Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, and legendary investor had a 3 hour sit down with CNBC yesterday. I watched the entire 3 hour show and found it very interesting. (Editors note--I have a few "B" shares of Berkshire Hathaway). In the interview, the 78 year old Buffett talked about how bad the economy was, that the consumers had dramatically changed their spending habits, and it would get worse before it got better.

Despite his dreary short term forecast he did express profound optimism for the American people and the economy over the long term. It's nice to hear a 78 year old think about the long term! It is also important to note that Mr. Buffett is one of the world's richest people so he can afford to lose 20% to 30% of his wealth without worrying too much about it.

A multi-billionaire who loses a few billion can still sleep at night. His audience yesterday  was probably made up of  "thousandaires", people who lost 30 to 50% of their net worth the past six months.

I do not begrudge Mr. Buffett's wealth. He is a legendary investor and has made many of his shareholders very wealthy over the years.  The point of this blog is that he did make some important points about the political landscape and how it is intertwined with the ecomony:

> He made it abundantly clear that the government's primary job right now is to fix the economy and the financial system. "It is job #1, job #2 and job #3." He said Republicans and Democrats should work together to solve the nation's problems. BUT he also said that you cannot expect people to unite behind the President when he is trying to "jam everything down their throats", meaning all the massive spending programs like health care and Cap and Trade.

> Any Cap and Trade taxes will ultimately be passed on to the consumer. So this means higher utility bills for everyone while Al Gore runs around the country in his private jet telling us the Global Warming debate is over.

> Mr. Buffet made it clear he is AGAINST the Employee Free Choice Act or card check rule. He is a strong proponent of the secret ballot for union elections. He is not anti-union. He just believes in a democratic, free and private voting system.

> It is a mistake to demonize all corporate executives for using private jets.

Mr. Buffett endorsed Mr. Obama during his campaign and claims to still support him. He says that he is the right person for the job. He also says that he has not spoken to Mr. Obama about the economy.

Too bad. Instead of running around the country in post-election campaign mode, perhaps Mr. Obama should sit with Mr. Buffett behind closed doors without any cameras for three hours with a few of his liberal friends and LISTEN to what he has to say before he tries to BANKRUPT the country.