Look at the Chicago Cubs. They were in the World Series last in 1908. A bad century. Is it lack of money, bad management, or the hex of the billy goat? In over a hundred years, one might assume there would be confluence of luck that would negate the money, management, and maybe the hex. After all, the hex of the Bambino finally left and let the Redsox win a World Championship.
Look at the Blackhawks. After years of bad management by Bill Wirtz, he died and his son, Rocky, took over. Immediately, the team got better, the fans came back, and they won the Stanley Cup this year. Look at the Bulls. They made one good trade, got Michael Jordan, and won 6 championships. Even the White Sox lined up the cherries on the slot machine and won a World Series. They way they are playing now, they may win another this year.
Meanwhile the Cubs new owners’ are redecorating the rest rooms at the park. And, trying to force the City of Mesa, Arizona to build them a new stadium with taxpayer money or they will move spring training to Florida where the new owners winter.
The truth of the matter is the owners of the Cubs, past and present, don’t care about winning. Especially if it means spending money. They have the best little bar ever built on the north side of Chicago. People go there to get sunshine and drink beer and a ball game breaks out. They will get their 3,000,000 fans this year despite a bad team and total disregard for the fans. It’s been a bad century for the fans but not for the owners.
Where am I going with this? Our politicians are setting up a bad century for our kids and grand kids, and we are like Cub fans, we just keep buying.
Obama is in Toronto with the elf, Geithner, dodging riots and trying to convince the G-20 attendees to keep spending. They, on the other hand, are trying to tell Obama to stop spending. Their message to Obama, stop spending. We’ve tried your strategy for 50 years and it doesn’t work. Why are you putting in place our losing strategy?
In a ranking of political units likely to default on debt, Illinois ranks just behind Iraq and just ahead of California. Why? They can’t stop spending and they just keep borrowing to put off spending cuts. Pension obligations is the major factor.
If we don’t get Democrats out of control in Congress in the fall and Obama out of office in 2012, we will be like the Cubs, headed for a bad century. Illinois must be the least intelligent state in the country, but now it’s even looking bad compared to the worst countries in rest of the world. Thank God for Greece. The same corrupt people have been running the state for years. Governors come and go, from office to jail. Obama came from Illinois. He wants to make America like Illinois. It’s all he knows. Mayor Daley would be doing the same things Obama is. The only difference, Daley would be doing it behind the scenes. Obama, on the other hand, can’t resist the camera and is putting his face and stamp on all the mistakes. How bad is it to be only slightly ahead of California in a potential default rating?
Greece has already defaulted for all practical purposes. They got bailed out by Europe and Obama. Next on the default probability list is: Venezuela:58.05%, Argentina: 48.15, Pakistan:38.80, Ukraine: 35.69, Iraq: 29.29, Dubai 29.20, then Illinois: 27.35 and California: 27.00.
Back to the Cubs. If you have fans who support you regardless of what you do(voters) and management that understands that and is indifferent to their actions(politicians), you have the potential for a century of failure. Illinois, California, and the United States is in that situation. Illinois is teetering on the brink. There has been no balanced budget for 9 years. They just keep borrowing.
So, if you keep watching while your elected officials screw up the future, you may be destined to find out what Cub fans already know. Anyone can have a bad century. It might take that long or longer to fix what’s being done right now.
