Time for another tea party?
There is a chill wind blowing across this land of ours. People are losing faith in their ability to realize the American dream. While AIG pays out $165 million in bonuses to people who arguably contributed to the need for the federal government to hand them $170 billion of our money, and while politicians lie about who crafted the language that allowed this kind of stuff to happen (Are you listening Chris Dodd?), the average American is seeing his future disintegrate in front of his eyes.
Here are some numbers that suggest we are losing hope:
A CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll shows 39 percent of those surveyed say they're very confident they'll be able to keep up their quality of life. That's down from 45 percent a year ago.
Fifty percent of homeowners with a mortgage say they're very confident they can keep making their house payments. Again, that's down from 58 percent a year ago.
Also down are the percentages of Americans who are confident they can pay their other debts, things like credit cards and car loans.
When it comes to saving for long-term goals, it's even worse.
To read Jack's entire CNN.com commentary, click here
Will Pres. Obama's budget bankrupt country?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
President Obama's budget could bankrupt the U.S.; so says Republican Judd Gregg. The New Hampshire senator, who was almost a cabinet member, says if we maintain the proposals in the budget over a 10 year period, the country will go bankrupt.
Pres. Obama's budget will reportedly produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next decade.
"People will not buy our debt, our dollar will become devalued. It is a very severe situation," said Gregg, who's known as one of the top fiscal minds on Capitol Hill, calls the planned spending "almost unconscionable."
A report by the Congressional Budget Office shows President Obama's budget would produce $9.3 trillion in deficits over the next decade. That's more than four times the deficits of President Bush; and it's $2.3 trillion worse than what the Obama administration had predicted.
And Gregg's not the only one - Republican Senator Susan Collins, who was one of the few in her party to work with Democrats on the stimulus bill, says the planned deficit spending "poses a threat to the basic health of our economy." And Democratic Senator Kent Conrad calls the projected deficits "a stunning amount of money," and says the administration will need to make some adjustments.
But the head of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, is not backing down from the budget proposals - saying the estimates by the Congressional Budget Office may not be accurate.
Here's my question to you: Will President Obama's budget bankrupt the country?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Taxing bonuses a good idea?
People protest against corporate bailouts in front of AIG's Los Angeles office.(PHOTO CREDIT: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There seems to be plenty of opposition to the House of Representatives' bonus tax plan - including perhaps President Obama himself.
In a move that many saw as "grandstanding," the House rushed through that 90 percent tax on bonuses of big earners at bailed-out financial institutions last week. The measure came in response to news that AIG paid out at least $165 million in bonuses - after getting $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money.
But in an interview with "60 Minutes," the president questioned the legality and constitutionality of the tax; and said that he wouldn't "govern out of anger." Nonetheless, Mr. Obama vowed to make Wall Street understand it must do away with "the old way of doing business."
He said the Senate would produce a very different and more acceptable version of the the bonus tax bill; maybe one he could sign.
Also coming out against the tax were other top administration officials - the vice president's top economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, said it "may be a dangerous way to go." And the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer, said the president favors creating a federal "resolution authority" over bailed-out financial institutions which would allow a judge to void the kind of contracts that let AIG pay out the bonuses.
Meanwhile the American public clearly wants that money back. A new Gallup poll shows 76 percent of those surveyed want the government to intervene to block or recover the AIG bonuses.
Here's my question to you: Is it a good idea to tax bonuses?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Does Pres. Obama risk overexposure?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
I like him, but I'm tired of looking at him. It feels like President Obama is everywhere these days. When he holds a prime time press conference tomorrow night, it will already be the second one in his very young administration.
Media wise, is President Obama getting overexposed?
He was chatting it up with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show last week; which was great until they started talking about bowling. Every day some town hall meeting or summit at the White House or elsewhere gets covered live by the cable networks. We show him leaving, getting there, doing it, leaving, and getting back. Enough!
Plus, you can't pass a newsstand without dozens of Obamas staring at you...
Politico dubs Mr. Obama "the Everywhere President," pointing out how despite a severe recession and two wars overseas - he's making the effort to give off a very personal and intimate presidential image. But some experts suggest a personality-driven presidency does have its risks. One media and pop culture expert says the president is trying to "metaphorically remove the moat from around the presidency," but that can be tricky.
Former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers says that when a president is in the public eye too often, people may just stop listening at some point.
