Barack Obama enables outsourcing of auto industry (Chrysler)

I'll start out with saying this. I'm from a Ford family. I own and drive Fords. Always have, and probably always will. I'll also never own a foreign car. That includes foreign cars built here as profits go overseas. That also includes Big 3 cars built outside the US. Ford Fusion's in Mexico to me is the same as a Toyota. When my parents took advantage of cash for clunkers (mostly helped foreign cars) Fusions were out. No Mexican cars allowed. This goes beyond partisan politics here. I root for the Big 3 to do well - as long as the jobs stay in the US, particularly Michigan.

One of the biggest myths that gives Obama a good chance to hang on to win in Michigan (not if I have anything to say about it) and  Ohio is that he supposedly saves the auto industry. Bullshit. Romney wrote an editorial calling for reorganization and the NY Times editors gave it the headline "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Here's the little secret. GM and Chrysler DID go bankrupt - even after the Bush and Obama bailouts. I'm going to repeat that. GM and Chrysler DID go bankrupt. They went to bankruptcy reorganization. Obama and Romney both aren't far apart on that. Romney supported loan guarantees, similar to Chrysler in 1979.  As a Big 3 supporter and owner, they could have been better on this, but they could have worse, like Bob Corker, Gary Ackerman, Michael Cupano, Richard Shelby, and Henry Waxman. Shelby I understand because his state had foreign car plants. I don't like it, but I understand it. Corker I don't get his deal with Saturn being from his state. Nissan has plants in Tennessee, so that's also an influence. With the dems, it's the progressive movement's religious jihad against the Automobile Industry in the name of global warming going back to Al Gore's push to ban the internal combustion engine. John Dingell, hardly a conservative, was pushed off of commerce chair because he supports the auto industry.

The industry will survive, but it isn't what it was. At least 50,000 direct jobs were cut, not counting the suppliers. The Hummer was agreed to be sold to China. Saturn is gone. Pontiac is gone.

I'm not going to say that Romney is as good as Joe Knollenberg, Thad McCotter, or John Dingell when it comes to the domestic auto industry, but he's not a Corker. Obama isn't as bad as Waxman, but he's not Dingell - however there's one real nasty part of Obama's team and its reorganization demands regarding Chrysler. Obama put Chrysler under. foreign control and ownership - to a company that has never been able to break through in the US. Fiat.

From 2009 - Forbes.

Chrysler must become friends with Fiat pronto.
The U.S. government has threatened to suspend federal aid for Chrysler unless it secures a deal with the Italian carmaker within 30 days, senior administration officials told Forbes.

The repercussion of Obama forcing Chrysler to go to Fiat  is right here.

From Bloomberg news.

Fiat SpA (F) Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne set a target two and a half years ago to sell 6 million cars annually by 2014, a goal that analysts and industry observers at the time deemed impossible to achieve. They were right.

Marchionne, who runs both the Italian automaker and Chrysler Group LLC, has said he will revise his forecasts when the two companies announce third-quarter results tomorrow. Analysts estimate his sales target will need to come down by 15 billion euros ($19 billion).
“Marchionne was too optimistic in 2010,” said Giuseppe Berta, a professor at Bocconi University in Milan who has written several books on Fiat and has worked as a company historian. “Fiat and Chrysler can’t grow by self-propulsion to the famous 6 million-car target.” 

And here's the devil in the details.

Fiat’s problems are bigger than many rivals’ because its troubled home country accounts for half its sales in the region. Its plants in Italy, where car sales are on pace to plunge this year to the lowest level in more than three decades, are running at 50 percent of capacity, far below the 80 percent threshold typically considered profitable.
To counter the severe slump in European sales, Marchionne is considering building Chrysler models in Italy, including Jeeps, for export to North America. The Italian government is evaluating tax rebates on export goods to help Fiat. Marchionne may announce details of his plan as soon as Oct. 30, the people said.
“This makes sense on multiple levels” as it will boost plant utilization and would cap “Chrysler’s own potential, limiting the likely cost to Fiat shareholders of buying out the Chrysler minorities,” Stuart Pearson, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London, said in a note to investors today. “However we see no quick answers, and fear debt could surprise negatively first,” said Pearson, who rates the stock underweight with a target price at 3.90 euros.

