Capital One Bowl Cornhusker Fanfare

Herbie Husker and The Marching Red perform "There Is No Place Like Nebraska" on the streets of lovely downtown Orlando in the Captial One Bowl Citrus Parade.



Go Big Red!

Seminole Uprising

It has been a rough year for Florida State football, knocked out of national and ACC title consideration right out of the gate this fall. FSU did respond by winning the State championship for a second straight year, beating both in state rivals Miami and Florida.

As the bowl matchups were announced, Florida State got selected to play in the Champs Bowl, here in Orlando, against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Instant sellout. If you are not in the BCS, it does not get much better than this.

In preparation for the matchup, here is some fanfare from last seasons Chick-fil-a Bowl by the world renowned Florida State University Marching Chiefs. Go 'Noles!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Enjoy Santa's ride into Manhattan to Radio City Music Hall for the performance for the world famous Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Crony Corruption Could Collapse America

Several months ago, astonishingly, former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was thought to be the leading candidate to replace Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were very fond of Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs CEO, and his economic knowledge and leadership.

That was before MF Global, the commodities boutique Corzine was CEO of went bankrupt and is missing 1.2 billion of customer funds.




Oh, the company that you keep.

Corzine failed miserably as Governor of New Jersey, blowing a hole the size of the Meadowlands in the Garden State checkbook. Residents there, who gathered their senses and elected Chris Christie to clean things up, are witnessing a telling turn around.

But it is Corzine's latest failure that will ultimately have a ripple effect that will engage each of our tax paying citizens. Ann Barnhardt, CEO of Barnhardt Capital Management, Inc., a small independent introducing brokerage, has been some kind of spot in analysis of this case, and recently shut down her operations due to a lack of trust in the commodities futures market. MF Global has exposed what many had feared; that the rule of law in our capital markets can be absent at any given time, and a lawless entanglement with uncertainty is toxic for any investor.

Few think Corzine is an idiot, so the concept that, as he testified in front of Congress, he has no idea how the money went missing is beyond laughable. This money is not mistakenly misplaced; it was stolen. As as George Bailey astutely pointed out, there should be a bank examiner, if not the FBI, with a warrant for the arrest of the firms officers. But surprisingly, perhaps due to the close relationship Corzine has with Obama, there is not. The thought that this event was orchestrated has crossed many a mind, and swamped with supporters of Cloward and Piven in Washington, it gains validity.

As Ms. Barnhardt points out, customer money is gone and the MF Global "trustee" has begun seizing customer assets who traded in precious metals and housed the investment collateral through contracts brokered by MF Gobal.

A form of retracing through the chain of investors, bankrupt or not, to recover losses can be referred to as part of hypothecation. Zero Hedge has been covering the recent emergence of this action like Deion Sanders covering a hobbled tight end. The term was originally making the rounds with respect to a potential collapse of the Euro, but it plays with any loss of collateral where re-pledging has occurred. Sadly, it creates the opportunity for investors on the outside to suffer huge losses, with little legal recourse.

David Buckner got with Glenn Beck to attempt to provided an example of how this could impact the economic system, and it could make your ears bleed. Take a listen:



Fast and Furious, Solyndra and the Chevy Volt are many of the scandals of the Obama administration, but the The MF Global collapse is a canary in the coal mine, and the scandal is much deeper than you know. The MF Global players are part of the crony capitalism set up by the Obama administration. While JP Morgan Chase and George Soros are snapping up the fallout at handsome profits, it seems more likely every day investors will not get their money back.

It has been stolen, by a cast of crony capitalist thieves, with full backing of the corrupt leaders in Washington. More is sure to follow in this case, and the lack of trust in the capital markets Ms. Barnhardt spoke of is growing. Technocrats, in many cases, are in control, operating against the will of the people and the rule of law.

Should a catastrophic economic collapse hit our shores, will your assets be protected from hypothecation from government owned banks? I have often been cited as a master of stating the obvious, but the time to keep your investments on a short lease is staring you in the face.

The Howling Winds

There are GOP front runners, and then there is Mitt Romney. GOP challengers to Romney have risen and fallen, but Romney, who looks the presidential part, has remained steady as she goes hanging around 25%.

