I hope everyone had a safe and merry Christmas!

• Just spent some quality time at the Asheville airport. It's about half as much fun as you think it is… maybe less.
• President Barack Obama called the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles to congratulate him on giving Michael Vick a second chance. I just wonder if you or I get fired for doing something stupid whether somebody will take a chance on us. I hope so.
• When you are in panic mode you probably don't make your best decisions. The federal government was in panic mode two years ago when they decided to come up with the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). It should be no surprise to anyone that the program has not worked all that well. It turns out that many of the banks that were bailed out back in 2008 seem to need a little more bailing out only two years later. Bankers wasting our money, are you surprised?
• Mike Singletary, the former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, was fired last night. The season isn't over. The 49ers clearly had a disappointing season, yes, but to fire him now was simply classless. What difference would one week make? The season ends next week.
• The GOP is not in step with America. Their arrogance will probably be their downfall.
• New analysis of the extension of unemployment insurance and the tax cuts is available. The extension of the unemployment insurance is stimulative to the economy. The tax cuts are not.