The Obama's administration's leading plan to fix General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC would use bankruptcy filings to purge the ailing companies of their biggest problems, including bondholder debt and retiree health-care costs, according to people familiar with the matter.
WSJ
Without a federal bailout, the auto industry may have been forced to deal with various bankruptcy filings. Thank God we decided to put billions into the auto industry, so they can declare bankruptcy. Wait, WTF!?!?! Once again, that is money well spent right there.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Doing a Bang-Up Job!
Stocks fell sharply as turmoil in the auto industry and depleted hope for financial and economic stability eroded much of the market's March gains.
WSJ
Despite all the talk about more government involvement being the key to quick recovery, all of the meddling in private industries led to yet another dive in stocks, led by the banking and auto industries. With the Administration talking about expanded authority to take over banks and non-banking financial institutions, and then forcing the current GM chief exec out on his ass, stock holders are showing little or no confidence in the government's ability to micro manage private industries...and so am I. So, we should all thank the Obama Administration for having the exact opposite effect they intended. Job Well Done!
WSJ
Despite all the talk about more government involvement being the key to quick recovery, all of the meddling in private industries led to yet another dive in stocks, led by the banking and auto industries. With the Administration talking about expanded authority to take over banks and non-banking financial institutions, and then forcing the current GM chief exec out on his ass, stock holders are showing little or no confidence in the government's ability to micro manage private industries...and so am I. So, we should all thank the Obama Administration for having the exact opposite effect they intended. Job Well Done!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
No Real Change
Notably, Democratic leaders in both houses are pushing packages that call for narrower deficits and less spending than proposed by the White House. And those levels could go lower, especially in the Senate, where moderate Democrats from conservative states will be an important factor in the debate on the floor next week.
WSJ
Even OMB Director Peter Orzag is quoted as saying that the House and Senate proposals are 98% similar to the White House proposal. So much for Congress establishing its own independence. Our only hope now is for the 51 Blue Dogs in the House to jump ship and act reasonably. I am not holding my breath.
WSJ
Even OMB Director Peter Orzag is quoted as saying that the House and Senate proposals are 98% similar to the White House proposal. So much for Congress establishing its own independence. Our only hope now is for the 51 Blue Dogs in the House to jump ship and act reasonably. I am not holding my breath.
Still Slipping
Mr. Geithner's proposal, which could be modified amid congressional debate, would allow the Treasury and FDIC to jointly determine—after consulting with the Federal Reserve—if a company needed to be seized.
WSJ
I really cannot believe we are even considering this. We may not be a pure capitalist society, but we are a country with capitalist roots, and a free market core. The fact that we have an administration that is actually suggesting giving giving the government the power to take over private firms scares the crap out of me. If we keep going down this path, "socialism" is going to be an all too common term.
WSJ
I really cannot believe we are even considering this. We may not be a pure capitalist society, but we are a country with capitalist roots, and a free market core. The fact that we have an administration that is actually suggesting giving giving the government the power to take over private firms scares the crap out of me. If we keep going down this path, "socialism" is going to be an all too common term.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Budget Brings Out the Hypocrites
Stan Collender, in his most recent column in Roll Call, calls out many of those Democrats who are complaining about the way Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND), and other lawmakers are handling the President's Budget Proposal for fiscal year 2010 (FY10). The every same Democrats who accused the Republican-controlled Congress of merely rubber-stamping President Bush's fiscal and legislative initiatives are now criticizing Conrad for establishing Congressional independence in regards to the budget.
As with most political pundits and so-called advocates, principles only factor into decision-making when it is convenient. Now, I don't support Conrad's budget either (which should be released on Thursday), but at least it is a step in the right direction when compared to the Obama proposal.
As with most political pundits and so-called advocates, principles only factor into decision-making when it is convenient. Now, I don't support Conrad's budget either (which should be released on Thursday), but at least it is a step in the right direction when compared to the Obama proposal.
Slippery Slope
The U.S. government needs to be able to take over and wind down a broad range of economically important non-bank financial institutions, top economic officials told Congress Tuesday, though who will get that authority was left as an open question. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told House lawmakers the government's experience with American International Group Inc. highlights the need to deal with increasingly complex and systemically important institutions.
