Gene Morphis ' View

Lewis "Scooter" Libby received his sentence today. As far as I can tell, he was convicted of little more than still going by a kid's nickname even though he is an adult. He of course should receive a Presidential pardon. Sadly, the Bush administration is increasingly looking and acting like the Nixon administration. And Scooter will be left twisting in the wind....

I was listening to the Michael Medved show yesterday. He does a nice job at talk radio. But he was worked up because the CBS News Poll showed that 72% of Americans surveyed think the U.S. is on the wrong track. (When I went to CBS' site, it looks to me like the number is 69%, but that's an insignicant difference). Medved's view is that income for the poorest citizens are rising (recent government data), unemployment is low, stock market is high, no cold war, so why so pessimistic? Here are my answers: Several of our young men and women are being killed every day in a war that we are getting sick of. The deficit is some unimaginable, staggering number that my generation is imposing on my children. Social Security is bankrupt and both Congress and the Administration (both previous and current, and both Republican and Democratic) are unwilling to face the issue. There are virulent infectious agents in hospitals that are resistent to essentially all antibiotics, and the drug co...

Senators and Congressmen are falling all over each other to introduce legislation to do something to China for any of a variety of presumed sins. Many of these are centered on the concept that the Chinese currency - generally called the renminbe - is artificially undervalued, and, if allowed to float on the open market, would zoom in price vs. the dollar, making U.S. exports etc. more competitive. Let's examine this policy from the opposite perspective - e.g. - the dollar would sink in value versus the Chinese currency. While this might be of some short-term value to some exporters, it is something of a crash diet, resulting in quick, but short-lived, weight loss. Hasn't a bedrock of U.S. policy since Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury been a strong dollar? Do we think that a weak dollar is in the long-run best interest of America? Hardly. There are a number of constructive things Congress can do should it so chose. First, it could shave a couple of ...

Apparently, NJ Governor John Corzine joined 26 other state governors to sign a letter to Congress asking them to investigate the oil companies for price gouging. Since Corzine was a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, where he became a multimillionaire (if indeed not a billionaire), I expected that he had some fundamental grasp of supply and demand, and the price function in a market economy. Perhaps crashing at 90 miles an hour without a seat belt injured more than just his ribs....I can't believe he doesn't understand economics at that basic level...he is too honorable a man just to grandstand on this issue.....

There was a lot that I wanted to post on this week. However, the tragedy at Virginia Tech overwhelmed anything else. And there was sad, senseless violence in many other places as well (e.g. - 180 killed in Iraq in one day). I've been searching for a noun. None have seemed to fit. What do we call someone who slaughters schoolmates? Murderer seems inadequate somehow. Perhaps the term is overused on television cop and lawyer shows..... Madman? True, but also insufficient. I've settled, dissatisfied , on psychopath ... Having lived a number of years in Virgina, and having visited the Va Tech campus a few times, I know a number of alumni. It is a very solid school, where middle class families send their daughters and sons to study computer science or engineering or in some agriculture program. There is still a bucolic hint in Blacksburg , even though the area has grown steadily in recent years. One can be in farm country with only few minute drive from the campus. I can...

The confluence of factors that caused Mr. Imus to lose not one, but two jobs, and the media attention that resulted, and continues, are an amazing commentary on life in America in 2007. What matters.. First, and I've blogged on this before, is our increasing self- absorption . Last week, there was a significant new twist in the Iraqi conflict - car/truck bombs attempting to blow up major bridges. Did you know? While it was reported, it was drowned by our focus on ourselves and the increasing importance of avoidance of speech or writing which might hurt someone else's feelings. His statement was worse than most of his insults, and perhaps more insensitive . I've been a listener for a decade or so, and would observe that his harshness is usually personal. That is, singling out some individual for attack - a politician, say, or the head of some business that Imus felt wronged or slighted by. Some of the kerfuffle here probably stems from the fact that Rutgers women were esse...

I'll admit to being mystified by the Democratic party strategy on Iraq. What is there to be gained by forcing a withdrawal timetable now? If the new strategy begins to be successful (early results are promising, but we've seen improving conditions deteriorate there before), then they look foolish. If the new strategy fails, then the Republicans were going to take the blame anyway. It seems the only winning outcome for them is a failure that let's them say "I told you so". "I told you so" is usually not a popular phrase even among people who agree. Why didn't they just stay on the sidelines a little longer? If the new plan worked, they could jump on the bandwagon.....

I'm not a University of Tennessee sports fan. However, I am a great admirer of Pat Summit. Ms. Summit: congratulations on another championship. For those of us college hoops fans who thought there would never be another John Wooden; we were wrong - there is - and her name is Summit. She knows how to create a culture of performance and accountability. And, based on a number of observed facial expressions, I would say she knows how to give direct feedback.... congrats again.

Former Health and Welfare Secretary and four time Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson formally announced his candidacy for President on George Stephenopolis' show Sunday morning. And, before I could organize my post, Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo launched his bid on Monday. With Vilsack out for money reasons, my count is now eleven declared Republicans and seven declared Democrats. However, I think both Newt Gingrich and Al Gore are running stealth campaigns, so I now call it a whopping 19 candidates. Have there ever been that many? I wonder....certainly not anything like that in my memory. The last couple of weeks have brought some interesting, if very predictable, developments. First, Obama's poll numbers have stalled. Second, all the possible Guilani negatives are coming out. Both of these are predictable; as candidates get some momentum, the press begins snooping for any scandal, or just anything. Guilani's third wife seems to be the news generator on that side (...

