07 Dec 2012

Posted at 09:57h in The Friday Brief by
President Obama and Speaker Boehner are back behind closed doors after a week of posturing that moved slightly in the president’s favor toward higher taxes. While the president uses every tool he’s got to pound his tax hike position, Republicans try to hold their coalition together while negotiating publically, so far unsuccessfully, with the White House. However, regardless of some openings in Republican ranks, compromise on a cliff-avoiding measure remains a long-shot with strong ideological anchors firmly set on both sides.

27 Apr 2012

Posted at 12:32h in The Friday Brief by
So why is debt such at bad thing? Why all of a sudden is it bringing people and countries to their knees? It's not new, in fact it's been with us as long as money has. Debt can be a really great tool that allows us to buy more of a thing or to buy that thing much sooner than we could with only our cash. And there are some things we might not be able to buy at all without debt, like houses, roads, or college.

29 Apr 2011

Posted at 15:28h in The Friday Brief by
In perhaps the most audacious and partisan verbal tempest so far as we approach the looming budget storm, Treasurer Geithner said “what I want to make sure they [italics added, referring to Republicans] don't do is take us too far into June, take us too close to the edge.” Amplifying those remarks, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said any Republican effort to hold out on a debt-ceiling vote for deficit-reduction measures “could in fact tank the global economy.” He added “it would be foolhardy to play chicken with the full faith and credit of the United States of America. It is simply too risky.”

28 Jan 2011

Posted at 15:36h in The Friday Brief by
Common sense as defined in the Encarta Dictionary is “sound practical judgment derived from experience rather than study.” In his 1776 treatise Common Sense, Thomas Paine used plain language to speak to the common man and woman in America challenging the authority of the royal monarchy over them. For the next few minutes, to the extent possible, try to suspend influences that pull you away from common sense thinking; such as politics, media, and persuasive speakers.