Author

*SPORTS*

MLB Baseball: Okay I’m getting really tired of saying “wait until next year” so this is absolutely the year that the Cubs make it to the World Series and beat the Boston Red Sox in 7 games. Geoff and the rest of the Red Sox fans will paper my wall with signed $1 bills. How can they miss with a new right fielder named Kosuke Fukudome? Lou Piniella will have a powerful line-up with Fukudome, Soriano, Lee and Ramirez. – ??Wrong again, just wait until next year!??

NBA Basketball: The Boston Celtics will have the best record of any Celtics team ever, will have the best record in the NBA and will go all the way to hang the 17th NBA title banner in the Garden by beating the Spurs in 6. Kevin Garnett will be MVP. – ??The Boston Celtics hung #17 and are the world champs well on their way to #18??

NFL Football: Some Pats fans are okay but some of the Pats fans are incredibly obnoxious. The Pats look like one of the best football teams ever and will post the undefeated record and the SuperBowl win. Next fall, look for the Pats to have their first loss within the first two games of the season. – ??Wrong – they lost the third game but won the first two??

Olympics – the summer Olympics in China will be simply spectacular and the USA will dominate the gold medals. – ??The USA did great at a great Olympics??

*WEATHER*

After the great start to the snow season, Vermont will have one of the snowiest winters in years with three “dumps” of over two feet before spring. Temperatures will remain mild with little below 0° F. Spring will be here early again and I’ll be riding my motorcycle in Vermont by the end of March. More storms and freak weather will be seen in most parts of the country as Mother Nature tries to shake off her hot flashes. – ??All True??

*POLITICS*

Not much will happen in Congress during this election year with a lame duck President. The deficit will soar due to declining economic growth and the continued demands of the wars and the escalating cost of health care.

Barack Obama will win the democratic nomination by May and John McCain will win the republican nod. Obama will be elected in a close election with at least two third party candidates drawing votes from both sides.

Vermont Governor Jim Douglas will be only the second incumbent governor in the state’s history to be voted out of office.

Democrats will control both houses of congress but not by a veto-proof margin.

??I did pretty good here — all right except the close election and Governor Douglas was re-elected by a strong margin versus two liberal candidates??

*WORLD*

In a tragic repeat of last year, Iraq will continue to drain resources and kill young soldiers and innocent civilians, and the Iraqi people will continue to suffer. (This is unfortunately, the identical prediction from the last two years!) What a tragic waste of resources! – ??OMG – yes, sad but true.??

In the face of new scientific evidence that climate change is much worse and getting worse faster, more countries will join the fight against climate change. Climate change will begin to influence everyone’s life. – ??I calling this one as right.??

Pakistan will be the scene of the next major conflict driven by religious extremism. – ??Close, unfortunately.??

Israel and the Palestinians will finally sign a peace deal and there will be a two-state solution. – ??Not yet, unfortunately. Can we peacefully end this conflict, please???

*ECONOMY*

Gasoline prices will exceed $5/gallon by the end of the summer – ??High and then low??

More high efficiency cars will make it to market – ??Not very many, just wait a couple years??

Renewable energy and conservation/efficiency companies will create thousands of jobs and create a new sector of economic growth – ??Yes, wind turbines, energy conservation and other renewables are creating non-exportable jobs NOW and will be even more next year??

The will be a sharp correction in the stock market with the Dow losing 20%. – ??And then some…??

*APPLE*

Apple stock will be split 4 to 1 and will reach $100 a share ($400 adjusted) – ??nope AAPL lost over 50% of its value??

Apple will post its best operating results ever for 2008 and 2009 – ??YES??

Apple’s Macintosh market share will continue to grow and will exceed 12% – ??YES??

Apple will expand its hand-held computing/cell phone platform with new offerings – ??not yet, soon to come perhaps??

The iPhone will see two new models – ??Yes if you count black and white 3G models??

An Apple subcompact featuring flash memory drives will be introduced – ??MacBook Air!??

AppleTV will be enhanced – ??Yes, if you count AppleTV Take 2??

Apple will make one surprising major acquisition – ??Nope??

*SMALL DOG ELECTRONICS*

Small Dog Electronics will post record sales for the 3rd year in a row – ??Yes??

Small Dog will unveil a new web site with new looks and functionality – ??Yes??

