A Nobel Peace Prize in President Trump’s future? #sarcasm

| June 30, 2019

In 2009 President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary effort" … one can’t help but wonder if nominations and the Nobel Committee is going to equally as fair to President Trump? I’m not holding my breath.

Occasionally an exchange on Twitter can surprise people

| September 9, 2018

Social networks like Twitter"can" be interesting places for people who have opposing views to debate and exchange views … or they can be just a bunch of haters. BUT … because I participate in the former, I do enjoy the back and forth with people who have good or better thoughts than me … or […]

Books: The Great Revolt – Salena Zito and Brad Todd

| August 26, 2018

I may have pick up my favorite political book of the year with Salena Zito and Brad Todd’s "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics." It analyzes the unusual rise of once "long shot" billionaire reality-tv GOP candidate Donald Trump who defeated 17 other Republican "politicians" and chipped off enough disgruntled Independent […]

Semi-impressed watching President Obama with Letterman

| January 26, 2018

We watched the premiere David Letterman series on Netflix with President Barack Obama the other night and both Brenda and I were impressed with the likeability our previous president exhibited – reminiscent of why he was elected in 2008 (Letterman, not so much). Obama was baited numerous times by David Letterman to weigh in negatively […]

Can the Federal Government find political balance?

| January 26, 2017

My answer: Rarely does the pendulum find the middle. Neither the fiscal or social policy balancing coming from Washington DC makes much sense to me. There have to be moderates who see validity in each others positions? Rather than the black and white collisions between the liberal Democrats and the conservative Republicans’ points of view, […]

What photo is most vivid in your mind for 2016?

| December 31, 2016

The last several years MyDesultoryBlog has highlighted "banished words" from the list Lake Superior State University (LSSU), who puts together a list at the beginning of a new year (and probably still will in early January)? This year we’ll end we’ll end 2016 with a couple memorable photos. The first being serious, and second … […]

Investing to and past DOW 20,000 under a President Trump

| December 23, 2016

We still have a week of trading before closing the books on 2016, but those last few DJIA psychological points to 20,000 have proven evasive. Thursday’s 23 point decline, after the steady climb since the election, has a few gurus thinking the Trump Rally may be ahead of itself?  Some are looking at current corporate […]

Debt, Bankruptcy and Loan Forgiveness — a personal rant

| December 15, 2016

Forgiving debt and bankruptcy options aren’t new, but those of us who strive to “play by the rules” often feel like suckers when it comes to bureaucrats playing fast and free with tax dollars … or with OPM. While it is understandable that our society wants to be compassionate and lend a helping hand to […]

Honoring those who gave everything for our country

| May 30, 2016

Memorial Day traditionally marks the beginning of warm weather, longer days and for some, in this sluggish Obama economy, maybe even a summer vacation? “Enjoying summer” is privilege we Americans have because so many before us gave their lives for the protection, prosperity and freedom we all enjoy. Looking at our short history, we’ve fought way too many wars and lost far too […]

A lack of foreign policy experience and a portrait of weakness

| October 1, 2015

The world around us is degrading into chaos as Russian “tough guy” President Vladimir Putin sent his militarily into the middle east and has quickly backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against the supposedly the terrorist group ISIL/ISIS who is aggressively building their Caliphate and the American backed pro-western rebels (well, maybe … but who really […]

The Treasure Coast was a popular place this weekend

| March 30, 2015

After the rain on Friday (above), the weather improve for a weekend finishing up a long drawn out engine work (plus a few other repairs) to Encore at the marina in Florida. The weather improved and was high 70s on Saturday and Sunday but with the north wind felt cooler in the shade. I wasn't […]

How about putting ALL that health care savings into a 529 plan?

| January 28, 2015

After 6-years of saving $2,500 each year on our “unchanged plan” or greatly improved “21st century” Obamacare health care plan, Democrats in congress and President Obama have made it possible for average Americans to have now amassed $15,000 (6 yrs x $2500) … no thanks to those Republicans voting against it (#sarcasm). And since getting […]