At the end of the day, it appears none of the GOP challengers can overtake Romney. Mitt has a long list of endorsers, including Bob Dole, Dan Quayle, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and most notably, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Newt Gingrich has a few endorsements of his own, including former OU quarterback and Oklahoma Congressman J. C. Watts and Thomas Sowell, of the Hoover Institution, who I admire greatly.

While all these endorsements are wonderful, Romney does not represent the Conservative most Republicans are clamoring for. Romneycare is an albatross, and his belief of man to be participatory in the greatest hoax of all time known as global warming signals big government inclinations all over the place.

Kathleen Parker, a fellow graduate of Florida State University who I rarely agree with, wrote recently in her Washington Post Column that if the GOP does not support Mitt Romney, it is a death wish.

There is a lot to like about Romney, and he likely is the best chance among those currently running to defeat Obama, or so the pundits say. But looking the best among this group is not a life changing experience, and many in the GOP have doubts and are looking over their backs, which is why the winds are howling.

On the heels of a wonderful column by Jeb Bush in the Wall Street Journal today, our friend and WSJ Editorial Board member Steve Moore is out championing a potential entrance of Jeb into the race. While I do not view Jeb as a conservative, he was a very good Governor for eight years here in Florida, and as my friend Van Bo points out, the I-4 corridor will once again be pivotal in deciding Florida, and thus, the nation. With musings about Condi Rice as a VP candidate, a Bush-Rice ticket could do quite well.

Sarah Palin said last night it is not too late to jump in, leaving many to question whether she is reconsidering her status. I am all for it, but not sure she can get enough in the middle to defeat Obama due to the merciless beating she has taken from the biased media. Then again, few thought Reagan could defeat Carter in 1979 at this point in the process.

Is there another candidate rethinking the issue? Paul Ryan? Donald Trump? Mike Huckabee? Who knows.

Should upstart Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who is quite sound on economic issues but as naive as they come on foreign policy, win Iowa, those winds could turn into a hurricane.

There is a long way to go, and not one vote has been cast. Untold events could be on the horizon.

Not withstanding today's strong rally on Wall Street, the Euro crisis is not fixed and could negatively pressure the markets in a lengthy ten minutes. In fact, with the S&P 500 recently breaking its 50 day moving average to the downside, some technical analysts fear the trend is negative. Bank of America's Mary Ann Bartels sees a potential level as low as 935 on the S&P, some 30% below current levels. Throw in a Euro collapse, and free fall comes to mind.

Turmoil in the middle east is another major issue, as is the uncertainty surround the North Korea government in the aftermath of Kim Jug Ill's death.

Certainly, the situation is fluid, and regardless of what the pundits say, Iowa is still wide open. One can only hope a Conservative with firm footing in the first principles finishes strong. If not, those winds will really start howling.

Sunday Night Song

Roger Hodgson, formerly of Supertramp, is certainly among the gifted composers of the rock genre of the last half century. Breakfast in America, Supertramp's Grammy Award winning blockbuster 1979 album, I regard as among the best of all time.

Hodgson last played with Supertramp in 1983. While Supertramp continues to exist without him, Hodgson is on the road solo, performing all the old tunes.

Tonight, for Sunday Night Song, Hodgson performs his favorite Supertramp song, and one I hold in most high regard as well, the ballad "Lord, Is It Mine." Enjoy!

Information Misrepresentation: Obama

Information presented to the Public by various outlets is being crafted to misrepresent reality in an effort to skew political thinking, gain economic advantage and nudge social justice further down the American psyche. This is the second in a series of blog posts detailing instances in this regard, as it is imperative the Public recognize the significant level of misrepresentation and how vast the manipulation is.

