Wow, the words are flying now. The Presidential race has taken a step to overdrive as both the candidates attack each others past. And the points picked by the McCain campaign seem to have the Obama campaign flustered to say the least.

The Obama campaign has been targeting the investigation of McCain in relation to the Keating Five investigations. Senator McCain was vindicated in that investigation and found to be without blame. Yet this was a huge problem at the time, and may again be, as the economy flounders in the wake of the mortgage bailout and the credit crunch.

With all eyes on the Dow Jones Index, which had dropped as low as 781 points down in the day. Expectations that all the problems of the mortgage crisis were averted by the $700 billion bailout have been proven false, which really should be no surprise. Europe and other world markets are now facing their own problems which again rippled from the initial failure of the Fed, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd on their Congressional banking committees, and President Bush. Note that neither Senator Obama nor Senator McCain were responsible for this economic fiasco. But with the introduction of the Keating Five Obama is trying to paint McCain as fiscally irresponsible.

Of course if the record is to be looked at only McCain has tried to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and highlight problems while Democrats denied the existence of a problem. And only McCain actively worked on improving the bailout plan from what was essentially a blank check to an unwatched Treasury Secretary, with repayment going to Democratic pet projects of dubious nature (ACORN) instead of the public.

The McCain camp has targeted the highly questionable association of William Ayers and Senator Obama. I admit that I have trouble with the close association of the potential next President with a known, and self-admited, terrorist that actively was involved with the bombing of Government buildings on American soil and remains unrepentant. And it is accurate that Senator Obama has initially described their association as a friend, and has backed away from that since the early Primaries while the major news media has avoided all discussion of the matter.

The McCain camp has also targeted the association of Obama with Tony Rezco and Rev. Wright. I disagree with these associations being used against Obama as much as I disagree with The Keating Five tactic. Obama has never been found to have been influenced by either man in this voting record since he engaged in politics in Illinios. Without a reason to be alarmed, their less than perfect public images are just mud to be thrown at the candidate. And I have discussed my thoughts about the attacks using Rev. Wright, which I feel are a sidestep to a racial attack, in depth during the Primaries when Senator Clinton first used the tactic.

But the fact is that neither of these items being used by each camp address the fact that the economy will be weaker and troubled during at least the first year of the next President’s term. It is unrealistic that further cuts to taxes will be immediately available to stimulate the economy. It is equally unrealistic that adding 800 billion in new spending will be possible.

Right now Senator Obama is talking about taking on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s dream of a second stimulus plan. Considering the over $1 trillion spent this year just on failing banks and finance companies I can’t imagine where this money would come from, or how it would be any more effective than the first stimulus plan. Infact it would be less effective considering the economic landscape.

As for McCain he continues to believe that lowering corporate taxes is the only solution, which I believe will be a hard sell.

The fact is that right now the drop in the Dow Jones Index, and the up coming horrendous 4th quarter earnings that will reflect the slowdown in the economy, are helping Senator Obama and Democrats. There is no logical reason for this, since both Parties were equally lax and culpable in the creation of this problem (though arguably Democrats are slightly more at fault especially if the past is considered). But if the economy continues to falter drastically, and the promise of a 2nd stimulus plan gains attention (as it likely will) the chance of Obama winning the election increased dramatically.

And if that is what happens, for the reason of the economy, the real pain will start. In my opinion the weakest plan, and the least fiscally flexible plan, is held by Obama. With him in office, and a Democratic Congress again, I expect new record low approval ratings, double digit inflation, double digit unemployment, and an increase in taxes of all Americans by 7 – 15% minimally. Essentially a return to the environment that President Carter created.

But we will see if I am correct and if the various mudslinging attempts of the campaigns have any backlash.

Labels: Bill Ayers, Dow Jones Index, mortgage crisis, Nancy Pelosi, President Carter, Presidential election race 2008, Rev. Wright, Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain

I have been talking about the economy and the repercussions of the failures in the financial markets for some time now. Back in 2007 I was discussing the effect that oil would have on the economy, and I hinted at how the sub-prime loans would affect banks from New York to China.

But in all that is the fact that while I was an experienced stockbroker, I am not an expert in mortgages nor real estate. With the bailout plan being debated and now finalized I wanted to get a more accurate view of what to expect. So I went out and found a more credible source of information to ask questions of.

The result is my interview with Mr. Gregg Cordero, owner and primary broker of Remax in the Binghamton and Broome County of New York State. The interview has been transferred to video for you to view. The interview took place on Thursday, and the delay was resulting from the limitations on getting the video edited and made into a video clip.

I expect that the conversation will provide some insight and answers for the questions homeowners, real estate owners, and those interested in any aspect of real estate markets might have. And I expect that particularly shrewd minds will be able to see their own opportunities and forecasts on the economy.

Labels: American economy, Binghamton, Gregg Cordero, Michael Vass, mortgage crisis, New York, real estate, Remax, sub prime loans

The following is a complete video of the Biden Palin Vice Presidential Debate.

The debate was very interesting, and I need to review it a 3rd time before I can truely say who did the best on this. I can say that both had good moments in the debate. Overall my initial impression is that Governor Sarah Palin really came to life after the first 1/3 of the debate. And towards the late second half of the debate she started to hand it to Senator Biden.

But that is an inital impression. I'll go into detail shortly.

Labels: Gov. Sarah Palin, Presidential election race 2008, Senator Biden, Vice Presidential candidate