I define your usual suspects as mid scale. Here in the Lehigh Valley of Eastern Pa, I suspect it is similar to what you see in your neck of the woods. We may have more pent up demand, perhaps because we are coming off of a colder than normal winter. This last weekend was the first really warm one we’ve had, in like forever. With low gas prices, drivers are out spending money and smashing their cars in to utility poles and each other. First signs of spring.

To me the gas prices are the difference between now and the Carter years. If people can drive cheap enough, they will be out there spending. Actually the whole deflationary verses inflationary expectations situation is different. There is a natural recovery in consumer spending occurring, which Obama is determined to kill. Me thinks he needs things to stay bad long enough to pass his agenda. Once he gets what he wants, he will have 3 years to fix what he broke.

I am not afraid to say I’m a hard core Bush fan. I think that history will vindicate President Bush on the Iraq war. I believe he caved too much on ear marks to both parties in Congress. That may have been the price he paid to keep funding long enough to win the war. I don’t have a problem with you criticizing him. My trouble is with the nut jobs on the left who will lie just to win an argument.

To compare what Obama is doing economically to what Bush did militarily, I believe that Bush sincerely pursued his choices. Obama is cynically taking advantage of opportunities. I say Bush took out a proven enemy and set an example to dictators that the US is dangerous to mess with, that we will support our friends, that we won’t fold like we did in Somalia, when we take casualties.

Obama will squander the fear Bush has put in to our enemies. Trading away the East Europe missile shield is beyond appeasement. Sometime under Obama we will take major casualties. Then the whole country will see how he compares with Bush.

Could you define “mid scale eatery” please. Here in AZ, well, at least around my job, a lot of sammie shops are closing up, two Quizno’s, a Blimpies and one Subway so far. The burger chains are doing okay, and the quick-sit-down diners are fairing pretty well. Out where I live, we have the usual suspects, Outback, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc and they all have waiting lines inxs of 30 minutes each night (well, at least on the nights my wife and I go), so you may be on to something.

Since unemployment levels haven’t hit the Carter levels yet, I am a bit concerned, since BHO’s “recovery” hasn’t accomplished anything (aside from the 25 jobs in Ohio that is), I fear we have long ways to go before the market finds the bottom. My guess right now is 4000-4300 will be the bottom, I don’t see a bull market for at least 3 years though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the DJIA at 5800 and unemployment at 12-15% for the 2012 election cycle. Until BHO realizes the Market drives hiring, we are in a world of hurt. That said, as I mentioned above, I don’t believe he is trying to stimulate the economy, I beleive he wants it to tank so he and the Chicago Mob can roll out their version of Marxism.

However, I do think that the “Shock Doctrine” is real, very real. It is employed by anyone in power to obtain more power. Not being a big fan of Bush I have no problem admitting that I think he used the SD to get us into Iraq, to form the Homeland Security, and to pass the Patriot Act. Not being a fan of Obama, he is using the SD to push through massive bailouts, to expand the power of the Federal Reserve, bought into the private banking sector, and Nationalized some private companies. And I’m sure there is much more to come from Obama.

What I think is interesting is that we have at least two people in charge that openly admit that they are going to use the Shock Doctrine to do get things done.

Rahm Emanuel: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And this crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before.” And, “Things that we had postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122721278056345271.html

Biden: “Opportunity presents itself in the middle of a crisis.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/25/AR2009022501542.html?hpid=topnews

Obama: “We are at an extraordinary moment that is full of peril but full of possibility, and I think that’s the time you want to be president.” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/07/MNEE16AJT5.DTL

Hillary Clinton: “Never waste a good crisis … Don’t waste it when it can have a very positive impact on climate change and energy security.” http://in.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idINTRE5251VN20090306

All this also kind of reminds me of the video I posted on my blog (http://kylehuwer.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/the-next-12-months/) where the guy says that the people who are trying to obtain more power always tell you before they do it. And it sounds like Obama&Co are telling us pretty plainly that they are going to exploit this crisis for their benefit.

I could be totally off though.

This Act of Congress is widely recognizied now as one of the biggest mistakes of the last 20 years. For example, how did the now strapped Citigroup come into being? It came into being permanently after this Act was passed, when Citibank merged with Travelers Group (an insurance company) and formed a corporation combining banking & insurance underwriting services. This “combined industry” has been known as the financial services industry ever since.

I also love how kiddo apparently touts the Clinton record of:
“Americans Benefit from Reduced Debt: Because of fiscal discipline and deficit and debt reduction, it is estimated that a family with a home mortgage of $100,000 might expect to save roughly $2,000 per year in mortgage payments, like a large tax cut.

Double Digit Growth in Private Investment in Equipment and Software: Lower debt will help maintain strong economic growth and fuel private investments. With government no longer draining resources out of capital markets, private investment in equipment and software averaged 13.3 percent annual growth since 1993, compared to 4.7 percent during 1981 to 1992.”

It’s a nice contrast from the miserable track record of the last 8 years eh?? I dare say that a lot of what Obama is doing now is simply more of what Clinton had done or would have done if he was allowed to by the GOP Congress that he was unfortunately saddled with at the time.

“Comrade Guy is too afraid of me”

LOL…right…I’m sooo afraid of trolls that I don’t feed them…just like they deserve. Keep living in your wild fantasy world there troll…

“I hope that this is a glimmer of hope that people are realizing that the government is marching in and one day they may have to defend themselves, their families, or their rights with their newly purchased firearm”

Riiiight, because you really can “effectively” defend yourself against the federal govt. (which is armed with machine guns & armoured vehicles) with a few measly guns…please, this is just more mindless, Right-wing fear-mongering…

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506827,00.html

Now we are told to calm down and have patience. These are the same clowns who said Bush lied and rushed them in to approving the Iraq war.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/08/administration-backers-plead-patience-economic-recovery-efforts/

As far as eateries, my position is that folks who have jobs right now, have recovered from the gasoline shocks of pre August 08. Most of the low and mid scale restaurants who are still in business will flourish. I called a bottom in this recession, some weeks back. I did not factor in that Obama would declare war on capitalists. Those of us who did not over borrow, but are watching our stock wealth get murdered daily, have more cash flow than a year ago, because energy prices are down.

With the annual return of global warming, which seems to happen every spring, we are out in our jalopies spending money. We are still too scared to buy new cars, but we will soon at least have to buy tires and ink cartridges for our puter printers.

As for the restaurant sector, I dunno. I know a lot of servers that say that they are hurting. While people may be coming, sometimes in droves, they aren’t tipping as much. I will say that some of the stronger restaurants (read: Olive Garden, Cracker Barrel, etc.) seem to be far from struggling.