PDS - Pick, Dust, Start

This is the song President Obama referenced in his Inauguration Speech. I learned it as a child, when my Grandparents and their generation of Aunts and Uncles would sing it to us.

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So, tonight I'm back in Vegas, starting all over again.

Things are starting off unevenly. My flight got moved to a different concourse, and nobody told me. I made it, and sat next to some very enthusiastic cowboys. They were a chatty bunch. I still managed to sleep about half of the 4 1/2 hour flight.

Vegas has a long cab line at the airport. I was assigned spot number 13. 13? In Vegas? I can't believe they even use that number here. Not the good omen I was hoping for.

At the hotel the countergirl gives me a room on the second floor. Why not just write "low roller" on my forehead? I briefly wonder if I inadvertently offended her.

But, I must say, my room is fantastic! They've completely made over this place, and they did a great job. It's funny how a nice room can pick up your spirits. And when I say "your spirits" of course I really mean my spirits.

Natch I've only packed one pair of pants when I thought I had two. I hope I don't spill anything! No red sauce tonight. The conference is about to start, so I'm showered and dressed and ready to schmooze. Let's see what opportunities we can dig up.

America. Still the land of opportunity.

Looking on the Bright Side

Go ahead and play it for old times sake.

I see skies of blue . . .

Just kidding! Enough with the old music!

But seriously, aren't there some macro indicators that call for a little bit of optimism?

We have a new President. And he's not stupid!

Oil prices are way down. And OPEC (a/k/a NAMBLA) can't get the price to go back up!

Interest rates are way down. This has to be good for somebody!

The Iraq War or whatever it is has an agreement in place for American troops to come home. The troops gotta love that and it should save our government a boatload of money! Which we can give to our insolvent banks instead!

And a tax cut to boot!

It all sounds like a recipe for recovery to me. Let's bake this cake!

Recessions Suck

The good part of being in a recession is that when everybody is having a hard time, the feeling of individual failure is diminished.

Yes, I really had to reach for that one.

Being a small business owner, I'm not too big to fail. In fact, it appears that I'm just about the perfect size. Nobody has offered me a bailout yet. But I'm keeping my cell phone in my pocket just in case.

President Bush supposedly once said that the problem with the French was that they didn't have a word for Entrepreneur. I'm not sure if that's true, but as an entrepreneur I can tell you that America's professed love for us small business types is little more than a summer fling. Where's the love now that times are hard? I'm not feeling it.

I got to lay off eight people yesterday. That was pretty miserable for all of us. Where is our bailout? How about a Small Business Administration emergency loan program? Nada, zip, zero.

What this country really needs is a consumer based bail out.

A CONSUMER BASED BAILOUT!!!

Let everybody refinance their house for what they owe on it with a new 30 year fixed at 6%. No qualifying, no appraisals, no credit scores. This will allow anyone who can beg, borrow or steal their monthly payment to keep their house. And most people will find a way.

The second piece of this ingenious plan is to let everybody consolidate all of their non-mortgage debt into a big consolidation loan for 10 years at 10%. Again, no qualifying!

The government can insure the loans and mortgages and charge a fee for the insurance that the consumer pays. This is already happening somewhat with FHA refinances, but not enough. We need to let everybody refinance. It will stabilize housing prices as well as credit card issuing banks.

And being who we are, we'll all go out and start spending like drunken sailors again, saving capitalism for another day.

Write your congressman today!!