Draft Elizabeth Warren for President in 2012.....

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I have long been an Obama apologist  - after all, we have an entrenched "tea party"  of freshman congressmen along with massively corrupt DC infrastructure thanks to unlimited campaign funds from big business.   Obama entered office at the worst possible time.  There is a  common saying which is actually a curse: "May you live in interesting times."  A worse curse might will be "May you win high office in interesting times."   Politics - after all - is the art of the possible.  Those who dig in and won't budge - in the end, won't last.

However, the president's performance this week tells me that he may not have what it takes to govern in this environment.  He is first and foremost a constitutional lawyer and a scholar.  Nothing wrong with that.  I would rather have a scholar than a cowboy like Bush as POTUS in such a challenging environment.

Real Estate for Robber Barons....

As some of you know - I make my so-called living in the wild and crazy world of Westchester NY real estate.   Being 20 miles north of Manhattan - about a 35-minute train ride to Grand Central Station in mid-town Manhattan.  of course, our market was heavily impacted by the crash of 2008 - but nothing like many other parts of the country.  Prices are down about 30% - we have some short sales, some foreclosures, but the market has been spared more than many other parts of the country...

Thomas Friedman needs to STOP giving career advice to our youth...

Thomas Friedman has been offering career advice for far too long.  This week he was at it again with "The Start-Up of You" in The New York Times. Thankfully, our youth do not seem to have been listening....and woe be to those that do. They could find themselves choosing between corrugated cardboard and a plastic bag for their digs.

For years Friedman was crowing about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) career paths.  He loudly bemoaned the loss of American students in these fields while he beat the drums for loosening H1-B visa rules for foreign nationals. Friedman never bothered to connect the dots between the flood of foreign scientists and the massive glut of Ph.D.'s in America. Had he ever stepped foot into a real lab, I'm sure he would have heard an earful.

Trickle Down Economics? Or Trickle Down Taxes?

Yesterday I was having a discussion with a friend of mine who is considered to be upper income.  She was complaining that the top 5% appear to be footing the bill for everyone else and that much of the middle class are not paying any taxes.

It has long been said that numbers never lie - however - they can be distorted by those who wish to cherry-pick their numbers.  Of course, they are talking about federal income taxes to the exclusion of all else.