A cursory glance at the recent news headlines provide some interesting thoughts. An article on the declining Central Valley salmon population introduces a new factor besides farmers wanting all the water for growing crops and global warming. Now we have the most logical and natural cause of less salmon and other fish: Sea Lions. Apparently, the sea lions are threatening to totally wipe out the salmon on the Columbia River. This will be a challenge for the environmentalists who fight attempts to reduce the sea lion population.

Another related topic concerns the amount of water storage not only in the central valley but in all of California. How many times have I written about the need for additional dams to store water in wet years? There is a chapter in my recent book “Straight Talk From a Blogger” about the need for more dams and the ignorance of the environmental lobby that opposes new storage for water. My book can be purchased through Amazon.com.

The liberal mentality of Obama and the Democrats will emphasize flooding the economy with money rather than providing businesses with incentives to hire more employees through lower corporate taxes. Simply hiring more people for government jobs will not turn the economy around. The democrats talk about tariffs to protect American workers and raising taxes on the upper income brackets that pay the majority of income taxes already. Former presidents Hoover and Roosevelt both favored high tariffs and higher taxes and the depression lasted almost 8 years with unemployment staying in the 20% level until World War II.
The stock market is making a small comeback despite the still negative news on the economy. I have to remind my readers that when I started my career with Dean Witter in 1957-58, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was around 420. That’s not 4200 but 420. We trainees in San Francisco were told that if the economy didn’t improve that we might be let go. Now with the Average at 9000 plus, the 420 looks pretty cheap despite recent declines. If you want to read negative news, you can easily find it everywhere but as an investor, one must not be discouraged but must constantly be on the lookout for value.
To convince the reader of the non-sensical ideas coming out from the Democrats, consider a recent proposal to eliminate the 401(K) plans, disallow further tax deductions and merge your 401(K) accounts to a government sponsored pool paying somewhere around 3%. These ideas reflect no confidence in the free markets and reflect a defeated giving up philosophy. I cannot believe the lack of creditability of those proposing such idiotic ideas.

My last comment is in regard to the “Greens” who want to control our economy. The green house gas theory and the Cap and Trade solution are nothing but theories and computer projections. When Al Gore agrees to debate some real scientists on climate change and global warming, then I will pay attention.

Gary E. Marsella

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