Happy New Year

Happy New Year

It's 2009

Out with the old and in with the new as they say. As we say goodbye to 2008, I look back to see what made it the worst year in recent memory and also why it’s been the most interesting year.

President-Elect Barack Obama
Senator Barack Obama made history by being the first black candidate to win a major party nomination. He went on to become the nation's first black President. He also set records in fundraising during his presidential campaign. President-Elect Obama will be sworn into office on January 20, 2009.

Sen. Hillary Clinton
Sen. Clinton's quest to become the nation's first female President came to an end when she failed to win enough votes to secure her party's nomination. She then shifted her support for Sen. Obama. After Obama's win over John McCain, she was rewarded for her efforts; she is slated to become the next U.S. Secretary of State.

Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Onassis expressed her interest in the senate seat that will be left vacant when Sen. Hilary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary Of State. First the media dogged Ms. Kennedy accusing her of using her family's name to bully New York's Governor to appoint her. Second, they have questioned her credentials and as of late her articulation is under attack.

One only has to look beyond Caroline Kennedy's name to see why she would make such a great senator. One, she really cares about people. She has worked for years to raise money for New York City's public schools. She is also an accomplished lawyer. Caroline Kennedy sits on the boards of several charitable organizations. She also credited with lobbying and helping to successfully campaign for Barack Obama.

Financial Meltdown
With the new year, say goodbye to some companies that were once staples in the financial world. Bear Stearns closes its doors. Bear Stearns was once the one of the world's largest investment bank and brokerage firms collapsed because of sub-prime mortgages.

Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan and Wachovia both two of more than a dozen of banks that failed in 2008. WaMu was bought by JP Morgan Chase. Wachovia was purchased by Wells Fargo, and will over the next three years assume the Wells Fargo brand.

The big dips in the stock markets cause many Americans investing their pensions to lose a substantial amount of money. Although many experts predict that the market will correct itself and that people will get back most of the money they lost, at the moment that path looks far away.

2008 saw the largest increase in gas prices. At one point each week brought new record in gas prices. The rise in prices started with the damage Hurricane Katrina made when it hit the gulf coast. After the disaster oil speculators drove the prices even higher, all to make a profit for themselves.

Increased gas prices ensured prices of almost all other consumer goods would also rise, especially food. 2008 saw the largest and fastest increase in food prices in history. In an economy where the bottom has fallen out, people where making hard choices on weather to buy food, medicine or gas to get to work. It's probably the top thing people will not miss about 2008.

Home foreclosures skyrocketed in 2008. As most sub-prime loans interest rates adjusted, most homeowners could no longer make their mortgage payments leading to beginning of the current financial crisis.

Caylee Anthony
Caylee Anthony was missing for more than a month before her mother Casey Anthony reported her missing in July of 2008 at the prompting of her parents. Police investigating the case arrested Casey Anthony on suspicion of murder, neglect and giving false statements. Casey Anthony maintained her innocence and said that the child was alive and out there. Eventually Caylee Anthony's body was found near her Florida home.

Store Closings
The economy's slide south proved to be too much for some major retailers. Circuit City filed for bankruptcy and is closing over 100 of its stores nationwide. KB Toys filed bankruptcy for a second time and closed its doors at many of its mall locations. The country's financial woes are also pushing a lot of other stores out of business like Mervyns Department Stores, The Sharper Image, Linens 'n Things, Value City, Bill Heard Automotive, The Bombay Company, Steak and Ale, Shoe Pavilion, and Levitz Furniture.

Michael Vick
What does a man do when he has fame and fortune? He runs a dog fighting ring of course. Michael Vick shocked many of his fans when it was discovered he funded an illegal dog fighting ring on his property. His arrest led to him being let go from the Atlanta Falcons and fired from endorsements. He is currently serving time in federal prison.

Writer's Strike
The writer's started in November of 2007 and ended in February of 2008. The strike pretty much torpedoed the rest of the television season. Some shows did not return to air, to finish out the season, while others were canceled without any chance of redemption. The strike also had a lasting financial effect on Hollywood. Because production on shows stopped, production companies were forced to lay off thousands of crew members. Shows that were slated as mid-season replacements never aired. Awards shows were scaled back or canceled. After the strike was over it was determined that most people found alternate forms of entertainment. Some people apparently did not come back to the TV, its been reported that viewership dropped nearly 7%.

Gov. Rod Blagojvich
In December of 2008 Gov. Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI with among other things solicitation of bribery. The government claims that they have the Illinois Governor on tape attempting to sell Barack Obama’s senate seat to the highest bidder. So far none of the tapes have been released. From the very beginning members of both parties have called to have the Governor removed from office. It sounds easier than it actually is. The Governor has refused to resign, so state leaders are looking into impeachment. The state’s Attorney General has said that she would try to have him declared unfit to hold office. It’s a move that may not be constitutionally sound. Democrats have warned the Governor not to try to appoint anyone to President-Elect Obama vacant seat. But as it turns out, he defied them and appointed Roland Burris, former Illinois Comptroller and State Attorney General.

