Home > Thinking Right > Archives > 2008 > December > 08 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USGrovel for the mob, Mr. CEO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This could be a long four years as liberal politicians use the economic downturn that flows from the world financial panic as excuse to nationalize major industries. But first, it’s necessary to force CEOs to come forth and admit their sins, real and imagined, grovel before the petty ward-heelers, and then perform a kind of perp walk in disgrace from their corporate jets.
U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that Rick Wagoner, the chief executive of General Motors “has to move on” as a condition for a bailout of the Detroit-based auto industry. There’s speculation that same sentence would apply to Ford and Chrysler LLC.
“I think you have got to consider new leadership,” said Dodd of GM specifically. “I think it [a change at the top] is going to have to be a part of it [the bailout].”
It doesn’t occur to anybody in the majority to insist that the head of the United Auto Workers step down or that Big Labor is guilty, too, of what President-elect Barack Obama called a “head-in-the-sand approach” to the industry’s worsening financial troubles. Had they not buried their heads in the sand they might have dealt sooner with looming financial disasters, something Congress has failed to do with Medicare and Social Security. But of course nobody expects politicians to actually heed the sermons they preach.
In the long term the country will be far better off if the auto industry chooses bankruptcy now as an alternative to turning their executive offices, and indeed their planning, manufacturing and human resources decisions, over to Washington. Both taxpayers and shareholders will be far better off in the long run.
I hate this pandering to the angry mob that liberals are now doing. Either help the auto industry or don’t, as the nation’s interests dictate, but don’t throw executive-office offerings to the angry mobs to “prove” that you’re tough guys.
I’m getting the sense that we have another administration on the way that’s high on symbolism and low on effective action — the domestic version of Bill Clinton’s missiles-to-mud-huts national security policy.
Services »
Comments
By John j
December 8, 2008 8:31 AM | Link to this
If congress want’s to determine who is or is not in charge of these businesses let them buy enough stock so they can use the process already in place. Names are proposed to the board and then are voted on by ALL shareholders, not only those in Washington. I believe we call this democracy. (the bad news is they will use our money to buy the shares)
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this
Good morning all. Amazing to see Chris Dodd, protector of the FNMA and FHLMC “corporate” thieves, calling for others to resign on account of the losses they have inflicted on stakeholders. Of course, any green-democrat so arguing about the “American” automakers’s management is inherently duplicitous – WSJ the other day noted that every line manufactured by the big three is profitable except for the small cars sold in the US. The big three take a loss on every small car they sell within the US, but are unable to stop the losses because of CAFE. The bankruptcy of the American carmakers can be laid at the doorstep of the 1970s leftists and all of those who came subsequently, but the loons will argue that the bankruptcy was good for the country. And now they will argue that taxpayer subsidies to the bankrupt automakers is good for the country. With all due respect Jim, this is worse than symbolism, this is lunacy. Of course, the American voter – worker – taxpayer deserves the government it elects.
By red state antonym
December 8, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this
The title of the article made me think you were going after Vernon Jones. Not interested in the Big 3. Give em the loan and let’s move on. What’s 50 billion in a 3 trillion dollar budget? Pennies.
By Aquagirl
December 8, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this
Are we ignoring the fact these guys were in charge when their companies ran aground? Gee, Jim, whatever happened to the conservative mantra of “personal responsibility?” Oh, wait, it only applies to your political enemies. My bad.
By Bo Chambliss LOBBYIST
December 8, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this
As of this morning George W Bush was still PRESIDENT and he is for a BAILOUT.
By ugacpa02
December 8, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this
Wonderful idea, fire the guys willing to work for $1 a year. These guys have taken a huge public beating and are willing to work for free. Seems to me you might want to look at that option. Instead congress wants them fired and will keep the lug-nut guys costing in total wages and benefits $85 an hour.
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this
Dear Aquagirl @ 8:47, our mantra has not changed – we simply resist the leftist demand to “execute all, whether guilty or not.” The “guilty” here are the lawmakers, as always seems to be the case.
By Ronco
December 8, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this
A triple Bankruptcy would bust the union agreement. Did you get a look at the CEOs of GM, F, and C? These Menacing Managerial Mendicants Mendaciously Mentioned a Menu of Mends for the Meltdown which amount to So Much Manure. (and a barely-veiled Menage-a-Trois screwing of the workers).
Bankruptcy would bailout GM as if congress had bailed them out with 125 billion dollars, which is the minimum they need to continue on with their failed business plan (to market ridiculous-looking death traps to unsuspecting motorists).
First, GM products are inferior in every possible way to Toyota. GM hasn’t improved their reliability in 100 years. The idea about planned obsolescence is vulgar at best. Second, GM put safety glass in their cars before they put seatbelts in. They saw a problem: the maimed motorists, who had been sliced and diced during accidents as they flew through the windshield; but instead of restraints for passengers, they figured as long as they were going through the windshield anyway, why not put in safety glass?
That’s the kind of thinking that epitomizes conservatism, and why everywhere that that you can find republican thinking, (everywhere you look), you find collateral damage.
Germany had to ban the nazi party post hitler. We should now ban the US auto industries, post pinto, and let them build bicycles or skates. I wouldn’t own a GM product if you paid me to drive it and gave me free insurance and gas, and put heated leather seats and a global positioning satellite thingie in it, or a dvd player or an mp3 player or cup holders, or those stupid floor mats that bunch up and prevent you from braking, or a moon roof that always leak, or tinted glass, or a clock. A clock
A CLOCK!! That’s it! REmember the fifties and sixties and seventies? Not one clock in any GM car ever worked longer than six months. If you were inside of a used GM car, you could assume the clock didn’t work. Or the windshield spray. The squirt mechanism would fail before the clock did.
Sorry, it’s too upsetting. GM cars are pathetic, and ruined my life, and I hate every single car they ever built (except for the 57 Belair, the coolest car ever).
Ban the Detroit 3! Ban the Detroit 3!!
BANTHEDETROITTHREE!!
By ugacpa02
December 8, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
Wonderful idea, fire the guys willing to work for $1 a year. These guys have taken a huge public beating and are willing to work for free. Seems to me you might want to look at that option. Instead congress wants them fired and will keep the lug-nut guys costing in total wages and benefits $85 an hour.
By ron
December 8, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
Good morning,—-I’ve been in the business long enough to know that in lean years unions don’t get much of what they ask for and in fat years their demands are met with smiles and approvals.American business has no long term plans.They live only for the moment.Does the CEO of General Motors need to go?Obviously he does or the company would not be in the shape it’s in.That Christopher Dodd should be the one that’s pushing it is beyond irony.
Does the head of the UAW need to be replaced?Yes he does,but he won’t be.
Will General Motors survive the oversight of this government?No.I don’t think it will.They have proven they can’t govern and I don’t think they can make cars either.That goes for both sides.
Hybrid cars are apparently going to be the future of the automobile industry,but they’re not a given.Straight plug-ins are a ways down the road.,if at all.Another rise in oil prices will start consumers trending in that direction again,but low prices will only serve to further the gas guzzler.OPEC knows this.
By ugacpa02
December 8, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
Wonderful idea, fire the guys willing to work for $1 a year. These guys have taken a huge public beating and are willing to work for free. Seems to me you might want to look at that option. Instead congress wants them fired and will keep the lug-nut guys costing in total wages and benefits $85 an hour.
By Helen Crane
December 8, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this
The fact is that politicians are pandering- to an angry public tired of being robbed by greedy, out—of-control corporations that then the audacity to ask for a bailout. Unions have far more political capital than these whiners who have run the company into the ground b/c of their unreasonable compensation. Cry me a river Jim- the party of “personal responsibility” needs to take some for this national disaster!
By Simple Answers
December 8, 2008 9:16 AM | Link to this
Mere days after penning this ode to the brilliance of St Ronald:
The message was a bomb dropped near his tent in the Libyan desert in April 1986 at the direction of President Ronald Reagan.
F*******|
the domestic version of Bill Clinton’s missiles-to-mud-huts national security policy.
Good God, Wooten, can’t you even maintain a scrap of consistency from Friday to Monday?
Simple Answer: No.
By Torchbearer is accurate
December 8, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
Do the jackholes in Congress want to handpick the new CEOs? The auto industry is a mess, some of it helped along by the federal government. Give them the loans, or don’t. But if they fail, recession likely ratchets up into depression. May God help us all.
By Ronco
December 8, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this
A triple Bankruptcy would bust the union agreement. Did you get a look at the CEOs of GM, F, and C? These Menacing Managerial Mendicants Mendaciously Mentioned a Menu of Mends for the Meltdown which amount to So Much Manure. (and a barely-veiled Menage-a-Trois screwing of the workers).
Bankruptcy would bailout GM as if congress had bailed them out with 125 billion dollars, which is the minimum they need to continue on with their failed business plan (to market ridiculous-looking death traps to unsuspecting motorists).
First, GM products are inferior in every possible way to Toyota. GM hasn’t improved their reliability in 100 years. The idea about planned obsolescence is vulgar at best. Second, GM put safety glass in their cars before they put seatbelts in. They saw a problem: the maimed motorists, who had been sliced and diced during accidents as they flew through the windshield; but instead of restraints for passengers, they figured as long as they were going through the windshield anyway, why not put in safety glass?
That’s the kind of thinking that epitomizes conservatism, and why everywhere that that you can find republican thinking, (everywhere you look), you find collateral damage.
Germany had to ban the nazi party post hitler. We should now ban the US auto industries, post pinto, and let them build bicycles or skates. I wouldn’t own a GM product if you paid me to drive it and gave me free insurance and gas, and put heated leather seats and a global positioning satellite thingie in it, or a dvd player or an mp3 player or cup holders, or those stupid floor mats that bunch up and prevent you from braking, or a moon roof that always leak, or tinted glass, or a clock. A clock
A CLOCK!! That’s it! REmember the fifties and sixties and seventies? Not one clock in any GM car ever worked longer than six months. If you were inside of a used GM car, you could assume the clock didn’t work. Or the windshield spray. The squirt mechanism would fail before the clock did.
