Where Haven’t We Gone Yet?
Hello Everyone,
Since my last post a few things have happened. First of all the Pirates took down the defending champs today 8-2. A nice start to the spring. Also tomorrow my roommate Jimmy Barthmaier makes his grapefruit league debut. Good luck to him. I threw a pretty good bullpen on Tuesday, and as more people begin to show up at Pirate City, the itch to start playing continues to get stronger.
I can’t bring myself to write an entire new post with out mentioning Tiger Woods. The man has to be an inspiration to athletes everywhere. He is simply unbelievable. He looked like he never missed a day, much less 8 months. Just blew my mind today. Right now Clemson is in the middle of a really good game against Virginia Tech, a real nail biter so far. I also just finished watching this weeks episode of 24, goodness this show is amazing.
Ok enough rambling, on to the real topic of my post. I spent some time thinking about what my next post should be, and then it hit me. Not too long ago we had one of the most prolific things happen to our country. We elected a black president, something that is unreal and groundbreaking. Something that speaks volumes about how far our country has come.
Now I myslef did not vote for President Obama, but I have to say that I am an avid supporter now, and I hope that he does great things for our country. Recently he has proposed a stimulus package. This is something that is a very controversial topic amongst politicians, and is a very volatile situation for our economy. There is alot of uncertainty in our society today, and no doubt are we in a recession. However, where do people see our eceonomy going in the future? Is Barack Obama the answer to our problems? Will the stimulus package do what it is supposed to and bail us out? Is everyone pleased with Obama’s performance thus far?
As always give your input, we have had some great interaction so far, lets keep it up.
Until Later
Moskie Madness 
Wow, I was actually hoping you wouldn’t go towards politics, but I’ll bite.
I’m a huge political junkie. Besides Baseball, Hockey, and football, politics is my thing. I am more Libertarian than anything but I did end up holding my nose and voting for Obama this past election. Mostly because he “wants to end the war” and because he wants to be a little more non-interventionist in foreign policy and also he will protect our civil liberties more than McCain. The trade off is the huge deficits (which apparently haven’t been a problem with Republicans either).
I haven’t been very impressed thus far with him though. I don’t like the Stimulus and as a young father of three kids I worry that their generation is going to get stuck paying the tab for something that I truly believe government caused. I don’t regret my vote, but I’m not sure if I will vote for him next time. It’s early though and I am very open minded.
Hopefully the Penguins can get a goal at some point tonight!
Shamtown- I didn’t want to go there either, but I figured that this was a monumental event that could not go unnoticed. I have also become enveloped in politics recently, and I actually find it to be very interesting, and no matter what it is a great topic of discussion. Which is what this is all about. Obama did say that he wanted to end the war, but since he has been in office he has sent more troops over there. He also wants to take away the right to own a gun, isn’t that a civil liberty? I might be mistaken. Yes I do believe that there will be huge deficits, but I doubt that those will ever really be paid off.
I have not been impressed thus far either, but the jury is still out. I think that he has an opportunity to do great things, and that after he gets his feet wet, he will do just that. The one thing that I am really worried about is his tax policy. They could potentially sky rocket, and that really worries me. With the economy in the state that it is currently in, I don’t think that people can handle a tax spike right now.
Yea I hope the Pens can get a goal, I also hope the Tiger’s don’t choke away a game that they should win.
Well he won’t take away my gun, which is another reason I had to swallow hard before voting for him. I rarely vote Republican because the evangelical pandering really scares me. Anyone who lets an outside group like that have so much influence is a huge turn off.
The Republicans had a perfect candidate in Ron Paul. They alienated him though and I think the time may be right for a real third party.
Speaking of choking away a game, did you catch any of that Pitt – Providence fiasco? Unreal.
Daniel,
I’m not that into politics but I’m just wondering why you went from not voting for him to being an avid supporter?
Back to baseball….what are your thoughts on a salary cap in MLB? It’s probably a double-edged sword for you. From the Pirates’ perspective, because they’re typically a lower-spending organization, they’d want one because it levels the playing field. From your point of view, you probably don’t want one because, if you have a lot of success in your career, it means less money for you. Your thoughts?