Small Dog will open two additional retail stores – ??Not yet??

Small Dog Electronics will have 65 employees by the end of the year – ??up to 40??
Small Dog Electronics will recycle over 75 tons of eWaste – ??Blasted through that one with 155 Tons at one event – we are now the only electronics retailer that can claim to have recycled more electronics than we have sold!??

*PERSONAL*

I will go on a motorcycle trip of over 3000 miles – ??Yup – Sturgis, SD and back??

I will not wear a tie all year – ??Another year under my belt??

I will have two new computers – ??Two MacBook Airs and a MacBook Pro??

*35 predictions, 21 right, 13 wrong, batting .600 for 2008. See next week’s Kibbles for my prognostications on 2009.*

_Dear Friends,_

We learned this week that the iPhone is finally coming to Vermont. The complicated deal that culminated in AT &T buying Unicel’s GSM network and stores in Vermont has gotten all of their approvals and we are told that as early as the middle of January the iPhone will finally be in the last state. We literally answer hundreds of questions each week about the iPhone and while we do stock a complete selection of iPhone accessories, Apple has not opened the iPhone for sales by its independent resellers. Unfortunately, that means we will not be offering the product at our stores until such a time as we can convince Apple or AT&T to bring the iPhone to where their customers like to shop. I guess we’ll just have to refer them to the new AT&T store just down the street.

I didn’t notice last week that we had done over 600 issues of Kibbles & Bytes. It seems like eons ago that we started sending out our price list as an email with a bit of commentary. Those early issues of Kibbles are still in the archives and we have come a long way with you! I love the new HTML format and we are working this year to increase our subscription base, so please tell your friends and Mac neighbors! As we wrap up 2008 I want to wish each of you the very best for the holidays and send our warmest wishes for a happy, safe an prosperous new year! I’ll be reviewing my 2008 predictions in this issue of Kibbles & Bytes and next week in the first 2009 issue of Kibbles we’ll talk about the coming year.

There are so many great ideas for gifts here at Small Dog Electronics. Each year I select the top ten suggestions, so here are this year’s choices:

1) *iPod touch*
For the second year in a row, the iPod touch takes top honors. Apple is proclaiming the touch as the “funnest” iPod ever, and I have to agree. With the spectacular success of the iTunes App Store, this palm-top computer is a web browser, email device, gaming platform, personal video machine and oh yeah, an awesome iPod, too!

“See all models here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/x/x/x/Apple|iPod_touch

2) *Unibody MacBooks!*
After years of plastics in white and other colors, the new MacBooks have grown up with an incredible new look––the innovative unibody aluminum body and glass LED screen, plus, they are the “greenest” laptop ever produced by Apple. The new MacBooks feature a much faster NVIDIA graphics chip and the new multi-gesture glass trackpad. These are awesome innovations and reasons to buy, but the attention to making the MacBook environmentally friendly with the elimination of many harmful toxins, the use of arsenic-free glass, a mercury-free LED display and better energy efficiency make the whole product much more desirable (and much more recyclable!). And did I say it looks awesome?

“See them here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/x/x/x/Apple|MacBook

3) *The Chill Pill*
The response has been tremendous to the introduction of the Chill Pill portable speakers! It is a great compact speaker that you can toss into your bag and use with any iPod, computer or device with a mini-headphone jack. Check out details at “www.chillpillaudio.com”:http://www.chillpillaudio.com or a recent review “here.”:http://icrontic.com/articles/chill-pill-speakers-small-size-big-sound Plus, register for the Wired Magazine giveaway basket (which includes the Chill Pill) “here.”:http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2008/wishlist

“View the Chill Pill mobile speakers.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/71679

4) *AppleCare for Anything*
This is a great gift of security and support for any Mac or iPod user. AppleCare extends the one year warranty on Macs to three years and extends the 90-days for free technical support from Apple to 3 years as well. AppleCare for the iPod adds another year (2 total) to your iPod warranty and support, too! In this time of questionable investments, AppleCare is an investment in security that will save you money and give you piece of mind.

