Poor Economy Leaves Fed Confused on What to Do with Interest Rates

The Federal Reserves needs to cut interest rates to stimulate the slumping economy.

The Federal Reserves also needs to increase interest rates to deal with inflationary pressures brought on by higher gas and agricultural prices.

So what did the Fed do? Stick its head in the sand and hope the problem goes away by itself.

There already is a credit crunch, so the Fed can't raise interest rates. Part of the problem right now is that credit is hard to come by which is making the entire housing market a mess.

What about inflation though? If you look at the economy inflation at this point in history is not from an excess of money or demand, it is from a lack of supply. There is a lack of supply in oil and food staples mainly.

People are already cutting back on the amount of gas they burn, but typical supply and demand models don't react as they should because the supply is dwindling. When demand goes down, the price should go down. Due to speculators driving up the market, the demand is artificial. Therefore the inflation is also artificial.

The lower middle class should not be punished. They are already buying less gas. They need the rates to go down to afford to refinance their homes or buy new homes,

Why Hillary Clinton Won't Leave Presidential Race

There is one very sinister reason Hillary Clinton won't leave the presidential race and that is because she cannot let Barack Obama win the presidency. As I stated previously in not so many terms, Hillary Clinton will do anything to get into the White House. Never before has there been a presidential candidate so power hungry. Hillary Clinton makes Donald Trump look like an omega commune member.

Media and blogs everywhere have talked about how Hillary Clinton, along with her husband Bill, act as if the White House was personal property and it is their inherent right to return to the White House.

Barack Obama creates a major obstacle for the Clintons return to the White House. If Obama wins the Democratic nomination that means that Clinton cannot run again until 2012. Worse yet, if Obama wins the presidency Clinton cannot run for president until 2016 and at that point it may be too late for the Clintons.

To avert this doomsday scenario, Clinton cannot let Obama win the presidency in 2008. Her best chance at running in 2012 is to stay in the Democratic primary as long as possible and do John McCain's dirty work for him dragging Obama into the mud by hitting Obama on the Jeremiah Wright issue and his lack of foreign policy experience.

Hillary Clinton needs Obama to lose presidency once he wins the Democratic nomination. This is the guiding principle that is driving her campaign forward at this point.

Obama, Clinton and the Presidential Elections of 2008 & 2012

Last summer it looked like the Democrats were a shoe in for the presidential election in 2008. And Hillary Clinton was going to be the shoe that was in the door. It was all but a done deal. There was no way Giuliani (the prohibitive favorite) could steal the presidency from Clinton.

What a difference a few months make. Giuliani flamed out with the Florida last stand plan and the political neophyte Barack Obama struck a chord with the American Idol culture of America.

The problem is Queen Hillary the First is suppose to take the crown in 2008. Beware John McCain and Barack Obama, specifically Barack Obama.

The 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry was doomed from the start. The Clintons couldn't allow Kerry to win because if he did, there was no way Clinton could take her place as ruler of the world.

Now, Barack Obama is in the way of the Clintons. If Hillary ever gets the chance she could possibly unleash the "nuclear option," or could it be the Vince Foster option.

This is why Barack Obama won't win the presidency in 2008. If Barack Obama wins the presidency in 2008, Hillary cannot run in 2012. At least with John McCain, Hillary could run for presidency again in 2012.

Until then, watch your back Barack.

McCain's Foreign Policy Agenda

McCain's foreign policy agenda is somewhat different than George W. Bush's. Remember that George W. Bush back in 2000 ran as a uniter and was weak on foreign policy. Unfortunately, for Bush, the people who he put in power hijacked his presidency after 9-11. McCain is different in that foreign policy is his strongest qualification. For Bush remember that education was his strong suit. Back in 2001 there was a warming between the Democrats and Republican's to the point Senator Ted Kennedy was there making a speech from the White House lawn touting the progress the government had made on education. But that was all taken away after 9-11.

