Bernie Marcus of Home Depot

I seldom listen to CNBC. I watch the scrolling tape. It seldom lies.

When Bernie Marcus of Home Depot fame comes on as a guest I listen. It is funny how these billionaires make so much economic financial sense. He should be required listening for every politician.

But then again he isn't a lobbyist and they seldom listen to anyone who doesn't grease the wheel.

Native American Health..........

In the Senate's version of the stimulus, $545 million would be dedicated to Indian health care and $325 million would be set aside for public safety and justice on reservations.

Let me get this straight. The way I see it, I am responsible for my health. For keeping fit. For eating right. For watching my weight and what I put in my mouth. For all the exercise I do. For how much I eat and the quality of the food I eat. For not smoking. For not drinking. For not doing drugs.

You see, I hate pills. I love walking shoes. I suggest shoes over pills. Imagine if every Native American were given shoes to walk and exercise in by the government? After 12 months I bet my shoes that Indian Country would be far healthier. But the responsibility lies with Indian Country to do it. Not the federal government.

When will Native America tire of being the victim and take that responsibility?

Remember what my friend said: "All people are inherently responsible for their actions. Everyone is put here for a purpose. When people take the responsibility that is theirs, and eliminate the many facets of violence which are entrenched in their culture, then we can all address the health of human society and Grandmother Earth in an effective holistic way, and restore harmony and balance" —Wub-e-ke-niew

Comedy from 1600..............

One of the most asinine comments I heard today and trust me, I heard a ton, was the comment from our new President that Wall Street must show great discipline in paying themselves exorbitant bonus's.

Hey, this is America. Let management pay them whatever they want, apparently they MADE the money why not PAY them the money. Since when do we have government officials dictating Wall Street pay?

If any company gets federal bail-out money then that is a different horse of a different color.

Outside of that let compensation reign.

That's capitalism.

Welfare, Bailout, Pork

Call it what you want. It is not what it was intended for. It is nothing more than an effort to provide a safety net for those at the bottom of the economic pile.

There is no immediate stimulus. None.

The confederacy of suit-wearning dunces are Hollywood wanna-be's. They want face time on TV and to spend your money to help you. Yea right.

There is no bipartisanship to this proposed legislation. It will be another failed attempt to circumvent capitalism's ability to clean out excess greed.

Is it any wonder the stock market has erased a few trillion dollars of American wealth?

A trillion here a few trillion later...........

The massive irresponsible spending proposed by our new President and Congress is disgusting.

The largest bubble in the history of the world is the "bubble" of government spending being created in the United States. We need to be ready to capitalize on it.

Headlines, then and now I guess this pretty much says it all........................

Headlines On This Date 4 Years Ago:
"Republicans spending $42 million on inauguration while troops Die in unarmored Humvees"
"Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times"
"Fat cats get their $42 million inauguration party, Ordinary Americans get the shaft"

Headlines Today:
"Historic Obama Inauguration will cost only $150 million"
"Obama Spends $120 million on inauguration; America Needs A Big Party"
"Everyman Obama shows America how to celebrate"
"Citibank executives contribute $8 million to Obama Inauguration"

TARP $$$$ hard at work........

Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet -- only this time, it's the taxpayers who are getting screwed.

Even though the bank's stock is as cheap as a gallon of gas and it's burning through a $45 billion taxpayer-funded rescue, the Citigroup's execs pushed through the purchase of a new Dassault Falcon 7X, according to a source familiar with the deal.

The French-made luxury jet seats up to 12 in a plush interior with leather seats, sofas and a customizable entertainment center, according to Dassault's sales literature. It can cruise 5,950 miles before refueling and has a top speed of 559 mph.

There are just nine of these top-of-the-line models in the United States, with Dassault's European factory churning out three to four 7Xs a month.

Citigroup decided to get its new wings two years ago, when the financial-services giant was flush with cash, but it still intends to take possession of the jet this year despite its current woes, the source said.

The Last GOLDMAN Rat just JUMPED Ship!!

This Charlie Gasparino work is as usual, the best on Wall Street. The only guy better at digging out the real nasty dirt of Wall Street is Jeff Liddle!!

In early 2008, just as Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was preparing to slash expenses, cut thousands of jobs and exit businesses to fix the ailing securities firm, he was also spending company money on himself, senior people at the firm say.

