Way back in January, 2009, I started posting on the F-22 Raptor program, on how, “One of the first weapon systems-related decisions the Obama administration will have to make is whether to purchase additional Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptors, after the last one of a 183 aircraft order has been delivered.” Already back then, the F-22 issue, and those of related weapon systems, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter,...

The Obama Administration is making an effort to “name and shame” them, but the vampires in banking and on Wall Street are still busy draining liquidity out of the American financial system. According to the McClatchy newspapers, “The first report under the Home Affordable Modification Program, involving more than 30 lenders that together collect payments on 85 percent of American mortgages,...

Avoiding The Tough Calls by Ruth Marcus Washington Post Columnist WASHINGTON — Does President Obama care more about passing health care reform that truly gets costs under control or getting re-elected? Does he care more about getting the nation’s fiscal house in order or getting re-elected? Right now, the evidence points to getting re-elected. Exhibit A came in Monday’s White House...

A needed song for our times comes from another time: “Put On A Happy Face” from Bye Bye Birdie. NOTE: OK, so we couldn’t get Dick Van Dyke — but in the You Tube below you can watch Steven and Sara Brattman lip syncing it: And if the lyrics didn’t get through to you with that rendition, here are Gail Farrell, her husband Ron Anderson, and their friend Michael Redman singing it...

Mike Keefe, The Denver Post This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. . All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

I was watching video clips of Republican congressmen criticizing the ever-popular “cars for clunkers” program and it got me thinking. Here is one scenario: If there is anything Americans love most, it’s their cars and bargaining a good deal buying one. The government’s auto stimulus program plays right into that emotional bonding by offering up to $4,500 credit for trading in their old...

Has the tide shifted in the upcoming Senate vote for Cash For Clunkers? There are now rumblings that it has or, at the least, is starting to turn. Here’s one via Reuters: U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, told Reuters that the Senate may vote as early as Wednesday to approve a $2 billion extension of the popular cash-for-clunkers consumer rebate program to spur automobile sales. Stabenow...

As a Vietnam War era veteran, I received most of my higher education using the (”old”) G.I. Bill—with extensions—and with the help of other military educational programs and assistance. So, on Monday, I was delighted to hear President Obama welcome the extension of GI Bill education benefits to our post-9/11 veterans with these words: While so many were reaching for the quick buck,...

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Time For A Little Honesty From Public Option Supporters by Jonathan Wells As the Senate wraps up its business and the House heads home for vacation, the debate over health care reform continues. Central to the Democrats’ selling of their health care proposal is the notion that their “public option” won’t lead to government takeover of health care and won’t lead to the destruction...

Ross Douthat’s red state-blue state governing model is no match for Nate Silver’s reasoning abilities:

The August recess by Congress will make or break the healthcare insurance reform plans as advocates on all sides will make their pitch to the people. The battles will be fought primarily in town hall meetings and media commercials. I forecast a major glitch in this scenario. Opponents will stack the town hall meetings and those who should listen most likely will be on vacation. As far as I can tell, the Obama...

Lesson number 213 on how to remain in the minority for a long time no matter how badly the Democrats drive the nation’s economy toward the event horizon of a fiscal black hole. Oppose one of the few popular things that Congress has managed to do with your tax dollars. If the Senate doesn’t agree to cough up another 2 billion dollars for the Cash for Clunkers program to match the House’s vote,...

Gary McCoy, Cagle Cartoons This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Anyone with an active interest in economics, or with the kind of bank account and job that causes them to read the Wall Street Journal should by now have a very good sense of what is coming down the pipe in the USA. Most of the rest of the world – especially the Chinese – seem to have a very good sense of it. While it is true that the USA is full of ingenious and enterprising people, and so probably won’t...

Extended unemployment benefits are ending, with jobs nowhere in sight:

On a recent Thursday company bus ride taking a group of my fellow seniors to shop at local grocery stores, Rosa announced how shamed she was because President Obama was born in Kenya and wanted to kill the elderly to save medical costs. “What gives you that idea?” I asked. “It’s true,” Rosa said. “It’s all over TV and radio. My neighbors John and Mary said the same thing....

President Obama just passed the six month mark on his presidency and he, and House Democrats, may have resuscitated the Republican Party by their bumbling over how to make sure that every American can have affordable health care. As reported here, the Energy and Commerce committed passed a health care bill yesterday… that’s the good news… however, the bad news will hit when the three committees...

In Chinese astrology 2009 is the “Year of the Ox”. Only that person or a nation, it is said, would remain unscathed if it works its backside off this year. US president Barack Obama was born in the “Year of the Ox”, and his nose is tied to the grindstone. But he might just work out some miracles…provided his countrymen share his burden instead of nitpicking. Among various alternatives...

That sucking sound you may have just heard was the government’s billion dollar “cash for clunkers” slush fund drained in a week as consumers stampede new car malls for once-in-a-lifetime deals. The highly publicized stimulus program has caught the public’s imagination in a fad not seen since the land and gold rush days of the last 150 years. The House acted quickly today in a 316-109...

The advance estimate for GDP for Q2 came in at -1.0% which isn’t too bad. I’m sure the press will spin this as showing the recession is close to ending, but there are a few caveats. This post at Naked Capitalism and The Big Picture offer words of wisdom, caution and optimism. This is what jumped out at me: GDP is highly prone to revisions. This is just the advance estimate and may change +/- 2.0%...

While the nation suffers a political migraine over health care reform, news spotlights an overlooked aspect of the mess–that the current system is turning doctors into thieves. Federal authorities yesterday arrested 30 physicians and other medical providers for $16 million of fraud as part of a series of crackdowns in what the FBI estimates to be between $60 and $100 billion a year of health care crime. The...

The markets were well on their way to shatter all kinds of records today. Towards the end of the market day, however, they shed some of their gains. Nevertheless, we still had, once again, a good upward movement in the markets—one of those movements that some critics persistently call “meaningless day-to-day fluctuations.” Let’s see what today’s meaningless market fluctuations...

Let’s see if I got this right. According to The Washington Post, a $636 billion military spending bill scheduled for vote by the House today or tomorrow contains about $7 billion in new ships, planes, helicopters and armored vehicles Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon does not need. The waste Gates decried as “business as usual” represents about 1% of the House’s version...

I thought reportage of the recession could no longer surprise me. I was wrong. The cover story in Newsweek, declaring that the recession has ended, THAT surprised me. By now I’m used to Wall Streeters, government types, economists and financial journalists exclaiming that economic reports that show things are getting worse more slowly really show they are getting better; that awful profit reports that...