On every ballot there was an option for "None of the Above" and if that option received the most votes, then new primaries would be required?
Public Financing was required for all campaigns for elective office? Candidates would be required to provide a predetermined number of verified voter signatures (by circulating petitions) in order to qualify. Private financing would be allowed only to help enable the collection of qualifying signatures.
Candidates would be selected by popular vote, not by the machinations of National party conventions?
A vote of "No Confidence" was used more frequently and could be initiated by the public?
Impeachment and/or recall could be initiated by members of the public?
Third party candidates were provided a level playing field through required media coverage?
Term limits were mandatory for all elected positions?
The Electoral College was disbanded and the President was elected on the basis of popular vote?
We have less than 40 hours left for an October Surprise, BUT the real surprise, I think, will be a November Surprise.
And what is the November Surprise? The popular vote breakdown when the polls close.
Today, Pollster.com's analysis of numerous polls has Obama ahead in the national Presidential polls by 6%, but I predict that the final POPULAR VOTE total will be much closer.
There are two reasons for my thinking:
- The level at which the newly registered voters will turn out ON ELECTION DAY will be much lower than projected by many polling models
- There is serious concern amongst some voters about actually voting for America's first African-American nominee, regardless of what they may have told pollsters or others.
In the first case, I believe that the great mass of the first time voters who pushed Obama across the line in the primaries will NOT turn out ON ELECTION DAY in the numbers now projected in most polling models.
I expect that the percentage of their turnout on election day will be less than one-third of the turnout of the 40+ year old voting groups.
(It is true that numbers of first time voters have voted early.)
The first time voters are less likely to vote early, and -- I believe the following are the keys -- the first time voters may well come to the polls without government issued IDs or could turn away from the very long lines at the polling stations if they believe that Obama is "far ahead" nationally.
These first time voters get their news largely from the internet, and from each other, and do not have the advantage of having voted in or having followed the vagaries of past elections.
Long term voters are more likely to get their news from traditional outlets, including analysts, have seen past polling and vote swings, and know that every vote DOES count.
A decreased turn out by the first time voters in the key toss up states listed in my October 27 blog could result in those states going to McCain.
On the second matter, I have talked to a fair number of long term voters throughout rural northern New England over the last few days, and I believe that some voters have a very real concern about voting for America's first African-American Presidential candidate.
These voters are, by in large, those now described as undecided, but I believe some are also projected as voting for Obama base on the analysis that result from sampling.
What I believe we will see is a phenomenon called the "Bradley Effect".
In 1982, Tom Bradley, the multi-term African American mayor of Los Angles, ran for Governor of California. Although comfortably ahead of his white opponent in the state-wide polls, Bradley lost the election.
Subsequent analysis of the exit polling indicated that a larger percentage of voters who were polled stated they would vote for Bradly than actually did so on election day.
In the 1989 Virginia election for Governor, polls showed African American Douglas Wilder ahead of his white opponent by nine points. On election day, he won by only one percentage point. Analysis of the exit polling indicated the same effect.
In my travels, a fair number of people tell me they were thinking about voting for Obama, but were unsure and would wait until next week.
My bet is that when SOME, but not necessarily all of these voters enter the booth, they may well choose the "devil they know" rather than they one they have heard rumors about.
In states with large Obama polling leads like California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, etc., the "Bradley Effect" may not matter, but in the six toss up states and in states with large concentrations of still undecided voters, this swing could well matter.
In fact, I believe that Obama's popular vote percentage totals in these states could go down by as much as 10%.
So the November Surprise is that the national POPULAR VOTE breakdown will be closer than it is now projected to be because of significant under representation on election day by the newly registered voters and because of the Bradley effect.
Of course, we will only know whether either or both occurred when the the exit polls come out after the election.
In the end, however, my prediction is still that Obama will take the electoral vote.
Back when Ron Bancroft started writing his column for the Portland Press Herald, he described himself as a moderate Republican. Since then, Mr. Bancroft has made it clear that he is disillusioned with the members of the GOP that currently occupy the White House - a sentiment that is shared by many other members of the Republican Party. What's not so clear is why Ron has gone sour on Republicans at the local level. Of the eight endorsements that he bestows in his October 28 column, six of them go to Democratic candidates.
Regarding the current financial crisis: As a middle-class schmuck who doesn't have a sub-prime mortgage or a revolving credit card balance, I feel like rich politicians and bankers stole half of my life savings and lost it all betting on a 20 to 1 long-shot. Now the same cast of characters wants to confiscate the other half (in the form of future taxes) to finance the so-called "recovery plan" …
(Hunt: to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.) from dictionary.reference.com
When did some hunters go wrong?
When they stopped hunting and just sat in pickup trucks or SUVs waiting to shoot out the windows at prey?
Or was it when hunting chairs, or as L L Bean calls them Wilderness Recliners, came with cup holders so hunters could sit comfortably in the sun and enjoy the beverage of their choice while they waited for an animal to wander aimlessly across the hunter's field of vision?
In Maine, my family goes back to 1820 when Maine broke from Massachusetts. Before 1820, they probably also lived here but undoubtedly didn't much concern themselves with Massachusetts matters. That was why they moved here.
But I do know one thing: my ancestors hunted like men.
They did not wait for the game to come to them.
They tracked it using their abilities.
They thought like their prey.
They walked like their prey.
They waited when the prey waited, and ran when the prey ran.
And one thing they did NOT do was to place mounds of months old twinkies into 55 gallon drums, haul them into the woods in the spring after the snow melted, and create a junk food dump for bears.
My ancestors did not believe in training bears to come to be shot.
My ancestors, like most Maine hunters, enjoyed the thrill of the tracking and the adrenalin rush of the chase.
Maine Guides go through rigorous training and testing to receive their highly coveted certification. Nearly all serve in the honored, 100 year old tradition of Maine Guides, yet a few, perhaps a small few, find it too arduous to actually guide their instate and out of state charges into an actual hunt.
Instead, these few train the bears with twinkies, or they hire others to do so, and then these few Maine Guides take lucrative checks from their charges for the privilege of leading them to a place where they can sit in their Wilderness Recliners and wait for a bear to come eat a twinkie.
Several years ago, some in Maine tried to ban bear baiting.
This misguided effort was, of course, defeated, and rightly so. A few Maine Guides should have the right, like anyone else to earn a buck by training bears to eat twinkies.
But these few Guides might consider covering that coveted patch on their jacket with cloth when they, themselves, sit on their Wilderness Recliner with their beverage in the cup holder, waiting for the bears to come to the fast food dump so their clients DON'T ACTUALLY have to HUNT.
For an indication of what the United States might look like under the control of a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress, consider reviewing the issues currently confronting Maine. After all, our state has been under the control of a Democratic Legislature for well over a decade, coupled with a Democratic Governor halfway through his second term.