Republicans have already been critical of the president for appearing on ESPN to fill out his college tournament brackets and doing the Tonight Show interview. But the GOP attacked Mr. Obama for being a "celebrity" during the campaign; and that didn't seem to work too well.
And the Special Olympics gaffe on the Tonight Show aside, interviews outside the realm of hard news do give him a chance to connect to more Americans. 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' scored its fourth highest ratings ever the night the president was on.
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to the media, how much of President Obama is too much?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Excerpt: Parents, your kids aren't that special
Here is an excerpt from Jack’s new book, "Now or Never"
I never presumed to have any more answers about being a parent than anybody else.
There are no perfect parents, perfect kids, perfect families - only degrees of dysfunction.
You get up in the morning and do the best you can. At the end of the day you say, "Okay, that wasn't so bad, let's try it again tomorrow." Some of my instincts were pretty good and some of them were awful.
I did stay engaged and didn't say to hell with being a father when my first marriage ended. With the younger girls, I eventually made the choice to clean up my alcoholism before I pushed things to the point of no return. But most of the credit does to my second wife Carol; to the girls; and to God Almighty. Ultimately, I've just been very fortunate.
I don't know the status of parenting in America. But I know a little about the status of education in America. Parents' growing inability to impose manners and limits on their kids when the kids are in school is reflected in record dropout rates, as well as teen drug and alcohol abuse, teen sex, and unwed pregnancies. Maybe it's parenting that's on the decline, more than the schools.
Click here to read the entire excerpt
Don't miss this other excerpt: Cafferty: My battle with alcoholism
Worried about losing your quality of life?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As the recession drags on, Americans are growing less confident that they can maintain their current standard of living, especially when it comes to long-term goals.
Your quality of life: Is there anything you fear losing?
A new CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll shows 39 percent of those surveyed say they're very confident they'll be able to keep up their quality of life over the next year; but that's down from 45 percent who felt that way a year ago.
50 percent of homeowners with a mortgage say they're very confident they can keep making their house payments; again, that's down from 58 percent just a year ago. Also down is the percentage of Americans who are confident they can pay other debts - like credit cards and car loans.
And people are even more pessimistic when it comes to saving for long term goals. Only 24 percent of parents say they're very confident they'll be able to pay to send their children to college. And only 22 percent of those who are still working feel they can save enough for retirement.
These are pretty scary numbers. The U.S. used to be a place where every generation hoped for a standard of living that was better than what their parents had. And for the most part for more than 200 years, that's the way it's been. It was all part of the American dream; but as these poll numbers suggest, that dream may be just that - a dream - for the generations coming up.
Here's my question to you: What do you fear losing most when it comes to your quality of life?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should Geithner be fired over AIG bonus scandal?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As the AIG bonus scandal continues to brew, some believe it's time for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to either quit or be fired.
Should Geithner be fired over AIG?
If Geithner didn't know about the $165 million in bonuses earlier, he should have. He told CNN yesterday quote "It's my responsibility; I was in a position where I didn't know about those sooner. I take full responsibility for that."
Geither insists he found out about the full extent of the bonus problems last week on March the 10; but The New York Times describes the bonus program as "a disaster hiding in plain sight."
They report that in a March 3 congressional hearing, Geithner was asked what could be done to stop AIG from paying $165 million in bonuses. The Treasury secretary responded that executive pay had gotten "out of whack" and pledged to crack down on pay at companies like AIG that were getting bailout money.
A Treasury spokesman says although that question came up two weeks ago, Geithner was "not aware of the timing or full extent" of the bonus situation until March 10.
And there's more... Officials at the Treasury, the Fed and Federal Reserve Bank of New York exchanged e-mails about the bonus program in late February. AIG revealed the bonus plan in filings last September. In November, Treasury and Fed officials negotiated the terms of these retention payments; and in December, Democrats called for a hearing on the bonuses.
Here’s my question to you: Should Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner be fired over the AIG bonus scandal?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Nancy Pelosi: Enforcing some immigration laws "un-American"
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Nancy Pelosi doesn't think enforcing some of our immigration laws is a good idea. I guess we don't need the Justice Department; just ask Pelosi what laws she thinks we should enforce.
Is it is un-American to enforce our immigration laws?
