Whaaaat...?

Listening to Dubbyuh chide Putin about backsliding on "...democracy and the rule of law..." almost had me choking on my coffee this morning. If ever there was someone who needed upbraiding and an education into the meaning of democratic values, it is Dubbyuh.

His criticism of Putin for limiting freedom of the press in Russia rings rather hollow in the face of Dubbyuh's desire for a pliable and complacent news media in this country. And while Dubbyuh may not be issuing executive orders limiting the press, his campaign backers, many of whom own major news outlets are quasing editorial dissent. Although, the political appointees to the board of PBS seem to be doing a splendid job of gutting that media outlet of anything but the party line.

As for democracy and the rule of law, the Reichpublican...er...Republican party seems to be of the mind that they are above the law and can do anything they wish. All protestations to the contrary aside, their moral values on this issue are more than a little lacking. Their record on democracy is more than a little questionable as well. Republican support for a verifiable paper audit trail for electronic voting systems is tepid, at best. Such systems were used in Nevada in 2004, contrary to the protestations of folks from Diebold, and others that it wa not feasible to do so. In fact, the most hard-core gambler in the sleaziest gambling-hell in Vegas has more and greater protections in place on gaming machines than the nation does for their voting machines.

So, Dubbyuh, save the hypocrisy for someone who will buy it. It certainly isn't me, and the increasing number of Americans who aren't buying your crap. BTW If you can't push your Social Security "reform" through, are we going to start haveing terror threat alerts again so you can sneak it through? Ya pig.

Coming home to roost...

At least the chickens from the Bush administration's economic policies are. With Asian markets already saturated by US debt, South Korea announced that it was seeking to diversify its holdings in non-dollar equities. This in the face of record US trade and budget deficits and an already weak dollar. The net result was a drop in US bond prices with a rise in the yields. Down the road, this will result in higher consumer interest rates at a time when already over-stretched US borrowers can ill afford it. Also of note here is that more European central banks are starting to shift their holdings from dollar to euros

Of course, this will likely result in a whole slew of new bankruptcies. And, if the new bankruptcty bill makes it out of the House and Senate, otherwise responsible folks will be facing years of indentured servitude to their creditors when they default on their debt due to medical emergencies, job loss or divorce. But the little fact that the majority of bankruptcies are the result of these causes has done little to deter the bills passage through committee...So much for compassionate conservatism. If creditors want to limit their losses, they need to stop extending credit to dead-beats. Can you say "responsible lending"...? I knew you could.

So, I hope you see that the fiscal irresponsiblity of the Bush administration has broad and far reaching consequences, both at home and abroad. My wife and I are going to be re-financing out of our ARM for a fixed rate mortgage in May, I would suggest anyone else with an ARM do the same.

Links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4287413.stm

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/6934a1a6-8541-11d9-a172-00000e2511c8.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/bankruptcy_bill.html