I don’t do many political type posts, but that is all that is going on in the news today. I can never remember when an inauguration got so much coverage. It is well deserved, but nothing has stacked up to this $150 million party that Obama is throwing that finalizes tomorrow. Obama has managed to create this show of shows by outspending Bush ($40 million) and even Clinton ($33 million) by bringing out all the biggest names in Hollywood and making such a spectacle of the whole thing and I will be glad when it is finally over and we can collectively get back to the work of the country.
This particular inauguration is turning out to be the ultimate part of appeasement for Obama. He and has been playing both sides and there is no better example than what John Piper gave on a recent blog post How Barack Obama Will Make Christ a Minister of Condemnation. From Gene Robinson, an openly non-celibate homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church who will deliver the invocation to Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California scheduled for Tuesday, back to Bruce Springsteen standing on the same stage with Garth Brooks (although Rick Warren and Garth Brooks do seem to be the exceptions).
Does anyone remember from back in highschool when you tried to date two girls at the same time? It never worked and more times than not you would lose both girls in the process. That may be a bad analogy, but I hope that doesn’t happen to Obama and he ends up loosing both sides. All he will be left with are the ultra moderates who can’t ever make a decision about anything. Nothing worse in my book than indecision and luke warm. Even scriptures talk about being against Christ is better than not having an opinion at all.
The discussion in our house lately has been if we want to see Obama succeed as president or not (a question Mr Bill has posed on his show lately). I do in fact want to see America become stronger, more prosperous, better educated, and succeed in general (of course that has different meaning to everyone). If it takes Obama to do that, great. No matter if we voted for him or not, he is our President now, we should get behind him, even if we disagree with him.
Some Totally Random Thoughts About Politics on January 19th
- The word “Obama” is NOT in the wordpress spell check database
- I am sick of hearing the news ask someone if they thought they would ever see a woman or African-American as President, I DON’T CARE. I want to see the most qualified person for the job, ANY job, and I don’t care what race, nationality, or genger the person is. If Bill Lester is the best person to put in a race car GREAT, if he can’t win races, get someone else in there.
- What is the reason we have to spend $150 million on a party and not think about how this translates into his Presidency?
- Thoughts on #2 :: Bail-out? Auto industry, economy, people out of work, consumer confidence?
- Bush put everything he had into his job over the last 8 years, we should be glad someone kept us safe
- Pelosi and Reed should be totally ashamed at everything they have tried to do in prosecuting Bush administration officials
- I am waiting for my check in the mail from the Obama administration (never got one from Bush)
- Keith Olbermann is possibly the worst excuse for a journalist that MSNBC has ever hired (and they have a lot who fit in that category)
- OBAMA IS NOT ABRAHAM LINCOLN, he is Obama.
- I personally don’t deserve said check from #8, I didn’t pay any taxes over the last few years because I didn’t make enough money
I wish the Obama administration well, and I hope they can keep American safe while turing around the economy, but most of all, I will be glad when this $150 million party you paid for is over and people can get back to work.
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This is the last and final, part 3 of this particular topic. If you missed the previous two posts, check them out at part 1 and part 2.
The Church: A Response to a Bad Economy?
I spend a good bit of my day running around on the Internet, and many places I stop are with people of faith, churches, organizations and groups trying to raise funds, in a “bad economy”. There are usually two responses. One (to me) Biblical, and one not. One based on fear, the other based on belief. One worried about their 401k balance, the other excited to see a time when the need for the church among the un-churched is growing.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
What happened just after September 11th 2001? People ran to the church. Some because they were scared, some because they didn’t know where else to turn, some came back after a long time away, but the number of people attending church (doesn’t mean it was meaningful by the way) went up dramatically. What makes hitting people where it really counts (in their 401k’s) any different as far as possibilities within the church to help others?
I took this photo below at “Ground Zero” a few months after the terrorist attacks on New York city. They still had not torn down the last few damaged buildings that are outside the photo here, and this “cross” was still standing as well. It was incredible to me to see a cross, carved out of mangled steel, standing above all the mess that was ground zero. It was an unreal time of horror, terror, and despair in our country, and yet, Jesus didn’t change, the world did.