“View AppleCare here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/applecare

5) *Purple iPod nano*
Forget the other colors; this is a real purple and an incredible gift. The new nanos are the most versatile and coolest iPods, and purple just makes it right. There are a couple of new features that are fun with these new iPod nanos: the first is the “shake” feature. Don’t like the song you are listening to? Just shake the iPod nano and it will shuffle to another song from your library. The other feature that I use all the time now is the Genius feature which will select songs that go with the one you like and make a Genius playlist for you. It truly is like having your own DJ! Oh, okay the other colors work just fine, too.

“See the 8GB here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72070
“See the 16GB here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72078

6) *Targus File Share Cable*
This USB cable has firmware built-in that allows you to easily transfer files between Macs or even between Macs and PCs. Simply plug the cable into the USB ports and the icon for the connected machine will appear on your desktop. Simply drag and drop files to transfer information!

“Check it out!”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72404

7) *Noah Company Dynavox AccoustaBar Home Theater Speakers*
We get a lot of speaker systems sent to us for samples but the Dynavox is head and shoulders above most that we have evaluated. The long AcoustaBar comes with iPod dock and remote and is complete with integrated subwoofer. This would make a great gift for your home theater. Connect your new LCD flat screen TV, Blu-Ray DVD or other audio-video gear to this table-top or wall-mount unit and sit back and enjoy some of the best sounding speakers we have seen! The Dynavox comes in two sizes 340 Watt for $229.99 and the bigger 520 Watt for $279.99.

“See the 340W speakers here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72693
“See the 520W speakers here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72694

8) *Aperture 2.0*
Do you have a photographer on your list that has outgrown iPhoto? Aperture is the perfect gift! Aperture 2, Apple’s groundbreaking photo editing and management software, delivers more than 100 new features that make it dramatically faster and easier to use and even more powerful. Featuring a streamlined user interface, Aperture 2 provides accelerated performance with its optimized database and
new Quick Preview mode for rapid-fire browsing.

“See it here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/70850

9) *LaCie Neil Poulton Hard Drives*
You have all upgraded to Leopard already, right? Have you taken full advantage of Time Machine? Automate your backups and eliminate the fear of accidentally deleting that favorite photo or song. These new drives from LaCie feature a sleek design, big storage capacity and reasonable pricing starting at only $99.99 for 500GB and up to $179.99 for a full terabyte of storage!

“View all LaCie Neil Poulton drives.”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=neil+poulton

10) *Small Dog CAR Tune iPod Charger and FM Transmitter*
Updated in black, and it will charge all (docking) iPods! This is a great solution to use your iPod in your car. The CAR Tune plugs into your DC (cigarette) outlet in your car and includes a cable with a dock connector that attaches to your iPod. You simply tune to one of the 14 pre-set FM channels and the music from your iPod plays through your car stereo while it is being charged, too!

“Check it out here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72163

I’ve talked about how Apple doesn’t have to worry too much about market-share when they invent new markets. That was very clearly true with the iPod. The iPhone is another innovative device that not only expands Apple’s market reach, but encourages customers to consider Apple’s other products – hence the so-called “halo” effect. I find this to be clearly evident in our stores where customers frequently come in to buy an iPod and come back later to check out a MacBook or iMac.

Apple has created another game changing stealth market, which is the iTunes App Store. If you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch you owe it to yourself to check out the hundreds of applications available for easy download at the App Store. Many of these are totally free while others start at only $0.99. When I first got my iPhone I used it as a phone and a device to get my email – sort of typical smart-phone usage. Now I find myself spending almost as much time utilizing some of the handy applications available for the phone. Here are a few I find handy. Note that all links will launch iTunes and take you directly to the linked app in the iTunes App Store.

“AIM – AOL’s instant messenger – Apple has not released iChat so I use AIM and what better way to keep in touch with the office while waiting in an airport?”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=293622097&mt=8

“Units – A handy conversion utility”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=283265670

“ACTCurrency – a great currency converter”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284966768&mt=8

“Shazam – a magical little app that lets you hold your phone up to a speaker if you hear a song you like and it will tell you what the song is and more”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284993459&mt=8

“eBay – check up on the Hippo paraphernalia”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=282614216&mt=8

“Pocket Aid – a first aid guide always ready”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=294351164&mt=8

“Google Earth – to amaze your friends.”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=293622097&mt=8

“SportsTap – scores all the time!”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284930451&mt=8

“Scrabble – yeah that game.”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284815117&mt=8

“Backgammon – so I can hone my skills and beat my granddaughter”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=80569202&s=143441

“MotoChaser – winter substitute for riding?”:http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284881537&mt=8

Jolt, Nearby, iWant, Travelocity, LocalPicks – all give you guides to local services, restaurants based upon your triangulated location.