In Maine, we have some negatives. The State has not been able to pay its Medicare debts to Maine health care providers and is falling further and further behind in those obligations. The Governor's claims of a balanced budget refused to recognize this issue, along with failures to address overdue pay for public defenders and to return overpayments to taxpayers in a timely manner. More bond requests to repair infrastructure (more borrowing) have been required because of refusal to prioritize allotment of declining revenues. Despite continuing promises of tax relief, new drains on the taxpayers are constantly legislated. Employment is stagnant.
An entitlement mentality seems predominant. A recent newscast on a local television station featured an interview with a representative of the Department of Health and Human Services who blithely dismissed an over-budget estimate of $500 million, cheerfully insisting, "Oh, it probably won't be that much". This was followed by a representative of the Maine Alliance who opined that it was "not the best time to raise taxes", but that taxes certainly should not be cut, "because of all of the good that we are doing".
The Democratic Presidential candidate has a long history of promoting "redistribution of wealth" (read, increased taxes to fund entitlement programs) as the appropriate structuring of American society and made his intentions clear in his filmed answer to a question posed by the now-famous (or infamous) "Joe the Plumber".
Democratic leadership, personified by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, also advocates the redistribution of money - earned by those who strive for a good education and then apply their work ethic and abilities toward improving their lives - to those who, for lack of ability (or, in some cases, inclination), have a lower standard of living.
Not many economists favor raising taxes in a time of economic decline, nor do they support the concept of punishing the successful to help fund entitlement spending. A massive increase in the national deficit is regarded with equal disapproval.
Our system of a representative republic was deliberately structured to include a system of checks and balances to prevent the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches from becoming the fiefdom of a single political party. History indicates that, on the whole, our government works best when political parties share the decision-making process rather than having one group completely in charge.
Of course, if you are totally satisfied with the way Maine has been run over the past decade or so, then November 4th offers you the opportunity to vote for a mirror-image Federal government and to also maintain our State policies of unrestrained spending accompanied by over-taxation, government inefficiency and oppression.
Those who disagree still have the right to vote otherwise - for now.
As I wrote in my October 3rd blog entitled Ignore the National Polls, those polls simply represent a beauty contest, a snap shot of how people would vote nationally.
As I wrote, those polls completely ignore one fact:
"every four years we forget that the President is elected by the Electoral College vote and NOT by the total popular vote."
What is important is not the popular vote, (Gore won that in 2000 election). What is important now is the Electoral College (EC) standing, and who gets to 270 EC votes.
For example, one national poll shows Obama at 50% and McCain at 47% in the popular vote. If we just translated those percentages into EC votes, Obama would be standing at 269 EC votes, McCain at 253, with 16 votes undecided.
Instead, due to the undemocratic nature of the EC vote, most pollsters have Obama over the required EC number of 270 with his numbers ranging from 273 to 306 with 91 to 61 undecided.
The major states which are under contest are largely those in my October 3rd blog:
FL (27 EC votes), IN (11), OH (20), NV (5), NC (15), MO (11) -- total 89
Karl Rove, previously Deputy Chief of Staff and chief political adviser to George W. Bush, predicted last week that the EC vote stood at Obama 306, McCain 171 with 61 undecided. Thus, KarlRove&Co. shares with three other sites the high end of the EC estimated standing for Obama.
If McCain were assigned all the 89 EC votes listed in the 6 toss up states I have listed above (FL, IN, OH, NV, NC, MO), the results would be
Obama = 286
McCain = 252
Thus, to win the election, besides sweeping all these states, McCain would have to steal 17 votes from Obama's assumed total, perhaps by winning rust belt Pennsylvania. While Kerry won Pennsylvania in 2004, that state is rife with Reagan Democrats and went for Clinton in the primaries. However, most polling shows Obama with nearly a 10 point lead there.
Alternately, McCain could peel off Colorado and Wisconsin from Obama's totals, gaining 19 and the presidency. Polling has Obama, however, up 6 in Colorado and 7 in Wisconsin.
For McCain, the biggest problem is that by looking at the pollster.com trend lines for the 6 toss up states I assigned to McCain, Obama is trending upwards in all. Momentum plus staff on the ground is key in most races.
Ignoring trend however, Obama's lead in all but Ohio and Nevada is 2%, thus my projected EC vote today is:
Obama = 311
McCain = 227
(Obama: Ohio, Nevada. McCain: Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Missouri)
In this time of economic uncertainty there are two things you can do to help your neighbors, friends and families.
#1 is to buy Maine lobster! Prices are lower than they've been in over 30 years and you can get deals from the local fishing coop or even your nearby supermarket. Take a day and drive from Portland to New Harbor for special deals. This weekend you can buy 20 lbs or more for $3.19 lb and smaller amounts for $3.49. Just go North on coastal Rt. 1 to Damariscotta, and take Rt. 130 to New Harbor then left on Rt. 32. The coop is about a mile on the right next to Shaw's Wharf. It's a beautiful hour and a half drive and worth the effort. The trees are gorgeous now too
#2 is please vote in the upcoming election. Now is the time for Mainers to stick together and help each other. Question 1 will hurt your neighbors if it passes. Please listen to this debate and don't believe the claims of the huge alcohol, soda and insurance companies.
Thousands of people just raised tons of money for breast cancer, but some of these same people refuse to help other Mainers by paying a tiny bit more on beverages that they shouldn't be drinking anyway. Would you pay a few cents more for a soda or beer if it helped your neighbor overcome a deadly disease? It would be money well spent.
Are a few pennies on an unnecessary beverage worth more to you than helping working people receive life giving health care? This isn't about raising taxes. It's about funding a program that helps thousands of people get the medical help they need.
What will happen to these people when they loose affordable health care? Can you really vote to deny basic care to the young, working family and their children? Or can your aunt or your next door neighbor live quality lives without their health insurance?
This bill was written and passed by the legislators in a bipartisan attempt to help poor working Mainers receive health care. Please don't vote for the beer and soda companies. Support your neighbors, friends and families and vote NO on Question 1.
Dead Cat Bounce is the ugly name for a standard stock market action.
When a stock has taken a sharp plunge, buyers will sometimes rush in, often not knowing or caring why the stock took this plunge. These players, as they are called, are hoping to make a quick profit on the buy low, sell on a "little bit higher" strategy.
Other traders whose computers are programmed to catch such up movements in stocks that have taken a plunge may likewise buy in, producing a greater upward jump.
A few hours or a few days later the stock is dumped after the small profit is made.
The bounce in the stock and the return to the "floor" is the dead cat bounce.
On September 30, the DOW was at 10,850, Eight trading days later (October 10), it had dropped to 8,451, shedding nearly 2,400 points.
Since that day, the Dow has gyrated wildly, swinging up and down as much as 800 points until yesterday when the DOW closed at 8,519. Yesterday, the DOW had been as low as 8,324.
Even today, from 10:00 to 1:30, the DOW moved from 8,452 to a high 340 points above that, or 8795 and then at 1:00 it was down 400 to about 8,400.
