Iraq, Tankers, Economy and more

Two stories from Iraq, Pete Hegseth at NRO looks at the political developments in Iraq and how US political leaders could learn something from them. The second compares how the NY Times verses a boot on the ground sees the same offensive. David French explain why an operation where bad guys did escape is not necessarily a bad thing. Its an interesting perspective from someone who is there.

Some of the Republicans are talking about tax cuts and spending cuts. The economy is the biggest concern from Republicans. But while it is easy to talk the talk (after all, candidates who tell the electorate what they don't want to hear (remember president Walter Mondale who promised to raise our taxes if he won, neither do I) generally don't win elections or nominations. Larry Kudlow looks at the statements from McCain and Romney. McCain I do not believe because of his record for the last 8 years, he's saying the right thing, but I just do not trust him to do what he says. I haven't made up my mind about the other candidates yet, my ballot is sitting on my desk now and have to decide who I want to vote for. Any suggestions other then McCain, Huckabee or Paul are welcome. I WILL not vote for any of them in the primary.

Citigroup is writing off more bad mortgages. This latest write off will hurt their balance sheet but do not know if it will really hurt their cash flow or if this is more of a bookkeeping entry.

Finally, Airbus says it will build the KC-30 tankers in the US if it wins the contract. Personally, I just assume buy Boeing 777's, put an extra gas tank in the luggage compartments and use the rest of the space for cargo (like the KC-10) and be done with it. Why are we still flying tankers that were build in the early 1960s? Their engines are not as efficient as current engines, their airframes are old and we use our tankers a lot.

Have a good day.