There are hundreds and hundreds more and you can be sure that the iPhone and the iPod Touch are not the only devices that will be able to use this amazing resource. Apple certainly isn’t recession-proof, but they have the right formula to use creativity and innovation to withstand hard times!

*Start Soapbox*

California, Arizona and Florida all passed laws outlawing same-sex marriage on Tuesday. Small Dog Electronics had joined Apple in opposing this proposition that legalizes discrimination against one group of people. It is a slippery slope and a workplace issue that deserves our attention. I have been active in similar efforts here in Vermont and helped to pass a policy resolution for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility that states unequivocally:

__”The people of Vermont have long aspired to live together under fair laws that recognize our equality and common humanity. As business leaders, we support the freedom to marry in Vermont. We understand that strong businesses thrive in strong communities. We know that our ability to recruit the most talented employees depends on our ability to attract them to a state with fair and inclusive laws. And we understand that Vermont’s national leadership in civil rights is an important part of who we are as a state. Because marriage is a basic human right and an individual choice, we support full civil marriage for same-sex couples.”__

This issue is one of basic human rights. Couples, whether straight or gay should enjoy the same rights regardless of their sexual orientation. It is a matter of civil rights and equal protection under the law. Perhaps all marriages should become civil unions in the secular society and marriage itself should be a strictly optional label that could be governed by religious or other organizations. The key element, however, is that the rights granted under law should should be identical.

I know that this issue will come up again and hopefully, soon will be resolved intelligently and one more excuse for bigotry and prejudice will be put on the scrap heap of discrimination.

*End Soapbox*

*Start Soapbox*

Election Day is Tuesday and I encourage all of you to get out to vote. It matters less who you vote for than it does that you take the time to go to the polls. I couldn’t wait, so I cast my vote early this week at the town hall. There are never any lines in Warren, Vermont, but I am so excited about this election that I had to vote now. In typical small-town fashion, I walked into the office and was greeted by long time town clerk Rita Goss, and told her I wanted to vote. She gave me a form to fill out and instructed me to put my name in and sign because she knew all the rest of my information. I guess that comes from sinking deep roots in town–I’ve been voting there for 35 years.

While the big news is the presidential election and I do not want to underestimate the importance of that choice, it is perhaps even more important to inform yourself about the other candidates for state and local elections. It is these folks who will have the most direct impact upon your life and will prove that all politics are local. Here in Vermont, we have strong third party candidates from the Progressives and Liberty Union parties as well as the candidates from the Democrats and Republicans. I vote for all of them at one time or another, and I suppose that’s why I’m still on the Republican’s mailing list. I’m a bit of a wonk so I listen to candidates’ debates, inform myself about their positions on important issues and I take all of my votes very seriously–even for dog catcher (actually, __especially__ for dog-catcher!).

Your vote always matters; it matters to you because you have taken on the responsibility of citizenship and expressed your opinion in the ultimate opinion poll–the election of your leaders. This is a responsibility that is sacred, that many have fought and died for, and something that cannot be dismissed as “unimportant and meaningless.” We have many responsibilities as members of society, but the most significant is our responsibility to vote. *Please VOTE!*

End Soapbox

Who’s Got $25 Billion in the Bank and No Debt?

In these hard economic times, there was a glimmer of hope as Apple once again trounced the street when they announced their quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Their spectacular earnings were outstanding on their own, but when you take a deeper look and understand the impact of the iPhone, they are significantly more impressive. One of the things that Apple does to maintain compliance with GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) is to recognize revenue from the sale of the iPhone (and Apple TV) over 24 months, rather than at the point of sale.

This means that the revenue from the sale of over 10 million iPhones is only recognized about 12% of the revenue for the current quarter. If you compare their results with GAAP and non-GAAP analysis, you can see that the year-over-year growth for Apple is 75.1% with GAAP accounting, but if you count __all__ the iPhone sales, it soars to 124.6% and the net income rises from $1.1 billion to over $2.4 billion. Considering this massive success of the iPhone, Apple’s financial performance is simply unprecedented.

