and Congress, both dominated by a similar party, were so disjointed. They are clearly in two different universes. A situation like this is indicative of poor leadership. I blame Obama to a degree as he seems so detached from what is going on in Congress, but mostly I blame Pelosi and Reid who just flat out couldn't care less what Obama has to say. Pelosi is the type who cannot handle power. She makes poor decisions (e.g., AIG tax sniping), ridiculous comments (e.g., telling illegals US immigration laws are barbaric; in essence you folks are perfectly right if you choose to disregard them), is arrogant (e.g., using the US Air Force as her private airline industry), and just generally leading Congress to make horrendous decisions that even a Democratic administration can't agree with. This was once again in evidence during Obama's interview last night where he clearly disagreed with Congress on the AIG tax rape. He put it well; don't use taxes as a weapon (paraphrasing). Unfortunately Obama won't practice what he preaches as he snipes at "high earners" with his tax arrows ala Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Clearly Robin Hood was a socialist too.
Mike

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/64577.html

I guess it makes sense for the Chinese to sell us condoms, they're clearly not using them. 8)
Mike

Got his point across for the most part but a little lackluster overall. I guess a press conference isn't a good environment to give a roaring hooray speech anyway.
Mike

Lot of prom activity today.
Mike

I'm having a problem with my GM truck cruise control. Does anyone know...do I call Obama, Biden, or Pelosi for an appointment?
Thanks,
Mike

It appears President Obama gave the Queen an iPod. If that isn't bad enough, it contains a number of his speeches. He seriously needs to find some new protocal advisors.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/04/what-does-one-g.html

I bet she's hoping the iPod has a "reset" button on it. Of course, knowing Hillary's State Department record, it's bound to have the English to eh, English translation wrong. I've got an idea, how about the next time she visits the US he take her on a tour of the Yorktown battlefield. I hope he's not going to Germany on this trip, I'd hate to see what he gives them. He's bound to set German-American relationships back to 1944 at this rate. Come on home Barack....please?

Mike

"Partisan Gap in Obama Job Approval Widest in Modern Era"

Some interesting statistics...

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1178/polarized-partisan-gap-in-obama-approval-historic

Mike

Regulars here would know me as not the most ardent Obama supporter but...

I find it ironic when so much is made of Obama "bowing" to the Saudi King when the Bush family has been on their knees in front of him for the better part of three decades. If this is the best Hannity and the like has after Obama's trip then he must of done something right, at least did no damage. In my opinion, the best thing he did while abroad was visit the troops in Iraq. Generally speaking, the military is probably not the most pro-Obama organization in America. That visit means a lot to them.
Mike

PS: At least it's good Hannity has guests with differing opinions...you know, Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich.

No wonder the Republicans don't offer an alternate plan. Unfortunately I think we'll all feel the impact in the end.