Podcast 234

Market Plunge. If it wasn’t for Ebola, this week’s Market Plunge would be the top story and we’d all be talking about it. Was it really less than a month ago that President Obama said the market and economy had come roaring back? And this week the market gave back all the gains so far of 2014. Will it come back. Analysts aren’t so sure. As the rest of the economies in the world contract, all hope was placed in US economic growth which the fantasy world created by the media hyped. Bad retail sales numbers this week dashed those hopes. Meanwhile the world’s governments and central banks that depend on inflation to wipe away debts, are very concerned about disinflation turning into deflation. Are lower commodity prices a good sign, or a bad sign? In the final analysis, the US economy will probably not be enough to act as a counterweight to fading growth in the Euro Zone and China, even with lower commodity prices. The worry on Wall Street? Faltering demand among consumers. Surprise! While the President touts economic ‘recovery’ the number of Americans on SNAP benefits (in other words Food Stamps) skyrockets, the clearest indication yet that the newly employed are in low wage part time jobs, and those out of the work force may stay out as long as government programs pay them to. Not a good combination, and certainly not one that indicates dynamic growth. What’s going on? Steve Forbes has five suggestions that are pretty good. The upshot? We’re a long way from the kinds of radical reforms that will change the scope, cost and size of the Federal Government and get things back on track. It isn’t gridlock causing the problems, its the people. It’s our politics. How do we put away creaky old Keynesian concepts moderate Republicans, democrats and progressives have championed going back to the New Deal? How do we cut away regulation, spending and taxation and reduce government power, so that new decentralizing technologies can empower the individual to innovate, generate tomorrow’s successes, and power the US out of the malaise we find ourselves in? Yes, there are Republicans afraid of radical change just as there are democrats afraid to reduce the size and power of government. We have to stop expecting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial instincts from politicians. News Flash! Your congressman is not Steve Jobs. Not by a long shot. Some ideas to consider when thinking about the other major story chronicling the failure of ‘big government’ these days; The economy. Sponsored by Depotstar. 

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Podcast 205

Another beheading? Our midweek is jarred with another heinous murder of a US Journalist by The Islamic State; A video which is reported to show the beheading of Steven Sotloff surfaced Tuesday. At the same time, ‘vacationing’ Russian troops appear to be making headway against Ukrainian defenders in Eastern Ukraine as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. What’s to be done? Warnings, more economic sanctions, presidential trips, conferences, discussions and the ‘creation’ of a ‘rotating’ NATO ‘Quick Reaction Force’ of 4400 European ‘Special Forces’ troops. Putin has more than 20,000 troops on the Ukraine’s Eastern Border with Russia. Watching Obama’s press conference last Thursday shows clearly how analytical this President is, and how that can get the United States into a lot of trouble. On another note, Reporters and analysts have suddenly discovered that polling data does not indicate the ‘Wave Election’ for Republicans which the same analysts and reporters confidently predicted a few months ago. Suddenly, as The Bob Davis Podcasts predicted last winter, the story line has become, “What’s wrong with the Republicans?”. Well, for starters, where’s the ‘get out the vote’ organization that all wave elections are built on? Where are the street troops to take senior citizens to the polls? Where are the door knockers, lit droppers, phone bank callers, absentee ballot hander outers and easily used vote tally software? Not to mention election judges, precinct captains and well, you know, organization. Republicans were convinced of an easy victory in 2012, and shocked when it didn’t happen. Is this old song playing again? As the saying goes, “You make your own luck.” Republicans are almost giddy over polls that show Minnesota Republican Senate Candidate Mike McFadden at between 41 and 45 percent, and Senator Al Franken at 51 to 57 percent. This predicts a victory for Republicans? Not so fast. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating. 

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Podcast 195

Ferguson – The Rush To Judgement. A very late podcast for Bob Davis, and a very early Friday morning podcast for you. Updates for your weekend start with the controversy surrounding a police shooting and subsequent death of an 18 year old. Is the media fanning the flames? Should President Obama be interrupting his vacation to comment on the situation? Tensions have calmed somewhat with the introduction of State Police Security and the removal of a militarized local police force, at the request of Missouri Governor Nixon. Are our police too militarized? Some first hand memories of Saint Louis and surrounding communities may help people who have never been there visualize what is happening; Saint Louis is an aging industrial city, dealing with many different problems at once, with several surrounding small communities suffering as well, on the North Side. Might incompetent policing be at the core of this controversy and tragedy? Moreover, is it possible the root causes of discontent are economic, not racial? With economic growth stalling around the world, retail numbers dropping here in the US, are the policies directed at solving our economic problems working? If you watch television (broadcast or cable) these days, how would you know? What passes for ‘analysis’ is pure comedy, most of the time. Television short circuits your ability to reason, exciting your reptilian, emotional brain. Of course, the vast wasteland that has become broadcast talk radio, only seems to play on those emotions as well. Music by Brian Just. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

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