The View from Lone Butte

By Robert Russin

A tribal servant's diary of President Barack H. Obama and the United States.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781456612641

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The View from Lone Butte

A Tribal Servant’s Perspective of President Barack H. Obama and the United States

The purpose of this book is to provide a diary of the Obama Presidency as seen from my point of view. Most journal entries made will be based on actual observations made during each day. However, I will include my own opinions. I do not expect this book to be a complete record as the risk of missing key observations is great. Nor do I have access to the meetings the President had with his staff, which if I had known what they were could have altered my entries. But I do hope this work provides a reasonable and fair perspective of the President and the United States.

January 20, 2009:

This is President Obama’s inauguration. Both the President and Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed their lines when the President took the oath of office. There was much hope here in Phoenix. At the Toastmasters Club, two members expressed their pleasure. President Obama will make a 180 degree change! exclaimed one member. He was pleased at the President’s choice for Secretary of Energy, a Nobel Laureate. He expects a full fledged push to alternative energy. He gave a speech today on the solar energy and how it would be a great alternative fuel. I don’t know. I’ve heard all of this talk before back in the 1970s. Nothing came of it.

At work the members of my staff and I stopped work to listen to the President’s inauguration address. In my opinion, it was not important to these women what the President said. What was important to them was who he said it as. Now it was more than legally possible for their Spanish and Indian children to be President. It was now politically possible.

My other two staff members arrived just after the inauguration address. They believe the President lacks substance. Their belief can be summed up by a person who I heard on the radio who referred to the President as the cult of personality. I hope they are wrong.

According to the Drudge Report web-site, the stock market lost over 333 points to finish at 7900 at the end of Inauguration Day. The economy is hurting and the word on the Internet is that things won’t start to get better until 2010. Oh God! It’s only January. What are we made of? We’ll soon find out. For sale signs are not unusual where I live. There will be no honeymoon for the President.

January 21, 2009:

There was very little that happened today. A college friend of Nina’s said that her property in Sedona is worthless and she is caught in a 30 year mortgage. The house she purchased has an unstable foundation, mold, and cracked walls. She purchased this house in 2005. She is thinking about walking away from the mortgage. I advised against that decision as she would have a hard time borrowing money in the future. Besides, the lender did not harm her. In fact, the lender loaned her money in good faith of being repaid with interest. The fact that borrowers walked away from their mortgages was one of the driving forces of the banking collapse. How can the Obama Administration hope to assist this industry if borrowers will not repay money loaned to them? Any remedy for this industry must require that lenders be diligent and reasonably assure that they lend only to the creditworthy.

January 22, 2009:

The New Yorker Magazine’s cover had a portrait of the President in a white wig and 18th century clothing. A parallel to Washington? A historical melding of past and present? The portrait is open to some interesting interpretations for a thoughtful person.

The conspiracy theories have begun. A long time talk radio personality named Rush Limbaugh asserted that nobody knows who Barack Obama is, that the national media did not diligently vet him or performs their due diligence. He asserted that the country is preoccupied with the historical fact that the President is part black and part white. This was on the Fox News web-site. This may be the source of the cult of personality argument.

Bill O’Reilly who hosts the O’Reilly Factor stated he does not know what the President will do. He did say that there are those who believe the President will divide the nation into two groups – those who pay income taxes and those who don’t. Adherents of this belief believe the President and the Democrat Party want to alter the tax code in that only persons making more than $55,000 will pay income and payroll taxes. By doing this they believe the tax beneficiaries of this change will permanently keep them in power. If the President in fact does have such a plan it will have the following effects.

• The belief that taxes are to be paid by everyone to meet common needs would be eliminated. Taxes would only be paid by rich people.

• Persons would not actively seek to make more money unless it was a very large sum as it would be taxed away.

• Government revenues would drastically decrease in times of economic trouble as the amount of rich people available to pay these taxes would shrink.

• Rich people would hold leverage over government, demanding tax breaks in return for hiring working class persons.

Today the President ordered the prison at Guantanamo Naval Air Station to be closed within one year. However, He still has to work out a plan to transfer the terrorists who are currently held there. What was the significance of this event? To me, it came off as an abstraction. No person on television, Internet, or newspaper could explain how I benefit. Some have said that the move pleases the European nations. Why should I care if they are pleased? It’s not like they are staying awake nights wondering if Americans are pleased. Then there are others who said the Air Station will not close after one year.

January 23, 2009: It’s been a pretty exhausting day. I am buying a car from the Volvo Media fleet. Car companies are in trouble. General Motors said they will run out of cash by March 31st. Nina who writes about cars says the Ford Motor Company will sell off Volvo this year and this is a good time to get a deal. Volvo sells Media Fleet cars at reduced rates to journalists such as Nina. Our current Volvo S40 has 116,000 miles on it. Nina said it was time to move to buy a Volvo as the future owner may discontinue the program. The sale price is $18,900 before sales tax, transport cost, registration cost, title cost, etc.