President Obama, who one would suspect is extremely busy in efforts to solve the myriad of significant issues our country is presented with, most notably the highest sustained level of unemployment since the Great Depression, continues to find time to display mind boggling levels of arrogance on a variety of media outlets. Last week, in an interview with 60 Minutes, Obama not only mangled the truth in description of the performance of his administration, but stretched his high altitude narcissism to incredulous levels. See the piece below:



In response to 60 Minutes Correspondent Steve Kroft asking about Obama's accomplishments, the President offered the following:

Well, we're not done yet. I've got five more years of stuff to do. But not only saving this country from a great depression. Not only saving the auto industry. But putting in place a system in which we're gonna start lowering health care costs and you're never gonna go bankrupt because you get sick or somebody in your family gets sick. Making sure that we have reformed the financial system, so we never again have taxpayer-funded bailouts, and the system is more stable and secure. Making sure that we've got millions of kids out here who are able to go to college because we've expanded student loans and made college more affordable. Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Decimating al Qaeda, including Bin Laden being taken off the field. Restoring America's respect around the world.

This paragraph presents by itself contains a gold mine of delusional comments. If he has all these things to do, which he apparently was unable to accomplish with both house of Congress in Democratic control, one has to wonder with the country in economic peril why he is not working with a sense of urgency.

Obama did not save the country from a Great Depression. Obama has operated from the playbook of FDR, who sought massive government stimulus and implemented the forceful expansion of federal regulations and confiscatory taxation, his intimidation of "the rich," encouragement of labor strikes, and half-baked policy experiments discouraged employers from hiring workers and provided strong disincentives to new business investment, as Amity Shlaes outlined in her book "The Forgotten Man".

The auto industry is not saved. For Uncle Sam to made whole, GM needs about another $20 per share in stock price, and with the debacle otherwise know as the Chevy Volt, the loss of the iconic and sporty Pontiac brand and lagging new auto sales due to economic fear, prospects for a robust, profitable GM look bleak.

Health Care costs are not declining, and endless other slow creep taxation nuggets found within the Health Care bill increase taxes on the consumer, thus handicapping economic growth. With much of the behemoth legislation to come in 2013, fear of increased costs and taxation are significantly hindering business development and expansion, and of course, we could certainly use those jobs.

The massive financial regulations put forth under Obama, most notably the Dodd-Frank Bill, has been a job killer, and is also a continued failure as evidenced by the goings on of Democrat Jon Corzine, the former Governor and Senator from New Jersey, who as director of now bankrupt MF Global is under federal investigation due to 1.2 million dollars of customer accounts that are missing, or stolen, whichever your prefer.

Higher education is not a right, but a privilege, for those who choose to take that path. It is not for everybody, and is affordable if you find the investment to be a worthy endeavor.

While the Obama administration deserves recognition for continuing the assault on al Qaeda and for killing Osama Bin Laden, our foreign policy is abysmal. To the contrary from Obama's opinion, we are less respected around the world. Pretty please asking Iran for our lost drone back tells the tale, but beyond that we have radical Muslim influence expanding, have alienated our great friend in Israel and have left Iraq open for the Iranians for political expediency.

Obama really enjoys lying by omission to the citizens, and the following comment is a great example:

"And we ended up asking the wealthiest Americans to do a little bit more in terms of taxes. Going back to rates that would still be lower than they were under Ronald Reagan, our deficit problems would be solved. And I could not get Republicans to go ahead and say, "You're right. We're gonna put country ahead of party."

The legislative branch could possibly be welcome to consider tax rates back to where they were under Ronald Reagan if our country were not 15 trillion deeper in debt (5 trillion and counting under Obama's watch) and bordering a depression with our economic engine stagflating at best. In oppostion to Obama's America, Uncle Sam after three years of Reagan was beaming with optimism as we embarked on a 25 year bull market which Reagan let fire on.

Obama is masterful at making straw man arguments, the following is another great example:

"A balanced approach means exactly what it says. It means it's balanced." I would love to see tax reform. And if we can get a commitment from the Republicans that they want to work on a serious tax reform package that makes sure that the wealthiest Americans are paying their fair share, that is simplifying the tax code, that is lowering rates, but by broadening the base, that's something I'm all for. It's part of my plan. But what we haven't seen is any serious movement on the other side."

Not only did the Simpson-Bowles Commission, a bipartisan committed formed by Obama to offer productive recommendations, have their findings ignored by Obama, several Republican offerings, most notably the plan put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan, R:WI, have been put forth for consideration. Obama does not find them "serious", which means he does not favor them, and therefore he acts as if nothing has been offered. Translation: Liar.