Since October 10, there has been an extended dead cat bounce, or perhaps an extended dead cat dance, as the electrons still left in the market's nervous system twitched.
There is no absolutely no rational trading in this market, there are no market fundamentals to guide traders, no 200 day lines, no break outs.
There is just panic and selling on one rumor and euphoria and buying on another rumor.
Nothing rational happened between 10:00 this morning to make the DOW gain 340 points in an hour only to then 400 within two and a half hours.
Currently we have a Congress, controlled by the Democrats for the past two years, with an approval rating hovering around the 10% mark and a soon-to-be-departing Republican President with an approval rating under 30%.
Also of interest is the reportedly 60% of Mainers who participated in a poll conducted by the Pan Atlantic Group in July, 2008 and stated that they felt that Maine was going in the wrong direction. This opinion may be reflected in the number of citizen-initiated referendums on the November ballot.
Such information may seem to bolster the idea that the electorate across the nation supports the need for "change" in government, both state and Federal. To paraphrase the late Tip O'Neill, "All politics is local".
Voters might be wise to consider the last Federal election where the mantra of "change" played such a major role.
The year was 1976 and the Democratic candidate was new to national politics and although possessing a thin resume was nearly deified by most of the media. The Republican could have been best classified as a moderate who was not trusted by conservatives and who had distanced himself from the then-current President.
Media idolatry helped Jimmy Carter win the Presidency despite his lack of experience on the national level, his waffling on the issues, voter's lack of knowledge about "who he really is as a person" and his arrogance and uncontrolled ambition.
Carter also managed to cloak his liberal, well to the left of center political agenda and project the image of "a new kind of politician who is against the corrupt Washington system" and whose sympathies lay with "the common man and his problems".
The Carter Presidency then proceeded to bring America double-digit inflation and unemployment, a gasoline shortage crisis, double-digit mortgage rates and a new "misery index" (created expressly to measure the dismal effects of the economy on the population). Carter also provided a weak and ineffective foreign policy that featured the drawn-out Iranian hostage fiasco and strongly contributed to the diminishment of America's reputation throughout the world.
History provides valuable information for those who care to search it out.
The two major-party Presidential candidates for this election present a clear difference in political philosophies.
Sen. Obama is a product of the Chicago political machine, a devotee of the far Left who openly espouses the Marxist mantra of "wealth distribution" and who plans massive government expansion and intervention, paid for by huge tax increases that will exacerbate America's economic woes. His ultimate goal may well be to replace our free market representative republic with a socialist state. He has served less than a full term in the U.S. Senate.
Sen. McCain promises a "maverick" approach to Washington, installing reform where needed and relying more on free market polices to help resolve economic and social inequities. He emphasizes his long record of public service and experience in government and foreign policy as major qualifications for the Presidency.
We have, of course, several other choices when it comes to Presidential candidates, Libertarian Bob Barr and Ralph Nader included. Unfortunately, until the obstacles of media prejudice and special interest money are removed or negated the opportunities for election of a third-party candidate will remain severely limited.
I surely do tire of trying to identify the candidate who will do the least amount of damage if elected.
Yes, it's a place where kids can go, and for a bit of money and some sweat equity they can get a bike. It has tools to true the wheels, fix the brakes, get it all working real well. And there are teachers who can pass on these skills.
But the "bike shop" is really a home away from home for the latchkey kids of Kennedy Park and elsewhere in Portland. It's a place where kids can find friendship, mentors, wholesome play, and meaningful work. Good manners are not out of date there.
And, sadly, it's closing. At least that's the plan, since funding has run dry, the space is no longer available, and the founders -- somewhat disheartened -- are planning to move on.
No -- it's not too late to save it, rescue this successful tiny project and give it a new lease on life. Kids' lives depend upon it. And yet, while the larger charities in town keep doing their good works, smaller projects, such as this one, are left out. It's the kids they've been serving that are the real losers.
Our Senators profess to be "liberal" Republicans. Indeed, they have veered from party positions on some issues. Both have actually spoken mildly against the current dirty tricks campaign that attempts to smear Obama with allegations of association with one terrorist. And yet the automated "robocalls" delivering this misleading and irresponsible message continue. Will our Senators stand up for their beliefs, and demand that these calls stop -- at least in their state (and ours)?
The facts are simple, and not in dispute. Obama has served on several boards along with William Ayers, who had been involved with a militant anti-war group about 40 years ago. Ayers hosted a fundraiser for Obama's state campaign.
But Ayers has long since outgrown his Weatherman days, has long since left their position behind, and is now a respected college professor. There's not been the slightest suggestion that either Ayers or Obama is now even flirting with terrorism as a method or tactic, or that Obama's slight connection with Ayers is any indicator of domestic or foreign policy leadings.
Obama has taken many positions on current issues. Of course it's fair to disagree with him on his plan for universal health care, for a more equitable tax policy, for an update in our foreign policy, for a rapid end to the Iraq war which Obama (and many of us) insist was a tragic mistake from day one.
But it not fair, and not right to suggest that his innocent association with Willaim Ayers should be even relevant to this election campaign.
Our Senators have said this -- SOFTLY. Can they now speak up, with integrity, clarity, and force, and set a standard for professional behavior in this serious and important election.
In Massachusetts, there is a referendum on the ballot to repeal the income tax.
No income tax period.
A man from Massachusetts asked me if that is what the sign meant here.
I said sounds like it, doesn't it, but it is actually about a few cents on a can of soda.
Specifically, it is about overturning a bill to fund Dirigo health insurance funded by a tax of 3 cents on a can of soda, tea, etc, 4 cents extra tax on a can of beer, or about a dime extra tax on a normal size bottle of wine.
You are a big drinker, you say?
By the six back, the new tax on soda, tea, etc. is 24 cents on a six back, and 21 cents on a 2 liter bottle; on beer, the increased tax is 18 cents a six back, and if you are a young Trendy who buys your wine at Whole Foods by the case, you are paying out an extra $1.20 for that right.
For fact checkers, the incredibly boring breakdown of these calculations, the Portland Press Herald the base tax figures came from is at the bottom of this blog entry.
So, who isn't fed up with taxes?
What don't you want to pay?
Your property tax -- and forgo local schools, roads, fire, police, libraries, etc.
Your income tax -- and forgo just about everything else.
How about a referendum to do away with property taxes and just stick it all on the income tax?
This will get those with vacation homes off the hook, like those people from away.
Or how about doing what New Hampshire does, and abolish the income tax and the sales tax, and just make property owners pay the full bill.
Three cents, four cents, a dime, eighteen cents for Joe the Plumber after snaking pipes all day?
The data below comes from the March 17 Portland Press Herald article.
There is a NEW soda, tea, etc. tax of $0.42 per gallon, which works out to $ 0.003 per ounce, or $0.04 on a 12 oz can of soda and $0.24 cents on a six pack of soda. A 2 liter bottle of soda will cost an additional $0.21.
