Make that three, Mr. Mason.

I voted for Barack Obama...

Am I happy with everything he's done? Not by a long shot. Will I vote for him again, it depends on what choices I have available to me. I was undecided until McCain added Palin to the ticket and rather quickly it seemed clear to me which way to go.

I've usually voted Republican through my adult life including both GW Bush terms...I feel less and less comfortable with GOP policies as they trip over themselves jumping into bed with the Tea Party people. They're going to simply have to get a bigger bed if the Religious Right, Wall Street, etc. are all going to fit. Do what the Dems did, they knew Unions, minorities, etc. needed to room to spread out, lol...

As far as increased tariffs go, since Clinton's NAFTA went through, our import/export balance has suffered greatly as we made it easy for other countries to sell their products in the US, but with no reciprocal accommodations on their part. This is the subject of great debate in Congress and maybe someday somebody will try and level the playing field again. China is kicking our butt, playing games with their currency and of course holds much of our debt.

As far as business goes under Obama...I keep getting busier and busier, with almost no advertising expenses. I have business cards and my website, which total might cost me $160 or so a year to maintain. I have a waiting list, I turn down a lot of work...Its been like this for several years, so maybe there's not much connection between my business and whoever's President.

Spending-Bush took a huge surplus, transformed it within 8 years into the largest deficit EVER in the history of the US, but we gave him a pass on it mostly because of 9/11, I guess. Obama inherited quite the debt when he walked in, plus the economic crisis as well. Keep in mind, Bush ran the Iraq War, the Medicare part D handout to the insurance companies, plus the tax cuts...all off budget. Meaning basically debt numbers were actually much worse than most average people understood. Obama has certainly added to the deficit but when your boat is leaking, you don't quibble much on repairs, do you? While it seems evident we "chose" to go to war in Iraq, Obama didn't create any of the troubles facing us-we can disagree on how he's trying to fix them, but he didn't create them at all.

Security wise? Yes, there's been a few incidents, but none have succeeded. Some of that's luck, some of its not. Luck will always play a part in fighting terrorism. To my knowledge, none of the people involved in any of those attempts has been released. (Don-If you know of one who has been, please let me know who...)Obama has been more aggressive than Bush ever was in Afghanistan, especially using the drones to target enemies, increased troops, etc.

I think arranger prices in the US will increase slightly, Japan has enough of their own financial issues right now, they've shown a consistent pattern of honoring the GATT agreements and holding tariffs lower on electronics in exchange for the handsome sales they enjoy in the US.

I do agree completely with Gary that the arranger market will see fewer serious players going forward. Mr. Diamond's dead on...

Spalding-Obama is to blame for everything, lol...

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Bill in Dayton


[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 10-29-2010).]