"I mean, the interesting thing is the majority of Republicans actually think we should have a balanced approach to deficit reduction, including tax increases for the wealthy."

am sure that may sound good to much of the 60 Minutes viewership, but if is false. Outside of a handful of RHINO's in the Senate, Republicans are strongly against a balanced approach (raising of taxes) to deficit reduction.

Although I could write 10,000 words tearing this interview apart, in closing comes a staggering comment of arrogance and elitism.

"I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln -- just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history."

Passing health care legislation was monumental, however on the destructive side in my view rather the constructive side as Obama sees it. Given the accomplishment, Obama sat the legislation out, turning over the construction of the framework to Nancy Pelosi and the Tides Foundation. Backhanded deal making and payoffs helped push it over the edge late, even though polls, now up to almost 65%, oppose it.

George W. Bush, when asked, said he would let history 30 years down the road grade his contribution as President. Obama, presiding over unquestionable decline, finds himself perhaps equal FDR, whose New Deal along with LBJ's Great Society are bankrupting the country, is arrogant to be sure, but he may have a point. We may not recover from Obama's destructive socialistic policies.

But for Obama to think he resides in the same thought as Abraham Lincoln, there is no doubt we have a delusional, narcissistic individual who feels welcome to state incorrect opinion as fact leading our country into deep and lasting decline.

Pony Up

ESPN College Football Analyst Craig James has taken a leave of absence from the network as he ponders a run for US Senate in his home state of Texas. James, who starred at SMU and The New England Patriots, is a real estate developer and has been covering college football for some 20 seasons.

In preparation for a potential run, James has founded Texas for a Better America, which focuses on the ideals of free markets, entrepreneurial spirit, protecting the Constitution and American Exceptionalism. James seems like a great guy, and with a platform like that he could be the type of representative we are searching for.

James would be joining an already crowded field. One of his potential GOP opponents, Ted Cruz, who I am unfamiliar with but who has the endorsements of David Barton, Jim DeMint and Rand Paul, each of whom I respect and support, has a great video hammering Obama. Check out The ghost of Obama's Future:

Guard Against Gingrich As Gatekeeper

It is a big night on the Iowa-Nebraska border in Sioux City tonight, where the final GOP debate before the Iowa caucus will be held. The lovely Megyn Kelly is warming up.

The fallout from what seems like 40 previous debates has only eliminated two candidates, Herman Cain and Tim Pawlenty. Beginning with Michele Bachmann and most recently with Newt Gingrich, each candidate has enjoyed time at the top of the polls at some point, except of course for Jon Hunstman, who may not be aware of the fact he is a Scoop Jackson Democrat.

Gingrich is an interesting fellow, who generally speaking, I appreciate. Gingrich gets it on many issues Obama has no clue on, including free trade, Occupy Wall Street, the hatred facing Israel and the threat of Islamic terrorists. Descriptions of Newt as an idea factory are seemingly reasonable, and he is top of the class from a historical perspective, with the latter being where he and I will part company.

However, if someone who to ask me who I considered the greatest President of the 20th century, without spending a nano-second of thought, I would proudly announce Ronald Reagan as my easy choice. This is somewhat surprisingly not the case for Newt. Take a listen:



Oh my. But, it gets worse. Gingrich is also a big fan of Woodrow Wilson:



Forget that Gingrich, a self described Teddy Roosevelt disciple, was at odds with the Tea Party in supporting a big government candidate recently in NY23, jumped in opposition against Rep; Paul Ryan and his Roadmap for America, and is on the wrong side of global warming, his admiration of these Progressive Presidents is a real deal breaker.

In fact, global warming is the vehicle for the largest big government expansion in history through regulatory control on pollution, energy usage and development, food consumption and human behavior. It does not get any more big government than that.

Certainly, one would have thought we learned what not to do through economic governance in he aftermath of the Great Depression as appropriately highlighted this week in Investors Business Daily. Refraining from expansive government intervention, taxation and regulation would be central to the lessons learned, so electing a big government "Teddy Roosevelt" Republican Progressive in the form of Newt Gingrich, who speaks in admiration of Woodrow Wilson and FDR, following the abysmal Obama administration, is not a direction I favor to say the very least.

