~~Rants del Nicoleta~~

It’s no news that the economy is not in good shape.  Opening today was Down (And still is at the time of this post), Europe fell while Asia stayed up.

Quick snapshot:

• Oil continues to hover around the $60-$70 per barrel range.
• Triple point moves (Both up and down) continue to plague the DOW.
• Very weak job market.
• Housing market is still weak and has not found it’s bottom point.
• Financial concerns are still rampant in the industrialized nations while China and India worry about slower growth.

Worse thing to do (that President Elect Obama wishes to achieve): Raising the Capital Gains Tax Rate from 15% to 28%.  Once that bit of information comes out, it will send stocks into a free fall as every investor looking to make money tries to grab their share before Sn. Obama becomes President.  It also will hurt the housing market severely as people try to unload their homes before having to pay out more tax.

Political outlook: The GOP has enough Senate votes to keep this projected tax at bay.  Filibustering it should be a priority once it hits the Congress floor.

Another thing to worry over: Health care

As stated in my previous post, over 1/5 of adults turn down employer assisted health care.  And this is a quick look at “who” the uninsured are:

Total: 45 million Americans (Down 2 million from last year)

These are estimates, and won’t reflect the 45 mil.  It provides an overall view on who makes up the uninsured.

• 15 Million are those who are eligible for Medicaid but don’t sign up
• 15 Million are adults with kids who are eligible for free insurance
• 10 Million are childless adults
• 10 are the estimated illegal immigrants
• Source: MSNBC, “Fleeced” by Dick Morris

Those are discouraging figures yes, but not as much as a problem as the media and various people make them out to be.  If a person is refusing to sign up for health care or just doesn’t bother to sign up for it when they’re eligible for Medicaid then nothing should be done for those people.  Health care is an important issue yes, but one needs to review the facts before proposing solutions.

The Military:

Active-duty men and women have mainly voted for McCain.  They remember Clinton and they know how the military functions, not some politician who’s never served.  Point being:  When it pertains to the military life, let them handle it.  Let the armed forces (Active-duty) and their spouses vote on whether or not gay people should be allowed in.  Keep their wages up also!  Our brave men and women shouldn’t be so poor that they could qualify for food stamps (Under Clinton) in they weren’t in the military.

We ARE winning the Iraq War, with 13 deaths (Every death is tragic) in October McCain’s surge is working.  The Iraqis are building themselves up and will be ready to take over, but we must stay and help until they are ready too.  Not just pull out and hope for the best.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0810/gallery.obama_issues/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/