($0.42 per gallon/124 oz = $.0033/ounce)
On beer, there is an increased tax of $0.29 per gallon, so that will add $0.03 to a 12 oz can of beer and $0.18 to a six pack of beer.
($0.29 per gallon/128 ounces =$0.0023/ounce)
On wine, there is an increased tax of 35 cents per gallon, so that will add $0.10 to a 1 liter bottle of wine.
($0.35 per gallon/128 ounces = $0.0027/ounce.)
There is a surcharge on paid insurance premiums. This is paid by the insurance company.
A candidates event, where we'll never get to vote? That's right.
Somehow I was invited to a forum for the candidates jockeying for the Maine Attorney position. The AG is chosen by the legislature, so our only strategy is to lobby our legislators for the candidate of our choice. This was a rare opportunity to hear all three legislators who are seeking this position in the expected-to-be democratic legislature.
Why I was invited to this forum I might never know. Looking around the room, I didn't see anybody from the Maine Civil Liberties Union, or the NAACP, or any other activist groups with a vital stake in this office. I might have been the only "activist" there. Evidently nobody from NAACP was invited; I'm not sure about MCLU. The meeting was held at the offices of Pierce Atwood, and most of those in attendance looked like they worked there or at other top law firms in the city.
Listening just to what was said in this forum, I'd have to say that Sean Faircloth was the clear winner. He spoke clearly of taking leadership on civil rights issues, noting that he'd be in much better company if the next US attorney in Maine is appointed by Barak Obama, and he promised to take a "significant and activist" role. Brautigam was not as clear or articulate, didn't sound as strong to me, but was still impressive in this performance. Enough said.
The Attorney General position is incredibly important. Look at at the recent history of racist incidents, anti-gay violence anti-Muslim displays, and it's clear that the civil rights agenda for the AG's office is vital. I certainly hope to hear more about this contest, and want to see stakeholders such as NAACP and MCLU invited to take part -- even if we don't get to vote on it directly.
OK, now that President Bush made the announcement at 8 AM Tuesday that on Saturday I passionately argued he HAD to make before the markets fully opened, I have now SOLVED the commercial paper crisis :) and I can move on to a much more important world wide concern --- bottled water.
**************
I drink water, lots of water.
Eight glasses of water a day? … That's a child's play. I drink much more.
People think I have a Poland Spring bottle of water surgically attached to my hand, but the truth is it is the Velcro strip that IS SURGICALLY attached to my hand.
Why Poland Spring?
Well, if they serve it on the Sunday talk shows, and if it is owned by Nestle, which makes my favorite candy bar, then it's MY water.
For the first part of this decade, carrying a bottle of Poland Spring water meant you were cool, that you probably went to a gym with carpet and a juice bar, you ate tofu stroganoff and you fed your dog organic dog snacks.
However, now there is a rap against bottled water.
First there is THAT bottle.
It is not bio-degradable and will be in the land fill, if your local community STILL has a land fill, when the sun vaporizes in 5 billion years and spreads the plastic molecules into space to become new planets.
1) Use of Poland Spring plastic water bottles creates space pollution and new planets.
Then, as represented by the brave "Horatio at the Bridge" stand by the voters of Kennebunk, there is a fear that, if Poland Spring continues to suck water from Maine's aquifer, we will all FALL into a gigantic Florida-style SINK HOLE and New Hampshire will have a new coast line.
2) Use of Poland Spring plastic water bottles will lead to new beaches for New Hampshire.
Honestly, none of this concerns me.
I figured that, since I was leaving the massive national debt and cost of Federal entitlements to my grandchildren, I could leave them the sink holes and the plastic in space.
Those grandchildren are pretty darn smart; they will figure out something, or else they will move to Greenland.
However, the last straw was broken when I was walking around Whole Foods waiting for Di to put together her salad to to eat while I had my extra crispy KFC, and I realized the Trendies were shooting harsh glances at my water bottle.
Those Trendies, who carried these very same bottles a few years ago, now think the bottles are dirt, but then, dirt is biodegradable.
So I started on my search for the perfect substitute for my Poland Spring water bottle.
1) The new bottle had to be light.
2) It had to fit into the cup holder of my car.
3) It had to be able to be attached to my hand by Velcro.
Nearly everything I looked at failed my test.
The fat water bottle that the Trendies use at work didn't fit into the cup holder.
An aluminum or plastic coffee mug did fit, but it was too heavy to carry every day.
I COULD refill a Poland Spring water bottle, but the Trendies at Whole Foods wouldn't know it was refilled.
I remembered that Egyptian travel bottles had been woven from reeds, and reeds are very light, but it was not reed season, and with the plastic water bottle attached to my hand, I would not have been able to weave the reeds even if I had them.
Di, my good lady wife, as good an urban gatherer as I am an urban hunter, had long been on the lookout for me. She made countless trips to Kittery to look for the perfect bottle in her favorite stores like Jones New York, Anne Klein, and Liz Claiborne.
She spent hours each weekend, untold hours, wearing herself out looking for the perfect bottle in Kittery, but she came back exhausted, with nothing but a carload of bags.
That's why I love her so much.
And this weekend, she outdid herself.
She burrowed deep into the nooks and crannies of L. L. Bean, handing me each type of bottle she found so I could measure it against the bottom of my Poland Spring bottle for cup holder size comparison.
Nothing fit, and as we were just about to cut our losses and console ourselves with clam chowder and lobster, Di found the PERFECT PLASTIC BOTTLE.
Of course, L. L. Bean, had tucked it away in an odd corner where the young healthy people would NEVER see a bottle in Bean's that fit in a CAR cup holder -- you know the ones who camp outdoors without a tent, pack nothing but wild salmon jerky and freeze dried ice cream and have L. L. Bean outdoor gear for their dogs.
DRUM ROLL … Di had found the CamelBak Better Water Bottle which Bean has for $10.95 in the store and on line. It comes in the same trendy colors that refrigerators now come in. The bottle even has a built in straw, but I will still manage to find a way to spill the water, I'm sure.
A CamelBak Better Water Bottle is already attached to my wrist.
BUT I STILL have a problem.
I am accustomed to having a 24 pack of Poland Spring bottles in the trunk. When I finish one bottle, I put that in my recycle bag and just grab a full one.
I agonized over what to do when I emptied my wonderful new bottle --- where would I get my constant fix of water --- would I be carrying around an empty, but very acceptable bottle?
How I agonized.
Finally, at 2 AM last night, IT came to me.
The SOLUTION.
I headed up the road to Freeport and filled the trunk with 23 more CamelBak Better Water Bottles.
I will fill them from my pallet of Poland Spring bottles also in the trunk.
