...stronger than before...

"While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before." (President Barack Obama, Address to Congress, Feb. 24, 2009)

No on "Truth Commissions"

The Washington Post this morning (February 17) carried a story about Congressional proposals to establish "truth commissions" to investigate the Bush administration's alleged abuses of power, especially prosecution of the war on terrorism. The authors, David Rivkin, Jr. and Lee Casey write "A growing chorus of critics is demanding the creation" of such a commission.
It is not quite clear who makes up this chorus. What is clear is that the two proposals floating in Congress are a dangerous precedent for the United States to buy into. The commission(s) would be outside the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. We have had special commissions in the past, most notably the Warren Commission (who killed JFK?) and the commission on 9/11 failures (who screwed up?). The Warren Commission probably had it right: Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, but that doesn't mean I believe all the testimony taken in that investigation any more than I believe all the testimony heard in the more recent 9/11 inquiry.
Such a commission would most likely be an almost open-ended witch hunt for something to pin on the Bush administration, to publicly crucify some officials in that administration, and indict one or two. I hold no brief for former President Bush, his administration or most of the people who ran it. But if we start each new administration with an investigation of the previous one then we encourage timidity, goal tending and likely turn imaginative, aggressive leaders into a "workers on routine" out of fear of what will follow when they leave office. This is not in the best interest of the country.
An administration does what it thinks best and it does what it has to do. History will record whether it was good or bad and history is not written months after the end of an administration or the start of a new one.
The Bush administration is gone. Let them go. Correct perceived abuses of power and move on. Congress ought to get on with providing leadership and cooperation with the new administration and helping to get the country moving again in the right direction. Fault finding and recriminations are a waste of resources.

Out with the old..in with the new computer

One night last week I believed the power supply in my seven-year old computer had died and I ordered a new one on overnight delivery so I could get up and running in a minimum amount of time. The new power supply is to the left in the first picture. I switched each of the hookups and cable connectors as I went along to avoid confusion. One out from the old and one in from the new, as in the second photo. 

Alas, this did not restore the computer and additional trouble shooting convinced me the motherboard had failed and is was time for a new computer. 

So it was off to Best Buy and a new selection. I chose a HP Pavilion, Special Edition and topped it off with a HP w2408h Wide Screen monitor which can be used horizontally or vertically - as in picture number 3. In this mode one can see an entire printed page (81/2 X11) without scrolling. 

Right now I am enjoying this capability. Whether I stay with it or go back to the traditional horizontal image will work itself out.

 

The stimulus bill and our elected representatives

Within the next 24 hours passage of the stimulus bill will re-affirm President Obama's November victory. Prior to November, the Republican Party's argument for tax cuts and less government spending proved unable to stop the economy from going over a deep cliff. The debate is over. He won. It is time for his new, bold and aggressive answers.

It ought to be clear to a blind man begging in the bazaar that less than the extraordinary measures proposed by the President will stall the economic engine in the station idling all the cars behind it. It is not only America's future recovery which hangs in the balance, the world is waiting for us to kick-start the world economy. A manufacturer in India was quoted recently as expressing his optimism. Prices for raw materials were down so he is buying. When he starts producing there has to be someone to buy and the recovery will continue to spread.

Some parts of the stimulus package warrant criticism but tossing the baby with the bath water is the worst response. Draining off questionable elements is the better way to go. Indications are much of this has already been done in the Senate. More may be possible in the Senate-House Conference Committee which will follow the Senate vote. But in the end, our elected representatives will fail us if they do not support the administration's goals in these critical times.

Why didn't he...?

Yesterday a TV talking head asked why President Obama issued his executive order setting pay and other limits for executives of companies who get bailout money from the taxpayers instead of letting congress put such limits into the pending stimulus legislation. Why? Because if congress did it the legislation would have more holes than a colander.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

President Barack Obama’s supporters – of which I am one – ought not to allow our enthusiasm to cloud our personal judgment. Those few (out of approximately thirty-four) cabinet and other nominees who have failed to pay taxes of whatever kind and stripe are embarrassments and rightfully have withdrawn, although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner got in amid criticism in the U.S. Senate. There has been much public attention in recent years to “nannygate” and other tax issues. Common people struggling to make ends meet, including paying taxes, are left to wonder if these “paid late” taxes would ever have been paid absent the vetting process for high office. The President has accepted responsibility for these goofs. He and the country will move on. He ought to know, however, we expect better from him in the future.