RichC | February 4, 2012
Fred Smith, CEO of Fedex, spoke on Thursday this past week and simplified his thoughts on turning around the economy and creating jobs. He supplied a chart which doesn’t necessarily clear up the “chicken or the egg” discussion associated with which comes first, but his chart does show that capital investment and private sector employment [...]
RichC | February 2, 2012
Got to love the humor of Jon Stewart, even if he show his bias and plays to his left leaning audience. For the fun of it I figure President Obama deserved a little bit of face time too and added (photoshopped) the little Al Green comparison … perhaps it is not as effective as the [...]
RichC | January 31, 2012
Intrade.com is probably one of the more interesting ways to track/trade the election. The ups and downs of a campaign are pretty clear to see … from the Gingrich surge after South Carolina to the precipitous drop we’re watching in Florida. If I had to vote today, I’m not sure I would even go to [...]
RichC | January 30, 2012
YouTube live at 5:30PM EST on January 30, 2012 Great use of technology, although it certainly does require respectful users … unfortunately a little too much “respect” ends up with friendly to President Obama questioners. The hangout is interesting as I’m only 15 minutes in, but its beginning to sound a little like a campaign [...]
RichC | January 24, 2012
…all new inventions in the U.S. are assigned a political party. In the transportation and energy sectors, anything to do with petroleum, natural gas, biofuels, clean diesel, hydrogen and any means of producing electricity other than wind turbines or solar panels is Republican. Hybrids, plug-ins and battery-electric vehicles are Democrat technologies, in addition to anything [...]
RichC | January 23, 2012
David Walker is an idea man that speaks as clearly as any in stating our country’s issues and would be a great advisor to any administration lucky enough to add him. His ideas, that “I believe” the majority will agree on, could be a reasonable approach for most of America who elect moderate Democrats or [...]
RichC | January 21, 2012
I’m archiving the comments of guest Doug Dechille (First Principles Capital Management LLC) on CNBC’s Squawkbox this week. It gave me pause as our politicians and media debate the capital system which helped grow our country. Dechille brought light to the problems financial institutions have with government involvement and the heavy hand of the Federal [...]
RichC | January 18, 2012
Against my inner voice telling me not to bother, I wrote to my congressmen yesterday regarding the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). There are areas that I agree with and understand, but also way too many areas that will impact what most of us appreciate about the Internet. As written, [...]
RichC | January 11, 2012
Governor Mitt Romney soundly defeated Republican challengers in New Hampshire last night and most talking heads have noted desperation from a couple GOP candidates. Both Gingrich and Perry have taken what I would call “cheap shots” at Romney’s “real world” business experience at Bain Capital as well as U.S. based capitalism — a core Republican [...]
RichC | January 11, 2012
Without getting too political, I question whether Mercedes-Benz Chairman of the Board of Management Dieter Zetsche was thinking clearly as he gave his presentation at CES in front of an enlarged photo of Che Guevara? “Some colleagues still think that car-sharing borders on communism," Dieter Zetsche said "but if that’s the case, viva la revolucion!" [...]
RichC | January 10, 2012
A WSJ article illustrated what economists monitoring the U.S. employment market have known, but have failed to communicate successfully; we as a nation are on a long-term trend of fewer decent paying middle class career jobs with dim prospects unless things change. (we deny it, make excuses and kick the can down the road just [...]
RichC | January 9, 2012
A couple of“rat” stories (and a photo above) caught my attention today — and I thought all the “rats” in Washington DC were on vacation? City: Rat population has ‘exploded’ around Occupy D.C. camps By Annie Gowen The rat population around the two Occupy D.C. camps at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza has “exploded”since protesters [...]
RichC | January 4, 2012
Not that it matters much, but Gov Mitt Romney and Rep Rick Santorum were the two top vote getters in Iowa on Tuesday night as it took until the wee hours of the morning before a winner could be declared – Romney by 8 votes. The 24.55% vs 24.54% split barely made up the majority [...]
RichC | December 16, 2011
I never realized just how restrictive New York firearm laws were until reading this story. It never occurred to me that transporting a pistol in a locked case could be a class C felony, even in a liberal state like New York? I suppose if someone spends their life living under NY restrictions … as [...]
RichC | December 15, 2011
Well I was going to wait until closer to the Republican primary in Ohio (3/6/2012) to decide which candidate was best to run against the president, but after seeing recent polling, the candidate is obvious. When polls pitting Newt Gingrich against the sitting President Obama, the numbers indicate the President may have an easy re-election, [...]