On the other hand, if it comes down to Obama versus Newt, mark me down for Gingrich.

Information Misrepresentation: Appraisals

Information presented to the Public by various outlets is being crafted to misrepresent reality in an effort to skew political thinking, gain economic advantage and nudge social justice further down the American psyche. This is the first in a series of blog posts detailing instances in this regard, as it is imperative the Public recognize the significant level of misrepresentation and how vast the manipulation is.

Information Misrepresentation: Appraisals

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported this week one out of every three of its builder members has lost a sale during the last six months because of home values reported by appraisers.

NAHB Chairman Bob Nielson said, "The inappropriate use of distressed and foreclosed sales as comparables in determining new home values is needlessly driving down home prices, killing home sales, causing more workers to lose their jobs and delaying a housing and economic recovery."

The NAHB did not stop there, further hammering appraisers with the following:

* According the Association, appraisers are using "faulty" practices by utilizing distressed homes as potential comparable sales against new homes. Mr Nielson said in a statement that "This is not only unfair and unreasonable, but it perpetuates the cycle of declining home values, drives more home owners underwater, harms local economic activity and acts as an obstacle to the recovery of the housing market."

* Mr Nielson notes that in many cases, new home appraisals are coming in below the cost of construction, because of flawed appraisals for utilizing existing and potentially distressed homes.

* Per the NAHB, These appraisal practices are a major contributing factor to the current acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) lending crisis that has choked off credit for home builders and threatens to prolong the current housing downturn. Falling appraised values for land and subdivisions under development have led some financial institutions to stop lending to developers and builders, to demand additional equity and even to call performing loans.

* The NAHB has been having summits, with leaders throughout the housing industry in an effort to find solutions that will allow appraisers to develop realistic valuations based on sales that are truly comparable.

Mr Nielson and the NAHB concludes that, you guessed it, “Major reforms in appraisal practices and oversight are needed to ensure that appraisals accurately reflect true market values and don’t contribute to price volatility or harm aspiring home owners and move-up buyers.”

One thing I know from the real estate world: It is always the appraisers fault. NOT! What we do have from the NAHB is information misrepresentation.

This must have been some series of summits. A bunch of bureaucrats gathered together to central plan the housing recovery, culminating in the one thing we need less, not more, of; additional regulations.

If additional regulations were the answer, the sweeping regulatory action spearheaded by former HUD Secretary and Architect of Ruin Andrew Cuomo, The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), would have done the trick. Instead, it has wrecked the appraisal industry, leaving unregulated Appraisal Management Companies to coordinate, and in many cases dictate, appraisal performance.

Since distressed properties make up approximately 65% of the market here in Florida, it would be highly inappropriate to fail to consider these as potential comparable sales, provided the gross living area, age, amenities, and, of course, condition, were reasonably similar.

By applying political pressure to "develop realistic valuations," made as instructed will become a reality and as a result, valuations will be lacking in adequate support and accurate value.

Appraisal practices, as governed by the Uniform Standards of Appraisal Practice (USPAP), provide a framework for appraisers nationwide to adhere to in an effort to provide consistent and accurate valuation through the three approaches to value. These voluminous guidelines are a contributing factor to providing the industry with appraisal reports arriving at well supported value indications , not further deteriorating the housing crisis as the NAHB says.

Conspicuously absent from the many factors cited by the NAHB for the continued downward pressure on the housing market are the actions of the Obama administration. It is well documented that the origins of the collapse centered around the governments efforts to provide housing to buyers the marketplace weeded out. These potential buyers were not weeded out due to race, as ACORN would have you believe, but due to the higher risk associated with their ability to repay the loan. Before political correctness ran amok, his used to be referred to as sound business practice.

Among those applying pressure to the banks in the form of threatening race related boycotts was a young attorney for ACORN, Barack Obama.

While George Bush made failed attempts at forcing Congress to rein in the Government Sponsored Entities known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, under House Finance Chairman Barney Frank, the Congress looked the other way.