I am amused to see John McCain realign his campaign to be pretty much whatever platform Barack Obama campaigns on in the last week or two. When McCain is not being negative, he is chasing the platform of the Democratic party. It is unfortunate that he is seemingly unable to recognize the wants and needs of the populace without the guiding hand of his opposition. The only major difference is the accusation of the Democrats being the tax and spend party. John McCain and the Republicans clearly believe in spending without taxation, thereby leaving the bill - with interest - to future generations to pay. My 14 year old son was extremely upset when I explained to him that the Bush Bucks we received in July would have to be paid back by him and his brother because the President didn't believe in the country paying it's way as we went along. It's a terrible thing to tax and spend. It's much worse to spend without tax.
At the age of 57, a good friend of mine decided to change careers and give back something to society.
As a baby boomer, she had studied art history at one of the seven sisters, but in the heady days of the early seventies, no one really needed a degree that was related to his or her career and, upon graduation, she found a job as a runner on Wall Street.
Over time, she moved into insurance, then finance, and finally became qualified as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). In the early 1990s, she transferred from New York to her firm's office in Portland, and continued to do well working with those who wanted guidance or more with their estate planning, asset protection, investments, etc.
In 2004, she took early retirement and entered a clinical mental health counseling program with the goal of working with the elderly after she was certified.
A good student, she got As in her classes, she passed the first national test, passed the practicum where she had 8 clients of her own, and, with the end in sight, she worked to line up her 900 hour internship.
Much like a doctor, mental health professionals have to work as interns under qualified professionals in clinics, hospitals, prisons, etc for 900 hours which is the equivalent of 7 ˝ months of working 30 hours a week.
The work is nearly always unpaid. As an intern, the student is exposed to a wide range of mental health issues, and is mentored by a practicing clinician. In addition, the student attends University classes during this period.
Taking guidance from her professors and from the school's internship placement officer, my friend sent letters to or visited 22 clinicians or organizations. In an attempt to secure an internship, she traveled in a circle bounded by Biddeford, Augusta, and Lewiston.
Of the 22, she was invited to an interview by 5.
She was turned down by all, each citing in turn and as if reading from a script that they were looking for someone more "qualified or with more experience"
Oh discrimination so insidious.
All of my friend's classmates were accepted into internships, and she told me that half of them had the same amount of mental health counseling "qualification or experience" that she had -- which was simply having passed all the courses for the degree and the first national exam.
And all those receiving internships were younger. In fact, the next youngest student was 12 years younger, and the youngest had simply graduated from college and gone straight into the counseling program.
She asked me what life experience I thought those 24 year olds could possibly bring to a counseling session.
In one interview, the interviewer asked my friend whether she thought she could empathize with the issues facing late 20 and 30 year olds, even though the interviewer, herself, was older than my friend.
In another interview at a University mental health clinic, my friend was told that "students these days really like to talk to people closer in age to themselves."
The person stating that, she learned later, was just five years younger than herself.
So, after having paid out $22,000 to the University for her classes, with no internship she withdrew from the program.
Life experience and wisdom just isn't what it's cracked up to be, at least not when it comes to clinical mental health counseling.
I was beyond flabbergasted as a read a recent blog that blithly described the Maine Lobster industry as an 'endangered species'!! If lobstering is dead, than we are in lobster heaven! The author clearly has no knowledge of lobstering or the way of life for thousands of Maine fisherman. As the wife of a Maine lobsterman, let me tell you the true side of lobstering.
My husband has worked on the Maine waters for over 30 years and I can tell you first hand what it's like. He leaves the house to be at the dock well before sunrise and often doesn't get home until dark. He fishes in all kinds of weather - hot, cold, rain, ice and snow do not stop them. Only wind will keep them home, but at times they do take chances. They have families to feed, mortgages and bills to pay. So they go because they need to. And they go because they love it. The hard physical labor and the beauty of being on the water gives them a sense of self and pride in their work that cannot be duplicated, bottled or sold. It is their life, their heart and their souls.
Boat price today is $2.50/lb I think. Last year at this time they were all complaining because it was $4/lb. I won't quote gas prices, but we all know that the price of diesel has skyrocketed. The herring they use for bait is now unobtainable due to fishing quotas on the herring. There will be none through the month of October as the allowable amounts have already been caught. So the fishermen are now forced to purchase whatever bait fish they can find. And guess what? Some of it must come from as far as California and it all costs a lot more than herring.
The lobster markets are also frozen now due to a glut in frozen lobsters in Canada. We no longer have processors here in the US. Government regulations made it unprofitable for the processors, while the Canadian government subsidies their fisheries. Oh - and the Canadian lobster fishing season begins November 1. So the processors will want the Canadian lobsters first.
Also I want to stress how much the lobster industry brings to the state of Maine in terms of tourist dollars and money for the local economy. It supports local small coastal businesses, boat builders and restaurants. It is a healthy protein that provides delicious, chemical free food! It supports the environment by being a beacon of sustainable harvesting of seafood. Without the cold, clear Maine water, the lobster would not live, so fishermen respect and take care of their livelihood. Sustainable practices include strict size limits, trap limits, limited numbers of fishing licenses, and v-notching egg bearing females to use as brood stock. No other fishing industry can claim such diverse and thorough practices.
Please support your neighbors, your state and your health! Buy and eat Maine lobster. It's cheaper than steak and better for you. Your fishing neighbors will thank you!
To get away from the madness in the stock exchanges, my wife and I went to Freeport on Sunday, stopping first at the fantastic bead shop there, Beadin' Path.
What a totally glorious day for walking and shopping in Freeport: crystal clear blue sky, just the right temperature, the brilliant reds, oranges and yellows of the leaves, and the right sized crowds.
While there, Di, who is a water color artist, and I wandered north on Main Street and found an absolute treasure --- one that art lovers MUST visit.
At 140 Main Street, next to the Catholic Church and across from the Post Office, is FREEPORT SQUARE, an enormous, light and airy gallery with a large representation of Maine artists. The works are nicely displayed, and given the size of the gallery, there is not the crowding of the art found in typical galleries.
The owner, Kathleen Meade, has works waiting to be displayed and artists in line, so art lovers making regular visits to Freeport Square will not have that feeling that "I have seen all this before."
Too often those of us who want to build our collections, or maybe just want to see fresh new work, fail to break out of the mold of the "same old - same old."
Freeport Square is a wonderful find for us, and I hope will be for you.
And, for party lovers, given the gallery's size, beautiful hard wood floors and art covered walls, Freeport Square is also a great place to consider for private parties (and then later the group can skip down the street to L. L. Bean for 24 hour shopping.)
Saturday the eleventh of October was a marvelous example of the best that Maine fall weather can offer. The afternoon featured brilliant sunshine, highlighting the glowing colors of changing leaves, and temperatures well into the sixties.
In the early evening coatless wanderers still roamed the Old Port enjoying the mild air, but inside the Civic Center over 5,000 people had paid to watch an indoor activity more associated with the often bitter climate of Maine's winters.