It shouldn't be a surprise that McCain's foreign policy agenda differs from Bush's because McCain was always more of a foreign policy and national security advocate. "We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies." McCain stated at a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. This doesn't sound like the neocons that stole the presidency from Bush. Unfortunately for Bush, he lost control of his presidency along the way. McCain, as well noted, has the temperament that would prevent this.

McCain's speech was directed at two audiences. The first was the American voters. McCain knows foreign affairs, and unlike Hillary Clinton that claims she was shot at in Bosnia, McCain was not only shot at, but shot down over Vietnam. McCain knows when to pull out the stick and when to pull out the carrot. foreign policy isn't an and or situation, it is a delicate balance of all natoinal Instruments of Power, IOPs. This finely nuance speech should strip away several voters from the Democrats during the general election. McCain's policy towards Iraq is much more sound than Clinton's or Obama's. The question was, would McCain jump into Iran? The answer is not unless it is truly a last resort. This should alleviate many voter's fears.

The second audience McCain's foreign polcy speech was directed at was the world in general. The McCain foreign policy agenda is going to emphasize a balance IOP platform and include allies in the process more.

In general, McCain's foreign policy is text book and will serve the US well.

China's Beijing Olympics is an Olympic Mistake

The idea behind the Beijing Olympics was that it was suppose to be a coming out party, a debutante ball if you will, for China to put itself on the world stage.

China wanted these Olympics because it would show the world that China was not only a world power, but the emerging global hegemon. China, like any most nations is extremely prideful on the edge of arrogant. They believe that they have a superior culture that is destined to rule the world, must like most Americans believe now and English, French, Romans and Greeks before America.

The problem for China was that the Beijing Olympics was a bridge too far.

After China's Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympics most analysts immediately thought of Taiwan. The experts expected Taiwan to take this opportunity to declare independence from China. The thinking is that China couldn't react to any declaration of independence Taiwan made because China wouldn't jeopardize its Beijing Olympics.

The experts and analysts misjudged Taiwan, which instead of rattled for independence has rolled over to be Beijing's lapdog.

Tibet and Nepal on the other hand have given  Beijing all it can handle. The best part is Beijing doesn't know how to react to the rioting going on in Nepal and Tibet because they would like to give the impression that there are no problems in China.

Now, China has started to complain that the foreign press is blowing all demonstrations out of proportion, and is lambasting the press with a full frontal propaganda attack. The truth is China is just not ready for primetime as they had thought.

How the internet the Changed Malaysian Elections and the Dangers Future Internet Era Elections Face

The internet has changed America, the world and now Malaysia.

The National Front coalition of Malaysian political parties have ruled Malaysia since its independence. But the internet now threatens this domination of Malaysian politics. The Opposition composed of three main parties has bit into the two-thirds majority the National Front used to enjoy to rule with. That majority allowed the National Front to override legislation passed by the states and make amendments to the constitution.

As a result of this dominance, Malaysian government television broadcast little if any of the opposition's campaign. Tired of the single mouthpiece the Opposition supporters turned to the internet for news, specifically Malaysiakini, an independent online newspaper with a diminutive staff of 35.

But this is a good thing right? More outlets for more information for the Malaysian population to view and form and opinion from right?

For years the US was held captive by three liberal networks that dominated news outlets. Thanks to radio and cable news, conservatives now have an outlet. Some also contend that the internet is mostly conservative, but I've yet to see evidence of this claim.

But what are the dangers of the internet and politics? The answer is Google. Google and Yahoo are both the brainstorm of Standford alumni. They are the ones who write the code that determines what websites will appear when you type in Trustworthy New Commentary, in their search engine.

These handful of Standford educated computer wizards determine what sites will show up and the top of searches you type into their search engines. Depending on their formulas different sites will show up on page one or page 101 of your search?

How would you feel if the first page was laced with sites like Daily Kos or Huffington Post? How would you feel if the top hits were Laura Ingraham or Ann Coulter?