Jeeps built in Europe to be imported here? Jeeps outsourced? You got to be kidding me. That's an American icon. Keep in mind that it was Obama's demand that Chrysler goes to Fiat.

Romney's getting heat for his comments and ad about outsourcing, but Bloomberg's story here shows that he's not off the mark. GM and Chrysler DID go bankrupt under Obama, and Chrysler WAS put under foreign control with outsourcing, and Chrysler's manufacturing may very well go to Europe, if not necessarily China.  

If the Peter Principle in Chief Obama wins a second term thanks to being lucky that reorganization happened when he was CEO (so he can portray himself as the hero he isn't), he's not going to have to worry about this anymore. I expect Marchionne to announce the outsourcing to be official November 10th or so, no matter who wins. Election cover.

Barney Frank (D-Goldman Sachs, Fannie Mae, AIG) in trouble?

Maybe there's a little good ole fashion populist Irish and Swamp Yankee rebellion in Massachusetts. Barney Frank, one of the major architects of the mess leading up to the bailout, as well as the bailout itself, is in trouble. While this district heavily leans democrat and has since the 1980's, it did vote for Scott Brown, and I believe Mitt Romney.

From the Boston Herald

Gleeful Tea Partiers are licking their chops at a panic-stricken Barney Frank, who’s digging deep into his own pocket to bail out his campaign, even as his rival taps Wall Street bigwigs in a bid to force the Newton Democrat into a Martha Coakley-style collapse.
“He sees the writing on the wall — he could lose this election,” said Christen Varley of the Greater Boston Tea Party. “I think he’s realized— I hope too late — that he has a viable challenger and his constituents are not happy.”
Frank — outraised by $70,000 by opponent Sean Bielat in September — pumped $200,000 from his personal retirement account into his campaign to thwart what he calls right-wing attacks from “bigoted” Tea Partiers.

More than anyone else, two people need to be gone after this election. Target number one needed to be Chris Dodd. He's retiring. Good Riddance. The other is Barney Frank. Sean Bielat is giving Frank his toughest run in a long, long time. Frank is polling under 50%, and is up by less than 10 in the last poll I've seen. No more bailouts, and no more Barney Frank.

Why?

2003: ''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Democrat hedge fund Goldman Sachs charged with civil fraud

While they are innocent till proven liable by a preponderance of the evidence, my guard's been up on Goldman Sachs for years. They have an insane amount of power in Washington. One of the biggest culprits in the economy has been the behavior of Goldman Sachs and their leaders.

From the Wall Street Journal

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Credit markets became jittery again Friday as a U.S. regulator filed civil fraud charges against storied Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs (GS).

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Goldman had failed to disclose to investors vital information about a synthetic collateralized debt obligation, or CDO, based on subprime mortgage-backed securities. In particular, the agency was interested in the role a major hedge played in selecting the assets included in the CDO, which the hedge fund then bet against.

"Credit markets are seeing a sizeable impact from the Goldman news," said Bill Larkin, a portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management, in Salem, Mass. "The question is, has the SEC discovered what may have been a common practice across the industry? Is this the tip of the iceberg?"

Investors will rush to "safety," Larkin added, noting that "this is impacting all markets across the globe."

The cost of protecting Goldman's debt rose sharply before backtracking a little by late afternoon. The bank's credit default swaps or CDS were quoted at 124 basis points after Thursday's close of 90 basis points, according to administrator Markit. The level had widened to 136 basis points earlier in the day.

Investors tried to figure out whether other firms or other structured finance products will be affected. They are concerned that the SEC's action may create a domino effect affecting other firms and other structured finance products. There's also the worry that this regulatory move may rattle the recovery and bring uncertainty back to the market.

