Happy New Year

While I doubt it will ever happen I hope this is the year of the politicians working for the people. May all your wishes come true. Oh and that awesome health care bill if it passes will do nothing but charge taxes for a few years. If it was so important then why not require coverage right away.

Bowl Week

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday season. It is a time to give. Let us take joy in giving to those around us. My kids got a wii from their grandparents. I told them that they have to have a certain area clean to play it. Hopefully that will help them not be so messy.

We now have a health care bill. I don't know why Obama isn't more involved in writing it. He seems to understand some things, but why is he relying on Reid and Pelosi. Doesn't anyone wonder about back door deals to get votes. I bet some senators hold out just for a back door deal. I would if that is what it took. Nebraska scored a lot of money by having a senator hold out.

Time for football. This week there is football on all day and night. You can't ask for anything more. Its wonderful to be able to watch a game at anytime. NFL regular season is almost over, college football is ending and then we will have the NFL playoffs. Sports are a part of my life. I would love to have someone to cuddle with while watching though.

Sell Out on Health Reform

I do realize that health care needs to be improved. But why did they bribe states. Democratic moderate Senators wisely held out their votes until their states got money that other states won't get. So let me just point out the issue here. If you are from a Red State with Republican Senators your state got screwed. If you are from a Blue State with Democratic Senators you probably got something. If you are a Red State with a Democratic Senator you got a windfall. Nebraska will have the federal government pay for some of their bills and this wasn't given anyone else. It was the purchase of a vote to pass a bill. Time will tell how good the bill is, but here is the kicker. Many insurance company stocks are going up. Why? They should be losing and analysts should know it. I think the wool is being pulled over our eyes. We are in for a big downfall. The next 50 years of politics will largely be based on two things.

Republicans will be for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, although the longer they go on with Democratic control the less they will be viewed as a Republican issue. Also for some reason the bailouts which were passed largely by Democrats in Congress. Another thing that could come back on Democrats.

Democrats will be judged on how health care reform improves lives and holds down costs. Ironically with everything happening the Democrats could be viewed as the bad guys in all these things and that would politically harm the party. Wow things could get very interesting politically in the next 10 years. Maybe another political party takes over? That would force compromise. American people deserve this from these two parties which haven't shown compromise in 20 years.

Christmas is coming

My birthday and Christmas are within days of each other. As a kid I never really cared for either. One Christmas I had 1 gift under the tree and my siblings had 5 or 6 each. Birthday was the same way. My Grandma felt bad and suggested moving my birthday celebration to July when I was 10 years old. Well I'm a little older. I enjoy Christmas so much more. I do much more giving and really don't care if I get anything. I feel silly for how I felt as a kid and my birthday really doesn't mean much to me anymore. With that said here is my Christmas wish list.

Dear Santa for Christmas this year I want a job that pays me enough to pay my bills. That is it. I would also like honesty in climate change science that is unbiased and a health care plan that has tort reform so that health costs will truly go down. The true winners of health care are the lawyers and medical malpractice insurers.

Get a Clue

Why is it that people act suspicious surrounding a family member who is missing. The guy in Utah who went camping when his wife disappeared didn't show up to work or call in. Now why would you not check in? If a spouse disappears you will be suspect number one. Then they waste taxpayer time and money on looking for someone when they know exactly where that person is. This is something that has played out many times. It comes down to honesty. Could he be being honest? Yes. But actions speak volumes.

I was happy that Obama called out the banks. They are being closed and aloof towards the people who bailed them out. They took taxpayer money and are foreclosing on their homes. They borrowed and are not showing any remorse for the economy. I would threaten banks like you wouldn't believe. They need to be pumping money into the economy. Jobs and homes were lost because of them. I think that credit ratings should be looked at differently. But banks also need to help people stay in homes. They are refinancing less than 10% of requests. They have no incentive. I think Obama is working on giving them incentive. Good smart move. Maybe these banks will get a clue.

