“These are the times that try men’s souls.”— Thomas Paine
In my soon to be bestselling book, LOSE YOUR BROKER NOT YOUR MONEY, I reiterate what so many patriots have before me: governments never have enough control over man, over People, and over Markets.
The natural instinct of government is to control people and their behavior through laws, taxes, and monetary activity. They become accustomed to telling us what to do, what to think, and what to feel. They try to convince us that their way is the right way, or a better way. They ask us for more time, time and time again.
No more. We must right this economy, and We must do so quickly.
Wars and turmoil span the globe. These are dangerous times, indeed. They threaten market prosperity and disrupt activity. This instability causes uncertainty, which can cause paranoia as evidenced by stock market volatility.
President Obama did little to settle the market’s nerves tonight. One of President Bush’s greatest flaws was that he was unwilling to veer from a “stay the course” mentality. His problem was in Iraq, and it was only after a whitewash in the 2006 election that he changed things up with Gates, Petraeus, and a strategy called a “surge” in Iraq. It was the first election he lost, six years into his presidency.
Obama lost his first election two years in (2010) – and he looks to be losing steam.
Someone once told me that the definition of insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over again and to expect a different outcome each and every time. You’d think that President Obama would have learned something from the Bush era: Don’t be slow to adapt! But it appears he missed that lesson.
Based on tonight’s speech the only things the president offered was more of the same – more spending, more false promises (you can’t pay for a $500 billion program when you’re running a $2 trillion deficit), and more false hopes. No more spending. No more stimulus. It hasn’t worked the last three times. And it won’t work again. Government cannot solve this problem. To think so is to be blind to reality’s teachings – a form of insanity, some might say.
That said, investors should be advised to expect negative momentum and stock market volatility to persist, for the government to remain log-jammed, and for an overzealous central bank to maintain a sloppy monetary policy stance.
One more thing: It’s time for Warren Buffet to shut up and go away. If he wants to pay more taxes then he should pay more taxes. It’s a free country. The government will take anything he gives.
I’m sick of him.
God bless America – and free speech!