This is major news, and will be even bigger if the SEC gets a judgment against Goldman Sachs (This is a civil, not criminal case). Goldman Sachs was one of the big winners in the bailout mess of 2008, with a lot of help from their buddies like Hank Paulson and Chris Dodd. To give an idea of the kind of power Goldman Sachs has:

Clinton's treasurer Bob Rubin - Goldman Sachs
Bush's treasurer Hank Paulson - Goldman Sachs
Disgraced former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine - Goldman Sachs
Chief of Staff to Obama's treasurer Tim Geihtner, Mark Patterson - Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is also overwhelmingly (although not exclusively - Paulson) democrat, unless your the auto industry hating Richard Shelby.

Lloyd Blankfein - CEO and Chairman - Donated to Richard Shelby (one of my least favorite Republicans), ACTBLUE, Mike McMahon, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Jon Corzine, John Kerry, Tom Daschle, Tom Carper, Dick Gephardt, Chuck Schumer, and Arlen Specter.

David Viniar - Chief Financial Officer - Donated to Chris Dodd, who along with Barney Frank, is one of the two most responsible for the financial mess. He also supported Tom Daschle, Chris Van Hollen, Erskine Bowles, Bob Menendez, and Barack Obama.

Gary Cohn - Chief Operating Officer - Donated to Richard Shelby, Lee Fisher (D-running for Voinovich's seat), Kirsten Gillibrand, ActBlue, Scott Murphy, Mike McMahon, Steny Hoyer, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Max Baucus, Jack Reed, John Edwards, DNC, Ben Cardin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Max Baucus, Bill Nelson, Bob Menendez, Harold Ford, Jon Corzine, and Tom Daschle. In short, the biggest bunch of F'ups on the face of the earth - the US Senate.

In 2009, Forbes magazine gave Lloyd Blankfein a fitting award. The number one position in CEO Hall of Shame.

And last but not least: the divine Lloyd Blankfein (No. 1), chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people ). Despite bearing scant resemblance to, say, Mother Theresa, the Pope or the Dalai Lama, Blankfein told the Sunday Times of London in November that he was just a banker doing "God's work." He later said he meant it as a joke, but he certainly pays himself as if he were accomplishing something greater than human: In 2007 he made $73 million, according to Forbes, and only $25 million in 2008, as the economy tanked, but look for a recovery in his compensation this year as Goldman Sachs has recovered far ahead of the economy as a whole. In honor of the modesty of his pronouncement, we lift him to the celestial height of No. 1 on our list of CEO outrages of 2009.

Goldman Sachs has a long history of controversies.

From Spiegel:

Goldman Sachs helped the Greek government to mask the true extent of its deficit with the help of a derivatives deal that legally circumvented the EU Maastricht deficit rules. At some point the so-called cross currency swaps will mature, and swell the country's already bloated deficit.
...
Greece's debt managers agreed a huge deal with the savvy bankers of US investment bank Goldman Sachs at the start of 2002. The deal involved so-called cross-currency swaps in which government debt issued in dollars and yen was swapped for euro debt for a certain period -- to be exchanged back into the original currencies at a later date.

Fictional Exchange Rates

Such transactions are part of normal government refinancing. Europe's governments obtain funds from investors around the world by issuing bonds in yen, dollar or Swiss francs. But they need euros to pay their daily bills. Years later the bonds are repaid in the original foreign denominations.

But in the Greek case the US bankers devised a special kind of swap with fictional exchange rates. That enabled Greece to receive a far higher sum than the actual euro market value of 10 billion dollars or yen. In that way Goldman Sachs secretly arranged additional credit of up to $1 billion for the Greeks.

This credit disguised as a swap didn't show up in the Greek debt statistics. Eurostat's reporting rules don't comprehensively record transactions involving financial derivatives. "The Maastricht rules can be circumvented quite legally through swaps," says a German derivatives dealer.