Sorry, it’s too upsetting. GM cars are pathetic, and ruined my life, and I hate every single car they ever built (except for the 57 Belair, the coolest car ever).
Ban the Detroit 3! Ban the Detroit 3!!
BANTHEDETROITTHREE!!
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this
ha ha ha, now I see why woodenhead works as a, eh, journalist and not in a real job. Mr. ceo is the reason for the growing depression, aided and abeted by the bush clowns, the most unqualified bunch ever to control the Administrative Branch of guv. Example: Extended Stay Hotels just offered to turn their hotels over to the lenders, in lieu of bankruptcy. Why? Because the hotel chain was aquired by private equity thief BlackCoal or some such name, loaded down with debt, then sold at a 3 billion dollar profit for blackNuts or whatever they call themselves. So Steve the Thief walks away with three billion plus all the loan money, while the hotel chain fails, cheating the lenders out of much of their money, and the hourly workers out of their pay checks (yesterday one of the idiots on this blog said the Bush Depression was occuring because of the small increase in the minimum wage!) Steve the Thief still eats two rock crab claws for lunch everyday, at a price of 400 bucks per claw….but the hotel workers eat canned beans if they can get them. I sure hope the Urinal goes the way of the LA Times and Chicago Trib….both on the edge of failure. Fat Butted Jim could stand to lose 30 pounds of blubber….
By Aquagirl
December 8, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this
Dear Rag @ 9:07, sorry, not buying. The playground cry of “look what he’s doing!” is immature, no matter how much lipstick you apply to that particular pig.
It’s moments like these which make me long for my military days, when it was unacceptable to cover one’s failure with finger-pointing. If these guys want to be CEO’s, they should take responsibility for what happened on their watch. As pointed out, it is possible for them to divest their companies of insane union requirements through bankruptcy. That option did not suddenly appear last week.
By Simple Answers
December 8, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
Once again, it is easy to identify the posters who gobble Hannity choad. They are the ones that repeat the lie about the auto workers receiving $85 an hour in pay and benefits. In fact, current worker pay+benefits averages approx. $40 an hour. But why let facts get in the way of a tired rant?
Further, the unions have granted concessions in their contracts several times in the past few years, most recently in a voluntary gesture just last week. But why let that fact ruin a good story line? It must be all the unions’ fault. Just look at what they did to the financial sector.
By No one's "forcing" anything, Wotten
December 8, 2008 9:37 AM | Link to this
If Mr. CEO doesn’t want to “subject himself” because it’s “beneath his station” then stop asking the government for a handout!
You like to call it “personal responsibility” Wooten; but what it really is is hypocrisy. Something neocons “talk the talk” about, but rarely walk the walk about. That, as much as anything, is why they got their a$$ handed to them in the last election.
By Ronco
December 8, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
A triple Bankruptcy would bust the union agreement. Did you get a look at the CEOs of GM, F, and C? These Menacing Managerial Mendicants Mendaciously Mentioned a Menu of Mends for the Meltdown which amount to So Much Manure. (and a barely-veiled Menage-a-Trois screwing of the workers).
Bankruptcy would bailout GM as if congress had bailed them out with 125 billion dollars, which is the minimum they need to continue on with their failed business plan (to market ridiculous-looking death traps to unsuspecting motorists).
First, GM products are inferior in every possible way to Toyota. GM hasn’t improved their reliability in 100 years. The idea about planned obsolescence is vulgar at best. Second, GM put safety glass in their cars before they put seatbelts in. They saw a problem: the maimed motorists, who had been sliced and diced during accidents as they flew through the windshield; but instead of restraints for passengers, they figured as long as they were going through the windshield anyway, why not put in safety glass?
That’s the kind of thinking that epitomizes conservatism, and why everywhere that that you can find republican thinking, (everywhere you look), you find collateral damage.
The biggest pinheads among us all are Ford Pickup Truck drives who believe that Ford can be used as an adverb as in “Ford Tuff”. Ford Pickups are the biggest POS’s on the road and only a complete fool would think they can “haul stuff” in them. Duh, I gotta haul stuff, so I needs a pickup, duh, and it has to be tuff, you know? Duh.
retard!
By Reality Check
December 8, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this
UGACPA02 @ 9:11am
Even if your numbers were correct, ( they are as wrong as two left shoes) that amounts to an average salary of 176664.00. Where was the outrage when the real theives on Wallstreet were getting bailed ouT? By the way, the average Goldman Sachs employee for 2006 was $622,00.00! Don’t be a fool…. The rea theives have already raided the temple.. all that is left is the crumbs.
By DB, Gwinnettian
December 8, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this
After all that has happened, and is likely to happen as a result of terrible economic management, Jim, your sympathies are with… the poor CEOs who have to grovel?
Seriously?
You want to keep this thing online, do you?
You could always pull it. I’d suggest you do.
By Ronco
December 8, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this
Ford Trucks: POS’s
Chevy Trucks: Bigger POS’s
Chrylser Trucks: I wouldn’t wipe my dog’s patoot on them
By spankmonkey
December 8, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this
Ummm see my comments from Bookman’s blog this AM.
Recap of said comments: This Pinko Lib (thank you Andy) says that the unions MUST be removed from the picture. Thier usefullness has long since past, and most of the “protections” they offer are codified and part of the laws these days anyway. Unions still have thier purpose, but driving major corporations out of business (to guarantee thier workers a retirement that’s more cush than a lot of peoples current living), well that’s not one of them. Same with the CEO’s, golden parachutes are nice, but not when times are hard.
But, since this is entirely the fault of Labor Unions, Nacy Pelosi and Barney Franks, CEO’s shouldn’t have to be part of the solution, or in any way accountable should they? Nor should boards be held accountable for bad decisions, like hiring Nardelli to head Chrysler after he raped and pillaged Home Depot. What’s Nardelli doing now? Oh that’s right, he’s lobbying congress…
Instead of organizing a circular firing squad, congress, CEO’s, and the Unions should be figuring out how to each give up a slice of thier pie for the greater good.
By Peter
December 8, 2008 9:57 AM | Link to this
Jim a Funny Guy….continues to bust Democratic balls, yet the country is 1 Trillion dollars in debt under the Guidance of George Bush.
Currently has the highest unemployment in decades, and the country is loosing jobs on a daily basis.
Hey Jim…what is the current leadership…. (hard to say that without barfing)….. doing about America’s Problems ?
Not much are they !!!!!!!…….
REPUBLICAN’S 8 WASTED YEARS !
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 9:58 AM | Link to this
Dear Aquagirl @ 9:19, your antagonism to whining is fully appropriate, however executing only the innocent is not. So long as the government continues to tell car makers how to make their cars, the industry will reel – there is no management that can implement incompetent orders. By executing the presidents of the big three, you are blaming the second lieutenants for the poor strategic decisions of the generals (Congress.) Economic efficiency is not served by papering over the real problem, or symbolic firing squads. So if you wish to depose the incompetent second lieutenants, that is fine by me, but don’t overlook the real culprits.
Dear lapdog @ 9:19, vapidity is no substitute for real economic thought. Your cultism is the core flaw in your arguments. Suggest you offer policy arguments if you wish to be taken seriously. You may recall you attributed the problems of the world to unspecified “republicans.” Not exactly whelming intellectual content there.
By sandman
December 8, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this
Maybe if our leaders were bright enough to regulate the importation of foreign cars we would be talking about something else. Raising import taxes would make the big 3 competitive without having a bailout or bankruptcy. Foreign automakers ship parts here and assemble cars here to avoid higher taxes they would have to pay if they shipped whole cars here. If we end this practice by adding higher tax to the parts being shipped here we can help our US automakers be more comptetive.
Even with this potential temporary fix, the real problem falls with the UAW. Until the big 3 are allowed to pay people what they are really worth and not bound by contract to overpay underqualified employees, this foolish practice will keep Detroit down until they do have to shut the doors. What a shame! We give a competitive advantage to foreign automakers, force ridiculous labor costs on our own automakers, and then poke fun at our own automakers when they cannot compete. But of course it the all the big 3’s fault. How gullible are the American people? Very gullible obviously. Another tragedy born and realized in the halls of Congress.
By Gator Joe
December 8, 2008 10:07 AM | Link to this
Wooten: How predictable, you and the ivory-tower Republicans taking another cheap shot at unions. Its fine if workers make sub-standard wages, receive few or no benefits, and work in unsafe workplaces, as long as you can maintain your comfortable lifestyle at their expense. Also, how hypocritical of southern republican politicians opposing US auto industry assistance, when they are actually protecting govenment-subsidized, non-union, foreign auto manufacturers in their states. How much do you think Japanese, Korean, and German auto manufacturers contribute to Shelby, Sessions, and the rest of the southern Republican phonies?
By deegee
December 8, 2008 10:08 AM | Link to this
I live in a county whose citizens voted for McCain/Palin by 80%. My observation is that the citizens of my county just love big trucks and SUVs. Whenever I pass a school in the county during drop-off and pickup time I see a colorful caravan of luxury SUVs. In fact I would guesstimate that the percentage of gas guzzlers to economy cars would align with the percentage of republican to democrat voters. Now, please tell me that the Detroit car manufacturers have been making products that nobody wants.
Additionally, Japan’s three biggest automakers, said November U.S. sales tumbled more than 30 percent as incentives failed to lure buyers to showrooms in a deepening recession.