The Portland Pirates were back in town.
At the end of the 2008 hockey season the Pirates were in the chase for the Calder Cup, winning the Atlantic Division title, but then failing by a whisker to win one last game against the Hershey Bears to advance to the American Hockey League finals. And then the Pirates ended a three-year association with the recent Stanley Cup champions the Anaheim Ducks, leaving the Portland team with no National Hockey League affiliate.
No immediate decision regarding a new alliance was announced and for much of the summer the future of professional hockey in Portland was open to speculation.
Hockey at its best is a game of speed, power and grace, a true team sport that enjoys a widespread fan base here in Maine. Many high school teams take the ice each year, along with high-profile teams such as the University of Maine Black Bears and the Junior League Lewiston Maineiacs.
To the great credit of the Portland Pirates' organization, no hasty decisions were made. But as the months wore on professional hockey fans became increasingly apprehensive. Would there be a team in Portland this year and if so, who would be the NHL affiliate?
The story finally broke that the Buffalo Sabres and the Portland Pirates had reached an agreement and that players from the Rochester Americans would form the nucleus of the 2008-2009 Pirates' team. This appeared to be a mixed blessing, since the Rochester Americans had recently been the product of a dual affiliation agreement with both Buffalo and the Florida Panthers, a union that had resulted in a poor performance record for the Americans over the past several years and left few available players to move from Rochester to Portland.
There was some good news late in the summer when it was announced that Coach Kevin Dineen would be returning as the Pirates' Head Coach and that he would have Eric Weinrich as his Assistant Coach.
But the weeks slid away and very little information became available regarding players comprising the Pirates' roster, except that only one player from last year's team would be returning and only a few former Rochester players under contract with Buffalo would be relocating to Portland.
What might this new season bring, after a return to winning ways over the past few years?
Saturday's season opener was against the Manchester Monarchs, a rugged and reliable team that historically has given the Portland Pirates strong competition. No more than a week before opening night the Pirates had difficulty in putting enough players on the ice for their only preseason game.
Still, 5,000 curious fans filed into the Cumberland County Civic Center - and roared raucous approval as the new Portland Pirates defeated Manchester 6-3 in an action-filled, high-tempo performance that featured a hat trick by Mark Mancari, two goals by former Pirate Tyler Bouck and an intense effort by twenty-two players who have yet to benefit from a full week of practicing as a complete team.
But this is indeed a different group of Pirates; faster, better skaters, oriented more toward scoring than plodding defense and as a group unwilling to be pushed around. They can excite a crowd.
Kudos to Brian Petrovic and the other members of the Pirates' management team. And welcome and thank you to the Buffalo Sabres.
Enjoy the new season, Pirates' fans. The boys are still in town.
There are many who think that Sarah Palin is not ready to be President but I'm not one of them. I know, you say that she is running for Vice President, but with John McCain as her running mate it is easy to see where she will have the top spot inside of four years.
Sarah has shown her command of politics with her actions. In the Alaska Troopergate affair she is accused of firing her former brother in law from his public service position after an unfriendly divorce of her sister. She uses private email to do public business, striking deals behind closed doors and keeping her official actions secret from the public she is supposed to serve, and Her husband, the "First Dude" has been shown to make extensive use of government facilities and participate in official meetings. His efforts to "help her in her career" show the kind of support needed by a President who doesn't have the time or interest to actually find out what is taking place in the world around her.
Since this is just a mirror image of our Presidency of the last 8 years, there are few who can actually claim that Sarah is not qualified to be President.
I think it was Richard Nixon who said something like "What do the voters know anyways?"
While listening to the news, another story pops up about the dilemma of the Maine lobsterman. With high prices for fuel and bait as well as multi hundred thousand dollar boats and reduced access to the water it is easy enough to see the problems they face but now we have a relatively new source of trouble. It seems that the financial collapse in our country is killing the taste for lobster and the price of a landed harvest is collapsing into areas not seen in decades.
I have now been boatless for a year after sailing our 36 foot cutter out of Rockland for 18 years, and we always enjoyed seeing the working boats plying their trade as we coasted by. Mostly friendly but sometimes not, they were just part of the environment but perhaps now their days are numbered. With so many endangered species it seems that the forces of man are responsible for their fate and I cannot help but think that man is again a large factor in the lobster industry decline. Outside forces are usually to blame but in this case the lobstermans own efforts have a large measure of responsibility for their troubles. I'll go out on a limb here and say that I don't think that the lobster are over fished but instead clearly the market is over served.
In the approaches to Vinalhaven and Port Clyde as well as many other areas that we have visited, you could seemingly walk on the water, being held up by the carpet of pot buoys laid out before you.
The lobster certainly appreciate the plentiful food dropped conveniently on the ocean floor for them but the large number of traps seals the fate of the industry. In an effort to increase their incomes and provide growth in their industry, the lobsterman is instead killing the golden goose. It is always difficult to recognize when an industry is on the verge of collapse but the lobstermen need to recognize and act before economics and not species collapse kills their way of life. It is long past time to limit the total number of traps in the water in a meaningful way, providing a steady but reduced supply to the market and to allow individual lobstermen to own their license as some European countries do, thereby allowing them to sell the license or give it away at their time of retirement. If the lobster can again regain the description as a delicacy and not a commodity then the industry will have gone a long way toward survival. It's not too late to act, but once again we will likely see a waiting game played until bankruptcy and market forces simply cut away until only a few survive.
Anyone reading my blogs on the zigs and zags of the proposed bailout of the credit system will know that I have LITTLE faith in the ability of the Federal government to do the RIGHT thing in a timely fashion.
To me, TIMELY means NOT at the end of the October, but immediately as the British government did last week when it injected 50 Billion Pounds into its credit banking system, which, on a comparable GDP basis, would be equivalent to a $500 Billion injection here.
The Brits didn't need to meet with the G-7 and the IMF to get their approval as our government seemed to have to do this weekend; the Brits just did it.
Imagine what would have happened if Secretary Paulson had immediately injected the $700 Billion in the fashion I had proposed on September 29 by lending the banks the money, or alternately by purchasing preferred equity, as he now seems to be "dabbling" with.
On the 29th of September the Dow Jones Industrial was at 11,139. At close on Friday it was at 8,568, a loss of 2,571, or 23%.
I don't read tea leaves, but it's my bet that with a quick injection on the 29th or 30th, the Dow would be much higher than it is right now, and the PANIC selling by hedge funds, mutual funds, and institutions would not have happened.
What we have right now is panic, stark panic.
People, and not just investors, are terrified.
People are bailing out of the stock market because there was no immediate bailout, and we have, I fear, passed the point where people can believe that any new action by the government WILL return the market to sanity.
People have lost trust in the Federal government because it has appears to have lost its ability to lead.
The hedge funds are causing much of damage in the market. Hedge funds are somewhat like mutual funds, pooling money from RICH customers, many from overseas, and then using that money to buy stocks, some on margin. Buying on margin is what caused the 1929 stock market crash.
