admin Democrats, Economics & The economy bailout, Chriss Dod, congressional overspending

That’s right, you didn’t misread the headline. Emily Kaiser, Reuters Analyst explains:

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies, consumers and communities may grow so addicted to government financial help that cutting them off could trigger another recession soon after the current one ends.”

Interesting, so basically all this bailout money is just methadone? And when it runs out we’ll be back on the smack?

Merrill Lynch economist Sheryl King continues:

“The stuttering attempts to repair the banking and lending mechanisms so far by the new administration suggests that by late 2010, the specter of a second dip into recession will be looming large.”

Could this mean further bailouts?  Probably.  More “stimulus”?  You got it.

Read the rest of the article.

Reminds me of the patterned “victim” of recent progressive philosophy:  Convinced they need help to survive, and given help they didn’t really need, eventually they lose the ability to survive without it, thus becoming dependant on it.

Let’s hope we’re wrong about this one.

             

admin Economics & The economy bailout, Economics & The economy, socialism

Dear Friend,

Today in Denver, Colorado President Obama will sign the trillion dollar Pelosi\Reid\Obama spending bill that you and I worked so hard to stop.

While losing this battle is disappointing, I am more optimistic than ever that we can succeed in protecting the American Dream.Here’s why.

1. You showed the politicians and media that literally hundreds-of-thousands of Americans from all walks of life are willing to fight to protect our economic freedoms.

—As of today 465,000 Americans have signed the NoStimulus.com petition.I’ll never forget our website crashing within seconds of our appearing on FOX.

—You shut down the telephone lines at the Capitol.I saw Senators in the days before the vote and they had that “hunted” look in their eyes.

2.You proved our side can compete and win on the “new media” front.For consecutive days, you made NoStimulus.com and Americans for Prosperity the leading search on Google and then Yahoo.

Thousands of Americans have gone to YouTube.com to view Americans for Prosperity’s videos detailing your grassroots energy.We can match and defeat our opponents on this front.

3.The other side has problems too.With every political wind at his back, President Obama came within 1 vote in the Senate of losing this first battle.Already, their next Bank Bailout is being panned (with good reason).3 of President Obama’s Cabinet nominees have had to withdraw.According to public polls, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid have some of the lowest approval ratings in American history.

By the way, today when the President says this is a carefully drawn, fiscally responsible bill consider what is in the final legislation:

Billions in outright pork and wasteful spending:
$300 million for buying cars for federal bureaucrats;$3.7 billion for something called “green research” on military bases;$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts; $2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization” to radical groups like ACORN;$1.3 billion for Amtrak; $10 million for”urban canals”(I’m not making this up); etc.

The Road to Government Run Health Care
$1.1 billion for “comparative effectiveness research” that will establish a federal government board to begin rationing health care by having bureaucrats deciding which medical treatments will be appropriate for which Americans.(Page 52 of final conference report)

Overturning the Historic Welfare Reform of 1996
$264 billion for direct welfare payments while overturning the historic welfare reform of 1996.The Pelos\Reid\Obama bill will reward states with federal welfare funds based on the number of people they put on their welfare rolls – a perverse incentive that will in effect give states “bonuses” for adding more people to welfare rolls AND work requirements are ignored in this legislation.

$53.6 billion for a “state stabilization fund” otherwise known as a slush fund
This massive infusion of our tax dollars is designed to alleviate the need for genuine budget reform and cutting at the state level.

So, when you hear folks saying this Pelosi\Reid\Obama “stimulus” bill was a “compromise” that cut waste to the bone while focusing only on “shovel ready” priorities, call them on it!

Thank you for joining our NoStimulus.com petition effort.You made the nation stand up and take notice at a crucial time.As a result of our effort, we can look to future public policy battles with a renewed sense of confidence.If we could come within 1 vote of winning in the Senate on this first and toughest battle,just think what we can do in the contests that lie ahead.

