You're Fired
No, there's not another Donald Trump spin-off (at least not that I know of). Anymore, the answer to "can the President do that" is a resounding, "yes we can". While AIG employees have their compensation taxed away, the President forced the firing of GM's CEO. No, not the President of GM, but the President of the United States. Yes, GM could have just refused the bailout money - and I'm sure many would have applauded that - but we're seeing the federal government grasp for more and more control as they use 'crises' as a justification.

And we've seen so much progress because of it.

The bottom line is this - how can an administration that can't properly vet it's own appointments, and that pushes through the nomination of a tax fraud to Secretary of the Treasury, have any idea who should or shouldn't be managing a corporation.

And You're Hired
Yet another nominee with some kind of sordid past. Navy Secretary nominee Ray Mobus recorded a counseling session he and his wife had with his pastor/friend Jerry McBride. He knew about it, the pastor knew about it - but the wife? Nope, didn't tell her. That's probably why she said she would hate him until the day he died, and would express those feelings to the children.

Well, he got custody of the kids. And she's suing the church.

Okay, so it's like something Cheney would do - and really, would anyone care if it wasn't for all the other nominee problems? Sure, they say everyone has skeletons in the closet, but this administration is looking like one of Hussein's mass graves. Saddam that is.

Doing Your Part
Remember, this is the era of responsibility. We're all supposed to pitch in and do our part. So what's in it for you? More taxes, with a lower charitable contribution deduction. The moral of the story - the charity of hope & change is the government. I bet you didn't think they'd find a way to tax responsible living. Some say this will cost charities more than the recession. Go figure.

It's Not Easy
Now Elmo knows what it's like being green. The furry little puppet has gone from red to green in an attempt to help kids understand what's really important - saving the planet from ultimate destruction. Because we're really so close to that. We've got one carbon footprint in the recycle bin, the other on an organic banana peel.

Is this really what's important? With all that's going on in our nation and the world, do we really need to be concerned with hybrid cars, energy efficient light bulbs, Al Gore, and composting? Sure, those last two have a lot in common - but with the free markets manipulated like a Jenga game, personal freedom consumed by a untethered government, congress spending money no one has, terrorism called anything but terrorism, are there really people out there worried that my car will cause the entire world to go poof?

Or maybe they just don't like the solutions to the real problems. Maybe it is easy being green after all.

100 Month War
Bill O'Reilly has been number one for 100 months, and to celebrate visited David Letterman, who hasn't. Rush as the republican leader, Glenn as a charlatan, and Letterman the weather guy - all topics of conversation.

Taxes
Little short this week because we're working so hard to pay our taxes. Yes, it is that time of year - we're just waiting for the tax break 95% of us are getting. Still waiting. Still.