dan ryan

As a Christ Follower - I don't need any of these worldly reasons to help. The situation overwhelms me with sadness. I do echo the need to have perspective on the ridiculous amounts of military spending compared to the ridiculously low amount of aid pledged/given.  I do appreciate the amount the US has given but want more and am especially disappointed in the rest of the world. http://robertreich.org/post/978427354/why-the-unfolding-disaster-in-pakistan-should-concern

Dealing with the Sunset of the Bush Tax Cuts (Part I)

If it appeared in my last commentary that the ground zero 'holy' site was a republican issue. It certainly is not... Illinois Current Democratic Governor Pat Quinn... "I’ve been to  Pearl Harbor . I laid a wreath at Pearl Harbor. I’ve been to  Auschwitz . I laid a wreath at Auschwitz. I’ve been to Ground Zero, and I laid a wreath there. I do believe that there are special places on Earth that should have a zone of solemnity around them. I would strongly urge those who are thinking of putting a mosque within that zone to rethink their position," Source:  http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/quinn-ground-zero-manhattan-mosque-101038099.html#ixzz0x3M0tbUs I guess a politician has got to be a politician and leave any sense of principles behind when public opinions says he needs to be on this side of fence. This 'zone of solemnity' apparently excludes commercial buildings and souvenirs because not says solemn like good ol' capitalism.  Certainly a place of

“Ground zero is hallowed ground to Americans,” Elliott Maynard, a Republican trying to unseat Representative Nick J. Rahall II, a Democrat, in West Virginia’s Third District, said in a typical statement. “Do you think the Muslims would allow a Jewish temple or Christian church to be built in Mecca?” I am utterly confused by this statement.  I will try to be as delicate as I can.  First, Ground zero is a human tragedy, in which many Muslims, Jews, Christians and non-religious people died.  It is not a 'holy' site or either the Christian or the Jewish faith.  We can discuss whether all sites are holy from a Christian perspective but that would be for a different post.  The question that Mr. Maynard asks makes the clear assumption that New York, Ground Zero and possibly all of America are solely Christian or Jewish.  This is just plain wrong.  It is not what Christ wants us to do. It is not what God wants us to do. It saddens me and breaks my heart. 

The housing starts were around were most expected and obviously another indication that the new homes market is still at or near the bottom and has not moved significantly since at least May of 2009 and there is an argument that we are not statistical different from the 'bottom' of 479,000.  I will digest the numbers and have a little more latter.

As noted housing prices by CoreLogic , housing prices continue to flatten in June.  It seems like the mounting evidence that the economy is in recession in every meaningful way except for GDP but I am not sure that we continue through Q2 2011. At some point we will get around to discussing the U.S. economy has some serious structural issues.  Since we are not going to have a real meaningful  stimulus in the future, why can't we start now? If we assume away the housing bubble of the last decade and pair down the lasting effect of the dot com era, what do we have?  A service economy, (I am not saying there is anything wrong with this) that continues to erode the middle class (I am  saying there this is a problem).  The U.S. is not an exporting country but this needs to be addressed at some point.  Am I missing something?  What is the end game on the US trade deficit?