Blog: Off the Reservation

Taking Columbus Day Off (the Calendar)

The Post Office won't be delivering any mail. Federal Agencies across America are closed for the day. Banks are emptied of personnel. Most of the nation is still at work, some parades are snaking their way through cities and Italian Americans are supposedly celebrating a famous figure. Most notably, a 14.92 percent discount is in effect at clever stores.

It's Columbus Day, everyone.

Missoula Notebook

Breaking: Financial Crisis Not The Fault Of The People In Charge of Everything

The "Democrats caused the financial crisis" meme has now spread to the Missoulian letters page. Most recently, Mike Nordquist of Stevensville weighed in with an opinion along these lines, arguing that “in the 1990s, under Clinton, the Democrats, with their chicken-in-every-pot ideology pushed to make homeownership available to minorities, those with low incomes and those who could not qualify for conventional home loans”; this put us on the edge, Nordquist argued, and bad decisions by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (who supposedly bribed Congress to be allowed to destroy their own businesses) pushed us over.

The only problem with this story is that it's not true.

Missoula Notebook

Yes, We Have No Bagels

The phrasing of the sign struck me as imprecise and perhaps even a little sinister, kind of like the announcements we keep hearing from the federal government about the financial crisis. Either you are closed today, or you are closed until you can get your oven fixed, but ovens are complex devices and it could conceivably take more than a day to fix one. Likewise, either we need to spend $700 billion buying distressed mortgage securities, or we need to nationalize the banks, but maybe next time you could make up your mind before giving the first panicky press conferences?

Generation Recreation

Is There Room for Everyone on Public Land?

Pulling my Subaru into the dusty parking area from where I planned to begin pedaling, I instinctively flinched at the sound of gunfire.
The senior citizen taking target practice with a high-powered rifle glanced in my direction only briefly before letting off another few rounds. Removing his earplugs, he either smiled or grimaced in my direction.

"Two more rounds and I'll be done."

This was a first for me. I'd never had to dodge gunfire prior to starting a mountain bike ride.

Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

Physical Therapy Hurts, But At Least It’s Painful

People have been stopping me on the street, saying hey, Bob, when are you going to write more blogs about your shoulder surgery? I mean, culture and music and politics are interesting and all, but that shoulder stuff…fascinating!

I will assume that these people aren’t being ironic, so here’s the dish on physical therapy: it’s tedious, enforced masochism with a little guilt mixed in if I don’t do it right, or often enough. Kind of like oral sex.

Missoula Notebook

Detour Ahead—I Hope

An automobile traveling at 70 miles per hour along a winding two-lane blacktop seems as good a place as any to think about inertia. The "bodies in motion staying in motion" part feels most obvious, particularly when a tight inside curve is tugging the car close to an oncoming dump truck and I remember that the odds of our continued survival are at least slightly decreased by the blown rear struts we are planning to get fixed as soon as we can find a spare $500.

BorderWest

Open Letter to the Presidential Candidates: You Missed It

Dear Presidential Candidates:

You were asked a serious question -- what sacrifice individuals could make to restore the American dream and one of you answered we need to cut earmarks and the other that we need to switch off the lights and drive less. You missed it. You missed a defining moment.

See, we think the times are pretty serious, that the problems are pretty big, bigger than slashing a few budgets and skipping a trip or two for ice cream. We think the problems will require the effort and sacrifice of the individual, not just the maneuverings of government. When you had a chance to cast a grand vision, a vision that strikes at what it means to be in a democracy, of what it means to value the contributions of the individual, you both balked, as if you are not sure our individual actions matter in the face of large problems.

blog: generation recreation

Ski Town Real Estate Projects Face Reality

There isn't much that I have in common with a 72-year-old Republican candidate for president, but there is one common trait we share: economic policy isn't a strength for either of us.

With the current economic crisis the only subject on people's lips these days, my insight into the problem is centered on what I've read about locally and seen out my front door. For resort communities, the writing is on the wall that the real estate development gold rush is grinding to a halt. Developers who relied on a steady supply of wealthy transplants and vacationers with super-deep pockets eager to buy trophy homes and snap up condo-hotel rooms are finding these people a tougher sell.

Taxpayer Bailout: Ownership Society?

Thanks for the Bailout, America!

In my last blog I wrote, “It seems to me that the real lesson of 9/11, besides that terrible things can happen to innocent people, is not to depend too much on law enforcement agencies for your safety, or for rescue.”

That’s law enforcement agencies. But as for the government itself—well, who knows? The government bails out and bestows privileges on special interest groups, which includes everyone but working folks. But somehow we got in! We put some money down on a reasonably priced house in rural Utah at the height of the boom and our loan was approved by a major mortgage company which then cratered spectacularly. Seemed like bad timing, especially with the interest rate we had to pay, but that we were approved at all may have been because of Bill Clinton's and George Bush III’s push for more housing of the indigent. The “push” that resulted in looser standards for lenders and ultimately, bizarre financial instruments that couldn’t possibly have worked, except in theory.