The Budget Deficit This is my least favorite topic, but the budget deficit is getting increasing press. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal hit the President hard over this topic. The Democrats do, as well, as they see this as a vulnerability, and they hammer on all they can find. The only problem is that the Democrats would like to spend more. Their answer is to raise taxes substantially. My response is that taxes are already too high, even after President Bush's tax cuts. What has taken effect, so far, doesn't help very much. My primary concern is wage deflation, in part due to sending IT work offshore and importing lower-paid software people from Russia and India. The amount of wage deflation is such is that there will be economic consequences, at least in certain regions (such as the Dallas area).

David Kay I was gratified to hear David Kay say that the flap over WMD's in Iraq was created by an intelligence failure (I read George Tenet). After hearing that, I also heard Frank Gaffney say that George Tenet should have been asked to resign, at the beginning of this administration. Frank Gaffney says that David Kay would make a good Director of Central Intelligence, because he "knows where all the bodies are buried".

There is a wave of talk about good outsourcing There seems to be a rush, across the political spectrum, to declare outsourcing a good thing. The range goes from The New Republic to the Wall Street Journal. In between, there is Instapundit and Daniel Drezner. I want to agree with them that they are right, as I am pro-free trade and pro-India. My Indian friend, the US Citizen, is trying to build a consulting business, in the "Upper Midwest", and he feels that the move to send work offshore and to import low-cost software labor, is a threat to his livelihood. It is a threat to mine, as well. The problem is that there seem to be no good measures that can be taken. I keep thinking that what we will be left, in an effort to "fix" the problem, is with Herbert Hoover's economic program: increased taxes and protectionist trade measures. If someone like John Kerry, or especially Howard Dean, I can see that happening. Political wishful thinking transcends economics.

The L1 Visa I learned something new, yesterday. The L1 visa is a way for foreign companies (such as those in the IT field) to bring people into the US to work, without having to deal with H1B issues. The advantage of the L1 is that the person is tied to their employer, and can't jump to other employment, the way a person on an H1B visa can. Also, the L1 visa is not subject to the quota limitations that the H1B has. This is just another cause for wage deflation in the software field. For example, Indian workers would be paid at a lower, Indian wage scale, and then get expenses and benefits to compensate, and to make living and working here financially feasible. I was told that is a practice used by at least one major Indian consultancy.

The Atkins Diet A feature of the Atkins Diet is that simply saying you are on the diet is not sufficient to cause you to lose weight. Another nasty feature is that there are some foods that are labelled as having zero carbohydrates, but are still incompatible. The main offender is pepperoni. I have spent the last 1-1/2 years wanting pepperoni to work, and denying that it wasn't working. The sad thing is that I had learned this lesson, originally, during the summer of 1999. This time, I was a slow learner with a short memory. Now that I am back on track, I am finding it easier to follow the plan, as I am seeing results. Last Friday, we went to a Chinese restaurant, on the University of Minnesota campus, for a going away luncheon. The food was good, and I was careful, but I still was set back, in my diet, by the meal.

New Hampshire Update The latest (Monday morning) MSNBC/Zogby Reuters Poll shows that Howard Dean is back to 28% to John Kerry's 31%. That is a three-day rolling average, so that is significant. I have to conceded that many have been denigrating Zogby polls, as of late, but he has a credible history. This shows that the attempt to trash Howard Dean has failed, at least in New Hampshire. John Kerry is still what he was before Iowa, boring, and pandering, with no fixed principles.

I am not a John Edwards fan John Edwards may give the best "stump speech" of the New Hampshire primary, but his message appears to be demagoguery. That is not unique, as everyone, with the exception of Joe Lieberman, pretty much follows the same line. We can tell that he is trial lawyer. We remember that the trial lawyers are funding his candidacy. The purpose to prevent there ever being "tort reform". Such a thing would severely limit their income.

Mike Bloomberg and Dr. Atkins Mayor Bloomberg's bizarre and gratuitous attack on the late Dr. Atkins is very odd. I am relying on the NYPost's reporting, but I have no reason to doubt the validity of that. The only flaw I can see with the Atkins Diet is that you have to follow it for it to work. Many people say they are following it, but you can see that they still need to diet (me, for example). I can testify that as soon as you "tighten up" and follow the diet, you will see results. If you deviate, you will pay. People think that when you follow the Atkins Diet, you stop eating vegetables. When I originally started, my intake of vegetables rose, dramatically. The prudent person needs to supplement, as well. That is the only way to ensure that you are getting what you need. My father always believed that you were better off eating what was required for the vitamins you needed (such as hand-squeazed orange juice, rather than condensed or bottled). That principle applies here, too, up to a point. The key is to restrict carbohydrate intake, and I would suggest that calorie intake should be a concern, as well. For example, too many Atkins-brand snacks will give you more calories than you can handle. The danger with such things is that you will binge on them, as they are the one opportunity for sweets.

My jaundiced view of the Democratic candidates I admit to not watching any of the debates. I am dependent on what is reported in the press, although I am really dependent on the Blogosphere, as that is the best source of independent news. First, I hope that General Clark's position in the polls falls like a rock. Second, trial lawyers have been a blight on the country. They use people for their own enrichment. They have devastated businesses and the economy. We don't need one as our president, i.e., John Edwards. John Kerry still is what he was before Iowa. He can't stand up to close scrutiny. In typical fashion, he depends on demogoguery. I heard him, this evening, giving an anti-business rant, decrying company profits. Doesn't he know that to employ people, companies need to be profitable? It also helps the stock market, which helps all the people who have their 401K's invested in the market. Joe Lieberman is the sanest of the bunch. Therefore, he doesn't have a chance. I am still rooting for Howard Dean to make a comeback. I agree with Hugh Hewitt's take on the way that Howard Dean was trashed by the mainstream media, after Monday night. I totally disagree with him, but he is still the best of a bad lot.

I don't think Howard Dean should "mellow out" I believe that Howard Dean needs to go back to what was working for him, in the past: anti-war and anti-Bush. Otherwise, why would anyone go with him? He exuded more of those two characteristics than anyone else.