Odds and ends no. 17
Yet another compilation of stuff that doesn't take a whole post to discuss.
It didn't take too long, but the guys and gals at Our Country Deserves Better have a gradecard for President Obama. I'm simply shocked he didn't get F's across the board, but I'm not too inclined to disagree with their assessments. They're backed up from a plethora of sources in the mainstream media.
The short story is that OCDB gives Obama a D- for Taxes and Fiscal Policy, a big fat F for National Security, another D- for Protecting the Unborn, and a D for Appointments. What does that work out to, an 0.5 GPA? That may chip farther into BHO's steep 15-point approval drop in one week.
It's not exactly breaking news that the stimulus program passed the House of Representatives, but Obama's reaching out to the GOP bore no fruit at all - not a single member of the Republican caucus voted for the bill. Can't say as I blame them - after all, the President haughtily reminded House Republicans that "I won."
I have to give credit to Congressman Kratovil on this one too - he was one of 11 Democrats who voted no (the only Maryland Democrat to do so, needless to say.)
Even with that tilt toward moderation and independence, Kratovil is certain to be a target to be defeated by the Republicans in 2010. As for the here and now, much of the buzz in GOP circles this week concerns the upcoming election for party Chair. Unfortunately for local fans of Michael Steele, his bid could come up short according to this website called yourrnc.com.
While I like Steele, personally I think a better choice would be Ken Blackwell of Ohio. He's the subject of this American Spectator profile by Quin Hillyer. Unfortunately, neither lead the pack - the incumbent Mike Duncan does. It's a classic case of establishment vs. grassroots brewing, I fear.
I know fans of the aforementioned Frank Kratovil aren't big supporters of the Club For Growth, but that group brings up an interesting market anomaly:
Have you heard of the Congressional Effect? Let's say you invested $1 in the stock market on the days when Congress is IN session and another dollar on the days when Congress is OUT of session. Can you guess which investment has a better historic return (HINT: Congress is very capable of creating political mischief)? Find out what the Congressional Effect was for 2008 here. And here's an old article from our friend Amity Shlaes who explains it at more length.
While neither result is doing much for our 401.k plans, one has to wonder when the markets will stop paying such attention to Congress and revert to gauging business trends. Or is that now a thing of the past?
One business trend that seems to be semi-permanent in Maryland is driving them away through excessive regulation. I'm going to wrap up this edition by pointing out an excellent post by Richard Falknor on his Blue Ridge Forum blog.
Once again, Governor O'Malley is operating with the mistaken belief that cutting greenhouse emissions in Maryland - a state with about 2% of the national population, and one who's the 4th largest energy importer as Faulknor points out - will make a sizeable dent in global warming.
Which, by the way is not occurring. Is it my imagination or do we have a winter storm every time Al Gore comes to town?