When the subprime market gave banks a beating, Goldman Sachs on the other hand. The Guardian

Goldman's annual profits, announced on Tuesday, were up 22% to $11.6bn.

The bank's 30,000 staff will share a compensation pool of $20.1bn - amounting to $600,000 each if it was divided up equally (which, obviously, it won't be). Even certain Goldman secretaries, according to one pay expert, can expect to scoop $200,000 apiece - more than the salary of New York state's governor, Eliot Spitzer.

That's against a backdrop in which other firms are slashing jobs. Bear Stearns has crashed to the first quarterly loss in its 84-year history and has cut 9% of its workforce. Citigroup, having lost between $8bn and $11bn, is shopping for investors to boost its flagging capital adequacy ratio.

Gee, it helps to have friends in high places, like Paulson, Rubin, and Patterson. In fact, since AIG was "too big to fail" thanks to bipartisan screwups, Goldman Sachs was the winner. From Politico

the documents AIG released account for some of the more than $180 billion in aid that AIG has received, and they detailed for the first time which financial firms are benefitting from the federal handout.

In all, AIG disclosed payments of $105.3 billion between September and December 2008. And some of the biggest recipients were European banks. Societe Generale, based in France, was the top foreign recipient at $11.9 billion, Deutsche Bank of Germany got $11.8 billion and Barclays, based in England, was paid $8.5 billion.

Here in the U.S., Goldman Sachs received $12.9 billion. Edward Liddy, the government-installed CEO of AIG, sat on the board of directors of Goldman Sachs until he joined AIG.

He took the position while President George W. Bush's Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson — who until joining the administration had served as Goldman's chairman and CEO — arranged the insurance company's initial government bailout.

Paulson again. Thanks a lot Dubya for that appointment.

This will be an interesting trial or settlement. If it goes to trial, the discovery process may be more interesting than the trial itself. One thing is for certain, regardless of the outcome, Goldman Sachs needs to be kept far from the government.

Brighton again takes a stand against Big Government

I'm more of a pitchforks and torches kind of guy than I am a tea party guy, but this will have to do.I'd estimate about 750 there.

Once again, count on Brighton to take a stand against Big Government, much as we did last September. With the punk in chief railroading the debtor's prison health care deform billthrough Congress, now is the time to fight.

It was a good turnout for a weekday event that started right after the day shift ended. It wasn't like it was when national tea party express came through Brighton, but it was a good event anyway. Joe Hune spoke there and did a good job as usual. I saw Bill Rogers and Cindy Denby there in the background as well.

I could have done without seeing the Lyndon LaRouche booth and their violation of Godwin's Law, but at any event, there will be a few of those types showing up.

Overall, a message was sent. Less government and more freedom. Those that don't support that need to be fired.

Obama's new awakening on fiscal matters is absolute bullshit

We have had record defects from Mr. Obama. These trillion dollar deficits dwarf anything that Bush delivered. The TARP bailout from the previous administration was also Obama's fault, as well as McCain's for that matter. Obama voted for it. He administers it today. We then had the stimulus bill that was only stimulating for government and did nothing to create jobs. Bush was bad on spending. Obama was worse. Now all of a sudden, he is now running his mouth about fiscal policy? What the hell was he doing the past 18 months? Or his 4 years in the senate? This is bullshit.

From the Hill

President Barack Obama’s proposal to freeze government spending is turning out to be a tough sell on Capitol Hill.

His liberal base warned Tuesday the three-year cap on most non-defense discretionary spending could hamper an economic recovery. Conservatives dismissed it as insufficient and just for show.

Even the bipartisan group of lawmakers who praised Obama’s plan, most of them centrists, questioned whether he has the fortitude to veto plump spending bills that fail to adhere to the limits he has set. They also wonder if he will take further steps to rein in the $12.3 trillion federal debt.

