Inauguration Day. Today our new president, President Barack H. Obama takes the oath of office. As I stated yesterday, this is an historic day for this country. President Obama is the first African-American President of the United States. I hope once he takes office, everyone will back off and let him breath. A lot of people have high hopes for President Obama. The reason for a lot of that hope lies with President Obama. He has made a lot of promises to a lot of different people and groups. I don't see how he can possibly deliver on even half of them. For example, unemployment is at an all time high and rising. Yet, people like Senator Harry Reid of Nevada wants to push through a “comprehensive immigration reform” that will throw millions of low skilled workers into permanent residency. I don't buy the concept they do work that Americans will not. That is a lie perpetrated by employers to make money off the backs of these low-skill workers. President Obama has promised immigration reform that will grant amnesty. Yet, how can he do this with the economy in the pits and jobless Americans signing up for unemployment benefits each week? That's just one example of his promises. Regardless, I wish him good luck. He's going to need it.

Speaking of the Inuaguration...does President Obama really understand there is a recession? ABC news reports the price tag on President Obama's Inauguration is going to cost $170 Million!!! We, the taxpayers, have forked over $700 Million to bailout every Tom, Dick and Harry with a business pulse. And we are told to eat our cake and like it too. This large an Inauguration, this costly an Inauguaration is ridiculous when you consider the banks failing, housing industry tanking and Americans getting thrown out of work. It all comes back to Obama's famous ego. The significance of this day is not lost on me. But, it would have been more significant and more in tune with today's reality if it had been toned down a bit.

And if you think things are bad here, be grateful you are not living and working in Brazil. In December alone, Brazil lost 654,000 jobs! That is devastating to this country.. Plus, they added 1.6 million to the work force in 2008. Brazil sells a lot of raw materials to countries like China and the USA. So, there is that. But, losing that many jobs in one month (approximately 190 million people) is going to be tough for their government to overcome.

Finally, as I reported in my blog entry last Friday's “Gratuities: Optional or Not?,” I received a phone call from a Subway district manager concerning the incident where the food server took a tip (without asking me) from the change from the $20 bill I gave her. He profusely apologized for the incident. He also said the public affairs representative was wrong when she said it was “customary” to leave tips for the servers. He said he would be calling her as soon as he hung up with me. He told me the server is no longer employed with Subway over this incident. I told him I was sorry she was fired. But, I also told him I can understand that a business cannot have an employee like the Subway server who, basically, stole money from me. I was glad to get a call from this Subway district manager. I honestly didn't want the server fired over the incident. But, maybe she will learn something from this when she applies for her next job. I hope she does.