Meanwhile, instead of letting the market cleanse itself, the administration has invented program after program to reward bad behavior and prop up the values of housing, which has only prolonged the pain and the problem. Government, who cannot be trusted, should leave the housing marketplace and let the free market establish a base for prices. In fact, we now learn the housing numbers have astonishingly been inflated.

Housing is not the only place numbers are inflated. Government spending, regulation and taxation is what is crushing the job market, with unemployment actually around 12% rather than the reported 8.6%, and for buyers to feel comfortable making large purchases in the form of housing, the job market needs to be at worst steady. Under this administration, there is no job creation, debt is expanding exponentially and Americans are in fear for the future.

Until jobs can be created in large numbers and the government diminishes involvement in what should be private sector activity, continued negative pressure on the housing market and America will remain.

As Ronald Reagan accurately said, "Government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem."

2011 All America Team

2011 All America Team

OFFENSE

WR Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State
6'1, 220 JR, Ardmore, OK (Plainview)

WR Robert Woods, Southern California
6'1", 180, SO, Carson, CA (Serra)

WR Kendall Wright, Baylor

5'10", 190, SR, Pittsburg, TX (Pittsburg)

TE Dewayne Allen, Clemson
6'4", 255 JR, Fayetteville, NC (Terry Sanford)

OL Barrett Jones, Alabama
6'5, 311 JR, Germantown, TN (Evangelical Christian)

OL David DeCastro, Stanford
6'5", 310, JR, Bellevue, WA (Bellevue)

OL David Molk, Michigan

6'2", 285, SR Lemont, IL (Lemont Township)

OL Levy Adcock, Oklahoma State
6'6", 322, SR, Claremore, OK (Sequoyah)

OL Matt Kalil, Southern California
6'7", 295 JR, Corona, CA (Servite)

QB Robert Griffith III, Baylor
6'2, 220 JR, Copperas Grove, TX (Copperas Grove)

RB Trent Richardson, Alabama
5'11, 204 SR, Pensacola, FL (Escambia)

RB LaMichael James, Oregon
5'9, 195 JR, Texarkana, TX (Liberty-Eylau)

RB Montee Ball, Wisconsin
5'11, 210 JR, Wentzville, MO (Timberland)

DEFENSE

DE Courtney Upshaw, Alabama
6'2", 265, SR, Eufaula, AL (Eufaula)

DT Devon Still, Penn State
6'5, 310, SR, Wilmington, DE (Howard)

DT Whitney Mercilus, Illinois
6'4", 265, JR, Akron, OH (Garfield)

DT Jerel Worthy, Michigan State
6'3", 310, JR, Huber Heights, OH (Wayne)

DE Andre Branch, Clemson
6'5", 260, SR, Richmond, VA (Varina)

OLB Jarvis Jones, Georgia
6'3", 241, SO, Columbus, GA (Carver)

ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College
6'3, 237 JR, Cincinnati, OH (Xavier)

ILB Lavonte David, Nebraska
6'1, 225 SR, Miami, FL (Northwestern)

ILB Dont'a Hightower, Alabama
6'4", 260, JR, Lewisburg, TN (Marshall County)

OLB Melvin Ingram, South Carolina
6'2", 276 SR, Hamlet, NC (Richmond County)

DB Tyrann Mathieu, Louisiana State
5'9" 175, SO, New Orleans, LA (St. Augustine)

DB David Amerson, North Carolina State
6'3", 194, SO, Greenboro, NC (Dudley)

DB Markelle Martin, Oklahoma State
6'1", 198, SR, Wichita Falls, TX (Rider)

DB Mark Barron, Alabama
6'2" 218, SR, Mobile, AL (St. Pauls)

DB Morris Claiborne, Louisiana State
6'0" 185, JR, Shreveport, LA (Fair Park)

SPECIAL TEAMS

KR Tyrann Mathieu, Louisiana State,

5'9" 175, SO, New Orleans, LA (St. Augustine)

P Shawn Powell, Florida State
6'4, 235 SR, Rome, GA (Darlington Prep)

PK Brett Maher, Nebraska
6'0" 185 JR, Kearney, NE (Kearney)

NC Sammy Watkins, Clemson
6'1", 200, FR, Fort Meyers, FL (North Fort Meyers)

Crashing Dreams Nationwide

A few months back, 60 Minutes rolled through greater Orlando highlighting the housing crisis and the high level of homelessness and the devastating impact it is having on families throughout the area. Scott Pelley and the crew made a return visit, which is really a must see. Please take a listen:



If your eyes aren't welling up after watching this report, you may want to have some pre-Whoville cocktails with the Grinch.