Toyota’s 34 percent plunge was the most for Asia’s biggest automaker since at least 1980, while Honda fell 32 percent and Nissan plunged 42 percent. Combined sales for Asia-based brands including Hyundai Motor Co. slid 35 percent.
The loss of 1.2 million jobs in the U.S. so far this year helped drive down November industry-wide sales to the lowest annual rate in 26 years. Couple that with the contraction in credit and it’s apparent that the lack of leadership in the US is directly responsible for the auto industry crisis. Don’t blame it on the workers, don’t blame it on the CEO’s, don’t blame it on the products. If you want to cut off your nose to spite your face, then let the American car companies fail.
By getalife
December 8, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
With newspapers failing, all con writers should be fired.
They have no credibility and cheered on the destruction of our country.
Dead wrong on everything and a waste of money.
By Ayn Rand was Right
December 8, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this
Oh my dear Ragnar…thank you so much for your continued voice of reason. It is painful to watch the fruits of hard work and herculean effort squandered by those playing the blame game. Those same will soon turn with hand out and ask but what about me? I need your help. Sadly those willing to do, will have realized the futility and moved on to more fulfilling endeavors. It is sad to see the end of a great nation, built with the best of intentions and protected with precious lives. As life in our world is a cyclical cycle, and most Americans have softened to the point they do not even realize what they have become, I believe our time has come.
By Dudley
December 8, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this
Hey Jim,
Why do you persist with the double standard? You beat the drum of accountability with individuals yet you always seem to find an excuse to let heads of corporations avoid your rant! You even manage to find the same excuse with every Republican politician. Perhaps Alzheimer’s is creeping up on you slowly! I am personally tired of political and corporate heads blaming “the market” and NEVER their leadership or lack therof! Please Mr. Wooten, at least try and be objective since you call yourself a journalist.
By Gator Joe
December 8, 2008 10:20 AM | Link to this
Its been a bad year for orgnizations who have elephant mascots. Go Democrats, Go Gators! By the way, Bulldog fans, the worst case scenario for the Gators is 12-2 and the best is a national championship! I know, “wait til next year.”
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
RagHead: New Policy - Increase Capital Gains Tax to 90% for all gains over 20K, with gains below 20K to be tax free. Outlaw company paid Stock options and stock grants for the executive class totally. Make dividend income tax free below 2k per year, and tax it at 90% above 2K.
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 10:23 AM | Link to this
Dear Sandman @ 10:00, “If we end this practice by adding higher tax to the parts being shipped here we can help our US automakers be more comptetive.” Yes, but the car buyers would be poorer – there is no difference between a taxpayer-financed bailout and a car-buyer compelled bailout, i.e., economic inefficiency is economic inefficiency whatever form you dictate via legislation.
Dear getalife @ 10:14, “Dead wrong on everything..” OK, batman, riddle me this:
If you check the stats, the last time the republicans controlled Congress, the unemployment rate was 4.5% (Oct. 2006). Even one year later the rate was only 4.7%. But it began the slow rise around the time the democrats passed the higher minimum wage. Current rate is 6.7% Wonder how high it will get before the American voters wise up?
You fit the usual leftist “cultist” template, citing the role of “people” rather than citing any particular “policy.” Contrary to leftist theology, people make little difference in politics, it is the policies that attempt to implement (or not.) Think of all the good Obama could do for the country simply by renewing the Bush cuts of 2002. Instead, look for corporate welfare.
Everything Congress does that increases the costs of doing business, is multiplied far beyond the cognitive capacity of a leftist. For example, multiple choice quiz: if a rational businessman comes to believe Congress plans to make it easier to unionize the workforce, the rational businessman will: (a) lay off all of the marginal workers, (b) consider outsourcing to other countries, (c) hire more workers at higher wages, (d) pehaps shut down the business or sell out if possible, (e) beg Congress for handouts, or (f) all of the above except (c). Answer: you already know.
Quick tutorial: if, hypothetically, you were a leftist who wished to persuade businessmen to hire people and expand the company, you should avoid a few simple errors:
(1) don’t make it easier to compel union membership as a requirement of retaining a job;
(2) don’t raise corporate taxes;
(3) don’t raise taxes on higher income individuals;
(4) don’t renegotiate international trade agreements, to make them less free and more “fair”;
(5) don’t implement a “cap and trade” system for energy, primarily to enrich those who control the system;
(6) don’t restrict production of traditional energy sources, such as coal, oil, and nuclear;
(7) don’t raid the taxpayers for corporate welfare, to be paid to preferred “alternative” energy producers, mostly leftists;
(8) don’t nationalize health care, financing all costs through business taxes.
All of those policies increase costs, and would reduce quality of life for all living under the yoke of nanny government. The flight of capital, seen in the decline of the Dow Jones Industrial average, is fully rational, and, as we regularly note here, voters deserve the governments they elect. The real question is whether the elected democrats are foolhardy enough to implement the programs they promised. Voters will have an opportunity to change course soon enough.
By anonymous coward
December 8, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this
@Ragnar I have to agree with you. Some keep saying that most of the current economic downturn is proof that unregulated free markets don’t work. Yet nothing we’ve seen is “free market”. The entire bad mortgage crisis was caused by the feds who have some strange desire to see everyone in a house they “own” so they relaxed oversight, encouraged risky loans and ratcheted up the economy. That was pretty much a bipartisan effort.
The car manufacturers are not free market, either. The feds can’t do something simple like just hike the gas tax. Oh no, instead they have to come up with stupid and labyrinthine CAFE standards. There’s no free market there, people, just a bunch of stupid laws that always have unintended consequences. In the meantime the Big 3 continued to make cars that satisfy demand. It’s hard to get upset about that - it’s the American people that buy those cars; it’s not the Big 3 shoving them down people’s throats.
Now, if you want to examine the way the Big 3 have worked with dealer networks, financing issues and the like, that’s a different story and that’s where a well run corporation would make some changes. Are worker costs too high? Probably, but I haven’t seen a real analysis, only “news” stories. Of course a massive workforce that’s laid off in the case of total collapse is a concern, but I don’t think a total collapse will happen, bankruptcy or not. I’m for helping those people out as much as possible, but I’m not for the feds propping up a corporate structure that clearly needs to be changed, especially for privately held Chrysler.
Nobody doubts that the feds should not dictate corporate structure (at least I hope not). What people seem to be confused about is whether the fed money should come with strings attached. First of all, there should be no federal money. Second of all, if the Big 3 feel they have to take fed money then they have to take the strings because as wrong as it is there’s no way we can tell the morons in Congress (dem, rep or ind, it doesn’t matter) not to have the strings attached. Look at the financial sector that got bailouts with no strings attached - did they change their corp structure? AIG is still having their parties, bonuses and the like, so the fed probably should have dictated some common sense, but I never expect common sense to come from the feds.
By Aquagirl
December 8, 2008 10:28 AM | Link to this
Rag @ 9:58, I fear you are slipping into uberconservative mode. When something goes wrong, y’all convene a witch hunt to find the “dem libs” responsible. I never encourage the victim syndrome. For you to paint the automaker CEO’s as noble but helpless second lieutenants in the face of government intervention is silly. Ronco pointed out GM (along with other American automakers) have manufactured a lot of crap. The big three have also shown no avoidance of government intervention as long as it was in their favor. If they had long ago taken a libertarian stand-on-their-own-two-feet approach, I’d be a little more sympathetic. Instead, they chose to encourage low interest rates and stake their entire profitability on hulking SUV’s. Bad idea.
And I’d like to second the motion of disappointment this column, despite the title, was not about Vernon Threesome Jones. He’s fading away, we need to take every last possible opportunity to skewer his lame a%$.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this
Half of this years ugay recruits are trying to call Urban Meyer to switch their commitment to UF….Some have even offered to be walkons at Florida rather than full football rides at UGAY. Two have said they will choose to walk on at Ga Tech….rather than play at the GaySchoolInAthens….AynRand was drunk, adultress, tobacco stained, stinking romance novel writter before romance novels were socially acceptable….she was a third rate intellect, like most women at best.
By FUBU
December 8, 2008 10:35 AM | Link to this
Democrats conduct show trials with corporate executives serving as their props. If corporate execs are stupid enough to submit themselves to these moral miscreants, then they get what they deserve.
If Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were treated in a fashion consistent with their financial misdeeds, both would be hanged in the public square.
Dumping GM’s CEO is indeed window dressing, but it won’t solve their inherent structural problems. But Leftists value symbolism over substance.
It’s amusing that Democrats paint Republicans as the “party for corporate welfare” yet the Dems are leading the charge for, er, corporate welfare. To be clear, the welfare isn’t for the corporations but for the unions (goonions).
Question for all you lib types: Why not just mandate a $200K salary for all Americans? You could call it a “stipend” and state with authority that “America is finally investing in people” or “in Mainstreet” or other such nonsense.
By Ronco
December 8, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this
Now, Mr. Jones, get inside a Tundra and feel the smooth. The quiet. The quality.
Yes, Mr. Jones, the all-new, brand-new 2009 Toyota Tundra. Places were meant to be seen. Let Tundra bring them to you.
2009 Toyota Tundra. The Truck.
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this
Dear Aquagirl @ 10:28, you wound my ego – I thought I had always been THE Uber-Conservative. After all, any true liberal, such as your unhumble correspondent, opposes government interference with life except as necessary to preserve life and freedom. Where government is 90% of the problem, I am not inclined to pay significant attention to the remaining 10%.
By Do the Math
December 8, 2008 10:47 AM | Link to this
Jim: You’ve got it backwards. The companies are the ones doing the pandering. When they should be hard at work in Detriot they are instead in Washington, lobbying for handouts. They need to go bankrupt and this Republican corporate wellfare needs to stop, should have never began in the first place.
You are blaming the Democrats for trying to grab the spot light, thats what politicians do like it or not.