The House Speaker was condemning raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at an immigration event in San Francisco last weekend. Here's what she said: "Who in our country would not want to change a policy of kicking in doors in the middle of the night and sending a parent away from their families? It must be stopped… What value system is that? I think it's un-American. I think it's un-American."
In case you had trouble understanding her, Nancy Pelosi was telling a largely Hispanic audience that enforcing America's immigration laws is un-American. This is called pandering.
Yesterday Pelosi said she was standing by her statement. She added that we have to enforce our laws, control our borders, protect our workers and create a path to legalization for those who aren't fully documented; but repeated that doesn't mean kicking in doors in the middle of the night. Pelosi said what we really need is comprehensive immigration reform.
Here's my question to you: Nancy Pelosi says enforcing our immigration laws is "un-American." Is she right?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Goodbye to unlimited prosperity
In an interview with Fortune about his new book, CNN commentator Jack Cafferty blasts "morons" in Washington and calls on Republicans to quit "carping."
NEW YORK (Fortune) - The American dream is in peril, and Jack Cafferty has something to say about it. In his new book, Now or Never: Getting Down to the Business of Saving Our Dream, CNN's irascible commentator takes on the economy, foreign policy, education, health care, immigration, energy, the Bush legacy and Obama's opportunity–nothing less than the future of the country. He even manages to tie in his life story, complete with a hardscrabble youth, alcoholism, and redemption in marriage and fatherhood. Fortune spoke with Cafferty about what he sees is wrong with the country - and what needs to be done about it. Below are excerpts from that discussion:
The title of your book says the American dream is in peril. Why is that?
Well, take a look around. Foreclosures, unemployment, debts and deficit, companies going out of business, bailouts. The evidence is pretty clear.
Who's to blame?
You can't assign blame to a person for the kind of cumulative gathering of storm clouds that we're dealing with right now, but mostly policies of not living within our means and in the case of Wall Street and the banks, a lack of proper supervision for these mortgage-backed securities and some of these other investment instruments that have led to the kind of horrific situation we've got in the financial sector. We've been running deficits and debt for years. George Bush doubled the national debt in the eight years he was in office. He accumulated more debt on his watch than all the previous U.S. Presidents before him combined.
What lessons can corporate America draw from the outrage at Wall Street?
Well, it doesn't seem to me like [Corporate America] is too concerned about it. The problem, I think, is the deregulation that actually happened. The public elects the morons that are supposed to watch over these things. People in Connecticut sent Chris Dodd to Washington. Chris Dodd collected the second-biggest amount of money from AIG of anybody in Washington [for the 2008 election cycle].
Was there a quid pro quo? I don't think so, but there's an unhealthy and unwholesome relationship between corporate America and the federal government. It's the thing that Dwight Eisenhower warned about in the '50s: watch out for the military industrial complex. Well, they came along and they finally got strong enough and they bit everybody right in the ass.
To read Jack's full interview at CNNMoney.com, click here
AIG bonuses damaging to Obama's agenda?
Protesters demonstrate outside an AIG office in Washington, DC.(PHOTO CREDIT: WIN McNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There's a chance the public outcry over those AIG bonuses winds up hurting President Obama's ambitious agenda.
Critics of the administration are now armed with new ammo in the form of public outrage that they can use to block Mr. Obama's efforts - particularly when it comes to his economic agenda - like the budget.
Republicans keep hammering away that Treasury Secretary Geithner and the White House should have known about the $165 million in bonuses sooner - and acted quicker. They're also using the AIG scandal to show why Congress shouldn't pass any more bailouts.
One Republican strategist tells Bloomberg News, "The real target for the Republicans is to bring Obama back down to earth." You can bet they'll be watching his poll numbers.
Also, all the time spent debating and passing new legislation on bonuses, holding hearings on AIG, etc. is time taken away from other issues on Mr. Obama's agenda - health care, education, you name it...
And the president isn't the only politician who may be affected by the AIG saga. In a story that broke right here on CNN: Democratic Senator Chris Dodd initially denied that he had anything to do with adding language to the stimulus bill that protected bonuses at companies getting bailout money.
24 hours later, the senator changed his tune, admitting he was responsible. Chris Dodd lied; and the voters in Connecticut probably won't forget it next time he's up for re-election.
Here’s my question to you: How much damage will the AIG bonuses do to President Obama's agenda?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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