Panic from customers of mutual funds is also driving the downward spiral. In September, over $70 Billion was pulled out of mutual funds, and another $50 Billion was pulled out in the eight trading days of this month. The market simply cannot absorb that many shares in an orderly manner.
Finally, there is program selling by stock brokerages and massive selling by institutions such as pension funds, college endowments, insurance companies, etc.
Observe when Friday's sharp 6% drop occurred -- in the first 7 minutes.
That is when the hedge funds came in to cover margin calls, when the program selling kicked in because of the free fall, and when the mutual funds where dumping the stocks because of the customers' overnight requests.
It is not now a time to worry about how a strong decisive action taken by the Federal government will look to, or be interpreted by partisans on the fringes of either party.
It is time for the politicians, and the Secretary, to rise above politics and save the economy.
Our strong democracy can take bold actions and survive.
By Tuesday morning when the market reopens, investors, hedge funds, institutions, and holders of 401Ks will have had the three day weekend to worry, to listen to the analysts, and to wonder what to do.
Secretary Paulson, reportedly, does not intend to undertake his injection of Billions into the investment banks through the purchase of preferred stock for another two weeks. Apparently he wants to wait for the banks to ask for the money instead of making it appear that the Federal government is taking a unilateral action.
It has been less than two weeks since September 29 and the market has fallen 23%.
Another drop like that will get us down to 6,600, a level last seen in the mid 1990s.
If we don't have a BOLD and almost SHOCKING announcement from Washington by 9 AM Monday* about an IMMEDIATE $1 to $2 Trillion injection into the credit markets, I suggest you watch the market opening at 9:30 on Monday morning.
The opening drop will be awesome.
We will never see a drop like that again.
(Unless it occurs again on Tuesday because there is no announcement by then.)
********
Now....can an investor recover from his or her losses?
Yes, certainly.
Can and should an individual make purchases in this market?
*An earlier version of this blog misstated the day on which the NYSE and NASDAQ will open. Although Monday is a Federal Holiday, those markets are open that day. The Bond Market is not open.
Welcome to a wonderful new lunch place right across the street from the Maine College of Art. The owners of Sengchai Thai Cuisine (on Forest Avenue) have opened up a new Thai buffet. The lunch buffet, at $8.50 is an incredible value, considering what's available. I had several varieties of sushi, spring rolls, tom yum soup, and a variety of tofu, chicken, fish, and beef dishes -- all excellent. It's a pleasant comfortable place.
And the "but": Like any buffet, it's much too easy to overeat, and with the array of choices here, that's especially tempting. So, only head to 511 Congress Street if you've plenty of self control.
Do support our local businesses -- and this is one of them!
Nine days ago, on September 29, I explained in my blog post here, why the original Paulson plan was wrong and what the bailout SHOULD look like.
1) I noted that the White House and the Congress needed to think outside the box in rewriting Secretary Paulson's misguided proposal, because Paulson's imperial proposal simply removed from the investment banks' books billions of dollars worth of mortgage derivatives for which a market value could not established.
2) I explained how most of the mortgages in the derivatives were actually good, and that the derivatives did have value. That value was difficult to determine at this moment in this crisis, but that it could be determined if the derivatives were held to maturity.
In that post I wrote:
"My solution: the Federal government should authorize the Federal Bank to LEND up to $700 billion to those banks IN THE US holding these derivatives at a to-be-decided interest rate that is slightly higher than the normal rate. Banks would use the mortgage derivatives as collateral for this loan but would be required to hold these derivatives to maturity."
Two days after I wrote this, ex Secretary of the Treasury Paul H O'Neil spoke publicly for the first time on the bailout, calling it "crazy" and called for approximately the same solution I did -- (quoting from the Denver Post's interview with O'Neil): " To replenish capital in banks, the government should make 20-year loans to institutions and charge 2 percentage points above the government's borrowing rate".
If the bailout had been structured as I proposed, as an immediate loan, the banks would have that $700 billion THE DAY AFTER THE BAILOUT WAS SIGNED, not by the end of October as Secretary Paulson now plans.
Credit would have started flowing again, and confidence would have returned to the entire economy, and not just the markets.
The failure to resuscitate the economy immediately by directly injecting the $700 billion into the economy means credit markets in the US are NOW illiquid with no or very little money being lent at the highest levels -- the levels that make the economy work.
For example, companies cannot get short term loans to tide them over until their customers pay at the end of the month; this usually means the company may not make payroll or pay its own creditors.
States often take short term loans to cover government costs while waiting for tax revenues to come in.
The Los Angeles Times has reported that California may need an $7 Billion emergency loan from the Federal government to carry on normal governmental activities this month that it would otherwise fund by short term borrowing until tax revenues came in.
Municipalities, states and companies cannot issue long term bonds for projects because the interest rates now being quoted for those bonds are, in some cases, triple what they were three weeks ago.
As a result of this credit freeze, the US stock market has dropped to levels not seen since the beginning of the decade, wiping out Billions of dollars of paper value.
And this lack of liquidity has become a world wide problem: Japan's stock index fell 9% yesterday, its biggest drop in 20 years, and the markets in London, France and Germany have fallen since Friday by 12%, 14% and 14%.
Today the Federal Reserve Bank announced a 0.5% cut in the Federal Funds rate to 1.5%, coordinating this cut with similar 0.5% cuts by the European Central Bank, and the central banks of China, Great Britain, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.
As of 1 PM today, the stock markets of London, Paris and Frankfurt showed little confidence in these rate cuts, with all three down nearly 6%. The Russian exchange was closed until Friday after a 14% drop in the first half hour. The Dow was flat, less than 1/10 of 1 % from its opening.
So now what?
The Congress needs to return to Washington tomorrow and do a BAILOUT OF THE BAILOUT, unanimously passing legislation to inject between $700 Billion and $1 Trillion IMMEDIATELY into the credit markets.
We need a Congress of national unity and a nation-wide awareness of what lies ahead if this is not done.
America should NEVER AGAIN be held hostage by politics as it was between the first and second versions of the bailout. The economy should not be governed by the political whims of a few.
If this is not done, our economy will NOT wait until the end of the month for the Government to inject money through buying the derivatives.
By then, our nation and the global economy WILL, not may, be in a depression deeper than that of the 1930s, and once there, it could take years for us to crawl out.
What about the Bailout?
What do you think? Are we saved or sunk? Are you mad? Are you confused? Me too!
I'm worried that a month ago …everything was fine. There was no banking crisis.
Then a $700 billion bailout was suddenly needed!!! Within 2 weeks - we got it …now what? The Market falls again and we're told to "Be patient". I've lost my patience.
Instead I'm disgusted and embarrassed for this country. I'm saddened for the children that will carry this burden and for their children who will do without because of this government's greed and avarice.
