Election results: Outlook the day after

First some local comments and then a broader National view on the elections last night. So called Liberal California defeated the Proposition to legalize Pot. It could have contributed tax money some estimate in the Billions, to alleviate a shortfall in tax receipts, but it didn't pass. So I don't want to hear anymore about "liberal California" or phrases like "Left Coast." If we were so liberal we would have passed the legalizing pot measure!

Jerry Brown beat Meg Whitman for Governor and Barbara Boxer held her seat for a 4th term. I expected Boxer to win but not Jerry Brown. I personally liked Meg Whitman because she was smart, a very good person and had good common sense. She was perceived not as warm and friendly and approachable for people, but any who knew her, know that she just wasn't a typical politician and she wasn't a phony. She was and is a genuine person who I have a lot of respect for. I knew her when she worked at Bain & Co. at the same time Mitt Romney also was at Bain. I like him a lot too and he is very smart. Bain & Co. was my client for many years and they had a crop of Senior Partners that were and are brilliant.

Nationally, the election unfolded as was expected. The Republicans won the House in a big wave taking many moderate Democrats with them and returning those States to the Republican control. The Tea Party had a respectable night getting about 50% of those races they were competing in. But what does this mean for the country going forward, as the Senate remains in Democratic control? It means that many problems will remain unsolved. If you are looking for legislation coming out of the House that will reverse Obama's policies, it isn't going to happen. The Senate will not pass anything the House sends over, that the Democrats don't believe in, just like the 420 bills the Republicans stopped from passage in the Senate with the filibuster. There is a short window to pass some key legislation from those 420 bills awaiting Senate approval, if the Democrats push some in the lame duck session. But that will take some guts. And I don't know if they have found their balls yet. Maybe Sen. Harry Reid did, as he was reelected for 6 more years, and he doesn't have to worry much now about reelection.

Time will tell but I don't see much changing by the politicians. I see gridlock, not the good kind, but the bad kind.

An Open Letter to President Obama and Senate Democrats.

I feel enraged at the lack of compassion the Republicans in the Senate have for the unemployed needing a hand in the form of unemployment benefits which have run out. Yet, these same Republican Senators passed every request by the Bush Administration, without providing the funds for them, including the lack of funding of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, unfunded Medicare benefits which they approved, as well as unfunded requirements from the No Child Left Behind legislation they also approved.

They want government destroyed by weighing it down with debt, while they blame Democrats under the Obama presidency for the debt problem. I am outraged that Republican voters allow them to get away with it. Is there no moral compass, where voters know the difference between right and wrong, moral and immoral behavior? The Republican Party used to be a great party. I have voted Republican in earlier years of my life. But the crazies have taken it over and pulled them so far right they are now extreme at their very center. It has caused the Democrats to also go more right and the Progressives are wondering where is the Barack Obama they elected?

The problem has been compounded only because President Obama and the elected Democrats in the Senate have tried to be "bipartisan". This is a character flaw of the leadership and of President Obama. I can forgive them for this up to now. Maybe President Obama needed sufficient data to convince him that the Republicans are serious in their pursuit to defeat him and Democrats. Maybe he needed more data to convince him that they would accept him eventually as President, being half black. Maybe he needed more data to be convinced it was just politics and not a grab for power. He was wrong. It has been a systematic war the Republican leadership has been waging. There has not been one single Republican vote to support your legislation. Isn't that enough data?

It's time, Mr. President and Senator Reid. It's time to get this. It is as real a war as was Iraq and Afghanistan is with its own type of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). These IEDs are placed in front of all legislation that you propose. It is called by a special name, the filibuster. It's time to play war too! It's time to change the Senate Rules and get the agenda passed you were elected to pass. It's time to take the gloves off and put a steel rod in that spine of yours and stand tall. You don't have much time left before you lose the people that got you elected, Mr. President and Sen. Reed. Change the Rules on the Filibuster and let them see you have the spine to do what they had threatened you with, when they were in power during the eight years of Bush/Cheney. It's time for that so called "Nuclear Option", ending the filibuster as we know it. 41 Republican Senators have held this country hostage over the will of most of the population of this country, as 57 Democratic Senators have voted for the will of the American people.

You haven't lost the middle because of the Republican tactics; you've lost more of the Independents because you haven't stood tall enough to keep their respect. You haven't shown them you deserve their support. You have turned the other cheek instead of metaphorically slapping their face. Mr. President, you can change the way Washington behaves, but first you must lead like you want people to follow. YOU must change your style and your tactics. So must Senator Reid.

So far, it isn't working like it should at this point in your Presidency. But you have had a moment of leadership with General McChrystal being removed from duty. And while I'm at it, you need to have another moment of leadership in the Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup. Admiral Thad Allan is a good guy, but he doesn't give the confidence of a "command and control" guy, like General Schwarzkopf has. Get a strong leader to seize control of this mess in no uncertain terms. We are at war in the Gulf too Mr. President. Don't make the error of trying to lead this yourself. You need someone else who has total authority to do what is necessary and understands logistics and has the skill set to manage this catastrophe. I recommend General Schwarzkopf. Now is time to lead!!!! God help us if you don't.

Update: I sent a first person email to the President at the White House with this letter.

Stimulus package? "What's the hurry" Senators tell America

Well we got our answer today regarding the stimulus package a President Obama was expected to have ready to sign on Inauguration day, Jan. 20th. According to Sen. Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell of KY, they will most likely need to call hearings on proposals as the Republicans and some Democrats are a acting a bit cautious about giving a blank check to President Obama. The Democrats just don't have the votes to get something passed and won't unless they can get it to look more bipartisan.

I think the markets will react more negatively to this news, especially as we get closer and closer to Inauguration day without an approved stimulus package. Most economists believe we need a package now and we can't wait a minute longer than necessary. This is going to negatively affect investor psychology.