More of the same from President Obama after the SOTU

| January 21, 2015

After taking notes during the State of the Union address I went to bed disgusted rather than hopeful … even though I knew in advance the direction President Obama would be saying in his address. Call me sentimental or just hopeful, but I really thought that after the mid-term elections where, “make no mistake, his […]

The State–Obama Democrats vs Kennedy Democrats

| December 9, 2014

One wonders if today’s Democrats blindly following President Barack Obama and his administration’s goal of “fundamentally transforming the United States of America” even remember what it was like to support a leader who understood our democracy?John F. Kennedy knew what it was to believe and fight for the words and principles which founded this country. […]

Chinese economy #1 – thanks for the leadership President Obama

| December 5, 2014

It’s not entirely fair to blame President Obama for American decline and China’s rise in economic prominence, but his lack of inspiring American Exceptionalism and worldwide apology tour hasn’t helped. Words and attitude aside, his policies slowing our economic recovery are most to blame as we watch industry evaluate the best place to invest capital; […]

Obamacare remarks from Jonathan Gruber draw media scrutiny

| November 15, 2014

Some of the political hot-potato news this past week was related to self described “off the cuff” comments from MIT’s Jonathan Gruber a respected health economist. He helped craft President Obama’s health care law and was captured on video commenting about the “stupidity of the American voter” and suggesting the law was passed dishonestly (NYTimes). […]

Getting out the vote: The control of the legislature is at stake

| October 8, 2014

It’s getting ugly as we close in on mid-term elections. Democrats are making a desperate attempt to convince voters NOT vote them out of office. Republicans see blood in the water and are doing their best to tie previous and recent failures to Democrats and the president. Kentucky’s Democrat for Senate, Alison Grimes, has gone […]

The Big Lie. Stocks are up, so the economy must be better

| August 4, 2014

While reading President Obama’s comments in The Economist, the same class-warfare ire continues to be flamed for those who believe those living in the United States are against each other: Poor vs. wealthy, CEO vs. employee, ambitious vs. entitled, black vs. white, Democrat vs. Republican, etc. Isn’t it possible that those CEOs and corporations being […]

Jobs for America: Ideas that made America great

| March 10, 2014

For a country that should have a robust economy, we’re not showing it when looking at the employment numbers or the average family’s purchasing power (link Gallup). The U.S. Payroll to Population employment rate (P2P), as measured by Gallup, continued its recent decline in January, dropping to 42.0% from 42.9% in December. This is the […]

Encouraging saving is good, but is a MyRA the answer?

| February 2, 2014

Most people dislike partisans who are only be looking for ammunition to attack the other side … and I do find myself slanting from that perspective too. So while President Obama delivered his “Blah, blah, blah …” SOTU speech last week, I had to work hard not to approach every word and idea with skepticism, […]

Blah, blah, blah. President Obama and the SOTU 2014

| January 29, 2014

President Obama addressed the nation with his State of the Union rhetoric on Tuesday night and his blabbering leaves many of us wondering if he really knows how to rejuvenate the economy? Focus, Mr. Obama, focus. I have my doubts he even cares, let alone understands how jobs are created. Once again an Obama speech […]

Will President Obama win back public trust?

| December 20, 2013

I listened to the president answer questions in today’s long news conference and it was interesting to hear reporters finally drill down on the Obama administrations’ blunders and shortcomings. For the past five years most network reporters in the Whitehouse press corps  have been pretty gentle with questions and all but a few seemed to […]

More on what the Obama administration chooses to shutdown

| October 6, 2013

In a previous post, I commented on the Obama administration choosing to shutdown U.S. memorials and parks in what many perceived as unnecessary. It is obviously that it is purely politics when it requires more federal workers and costs more to close sites like the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial (never closed […]

Americans are split regarding military action in Syria

| August 31, 2013

Now that about everyone is convinced that Syria and the Assad government has used chemical weapons in their civil war and the “red line” has been crossed, the decision about what to do about it is up to President Obama. Personally I’m aligned with at least a strategic military response when it comes to Syria […]