What is more worrisome is that Yahoo is waining in support. Google is taking over the search engine lead and running away with it. Will Google become the Big Brother George Orwell spoke of and determine what we should think? Worse yet, imagine if the government regulated the Google search engine formula?

What if I searched for Conservative New Commentary, or Liberal News Commentary? This still may not help. If results show either positive or negative articles about each. Imagine if the liberal search put out Daily Kos and Huffington Post type pages, and the conservative search would put out sites that derided Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham? Today, as I type in Conservative Bloggers, one of the most liberal blogs, Daily Kos shows up on page one which is most definitely not a conservative blog. How does this happen? Google won't say. It doesn't reveal what its formula is exactly, but there are parts of it that are known.

Can the Google formula be manipulated by some small time conservative blogger typing in a Minneapolis hotel? Yes, to some extent. A website's rank increases by the number of links it has pointing to it. So, by linking to Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham multiple times and not Daily Kos and Huffington Post in this post, I've incrementally increased the the rankings of Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham relatively compared to Daily Kos and Huffington Post.

With that in mind, please link to Air Force Blue, and other fine conservative bloggers on the Internet.

Obama, Wright Relationship Has No Effect at Grassroots?

There is no fallout yet from Democratic Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama's, relationship with his inflammatory Reverend Wright according to Dante Chinni of the Christian Science Monitor.

He claims that the nation at the grassroots level is too concerned with the fifth year anniversary of the Iraq War, flooding and what color to paint the kitchen to pay attention to the crumbling Democratic Presidential Candidate's campaign.

Obama tried to come out with a speech shortly after his "race" speech where he lumped his grandmother and Geraldine Ferraro with the hateful racist bigot Wright.

As much as the left claims that the Obama/Wright story has no legs, the American people disagree sharply. One look at the Obama numbers compared to McCain in mid March on RealClearPolitics.com tells the true story. Obama has lost the general election and this is why. Imagine a 527 add with a picture of Obama in a pew and Wright singing, "God Damn America." This story has legs and longevity. The Clintons know it, but the Democratic Party is so whipped up into a frenzy with the left wing media that they can't see it.

Obama was always going to get the black vote unless McCain comes up with a running mate like I suggested, JC Watts. What gave Obama legs was the white apologist and the independent vote. The Obama/Wright relationship has the white apologist thinking twice. As much as they would like to see a black man in the White House, they don't want to hear the hatred from a black man just as much as they don't want to hear it from a white man.

Obama lost the independent vote because independents thought Obama was a "different" candidate that rose above normal politics. To the trained ear, Obama's speech on race was just a political move that was a day late and a dollar short. Twenty years in a pew in front of Wright and claiming you knew nothing of his hatred for America, Jews and white people in general seems too disingenuous to believe. Obama's speech was a calculated chess move in a line of calculated chess moves and "present" votes for a power hungry opportunist who is no different than any other American politician. You can't explain this indiscretion away. America didn't want to even hear David Duke's Klan explanation and rightfully so. Any association with the Klan is too much just like any association with Wright is too much.

If Obama loses in the general election, the left again ask why. Just like after the Kerry election they will ask, how can the American people be so stupid as to not vote for our guy. And when looking back they will say that it certainly wasn't the Wright issue that lost the election when it most certainly was.

Military Caught Aiding Former Enemy?

There is a possibility the US military was caught aiding a former Soviet spy and arms dealer.

Victor Bout served in the Soviet military as a spy posing as a translator in Africa at the height of the Cold War. But what does a Soviet spy do after the fall of the Berlin Wall? Turn to capitalism of course.

And Bout did well as a capitalist raking in millions of dollars making illegal arms trades, including modern surface-to-air missiles, to al Qeada, the terrorist group FARC in Colombia, and other western countries. It may turn out that one of those western countries was the US.

Quite why Mr Bout has now fallen into the clutches of the international justice system is still unclear. Previous attempts to nab him have fallen foul of Western disunity. Clinton-era efforts fizzled out during the Bush administration. Belgian and British attempts to arrest him seem to have been leaked (some blame America for that). Mr Bout appears to have been a useful contractor for American forces in Iraq, and to have trafficked arms to American-backed causes elsewhere. That may have endeared him to the Pentagon, even as the DEA and other agencies were hunting him on other grounds.