January 24, 2009: I observed on the news that the President took a tour of Air Force One. He must be stunned. Wow, my name and this plane are in the sentence! He must certainly be affected by all the Presidential things introduced to him. True, he had persons preparing him for assuming the Office as soon as it was clear he was elected, but it is like being told how to drive a car and actually driving said car.

January 25, 2009: Sunday was a quiet day. The Washington Post asserted that the President was already making life difficult for Al Qaeda. He is only been in office five days! True, he made some early decision, such as closing Guantanamo Naval Air Station as a prison, but that decision pleased Western Europe. I finished reading this article and got on with the task of getting my current car appraised and buying a gift for Nina.

January 26, 2009: No entries today (Nina’s birthday)

January 27, 2009: The President’s first interview was with an Arabic radio station. He called out Al Qaeda and their sympathizers stating that they will be judged on what they built not what they destroyed. The same statement also called out those persons who believe that power comes from destruction. I think it was a good statement that tore the veneer of false piety, and exposed the body of hatred. I compare the President’s statement to President Reagan’s statement that the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire. That statement also broke the veneer of false power of the people and exposed the grasping dictatorship for what it was. The President may have other problems, but today was a major event of his Presidency.

January 28, 2009: The House of Representatives passed a $819 billion stimulus package designed to get the U.S. economy going. The Wall Street Journal editorial review board argued it was only a spending binge for pet Democrat Party programs. More disturbing, the new spending will only serve as the base for new annual spending, which will result in massive tax increases. No Republicans voted for this bill despite the President’s decision to meet with them for two hours. The package may eventually become law, but the President will be in trouble if the package has no effect. The public will not be happy if $825 billion was good money thrown after bad.

January 29, 2009: The President signed into law the Equal Pay Act. This Act stated that the statute of limitations would keep being extended every time an employer paid an individual woman less than a man for the same kind of work. This addressed a Supreme Court ruling that stated that a woman could not sue her employer because the statute of limitations ran out starting at the beginning of her employment, which in this case was 19 years ago. In addition, the New York Times reported that foreign countries were concerned that the $819 billion stimulus package passed yesterday would result in increased interest rates and less funds available for lending.

January 30, 2009: The State of Arizona is planning to cut $1.6 billion from its state budget, which ends June 30th. Meanwhile the U.S. Senate next week is planning to take up the Stimulus Package. Predictably, the Package was loaded with a lot of questionable items, which would have no obvious effect on the general economy. The Stimulus was also sold as a way to get infrastructure overhauled yet only $81 billion of the $819 billion was budgeted for this purpose. Meanwhile, the State of Arizona is hoping $1 billion of the stimulus would allow them to pay for operations through June 30th. However, the most surprising event is that the Republican Party has elected Michael Steele, a man who happens to be Black, the leader of the Republican National Committee.

January 31, 2009: I am a volunteer tax preparer for the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). I donate my time to prepare taxes for members of the Gila River Indian Community. I prepared 5 tax returns today at the District 6 Service Center, which is located in the town of Komatke. I did not see any news today nor did anyone mention anything about the economy. However, that evening when I returned home a friend of Nina’s called. Her name is Diane and she and her husband Jeff live in Sun Valley, Idaho. He works as a mason and is now out of work. I did not hear much of this conversation. There was talk of them coming to Arizona. However, I did not catch the details. The lack of work is nationwide.

February 1, 2009: The Super Bowl was on today, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers against the improbable Arizona Cardinals. Arizona was not supposed to make it near this far. In fact, Pittsburgh was assumed to be the winner as they were favored by the betting line at 6.5 points. However, the Cardinals took a 23-20 lead with 2:34 minutes to go in the game before Pittsburgh scored a touchdown with 35 seconds left to win the game 27-23. It was a championship quality pass. Arizona had three persons covering the one receiver, who was pinned against the sidelines. However, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger successfully threw the ball in the one foot square area where it could be caught, resulting in the win. The President was rooting for the Steelers. I guess he had a good day. Meanwhile, I guess I should not have sent that text message to Senior Gaming Internal Auditor, who is another Steelers fan that the Cardinals would win 42-13.

