Cracker Barrel Chat From a Cracker

 by Cracker Jack

Interesting stories in the news….

Microsoft suffered it’s largest one day drop since the Great Recession. Steve Ballmer’s realignment is not seen as a good thing and analysts have been giving Microsoft a big thumbs down.  MSFT eaernings were down.  Stock was off about 11% a few minutes ago.

Irony coming from the Z trial.  Al Sharpton and Eric Holder have railed against the Stand Your Ground Law as if it were linked to the defense of poor old George Zimmerman.  It was not.  The defense argued simple self defense.    However, these two racebaiters felt necessary to rally their forces behind something, and this was the best they could do.   So, what’s the irony?   Stand Your Ground Laws statistically favors black citizens.  Yes, they are far better off with it than without it!   Brilliant move Al and Eric… and Barrack ,who if he had a son, he would look just like a black teenager thumping a neighborhood watch guy.          

More irony…the biggest piece of legislation in American history that will fundamentally transform the healthcare industry has been delayed by a year, presumably to get us past the election cycle before the it’s cost is felt.    Our liberal legislators said this was vital to America and Joe Biden said this a big F’n deal!  Odd that not one of them is using it in their  re-election campaigns.  It’s never even being mentioned, whats up with that?

Looks like we are awash in oil. So says Joe Petrowski of Gulf Oil. He thinks that oil will be around $50 a barrel by the end of the year. He explained why on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday morning. Don’t expect to see your pump prices coming down in this state any time soon…thanks to CA excise taxes, tight restrictions on gasoline imports, costly regulation of the industry and limited production ability…all self imposed by Sacramento. 

And finally this story… 

Yesterday we heard that Detroit filed Chapter 9 bankruptcy to become the largest city to-date to do so. Detroit was doing so well back in the 1950’s, they had a strong industrial base, plenty of jobs, low crime and then a slow transition began where too many neighborhoods were allowed to run down, too much crime and drugs on the streets. Gangs took over neighborhoods. There were some landmark riots by it’s black citizens and this included some major labor union riots too. The older, upscale neighborhoods were the first to go.   Welfare kept creeping over the city.  Detroit’s demographics quickly changed and along with it came populism, rule by the minoirty poor and they learned they could get free S through elections.   This resulted a host of costly and very bad economic choices.   And the welfare continue to grow and so did the crime.   Fast forward to the year 2000 the trend towards heavy government regulations, higher and higher taxes was devastating.  And behind that government mess came more joblessness, more crime, more gang controlled ghettos, more white-flight and finally…finally there came the tipping point!  Detroit had too many tax takers and not enough tax payers and as RHT has said, the free ice cream stopped.   Detroit’s fate was sealed.  

The transition from a city of industry, great wealth and good jobs to a city in ruins and without hope was complete. Those who felt they were entitled to take Detroit’s wealth and run the show  got exactly what they wanted.  

There’s a lesson to be learned here, because America is taking the same course as Detroit.