Sadly, this story could be told gazillions of times all across the country. This report is from my own community, and as a residential appraiser, I see several views of the damage on a daily basis.

Certainly, everyone had to be impressed with the Metzger children, and we all felt for the family who saw the abyss before reaching a life line. Local news reports suggest things have turned up for both families. Reportedly, Stetson University has offered the Metzger children scholarships and the family is now residing in a newly furnished condo, which now with Dad gaining employment as a Seminole County sanitation worker, they have a chance to make rental payments moving forward. We all wish them the best.

60 Minutes did a wonderful job chronicling the staggering level of homelessness on both these reports, except for one glaring omission. Biased no doubt, 60 Minutes failed to associate the reason for widespread homelessness; Uncle Sam's anemic job creation under our President, who has led a balanced and sustained attack on free markets small business job creators.

The Obama administration has hurled every program they can think of to stem foreclosures and protect families from losing their homes. A black hole of financial costs continue to saddle taxpayers, tying a ball and chain to families across America. Yes, Obama inherited a significant housing problem, but instead of employing free market principles to correct the problem, he did not let a crisis go to waste and expanded government, public sector employment, entitlements and our national debt to unsustainable levels. The byproduct of this is the crashing of our system, leaving government as the solution, which crashes dreams nationwide.

What has not been attempted, and I want to emphasize, by choice, would dramatically improve each of these major issues in a matter of a pair of years. The creation of private sector jobs.

Instead of promoting socialism, and yes we are quickly running out of everyone else's money, and attacking wealthy job creators and venture capitalists, an environment needs to be nurtured by the government that deletes unnecessary regulation, limits burdensome taxation, rewards risk takers and unleashes the entrepreneurial spirit of our nation.

A fully employed citizenry, with efficient markets, will balance out supply and demand and generate a healthy, growing economy that offers those who aspire to succeed the world at their fingertips. In addition, an employed workforce will continue to reach for higher levels of housing options, which will cure the housing market as inventories decline.

Free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity, and we need politicians who subscribe to that in office. Barack Obama is the antithesis of a subscriber of free markets and capitalism, so if you wish for these problems to get corrected, you must vote him, and his supporters, out of office.

Manufacturing Malaise

The Republican National Committee has produced a new ad comparing the horrendous Presidency of Jimmy Carter to that of our current office holder, Barack Obama.



While the comparisons are striking, as the economically idiotic similarities appropriately pointed out, unfortunately, our current status is far more troubling. For those who have yet to recognize it, the coordinated series of actions taken by the Obama administration are part of a process to fundamentally transform the United States of America. Obama as much as said so just days before he was elected.

Evidence of these actions have been well chronicled over time here on the blog, but the centerpiece of plan is the Cloward and Piven strategy, which I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with.

Certainly, decisions made by the Obama administration and the Democratically led bodies of Congress over the past three years have boggled the mind, seemingly absent of any level of common sense. The polices are a massive failure. We are in the midst of economic failure, and in foreign policy, we have abandoned our friends to flirt with our enemies. Fast and Furious, the actions taken against the automakers bond holders, ACORN, Solyndra, Occupy Wall Street and even a recently passed defense bill, with some rather interesting parts, are significant examples.

Now, I know, White House Spokesman Jay Carney wants to skip the question and move on to "something more serious", but that is how this group operates. The transformation is much more than a global transfer of wealth, but an effort to control human behavior through governmental influences. Top Obama Czar Cass Sunstein, author of the book "Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness", is orchestrating the nudge of our citizenry with the full blessing of the Obama. And most of America has no idea they are being played.

Our liberties are eroding at an alarming pace under this regime, and those who are asleep while enjoying guilty pleasures along the lines of "Dancing With The Stars" are being nudged to remain bystanders to a changing history they will regret they did not attempt to intercept.

