More Corruption

The Bush Administration is being pushed to bail out the Big Three Automakers...and resisting.  And the Dems are pulling out all the stops.  After all, Big Labor (Hey...we bitch about 'Big Oil', why can't I bitch about 'Big Labor'?) has supported the Democrats for years and they are lining up at the trough wanting payback.  Why should Detroit workers have to give up salaries that are 50% higher than Honda and Toyota plants in the southern states?  Why should Ford and GM produce quality fuel efficient cars people want to buy?  Why shouldn't Washington buy a gas guzzling Hummer for everyone?

The Head of Big labor says workers will make no more concessions (as GM and Ford are on the brink of Bankruptcy).  So here are some facts...

Ford: $70.51/hr. ($141,020 per year)

GM: $73.26/hr. ($146,520 per year)

Chrysler: $75.86/hr. ($151,720 per year)

Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00/hr. ($96,000 per year)

According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).

Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D. (see graph above, click to enlarge), and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan. (Source )

The Democrats have been trying to give money to Detroit since last summer.  But then the bigger financial crisis hit and Congress, with much disapproval from the people, passed the $700 billion bailout package.  And so money got tight.  So how do you pay your debt to Big Labor and keep the splatter from landing on your freshly pressed suit?

You manipulate the system to get the funds to Detroit while being able to later deny fault if it fails and Ford and GM go Bankrupt.  And who to blame?  Why, President Bush or course.

Here is what was "inserted" in the Congressional Record AFTER the bailout vote.

Colloquy between Senators Levin and Dodd on Auto Loans

Mr. LEVIN: As Treasury implements this new program, it is clear to me from reading the definition of “Financial Institution” that auto financing companies would be among the many financial institutions that would be eligible sellers to the government. Do you agree?

Mr. DODD: Yes, for purposes of this act, I agree that “Financial Institution” may encompass auto financing companies.

Mr. LEVIN: Thank you. It also seems clear from the definition of “Troubled Assets” that, should the Treasury Secretary, after consulting with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, determine that purchasing auto loans would promote financial market stability by opening up the market for car sales, that Treasury has the authority to make such purchases, so long as it transmits that determination to Congress.

Mr. DODD: Yes, should the Treasury Secretary, after consulting with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, determine that purchasing auto loans is necessary to promote financial market stability, and transmits such determination in writing to the Congress, then the Treasury Secretary could engage in such purchases.

I am keenly aware of these issues as Chairman of the Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over financial aid to commerce and industry, and which wrote the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979.

So here the Dems are trying to make it the Bush Administration's responsibility to give the Automakers some of the bailout PORK.  These 'Colloquy's' are intended to rewrite the intent of the Bailout Bill.  Keep in mind this is the Congressional Record.  While not having the force of law, it does have certain legal standing; although Congressmen have does their best to change it from a daily record of Congressional Activities into their own personal 'blog'.   

The response from the Administration?  NO.  Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson refuses to use the $700 Billion for the automakers.  So Nancy Pelosi started writing letters last weekend trying to get the Administration to do what Pelosi and company could do with a vote. 

But that would be messy and that would require taking responsibility for the result. 

*Pink*

 

Posted by BubbaJake @ 11:37 am EDT | Permalink | 12 Comments

The New Deal

There is a lot of talk in Washington about a 'New' New Deal.  After all, FDR's New Deal is the Holy Grail of Liberals everywhere.  The New Deal gave us Welfare, the Social Security System, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).  It ended the Gold Standard.  And the Rural Electrification Administration (which still exists as the Rural Utilities Service).  And it gave us a series of Labor rules including minimum wage and a maximum number of work hours in a week.  The New Deal was a massive Governmental response to the economic collapse that preceded the Great Depression.

But before we start worshiping FDR...consider these words to Congress.

"We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong . . . somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises . . . I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started . . . And an enormous debt to boot!"

Those are the words of Henry Morgenthau, Treasury Secretary under FDR, and said to Congress in May 1939.  Morgenthau conceded that the anti-capitalist, anti-market policies of his friend and President FDR are what extended the damage caused by the 1929 Stock Market Crash and, by building on the interventionist policies of Herbet Hoover, brought about the Great Depression.

Hoover started by assuming massive debt from public-works projects like Hoover Dam, the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the Los Angeles Aqueduct.  As a Republican President he was praised by the American Federation of Labor.  Go figure.  Many believe that the 1929 crash didn't cause the Great Depression.  It was the use of the crash as an excuse for wrong headed policies like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act which precipitated retaliatory responses from our trading partners.  The loss of the export markets devastated the farmers as exports amounted to one-third of their income.  FDR responded by trying to boost farm income by paying farmers to keep land idle or setting production quotas.  This increased costs to consumers and reduced farm productivity.  Another snowball. 

Of course, with all of this spending, the government needed money.  Hoover raised taxes on businesses and 'The Rich', adding a further burden to companies and consumers and escalating the crisis that led to the Great Depression.  FDR's policies went further to increase government spending and destroy business incentives.  Does any of this sound familiar?

