Things I’d Like to Post About Today ….. (012009, Noontime Round)

….. But I Don’t Have Any Time For:

• Kurt Brouwer at FundMastery — “Buffett Got Better Deal Than U.S. Treasury.” Yes he did, and his deal will probably end up being better than the one taxpayers get on the second half of the TARP funds too.
• From a DC Examiner editorial 10 days ago — “Massachusetts residents now pay more for less access to health care, yet their state still has an uninsured problem!” Thanks, Mitt Romney.
• ¿Será el Nuevo York Tiempos?
• From Plan Sponsor’s web site — “Let’s be frank: The 401(k) has provided millions of Americans with their first—and only—education about the markets and concepts like tax deferral and the value of compound interest. It has provided an interim source of funds in times of financial stress, and it has provided many with their first—and only—opportunity to invest in our great capital markets. Indeed, each and every 401(k) balance literally represents a conscious decision to forgo compensation in the here-and-now for the security it can (and must) provide in the future. It is a character trait and discipline that Americans are said to lack—and yet, the 401(k)’s tremendous success puts the lie to that conclusion.”
• Someone forgot to tell the Toledo Blade’s Jack Lessenberry and the people of Michigan that the Wolverine State’s headfirst dive into embryonic stem-cell research is scientifically backward. Anything embryonics can do properly trained adult stem cells are doing better, without killing innocent human life.
• IPI’s Tax Bytes on the general thrust of Obama’s stimulus plan — “It’s like scooping a bucket of water out of one end of a swimming pool and pouring into the other end. It may make the scooper feel like he’s accomplishing something, but no one expects there will be more water in the pool—except the Keynesians.”
• The State of Ohio is broke and begging Uncle Sam for $5 billion. Yet Ted Strickland figured out how to have a $80,000-a-year job “custom-designed” for Tomi L. Dorris when she was let go by incoming Attorney General Richard Cordray. As far as the Columbus Dispatch is concerned, this isn’t cause for an investigative report. No-no-no; it’s a reason to do a sappy human-interest story. Zheesh.
• Notice at this USA Today article how the foreclosure problems are concentrated in a very few states. Yet you would think that it’s a countrywide problem. It’s obviously not.