February 2, 2009: The President said on the Today Show that he has three years to turn the economy around or else he is a one term President. He has put a marker just 14 days into his Presidency. Expect these to be used by his opponents in 2012. Meanwhile, his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle, did not pay $140,000 in taxes until January 2009. Mr. Daschle was a lobbyist for a health care organization and was provided a car, which was taxable income. The tax problem would not have been an issue if it was not for the fact that his new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, also had tax problems. Mr. Geithner did not pay social security taxes when he was employed by the International Monetary Fund. The lack of diligence by these two men is already hurting the President.

February 3, 2009: Two of the President’s nominees were forced to withdraw their nominations due to tax problems. Former Senator Tom Daschle who was nominated to run the Health Human Services Department confirmed he did not pay income taxes on a car and driver provided by a friend and on $80,000 of consulting fees. Mr. Daschle was to overhaul the nation’s health care system.

Nancy Killefer withdrew her nomination when she confirmed she did not pay taxes for hired household help. She was to eliminate waste from the federal budget.

Eric Holder was confirmed by the Senate to run the Justice Department. He is the first man who happens to be Black to be hired for the post.

Nina lost her sponsor, Active.com, who sponsored the annual ALV Lifestyle Vehicle award. She is looking for other sponsors to fill the void. However, this program may not survive.

It looks like the President and I both had a bad day.

February 4, 2009: The President signed the SCHIP bill into law. This law is designed to provide health insurance coverage for 4 million children. Opponents of the law say that families who can afford health insurance can enroll in the program.

February 5, 2009: The day took an unscheduled turn when I had to take the car that will be sold tomorrow had the check engine light come on. It turned out the Thermostat and Thermometer sensors had to be replaced. I told the buyer about this who appreciated my honesty. Meanwhile, the President wrote an editorial in the Washington Post pressing for passage of the Stimulus Package. He should push for a Stimulus Package that does not have irrelevant items in it because he is going to have only one shot to get this right. However, his nominee for Secretary of Labor confirmed she had to pay tax liens that were incurred by her husband. The tax issues of his staff could sow the seeds of failure for his Presidency. Finally, John Gibson of Fox News asserted that former Vice President Dick Cheney said that the Obama Administration is recklessly dismantling programs that were crucial in weakening the Al Qaeda terrorist group.

February 6, 2009: There is talk that the Senate has decided on $780 billion stimulus package. Whether, there will be 60 Senators who will agree to vote on this measure remains unclear. There are two things that can happen to the President on the stimulus package, both of them bad: The first one is the bill is defeated. The second one is if the bill is passed. For the President, the second one is his biggest risk is if the bill is signed into law yet has no noticeable effect on people’s lives, then his Presidency suffers a serious blow. In the meantime, Nina and I did our part to rescue the economy by buying a car.

February 7, 2009: I spoke with a real estate agent today named Rod. Rod said that 50% of the homes on the market right now are in foreclosure. In the past appraisers of a home did not worry if there was a foreclosed house next door as it was considered simply a distressed home sale. But now there are so many foreclosures that it is now driving the market. Rod said things will turn around only when these homes are purchased and the buyers are making the payments. Rod said there are buyers out there but they can’t borrow money. This is no surprise. Part of this downturn occurred when borrowers walked away from their homes when their market value collapsed. Rod does not believe the economy will be running well again for at two years.

February 8, 2009: Joan Venocchi of the Boston Globe said that no one has the President’s back. Nominees were not vetted and the President’s own Party hijacked the stimulus package using it simply as a vehicle for their own agenda. Meanwhile, Frank Rich of the New York Times said that the President like everyone else in Washington has been blindsided by the public anger. Other statements made by these two persons is that the President in still in campaign mode but without the elegance.

February 9, 2009: I attended a training seminar conducted by the Institute of Internal Auditors. One of the persons there said that the government was about to waste $850 billion in a useless attempt at stimulus. That night, the President gave his first press conference. He said that the Japanese government did not spend enough to stimulate the economy during the Lost Decade, when Japan’s economy went into a 10 year recession. His thinking is the opposite of the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board who assert that it was Japanese government’s stimulus spending that caused the Lost Decade. In fact they ran an editorial before his inauguration called Obama-san, about one month prior, which specifically called him out on the stimulus package. One of these persons is wrong. The President’s press conference lasted one hour. Nina felt confident about him. In my opinion the federal government is going to have only one chance to get this right. One of the persons covering the conference commented that the President press conference was one week too late.

February 10, 2009: The Senate passed their version of the Stimulus Bill. It now has to be negotiated with the House. Three Republican Senators broke ranks to vote to close debate on the bill. Dick Morris who was interviewed on Hannity, which is on Fox News asserted that the United States government simply could not pay back the cost of borrowing money to finance the stimulus package. It was mentioned today that borrowing of this magnitude by the federal government would crowd out other persons attempting to borrow.