In a surprise to the analysts gathered for the regular quarterly phone conference, Steve Jobs joined the call to answer questions. Among other things, Steve talked about the impact of the economic downturn and said that Apple “just reported one of the best quarters in its history, with a spectacular performance by the iPhone–we sold more phones than RIM. We don’t yet know how this economic downturn will affect Apple. But we’re armed with the strongest product line in our history, the most talented employees and the best customers in our industry. And $25 billion of cash safely in the bank with zero debt.”

Here are some notes of interest from the Apple financial results:

*Macs*
* Apple sold 2.611 million Macs, which is the most Apple has ever sold in a single quarter!

* Macs accounted for less than half of Apple’s total revenue at 45.9 percent. They did account for the largest dollar volume, however.

* Over 90 percent of the new Mac notebooks now ship with LED backlights. Apple has also taken several important steps in making their products greener and have less impact upon the environment. “You’ll hear more about this in the future,” Steve said.

*iPhone*
* Apple sold almost 7 million iPhones during the quarter and earned about $806M from these and related products over the quarter; this is more than all previous quarters combined.

* Apple has already beat their goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008.

* If revenue wasn’t deferred over 24 months, the iPhone would have represented 39 percent of all of Apple’s revenue for the quarter!!

*iPods*
* Over 11 million iPods were shipped this quarter, generating $1.678 billion in revenue. The unit shipments climbed 8 percent year-over-year, while revenues rose by 3 percent.

* Apple sold the most iPods ever in a non-holiday quarter.

Apple now has $24.5 billion of cash in the bank, having added $3.7 billion in the quarter that ended in September. Apple is in an extraordinary liquid position with lots of cash and no debt. That is an enviable position during a down economy. Steve Jobs simply said that during an economic downturn, this financial strength creates “extraordinary opportunities.” And of course, once again, Steve Jobs is correct. The amazing story of Apple continues to show how great products, great design, world-class customer service and a visionary at the helm can create more than just money.

*START SOAPBOX*

I am a bit of a wonk and follow politics and this election cycle pretty closely. It was remarkable that both presidential candidates went out of their way to espouse the building of more nuclear reactors as a key element of their energy policy. On the face of it, nuclear energy has the benefits of low or no CO2 emissions and the ability to generate large amounts of power. In the ’50s and ’60s, nuclear energy was promoted because the power provided was “too cheap to meter.” The realities of nuclear energy are far different.

Nuclear energy is not clean. While there are no CO2 emissions from a nuclear reactor, the process of mining and refining uranium is in and of itself, inherently polluting. Twelve million tons of tailings, for example, are piled along the banks of the Colorado River near Moab, Utah. Uranium enrichment produces toxic hydrogen fluoride gas and large amounts of depleted uranium. Depleted uranium poses a threat to public health.

The spent nuclear fuel is a problem with no current solution. On-site storage of nuclear waste creates an attractive target for terrorists. There are currently 54,000 tons of irradiated fuel being stored at the sites of nuclear plants, often located on the banks of the nation’s waterways. The proposed solutions for dealing with this nuclear waste are all problematic:

1) Shipping them all to Yucca mountain was a proposed solution, but SHIPPING nuclear waste in an era of terrorism–how smart is that?
2) Reprocessing the waste into uranium and plutonium just creates an even more dangerous nuclear material. These nuclear elements and waste have half-lives measured in tens of thousands of years! We can’t even manage to balance our budget for a single year, so how are we going to protect nuclear waste for tens of thousands of years?

It seems that people dismiss the serious concerns surrounding nuclear waste without consideration of the potential danger they pose from terrorist attack or natural disaster. Did you know that the plans of the perpetuators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks originally were to crash at least two planes into nuclear reactors?

A September 2004 study by Dr. Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, using the NRC’s own analysis method, found that a worst-case accident or attack at the Indian Point nuclear plant 35 miles north of New York City could cause up to 43,700 immediate fatalities and up to 518,000 long-term cancer deaths. Such a release could cost up to $2.1 trillion, and would force the permanent relocation of 11.1 million people.