The US auto industry is to blame, lousy cars, lousy alignment for the US customer’s needs. The auto unions are part of the auto industry and not part of any liberal idea of how an industry or country should be run.
Stop playing the blame game please.
By Nodding donkey is accurate
December 8, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this
What’s at the core if this ever-growing, downhill-hurtling snowball of an economy? What pushed world economies over the edge by taking a huge bite out of personal and business pocketbooks? Hint: It’s sold by the barrel and purchased by the gallon (or liter elsewhere).
Whatever the outcome of the American auto manufacturing crisis, until we, the consumers give up gas guzzling for good, we are vulnerable to the type of financial-@n@l-rape-from-abroad we have just experienced.
I’m not a tree hugger, but a conservative American tired of being vulnerable to foreign oil producers.
Fundamental change in our consumption of petroleum must happen and I pray we don’t lose sight of that.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this
Nodding donkey is accurate - The core of the problem is the top 1% of the population stealing 35% of the income for their fat butted selves. That leaves them with a massive pile of cash with which to invest in ever increasing shaky activities….while they try to steal a little more from the remaining 99% of the population trying to live on 65% of the income. Why is newspaper circulation falling? Because 99% of the population can no longer afford the luxuary of a daily newspaper. Woodenhead and its ilk are far too stupid to see that connection…they want to blame poor people for not reading….
By Ronco
December 8, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this
Lithium Ion Technology: a magic wand, and the man behind the curtain.
Electric cars vs Gas at a buck a gallon. Everytime gas goes too high it comes right back down again. The crisis is always short-lived.
My corrolla gets 36 mpg on the highway at 80 mph. It costs less than 4 cents a mile. In 1970 money that’s less than a penny per mile, less than the vaulted VW bug’s claim of two cents a mile was in 1970..
People like J. Bookman panic easily and shout down cooler heads. THere’s no chance the congress will let the auto giants fail, as much as motorists would love to see the payback for generations of model T cloned death traps.
One of the criteria that pundits have listed for generations when defining the American dream is “cheap oil”.
SO the dream lives.
Markets: We’ve hit the bottom and it’s all gravy from here. Buy.
By Redneck Conservative
December 8, 2008 11:04 AM | Link to this
Well, these Congress people got some nerve attacking the big executives instead of the union workers. As a godly Conservative, I resent it. The problem is not running a co. into the ground, it’s the pay they give to union members. So let’s leave the CEOs alone, seeing as how they are godly Conservatives, and attack the union workers. As usual Congress has got things bass-ackward.
The best thing would be let the automakers file for bankruptcy. Which would throw 3 million more people out of work and maybe cause a depression but also get rid of the unions and their big pay and health plans and pensions. Which is more important, another 3 million out of work or getting rid of a godless union? As a godly Conservative I say it’s getting rid of the union. To heck with the depression.
And I resent this throwing off on Ford trucks. My Ford F-450 is a beauty to behold and runs fine. I will close by saying hi to ron the Moonshiner and the illegal beer he brews and trys to run me out of business. Have a good day everybody.
By ron
December 8, 2008 11:10 AM | Link to this
I read somewhere this morning that McCain’s base,where he garnered the biggest percentage of his votes, is Appalachia and the uneducated in the South.That certainly makes Ragnar and I feel better.How about you,Jim?
Ford makes such bad vehicles that the last one I bought in 1994 is still being used daily by me and the bride.My ‘94 Ranger.I paid around $7800 for it.
By Jim Jr.
December 8, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents. “Expect fallout, expect foreclosures, expect horror stories,” California mortgage lender Paris Welch wrote to U.S. regulators in January 2006, about one year before the housing implosion cost her a job. Bowing to aggressive lobbying — along with assurances from banks that the troubled mortgages were OK — regulators delayed action for nearly one year. By the time new rules were released late in 2006, the toughest of the proposed provisions were gone and the meltdown was under way.
By GaLiberal
December 8, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this
ugacpa02@9:04 AM said: Wonderful idea, fire the guys willing to work for $1 a year. These guys have taken a huge public beating and are willing to work for free. Seems to me you might want to look at that option. Instead congress wants them fired and will keep the lug-nut guys costing in total wages and benefits $85 an hour.
Let’s set the record straight here. These executives were not “willing” to work for $1. They first told Congress that they were quite happy with the current compensation packages. It was only AFTERWARD did they decide that $1 was a good idea. Of course, they still get deferred compensation and bonuses that’s paid once the bailout is secured. So in fact, they really are not working for $1. It’s just a false ploy to appease Congress.
As to the “the lug-nut guys” you deride, they are the ones actually building the cars. They are the ones that ultimately determine the quality (or lack there of) of the product. They are skilled workers that deserve their salary and benefits. When you get a job (I take it you’re a snot-nosed kid having mommy and daddy paying for your eduction so you have no clue what things cost)you will expect to be paid more than $85/hr in salary and benefits. Why should they expect anythig less? Sounds like class warfare to me. Also, healtcare benefits are going to be paid by the union, not the companies, beginning in 2010. That’s because the car companies executives intentionally UNDERFUNDED the healthcare fund so they could artifically inflate profits. That sent stock prices up and increased their compensation. Would you want your employeer to screw you out of benefits so they could get paid more? Of course not.
You’re the prototypical Rethuglicon kneejerk boot licker that believes everything Faux News says. You don’t need to be bothered with facts.
When you vote Rethuglicon, you vote against your own best interests. And ugacpa02 is living proof.
By Hank Rearden
December 8, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this
I’ll tell you what, let’s form an experiment… Let the Wesley Mouch crowd give the big 3 billions. Let the Fred Kinnan’s, the James Taggart’s, and Orren Boyle’s have the money to delay the inevitable. Appoint Cuffy Miegs to oversee the whole program. But……. in the same piece of legislation, open up the courts to stockholder challenges, allow each of these actors and their corporations to be personally financially liable for their actions, and encourage stockholder suits against them if their now publicly-subsidized businesses don’t out-perform the S&P 500. This will accomplish several things. The inevitable failure of the big 3 will highlight the futility of subsidizing inefficiency, it will bankrupt and break the back of the UAW, the bureaucrats and “businessmen” in question will be bankrupt, and their “businesses” will cease to exist. Problem solved until the next hare-brained communist idea comes along.
By SaveOurRepublic
December 8, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this
The “fault” falls on the Big 3 Execs, Senior Union “Leadership” & the many sellouts on “Crapitol sHill”. The Big 3 have saw fit to send American jobs overseas (en-masse), yet still have the gall to expect loyalty from American consumers. The Senior Labor leadership (not the rank & file) have tried pushing too many over the top, socialist leaning demands on the Auto companies. Last (but far from least), the traitors in D.C. have gutted the U.S. manufacturing base through heinous legislation like NAFTA, CAFTA and the fraud of “free trade”. Also, the Corporate Tax rate should be greatly slashed (along with the un-Constitutional Federal Income Tax being done away with).
This is a quagmire that the U.S. taxpayers shouldn’t pick up the tab for. There should be no/no more bailouts period. This endless Corporate Welfare needs to cease!
By Cindy
December 8, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this
The auto industry builds cars within federal guidelines, but with an enormous flexibility of design, performance, material and cost. These decisions are made by management. Management decides whether to accept, reject or negotiate union requests. All these decisions are left to company management regardless of what others try to portray. I believe it is also the management that has reviewed accounting reports that have, if not fraudulently prepared, provided a clear picture of the direction of their industry. Any true manager worth his/her salt would not have “stayed the course”.
And I would watch that $1 salary cap. Traditionally business executives live extravagant lives through bonuses and perks, not just salary. Take away the bonuses, take away the perks: planes, cars, drivers, expense accounts, free vacation packages, etc. then you might be talking some sacrifice.
By imagood1
December 8, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
The $1 salary is a joke. Trust me they are getting paid in other ways.
How come Nardelli doesn’t use some of that golden parachute money from Home Depot to help Chrysler? I hope Congress forces these guys out of their cushy CEO roles and that finally Nardelli is exposed for the poor leader that he is. He ran Home Depot into the ground and now Chrysler.
By imagood1
December 8, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
The $1 salary is a joke. Trust me they are getting paid in other ways.
How come Nardelli doesn’t use some of that golden parachute money from Home Depot to help Chrysler? I hope Congress forces these guys out of their cushy CEO roles and that finally Nardelli is exposed for the poor leader that he is. He ran Home Depot into the ground and now Chrysler.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 11:43 AM | Link to this
imagood1 - Right you are, they are getting paid with stock options and stock grants…that when exercised allows the fat cats to pay only a 15% capital gains tax in lieu of the 33% tax they would otherwise have to pay on millions of disguised compensation, and they pay no social security and medicare tax on capital gains….just like the lying, stinking repukes, give with one hand to great publisity while taking millions with the other hand to dead silence. Put em against the wall and ready, aim, …..
By Peter
December 8, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
Accountability is a JOKE with the REPUBLICAN’S….
Where is the current deficit with a Republican having just wasted 8 years in office ?
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this
Dear ron @ 11:10, I taught my sons to drive using a 1994 Ford Ranger. I had to retire it @ 210,000 five years ago. First my older son leveled a tree in the truck while showing his friends how fast he could take a suburban curve. Then he was rear-ended in a storm, and then, around 200,000 he finally wore out the gear box; the 50,000 he put on the truck was insufficient to give him the hang of the clutch. So I went out and I replaced the gear box. But then the Lt JG was T-boned, and the bed almost separated from the rest of the truck (and the driver’s door was permanently closed;) he and his girlfriend had to crawl out through the rear “vent” window. Nevertheless, I was able to drive the vehicle to the junk yard. It was a superior vehicle for teaching the boys how to drive. Mazda design, I think. I would buy another today. Think that and a Ford Taurus I bought in the 1980s were the only American nameplates I ever purchased.