Shamtown- You make your point well, the problem I have is that who knows these days where outside influences come from. Anybody that has money to fund campaigning has a say in the matter. It legitimately scares me. Don’t worry, they won’t take my gun either.
Do not get me started about that game. I am not sure if Blair had a legitimate foul in that game, yet he fouled out. it really seemed like the refs wanted Pitt to lose that game. Give Providence credit though for showing alot of heart. I would have thought that they were going to buckle under the pressure when Pitt started to make a comeback.
ka- The reason that this happened is that I support the United States of America. As our leader, I also support him. Bashing him is not going to do our country any bit of good.
Ok back to baseball, a salary cap is probably not a bad idea. It should theoretically balance out the playing field. With something like a salary cap, you can’t really be selfish and only think about yourself. If you are a top player you will still make alot of money. I am unsure of how much the difference would actually be. You wouldn’t see the Yankees spending as much as they did this offseason most likely.
Thing is, even with all that spending, the Yankees’ payroll is down this year. They shed a lot of salary, I don’t know why that money should go to the Steinbrenner family if they’re willing to invest it into players. Though they made three big free agent signings, any one of those players could have opted to go elsewhere.
Besides, I’m not sure it could work in MLB. There’s so much fluidity, with players moving between organizational levels (Rk, A-, A, A+, AA, AAA, MLB) so much that I don’t know how you create a system that accommodates it all. Besides, it’s been pretty well shown that the biggest spenders don’t always win. In fact, they haven’t won since 2000… they were first on the free agent bandwagon by signing Catfish Hunter, and they’re usually at the top of the free agent signing list… that’s their game. Other teams build from within and make smaller, important signings. Different strategies; I love that about baseball, myself.
http://houston.mlblogs.com
Daniel, stumbled here via a link and am very impressed with what you’ve done here so far… I think this kind of interaction is fun for everyone. As far as Obama goes, I’ve been a supporter of his for a long time. I don’t think any plan that anyone comes up with in the middle of this economic mess would be perfect; I think there’s a part of most of us that just wishes that things would go back to the way they were before everything fell apart and that it would happen overnight. Obviously, that’s not going to happen. But I think that because of that, no matter what the outcome looks like, some people are going to regard this package as a failure. I’m willing to be more open-minded. I think a lot of what’s in it is viewed very differently from each side of the aisle, and some of it is probably pretty radical thinking regardless of one’s party affiliation. I’m cautiously optimistic. And I think that we all have to be willing to take some responsibility for the general welfare of America and of Americans.
As far as TV goes, I concur with a lot of the recommedations you’ve already received… and I’ll add Friday Night Lights to the list. The first season is almost perfect TV.
How great was it to have live baseball going today? I’m sure you guys are absolutely pumped, and I am too. I told someone the other day that the way baseball looks and smells and sounds, feels, everything, is a little hint as to how I can better live my life. Because when I’m doing something that makes me feel the way I feel when I’m in a baseball stadium, I know I’m doing something right.
Good luck as Spring Training continues!
I’m also a believer in the philosophy that because I love this country, I will support whoever is in charge. And sorry about tonight but, Duke and a lot of other teams fall to the Hookies in heart breakers.
Daniel – what a great question you asked! Our country – our world – is going through the worst economic decline since the Great Depression. And there is NO quick fix to the problem. President Obama, I thought was very honest in what he said last night during his address to Congress. He was clear that there are a lot of problems, but he did give us hope. I also feel that he is smart enough to surround himself with very educated people – regardless of whether they are republican or democratic. There is no quick fix. We are in this for the long hall but America always survives and we too will survive this. God Bless America! And I’m very glad that its pastime is back to help us through this difficult period.
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
Hi Daniel! I’m not really into politics but at school just about everybody is a democrat so it’s hard not to hear what is going on in the political world. I’m not really good at talking about politics so I usually just stick to baseball. Today somebody in my acting class was wondering if I had worn baseball clothes everyday to get into character (for a project I’m being a player from the AAGPBL) but it wasn’t that, it’s just me. I spend most of math class talking about baseball with the boy who sits next to me.
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Wow. That was really long and random LOL.
