So High Above

President Obama has a serious problem with naming nominees. Rep. Hilda Solis now has a tax problem. Ms. Solis is the nominee to be the Labor Secretary. The Senate on Thursday, February 5, 2009, put off her hearing when it came to light that her husband had a tax lien that was sixteen years old and was not settled till the day before the Senate Hearing. This should put a nail in the coffin of her nomination. One starts to wonder why the Obama Team is not able to pick up these problems before the nominee is announced. Whatever the reasons, it has to stop. The Obama Team must make sure that any nominee presented to the Senate for confirmation does not have any skeletons that will prevent the nominee from a quick and overwhelming approval. If these nominees are being presented for political reasons, it must end. It is the obligation of an Administration that campaigned on change to set an example. There are already clouds because certain appointments have the stench of Lobbyists after Pre

The Senate Republicans are opposed to the Obama Stimulus package. The Republican Leadership still insists that Tax Cuts are the way to go. Exactly what don't the Republicans get? Republican Tax Cuts were enacted by the Republicans during the Regan and Bush Years, it was a total failure. Tax Cuts for the wealthy help the wealthy, not the Nation or the National Economy. Tax cuts are only productive in an Economy that is overburdened with taxes. As a whole Americans are not overburdened with Federal Taxes, what they are overburdened with are Local Property Taxes and State Sales Taxes, neither of which are on the Republican Agenda. The Republican Agenda still relies on the fallacy of trickle-down economics, the economics that George H.W. Bush called "voodoo economics" when he ran against Ronald Reagan for the Presidency in 1980. Tax cuts will not restart an Economy that has been pilfered by the wealthy bankers and the financial schemers who were let run wild by the other fa

President Obama promised "Change That You Can Believe In" during the Campaign. Since taking office he has made a concerted at having a bipartisan tone to his Administration, even going so far as to hold over a Bush appointment on his Cabinet. So far these efforts have been met with disdain from the Republicans. Mr. Obama amended the Stimulus Legislation to include Republican proposals and eliminate some that they were opposed to, yet, not one Republican voted for the Stimulus Bill in the House. On the Senate side, Republicans squashed an additional $25 Billion for roads and bridges claiming the money is excessive. They did not claim that $700 Billion was excessive when the Bush Administration wanted it without conditions to Bail Out the Banking Industry, but when $25 Billion extra is proposed by the Democrats to aid the recovery of the Middle Class, then they are opposed. President Obama's idealism is refreshing, however, he must realize that the Republican Agenda does n

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, of JP Morgan Chase, defended Executive Bonuses for Bank Employees at a hearing on Capitol Hill Yesterday. Mr. Dimon likened the hard work that is asked of some in the banking industry to that of Viet Nam. Mr. Dimon stated that assigning a tough job to someone calls for a bonus. This is the problem. Maybe bankers don't realize that people all over America do really hard work, day in and day out for just their salary. A salary that is a mere pittance of the extraordinary amounts of money that we have seen bandied about in the wake of the Federal Bailout and the revelations of the compensation being handed out to bankers who shuffle paper and create fake assets. Mr. Dimon and his ilk are out of sync with what it is like to work for a living, and what hard work encompasses. As Mr. Dimon and his kind sit in the back of their chauffeured limousines maybe they should reflect on the people's lives who built the road that they are riding on, these are the p

So today two more Obama Nominees have to fall on their sword because they fail to comply with the tax code. Could this be a sign that the tax code is too difficult to comply with or merely an easy way for Democrats to take their own tax cuts? To be fair, plenty of Republicans bit the dust during the Bush years because of tax entanglements, however, that does not excuse the Democrats who accepted President Obama's nomination when they knew full well where their skeletons were buried. Any nominees by the Obama Administration from this point forward should have to meet with a Tax Accounting Firm with all of their tax documentation from the last decade before they are announced as nominees. After all of the vetting is completed and the positions filled then it is time for someone in the Obama Administration to be given the task of simplifying the Tax system without being influenced by outside forces. This is not a complex issue, it is only made complex by the Corporations seeking she

The Personal Debt of Americans is at an all-time high and the unsecured debt, such as credit card debt is at the largest interest rate to fed funds rates margins ever. The exurbanite interest allowed by the current Bankruptcy Law does not appear to be a priority of either the Obama Administration or Congress. While the Congress bandies about Billions of Dollars in Bailouts to Financial Firms the Economy sees no relief and no bottom. Currently, Congress is trying to pass the Obama Administration Stimulus Proposal that even if passed will not have a meaningful impact on the state of the economy for at least 6-9 months and most likely 2-3 years. The Federal Government can immediately stimulate economic activity by passing legislation that limits interest rates to a set percentage over the Prime Rate and makes it illegal for lenders to charge set fees for late payments. A set fee for a late payment as opposed to a percentage of the payment effectively increases the interest rate that lend

Although the Executive Branch of Government has begun a new age of leadership, Congress still is relishing in the past. The American People will do well to make a clean sweep of the Congress in the upcoming 2010 Congressional Elections. On the verge of economic disaster, the Congressional Leadership and Members are still playing partisan political games while the Nation crumbles under the weight of 8 years of a nonexistent government for the People. Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi seem unable to grasp the idea that the American Agenda MUST change. The new direction of the Nation must be guided by a new direction towards an alternative, renewable, energy pursuit. During the lame-duck months of the Bush Administration, when the congressional Leadership knew they would have the votes to pass a new agenda, they did nothing. There should have been a plan to begin anew as soon as Obama was Inaugurated. Instead, what did the Congress do? Why of course they give themselves a pay raise so as n