My church at the time in 2001 (a 35,000 member church) was trying to decide if they should start a $40 million building campaign in the middle of the 911 economic turmoil. They decided to follow God and not the economy and great things were done. Why should the church back down when times are bad? Be responsible yes, but fearful????
People are scared, people are fearful. Why? Uncertainty. If we are Believers… why are we living in fear and uncertainty? Because we can’t buy the normal $500-$1000 of Christmas presents this year? We have the most certain thing in the world. A risen Savior.
If you like the cross as a symbol you need to drive out I-40, past Amarillo, past Oklahoma City, and look at one of the largest crosses I have personally ever seen (first photo above). It is a magnificant symbol right on the interstate for all to see. We should be like this cross on I-40 in Oklahoma. Big, bold, tall, ready to reach out and help those who are hurting and searching. We should be excited to be in these “times”, they are new times of new opportunities. As the Church, let’s not watch this opportunity pass us by and wonder why we didn’t make use of this special time in our history.
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This is a continuation of my rant from The Economy, Big 3 Auto Bailout, and the Church // Part 1, which I will only post one more part. Until then, here is part 2.
The Big 3 Auto Industry Bailout
Have you been watching this? Now we should bail out three of the biggest looser (profit wise) companies in the country, perhaps the world? How smart are these guys?
The chairman of the Big Three testified on Capitol Hill this week, and Reid said did themselves no favors by responding when asked how they arrived to Washington that they had each flown in on their private jets.
And now the government is talking about taking partial ownership in the car companies (they could change their name to Amtrak) like that would be a better way to make these failing companies profitable? Where does it end? If we bail out the big 3, why not just bail out the entire country person by person. I could use some bailout money myself, how about you? Would we then be looking out the window at a fire sale turned waste land?
Who is it we are trying to help here? The employees, the auto industry itself, the fantastic cars they have produced over their spam as a business??? I am certainly no economist, but, what in the world would be so bad about letting these overweight, unprofitable companies go the way of Braniff? Are you telling me these 320,000 employees will never ever find another job? Are they all that unqualified to work for someone else or is it the $71/hour the average employee makes? I know this is people’s livelihood we are talking about here, but really, are we going to be that dependent on one single company that is loosing BILLIONS?
Years and years ago this use to be the case. People would work for one single company their whole life, that company would have a nice pension for the employee to retire with and that was life. That was yesterday (as in decades and decade ago). Now people change jobs and companies like being a free agent with Major League Baseball. Many may see this as bad, but companies don’t profitably operate now like they did in the 1950′s. Companies are much more fluid and adjustable (unless you are a auto maker controlled by the UAW) and their needs change just like their employees.
When we use all this tax payer money to “bail out” failed policies or business practices, who is left in the drivers seat? The same people, right? Can they still drive that train or is it just the same old thing that has lost money in the past? If so, what makes a bailout something that will work and turn the company around? If you borrow money from venture capitalist, you are responsible to your shareholders. You borrow money from the government, you are responsible to the tax payers. What do they get? Better, greener cars? What if you don’t want to buy a GM vehicle?
What happened when Braniff and Eastern went out of business? Did all those thousands of employees never ever find another job? Or, did Southwest Airlines start to emerge as a “new” kind of airline, with lower prices, better service, while at the same time being a profitable business? Did Southwest Airlines pay as much, no, I worked there making $6.50/hour when Delta, American Airlines, Northwest, United, and US Airways all paid more per employee, and were all loosing money and going bankrupt (and they still are). I still chose to work for Southwest Airlines. It was fun, they were nice, happy people, and I could wear shorts and a t-shirt at work.
That is really one of the issues at stake here. No other auto company is going to pay a union wage of $71 per hour (that’s $150,000 a year for an hourly job, not including overtime and bonuses). They can’t, it would not make for a profitable business. Hyundai and Kia may not make the best cars in the world either, but they both moved to Alabama to manufacture cars, and are making money. They also don’t pay as much as GM and are not controlled by the UAW (as far as I remember).
