Republicans Got What They Deserved

Now that the election results have settled in, one thing is clear as a bell, the Republicans got exactly what they deserved, especially those in congress. The republicans are supposed to be the party of small government and fiscal restraint. Let's just cut through that clutter and state that they failed miserably on both counts, and when performance is that bad, why should the Republicans have felt that they deserved more time to do what...more big government and big spending? Compounding their performance problem is an ethics hangover from the midterm elections. My expectation is that all elected officials should be of high character, not easily led astray by greed. Those expectations generally go unmet by representatives of both parties, however, the republicans, it seems to me, got fat and lazy in their short stay as the congressional majority. They exuded the type of cronyism that regular Americans detest. Several got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Their place as leaders of this nation, representing conservative, maybe ever libertarian values will have to be re-earned over time before they can be trusted with the car keys again.

To their credit, and most of this falls to President Bush, there has not been a terrorist attack since 9/11/01. This is no small feat. Many have tried and all have failed to bring terror back to our shores. Al Quaeda is a mess, almost all of their top brass are dead or in prison. Iraq is on the cusp of total victory, representing a toehold of democracy in a highly unstable region. Kudos to President Bush and the leadership in Congress for this success over time. Anyone who denies this success is simply a leftist zealot beyond reason.

However, as the economy crumbled, as the government largess grew, as cronyism became part of republican politics as usual, the victory of defending the country has become obscured. The republicans have only themselves to blame. The good will and political capital they could have banked over the past 4 years was vastly over drawn. Repairing the damage will take time. It will take years of doing the right thing. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd have given the republicans a nice start on the way back to good health through their "anyone but me" finger pointing on the Freddie and Fannie scandals. Obama and his gang have a pile of good will to spend over the next four years. It will be interesting to see if he can leverage it, or if Pelosi and Reid burn through it like....well, like republicans.

The New New Economy

Whatever happened to risk/reward? Assume some risk, take some chances, put up some capital, and reap the benefits, if they come. The higher the risk the greater the reward. That used to be the deal. Apparently not anymore. I think the equation is now something like, the more irresponsible the decision, the bigger the bailout.

If the government is going to backstop every failing business in the United States, then why do we need an equity market?

Is anyone else worried about the sustainability of the bailout frenzy? We are bailing out most large banks and strategic insurers. We are discussing a bailout for the US automakers, homeowners who borrowed too much money and credit card holders who cannot pay their bills. Just about everyone who is strapped for cash is apparently bailout-eligible. We can print all the money we want, it doesn't mean it will be worth anything. We can float all the bonds we want, but it does not mean that anyone will buy them. Anyone remember stag-flation?

Why can Toyota and Honda make money selling small cars and the Big 3 can't? Maybe the UAW has something to do with it. Maybe artificially high wages and rich benefits for life have something to do with it. The Big 3 will never be competitive until they get the UAW monkey off their backs, which means they will never be competitive.

Remember Eastern Airlines? Remember when the Union decided it would rather take the airline down rather than give in to management? When was the last time anyone was on an Eastern flight? The Union got their way and everyone lost. Organized labor has outlived its usefulness. It has been reduced to being a drag on the real economy and the icon of the new, new economy, where no one can fail, and and guarantees of guarantees result mediocrity at best and implosion at worst. Feel better? Me either.

Malcolm U. "Buck" Pitt...Thanks-a-Lot

I found out a few minutes ago that Malcolm U Pitt, Jr...aka "Buck" Pitt to anyone who ever was lucky enough to go to Camp Virginia, I found out that he died early this afternoon. I am not sure that Buck would want a lot of fan fare surrounding his death. I am not sure he would want to see a lot of downtrodden looks and despondent mourners. That was not his way. I think that second to my dad, Buck Pitt and his best pal Petey Jacobs had the most profound "adult" influences on my life to date. Buck and Petey, reinforced all the things my dad was trying to teach me about fair play, sportsmanship, doing the right thing even when no one is looking, humility, giving 100% all the time...and a host of other qualities that I still strive to fulfill. Buck Pitt was a living testament to all the things my dad was trying to teach me as a kid and as a young adult. He was 3rd party evidence that the qualities that mattered, did in fact exist in the world and they mattered more than I could imagine.

I am not expert on Buck's life by any stretch and there are many people who knew him far better than me. However, I was one of the lucky few who got to learn from him and see him live his life by the principals he held dear. He came from a generation that took care of business. They did not talk a lot, they didn't have to. Buck let his actions speak for themselves. He was not a self promoter and was always happy to let others take center stage, yet he was always there, supporting, teaching, listening. Buck came from a generation that believed in hard, clean competition. While I never saw him play, I know that on the football field Buck Pitt would knock your lights out with a clean hit during a play, and then help you up and tell you "nice play". He played hard, he played to win, and he played by the rules. His victory was not to be interpreted as your defeat. While I know he wanted to win on the athletic field as badly as anyone who ever played sports, he also did not want have his victory leave his opponent feeling like someone who lost.

Winning was important to Buck Pitt, but the way you played the game mattered more. The world needs more Buck Pitts and Petey Jacobs. While I fear we may not find many more like them, I am heartened by knowing that there are thousands like me who were privileged to know them. They taught many of us the right way to compete, on the sports field and in life.

"When the great scorer comes to mark against your name, he writes not if you won or lost, but how you played the game." I doubt a lot of people have heard this message before, and even fewer heed its call. I know where I learned it. I know who lived it. I am sorry we lost him but eternally grateful to have known him.

Buck Pitt, for what you did to help me and thousands like me, Thanks-a-Lot, we can never repay the debt, but are better for having it.