Saturday Opinions
2008 July 5
Well, we all survived the 4th. I was surprised that the neighborhood fireworks were pretty much over by 10:30 last night. Somebody close had a big mortar but fortunately not much ammo. In case you were wondering, I had back ribs baked in a foil bag and finished on the grill. Mmmmm.
- First of all, there is good news on the train whistle front. The inconvenience may only be temporary. Why is a public works employee giving us this news and not the head of the department, or the city administrator or the mayor
- Representative Bill Kramer channels Ronald Reagan for an Independence Day message. If Wisconsin Republicans all thought this way, we’d all be a lot happier.
- Jessica McBride talks about the rumor that Brett Favre will be back. He won’t. At least not with the Packers. The Saints, maybe. Maybe even the Falcons.
- The Electric Commentary is viewable to the public again and Paul has an argument with himself about Favre coming back. He doesn’t look old enough to be talking to himself.
- Pete Kennedy says the economy is the worst it has been in 25 years and gives examples from his life. Maybe so, I’m no economist, but the 12% inflation and gas lines of the 70’s to me had much more visible impact.
- A Little Off Main says that the current economy reminds co-workers of the early 80’s.
- Sound Off callers on a lot of things.
- Fox Head explains why he won’t vote for Roger Danielson, who’s running for Bill Kramer’s seat.
- Wigderson says Fox Head need not worry because Danielson is pullig out of the race.
If gas moves closer to $5 per gallon we will see a round of stagflation that will probably be worse than the Carter 70’s version. Our economy is built on moving goods and people long distances. But high energy prices will continue to raise prices and unemployment. Yes Europe has had high gas prices for a long time, but mostly as a result of self imposed high taxes. They also have a closer knit infrastructure that lends itself to mass transportation. Put on top of this the baby boomers who have been sold on 401K’s invested in the stock market as pensions have disappeared. As the stock market dives they will see their nest egg shrink. A large segment of the population will have a lot less money to spend than they planned. Hate to paint a gloomy picture, but unless someone figures a way to get the gas prices below $4 per gallon, that is the picture I see. Don’t depend on our elected politicians to lead us out of this. If anything they will make it worse by implementing some goofy carbon credit system that will exacerbate the problem.
Oh, having Brett Favre in a Ravens uniform for a year would at least make me feel better for a while.