The Party's Over!

The Obama Presidency is over. Oh, we're still in it, but much like Germany was lost when the Allies landed on Normandy Beach before the actual surrender, this war has been decided. The country is in a funk, and when we are in a funk, the guy at the top loses his job. It's the American way. When a football team is unable to win, rarely do owners look at the bunch of losers suiting up every week as the problem, because to do so would also necessitate looking at who hired them. Nope, when a football team fails to live up to expectations, the coach is dismissed and they try another approach. And that is what is going to happen here, and no amount of wishing, hoping, reasoning, or complaining is going to change this metric. Because day by day, President Obama is losing his base. A new study from the LA Times reveals the problems he is facing. In a state where he still outpolls every GOP challenger, a state where government largesse is legend, people are calling on the biggest employer in the nation, government, to put more people out of work. Yes Virginia, even California is calling for reduced government spending. If a Democrat is going to have issues in California, how is his message going to play in Missouri? Virginia? Nevada? or Pennsylvania? These are all states Obama must win to secure the nomination. Now I know people can point to a host of reasons behind these findings. You can probably even argue that the GOP has been the driver of the bus to oblivion. But that will not matter. What will matter is what the Clinton War Room instinctively knew in the 1992 and 1996 elections. It's the economy stupid! And right now our economy sucks and does not look like it is getting better anytime soon. This has been coming for the Democrats for a long time. It is their day of reckoning. As it is for our country. What we are facing is not a GOP manufactured, or a Democrat manufactured crisis. What we are facing is the natural result of our headlong rush to live outside of our means. Instead of saving and buying, as our parents and grandparents did, we believed we were entitled to a better life and we borrowed to get it. Sure the political parties enabled us, and to a point, even exacerbated the problem, but no one put a gun to our heads and forced us to refinance our houses did they? Who made you buy your son that shiny new bicycle when he could not yet ride it? Did someone sign our names on all those charge receipts for dinner at the local Sizzler when we were short of money, short of food, and wanted to feel better about it? The Republicans are right. We have been on a spending spree for years now, and the note is now due. Unless President Obama can figure out a way to get this economy moving without additional funds, in the words of old Dandy Don Meredith on Monday Night Football, "Turn out the lights, the party's over!"

Vegas Craps Out Again... Sahara Hotel to Close

[the sahara hotel, scheduled to close may 15, 2011... from the las vegas sun] I am frequently asked by friends and acquaintances how it is in Las Vegas and if things are improving. Here's a couple of items that should help with that answer. First up is an article that tells the story of our housing market. Almost 70% of all homes with mortgages in the Las Vegas Valley are under water. And then, the Sahara Hotel and Casino, a longtime anchor at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, will be closing its doors in May.