By For Real
December 8, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
I find it odd that the auto industry is being forced to pull their pants down but the banks get to get money and remain anonymous.
Demand the banks to show their azzes too!!!
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this
The essenses of wooten and UGAY: “her historic lawsuit, Kemp questioned the university’s practice of placing student athletes in developmental studies courses. She compared the treatment of the 1980 national football champs to the exploitation of antebellum slaves.
The six-week civil trial captured national headlines, and the seamy details of how a college football powerhouse recruited functionally illiterate athletes led to the resignation of longtime university president Fred Davison. Fundamental reforms at UGA and the National Collegiate Athletic Association would follow.
“No doubt about it. It got everybody’s attention in the United States,” said former Clarke Central High football coach Billy Henderson, who was interviewed for a 10th anniversary retrospective of the Kemp case in 1996. “It got everybody thinking about what the real purpose of college should be.”
Kemp was awarded $2.58 million by a jury, though the judgment was later reduced to $1.1 million.
The damage to Georgia, from a public relations standpoint, was much more extensive.
UGA attorney Hale Almand, in his opening remarks to the jury, set an unfortunate tone: “We may not make a university student out of him, but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbage man when he gets through with his athletic career.”
Secretly taped at a faculty meeting, then-remedial studies boss Leroy Ervin told his staff: “I know for a fact that these kids would not be here if it were not for their utility to the institution… . They are used as a kind of raw material in the production of some goods to be sold as whatever product, and they get nothing in return.””
By SaveOurRepublic
December 8, 2008 12:05 PM | Link to this
For Real @ 11:52 AM - Exactly! The banks get the “pass” because they’re part of the Central Banking Cartel (by extension). From it’s inception in the late 1700s, the Rothschild founded Central Banking Cartel has amassed unequivalent power & influence over the decades. As a primary unit of the Globalist Elite’s power structure, they run roughshod over nations & economies with their fiat currencies, interest rate manipulation & fractional reserve banking.
Checkout “The Money Ma$ters” (free) on Google Video. It provides in-depth insight into the history & (massive) influence of the Central Banking Cartel.
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
Dear Jim Jr. @ 11:11, I think you repeat a false story. I write a monthly newsletter, and I reviewed my materials for 2006 and I find nothing on this line at all. The hot issues then were (1) money laundering and bank secrecy act, and (2) identity theft. The only proposed regulations I found were on FACTA and the Bankruptcy Reform Act changes to Reg Z. I am aware that Paris Welch is a leftist activist, so you may be biting on a phony story. The Fed catalogs its proposals on its website and I find nothing along this line. Can you point me to anything in particular, or are you merely republishing what the other leftists are saying?
By One Voice
December 8, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this
Jim,
Even the absolute worst that the Obama administration could do would be far, far better than your imbecile’s policies over the last 8 years, which got us into this mess in the first place. You and GW should be the ones groveling.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this
RagHead, yes, I can point you in the right direction: drop your panties, bend over with what passes for your head between your legs, and look long and deep up the ugly smelly tunnel you see before your crooked eyes…..the essenses of Republicanism, sh*t by any other name smells the same…Ah betya Ronnie Ray Gun smells pretty bad right about now….
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this
Dear lapdog @ 12:24, we would all agree that all of your thoughts seem to achieve a particular level of intellect.
Dear one voice @ 12:16, which “imbecile policies” got “us” in this mess in the first place? Looks to me like it was entirely leftist policies unchanged from the 1970s.
By Cindy
December 8, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this
Why blame policies enacted decades ago? Whose watch was the failure under???? If policies enacted in the 1970’s were left unchanged through leftist and rightist leadership, then the policies should not be faulted, but the leadership who allowed them to continue as they were failing. That is a big negative spotlight on the bush administration.
By cc
December 8, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this
anybody that voted for george bush in 2004 should not be criticizing anyone. before blaming someone that hasn’t even taken office yet and acting like Madam Moonbeam and thinking you can predict the future, learn to take responsibility for your own actions, learn to be a real adult and allow yourself to be held accountable for your own actions. this economic crisis is all at the feet of george bush, dick cheney and they people that put them there. there are no liberals in the executive offices of the wall street firms that have taken money in the bailout. not one of the auto executives is a liberal, no sir, they are all conservative republicans. next thing, admit that 9/11 was bush’s fault, he was on guard duty that day.
By Curious Observer
December 8, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
It’s passing strange that nobody questioned the big banks’ compensation practices, other than those of top executives, when Congress was crafting the $700 billion bailout of financial institutions. There wasn’t even a peep about why a white-collar professional in one of those places was worth $200,000 a year in salary and half a million in annual bonus.
But let the Big Three ask for a $30 billion bailout, and that’s diffo! All the knuckle-draggers are ready to jump on the unions and their negotiated wages. It’s as if the hounds have cornered the fox and are ready for blood.
In the language of the teeny-bopper, why is that? Why do Republicans and libertarians hate unions so much and love high-salary professionals and executives so extravagantly? Why do the same people love the financial services industry so slavishly but detest manufacturers and their employees? It would seem that manufacturers are the only people who actually create something tangible, while the financial services institutions use smoke and mirrors to engender a phony wealth similar to that of a Ponzi scheme.
Again in the language of the teeny-bopper, just askin’.
By Aquagirl
December 8, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this
Rag @ 10:40, big corporate CEO’s have been justifying fat salaries for years by saying they’re so special to be able to run the business: again, you want to take big money for big responsibility, you take the big hit when you fail. If you’re just a gofer for the feds, you shouldn’t be taking a few million per year, yes? To say the government is 90% responsible for Detroit’s problems is pure hyperbole. It’s stupid vehicle production which is 90% responsible.
and,
you wound my ego – I thought I had always been THE Uber-Conservative
There is…or was only one THE anything of this blog, THE Captain, who, ironically enough, departed this life in a Detroit gas guzzler. Sorry to wound your ego, but I will not allow anyone to sully the memory of a great American by appropriating his all-caps article. For shame, sir.
By suz
December 8, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this
I know a young mother if 3 children, looking for work anywhere. She has a college education and is working on a post grad degree. She is facing eviction because shge can’t find a job. She was a Cancer victim this stops offers as well.
Where is the bail out for someone like this. I could not care less about the big three’s welfare. If there was any concern about Oil, Enviroment, Workers etc… it never showed until this year.
Imagine that
By Redneck Convert
December 8, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this
There is…or was only one THE anything of this blog, THE Captain, who, ironically enough, departed this life in a Detroit gas guzzler. Sorry to wound your ego, but I will not allow anyone to sully the memory of a great American by appropriating his all-caps article. For shame, sir.
Well, this Aquagirl done brung a tear to my eye. I woke up this a.m. thinking about where Captain Freedom is in Heaven. He’s probly in the White section with gold streets and big mansions and lots of good food and beer and fine golf courses. Two strong angels with big swords guard the place to keep the riff-raff out.
He’s probly laughing at us right now and looking down the way at the shanties and dirt roads of the section where Those People live. And maybe getting mad at seeing the Mexicans skulking in their hovels and trying to steal the jobs of people that were born legal.
Anyhow, I’m mighty proud of Aquagirl for defending the memory of THE Captain.
By GaLiberal
December 8, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this
The car company problems are just another aspect of the Reagan era come home to roost. Reagan put all the emphasis on executives and deminished the value of labor. So the CEOs, whos compensation was tied into stock value (after what’s good for the Dow is good for the country- hahahahahaha), made sure to report increases in profits. However, this increase was specious at best and achieved more through creative accouting than any real value increase. Management used all kinds of tricks and threats to get unions to reduce their benefits so the CEOs could get even more compensation. Management underfunded retirement and healthcare funds to further increase profits. Yet, they continued to produce the same old cheap crap which people bought through cheap credit. So what if it was only good for a few years. Trade it in and get a new model using more cheap credit. Take out a 60 or 72 month loan if needed. So what if it only get 12 mpg or less. Gas is dirt cheap. So combine cheap credit, big spending cuts, and cheap crap cars you get record profits. Record profits equal record compensation for senior management. See, capitalism works. WRONG!!!
The current economic crisis is the Reagan era hangover. Get rid of government overregulation and business will flourish. Get rid of taxes and people will have more to spend. So we got rid all those pesky Depression-era banking laws and cut taxes for the uberrich. Now have racked up over a $500 BILLION deficit, $5 TRILLION spent or committed to shore up the mess left by Reaganomics, and $10+ TRILLION debt that continues to climb. Who will pay for all this largess? Any volunteers? Thought not.
When you vote Rethuglicon, you vote against your own best interests. And the economic crisis is living proof.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this
suz, there will be no bail out for the little people, just for the FAT CATS who wrap themselves in the flag, saying that if they fail, America falls….little guys can’t say that, they just go off and die quietly….the fat cats whine and cry that their 15% capital gains tax is just too high, they are paying too much…but on a percentage basis, the little guy make 100K per year pays much more, 7k for ss and medicare, ~20K in federal income tax, ~5K in state income tax, and six to 7 percent of what they spend on sales tax. Oh bless the fat cat and his heavy burden of 15% taxes….just after you have put his fat butt against the wall and finished the ready, aim, FIRE chant, ya kin bless his slowly dying body by urininating on his face….
