John Cohn

You would think that with his historic inaugural only 11 days away, the presidential campaign would be over.

But Barack Obama is still on the stump.

This time he is selling his economic stimulus plan.

With the unemployment numbers showing the loss of another 524,000 jobs in December, culminating the worst year of firings since 1945, the task of selling his plan should a no-brainer.

Some records are meant to be broken.

Take for example, the single season home run record of Roger Maris. Or the number of gold medals won by an individual Olympian.

As if we didn’t have enough on our plate, the Russians are coming.

It had to happen.

Since the collapse of the old Soviet Union, Russian power has not come through the barrel of a gun but, rather, a barrel of oil and natural gas.

One of President-elect Barack Obama’s few campaign gaffes was his botched attempt to fit in by playing one of mid-America’s cherished pastimes, bowling.

During a campaign swing through Pennsylvania, then candidate Obama donned a bowling shirt, put on a pair of two-toned bowling slippers and unceremoniously rolled a whopping 37.

The best thing that can be said of 2008 is that it’s finally over.

Analysts and historians will be writing a post-mortem for years to come.

Knowing Hollywood’s penchant for disaster movies, I’m sure there soon will be blockbuster coming to a theater near you.

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

— Bill Vaughn

What a wild ride.

The extraordinary year that was 2008 will be remembered as the year the first person of color was elected to the most powerful position on the planet.

Ninety percent of the game is mental, the other half is physical. Yogi Berri – Baseball Coach & American Philosopher

­When in doubt, fall back on the words of the greats.

­­­One of the most cherished institutions of capitalism is choice.

­Choice fosters competition. Choice results in winners and losers. Without choice, we’d be Eastern Europe before the fall of the old Soviet Union.

After what is now shaping up as the worst holiday shopping season in nearly 40 years, our choices for everything from electronics to lingerie will start to shrink. According to the latest projections, retailers nationwide plan to shutter 12,000 stores in the upcoming year.

­­T’was the last day of shopping when all through the land;
Automakers were closing while making their plans;
Corporate jets were parked on the runway with care,
While waiting for St. Barack to take up his chair,

Very few philosophical texts stand the test of time better than “The Godfather.”

Although Mario Puzo’s classic chronicled the lives of America’s favorite fictional crime family – until the Sopranos – his murderous Mafiosi were like the philosopher kings of old; dispensing wisdom on life, death, love and even the economy.