Why is President Obama following me?

| July 21, 2013

Hmm, I’m not really sure what to think of this? I’m sure those who supported President Barrack Obama’s campaign don’t mind being followed by his twitter account, but for me it is probably an indication that the IRS or Department of Justice is next. For those of you who are not socially connected, the President’s […]

Big government policies = slow economy and no jobs

| July 7, 2013

Having a recent college graduated living at home and looking to start his career gives me intimate insight on what young adults and their parents are facing. The frustration exacerbates the strong opinions regarding the new health care law and the economic policies put in place by the federal government under the leadership of President […]

Are you prepared for catastrophic spending cuts? [sarcasm]

| February 27, 2013

I find it difficult to listen to “the sky is falling” coming from special interest groups with the politicians looking out for them … or for that matter President Obama “crying wolf” once again. If it is so difficult to trim a few percent federal budget (something that was suppose to be done several years […]

It is embarrassing that they work for us

| February 21, 2013

Really … something has to change in Washington DC. We’re borrowing TRILLIONS, yet the President jets around playing golf while the first lady and family heads to Colorado on vacation. Sure it only MILLIONS … In the another branch of our govenment, they pass reams of laws, bicker about raising more revenue (taxing us), pretend […]

Governing and economic thoughts from Jon Meacham

| January 22, 2013

Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and biographer Jon Meacham made a few comments that had me nodding my head Monday evening in a discussion with Bill O’Reilly. I snagged a bit of audio while replaying for my wife. He was able to succinctly communicate the fiscal issues facing our nation and the seeming lack of urgency President […]

Martin Luther King Jr Day 2013 and a mish-mash of thinking

| January 21, 2013

Our nation has come a long way in race relations in my lifetime in large part due to Martin Luther King Jr., a 1960’s era civil rights leader that we remember and celebrate with a national holiday today. Considering the United States has come “a long way” since slavery and segregation, we … and the […]

Politicians are treating the fiscal cliff like a game of chicken

| December 28, 2012

Those old enough and wise enough to know how the sausage is was made in Washington DC have noticed a change in recent years. Politicians of different stripes and philosophies are no longer coming together for the common good … and the lack of a leader (aka: POTUS) willing guide congress is shocking. Here we […]

Is the GOP just venting its loss or in serious disarray?

| November 16, 2012

I have purposely not entered an “excuses” comment or worse since everyone in the conservative political realm has an opinion and I’m tired of hearing the internal bickering. I personally prefer the conclusion that neither party had a decisive mandate – the country is indeed split – but know that the Republicans will have to […]

The American people give President Obama 4 more years

| November 7, 2012

The 2012 presidential election is over and I am reminded of my subject line four years ago …  “life goes on.”  Of course at that time my conclusion was that the nation was  tired of the excessive deficit spending, a slow economy, the housing and banking woes, job losses and continuing unrest overseas under a […]

A nation divided – countdown to the 2012 presidential election

| November 5, 2012

One more post before election day as we’re finally on the home stretch to 11/6/2012. Thankfully a presidential election, and the ridiculous amount of money being spent, takes place only once every 4 years. Let’s hope we can shift this same kind of energy to governing our country and dealing with the enormous fiscal problems. […]

Sharing a couple of Then and Now political comments

| November 1, 2012

I’ve been seeing one of the more powerful political ads appear regularly as the election inches closer and it may be the only one that grabs my attention (posted a few days ago). Below are a couple more points that were recently shared with me by email. This first one was from Bret Baier who […]

My summary of the 3rd presidential debate at Lynn University

| October 24, 2012

The final presidential debate was held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida on Monday night (a college visit there in 2007) and the sit down face-to-face capped off the campaign season – I don’t think most Americans could take any more. I personally found it interesting, but assume most were bored with the foreign […]

Follow up: Is President Obama just running on fumes?