By GaLiberal
December 8, 2008 1:30 PM | Link to this
The car company problems are just another aspect of the Reagan era come home to roost. Reagan put all the emphasis on executives and deminished the value of labor. So the CEOs, whos compensation was tied into stock value (after what’s good for the Dow is good for the country- hahahahahaha), made sure to report increases in profits. However, this increase was specious at best and achieved more through creative accouting than any real value increase. Management used all kinds of tricks and threats to get unions to reduce their benefits so the CEOs could get even more compensation. Management underfunded retirement and healthcare funds to further increase profits. Yet, they continued to produce the same old cheap crap which people bought through cheap credit. So what if it was only good for a few years. Trade it in and get a new model using more cheap credit. Take out a 60 or 72 month loan if needed. So what if it only get 12 mpg or less. Gas is dirt cheap. So combine cheap credit, big spending cuts, and cheap crap cars you get record profits. Record profits equal record compensation for senior management. See, capitalism works. WRONG!!!
The current economic crisis is the Reagan era hangover. Get rid of government overregulation and business will flourish. Get rid of taxes and people will have more to spend. So we got rid all those pesky Depression-era banking laws and cut taxes for the uberrich. Now have racked up over a $500 BILLION deficit, $5 TRILLION spent or committed to shore up the mess left by Reaganomics, and $10+ TRILLION debt that continues to climb. Who will pay for all this largess? Any volunteers? Thought not.
When you vote Rethuglicon, you vote against your own best interests. And the economic crisis is living proof.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this
I trust THE Captain died screaming, per my command….
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this
The New York Times is Dying, WSJ is stealing their high end luxuary ad business. Can the urinal be far behind??? “The New York Times Company plans to borrow up to $225 million against its mid-Manhattan headquarters building, to ease a potential cash flow squeeze as the company grapples with tighter credit and shrinking profits.
The company has retained Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm, to act as its agent to secure financing, either in the form of a mortgage or a sale-leaseback arrangement, said James Follo, the Times Company’s chief financial officer.
The Times Company owns 58 percent of the 52-story, 1.5 million-square-foot tower on Eighth Avenue, which was designed by the architect Renzo Piano, and completed last year. The developer Forest City Ratner owns the rest of the building. The Times Company’s portion of the building is not currently mortgaged, and some investors have complained that the company has too much of its capital tied up in that real estate.
The company has two revolving lines of credit, each with a ceiling of $400 million, roughly the amount outstanding on the two combined. One of those lines is set to expire in May, and finding a replacement would be difficult given the economic climate and the company’s worsening finances. Analysts have said for months that selling or borrowing against assets would be the company’s best option for averting a cash flow problem next year.
Standard & Poor’s recently lowered its credit rating on the Times Company below investment grade, and Moody’s Investors Service has said it was considering a similar move. Times Company stock, which has lost more than half its value this year, closed on Friday at $7.64, down 30 cents. More Articles in Business » A version of this article appeared in print on December 8, 2008, on page B2 of the New York edition.”
By Get Real
December 8, 2008 1:50 PM | Link to this
When you put forth the facts Wooten only will not post your comment! I presented facts showing that the Republicans received double the contributions from the auto manufacturing and commercial bank industries than democrats did from 1996-2008. Of course, both of those posts were never added to this blog. Thanks Wooten. Go to opensecrets.org to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics to take a look for yourself. Screw you Wooten.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this
Ah second that Get Real….
By ugacpa02
December 8, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this
Ga liberal
I will not respond to your childish personal attacks on me.
However, you are blatantly wrong about unfunded pension liabilities. Every quarter a company puts out a 10Q and every year a 10k. These documents are for the investing public to use in analyzing the company. One thing that is perfectly clear in these documents is the funding status of pensions. Nobody has been misled about this particular issue, unless it is through their own ignorance.
By Get real's homie
December 8, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this
Y-y-yeah! S-s-screw U woo-woo-wooten. What the homie d-d-do with the f-f-facts?
By My watch is accurate
December 8, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
So, BFKTHE Captain died in a car crash? Is that true or just some schtick? I thought he was just another pofo character.
By Get real's homie
December 8, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this
Who would own a Ranger? Those are the worst of the bunch. They are bogdowns. They’re ugly. They use too much gas. They’re noisy. Worse, the drivers of such travesty of motoring engineering (oxymoron here), call their wives “brides”.
Let me tell you something, mister: A wife is a bride for one day, then she’s deflowered and becomes a skank ho. By continuing to call your wife a bride, you demean the institution of marriage, the sacrament of divorce, the right of every real man to drink beer and watch porn, and the cuddliness of little baby bunnies. You’re misfiring on all cylinders here, pal.
Trade your Ranger in for a PreRunner afore it’s 2 late, sir.
Summation: Yet another depraved individual corrected by my personage of which the world owes much…..
By Center for Slicing Through BS
December 8, 2008 2:13 PM | Link to this
The “non-partisan,” Center for Responsive Politics was founded and is owned lock, stock and barrel by extreme left wing journalist types.
That said, their information is accurate.
By Truthifier
December 8, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this
Jim references Obama’s statement about the UAW’s “head-in-the-sand approach” as something he agrees with, and then goes on to preemptively say that the incoming administration is going to be ineffective. Jim, how about at least letting Obama assume office before you start saying that he isn’t working out as president? I think this is evidence of what’s to come from Wooten. I think we all know his routine by now: Republican, good. Democrat, bad. No matter the situaion or circumstances. Jim is the one with his head in the sand.
By Aragorn
December 8, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this
I must rise in defense of Rangers. My daughter now drives my 2001 Ranger, which is at about 150,000 miles. It’s good looking, reliable, comfortable and my favorite vehicle of all time. If my bride (bite me, homie) had not insisted I get a full-size truck in order to pull a horse trailer, I would still be driving a Ranger.
By Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 8, 2008 2:52 PM | Link to this
Dear Cindy @ 12:52, good question, “Why blame policies enacted decades ago?” We blame policies for bad results because policies cause results. Leftists traditionally blame “people” for the effects of stupid policies, affirming that the policy was golden but that the people were not competent to make it work. The problem is always the policy. A charge of “failure to repeal the stupid legislation of the past” is valid only against those parties which have held “veto-proof” control of Congress. I note the stupid policies that caused our current distress were passed by the last “veto proof” Congress; nobody since then has had sufficient power to undo the damage.
Dear Curious @ 1:00, I mostly agree with your opening paragraph. “It’s passing strange that nobody questioned the big banks’ compensation practices, other than those of top executives, when Congress was crafting the $700 billion bailout of financial institutions. There wasn’t even a peep about why a white-collar professional in one of those places was worth $200,000 a year in salary and half a million in annual bonus.” The secret answer lay with the party affiliation of the recipients of the most egregious salaries, i.e., Franklin Raines, Jaime Gorelick, Robert Rubin.
Dear Aquagirl @ 1:12, I am surprised to discover you an apologist for the overlords (although your defense of the captain is in character.) Your core argument is simply and easily disproven: But for CAFE, what would be the financial condition of the Big Three? If you answer honestly – as every American line has been profitable for as long as anyone can remember, save the CAFE lines –then how do we justify the legislative intrusion into the free market? Dr. Sowell argued, in an unrelated context:
“Most people on the Left are not opposed to freedom. They are just in favor of all sorts of things that are incompatible with freedom. Freedom ultimately means the right of other people to do things that you do not approve of. Nazis were free to be Nazis under Hitler. It is only when you are able to do things that other people don’t approve that you are free. …[P]eople on the Left want the right to impose their idea of what is good for society on others — a right that they vehemently deny to those whose idea of what is good for society differs from their own. The essence of bigotry is refusing to others the rights that you demand for yourself. Such bigotry is inherently incompatible with freedom, even though many on the Left would be shocked to be considered opposed to freedom.”
Dear suz @ 1:18, obviously the leftists don’t care about workers. The life of your young-mother friend was destroyed by the leftists. Everything Congress does that increases the costs of doing business, is multiplied far beyond the cognitive capacity of a leftist. For example, multiple choice quiz: if a rational businessman comes to believe Congress plans to make it easier to unionize the workforce, the rational businessman will: (a) lay off all of the marginal workers, (b) consider outsourcing to other countries, (c) hire more workers at higher wages, (d) pehaps shut down the business or sell out if possible, (e) beg Congress for handouts, or (f) all of the above except (c). Answer: you already know.
One final note for all, this may be a bit wonkish, but another government bailout plan is crashing on the shoals:
“Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan said today that new data shows that more than half of loans modified in the first quarter of 2008 fell delinquent within six months.
“After three months, nearly 36 percent of the borrowers had re-defaulted by being more than 30 days past due. After six months, the rate was nearly 53 percent, and after eight months, 58 percent,” the Comptroller said in remarks at the Office of Thrift Supervision’s National Housing Forum today.” OCC New Release 2008-142.
By david wayne osedach, san diego/ U.S.A.
December 8, 2008 3:08 PM | Link to this
It is either bankruptcy now, or bankruptcy in a few years after a couple of hundred billion has gone down the tubes. It is important to look at who in Congress is pushing this through. Senator Dodd from Connecticut has his own agenda.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 3:13 PM | Link to this
ha ha ha, the Bush Depression has just begun….now comes the credit card defaults and the commercial mortgage failures…..no capital gains for the forseeable future fatcats….what a tragedy….let em eat cake…
By Cindy
December 8, 2008 3:15 PM | Link to this
Then, why don’t these “freedom loving” rightists stop their whining about gay marriages and abortions? I see righists as more freedom restrictive as leftists.
And, veto-proof Congress is not a requirement to get policies enacted or changed.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this
The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection in a federal court in Delaware on Monday, as the owner of The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs baseball team struggled to cope with rising debt and falling ad revenue.
Tribune, which was acquired last year by billionaire real estate investor Samuel Zell, had hired bankruptcy advisers like Lazard and the law firm Sidley Austin in recent weeks as it negotiated with creditors over debt covenants. (Read the bankruptcy petition here.)
It is only the latest — and biggest — sign of duress for the newspaper industry yet.
By AmVet
December 8, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this
Man, this blog blows.
A handful of pedantic, delusional know-nothing neo-cons blathering on about stuff as though there was a single sentient being alive that cared one iota about what they think.
