Thoughts on some current events...

• The 'Socialist', 'Communist', 'Marxist' charges against Obama are nothing more than the silliness of a desperate McCain campaign. If Obama is any of these things then so was Abraham Lincoln who instituted the first federal income tax in 1862 to fund the Civil War. The income tax was made permanent by a constitutional amendment in 1913 and we have been a 'socialist' country ever since -- by that standard anyway. Obama is talking about nothing more than restructuring our tax code. We've been 'redistributing wealth' as a nation for well over a century. Even if you believe this is wrong - it is undeniable that Obama is proposing nothing really new. Republicans are fast approaching the McCarthy era with their fear tactics.
  


• Alan Greenspan, a primary architect of modern-day economic policy, testified before congress that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending. This is monumental. It seems to me that with all the college degrees and lofty theories that people sometimes lose a degree of common sense. I don't pretend to be an expert on anything. When the sub-prime thing started, however, I predicted that the house of cards would fall apart someday based on nothing more than simple common sense. The housing market has always been cyclical - and always will be. When vast numbers of people buy more house than they can really afford it defies common sense to think this sustainable in the long run. Yes, I'm angry at people who can't run their own budget numbers and realize they're in over their heads, but I'm even angrier at the lending institutions. The lenders are supposed to be the professionals. When a bank tells you that you 'qualify' for a certain amount and is willing to lend the money - it is not unreasonable to assume they know what they're talking about. The belief that free markets are fully self-regulating also defies common sense. Capitalism is greedy by definition. Stockholder value is the only thing that really matters in a totally free market. This truth is made irrefutable by the likes of Enron and Worldcom as well as the current economic crisis. Certainly the right balance of regulation is tricky, but a belief that fully open and free markets will self-regulate, or that CEOs will 'do the right thing' regardless of shareholder impact is truly non-sensical. If 'Reaganomics' has not failed outright it is certainly on life support. It is time for a change. It is time for a return to common sense.
  


• Palin is beginning to move toward a power position in the post-election Republican party. She's already speaking of 2012. I sincerely hope she succeeds. Her brand of radical conservatism is increasingly revealed for the sham that it is and quickly declining in popularity. With her at the helm, Republicans are virtually guaranteed to remain the opposition party for a long time. McCain pulled a political master stroke by announcing her nomination after Obama's outstanding acceptance speech and successfully grabbed the news cycle from him. She certainly has excited the base and I'm sure helped him get out that vote. Thankfully, it appears that exciting the radical conservative base may no longer be enough.
  


• I have already voted thanks to early voting here in Kansas. Despite the fact that an Obama vote is no more than a token protest here - I've never been so proud or excited to cast a presidential ballot.