| October 17, 2012

Over the lunch hour today, I reviewed a few articles and opinions regarding last night’s debate, as well as skimmed through my Twitter feed. What stood out were Romney supporters focused on the content and ideas clearly stated by Mitt Romney. He was focused on the economy and jobs which requires a direction change. This […]

Obama and Romney should have been wearing boxing gloves

| October 17, 2012

In one corner, wearing a dark suit is the undefeated President of the United States Barack Obama! [cheers and jeers] In the other corner also in a dark suit is the challenger, Salt Lake City Olympics rescuer, Governor Mitt Romney! [more cheers and jeers] Neither man wore gloves, but should have, as they at times […]

Electric car battery maker A123 files for bankruptcy protection

| October 16, 2012

Once again, our tax dollars were squandered on another failed green energy company. This time the once promising A123 Systems Inc. (AONE -74.67%) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A123 was one of the Obama Administrations’ handpicked companies to be given a handout … free money … and took nearly $250 million taxpayer dollars […]

With the electoral college, what does a popular poll mean?

| October 15, 2012

I’m not sure I would put a lot of faith in polling this year, especially following 2008 which saw a turnout unique in our recent history. Who knows if the motivation and base for either party will vote in the same numbers … and who knows if it even matters with the electoral college vote? […]

Gasoline prices top $5.00 in California

| October 9, 2012

Seriously folks, are we really suppose to see an economic recovery with incomes down $4000/year for the average family over the past 4 years and the cost of fuel and food up? At least with over the board inflation peoples paychecks rise a little along with prices … but not in this Obamaconomy. The latest […]

Is the U.S. the best place for small business?

| October 4, 2012

I started a post on the Presidential Debate last night, but figured if I’m tired of tweeting, reading and hearing about it, others may be too … so will pass on opining. I will say that  Mitt Romney looked well prepared and was able to comfortably manhandle President Obama on the subject of the economy, […]

VP Biden: the middle class has been buried for the last 4 years

| October 2, 2012

Ok Vice President Biden … I understand you are upset and angry from the tone of your voice. I also understand that you are campaigning for re-election … but how do comments pointing out that the middle class has been "buried for the last four years" convince Americans that the Obama administration deserves another term? […]

What “buying votes” in a swing state looks like

| September 20, 2012

I’m an advocate for using recycled cooking oil and non-feedstocks (and surplus soybean, etc.) to produce biodiesel fuels and am particularly fond of algae based biodiesel fuels as an entirely new renewable industry. It is one that can create tens of thousands of jobs as well as utilize our desert areas in this country for […]

Paul Ryan is crisscrossing Ohio this week

| August 16, 2012

Although I’ve been focused on my mom’s care and hospital stay (again at OSU Medical Center last night), I am still paying attention to the political campaigning going on in Ohio as well. Some may be getting tired of the nastiness, particularly coming from the Obama campaign, but am glad to hear Romney and Ryan […]

Links and more links: Do we really need more government?

| July 17, 2012

Said tongue in cheek, just to be clear … Without big government, individuals and their businesses couldn’t build anything, according to President Obama. I suspect if he had his way we’d even have more government funded federal programs and bureaucratic agencies to oversee innovative and productivity. (Wake up America … take a look at how […]

Maybe we’d all be better working for the government?

| July 16, 2012

Is this really President Obama’s thinking, or is he just pandering to his base and continuing his campaign to divide the country? At some point, he is going to offend every American who pays income taxes (50%?) … and cause even more businesses to close their doors or move elsewhere (a charge he is attempting […]

One step closer to a no holds barred Romney vs. Obama fight

| April 10, 2012

It looks like the contest is about over for the GOP candidates … although the smart money has been on Governor Romney for a few months now … but it has been difficult for Mitt Romney to land a knockout blow, as challengers seemed to tag-team against him for the last year. Yet in the […]