It’s like an endless Buckley/Vidal debate here at the virtual home of the yellow “journalist”.
No wonder they keep getting slaughtered every other November…
By Get real's homie
December 8, 2008 3:45 PM | Link to this
I was first with the GM bailout confirmation two weeks ago.
I know all. I see all. I am the Blognostibator.
By amvet's homie
December 8, 2008 3:49 PM | Link to this
Y-y-yeah! This b-b-blog b-b-blows!
By Blognostibator
December 8, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this
I let my mind travel to the future. I see all things you can only dream of in the past and present. The future is mine alone.
Today’s market prediction: Pain.
That’s my show for today. I know all. I see all. I am the Blognostibator.
By G.M. Ford
December 8, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
We have a new model truck jointly coming out. It has the presidential seal of approval.
By Blognostibator
December 8, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this
Yeah, the truck sounds like a schmedsel.
By Beau L. Chevik
December 8, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this
Since we’re nationalizing AIG, banks and now, maybe, the auto industry, why don’t be just merge the three automakers into one? I’d be happy to run the merged entity for, oh, $50,000 per year … for life, plus groceries, cars, fuel, five dachas and a lifetime pass to the Bunny Ranch.
By Captain Freedom's Immortal Soul
December 8, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this
Greetings from the other side, Wooteneers! Tis your old friend THE Captain reporting in His incorporeal form from the Right Side of the Pearly Gates.
THE Captain’s departure from your mortal coil was, typically, monumental. THE Captain’s F-450 was purring away in His closed garage, and the Damned Demon of Detroit Democrats siezed up, leaving THE Captain short of His great reward, but well past the point of permanent brain damage. THE Captain’s Merciful God swooped in to remove THE Captain to a better place (picture a sort of Rapture for One) where He is reporting to you mere mortals on God’s Own Internet connection. (The answer to the burning theological inquiry this raises is clear: PC and AOL. God is not real swift with newfangled technical thingamabobs, and really can’t stand that Steve Jobs fellow.)
Anyway, it turns out that the Big Guy has been watching over THE Captain all along, just like the Good Book promised, counting every grain of sand and saving hair that fell. All the good work performed by THE Captain in defense of Right Thinking True Belief has been rewarded with an aisle seat in Heaven and a very cushy position at the Lord’s Right Hand. Why, God has even forgiven THE Captain’s failure to stave off the victory of Obamandingo. (Apparently it has something to do with Revelations and a Mark of the Beast that can be found high on Obama’s left thigh. Our Lord has a New Lewinsky on the case to bring this to public light. I’ve seen the storyboards, and this Rapture thing is going to be HUGE. The Lord is getting ready to call Michael Bay, Ridley Scott and George Lucas home to work on pre- and post-production. And Heath Ledger is already working on a topper to his Joker role. Boffo!
And guess what else, Wooteneers!! God has agreed to allow THE Captain to post dispatches from the City of Gold every now and again. It seems that old Yahweh has a soft spot for THE Captain, and tells Him that He is the “son he wished he had”. It truly is sad to see a Supreme Being of such advanced years suffering the wastrelry of his only Begotten Child, but it seems the plan went awry because of that Mary chick and what with Jesse letting himself get nailed to a plank like that. Yeah, we call him Jesse now, because he thinks that Jesus just sounds soooo s**-y, and he has sort of fallen in with the White Supremacist crowd, even though he looks a bit miscegenated, if you ask THE Captain.
Anyway, Jesse is a typical rebellious teenager (it seems God-years are like dog years in reverse, which has an internal logic that ought to make guys like Dawkins really crazy) what with the secret meth labs and sneaking down to earth to party with Britney Lynn Palin and the Spears sisters and what not. So, old Yahweh (that’s what his pals call him) has taken a shine to old THE Captain.
It certainly does THE Captain’s heart good (well, it is more of a warm feeling in that place where a heart would be if THE Captain still had a corporeal vessel, the lack of which makes typing a challenge and explains why He {THE Captain} has taken so long to get in touch) to know that the Right Thinking posters have fond memories of THE Captain. Why just yesterday, God looked into Sister Dusty’s heart (which he really hates doing, what with it being so pinched and shriveled) and found that she is pining away after THE Captain. Oh yeah, and drinking a lot more than before, poor wretch.
But…Yah is a bit peeved at the lack of official respect afforded THE Captain by the AJC poobahs, especially that ingrate Wooten. Even God could see that THE Captain carried this pathetic little board on His broad shoulders all this time, and the lack of formal recognition and respect has God itching to smite someone but good. He wanted to take down this Ragnar guy just to make an example of him, especially over the Randtard’s placing other gods before Our Lord. Yah wants you to know that Ayn Rand was a skeevy skank who has been sent to scrub the floor of Satan’s home porn entertainment theatre, and lemme tell ya, devil spooge is some seriously sticky stuff, and there is plenty of it. THE Captain joined Yah over there one night for cards and it is very sick scene. But the Big Guy needs to blow steam every now and then and he feels that Old Scratch is the only one around who “really gets him”.
Anyway, God tried to read Atlas Shrugged once and flung it against the wall after about 120 pages, declaring it “the worst cr@p since I took out that moron Milton.” God does not suffer his literary fools gladly.
Anyway, THE Captain needs to sign off now, as Yah needs to check his Facebook and MySpace pages (he says it’s quicker and more effective than prayer and divine revelations to communicate with his flock), so He (THE Captain) will get straight to the point. Wooten is to arrange to have THE Captain’s posts — all of them — collected and published in chronological order, in hard back edition first, to be followed by a trade paper and then pocket edition release. THE Captain suggested that Wooten’s replies to THE Captain also be included. Upon review, God discovered that Wooten’s jealous heart had kept his response rate very low, which God suggest is in the book’s (and the readers’) favor, so he agreed. Wooten is to make this happen with all speed, lest God proceed with an especially nasty smiting that he has had in the pocket for Wooten since that little incident in 1954 (you know the one, Jim). But you better get cracking. THE Captain’s influence with Our Creator is limited, after all, and he might just tee off on you any time. Word to the wise, Wooten…stay clear of Cynthia Tucker McKinney. She is one of Yah’s most powerful and trusted Earthbound agents. Nuff said.
Well, THE Captain really has to go now because the Big Guy is impatiently tapping his feet, and that can cause floods and earthquakes in those countries where he placed all the not-white people. But be of Good Cheer, True Believers. THE Captain is back. Sort of.
PS - One last bit of “insider” baseball. Yah thinks Sarah Plain is “totally hot” and he would “totally do her in a second if she was still a virgin”. It seems Yah is really strict about that point.
By ron
December 8, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
Dear Get real’s homie 2:49——As long as you’re still on your honeymoon it is permisable to call your spouse the Bride.The bride and I have been on one long honeymoon for many years now.I on the other hand,Mr.Homie have gone from being called the groom to being called the best man.Get It?
By Yahweh
December 8, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this
Dear AJC
I command that you never again sully the posts from THE Captain’s Immortal Soul with your tawdry little asterisk censorship. From this day forward, you can safely assume that if THE Captain writes it then I, Your Lord God Creator and Destroyer, approve of it.
Do not trifle with the Supreme Being’s patience. The Trib and NY Times pi$$ed me off just last week, and look at what happened today.
This is your final warning. Don’t make me come down there.
Yours Truly, The Man Upstairs
By Blognostibator
December 8, 2008 4:30 PM | Link to this
Yeah, I got it. But U should drop it.
By Getting none is accurate
December 8, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this
I’ve gone from being called the groom to being the right hand man.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this
Bad news, The Captain Crunch Clown is not yet dead…..some one please fix that problem….any fixers out there??? just so ya know, Mr. Yahweh, ah must admit to the handle “Older than Old.” kinda lost its power in the last couple thousand years, a mere blink of the eye to some….but do bring it on…
By Maniac is accurate
December 8, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this
Let me guess, THE Captain’s Great Departure occurred the evening of Nov. 4?
By Tim Pawlenty
December 8, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist — or even a political scientist — to understand the steps the Republican Party must do to again become the national majority party.
The 2006 and 2008 election results are warning signs for the GOP. The good news is our party’s future is brighter than many think. Newsweek’s recent cover story makes it clear America leans more right than left.
The Republican Party’s conservative values — freedom, personal and moral responsibility, the power of capitalism and a limited accountable government — are as important as ever. The GOP should build on its core principles by making its case with common sense ideas that are better than our competitors. Our approach on issues like security, energy independence, free market solutions for better health care and education with a focus on accountability for results instead of just increased spending are ideas that will do just that.
But it all starts by putting first things first. A cornerstone of the Republican Party must be fiscal responsibility — living within our means like most Americans do. Wall Street and the federal government chronically disregard this principle and have substantially contributed to our current economic mess.
Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Americans don’t need a Nobel Prize winner to understand we can’t solve a crisis caused by the reckless issuance of debt by then recklessly issuing even more debt.
Remarkably, we have now entered the second or third round of bailouts for some companies and industries. But bailing out the bailouts is like using credit cards to pay off credit cards. It’s a strategy that would have made even Charles Ponzi blush.
By some estimates, the federal government’s “rescue” efforts of just the last three months added $24,000 of debt for every American. This comes on top of the approximately $35,000 per person of national debt that existed prior to the crisis and doesn’t even take into account the expected mammoth “stimulus” package.
The Future of the GOP The future of the GOP Michael Steele: Reports of GOP death exaggerated Katon Dawson: GOP needs ‘courage of convictions’ Gov. Mark Sanford: What’s next for the GOP? Mike Duncan: RNC chair discloses comeback plan Ron Nehring: California GOP chair: Go local Two months ago, the national debt clock near Times Square ran out of digits. As our nation approaches $11 trillion in debt, isn’t it time we give the clock a rest and the taxpayers their own bailout? Penalizing hardworking Americans who played by the rules by handing out money to those who didn’t is simply wrong.
