PIGS

Maybe the most fitting acronym I have ever come across in my business. It stands for Portugal, Italy (though could also include Ireland), Greece and Spain. What do these countries have in common?

It's very interesting to note that all of these countries have socialist governments. Those governments can't get their acts together because they promised the people a lifestyle that required no sacrifice or independent thought while the government provided all of the opportunities. The unions aren't budging, farmers aren't budging, businesses have no say and it's a complete mess. The them versus us movement has ushered in new governments around the world but what happens when you can't soak them anymore.

What hubris our government has to be able to see all of this and yet follow the same path. We are very spoiled in that the dollar is still the best of the worst. When things get scary in the world, like they have the last couple of weeks, the dollar goes up because it is still viewed as relatively safe and stable. That will not always be the case, particularly if we continue to enact the kind of policies that are coming from Obama, which aren't all that dissimilar from the ones that came from Bush Jr.

Just as a sidenote, Obama has seemed even more detached from reality lately. The State of the Union address contained just ridiculous inconsistencies. He talked about fiscal responsibility and a spending freeze yet introduced a $3.3 trillion budget that was only about 50% covered by expected revenue. The debt ceiling was raised by $1.9 trillion to $14.3 trillion thanks to a 217-212 House vote. Now, Obama didn't vote on that but you know he backed it since his budget would have violated law if it didn't pass. Every Republican in the House voted against raising it but would they have voted the same if a Republican was in the White House? I doubt it.

Obama talked about increased transparency after breaking his promise to televise the health care negotiations. He talked about working together in a bipartisan manner before chiding Republicans for stalling legislation. He ridiculed the Supreme Court for a recent decision as they sat there in front of him! People gave Joe Wilson a hard time for an ill-timed outburst but Obama should have been held in contempt for that move. This guy ain't the Messiah but the Messianic complex is in full throttle. When someone can constantly say one thing while actively doing the exact opposite, it means they are either delusional or they just think their audience is too dumb to notice. I'm not real thrilled with either of those options...nor I am thrilled with Barack.