Paulson… Flip Flop?

Treasury Secretary Paulson came out today and basically said that the original 700 billion dollar fund that was originally created to buy out bad assets is not going to be doing that.

To begin, for everyone that was saying Obama was a socialist, well the bailout to begin with is a socialist act. What Paulson is proposing now I believe is even more socialistic than it was when he sold it to congress. He is now saying that the 700 billion dollars (or what’s left of it) is going to be used to buy up bank stocks to help stabilize their balance sheets. In a capitalistic society, the market is supposed to determine if a company has a stable balance sheet or not, but the banks screwed up so bad that the governmentwe has to come in and fix it. Stocks, as we all know is ownership of a piece of the company. Now the government is wanting to buy up stocks, that to me is very socialistic; as part the definition of socialisim is that the government has ownership of companies.

I believe the bailout to begin with was a necessary step, If it wasn’t done the economy would be in a terrible state, worse than it is now. I also believe that a bailout must be created for the auto industry as well, since they supply a good chunk of jobs in this country. I do not think that the governemnt buying out bank stocks to help the companies balance sheet is going to cause the problem to go away. Banks still won’t loan money because confidence is low. People won’t want to get loans because most people don’t want to get stuck or caught in this economy. My own feeling is that this statement by Paulson will cause the financials to sink even more in the coming months. I am planning on buying puts and ultra short ETF’s in the near future.

Filed under: Finance , Bailout, Economy, Finance, Paulson, Stock market, Treasury

Iphone…yea, i got it

So, I was so fed up with my samsung instinct and the promises that were made by sprint regarding the instinct I switched to the Iphone today.

The Iphone is a genuinely amazing phone.  I am able to load spreadsheets and word documents, as well as find the names of songs that I hear on the radio.  I am able to get stock quotes as well as my weather (yes the instinct does that as well but the iphone looks better doing it).

The only problem I got with the iphone isn’t exactly with the actual phone.  It is the server, AT&T.  The plans that are offered by AT&T are overpriced and you don’t really get your moneys worth.  Sprint definately excels with their plans, but their phones are disappointing.

Yea, i’m paying a lot more to have the iphone, but the amount of versatility and happiness it offers definately outweighs the cost.

Filed under: Technology , AT&T, Iphone, Technology

Barack Obama, President Elect

Barack Obama is the president elect.  For the next four years, he will be our president.  His election is not only a great step for African American’s, but it is a huge step for all minorities.

Listening to Obama’s speech last night, I thought it was strong and affirmative. When Obama was declared president elect, people around my neighborhood lit up fireworks and went to the streets in celebration.

Obama changed the entire election map.  He won some of the reddest states including Virginia and Indiana.

McCain graciously stepped down.  Except he obviously was not happy with how everything turned out.  How can he be?  I believe his downfall was his erratic behavior with how he handled the economic crisis as well as his pick of Sarah Palin.  It undermined his message of experience over judgement.  Palin was a great way to energize the base, but she turned away many independents (including me).  I was open to a McCain presidency and I feel that if he had chosen Mitt Romney the ticket would have held much more credibility over the economic crisis. He did not do that and he chose Palin instead. I was open to her at first because I knew nothing about her, but as I learned more about her and watched her interactions I was deeply discouraged from accepting the ticket.

In retrospect, Obama ran a more efficient stable campaign.  McCain had a huge hurdle to get over (Bush) and he did well given the circumstances (5 million vote difference in the popular vote).  Obama is now our President Elect.  McCain graciously stepped aside.  Palin? you can be assured she will be back in four years this time, on top of the ticket.

Filed under: Politics , Barack Obama, Election, Election 2008, Politics, President Elect

Barack Obama’s aunt an illegal immigrant

It came out this morning that Barack Obama’s aunt may be an illegal immigrant. To everyone that wants to make an issue out of this hurray. I do not see how this has any relevancy to the election.

The aunt in question is from Kenya, the birthplace of Obama’s father. Obama has never been close to that side of his family. He only saw his father once. In recent years, Obama has gone to Kenya on two occasions to visit the country and meet his family there for the first time.

There are people that are saying that Obama and his campaign have something to do with getting her into the country. The Obama campaign has come out and repudiated these allegations. Obama is not stupid, people may disagree with him but the man is not dumb. He would not jeopardize his campaign in order to aide a distant relative of his, someone he barely knows.

I do not see this affecting the campaign or even being relevant to the election because she didn’t hurt anyone. She is not a bad person. She just doesn’t want to leave the country and go back to Kenya. I mean if you had to pick between any two countries you would want to stay here as well. It’s a no brainer.

This information was released basically on the eve of the general election. I suppose it is a bit odd given the timing of all of this. There are suspicions out there saying that Obama’s aunts name was leaked purposely to sway the election by either the Bush administration and/or the McCain camp. Nobody knows if there was any involvement by either, but it is possible. Of all the illegal immigrants names to be leaked, it is the relative of the democratic presidential candidate a couple days before the election. It does seem suspicious, but given the behavior of the Bush administration the last eight years, I wouldn’t hold it against them.

Filed under: Politics , Aunt, Barack Obama, Illegal, Immigrant, Politics