It will be a history of darkness for those Obamabots who aspire to achieve greatness, for their efforts will not be determined by work ethic in a free market system but a byproduct of what the government decides is worthy of your sacrifice, where some technocrat determines winners and losers.

Once you recognize it is communism, it our sovereignty will be gone and it will be far too late to change course. An evil storm is brewing, and take the word of a Mariner; the storms arrive very quickly unabated on the open sea.

Top 25

College Football

Top 25

1. Louisiana State, 13-0, 1

2. Oklahoma State, 11-1, 3

3. Alabama, 11-1, 2

4. Arkansas, 10-2, 5

5. Stanford, 11-1, 6

6. Wisconsin, 11-2, 7

7. Southern Cal, 10-2, 10

8. Kansas State, 10-2, 9

9. Oregon, 10-2, 11

10. South Carolina, 10-2, 13

11. Michigan State, 10-3, 8

12. Boise State, 11-1, 15

13. Michigan, 10-2, 17

14. Clemson, 10-3, 21

15. Texas Christian, 10-2, 18

16. Baylor, 9-3, 19

17. Oklahoma, 9-3, 12

18. Nebraska, 9-3, 20

19. Virginia Tech, 11-2, 4

20. Georgia, 10-3, 14

21. Notre Dame, 8-4, 21

22. Southern Miss, 11-2, NR

23. Florida State, 8-4, 23

24. Houston, 12-1, 16

25. Penn State, 9-3, NR

OUT: Texas (24) and West Virginia (25)

VOTES: West Virginia, Penn State, Cincinnati, BYU, Virginia, Texas, Auburn, Missouri and Georgia Tech.

Clemson awoke from their late season slumber and after a halftime tie opened one up on favored Virginia Tech, sending the Tigers to the Orange Bowl for the first time since Homer Jordan and the gang in 1981.....I hear that FOX Sports Charles Davis is a wonderful guy, but I think he is nothing short of horrendous as the color guy on NCAA games. While his pleasant demeanor is attractive, he is a master of lengthy sentences to state the obvious, complete with the corresponding pleasantries. When he does get specific, he has no clue what he is talking about.....Although they missed several opportunities, Georgia played a decent half in the SEC Championship game against LSU, but got taken to the woodshed in the second half......Wisconsin and Michigan State could play for years with little to show for it as these teams are very evenly matched. Sparty got robbed on a late out of bounds call.....Southern Miss looked great in dismantling unbeaten Houston.....Texas had not given up a pass play of over 20 yards all year, that is, until RGIII came to town and busted the Horns for a 59 yard touchdown on the second Baylor play from scrimmage. Can you say Heisman?.....Even with a suspect coaching change, many expected Maryland to have a decent season this fall, and with an upset win over Miami to start the season, this prognosis seemed on target. Then, the roof caved in, including getting blasted at home by Temple of all teams. Randy Edsall could never get Maryland going, flopping quarterbacks and utilizing the GPS in search of the defense. Could a 2-10 season get a first year coach fired? Yes indeed, but as The Wiz of Odds reports, not a Maryland....Mike Sherman is out at A&M. He started his tenure losing to Arkansas State in Aggieland but really had A&M going late last year and hopes were high for a great year this season, but several collapses had loses mounting. Now, will A&M look to UHouston for their next coach?.....Mike Leach has landed at Washington State, and that will be interesting....Urban Meyer is now at Ohio State, as we predicted over a year ago. As The Orlando Sentinel pointed out, a Gator Bowl matchup with Florida will be Urban Decay meets Urban Renewal......Penn State DT Devon Still was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. While Still is a great player we will name All America, Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David, who smashed a Nittany Lion ball carrier on a late 4th and 1 deep in Husker territory to seal the victory, should have won this award.....Oklahoma State pummeled a fine Oklahoma football team most thought would win the game, and it was worse than the 44-10 score. Based on this very impressive victory, the body of work of the Cowboys, the circumstances surrounding their double overtime road loss at Iowa State and the fact they are Big XII Conference Champions, Oklahoma State is now our number two team and should meet LSU in the championship. Add in LSU Coach Les Miles left Okie State for LSU, and it gains intrigue.