Politician from both sides doing little to move us forward

| March 22, 2012

It’s easy for someone like me with a fiscally and socially conservative ideology to disagree with President Obama and his expansion of government. I disagree with his irresponsible deficit spending, his liberal social philosophies and adding new entitlements. As he approaches re-election he has also returned to blaming someone else for problems, even after 3+ […]

Comedians are having too much fun with the GOP primaries

| February 2, 2012

Got to love the humor of Jon Stewart, even if he show his bias and plays to his left leaning audience. For the fun of it I figure President Obama deserved a little bit of face time too and added (photoshopped) the little Al Green comparison … perhaps it is not as effective as the […]

President Obama connects on a hangout with Google+users

| January 30, 2012

YouTube live at 5:30PM EST on January 30, 2012 Great use of technology, although it certainly does require respectful users … unfortunately a little too much “respect” ends up with friendly to President Obama questioners. The hangout is interesting as I’m only 15 minutes in, but its beginning to sound a little like a campaign […]

Tebow Mania – a sign that Americans appreciate the “good guy”

| January 14, 2012

With the NFL playoffs in full swing, I can’t imagine that there will be a more watched game this season than Saturday evening’s New England Patriots and Denver Broncos game … unless perhaps Tim Tebow takes the Broncos to the Superbowl? Even the President has been known to slip into Tebow mode before starting his […]

Eight votes separate the top two in GOP Iowa Caucuses

| January 4, 2012

Not that it matters much, but Gov Mitt Romney and Rep Rick Santorum were the two top vote getters in Iowa on Tuesday night as it took until the wee hours of the morning before a winner could be declared – Romney by 8 votes. The 24.55% vs 24.54% split barely made up the majority […]

Mitt Romney for President is just fine with me

| December 15, 2011

Well I was going to wait until closer to the Republican primary in Ohio (3/6/2012) to decide which candidate was best to run against the president, but after seeing recent polling, the candidate is obvious. When polls pitting Newt Gingrich against the sitting President Obama, the numbers indicate the President may have an easy re-election, […]

Rick Santelli of CNBC on taxes and Congress

| November 22, 2011

Even if you’re not a CNBC watcher or someone who focuses on the financial markets each day, you may have heard of Rick Santelli and his rant in 2009 during the peak of the U.S. financial bailouts. I included the clip in a post which many believed may have spurred the Tea Party movement (some […]

Archive: Worth reading as a way to reset your political compass

| October 30, 2011

Every once in awhile a writer captures with clarity what I’m politically thinking — I wish I could communicate this clearly. Peggy Noonan. She is a very talented speech writer and opinion columnist and wrote a superb column for Saturday’s WSJ worth sharing and saving to my archive. The content referenced current politicians, but is […]

Is Warren Buffett’s tax plan being presented correctly?

| October 1, 2011

I saw a CNBC interview with Warren Buffett the other day and didn’t realized just how twisted the “tax the rich” ideas had become. I’m not saying that I agree with either Warren Buffett or President Obama’s new tax proposals, BUT I was surprised to have them being reported as nearly one in the same […]

Aww, shucks … another terrorist leader dead

| September 30, 2011

As someone who has never been comfortable with President Obama’s policies or what he says publicly (particularly his “apologies for America” overseas) or in regards to terrorism (does the Obama administration even use that word?) — I will  acknowledge that there  has been continued aggressive actions to the exterminate top Al-Qaeda leaders (and pretty successful […]

Rep Paul Ryan: “Permanence to plan and invest”

| September 9, 2011

Like him and his policies or not, it would be great if all politicians were as succinct and committal as Congressman Paul Ryan. His interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box Friday morning after President Obama’s speech was sharp and to the point although respectful toward the president and those holding other ideas. Well worth a listen. […]

New fuel efficiency standards target is 54.5 mpg by 2025

| July 29, 2011

President Obama announces the new fuel efficiency standards with a few early jokes regarding his daughter and driving before stressing the prices of fuel and the demand “worldwide” for oil. His “fix” is to take steps to control prices through and energy strategy that 1) increase domestic production, 2) getting rid of tax subsidies to […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
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