Unlawful and Disorderly

Guess what organization is not in Toronto protesting the economic summit? That's right, the TEA party.

"Thousands protest summit in Canada; vandals smash windows, torch police cars" FOX News, 6/26/10

Yet all that liberals, democrats, and their Big Media minions can blather about is how "dangerous" all those TEA party participants are. Funny, I don't recall any TEA party gatherings breaking out into unlawful and disorderly conduct like vanadlizing property and torching police cars.

Alas, this has been the liberal, socialist, marxist, fascist way of doing things for quite some time. Alas, people still buy into their distorted and perverted worldview systems. Sad.

Sad But True

Oh no! Garfield's a democrat!

Sad but true.

Elitism at Work

It's a tough job forging mutual policy with international leaders like Russian President Medveded, so President Obama decided that a break from the routine was in order.

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Traveling by motorcade, the two presidents ventured to Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., a popular hamburger joint just outside the nation's capital. Obama ate there last year with Vice President Joe Biden. ("The Great Obama-Medveded Escape: Burgers," Yahoo News, 6/24/10)
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This would be fine if it did not present a perfect example of elitism at work. A significantly vocal and active segment of the constituency that President Obama and his party court seek to enact policy and law that limit or eliminate meat choices from American's diet...

"Why Not Change the Laws?"
"For Rep. Jared Polis, vegetarian meals would be healthy alternative to fatty school lunches"
"VeggieLawyers"

On top of this, Michelle Obama, with her husband's endorsement, is on a 10 billion dollar spending campaign to combat childhood obesity and diabetes...

"Let's Move Initiative Battles Childhood Obesity"
"Let's Move: Helping Parents Make Healthy Choices"

So let's see elitism at work:

President Obama campaigns among and solicits support from groups and organizations that want to restrict or eliminate meat from our diets.

Michelle Obama, with support from her husband, is spending our (taxpayer) money to encourage and teach American families to engage in healthier lifestyles which includes warning about the health risks associated with "fast food" diets.

President Obama decides that he wants to eat something other than what is prepared in the White House kitchen (we presume it is "healthy"), heads for a burger joint in Arlington, disregards the organizations from which he solicits support as well as his wife's initiatives, and chows down on a cheeseburger and fries.

Long after the rest of us are herded into eating tofu and rice cakes and drinking water, President Obama and those like him will be dining on steaks, burgers, and lobsters when they darn well please. Nice.

Facing the Music

The quarters from which America's beloved President Obama is receiving criticism are surprising. Criticism is coming from supporters...

Juan Williams of National Public Radio: "The problem here is this is an administration that, as Hillary Clinton famously pointed out [during the primary campaign], you may not want to answer the 3 a.m. call. These are guys who have tremendous vision about legislative achievements and specific things like healthcare, going forward on immigration, those difficult issues... But when it comes to the crisis, when it comes to the Gulf oil spill, the wars, the recession, they feel as if it's being imposed on them, rather than taking the helm. That's what Americans are sensing right now... Are you able to handle a crisis in a convincing way that inspires confidence? And so far, the president hasn't done that."

No disagreement there.

Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times: "Let's hope I'm wrong, but I fear that myopic policies by the Obama administration and its allies may lay the groundwork for a catastrophe in the Sudan."

Catastrophe in the Sudan? Nick, try catastrophe in America. But we do see your point.

Frank Rich, also The New York Times: "Unlike his unflappable temperament, his lingering failings should and could be corrected. And they must be if his presidency is not just to rise above the 24/7 Spill-cam but to credibly seize the narrative that Americans have craved ever since he was elected during the most punishing economic downturn of our lifetime. We still want to believe that Obama is on our side, willing to fight those bad corporate actors who cut corners and gambled recklessly while regulators slept, Congress raked in contributions, and we got stuck with the wreckage and the bills. But his leadership style keeps sowing confusion about his loyalties, puncturing holes in the powerful tale he could tell."

Not even the liberal lingo and slant can buoy the president up.

And how about this from no less than Maureen Dowd? "Now that some in the press have turned against him, Obama is proving very thin skinned... It hurts Obama to be a crybaby about it, and to blame the press and the 'old Washington game' for his own communication failures... Obama was always aloof and distrustful of the press despite the fact that most adored him during the campaign."

So members of the liberal media are awakening to the reality of BHO that have been disclosed by conservative observers all along. Wonders never cease!

