Thrilled about President-elect Obama's pick of Leon Panetta

On Oct. 25th I put together a list of people I would like to see the new president pick to surround himself with. Leon Panetta was on that list. Panetta has been a class act and the controversial comments that some don't think he has the background and experience to be head of the CIA, I disagree with. He is a great administrator and leader and has been in some difficult situations as he was White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton. He will surprise many and be considered one of the best heads of the CIA when the history is written. Congratulations Mr. Panetta. As a Californian, I know you have been on the right side of issues since I came to California in 1986. Your integrity is your best asset but not your only one. I wish you the best if this is true and you are selected to be the head of the CIA by President Obama. And once again I am thrilled at how President Obama and his team can think outside the box.

Are all Bailouts created equal? No!

So we have all seen how quickly the Congress and the Government came up with $700 Billion bailout for Wall Street when a number of Investment Banks faced bankruptcy. It took a few weeks after the initial Paulson proposed legislation was only 1 page in length. When all the bargaining was done with Congress, the final Bill was 400 pages and did not contain a provision that a percentage of the TARP money had to be loaned out, and not just held by the Banks. Then we saw a bailout of AIG followed by a huge loan guarantee of $300 Billion of Citigroup.

Now after weeks of negotiations between Democrats, Republicans and the White House over a Loan to the Auto Industry, much is being made about how tough an agreement this loan will have and even then might not get Republican support with the votes. Seems to me there is a double standard here and this issue shows why many in office have lost the election. They still don't get it. Until they show support for average Americans as they have a chance to do here, they will become irrelevant to the rebuilding of America.

Where were all the concerns before? Where were the checks and balances on the out of control spending by this Administration over the past 8 years. Where were the checks and balances on the $12 Billion per month we are spending in Iraq? You know the answer to that one., there weren't any! We are now a Debtor nation thanks to that past 8 years of an uncontrolled Bush Administration and both Democrats and Republicans are to blame as well as the rest of us for continually reelecting incompetent government officials. Hopefully President Obama will reverse this trend.

Come out come out where ever you are! Cheney shows up

Vice President Cheney resurfaced today when the Prime Minister of Italy visited the White House. I got a glimpse of him as President Bush greeted Silvio Berlusconi. So Cheney has come out of hiding, as he hadn't been seen in public since Oct. 3rd.

Stock market to go much lower. Which President do you want answering this crisis call?

Yes, we are headed into a recession if we aren't already there. Why should you be worried? Because who is in charge of fixing this is the Bush Adminstration who still haven't responded to the Katrina disaster. Woe is us indeed. This is the time to ask yourself the big question. It's 6:30am in the White House. Who do you want to answer this call? It isn't President Bush, it isn't John McCain, it isn't panicky Hillary Clinton. It's soft spoken, reassuring and hopeful Barack Obama who can bring both Democrats and Republicans together to address this in a manner of confidence and good judgment. Don't you now wished you had voted for Barack Obama in your State's primary. If you haven't voted in one yet, then you can soon. Make the right choice when you do vote!

Barack answers Hillary 's fear mongering commercial

Hillary Clinton has a new ad asking who do you want answering the phone at 3:00am in the White House in a crisis, an inexperienced person like Barack or someone who is ready to lead on day one, her. What was bad about the ad was that it reminded me of the Bush/Cheney ads that tried to scare everyone into voting for them in 2004. It is the politic of the past.

But what was remarkable was that no sooner had the ad come out and was being reported on cable news channels like CNN and MSNBC, when Barack threw a counter-punch. He made the comment that it wasn't important who answered the phone but if they used good judgment when they answered it. He said Hillary answered that call and supported Bush on the Iraq war and he didn't.

Hillary is getting desperate and it is showing. But instead of embracing the the new politic she relies on the same old tactics that we are all fed up with. Had she embraced Barack's call for a new politic, she may have gotten the edge in the campaign by a few more votes and actually had a chance to win. It was relying on her fear to guide her that lost the campaign, not her policy positions. She didn't rely on her natural positive traits to guide her every choice and decision. Let this be a guide to all of us not to let our fears make our choices for us. Let us believe in what is possible and dare to go after it as a country. Barack has inspired us all to hope. Now let's not fail ourselves.

The Gonzales Testimony or Let's Make A Deal

To learn just how incompetent this Administration has become try listening to Alberto Gonzales's testimony before the Senate today. It will be a real spectator sport and offers to provide much material for the likes of Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and the Late night Shows of David Letterman et al. I'm sure I'll have something to add too but will not have availability of a computer for 3 days to post something so just imagine what I would have said. The interesting thing here is that Gonzales will be testifying before Monica Goodling, his liaison with the White House's Harriet Myers and Karl Rove, so there is a good possibility that today he will perjure himself.

Till then.

UPDATE 7:30am PST

As Paul Harvey, famous radio personality would say, "And now the rest of the story..." Well the opening questioning by Senator Arlen Spector was terrific and the responses by Gonzales was as I promised. This is the same incompetent Attorney General who advised the President, while he was his General Counsel, that they could redefine the definition of Torture as noted in U.S Laws and the Geneva Convention. It is why with the advice of Gonzales this President with his Vice President have committed High Crimes and Misdemeanors.