No update last night; I had a company softball game. We lost 3-16. But don�t blame me, I wasn�t in the field. Our co-ed league has some strange rules. They allow extra hitters, which are people who bat, but not field, as long as they are inserted in the line-up in male-female pairs. No extra males alone, so that you don�t load up on heavy hitters. I got two singles and drew a walk, which means I took second base. Males take two bases on a walk so that you don�t walk the men to get to the women. Guys and girls also get pitched two different sized balls. The rules are confusing. But it does level out the play, so they must know what they�re doing.

What else is on my mind? How about national and international economics�

Last Sunday, I understand, the Treasury Secretary stated that the falling value of the U. S. dollar on the international markets might not be such a bad thing. Apparently, for him to publicly state this was somewhat unusual.

Robert Reich went crazy over it on Nation Public Radio�s Marketplace Morning Report. Mr. Reich, a former member of President Clinton�s Cabinet, thought this was irresponsible to say! How dare the Secretary imply that we would do nothing to prop up the value of the dollar?! Sure, it might lead to increased profits for American exports and aid the failing economy. But we live in a world economy! This is no time for an America-first, go-it-alone attitude. This could be bad for French and Japanese products! And if this trend continues, it might lead to inflation! Where is the White House on this? It�s as if George Bush doesn�t care!

Well, duh, let me get this straight�.

Out of the many economic forces in the world, one is heading in a direction, through no action of our own, which is good for America. At least for now. And the White House has decided not to act to stop it? GOOD! It ain't broke, don't fix it. Why should we take action to harm ourselves in order to protect other nations� economies? We are in a slowly recovering recession. I�m all for helping my neighbor, but right now we need the help. When we�re back on our feet, then we may take actions to stop this trend. And yes, it could lead to inflation, but only after the recovery. Let�s have the recovery first.

Might not his reaction have more to do with the fact that the Democrats are hoping to run against a failing Bush economy? They�ll blame President Bush for not fixing the recession, and here they are blaming him for not taking action against the recovery. Isn�t Mr. Reich himself running for Governor? Note all the buzz words in his commentary (George Bush doesn�t care, with his go-it-alone attitude). This is clearly political grandstanding disguised as economic commentary. Either that or the Democrats truly never see a time when government intervention is not warranted.

Mr. Reich, get your self-serving comments off my publicly funded radio station.