We mention Time Magazines issue on Warren Buffett reports an optimistic view for the future of the USA economy. We recommend this article to you, especially his comments highlighted.

Buffett Optimistic about the USA's Economy

See the octogenarians thoughts on the U.S. housing market. It is a succinct analysis of what Buffett believes is the intricately linked relationship between housing starts and employment.

"Once we get back to a million housing starts per year”– the current tally is 685,000 — “I think pundits will be surprised just how fast unemployment will come down in this country,” he says. “There are 4 million people hitting age 22 every year in this country. Sure, you can double up on households for a while, but at some point, hormones kick in, and living with your in-laws loses its allure.” Buffett notes that nearly every one of his major non-housing businesses has had several strong quarters, and Berkshire companies are making a record number of investments, the vast majority of which are in the U.S. “I am 100% sure that people in this country will be doing more business 10 years from now than they are today.”

As we consider his words, I remember as a banker tracking every job created when a house is built. Our appraisal firm http://www.benboothe.comtracked the details. It is amazing. With every house there is a need for some worker or the following products to be purchased, and people hired to install them:

Reuters and many other publications have reported warmer temperatures of our world.

Higher Temperatures, More Solar Flares.

9 of the 10 warmest years on record occurred since 2000. Warmer temperatures and more radical and unstable weather patterns cannot be ignored. Something is going on out there and this week we experienced the radiation from massive solar flares. All of this, and we consider what happens if the ice caps at the poles do continue to melt and shrink. Will sea levels continue to rise and endanger people in coastal areas?

Then we read that indeed, the oceans have been measured and have increased temperature world wide. Explorers tell us that glaciers are melting at a rapid pace, unlike ever documented before.

SUN'S MOST POWERFUL FLARE SINCE 2005

Radiation from the sun started hitting the earth and will continue until mid week. Tuesday night, look to the north, because the last time this happened, the "Northern Lights" moved south and could be seen in much of the USA. The radiation—in the form of protons—came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour.

Then you must watch this. She is an honest person, one who demonstrates integrity and what she thinks is best for "the people". What a great and strong person. If only more of our politicians had her character. She could stay in office and enjoy the "perks" at taxpayer expense, but she has too much integrity for that. Gabby, we admire and love you.

In 2011, the U.S. imported 4.1 billion barrels of petroleum accounting for 60% of the U.S. supply. The total cost of those imports was $453.6 billion. That represents an increase in cost of 34.6% over 2010 and a whopping increase of 71.8% over 2009.

In the election cycle of 2008, virtually every candidate for every federal office from both political parties made a campaign promise to enact legislation to reduce our dependence on OPEC oil. These numbers I have cited prove little has been done.

Today we're paying about $100 per barrel for foreign oil and, in the case of OPEC oil, often to nations that are hostile to our best interests. Oil prices are up when they should be going down. Demand for oil globally is down while domestic production in America is up. There's one word that describes why oil prices are up instead of down: geopolitics, much of it attributable to the seemingly never-ending turmoil in the Middle East.

Recent Economic Figures Showing Economic Trends:

APARTMENTS: Vacancies down to 5.2% Effective rents up 2.3%

OFFICE: Vacancies ended the year at 17.3%, 30 basis points below the end-2010 level

Statistics on office space areflecting slow improvement across the nation. Rent growth was also positive every single quarter, with asking rents increasing by a modest 1.6%. The sector absorbed 5.3 million square feet, the fifth consecutive quarterly gain in occupied stock, the office sector has assuredly turned the corner and begun the process of recovery. Net absorption sums up to 20.7 million square feet for the year, a clear reversal from 2010's loss of 16.7 million square feet.

RETAIL: Vacancy rates stuck at 11%.

A new Federal Prison, has been built in a small town in the Northeast. We will not name the town, but note these details. It was put there, ostensibly, to "create jobs". But there is a problem. It has not opened. It has been repeatedly delayed. And this is the bad part, it will not open for a while, if ever. Because the law says that a federal prison employee must have a good credit report for employment. This prison is in a town that has been hit by lay offs, closings and unemployment because of the economy. There aren't enough people in the town with a clean credit report for the prison to staff up. Thus, no prison, no jobs, no economic recovery. The irony is, that the town, the politicians, all wanted the prison, to bring jobs and economic recovery. But the credit scoring system of the United States, of our credit card industry and banking industry is holding it back. The system cannot understand or allow for giant depressions or recessions. It just calculates a score. "You got laid off. You are unemployed. You missed 2 payments. Your credit score dives." Period.

50,000,000 Americans are now "locked out" of consumer spending. Time for a change

"If America is to recover as a consumer economy, credit must be restored to consumers". says Ben Boothe, former banker and president of http://www.benboothe.com

Consider, it is estimated that over 50,000,000 Americans now have damaged credit, or credit reports that would not allow them to purchase a home, car, or even a lap top computer. The traditional wisdom has been that it takes a person 7 years to "repair" his credit to gain it back, and even then, the limits can be strict.

HOUSING NEWS. ANSWER FOR THOSE STRUGGLING WITH HOUSE PAYMENTS

(Send this to your candidate running for office, you could be a part of the solution)

MORTGAGE RATES A 3.89%, RECORD LOWS

With millions of homes on the market, many of them vacant and foreclosed, there is still many more millions of Americans who are making payments, in spite of a tough economy, lower income and often poor jobs. In light of this, Freddie Mac reported that rates on home mortgages are below 4% and have been at this recorded low for over six consecutive weeks. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.89%.

The 15 year mortgage was at 3.16%, and the 5 year Treasury, adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), averaged 2.82% this week. Why so low? Huge supplies of houses, and a high unemployment rate.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE POLITICS (REPUBLICAN PRIMARY)

A Texan from New Mexico reports

on Yankee Politics

Report from Manchester, New Hampshire

All the national media is in New Hampshire. In our hotel, in Manchester, New Hampshire, are Fox, NBC, CBS, CNBC and C-Span.

It is over for American troops. As President Obama promised, the last American troops left Iraq this week, after nearly a decade of war. Let me say it again. THE WAR IS OVER!

Finally the Facts Match the Headlines

Be joyful! What a Christmas present to all Americans.

This is a time to rejoice. We should be dancing in the streets and planning parades and welcome this as a great event. Think the first Christmas in nearly 9 years that our boys and daughters are not fighting in Iraq and are home, safe in the USA.

When George W. Bush, made his "Axis of Evil" speech 9 years ago, naming Iraq as a target for U.S. retribution, I wrote him a long letter, part of which was repeated in this publication GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES.