http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31199889/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/

An excellent analysis on the budget and deficit problem.

I haven't heard much from his Republican critics (they seem to be hibernating for the winter). But it was the press that told us that he was tripling the deficit, and they didn't seem to have much problem with that fact when they reported it.

I also notice that the body of the article, if not the title, is up front about the fact that we never actually had a surplus; we just projected one and then went out and spent it before it ever actually arrived.



That's been my understanding, yes.




That all seems true, too. Those guys can argue forever about which one is more to blame than the other, but the bottom line seems to be that Bush made no effort to balance the budget, and Obama isn't going to either. Both represent "The Washington Mentality", which is the real culprit behind it all, and they're just arguing about which one is Tweedle-dee and which is Tweedle-Dumb. People are still determined to fix it without upsetting "business as usual" (i.e. spending as much as they can of our money) too much.

Unfortunately, the article proposes no specific solution, other than the general line about spending cuts and tax increases, and telling us that it will be one of the big issues of coming decades (no duh).

Obama is pursuing a Keynesian policy to stimulate the economy, so of course he is not going to care about balancing the budget. Whether Mr. Obama will takes steps in the long to pay off the bill once the economy turns around remains to be seen, and I am not convinced he will have the political will necessary to raise taxes or largely cut spending for hugely popular programs such as defense, medicare/medicaid, social sercurity, which make up most of the budget.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090720/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election

Greater conflict between the Iranian clerics; the struggle has entered a new phase.

Here is a short article by Dr. Sam Vaknin of the International Analyst Network website: -- "Preparations for Attack on Iran Almost Complete."


Chess Fan

This news indicates that Ahmedinejad is testing his relationship with the supreme leader; it also appears he is grooming his son-in-law to take greater power:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090722/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_politics

Hmmm..., interesting happenings seem to be occuring among the "upper echelons" of the Iranian leadership!

** Thank you, Ed, for posting this interesting and informative piece of news. **


Chess Fan

I think it shows that the odds of a crack-up of the regime is improving. Ahmedinejad may be trying to be his own man. He might find some way to get the protesters over to his side, and overthrow the mullahs. We must wait and see.

Here is another short article by Dr. Sam Vaknin concerning Israel's possible soon coming military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities: -- "Attack on Iran to Include Ground Forces."


Chess Fan

*****