Our Blacks are Better than Theirs

Once again the intellectual antics of politics provides us with what can be called by some a "teachable moment." A moment where both sides, if that's the right term, can learn valuable lessons. In an interview, which I watched after the fact, witticist author, Ann Coulter, apparently referred to conservative blacks as "ours," apparently outraging even many conservative blacks. Cornell West may well be calling for her head tomorrow, putting himself in the unusual position of defending black men like Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain and Thomas Sowell, all the while lamenting over the legacy of slavery that so many blacks, in his view, cannot escape from. @Right_of_Black on Twitter said "Did Ann Coulter say "our blacks are so much better than their blacks” ? Will someone tell this woman black folks aren't commodities?! hrmpf!" @carlamitch also on Twitter said "Our blacks are better than their blacks" do I even need to comment on this Ann Coulter quote? Does this mean we're back on the plantation?" Finally @i_EAT_nerds said "Someone needs to tell Ann Coulter white people don't own us anymore." These tweets were retweeted by the wonderful @arlenearmy, who I follow along with @dphaw and @theblacksphere to name a few. I am almost positive that Ann Coulter did not mean this the way it was received, but I will let her apologize for herself. But it does demonstrate that the ghost of slavery lives on even in the purest hearts. My own tweet was "Not to defend Coulter, but it never surprises me how easily minorities are offended," and was the inspiration for this column.

The Dirty Little Secret about Underwater Mortgages

It's almost always the things the media doesn't tell you that are vitally important and the current discussion about the President's bill to help underwater homeowners is one of those. The President's bill is designed to help refinance the mortgages of homeowners who are not in foreclosure and are current or not far behind in their payments. The dirty little secret about this is that if you are current in your payments and you can maintain them it doesn't matter if your home is "underwater." It only matters if you want to borrow on your home or if you want to sell. If you do not want to do either or both you can wait out the market, and even though it may take some time to recover eventually your home and the real estate market will recover. If you want to borrow in the current economic climate you should reconsider, as you should if you want to sell. This is not a great selling environment. People who are going to lose their homes due to foreclosure will not be helped by this bill. People who have to move will not be helped by this bill. The only thing that can help them is a recovering real estate market and this President is doing little to help that; and that is the dirty little secret.

Wind and Solar will Double Energy Costs

Do you think your gas and electric bills are too low? Do you think you should pay more for gas or diesel? Well if you’re a supporter of wind and solar energy you can count on paying higher prices. According a new report obtained by the Financial Times, the European Commission is reporting that wind and solar energy will double the cost of power bills for European consumers. Further the report indicates that as the share of wind and solar power rises in the energy mix the higher prices will continue to climb. The report also exposes the real goal of the alternative energy movement. The goal is to get force European and American consumers to use less energy by raising prices and increasing taxes. It is already apparent that the developing world (China, India and Malaysia) will reject this strategy. We must force the Congress to stop the EPA war on fossil fuel or we will be priced out of our homes and cars.

Did Obama Kill the Golden Goose?

The economy is in the tank, the banks have been forced into a corner, and the government is picking winners and losers in many industries. Is it time to ask "Did Obama killed the goose?" If your wondering which goose, it's the one that laid the golden egg; America. Never before in the history of the world has one nation (I suppose some would argue Rome) done so much for the world at a large. In both war and peace America has outshone, outperformed, and outdone every nation past and present. America has created more or bought more of everything there is. You name it and we have either built it or bought it when somebody else made it. America's capitalist economy is the envy of the world because it has made Americans the richest people in the world. In addition to American firms, nearly half the countries in the world rely on American consumption of their goods to maintain their own standard of living. As American's have become less wealthy for whatever the reason (housing crisis, job loss, or reduced income) the world has felt the repercussions. America was the home of the world's biggest consumers, but it has become the country that killed the goose who laid the golden egg. Can we get another?

First Solyndra, now BrightSource

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse for alternative energy and President Obama along comes BrightSource Energy. A solar power firm with connections to the President and a loan guarantee almost three times the size of the now-bankrupt Solyndra. According to a story that appeared in World Net Daily, BrightSource is the recipient of a $1.37 billion federal loan guarantee, the largest loan ever to a privately-held solar energy firm. The Chairman, John Bryson, was nominated by the President to be the Secretary of Commerce in June of this year. The Senate has held hearings on Bryson, but he has not been confirmed to this point. Many Senators including Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Diane Feinstein raised some concerns about Bryson views on energy. As the founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council and former co-chairman of the Pacific Council on International Policy, Bryson is thought by some to be an environmental extremist and unfit for Commerce Secretary. The loan guarantee will be used to build a solar energy plant that uses mirrors to harness the sun's heat to boil water and use the steam to spin turbines to create electricity. Called the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, it is viewed by some as the 21st century version of Robert Fulton's Steam Engine. Given the technology and Bryson’s connections to the President this is widely expected to be a subject of Congressional hearings.

10th Anniversary of 911

In 1966, I lived two blocks from the World Trade Center on the corner of Rector and Greenwich Streets. Except for the old apartment buildings in that area almost all the space was commercial. I was told that the building we lived in was once a hotel where seaman stayed when their ships were in port. Battery Park City did not even exist yet and the tenements along West Street and the Hudson were razed under Eminent Domain for the construction of the towers. I don’t remember the exact date, but during 1967 the South Tower began to raise, a few floors at a time a first. At some point it blocked virtually all the light on Greenwich Street south of the tower. The street remained dark until September 11, 2001, the day the towers fell. Days later when the dust cleared looking north you could see the light of the sky for the first time in more than 30 years. In this case seeing the light had a two fold meaning. First it meant we came to understand our enemies had to be taken seriously. Since Viet-Nam we had waltzed through our conflicts. With some small exceptions we had not seen death and destruction by a foreign enemy on our own soil. Second, The World Trade Center, which had become for us a symbol of our financial power and influence in the world economy, had become for our enemies one of the ultimate prizes they sought to destroy to demonstrate America’s weakness. Ten years have gone by since the day the towers fell. I have been back a few times to see the progress on the site and to see the old apartment building, which still stands. The location of the Freedom Tower will not block the light like the South Tower did when it stood. Likewise America will not be blinded to the intentions of its enemies as we move forward on this 10th Anniversary of 9/11/2001

More Spending Now Cut Spending Later

Will Americans continue to fall for the more spending now, cut spending later proposals of the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party? The President's America's Job Act is exactly that: an act. It is just another $500 billion of new spending now that will be paid for by cuts in mythical projected spending some time in the future. The President's approach is to eliminate the need for a House and Senate by urging them to "pass the bill" now. There is no bill. A bill, in Congressional terms, is legislation. It is law. It is not a wish list, a compilation, or an amalgam of items. It is a document that spells out specifically the rules under which taxpayer money will be appropriated and spent. The President has offered no such bill for the Congress to pass.