Spent fuel, __i.e. nuclear waste,__ is also a vulnerability. An NRC report issued in 2000 stated that “Mark I and Mark II secondary containments generally do not appear to have any significant structures that might reduce the likelihood of aircraft penetration,” and that a fuel pool fire could cause casualties up to 500 miles away.

There haven’t been any new nuclear plants built in the last 15 years or so and the plants that are operating are reaching the end of their planned life. Instead of de-commissioning these plants and building new state-of-the-art plants, the NRC is granting license extensions and power upgrades to these aging reactors. This poses a significant threat to safety and security. In our thirst for energy, we seem willing to take extraordinary risks of both a pollutive and financial nature.

Despite the promise of energy “too cheap to meter,” nuclear power continues to be dependent on taxpayer handouts to survive. These subsidies make the support of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass pale in comparison. From 1947 through 1999, the nuclear industry was given over $115 billion in direct taxpayer subsidies. Including Price-Anderson limitations on nuclear liability, the federal subsidies reach $145.4 billion. To put this in perspective, federal government subsidies for wind and solar totaled $5.7 billion over the same period.

The management of radioactive waste and the requirements for reactor decommissioning also require additional funds. Other aspects of nuclear power are further hidden costs, such as the pollution from uranium mining, risks from nuclear weapons proliferation, dangers of reactor accidents, and the legacy of radioactive waste.

The real reason that new nuclear plants are not being built–despite all these tax-supported subsidies–is that EVEN WITH THE SUBSIDIES, nuclear power is not competitive with other sources of energy. Energy policy that relies upon nuclear energy is an energy policy that substitutes higher taxes for lower energy costs and still has all of the problems of safety, waste and security. A more intelligent plan would be to spend these tax dollars on a massive conservation and efficiency effort.

The energy we do not use is the least expensive energy of all. Investing in renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar and biomass provide a much safer, much more reliable and saner solution to the energy crisis we face. If we want to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, if we want to create a new “green” economy of thousands of new jobs, and if we want to have a secure energy future, we should stop looking at the red herring that is nuclear power and start investing in the long-term health of our economy by embarking on the path of natural renewable energy–which is in abundant supply.

*END SOAPBOX*

Like you, I am watching the drama unfold about the biggest bail-out in the history of the world. We are gonna print up a bunch of money and buy up all those bad mortgages so the guys that made those bad mortgages don’t go out of business and drag down the entire economy. The theory is that unless we do this, the credit markets will dry up, businesses and individuals will not be able to borrow money, your credit card line of credit will disappear, your home equity loan will disappear, businesses will be forced to cut back or close, unemployment will rise and we will find ourselves in a downward spiral that will cause a lot of pain.

The problem is that no one knows whether this particular bailout will work and the same guys that got us into this mess want to preserve their golden parachutes, obscene salaries and equity in these companies. The thing of it is that the plan calls for you and I to foot the bill. Throwing around numbers of $700 Billion or a Trillion like it was spare change hides the fact that this bailout amounts to about $10,000 for each family in the USA. If you stacked a Trillion in $20 bills, it would be about 150 miles high!

They’re saying, “hurry up–we gotta do this right now or something is going to hit the fan!” The last time I heard this from the Bush Administration it was “hurry up–we have to invade Iraq.” I find it strangely comforting that both the conservative Republicans and some Democrats are asking serious questions about this plan. It used to be that a conservative was someone who balanced the budget and was careful with spending. What we have seen for the last decade is decreased regulation of banks and wall street financial firms, bizarre financial instruments, nutty mortgages and huge corporate profits and executive compensation while we ship most of our wealth overseas to people who don’t particularly like us to buy their oil.

Frankly, I think that Al Gore has the right answer for the environment and for the economy. Instead of shipping our wealth out of the country, we need to launch the kind of ambitious and outrageous plan that only Americans can do to eliminate our dependence upon foreign oil, to create thousands of good paying jobs creating power from renewable energy sources and from a massive energy conservation and efficiency operation. If we do this, we create real wealth in our economy, real growth and solve environmental and economic problems simultaneously.

I have a lot of trouble mortgaging our economic future to provide more benefits for the top and none for the basis of our economy, the working people in our country. It is clearly time for new economic leadership, but it is also time for leadership that doesn’t rely upon the false promise of trickle-down economics and tax breaks for the wealthy.

*END SOAPBOX*