WHO DO WE BLAME FOR OUR PROBLEMS?

It's All George Bush's Fault. No. The Fault Lies With Obama. There was a recent series of posts on Facebook where several posters argued as to whether George Bush or Barack Obama was at fault for the current economic malaise. This reminds me of my own upbringing. We were Democrats from head to toe. There was no room for argument. Herbert Hoover caused the depression we barely survived and FD Roosevelt got us out of it. In every subsequent election we voted against Hoover and in favor of Roosevelt, even though both had been dead for several years. It was that simple. I would be a Democrat when I became old enough to vote. Through out high school and into college, I saw no reason to change my plan as my high school teachers and college professors somehow began to let their preferences creep into their lectures. Not only did I know I was right, I could advance a series of arguments, relatively well constructed, to defend my position. Where Are We Now? As I looked at the series of Facebook arguments, it became obvious to me that things have not changed. Each poster had a very simple answer as to who was responsible for our current situation. One side claimed that Obama has failed to take the necessary steps to remedy our situation because of his lack of leadership skills while the other side claimed he was doing as well as he could be expected because of the mess that Bush left us in due to his lack of intellect and willingness to lie to get what he wants. Which one is to blame. Bush? Obama? Both? We all have our opinions. The real facts are that none of us have access to enough information to know. Both Bush and Obama had access to a host of skilled advisors and more facts than any of us could access in a lifetime. The success or failure of each president will depend on a number of factors beyond their control. For example, Clinton was a highly popular president who produced a budget surplus for which he gets the total credit. This is despite the contribution of Reagan who gets credit for the fall of the Soviet Union which allowed Clinton to cut the military budget as a result of the decline of the cold war. Bush gets total blame for getting us into war in the middle east. This is despite the fact that an overwhelming plurality of congress approved that war. The surplus turned into a deficit for a number of reasons, not the least of which was 9/11 and massive additional expenditures to keep us safe. The Bottom Line I still have my opinion and I'm sure most of you do too. But neither of us can assume that we know enough about all the factors involved to put forth a simple answer or offer a simple solution to a problem that is far too complex to be solved by a simple solution. We also have to look at the voting public who continues to expect the government to provide things for us that we can't provide for ourselves. Want a nice house, a new car, all the gasoline you need, and a low stress job with an income that provides more than 90% of the wage-earners in the world can't afford? Want all of this guaranteed by the government? Ain't gonna happen folks. Beware of any politician who claims to be able to provide it for you. What Does This Mean To Your Finances? No doubt, the government has an influence on your financial future and this is the main thing I'm interested in. There is little or no reward in safe investments. The FED is keeping interest rates low and providing liquidity to the market by increasing the money supply. This is likely a temporary situation that will eventually cease as those funding our deficit will decide they don't want to keep providing us with goods and services that we can purchase with dollars of ever decreasing value. The correction may be prove to be painful to investors. For this reason, I am staying with my same old arguments. Stay with investments that provide income. The most critical factor in evaluating your investments should be how likely is that income to continue. On my next post, I will discuss the real estate market and how you can profit in the current situation. The Picture At The Top. This is a flower bed that we planted when Hurricaine Ike blew down a cluster of Magnolia trees. Rather than try to replace those trees we decided to take advantage of the increased light to add a little color. The bright red flowers are called "Knockout Roses" which I had never heard of but which provide more color than I expected. One of life's pleasant little surprises.