According to documents reviewed by The Daily Beast, Thain spent $1.22 million of company money to refurbish his office at Merrill Lynch headquarters in lower Manhattan. The biggest piece of the spending spree: $800,000 to hire famed celebrity designer Michael Smith, who is currently redesigning the White House for the Obama family for just $100,000.

Big ticket items included $87,000 for an area rug, four pairs of curtains for $28,000, a pair of guest chairs for $87,000 and fabric for a "Roman Shade" for $11,000.

The other big ticket items Thain purchased include: $87,000 for an area rug in Thain's conference room and another area rug for $44,000; a "mahogany pedestal table" for $25,000; a "19th Century Credenza" in Thain's office for $68,000; a sofa for $15,000; four pairs curtains for $28,000; a pair of guest chairs for $87,000; a "George IV Desk" for $18,000; 6 wall sconces for $2,700; six chairs in his private dining room for $37,000; a mirror in his private dining room for $5,000; a chandelier in the private dining room for $13,000; fabric for a "Roman Shade" for $11,000; a "custom coffee table" for $16,000; something called a "commode on legs" for $35,000; a "Regency Chairs" for $24,000; "40 yards of farbric for wall panels," for $5,000 and a "parchment waste can" for $1,400.

The documents also show that Thain signed off on the purchases personally. "Labor to relamp the six wall sconces" cost $3,000, and Thain authorized the payment of another $30,000 to pay the expenses Smith incurred in doing the work. Thain has hired Smith—whose celebrity client list includes Steven Spielberg, Michelle Pfeiffer, Cindy Crawford and Sir Evelyn de Rothschild—to design and decorate his private residences. They include a Manhattan apartment at 740 Park Avenue, and his 10-acre mansion in Rye, NY.

Thain was tapped to run Merrill Lynch as the firm suffered massive losses from investments tied to the depressed real estate market under his predecessor Stan O'Neal, who was ousted in late 2007. Those losses continued through 2008, forcing Thain and his management team to sell the brokerage firm to Bank of America in mid-September or face near certain liquidation as investors fearing further losses began pulling lines of credit and other financing.

Just last week, Bank of America announced that Merrill has suffered an unexpected loss of $15 million for the fourth quarter of 2008, nearly collapsing BofA's purchase. Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said that without $138 billion in government assistance, including the infusion of $20 billion from the federal government he would have pulled out of the Merrill deal, which was approved by BofA shareholders in early December.

Thain has come under pressure in recent weeks after several top executives at Merrill, including brokerage chief Bob McCann and investment banking head Greg Fleming, abruptly resigned from the firm citing differences with Thain. People close to Lewis say his relationship with Thain was further strained by the recent massive loss. Lewis himself has faced withering criticism for rushing the buy Merrill for $28 billion after less than two days of due diligence.

I don't want to convey to you that Ken was delighted in mid-December when he found out about the losses, in fact he was pissed at Thain," one person at BofA who is close to Lewis told The Daily Beast earlier in the week. "He's not doing anything about Thain now because it isn't clear whether Thain should have told him sooner. So at least for now, Ken is sticking with Thain." (A spokeswoman for Thain denied a rumor inside Merrill that Thain is poised to step down from the firm.)

It's unclear how the disclosure of the personal expenses will effect now Thain's position. Thain signed off on the purchases in January, people close to Merrill say, when Merrill was still an independent firm and when some analysts believed the company was poised for a rebound with Thain as the new CEO. Thain came to Merrill after a largely successful stint as CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, where he converted the not-profit entity to a public company. Before that, he was a long-time executive at Goldman Sachs, serving as former CEO Hank Paulson's No. 2.

Still others say spending so much company money on personal items shows incredibly bad judgment on the part of Thain since Merrill was in the middle of a financial crisis that ultimately led to its demise as an independent company. At the time, Thain was preaching the virtues of cost control, telling employees to reduce expenses including car services, entertainment and travel. In addition to the personal expenses on his office, documents show Thain paid his driver $230,000 for one year’s work, which included the driver's $85,000 salary and bonus of $18,000, and another $128,000 in over-time pay, documents show. Drivers of top executives are often paid about half that amount.

"If this is accurate it has shades of Dennis Kozlowski's $6,000 shower curtain," said investor Doug Kass of Seabreeze Capital Management, in a reference to former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski who was convicted of fraud and is serving prison time for improperly spending millions of dollars on personal items. While there is no evidence that what Thain did is either illegal or of the magnitude of the spending by Kozlowski, Kass said "Merrill was on the fence and Thain came into save the company. It's still a lot of money and there is no rationalization for something like this."