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

We hear much from Washington today about how Capitalism has failed.  But since when is procuring a mortgage that you cannot possibly pay for capitalism?  What has failed is the meddling of our elected officials who have no better understaning of economics than they have of brain surgery.  These are men driven by ideology and agendas.  They believe they are doing what is 'best for the country' only because their egos prevent them from seeing that they are ignorant and stupid.  How difficult is it to see that taxes are a burden?  They are bad.  Yes, they are a necessary evil, but what stretch of the imagination leads these men to think that increasing a burden on a segment of society will lead to that segment increasing its productivity?  How do they justify spending money to shore up the lending markets, when they do not have the money in the first place and need to borrow it from (i.e. take it out of) the very markets they are trying to rejuvenate?  Government spending can help an economy just as consumer spending does.  However when the spending originates with borrowing, eventually Peter has to pay Paul and the house of cards collapses.  At this point all the Feds can do to help is to STOP spending and stop skewing the markets.   

We do not have a failure of capitalism.  We have a failure of intelligence.

*Pink*

Posted by BubbaJake @ 9:52 am EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

Government Response

Anyone who believes the Government can help you...read this.

Now I know this is going to result in a bunch of 'Bush bashing', but that again is not my point.  Governments are not designed to respond quickly to a crisis of any kind.  Yeah, sometimes we do better then others and the better responses usually involve the military of the National Guard...because they train constantly for a crisis. 

And we have only seen a fraction of the bailout.  Central banks have already spend trillions of bucks over and above what the feds have.  And Paulson has given up on bailing out banks and is now focusing on credit cards and car loans...trying to help consumers get further into debt.  Great.

More later...I have a 1/2 written blog on the 'New Deal' that could make for interesting reading.

*Pink*

Posted by BubbaJake @ 10:28 am EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

You ever wonder?

I've been wondering lately what we will learn about President Bush after he is out of office.  With LBJ it was sitting on the crapper during meetings.  The first Bush turned out to have a pretty good sense of humor.  Kennedy apparently was 'saluting' most of his presidency.  Hey, the guy nailed Marilyn Monroe.  A certain amount of respect has to go with that.

I say an article yesterday describing the first meeting between G.W. Bush and Obama.  "The two men shook hands and then, according to Obama, Bush turned to an aide, "who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president's hand."  OK.  So are we talking a Howard Hughes like aversion to germs?  Seems like a pretty stupid thing to do.  So WTF? 

If you go looking for Bush's successes, the one that seems to be on the top of the list is that he did a lot for Aids in Africa; more than any other President.  I don't hear much about that and I wonder why it was a priority for him.  Start Googling and pretty soon you are inundated with "the man is an idiot", 'bumbler", "ignorant", "stupid"...you get the drift.  Was Afghanistan a failure?  Where the notorious "Bush Tax Cuts" a failure?  What about crippling Al-Qaeda?

I don't want to get into a debate about the things Bush did or the things Bush is blamed for (those are not always the same thing).  I'm just wondering what kinds of things will leak out now that his terms are ending.

*Pink*

    

Posted by BubbaJake @ 4:24 pm EDT | Permalink | 7 Comments

I have the day off today. Sort of.

I have a meeting this afternoon and have to go in later.  Odd company.  About a third of us get the day off.  And this is new...Veteran's Day has never been a holiday before except for the u-n-i-o-n folks.  So I'm drinking coffee, watching the news, reading the papers, surfing the net. 

* Bush is pissed because someone on Obama's staff leaked their conversations.  Bush botched this one.  He should have assumed from he beginning that this would happen.  They don't like you G.W.  And Obama has not learned yet that in D.C. there are no friends.  In time I hope Obama will learn that keeping quiet is a highly desirable skill.

* The NYT published details of Spec ops raids on Al-Qaeda under the Bush Administration.  I always hate seeing stuff like this.  The pundits are on the News this morning claiming that the article will endanger American lives.  I'm not sure that is true but so far I have only skimmed the article.  But it does give intelligence to the other side and I don't like that.  More frustratingly, it seems like it is impossible to keep a secret in Washington.  This always drove me crazy.  I remember once when a Colonel came out to review some of our work.  While his basic clearance was received, certain information was missing.  So we couldn't brief him.  A Major, who was our primary contact, was really pissed.  Did the Colonel have the clearance?  Probably.  But we couldn't verify it so we didn't talk.  Those are the rules.  I'm pretty sure the Major...looking for points...briefed the Colonel during the car ride home.  This is why 'secret orders' end up on the NYT front page.  Douche.    

* Ever wonder why, since the election, the stock market has continued to drop?  It isn't that Wall Street doesn't like Obama.  Wall street knew for months that Obama was a likely choice.  The problem is Congress.  Lieberman and Dingell, moderate but faithful democrats, are being targeted by the extreme left, Waxman and Reid.  Dingell chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  Very powerful.  Waxman represents Beverly Hills.  Unlikely they will be hurt by by extremist energy policies, but Dingell's Michigan will suffer considerably.  All this when most areas of the U.S. have reported below average temperatures.  Shades of things to come? 

* In the OMG it's Fox news it must be a lie category...Al Frankin is pulling close in the Minnesota race by having officials correct miscounts on electronic machines. And apparently almost all of the corrections are coming from three precincts, with half coming from one precinct.  Last I checked, electronic machines print out the count.  Not much of a margin for human error.  Things that make you go 'Hmmmmm'.

* Dean is out as the DNC Chairman.  Eeeeaaaahhhhh!  'Nuf said.   

* And in the 'Black radical ministers aren't the only wackos' category, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) is going nutz over Obama's civilian national security force comments.  I have blogged about this before.  I don't think Obama is up to no good (although I reserve the right to call this level of volunteer crap...crap).  Read his full speech asshole.  I'm not very worried about the Peace Corps taking my guns away from me.

That's enough.  I have constructive things to do.

Later.

*Pink*

Posted by BubbaJake @ 11:15 am EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments