TARP
    If you want an indication of the ineptitude of our Congress, you need to look no further than the recent TARP program.
TARP or the Troubled Asset Relief Program was put in place in December to provide monetary relief in the United States.  The $700 billion program injected funding into America's banks to encourage more lending.
   Now, less than 1 month after distributing the funds, Congress is calling for inquiries into why the program isn't working!

    Let's review - 
            1. TARP is a Congressional led program.  They wrote the rules for it.  They set aside the funding for it.  They implemented it.
            2. 30 days later, they are trying to figure out what went wrong. 

    They have no one to blame but themselves.  Of course, in all their congressional hearings, the finger of blame won't ever point back to them. 

    And this is the group that now wants to create a health care plan for you!


Obama - What do I like?  (because of a technical glitch, subscribers saw this piece last week.  It's only being posted today.)

Okay, there are a few things that Obama has done that give me hope.

One is the fact that he recently was willing to touch the "third rail" of politics by announcing that Social Security needs to be overhauled.  Of course, GWB was crucified by the Democrats when he suggested the system might not be "sustainable".  Here's hoping Obama has the political capital and the integrity to really do something about this growing Ponzi scheme of a government program.

Most recently, Obama has followed up on a campaign pledge to review government spending "top to bottom" by scrutinizing every line item of the Federal Budget.  To drive home the point, he recently appointed Nancy Killefer (an efficiency expert) to head up that review.

 

Good for him!

Although I am reminded of a similar effort made by a previous administration called "ReGo" or Reinventing Government.  It was headed by this man.....



then Vice President Al Gore.  REGO had an impressive start, with speeches and White House lawn ceremonies.  And then it pretty much fizzled.  Frankly, Al probably wouldn't have gotten a Nobel Peace Prize for reinventing government, anyway.  

Global Warming is so much more sexier. 

God speed President Obama......I'm certainly not rooting against you.