So, as bad as it may sound… just let them go. If they can’t operate by loosing $5 billion a day (who could), perahps someone will step in and bring us better cars, more effieint cars, and maybe greener cars, all while making a profit, not costing the tax payers another $100 billion, and in the process, create jobs for those who want to work. Now if Ford can make a car like I saw in the new James Bond movie, and make it at a profit, great, I am all for Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars, but they always seem to be years and years behind Toyota.
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The world is ending as we know it. If you didn’t know that, there, now you do. Anyone watching the news lately? I quit am ready to quit watching the news altogether (which is saying something for a news junkie of sorts). Every day it is a relentless doom and gloom story of the world, or America, and lately, the economy, which apparently is waiting for a bailout of everything, everywhere from the government. From the economy, to President-Elect Obama, to unemployment and everything inbetween… so, in case you were unaware (because the news hadn’t told you yet) the world as you know it, is just about over.
I am about to start a three part process of ranting and rambling, so if you don’t want to read that, just look at the photos and forget the rest of it.
The Economy: is Doomed, or it is Just a Bad Economy?
Bad economy, bad, bad boy. You can’t turn on the news or the radio, or talk to anyone these days without someone mentioning how bad the economy is doing. I think we got it already. True, no one my generation or younger can ever remember a downside in the economy unless we are old enough to remember what Regan took over from the Carter administration (which I really am not), so I am not sure what we are comparing it to if you are 30-ish.
I understand things are not as good as they have been in the past, but come on, do you still have power going to your house? Can you still watch the latest American Idol on Fox or Dancing with the Stars on ABC or are those stations going out of business due to lack of viewers?? Last time I checked, our cell phones still worked, we have electricity, running water, have something to wear, something to eat, and most have a place to sleep. I find the comparisons to the great depression idiotic at best when we as American’s have more than most.
I mean really, I paid $1.89 for a gallon of gas a few days ago and according to the news, it will drop to below $1.49 before soon. A buck fifty FOR A GALLON OF GAS! We were screaming (for good reason) when it was $4.50 a gallon, but I don’t hear anyone (on the news) excited about the price of gas? It’s like we all got a raise if we travel more than 15-30 minutes a day by car?
Everything is Amazing, Nobody’s Happy // Video
Normally I don’t like to re-post already shown videos, but perhaps not everyone reads Ragamuffinsoul, so this video he posted from the Conan Show about sums up the sentiment with this generation (that is us, 19-45 year olds). Louis CK on “Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy”
On a personal note, our book business has been dismal. It brought in $1,013.10 in November in total REVENUE (not profit). Is that enough? No, of course not, but if it doesn’t work, so be it, we will do something else, but take one look at me and you will know I haven’t missed a meal in years. What ever happened to the inventive nature, the entrepreneurial spirit of this country to have confidence in saying, we will figure it out. Perhaps we are caught up in trying to figure out how to get a piece of a “bailout”.
You may wonder about the photo for this post. This was a photo I took after Deb and I finished a show in Houston back in 2002. It is $20,000, in cash (those are bundles of $1,000-$1,500 each, not single bills), we earned in 4 days, from working harder in a short period of time than we did at any other time in the year (some walked out with $100,000 and on up). It was a time in our lives when we worked hard, made almost no profit, and didn’t care how much money we had. We “tried” to not base our fears and anxieties on how much or little we had. Did $20,000 in 4 days make a difference in our lives? No way.
Why did I take a picture of it (besides being a photographer)? Because I knew it would be gone in a very short period of time and all that would be left was a photo. I think our expenses for the shows we did leading up to that show all but wiped out all of it and I don’t remember anything about how we had to spend the money other than this one photo we took the day we left the show. It was gone as fast as we earned it that weekend. Funny how when you have nothing you don’t have to worry about loosing it. Before the show, we had no fear of being robbed or having our RV broken into. After the show, we had to watch where we were, what we did because we had something of value for a short period of time.
Want Something Positive on the Economy, Listen to Dave Ramsey
Want to see a totally different perspective on the economy? Go read up on Dave Ramsey and see what he has to say. This is one of the biggest times of opportunity presenting itself and manifesting itself in more ways and forms than every before.  Let’s not dig a hole in the sand and bury our heads quite yet, right?
[stay tuned for part 2 and 3 coming up]