Alabama has its Heisman

Congrats to Mark Ingram for winning the Heisman. I would have voted him first place too. I honestly think Eric Berry of Tennessee is the best player in college football though. Imagine him and Mayes of USC. In 5 years they will both be the two best safeties in the NFL.

I saw some questions around the ethics of global warming are in question. I know there is a big push to save the planet and we are causing a lot of heat. I still think that every aspect of what is causing our planets temperature to rise is not being considered. Why has the earth had different warm periods in the past. I think scientists trying to push us in the direction of conservation are missing other factors and are not looking into them properly. I will admit that we need to conserve and not use fossil fuels. We need to help save the planet as much as we can, but that doesn't mean we don't need to know all the factors involved. If the planet suddenly cooled we would need to know the reasons for that as well. I don't think all the money being spent on climate change is fairly spent on independent honest research. I think it is all skewed to how perception is.

Health Care Costs

Under the plan in congress an independent study has found that the costs will not go down. I don't know how much this shocks us. Its amazing that we can spend $1 trillion on this and not lower the costs at all. Here is the link to the cost information.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

I need to find work. If you know of any let me know. I have a finance degree and have been working as a business analyst for 7 years. I work on IT software, but am not a programmer. I have written a couple ksh scripts, but that is about it. Maybe a few batch files too. Pass the word along. I need some income.

My Heisman Ballot

Well I have seen some of the best players, and this is how I would vote if I had a vote

1. Mark Ingram - RB Alabama
2. CJ Spiller - RB Clemson
3. Colt Mccoy - QB Texas
4. Ndamukong Suh - DT Nebraska
5. Kellen Moore - QB Boise St

Now for the NFL Hall of Fame voting. How is Cortez Kennedy not one of the final 25? There are many offensive linemen in the Hall that needed help double teaming him. He is better than most and gets no credit.

On the political side we are now looking at a jobs bill. Why do economists feel you can spend your way out of a recession. Japan tried it and it really didn't work. Why drive up the debt. Now they are going to use funds that were meant for something else as a slush fund. The TARP money. I think this is why Republicans voted against it. With 40% of Americans being Independent why are there only about 15% of lawmakers in this group. Many moderate lawmakers move left or right when in Washington DC. If there were a moderate party then I think they would be in control. We need a strong central party. This is what people will want. Voters are tired of far left and far right. Well almost half are. The rest are divided between left and right. My heart is in the middle.

Finding Work

Finding work seems to be very difficult. I talked to a guy who hires people and says he gets hundreds of applications for each position he has open. Computers are used to weed out the top candidates now days. So a computer scores each resume based on words within the resume and then the top however many are put in front of the hiring manager. So if everyone is equal then the odds of getting your resume to the hiring manager are less than 10%, probably less than 5%. These numbers will grow. I am trying hard to find full time secure employment. I don't know if it exists anymore. Since things likely won't be much better for the next election in 2010 expect a different congress. Congress has been controlled by Democrats for the last 3 years. While Bush still is blamed they controlled the House and Senate during the downturn and if it doesn't go up fast will be in control during those elections. After 4 years of Congressional control expect some backlash from the public.

College football figures out who plays for the national championship today. I am hoping for a game of TCU vs Alabama. Wouldn't Alabama be ticked losing to a Mountain West team two years in a row? The only issue with this is Boise St. Two years in a row would probably be left out of a BCS game while going undefeated during the regular season. Lucky for them Texas probably has only a 3% chance of losing. UNLV basketball is doing well too. 6-0 with wins over Louisville and at Arizona. Looks like March will be a fun month too.

My Heisman ballot right now,

Kellen Moore - Boise St.
Colt McCoy - Texas
CJ Spiller - Clemson
Mark Ingram - Alabama
Toby Gerhart - Stanford

I'll put my final one up next week. Don't care much for the award as it is more of a campaign than anything else. Seems players from the same schools win it all the time. Alabama and Tennessee have never had a winner with all the great players that went to those schools.