The statistics on the number of Americans dying from infections - and in particular infections acquired in hospitals - are staggering. About 2 million Americans acquired an infection last year while in the hospital! I tell my friends that you can't leave someone alone in a hospital - that they are the most dangerous places in the country. Generally, my comments are met with skepticism - until they or a relative are in the hospital. Invariably, they report back to me that I was right; there aren't enought nurses, wrong medications or meals show up, something is unsanitary, and so on. We need some kind of a program to encourage the pharmaceutical industry to tackle infections. They just aren't interested any more - the risks and rewards greatly favor chronic illnesses where drugs can be used for years or decades - e.g. Lipitor - than for acute, short-lived drug regimens. The FDA - who I haven't trusted in years - needs to be assertive here - and so does all branche...

To the tax the rich crowd: Again - the most recent statistics (2004): the richest 1% paid 35.6% of the TOTAL federal income tax. The top 10% paid 67.6%. Two thirds! I believe if we elected some normal people to Congress, they could balance the budget in about 15 minutes....

The single best sporting event in the U.S. is of course the NCAA tournament. Congratulations to my Memphis Tigers for making it to the Sweet Sixteen - and last eight - two consecutive years. And to the State of Tennessee for sending three teams to the round of 16, despite having a much smaller population than TX, CA, FL, NY and several others. Obviously good things are happening in TN basketball. To the Kentucky basketball program: keep your hands off Calipari.

Recently I've been driving the PA test course. Where the turnpike joins 309 North. Excellent test designed by PA DOT. About 8 feet to go from zero to highway speed, exceptionally limited visibility makes entry extremely challenging. To add to the excitement, lately they've turned off the big overhead lamp that would illuminate the course at night. Tach up; slam it. Topping it off, PA 309, in an event that should have been headline news, has evidently recently been shelled by insurgents.

Falling home sales+Taliban attacks in Afganistan+rising oil prices+Japan MOF raising interest rates+falling Chinese stock market+open-ended $100 billion per year Iraq war cost+U.S. auto makers losing money+staggering federal debt+subprime lending problems+dollar in free fall=recession.

The broadcast media is already consolidating the candiates - Hil and Obama, Guliani and McCain. Thanks to the blogosphere some others may last a while and give us an interesting race and perhaps some real candidates. Iowa and New Hampshire should not get to decide the whole thing for us.

I've been commuting on the PA Turnpike. If you haven't experienced the danger, it works like this. Most, if not all, of the major interchanges are under construction. The natives tell me the construction projects started just after the First Continental Congress. Anyway, the key thing is the degree of navigational difficulty. Got a new Porsche? Preferably turbo - the entrance ramps are a worthy test. The off ramp near Harrisburg onto Highway 15 South is a favorite- one has about 20 feet to get up to the speed of the traffic. Tach up, pedal to the floor. If you are in a minivan and a 18 wheeler is approaching, I hope your insurance covers Life Flight. Similarly, the on-ramp from 309 South to the Turnpike West has a thrill ride combo of a cattle chute into a chicane. (One of the Turnpike's engineers' favorites - sometime chicane first, sometimes last). I recommend the Bell Full Competition helmut combined with a NASCAR flamesuit....along with that 911 Carrera Turb...

What are there now? Sixteen? Seventeen? Huckabee in, Kerry out I think brings us to 18. Let's try: Republicans: Guiliani, Romney, McCain, Huckabee, Hunter, Brownback, Gingrich, Pataki, Thompson and Hagel. Democrats: Biden, Clinton, Vilazon, Kucinich, Dodd, Obama, Edwards and Richards On the Democratic sideline is still Al Gore - who probably could be a serious challenger to Hillary. And, while I've included Guiliani on the other aisle side, and I think he has a real chance to win, I now question whether he wants it. He certainly hasn't lept in full force, and one has the sense that the train is leaving the station. Richards brings a good resume to the race, and from a distance, seems to have done a nice job as Govenor of New Mexico. However, announcing the formation of his committee on the same day as Hillary may prove to be a portent. I would say she currently has a 40:1 journalist entourage advantage. If they aren't following you around, they aren't writing about ...

I saw Duncan Hunter on TV. I remembered seeing him before, talking about some economic issue. I also remember that it definitely was NOT a conservative position....

Making my (almost last) trip from Conshocken to Leesburg last night, I again noticed the speed traps on Highway 15 in Maryland - immediately north of Fredricksburg. You were warned.

Oil today below $52 per barrel. There are few things that can be more positive for the economy than that. Flip side - weak earnings report last night from Intel; terrible earnings from home builder Lennar this morning. Historically, weak housing plus weak homebuilding equals recession. Not clear now, with export markets booming, unemployment still very low (probably a lot of the construction workers now out of work are illegals, so they don't show up in the unemployment numbers), and still attractive interest rates, along with rising financial assets from the recent market run. My bet - the Goldilocks economy.