Wow, it's been almost a month since I posted an entry in Rural Thoughts. I guess I needed some time off. Actually, it's been a very busy time both trying to clean up from the ice storm, and get the garden in, but also to continue to work on songwriting and keep our jobs going. But, as the days get longer, and our electric supply goes up, and we are starting to catch up a little on the gardening and such, I am wanting to get started back in more frequent posts.

It's been facinating and impressive to watch President Obama operate in his new job. I still stand by my posts that he leaned too much on Washington and party insiders for his cabinet and close advisors. I don't think it has served him that well, and he's had to eat crow a couple times now, unnecessarily. But he has handled it well. It's just so nice to be represented by an intelligent, friendly person, who shows strength but not shallow arrogance. Bush's problem was that his arrogance wasn't based on any kind of deserving.

I mean, Dizzy Dean, the former colorful St. Louis Cards pitcher, once said, in response to comments by some that he was boastful, that "it ain't braggin' if you can do it." Bush bragged but he couldn't do it. So why was he acting so rude and in everyone's face? It was intolerable for the people on the other end, and it was intolerable for us, as the American people to have to sit by and watch us represented so poorly. What a breath of fresh air to have a representative that isn't embarassing us.

It's still early in Obama's administration. In many agencies, he has not gotten his people into the key undersecretary positions, and therefore the impact of his presidency hasn't been felt that much yet. But that is changing as we speak. Give him a year and his influence will be felt in agencies such as the Forest Service. We'll see where that goes.

I still tend to be more conservative fiscally. I'm more in tune with the European leaders in that solving a problem of bad debts with more debt is questionable. But I do think that infusing all this money into the economy will have an immediate stimulative effect. But seems to me like we are heading down the road for higher interest rates. I don't mind that myself because I don't borrow that much and am collecting interest. But, I'm not sure it's good for the economy to have sustained high interest rates. I don't see how it will be avoided.

I also think that too much money is going to the big money interests who have screwed things up, and not enough to the lower income levels. I'm sure Obama is trying to figure out some way to do this, and I know it would be a challenge, but it seems like giving these ungodly amounts of money to this mega institutions is throwing good money after bad.

Ultimately, it seems to me that an economy based on maximizing consumption isn't sustainable. We need to re-look at our whole approach toward "economic growth." According to the theories of ecological succession, stable ecosystems evolve to a point where production and consumption are pretty even, with production slightly more than consumption. Life can go on with minimal disruptions for long periods of time under that scenario. Striving for maximum growth causes the booms and busts that are so damaging.

That's all for now. I'm going to update on local things soon.