As Ronald Reagan liked to say, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Sincerely,

 

Tim Phillips
President, Americans for Prosperity

 

 

  

  

 

  

 

             

admin Economics & The economy bailout, obama, Stimulus

If you haven’t heard yet, GM released an open letter to the American public.  I’ll link the actual GM apology letter below, but first, here’s a SLATE.com report on the apology:

“From time to time, companies find it necessary to apologize. They may not do it in so many words, but in the wake of a crisis or a scandal or a huge, news-making problem, they will mount an advertising campaign to assure you, the consumer, that efforts are underway to “win back your trust.” During the Ford/Firestone fiasco a couple of years ago, for instance, both of those firms launched forgiveness campaigns.

Like all ad campaigns, the bottom line is that GM, right now, is a fine, high-quality company, whose products you should buy immediately. It’s the journey to this obvious destination that’s interesting. “Thirty years ago, GM quality was the best in the world,” the print ad starts. “Twenty years ago, it wasn’t.”

And apparently the company muddled along in a sub-par manner for 10 years before deciding to change. “The hard part [was] breaking out of our own bureaucratic gridlock,” the ad copy continues, and “learning some humbling lessons from our competitors.” After a “painful” decade of effort, they’re now back up to snuff, putting out great cars, etc., etc. The ad cites positive consumer-satisfaction research and recent automotive awards, presumably the hook for the campaign. “The road to redemption has no finish line,” the copy concludes. “But it does have a corner. And it’s fair to say we’ve turned it.”

GM says that campaign is aimed at the apparently large segment of the car-buying public that simply won’t consider its models. The company’s North American president calls it “a unique effort to reach those consumers whose perceptions of GM are out of step with today’s reality.” I suppose that’s reasonable, but let’s say you’re one of the thousands who did buy a GM car in the 1980s and 1990s. You, apparently, were a sucker. Your vehicle was not put together by a company with “a true culture of quality in every division.” That’s not what I’m saying—it’s what GM is saying.”

Had enough?

Well guess what….

That article is about GM’s apology in 2003!

Yup, you read that right - it’s from five years ago.
Here’s the 2008 version that’s now asking for taxpayer money to continue, but it really begs, no DEMANDS the question:  What’s going to change this time?

Super Props to Michelle Malkin for this one

             

admin Domestic, Economics & The economy, General auto makers, bailout, Economics & The economy, lame excuses

from: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081207/ap_on_bi_ge/congress_autos

[snip]
Capitol Hill leaders prepared to sell yet another bailout to a skeptical Congress. It is an uphill battle: The anger is fresh over how the Bush administration used the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund and lawmakers are questioning whether the once-mighty auto giants can survive.

How the Bush administration used? What about Congress?  What about the media that pounded on our skulls about how the world would end if we didn’t act right away? nah, let’s just pin this all on Bush…much easier that way.  Not that he doesn’t deserve his share, lets just keep to to what he does deserve.

Yeah, the “once mighty”…lets just remind everyone what a tragic american tale this is where the once mighty buffalo are now all but.. oh, I mean the once great automakers bla bla bla.

The emerging measure would speed short-term help to General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, while empowering the government to order a wholesale restructuring of the industry and imposing tight restrictions on the Big Three, according to congressional officials and others close to the talks. They described the developing plan on condition of anonymity because the details were not final.

Tighter restrictions.  Of course!  Why didn’t I think of that.  What these companies need is MORE REGULATION, that’s sure to create flexiblility and help streamline production.

It is designed to tide over the companies — particularly GM and Chrysler, which have warned that they are just weeks from going bust — through March, when Barack Obama is president and a new Congress could consider a longer-term solution.

Ya know, if we could just get Obama in there a bit sooner, just everything would be better.  It almost makes me want a “conditional” bailout now thinking that it will be more $ and less or unconditinal once Anno Domini Part 2 begins.

             

admin Domestic, Economics & The economy auto makers, bailout, obama