Georgia’s Senate Race Decided

The Georgia Senate race between incumbent Saxby Chambliss a Republican and Democratic challenger Jim Martin is finally over. Sen. Chambliss retained his seat by a clear majority. Chambliss beat Martin by receiving nearly 57% of the vote. Voter turnout for the race was about 20% of registered voters.

Both candidates put up a fierce 4 week long battle of campaign ads, big name speakers and of course the name calling and mud slinging that we have come to expect. Some of the Republican’s superstars came to Georgia to campaign for Saxby Chambliss such as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Arizona Sen. And former Presidential candidate John McCain and for Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Jim Martin had Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice-President Al Gore come down and help his campaign. Martin had asked for the Democrats biggest star, President-Elect Barrack Obama. However it seems that the President-Elect wasn’t interested in making any kind of significant effort to help Jim Martin win the Georgia Senate seat and help the Democrats gain the so called “Super Majority”, 60 Senate seats that would make the democratic controlled senate filibuster proof. To his credit, President-Elect Obama did help Jim Martin’s campaign by recording a radio ad that was released the week before the run-off, robotic calls to residents to ask them to vote for Jim Martin, and he mailed out a postcard with “Happy Holidays” on it along with a picture of the Obama family.

I think that President-Elect Obama might as well make this mistake number one as the highest profile Democrat and as a leader. Let face it, the radio ads, postcards, and “robo” calls are all great, but making an appearance in Georgia would have been a 100 times more effective than all four combined. Georgia had record turnout for the Presidential election. Nearly a million and two-thirds fewer democrats voted in the runoff than the general election. The President-Elect could have taken a few hours at the beginning of the run-off campaign and towards the end to come down to Georgia and talk Jim Martin up, and help motivate people to go to the polls. I really believe that most people didn’t understand how crucial this election was to the democrats. Sure they heard all the spin on TV news show, but it’s different if the top Democrat himself, a superstar came down for the people to see and hear.

Barack Obama’s presence in Georgia would have been the extra boost needed to get people to the polls. People are still caught in the awe and excitement of his election. Having the President-Elect here campaigning for Jim Martin would one, tell people that the election isn’t over yet, two, that he cares about what happens in Georgia, three, that having a 60 seat in the Senate is so important it warrants’ his attention especially since it will help him make the changes he campaigned on. People clearly needed motivation to go to the polls for a run-off.

Recently the President-Elect revealed his choices for cabinet appointments, among them were current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and former political opponent Hilary Clinton, nominated for Secretary of State. I think he made some great choices in people, however I don’t think it was very smart to pull an active and popular Senator from a seat that can be strangle defended by Hilary Clinton. But despite the difficult work he is obviously conducting in preparation for the transition of power, there isn’t any excuse why he couldn’t have hopped on a plane and come to Georgia for a few hours. As President-Elect he can be briefed or hold meetings anywhere he chooses. He has time to go to the gym for a couple of hours a day, he could have flown down and help win the Senate race in Georgia. I hope this doesn’t come back to hurt him politically in the future. He has such great plans; it would be a shame that his first mistake could affect the rest of his administration. Let’s hope it doesn’t.

You Can Call Him Mr. President!

On November 4, 2008 the world watched in suspense as votes across the country were tallied leading to Barack Obama’s historic win. The Senator from Illinois, was elected the nations first black President. Now more than a week later, reality has set in for most people and it’s not the total calamity that many of President-elect Obama’s opponents thought it would be.

President-Elect Obama seems to moving in a very rapid and smart manner. He has made the financial crisis a top priority. He has his transition team in place before the election to make sure they “hit the ground running”. He has been having regular meetings with his economic advisory board made up of people he trusts.

This new president has many challenges starting out, the financial crisis being at the top, also, a high unemployment rate, a $10 billion a month war and a country divided by a long and brutal election cycle. The best thing Barrack Obama can do, is make sure he retain the help of the very best when it comes to the economy, foreign policy and the war in Iraq.

The transition of power looks like it may be a smooth one. This week President and Mrs. Bush met with the Obama’s at the White House. President Bush has vowed to make the transition as easy as possible. I believe that he will work hard to make sure that the transition is seamless.

Now is the time for all Americans to unite and work together to get this country back on track. The election is over. The winners have been very sensitive and not gloating at their victory. They are reaching out to the opposition to help solve the nation’s big issues. To me, that what a President does, lead the entire nation and not just the party they belong to.