As much as I might have chafed at the liberal drivel from a Hillary Clinton administration, I honestly believe that she would never, ever be trying to sell out and destroy America like this president is doing.

Senator Chris Dodd

This is one of the reasons why Americans are facing unparalleled peril...

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Democrats Vote Down 5 Percent Rule

In a bid to stem taxpayer losses for bad loans guaranteed by federal housing agencies Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) proposed that borrowers be required to make a 5% down payment in order to qualify. His proposal was rejected 57-42 on a party-line vote because, as Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn) explained, "passage of such a requirement would restrict home ownership to only those who can afford it."

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I can't add anything to this.

Market Updates

It has been awhile since I sent any market or financial updates. Plenty has been going on. My hope is that if you are concerned about any financial portfolio you have and are actively monitoring / managing it, you have at least signed up for the no-cost services provided by the Weiss Research team. If so, then anything I post in this message is redundant.

I was going to put together a list of recent links to the latest Weiss Research articles, but was unable to complete it. Lo and behold, procrastination paid off. This morning (Monday, 6/21/10), Martin Weiss did it for me. Imbedded in this morning's issue, 4 Urgent Warnings From The Most Unlikely Source, are links to every article I was going to compile. I love it when a plan comes together!

Just to demonstrate that the Weiss team is not the only source for sovereign debt concern, here is an article from John Mauldin's "Outside the Box" e-mail: "Print Baby, Print." Mauldin's sources tend to be a bit more on the academic side, but if you forge through it, you will see many similarities between the various sources.

These are times in which a lot of financial and market shifts are taking place. Neither our nation nor the world has faced the magnitude of dynamics (such as national debt) we are seeing today. Indications are that the more successful portfolios will need to adapt to these changing times in order to preserve capital and hopefully profit. The good news is that the products available to potentially accomplish this have been on the market a long time. They are not exotic financial instruments that are beyond all comprehension. They are market instruments that make it easier for the normal person to be able to participate in markets that were once available only to dedicated traders. For instance, natural resource markets used to be available exclusively to futures traders. Now, however, they are available to everyday investors and portfolios through Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and Exchange Traded Notes (ETN). They are similar to mutual funds, only they are traded on exchanges like stock. Over the past few years, many ETFs and ETNs have come to market. So if you want to invest in oil or natural gas commodities, you can choose ETFs like USO or UNG. Same with gold & silver (GLD & SLV). You buy funds and notes that track major indices: Dow Jones Industiral average (DIA), S&P 500 (SPY), and NASDAQ 100 (QQQQ). You can even buy ETF shares that are designed to profit when markets fall; again, Dow Jones Industrial average (DOG), S&P 500 (SH), and NASDAQ 100 (PSQ). The good news is that these allow IRA accounts to profit from bear (down) markets, too.

Anyway, the key goal is to know what investments and trades make the best sense in the prevailing economic and market conditions. Regardless of who you choose to follow, make it a point to check your portfolio regularly to keep a sense of how it is doing and to try to keep from being completely blindsided. If nothing else, if the major markets take another 2008 major nosedive, even a move to the sidelines into cash can go a long way to preserve wealth and provide capital for new investments / trades in better conditions.

Well, I've gone on longer than I intended to. Hope this helps. Stay alert.

Our Lawyer-Politician

President Obama’s complete lack of leadership capability is on full display as the Gulf oil spill debacle continues unabated. The president is demonstrating that we have a lawyer-politician instead of a leader in the White House. The most he has been able to muster has been to follow the old playbook of the lawyer-politician: attempt to deflect criticism, demonize, and threaten. In a Bloomberg article from June 15 (“BP may lose oil leases”), there are indications that President Obama is considering taking steps to prevent BP from doing business in America. I do not see how this is helpful at all.

While this is not a call to absolve any of BP’s accountability in this disaster, the president of the United States of America needs to stop calling down threats and start working with all parties, BP included, to bring real solutions to the table. This entire incident highlights everything that is wrong with replacing American enterprise and exceptionalism with the liberal’s brand of big government. Instead of allowing the talent, ingenuity, and capabilities of Americans across the nation to provide solutions, everything must be funneled through the big government bureaucracy that is Washington, D.C. We are witnessing the expected consequence… worse than nothing is getting done. Yet, this is the same big government that wants to get bigger through healthcare, energy, and environmental policies. They are going to fix everything that is wrong with America, we are told. Yep, good luck with that.

Bringing Home the Bacon

This one's for those lovable folks at peta.