I laughed yesterday as I read someone blame this on the Carter administration. Hello? If something has been wrong for that long, why didn't this administration fix it? They've been in there for 8 years.
Let me ask another question. If the government hid this financial disaster from us, and I think they MUST have known something was going wrong, than what else don't we know?
Also - if the banks mishandled loans, why aren't they being prosecuted? Where is the accountability?
Where is the outrage??
With the VP debate over, the media will now breathlessly announce moves in the national Presidential polls.
The media does this because it is part of the 90 second WOW factor: the polls' moves get the viewer's attention, and the media has led the viewer to believe that these polls are meaningful.
But in truth, the national Presidential polls have little predictive power because every four years we forget that the President is elected by the Electoral College vote and NOT by the total popular vote.
The United States is the ONLY nation with its leader elected in this undemocratic manner. Three times in the nation's history, the Presidential candidate who won the popular vote has been denied office by the winner of the electoral vote (2000, 1888, and 1876).
By focusing on the results of the national polls, the media is simply telling us what the popular mood is, and what the popular vote total would likely to be if the election were held on the day the poll was taken.
This year, 270 Electoral College votes are needed to attain the Presidency. Based on state polling, states are assigned to candidates as being "Safe," meaning the state is fully expected to go for one of the candidates, "Likely," "Leans," and "Neutral or Toss Up."
For example:
Texas is safe for McCain -- California is safe for Obama
Georgia is likely for McCain -- Maine is likely for Obama
Indiana leans towards McCain -- Oregon leans towards Obama.
Typically, Presidential candidates do not campaign for the popular vote but
for the electoral vote, and especially for the electoral vote in Neutral or Toss Up states.
To follow the true ebb and flow of the Presidential election, follow the state polls and the standing of the candidates in Electoral College projections. Pay special attention to the states that are listed as Neutral or Toss up College projections.
I believe the election will be decided by the electoral votes of just six states: Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia.
Your key states may be different, but that is the beauty of handicapping the election yourself instead of depending on the media.
Several sites that collect all available national and state polls and visually display Electoral College projections are
The headline announcing this blog series says "conversations about Maine issues", but it it appears that I and the other bloggers are broadcasting messages, with very little response coming back.
In one post I suggested that "sign season" is about visual pollution from campaign signs, and that it represents a disrespect for voters. Are you as concerned as I am about people making voting decisions just based on these silly signs that litter our streets?
What about shoplifting at Micucci's -- or any other local business?
And how much industrial noise is acceptable in residential parts of our city?
The Press Herald has given all of us an exciting opportunity with this blog. Will you use it?
So far there has been one failed attempt to provide some sort of temporary solution to the mortgage problem. To their credit, enough members of the House (both Democrat and Republican) refused to be stampeded into approving a hasty mishmash of a bailout bill that included irrelevancies such as a huge grant for ACORN (known for its creative and sometimes illegal crusade to register voters, alive or dead or even fictitious) added to the bill by the Democratic leadership.
To be sure, is now anxious over the huge numbers of calls that their constituents have made over the last few days. Popular sentiment is reported to be overwhelmingly against any immediate bailout of those financial institutions viewed as contributing to the mortgage mess through greed and/or mismanagement.
Since over ninety percent of consumers are making mortgage payments regularly and on time, it is understandable that so many of them are questioning why their tax dollars should be spent shoring up those organizations that have glaringly shown their inability to handle financial matters in a responsible manner.
There are many in the media, in the current Administration and in Congress eager to pass some sort of legislation; after all, it is an election year and a thorough examination of the problem will reveal that issues have been building - and ignored or blocked - since the Carter Presidency. There have been numerous career politicians involved in preventing attempts to impose regulatory restraints upon the mortgage industry over the past four years and further publicity will only expose campaign contributions, "sweetheart deals" and other embarrassments for the Washington elite.
The public has been deluged with frantic warnings of returning to the Depression era, financial meltdown, destruction of America's credit base and other catastrophes that will ensue unless immediate action is taken. There is indeed a looming problem, for unless credit is stabilized many businesses will face bankruptcy without a line of credit to guarantee payroll and operating expenses. Unavailable credit will also create pressure for many households. But severe problems require carefully constructed solutions and most of all leadership.
Tonight the Senate is scheduled to vote on a revised plan that is reportedly more friendly to the consumer and less focused on aiding Wall Street, hedge funds and investment banking. Massive problems require carefully constructed solutions and, just as important, leadership. This will not be found from those heading Senate and House Banking and Finance Committees, who have for the last several years insisted that there were no problems with Fannie and Freddie and who have blocked numerous attempts to impose regulatory restraint on the practices of those two organization.
And this is not the time for partisan politics.
It is time for our elected representatives to do their duty for the people, not for those entities who buy their attention through large campaign contributions and lobbying efforts.
It's the 1st of October, the day after Rosh Hashanah and a few days after the New Moon. Late flowers still bloom in the gardens and along the roadways here in Midcoast Maine. The old Ash tree is in full color, a purple than defies description, while the red maples light the edges of the fields. A bit of wood smoke hangs in the early morning chill, and the Autumn sun brings a far off light that seems too thin to hold much warmth.
This year the summer garden was an explosion of produce; a delicious bounty throughout the growing season. There are more stray tomatoes to be picked and the beets are superlative this year. Hidden acorn squash gather in the pucker brush, but to me they seem like money in the bank. Actually, I feel better about them then any money I would have in the bank, but that's another matter.
Autumn arrived officially last week, so we have met the end of summer and now embrace the dark half of the year. The nights will be longer than the days for the next six months, until the Spring Equinox tips the balance once again. The Autumn months are the time between the steamy, hot Summer and bitter, cold Winter; a time of transition. Here we get ready to nestle down and settle in for the long, cold months. There is wood to stack, food to store, windows to wash and plants to repot and bring in. We heat with wood, and it's all dry and paid for. We're one of the fortunate few that have no heating worries this year. How I wish it was true for more Mainers. But we know it gets cold every year, so we plan ahead.
The economic crisis and the election are on my mind. I have strong opinions and feelings and I try to remember that I cannot control the outcome of these situations. My energy is better spent planting the garlic for next year's harvest. I can make compost and weed my gardens. I wave at the migrating geese and blow kisses to the last monarch as it drifts over the trees and out of sight. I wonder at our ignorance and shutter at our stupidity.
I'm glad I'm here to witness this time of change. The future generations will look back and laugh, in amazement and disbelief. We are seeing the end of an era and the beginning of a new phase in history. I only hope that the future generations will have learned from our mistakes, because they will certainly be paying for them.
So in this time of endings and beginnings, I will pull the dead plants and nuisance weeds from my life and plant anew. Crocus, for color and hope in the Spring, and garlic for strength and health. I remember that all endings are only new beginnings and I have faith that this too shall pass.
Now I'll go and find my 4 year old neighbor and teach her how to plant some bulbs.
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