Are Asian Banks Shooting Themselves in the Foot by Aiding The US Dollar?
Almost overnight, while most of us were sleeping Asian central banks intervened heavily in the currency markets to stem the appreciation of their currencies against the US dollar. Their actions, prompted by fears that their exports could be losing ground against China may help them in the short run; but, could it aid in further devaluing the US Dollar in the long run?
President Obama and his administration have, in both their words and actions, demonstrated a commitment to US recovery and growth largely unconcerned with the strength of the dollar. With every deficit-funded spending project and every dollar printed, the value, strength and international attractiveness of the US dollar is greatly diminished. Fiscal conservatives hoped the increased chatter surrounding the dollar’s weakness – its 12 percent decline in value over the past 6 months, the discussion of abandoning it as the international reserve currency last month at the G20 and rumors of OPEC moving to peg oil’s price in a “basket of currencies” not including the greenback – would reign in Washington spending. However, could this new news out of Asian water down these concerns about the dollar’s strength and grant the Obama administration greater latitude to continue spending? If so, something tells us Obama won’t have a problem keeping the printing presses running and gold shouldn’t have a problem climbing over $1,500 an ounce.
The moves to limit Asian currency appreciation is ammunition for those who warn that the new Group of 20 framework for strong and balanced growth is toothless.
Read The Financial Time’s Article – HERE
Obama Secretly Shifting Afghan Mission for Left’s Political Points
Taliban Law Permits Stoning of Women
The Times of London is reporting that the Obama administration is prepared to accept some Taliban involvement in Afghanistan’s political future but they will “not tolerate their return to power.”
The administration’s statement not only legitimizes the terrorist group’s policies and practices but is especially worrisome in light of the breaking news that cooperation between Iran and the Taliban is on the rise. CBS news is reporting that as tensions between the United States and the Iranian government escalate, Iran is increasingly supplying the Taliban with money, weapons and fuel to bolster their efforts in fighting American troops.
It’s clear that U.S.-Iranian relations now are going to go into an increasingly difficult period,” Reidel said. “If I was sitting in Teheran, I’d be looking for the place where you could hurt the Americans the most and that’s Obama’s war right next door in Afghanistan.
Obama appears to be thinking that the primary aim of US forces in Afghanistan is to deny al-Qaeda any ability to regroup there — as it did before the 9/11 attacks. Such a mission would require only a small increase in the forces deployed in Afghanistan
It appears as though Mr. Obama is covertly attempting to change the mission in Iran from rooting out the Taliban to simply denying al-Qaeda an ability to regroup in Afghanistan. This politically motivated scheme enables him to keep General McChrystal at bay with less than his requested 40,000 troops while pandering to his leftist base at the expense of American troops, the women of Afghanistan and America’s national security.
Read The Times of London’s Article – HERE
Read CBS News’s Article – Here
From the Donkey’s Mouth: Public Option Will Hurt Dems in 2010
While we virulently disagree with Howard Dean – former governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee – that a public option still has a chance in the Senate, we both agree its passage would hurt Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections.
Dean’s proposal: opening up Medicare to people over the age of 50 so that a “certain mass” of people will already have benefited from health reform by the elections. “You need to have people sign up for this program by July 2010″
It appears the Democrats, unable to pass their version of an ideal healthcare reform bill are turning the issue into a political scheme to secure votes for what is currently looking like a good environment for Republicans in 2010.
Continue to look to the healthcare bellwethers and we continue to anticipate healthcare reform resulting in nothing but an expansion of medicare.
Read Our “Look to the Healthcare Bellwethers” Blog Post – HERE
Read US News and World Report’s Article – Here
If you haven’t seen actor Will Ferrell’s satirical video on the healthcare debate, it can be found on Funny or Die here.
At one moment in Will Ferrell’s video, he satirically proclaims that if someone falls off a bike and injures his/her self, they should have to pay for that themselves. Ferrell obviously believes in government responsibility over personal responsibility. Below is a video that takes proper and much-needed aim at celebrities with an over-inflated ego and sense of self-worth who insist on putting forth their opinions in arenas where their knowledge and clout are sadly, and quite evidently, out of their depth.
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…I hate the phrase, ‘Citizens of the World’
I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Beck. Many so-called ‘progressives‘ seem to advocate this policy of viewing ourselves not so much as Americans, but as citizens of the earth; that we should surrender our national sovereignty before international organizations such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. I reject these notions. Mr. Obama, I am first and foremost, always, an American.