-Ellie
http://mrmetbro.blogspot.com
This stimulus package doesn’t make much sense to me but my political views are pretty messed up anways. I consider myself a republican and hate the fact that Obama wants to take my guns, and tax successfull people more, and increase money given to people on welfare while I feel bad for these people and being on welfare must suck theres a reason most people are on it and i see it here iin my high school everyday when people decide theyd rather smoke weed in the bathroom or cut school obviosly there not gonna be succesful and are either gonna end up dead, in jail, or oin welfare. That’s sad but its reality and we need to do something about the public education in this country and that should be more important to people rather than whose dating who in hollywood or what kind of dog our president wants. Also he wants to cut military spending which seeing as we are now the world’s army is a terrible mistake if he does it, and seeing as i was going to join the army for the benefits that now won’t be in effect because now Bush is gone we wouldn’t be guranteed the same bonus’s and benefit’s if i had signed up during Bush’s presidency. Obviously something needed to be done and the stimulus package looks good and i hope it works, but in reality i don’t think they put up enough money to make it happen.
With that being said i still hope that Obama can be a good president for us, as people don’t realize Bush did better things for other places such as Africa where he increased spending on aids research 5 times, i hope that Obama can be a good president for us because now is the time we need someone who can focus more on this country rather than others, and i think he understands that and i feel now regardless of party you have to support him because whether or not you voted for him he is still our president and everything he does will effect us (I still dont know how to seperate paragraphs so i just made two posts…my bad)
Nice to see the Pens pull it out.
I also wanted to say how sweet it must have been for Shelby Ford to smack that homer. Good for him.
I consider myself, and am registered Democrat. This is more or less to vote in the primaries. The reason for this is because socially I am quite liberal. The best way to fix the economy though is to liquidate the bad assets, not prop them up and keep prices artificially high. Subsidized home ownership is a bad way to go, if you want the poorer people to be able to buy homes why not let the housing prices tank so they come within their reach?
RoundRock- Wow, I had no idea that their salary was actually down this year. I knew they dumped quite a bit, but my Lord did they pick up quite a bit of slary too. I agree that fluidity would be the biggest bug to fix in the system. As to how they would account for that I have no clue, I think that it might cause some controversy too, especially for organizations that build from with-in, versus the free agent signing type organizations. That is a very good point about money not equaling championships. I do love the diversity of the sport, organizations find several ways to make their major league team.
Gpprep- Thank you for your kind words, I think it has been fun so far, and I hope it continues. i have to ask this question and it is no knock on yourself, but how long could you have possibly been a supporter of Obama? It is my understanding that he has not been around that long, done that much before he became president. Please fill me in if I did miss some things. I completely agree that there is no plan that will fix tings overnight, and nothing wil be seen as perfect. That is kind of how I picture the 9/11 situation with George Bush. Something had to be done, but not everyone was going to agree with it. I do think that if the government had not stepped in when they did that we would be in a depression right now, not just a recession. However, I also feel that the government is mostly responsible for the situation we are in.
I have been getting requests to watch that from close friends lately, and have been trying to get around to watching it. I have a pretty full plate right now though as far as tv shows go. I absolutely love it, walking outside smelling the grass, feling a cool breeze, even the Florida heat. It kind of takes you away from everything else, you can forget about what is going on off the field and just go out there and have fun on the field. And that is a great way for you to put it.
Aso- I know, that was a pretty big letdown for me though. I would have rather seen them lose the game at V Tech where they trailed by 19, then to come out flat at home like that. I am glad that you feel the same way that I do, I believe that its our duty as a citizen and a patriot to support our leader.
Julia- what you say is very true. During the depression our stock market decreased 80 percent, right now I believe the stocl market is down about 60 percent or so. The good thing is that this time around we have the knowledge of how bad it can get, and thus Government can step in to help us out. I agree that he was very honest, and I also agree that due to his unbelievable speach giving ability that he once again gave us hope. I just pray that it is not false hope. I hope that he has surrounded himself with enough intelligent people. Let me ask you a question, does it worry you about his association with the corrupted state of Illinois? America does always survive, and thank God for baseball.
Ellie- That is awesome, I wish that I had someone to talk baseball with during my time at school. That would have made it much more interesting.