But let’s face it, on their own, even the most well-intentioned politicians we send to Washington have proved unable to control spending. The GOP should lead efforts to cut up the nation’s credit card and commit to a balanced federal budget.
Republicans should push for the enactment of an amendment to the United States Constitution requiring a balanced federal budget. This initiative is based on the common sense, kitchen table logic that most Americans and businesses live by. They expect the same from their government but haven’t been getting it lately.
Passing this amendment will be no small task. Yet without it, we will get more of the same and the next generation of Americans will drown in our debt. Moreover, our reliance on foreigners purchasing even more of our debt will make our dependence on foreign oil seem almost trivial by comparison.
Some will argue against the amendment because the federal government may need to create debt in times of war or for other extraordinary reasons. But doing nothing is not a plan and such concerns could be addressed by permitting a limited exemption if supported by a supermajority vote by Congress.
Proposing a balanced budget constitutional amendment is the easy part. Getting it done will require a two-thirds vote by both houses of Congress, followed by ratification by three-fourths of the states.
While daunting, this effort will unify and energize Republicans. It will require the GOP at all levels to be engaged in a common sense agenda that is compelling, conservative and that will positively transform America.
This idea and others like it will be the beginning of a GOP resurgence. Let’s get started.
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this
Are any women still virgins on their wedding night? Last I heard, most folks do the honeymoon thing on the first date…
By Poodles-R-Dogs-Too
December 8, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this
Well, ah don’t wanna say Bush is vindictive, but they are packing all the Charmin toilet paper fer the move to Dallas, and replacing it with that thin cheap store brand stuff…
By Bub
December 8, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this
My first wife was a virgin on our wedding night. Second wife, not so much. The third wife will be a working hooker and I’ll be her pimp.
By Blognostibator
December 8, 2008 5:07 PM | Link to this
you know, when Tim Pawlenty defined conservative values above, I thought to myself, “Blognostibator, dont even think about replying, cause this Tim guy has tapped onto some stallwart ringfinger of intercourse that trips light fantastic inside the body politic.”
He’s tapped as well as repudlickers can tap into a meeting of the slimes.
Well played, sir. I’ve got nothing. 4 once.
By Tucks pads
December 8, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this
Tim Pawlenty is a goober.
By Peter
December 8, 2008 5:58 PM | Link to this
What I notice is REPUBLICAN’S have zero New ideas……
Zero Ideas how to revive the economy.
Zero Idea how to pay of their huge National debt.
Zero ideas how to help American’s that are poor.
I have proposed rebuilding the infra structure of America as a way to create jobs, and thus create new taxes to pay off the national debt………
Again Zero response from Republican’s that say keep taxes low for Greedy corporate America……..as they cut jobs, and CEO’s Pay goes up !
Republican’s = Zero answers to America’s issues……
Most of the issues the Republican’s have created !
By carson
December 8, 2008 6:02 PM | Link to this
Here’s an idea for the automakers:
Jut hire more lobbyists and get Newt Gingrich involved!!!
AP IMPACT: How Freddie Mac halted regulatory drive By PETE YOST (Associated Press Writer) From Associated Press December 08, 2008 3:17 PM EST WASHINGTON - From a hefty lobbying budget to the use of free baseball tickets, Freddie Mac fended off any meaningful regulation in the years before the housing mortgage giant crashed, records obtained by The Associated Press show.
When the Washington Nationals played their first-ever baseball game in the nation’s capital in April 2005, two congressmen who oversaw Freddie Mac had choice seats - courtesy of the very company they were supposed to be keeping an eye on.
Efforts to tighten government regulation were gaining support on Capitol Hill, and Freddie Mac was fighting back.
According to internal Freddie Mac documents obtained by the AP, Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., spent the evening in hard-to-obtain seats near the Nationals dugout with Freddie Mac executive Hollis McLoughlin and four of Freddie Mac’s in-house lobbyists. The two congressmen were both members of the House Financial Services Committee.
The ticket to attend the opening game of the Washington Nationals was valued at less than $50, which was the congressional gift limit at that time, Kanjorski said in a statement Monday.
The Nationals tickets were bargains for Freddie Mac, part of a well-orchestrated, multimillion-dollar campaign to preserve its largely regulatory-free environment, with particular pressure exerted on Republicans who controlled Congress at the time.
Internal Freddie Mac budget records show $11.7 million was paid to 52 outside lobbyists and consultants in 2006. Power brokers such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were recruited with six-figure contracts. Freddie Mac paid the following amounts to the firms of former Republican lawmakers or ex-GOP staffers in 2006:
-Sen. Alfonse D’Amato of New York, at Park Strategies, $240,000.
-Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota, at Clark & Weinstock, $360,297.
-Rep. Susan Molinari of New York, at Washington Group, $300,062.
-Susan Hirschmann at Williams & Jensen, former chief of staff to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, $240,790.
Freddie Mac’s chairman and chief executive, Dick Syron, and McLoughlin, senior vice president for external relations, used Clark and Weinstock extensively, Weber said in an e-mail Friday.
“I personally met with the CEO several times and with Hollis and his team regularly,” Weber said in the e-mail. “Clark and Weinstock worked effectively and intensely for Freddie Mac under Dick Syron and Hollis McLoughlin.”
The tactics worked - for a time. Freddie Mac was able to operate with a relatively free hand until the housing bubble ultimately burst in 2007.
Now Freddie Mac and its sister company, Fannie Mae, are in financial collapse and under government control. Congress is investigating how it all happened. Lawmakers have planned a hearing Tuesday.
The records obtained by the AP reflect growing concern within Freddie Mac over a chorus of criticism from Republicans worried that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had grown too big. The two companies owned or guaranteed over $5 trillion in mortgages.
The Bush administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were sounding the alarm about the potential threat to the nation’s financial health if the fortunes of the two mammoth companies turned sour. They did eventually, when they took on $1 trillion worth of subprime mortgages and when their traditional guarantee business deteriorated. Commercial banks regarded Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as competitors and were anxious to pick up business that would result from scaling back the two companies.
Pushing back, Freddie Mac enlisted prominent conservatives, including Gingrich and former Justice Department official Viet Dinh, paying each $300,000 in 2006, according to internal records.
Gingrich talked and wrote about what he saw as the benefits of the Freddie Mac business model.
Dinh wrote a legal analysis of private property rights that viewed a hypothetical government-enforced sale of Freddie Mac assets as constitutionally suspect.
In 2005, Freddie Mac hired political consultant Frank Luntz, a Washington fixture whose specialty is choosing the right buzz words to achieve a particular goal. The records AP obtained do not cover 2005 and Freddie Mac refuses to confirm that it brought Luntz on board. But four people familiar with events at Freddie Mac at the time confirmed the Luntz hire. All four spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they fear reprisals if their names were revealed. Luntz did not respond to efforts to contact him through his office.
The AP previously described, in October, how Freddie Mac thwarted efforts to bring a tough regulatory bill sponsored by Republican Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and John McCain of Arizona to a full Senate vote.
At a meeting days after Hagel’s bill went to the full Senate, Syron and McLoughlin berated the company’s in-house lobbyists for failing to keep Hagel’s bill corralled in committee, said the four people familiar with events at Freddie Mac at the time.
Freddie Mac shifted into high gear, secretly paying a Republican consulting firm, Washington-based DCI Group, $2 million to kill Hagel’s legislation. The covert lobbying campaign targeted Republican senators in 2005-06.
According to the newly obtained records, DCI’s deployment was part of a broader campaign that targeted mainly Republicans on Capitol Hill.
The internal Freddie Mac documents show that 17 of the lobbying firms and consultants paid in 2006 were specifically directed to focus on Republicans and four on Democrats, with varying targets for the rest.
McLoughlin hired his own personal political strategist, Republican consultant Harry Clark, paying Clark’s firm $440,494 in 2006 out of McLoughlin’s executive office budget, according to the records obtained by AP.
Even the office that served as the sole source of federal regulation over Freddie Mac was targeted.
Lobbyist Geoffrey P. Gray was paid $240,000 in 2006 to focus in part on the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, according to the records.
Last week, Gray did not return calls to his office. On Friday, Freddie Mac declined to comment. A lawyer for Syron, one of the scheduled witnesses at Tuesday’s congressional hearing on the collapse of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Syron has since left the company. Freddie Mac’s federal overseers have kept McLoughlin in his post.
Ney served a federal prison term after pleading guilty to trading political favors for a golf trip to Scotland, other gifts and campaign donations in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
Ney and Kanjorski weren’t the only recipients of free tickets to Nationals games. Freddie Mac provided 13 tickets to the staff of another House Financial Services Committee member, Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., according to an April 18, 2005 e-mail to a Freddie Mac headquarters employee. The tickets to Renzi’s office were for three games between the Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks, according to the e-mail. A lawyer for Renzi did not return repeated calls last week. Renzi is under indictment for allegedly engineering a swap of federally owned mining land to benefit himself and a former business partner.
By h ryder
December 8, 2008 6:26 PM | Link to this
The majority of the people who need to be booted are the self righteous preening members of Congress such as Dodd or Frank. Most do not have a clue about whatever they pontificate, yet excoriate citizens who are experts in their career areas by education and experience. Oh yes, usually a person with a law degree who from age 25 on, involved in politics with the covert or overt goal of becoming President, also is an expert in education, economics, medicine, or whatever the topic in vogue happens to be when the cameras are operating. We, in my opinion, need to rid ourselves of these grandstanders and elect true citizen legislatures who are interested in attempting to remedy certain problems and then go home when success or failure is obvious to most folks except for the mentally or morally impaired.