February 11, 2009: The House and Senate conference committee completed negotiations on the $789 billion dollar stimulus package. John Boehner of the Republican called it Generational Theft as the grandchildren would have to pay for it with interest.

February 12, 2009: The latest nominee for Commerce Secretary, Jud Gregg withdrew his name from consideration. Gregg is a Republican Senator from New Hampshire. It was speculated that he withdrew when it was said that one of Commerce main jobs, the census, was to be transferred directly to the President. There were also charges that the Census Bureau would be politicized as a result and that the census would not be honestly conducted. It was said by Fox News that aides to the President were caught flat-footed. Meanwhile, the stock market also decreased when the Secretary of Treasury’s plan for rescuing the banks and the homeowners from bad mortgages was said to lack any details.

February 13, 2009: All eyes focus on the Stimulus Bill about to become law. The one good thing about this bill is that the parties positions are etched in stark relief. No Republicans in the House voted for the Bill. Maybe 3 Republicans will vote for it in the Senate. An opinion piece in the Chicago Sun-Times asserted that the Obama Administration is repeating the same mistakes of the Bush Administration. Both Presidents asserted that there would be calamity if there bills were not passed. In President Bush’s case it was the Patriot Act.

February 14, 2009: There is not much news today. I bought Nina some wine and chocolate as it was Statehood Day, er, Valentine’s Day. We spent the day together. The Stimulus Bill is about to become law. Will this work? It’s anyone’s guess. Anyhow the President’s daughters will help me pay off the financing in 2030.

February 15, 2009: The Arizona Republic stated that lenders who loaned money to people who had no business borrowing to buy a house was one reason that the economy is struggling. It also said that the government’s policy that everyone should own a home also led to this mess. Finally, the belief that housing prices could only increase also contributed to the economic struggle. On CNN, the subject was Afghanistan. It was stated that it could be become the President’s Vietnam. Already there are calls to bring the soldiers home as some people ask, What are they doing there? Finally, General Motors and Chrysler will submit a plan to the President that will either grant them more federal aid or have them declare bankruptcy.

February 15, 2009: MSN.com stated that the 10 wealthiest Russians lost 2/3 of their wealth as the Russian stock market lost 70% of its value. Investment dried up when oil prices decreased to $34 per barrel to $150 per barrel and the Russian government became more belligerent.

In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez won the right to keep running for reelection. Did he make the mistake of staying too long? What does the future hold for Venezuela, Russia, and the United States?

February 16, 2009: The President went to Denver, CO and signed the Stimulus Bill into law. Now everybody is reading it to see what was passed. Tomorrow, the President will go to Phoenix, AZ to introduce relief for homeowners who are at risk of being foreclosed on.

February 17, 2009: General Motors and Chrysler submitted their plans to bring back their companies to viability. The President will now need to make a decision to provide them federal funding. In the meantime I have a cough that does not go away. The x-rays revealed a node. Its significance will not be known until Friday.

February 18, 2009: The President revealed a $275 billion plan to provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. While coughing last night and unable to sleep, I devised a plan that not only will relieve the credit crunch but would help the President reach his other planned objectives. I will submit it tomorrow. Maybe his staff will find it worthy to present to him.

February 19, 2009: The President’s plan took a lot of flak. There was a lot of resentment from persons who said they were faithfully making their payments would be ignored. The Drudge Report quoted a person saying, How about we all stop paying mortgages? The President also said that the plan was not a cure-all. I have created an alternative plan that I believe would better serve him. I hope his staff will find it worthy and let him see it. In a nutshell, this plan would pay off the mortgages of homeowners who have been making their payments and would infuse the banks with credit. By simultaneously increasing the banks’ cash balances and relieving the homeowners of the largest piece of long term debt, this will result in unfreezing credit and increasing spending.

February 20, 2009: When I came home for lunch, I found that our cat named Camshaft had trouble walking. Cam is 18 years old. Meanwhile I have a cough that does not go away despite different treatments. This has been going on for weeks. Needless to say there have been a lot of distractions.

February 21, 2009: I went to work today to make up missed time from yesterday. The NHRA Winternationals were underway at nearby Firebird Raceway. I also took the time to write a letter to the President giving him my suggestion on turning the economy around. It is written below as follows:

February 22, 2009

President Barack H. Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I would like to thank you for your efforts to get the economy going again. I realize that you have a difficult task at hand. Due to what is at stake I believe it is my duty to provide your Administration with any ideas that I believe will help our country in these trying times. I believe I can provide your Administration with a plan that will help it reach this objective. The only thing I ask is that you and your staff fairly evaluate it. I believe this plan that would restart the economy by doing the following:

• Materially increase capital for homeowners and banks

• Provide relief for the automobile industry

• Increase conversions of traditional homes