Don't Look Now But....

In today's post we will take a look at a varied set of topics that you may not be current with or even know about. However, they do take on some importance in a varied set of ways that could or currently affect your life:

1. Don't look now but before long Iran will have a nuclear weapons capability. In the March 28, 2010 edition of the St. Petersburg Times, a reprinted New York Times article reported that international nuclear inspectors suspect that Iran is building more nuclear enrichment sites in defiance of United Nations demands and sanctions. Apparently, a top Iranian energy official stated that work will begin on two new enrichment sites that would probably be built inside mountains in order to deter military attacks. Thus, more than fourteen months into the Obama administration, we may be closer to Iran as a nuclear threat than to Iran as a non-nuclear threat. Maybe the Obama administration should be focusing a little more attention on a nuclear armed Iran and less attention on a relatively small number of housing units in East Jerusalem.
2. Don't look now but the Republicans in Congress continue to waste time and energy on useless projects and programs. The March 22, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, contained an article that described how a group of Congressmen are introducing legislation to use Ronald Reagan's face on the fifty dollar bill, replacing Ulysses S. Grant. Okay, let's try the same old tired drill again: where would this debate and idea fall in the average American's top fifty concerns and issues? Given our failing public schools, skyrocketing deficits, a failed war on drugs, two foreign wars, high unemployment and a myriad of other concerns, does putting Reagan's face on the fifty dollar bill fit anywhere inside these other issues? Probably not but that does not stop these Congressmen, or their peers, from cooking up ideas and wasting resources while the country sinks deeper and deeper into trouble.
3. Don't look now but it appears that Iraqi politicians have learned at least one lesson from their American political counterparts. According to a a short article in the March 19, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, Iraqi politicians elected to the Iraqi parliament are paid $112,000 a year, which is 30 times higher than the average Iraqi government employee. Each elected official also gets $102,000 a year for security and $60,000 to buy an armored vehicle. Since the American political class has always taken good care of themselves with high salaries, automatic raises, gold plated medical care, rich pensions and retirement plans, and numerous other perks, I guess we can be proud that at least this part of our democracy, unfortunately, has taken hold in Iraq.
4. Don't look now but the housing market is still stinks. According to an article in the April 5, 2010 issue of Business Week, there may be upwards of another 2.2 million home foreclosures in 2010, up from the 1.7 million record last year. This should increase the already high number of homes for sale, further depressing home values and curtailing any kind of large increase in new home building. Couple this with the continued high unemployment rate and the expiration of the government's credit to first time buyers and any hope for a substantial rise in the housing industry is probably not well grounded in fact. guess the political class still has not figured out how to save the housing market despite spending billions of dollars.
5. Don't look now but Major League Baseball is about to start its 2010 season. This should present hope and reason to believe but let's face it: unless you are one of the handful of high revenue teams (Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, Mets) you really should not expect much from baseball either.

Sorry for the gloom and doom but at least the weather is better (unless you live in Rhode Island.)

Our new book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.