RichC | December 10, 2011
After a few flurries and cold temperatures last night, we woke to the first ice on the small lake in front of our house this morning. Brrr … I’m not ready for winter yet. Preparing for Christmas on the other hand, is in full swing as I hauled home a tree last night finishing [...]
RichC | December 9, 2011
Is there a the logic to congress adding yet another layer of legislation in believing they are fixing things for individuals? No … it complicates life for individuals and businesses and ends up costing everybody more … especially for those who appreciate the independence and freedoms that made/makes American unique. The Dodd-Frank bill in just [...]
RichC | November 26, 2011
I not the only one with indigestion … and it isn’t from the Thanksgiving day eating or the leftovers (or even the Black Friday frenzy) … but the crushing financial markets that have haunted investors since Halloween. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has turned in its “worst Thanksgiving week performance since markets began observing the [...]
RichC | November 22, 2011
Even if you’re not a CNBC watcher or someone who focuses on the financial markets each day, you may have heard of Rick Santelli and his rant in 2009 during the peak of the U.S. financial bailouts. I included the clip in a post which many believed may have spurred the Tea Party movement (some [...]
RichC | November 21, 2011
The financial markets responded negatively Monday morning to the general conclusion that neither Europe or the U.S. can come to agreements over out of control spending. The congressional super committee charged with coming up with a solution telegraphed failure this weekend as neither Democrats or Republicans seem interested in compromising their positions. I ask you, [...]
RichC | November 16, 2011
How do you know a politician is lying? Well we’ve all heard the old “lips are moving” answer … it is even more true today than in the past. As someone who really wanted to believe that people – voters – could make a change … I’m becoming more and more disheartened. (Disclosure: I didn’t [...]
RichC | November 9, 2011
The voters in Ohio have clearly made their desires known when it comes to restricting collective bargaining for public employees — over 60% rejected Governor John Kasich and the Republicans (perhaps they asked for too much?). What I don’t think voters realize is the big picture cost of rejecting Issue 2. Unions are now in [...]
RichC | November 4, 2011
I had a brief, but friendly, discussion with a client who’s political views are 180 degrees apart from mine. We chatted about the role of government and eventually settled on a discussion around the problem of funding campaigns and lobbyist gaining influence in our government – something we both agreed was a problem. He was [...]
RichC | October 30, 2011
Every once in awhile a writer captures with clarity what I’m politically thinking — I wish I could communicate this clearly. Peggy Noonan. She is a very talented speech writer and opinion columnist and wrote a superb column for Saturday’s WSJ worth sharing and saving to my archive. The content referenced current politicians, but is [...]
RichC | October 23, 2011
The new CPI numbers (Consumer Price Index) released by the government verify what most balancing family budgets already know … inflation is taking a bigger bite out of incomes. Most private sector workers feel fortunate just to be employed and have seen their take-home pay and benefits stagnate or retreat. Everyone I know has had [...]
RichC | October 19, 2011
I spent the 8 to 10PM hours Tuesday night watching yet another GOP debate, this one hosted on CNN. This time the top tier of the Republican field came out fired up and directed jabs at each other. I suspect viewers who prefer to see Obama as the target were somewhat uncomfortable with the body [...]
RichC | October 17, 2011
By now most in America have at least acknowledged that there are legitimate protests movements in several cities including NYC; some protesting are anarchists and anti-American types looking to hijack any radical movement, but many are legitimately angry with the state of our nation, the partisanship that favors and bails out the Wall Street banks [...]
RichC | October 10, 2011
Brian “Sully” Sullivan, one of my favorite reporters and business news anchors who is now on CNBC, wrote and interesting post that addressed unemployment, growing the economy and the correct way to increasing tax revenues — “all without spending a dime of taxpayer money.” The point of the article is that of the 14 million [...]
RichC | October 4, 2011
Wipeout Beach Boys The government grows, the private sector slows. As I listen to Fed Chairman Bernanke answer questions from our elected representatives this morning, the bulk of question seems to focus on the politics of class warfare. Once again the economies of the world sputter while bureaucrats argue over ways to manage our economy. [...]
RichC | October 1, 2011
I saw a CNBC interview with Warren Buffett the other day and didn’t realized just how twisted the “tax the rich” ideas had become. I’m not saying that I agree with either Warren Buffett or President Obama’s new tax proposals, BUT I was surprised to have them being reported as nearly one in the same [...]