With Confidence, Confidentially

North Miami Beach, FL July 18, 2001 Aaron H.
Schectman

THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then, Opinions pro or con are welcome.

WITH CONFIDENCE, CONFIDENTIALLY

It occurred to me that there are few things we really can be confident
about. I know that President Bush is confident he knows the right formula to
fix the American economy. (I never thought it was broken during the last 8
years.) We just received a notice that our share of his tax cut is to be
$600.00 and the date it is to be sent in August is definite. However, I do
not think he has confided all his plans about the economy to us. We heard a
lot about how he wanted to pay off all the striving residents of the top 1%
of those earning income from their investments the greater portion of the
trillions he bandied about. I am confident that he confided inside
information to this group that they would get theirs - no matter what.

There are a few things we really can be confident about. The sun will rise
despite the clouds. There will be rain on some days. Summer will give way
to fall. Children will grow. When you get too old you will die.

There are few things that we can confidently say we know will last forever
or even for the length of a presidency. I can say with confidence that
ex-president Clinton will continue to look like a president should into the
future despite what his marriage turned out to be. I KNOW that he will
continue to be maligned by those who think the damage they did to the
American image during the impeachment business was proper and good for the
country. I have great confidence that these same people will root for our
current president despite his gaffs and choices in bringing America back to
its greatness.

Confidentially, I noticed that businesses are failing in greater numbers.
I note that great companies that did great business a few short years ago
are now laying off workers in greater numbers. My earnings reports for the
stocks that we own are now showing losses for the last six months. Before
the botched election it looked like we were actually getting ahead.

Go ahead - confide in me. How are you doing? Carol's Evaluation:10 out of
10.