WSJ Online
The way to deal with the institutions is to let them succeed or fail on their own mertis, and not bail out failing industries with taxpayer dollars. But instead, this slope keeps getting even more slippery.
WSJ Online
The way to deal with the institutions is to let them succeed or fail on their own mertis, and not bail out failing industries with taxpayer dollars. But instead, this slope keeps getting even more slippery.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Dodd Double Talk
Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN Wednesday that he was responsible for language added to the federal stimulus bill to make sure that already-existing contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money were honored.
CNN
I am not going to comment on whatever reason Dodd claims to have included the language, or even if the language should have been in the bailout. Instead, I want to focus on how just one day after telling CNN that he had nothing to do with inserting the bonus language, Dodd admits to be the main architect of the provision. Did he really lie to CNN yesterday, or is he lying today? Did he refuse to admit to his stupidity only after getting caught, or is he protecting someone in the Administration? Either way, I hope this adds to his political troubles so he will lose his Senate seat in 2010.
CNN
I am not going to comment on whatever reason Dodd claims to have included the language, or even if the language should have been in the bailout. Instead, I want to focus on how just one day after telling CNN that he had nothing to do with inserting the bonus language, Dodd admits to be the main architect of the provision. Did he really lie to CNN yesterday, or is he lying today? Did he refuse to admit to his stupidity only after getting caught, or is he protecting someone in the Administration? Either way, I hope this adds to his political troubles so he will lose his Senate seat in 2010.
Not in My House
Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners.
WSJ
There had better be some damn strict, rigid levels of proof required to release any of these bastards. I, for one, am not comfortable with this at all.
WSJ
There had better be some damn strict, rigid levels of proof required to release any of these bastards. I, for one, am not comfortable with this at all.
Socialist Administration
President Barack Obama said he will seek legal authority over the financial system that will give the federal government power to step into contract issues, such as the one that has allowed American International Group Inc. to pay out $165 million in retention bonuses to employees of the tottering insurance giant's financial products group. The president said he spoke with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank this morning about granting him "resolution authority" similar to the power the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has over the thrifts it regulates. That would allow his administration to potentially abrogate contracts that it can show does not serve the good of newly regulated entities like AIG.
This is exactly why I was against the bailout plan from the start. Not only did the government give taxpayer's money to companies that already proved they cannot be trusted to use capital in an intelligent manner, it gives the government a foothold in private companies. This type of government involvement goes against the fabric of the free, capitalist ideologies that our country was founded upon. Once Obama beings involving himself in the operations of "newly-regulated" companies, what is to stop him from applying this authority to even more private entities. The term "slippery slope" was coined for precisely these kind of situations.
Update:
Obama is taking responsibility for the bonuses, not because he was invovled, but because he believes a leader should keep things like this from happeneing. This false sense of humility is simply another ploy to lend credibility to his efforts to place private businesses under governmental control.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Bipartisan?
"I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy," Robert Gibbs, Obama's press secretary, said during his daily briefing to journalists at the White House. "So they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal."
Washington Post
I understand why Gibbs was trying to downplay Cheney's credibility and relevance, but his wording did little to help the Administration's facade of bipartisanship. If Obama want sto pass himself off as a unifying force in Washington, his spokesman should not be making comments about the "Republican cabal." Partisan shots like that should be left to liberal pundits or members of Congress.
That being said, the GOP needs to start putting muzzles and leashes on "members" like Limbaugh and Cheney. Most of America looks on both of these men in a negative way, so as long as they are associated with the party, the party is not going to rebound from the last 3 years. They really need to start making better decisions.
Washington Post
I understand why Gibbs was trying to downplay Cheney's credibility and relevance, but his wording did little to help the Administration's facade of bipartisanship. If Obama want sto pass himself off as a unifying force in Washington, his spokesman should not be making comments about the "Republican cabal." Partisan shots like that should be left to liberal pundits or members of Congress.
That being said, the GOP needs to start putting muzzles and leashes on "members" like Limbaugh and Cheney. Most of America looks on both of these men in a negative way, so as long as they are associated with the party, the party is not going to rebound from the last 3 years. They really need to start making better decisions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