You may not hear much about this case in the US press if the DoD has anything to say about it. If this turns out to be true, this will be a huge black eye for the DoD and heads will roll because of it.

Curiously, Bout traveled Thailand to meet with agents posing as FARC members to make a small arms deal where he was caught by Thai officials. Bout is now waiting extradition to the US. But Bout doesn't seem to be worried. It appears he may have enough "greymail" to implicate the DoD and make a deal to be let free.

Obama's Speech Failed

Barack Obama may not share the same point of view of Rev. Wright, but the country doesn't believe him.

Obama's speech on Tuesday convinced the left wing media that it was a monumental turning point in US black/white relations. The right is not so convince.

America on the other hand is not only skeptical. The people of America are turning their backs on Obama in droves.

The lily white part of the country like Wyoming and Idaho which voted for Obama is sure to think twice about Obama. Along with white people everywhere.

The left wing media is dumbfounded by the overwhelming uprising against Obama. Left wing media outlets trying to convince America that Obama hit a home run are being bombarded with calls and emails questioning their intelligence. The word on the street is that Obama is a anti-semitic white hater.

Live by the soundbite, die by the soundbite. Obama used to give a charismatic speech when he was talking about nothing and gave several good soundbites for the left wing media to swoon over.

Unfortunately, the soundbites of Rev. Wright are much more impressionable. Those visions are stuck in America's mind.

Obama by staying at a racist church for over 20 years has not brought this country together, he's legitimized racism. Obama has implicitly by turning a blind eye to the racism that was going on underneath his nose and in front of his children.

McCain Has Part of the Healthcare Solution

Pharmaceutical companies must be cringing and building a war chest for 527 ads against the extreme left socialists that the Democratic part have offered up as presidential candidates for the 2008 presidential election. Compared to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Bill Clinton looks like Rush Limbaugh. The socialized medicine solutions the Democrats are considering would send healthcare prices through the roof and decrease the quality of healthcare the middle class would receive. Admittedly, the very poor may do better.

On the right though, the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, doesn't offer much relief for the pharmaceutical companies, but not all of his policies are counter capitalism.

First, rather than forcing an expansion of insurance coverage through government mandates, he hopes to motivate individuals to buy insurance through tax credits.

This will help the healthcare crisis. Individuals need to know and choose their healthcare plan. The idea behind capitalism is that people buy the best product for the best price. When the company (or worse the government) chooses you healthcare for you, you don't see how much it cost, you are stuck with the few plans available, and you pay more taxes or your company pays more in healthcare premiums.

Second, he has some good ideas for tackling America's runaway health costs. Those are largely driven up by the overuse of technology and needless medical diagnostic tests and treatments. Mr McCain wants to reverse the perverse incentives that lead to such abuse by scrapping payments for individual procedures in favour of giving fixed payments to doctors and hospitals for actually solving particular health problems.

This is not a good idea. If you have a condition you may need an MRI, not an Xray. But an Xray is cheaper. Under the McCain plan the cost for your bad back is the same whethr you get an MRI or an Xray. Naturally, the healthcare provider will give you an Xray and charge you for the same rate as if you got an MRI.

The last and final McCain measure would be to go after tort reform. This is the best idea that is long overdue.

Trial lawyers like former Democratic Presidential  Candidate, John Edwards, have done more damage than good. Edwards made millions with "junk science" suing obstetricians for procedures he claimed caused cerebral palsy-this turned out to be false.

This forced obstetricians to perform C-sections when it was unwarranted.

Tort lawyers have driven up the price of malpractice insurance premiums and in turn healthcare prices. Don't be fooled, the cost of malpractice insurance is paid by the customer, not the physician, through healthcare costs. So while making a very few very rich, tort lawyers have increased the price of healthcare for the rest of us.