Clarke- I agree with the political points. I have always worried about what his tax policies are going to actually be, and his DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH. I promise that he isn’t taking my gun. I think a good policy that he coul enforce to get the support of alot of Americans would be to enforce drug testing with the recieval of welfare checks. I think it would make some people feel more comfortable with the situation. I couldn’t agree with you more about public education, I think that our system is very poor and needs some serious improving. I hope that the stimulus package can do just that, stimulate the economy. Creat some consumer confidence, and eliminate the panic, because alot of people are in a serious panic right now. Clarke you put it very well my man. I could not have said it better than your second post. Try using this symbol press shift key hit the comma key, type br, then press the shift key and hit the period button. It has worked for me so far.
Shamtown- I know right, ask and you shall recieve. Unfortunately the same could not be said for my Tigers. Oh I have always wondered that would feel like. I am sure it is unreal. I would definitely have to say that college liberalized me, but I am still not identified as either/or. The problem with the housing market is that we got into trouble with the banks just having people sign on the dotted line in order to recieva a loan to buy a house. Most of them with little or no collateral. Now it has come back to bite them, and they are not doing it anymore. The problem with very strict loan restraints is that most people don’t just have the money to put up in order to buy a house. Even with the housing prices taking, so are the wealth of the people that are going to buy said houses.
There have been programs run by charities and banks that will match savings of low income families for a certain amount of time, and give interest. If you can’t afford a down payment, or don’t have a family support structure to help you do so, you probably aren’t financially ready to own a home and the responsibility that comes with it.
Where I live home prices are extremely low, if someone can’t get a down payment together of $1,000 to $5,000 dollars what are they doing to do with the home when they need a new roof? What about if a pipe bursts in the basement?
Government backed loans take away the risk, and artificially inflate housing prices. Housing prices are too high right now. The best way for low income people to be able to purchase a home is to liquidate all these bad deals we have now. Only when the market sets housing prices will poor and lower class people be able to afford them.
The government backing the loans of people who can’t afford the upkeep and payments is what lead to a lot of the current problems. It’s not the cause of the overall economic mess, it’s a symptom of the inflationary policies in Washington.
I dont understand politics or women. But when it comes to both I appreciate stimulus.
Dang, Orrie!
Anyone up for some baseball talk?
Awaiting your next blog post, Moskie!
Shamtown- you put it very well my friend. I think that is a more in depth explanation to my summary that I gave. Real good stuff, you seem to know what your talking about.
Geez Orie, that made me laugh out loud.
Brian- So it is baseball talk you want. Well then the next post will be about baseball. I think I got something up my sleeve, might spark up a little controversy though
Ohhhh goody! Baseball + Controversy = Good Fun in my book!
I don’t mind non-baseball topics but that was an awkward moment.
Hahaha yea, it was awkward, but who really cares, its all in good fun.
A conversation I just had with my pal, Dave.
Me: Hey, Danny Moskos just started a blog with a Comments section.
Him: Really??
Me: Yeah. Ive been talking to him the last couple of days.
Him: Wow. Whats he say?
Me: Hes concerned about Obama’s plan for long term economic growth.
Him: Oh, bite me. Whats he say?
True story 🙂
Orrington- Goodness that just gave me a good laugh. Nobody thinks baseball players worry about stuff like that or even take interest to it. We are just jocks. That’s really funny.
so what do you think about this as the title for my next post. The Steroid Era Saved Baseball.
LOL, thought we werent gonna go near this.
Well I think I can get into it without mentioning too many names. It is really interesting to look at when take tv ratings and the strike into account.
(Orrington smiles, gets out his bazooka).
“What, this? Oh, its nothing. Dont be alarmed”.
🙂
Sounds like a plan, Dan! I will save my opinions on the topic til after you post.
Hahahahah, wow!!!
Brian- look for it a little bit later tonight. I still have some more research to do.
Daniel, like a lot of people, while I’d heard of/about Obama before ’04, it was his keynote address at the National Democratic Convention that year that started winning me over. At the time, I was less liberal than I am now, but it was refreshing just to see an articulate and elegant man enter the national political scene. I live in Detroit, and we’ve been hit incredibly hard by the current economy. I started to feel more and more like I have a responsibility to take what I’ve been given and help out the people that are going without. In other words, the economic decline has led me down a more liberal road.
G- That is understandable. Although it is his elegance and way with words that worries me. He can get anyone to buy into his speeches because he is such a great speaker.