Top Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), offered tepid support for Obama’s plan, saying it wasn’t enough.
“Of course I’m glad, but now there’s got to be spending cuts,” said McCain, who called for a discretionary spending freeze during the 2008 presidential debates. “They’ve added nearly 20 percent in spending in the past year. So a freeze is the right thing to do, but we’ll have to see how it gets implemented.”
.....

GOP senators who have blasted Obama for backing big-ticket items, such as the $787 billion stimulus and the bailouts of banks and the auto industry, said his spending freeze will do little to fix the economy.
“To me it’s totally meaningless,” said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). “But it’s obvious why he’s doing it. The idea is smart: He’s going to try to make people think he’s concerned about spending, which he isn’t.”

Inhofe got it right on the nose. This talk about freezes is bull. We don't need freezes. We need spending CUTS. We are spending billions upon billions just in INTEREST on the national debt. That's one of our biggest expenses. It needs to be paid. It should be reduced, heavily.

Next up, we have the horse to go with the bull. I never liked commissions. The 9/11 commission was a joke. All commissions on the federal level are jokes. They are made up of DC elitists and power brokers, and has-beens who want to get back in the spotlight and hear themselves run their mouths. There's not much here that even needs to be talked about. Voinovich though goes crazy. I'm not McConnell's biggest fan, and even less of a fan of Voinovich. Also from The Hill

Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) excoriated Republican colleagues, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Tuesday for having voted against a law to set up a commission to address the nation's long-term fiscal health.

Voinovich, a longtime deficit hawk, teed off against 23 fellow Senate Republicans who jointed with some Democrats to defeat a proposed bipartisan commission to address deficits and the national debt.

"The issue that I'm raising with Republicans is if you are not for this commission, then what are you for?" Voinovich said during a conference call with reporters. "And if the president is forced into creating an executive order and you criticize that executive order, then how are you going to explain what you want to do to deal with this problem?"

What the hell is a commission going to do? It's going to run its mouth and make recommendations. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a commission to figure out the fiscal problems in big government. In fact, it is quite obvious. Government can not spend more funds than it takes in. That's it. All that is needed is enough no votes or something Obama could have used on the stimulus package. It's called a veto. It's quite simple, even a caveman can figure it out. However with the insanity going on in DC, it won't be figured out. We have the batshit thinking on Capitol Hill to with its cousins the horse and bull, and they won't do Jack to solve the problem because they are chicken, driving normal people ape. There. I covered all the animal variations of the term, except the dog.

Until Obama starts using the veto pen and actually reduces the deficit, I don't want to hear anything he says, because we all know it is absolute....................I'll let you fill in the rest.

Washington Establishment gets right hook

Politico has a great article today that leads to this long editorial.

I've said for almost four years that the Republican Party is at a crossroads, mainly due to fiscal issues. It can follow the lead of the Republican Study Committee, Mike Pence, Jim DeMint, and Jeb Hensarling in its opposition to deficit spending, or it can follow the lead of Ted Stevens, George W Bush, and Charlie Crist in their support for big spending policies. The choice made here, will determine whether the GOP can take the house back in 2010, and the senate back in 2012 or 2014. It will also determine if Obama will be a one-termer. The bailout in 2008 turned the election from a close race to an ass kicking. The fiscal policies in 2006 caused an ass kicking. Democrat-lite policies from the GOP do not work. Why vote for democrat-lite when the real thing is always available.

While I understand that what works in one community does not always work in another, basic principles should always apply, and that they should be less government and more freedom.

Many in the GOP are starting to get that message again with Obama's radical leftism, Mike Pence having a more visible role, Ted Stevens being defeated, and George W Bush being gone. Starting being the operative word. There's still a lot of trust that needs to be earned, and nobody trusts the government right now. That's why we have the tea parties. That's why the calls are flooding the offices. That's why people are involved in politics who have not been involved.

Speaking of fiscal conservatism and tea parties, they aren't GOP. They are conservative. There's a difference, and people are getting right hooked by it. Florida Governor and senate candidate Charlie Crist is a big example. He was at the Mackinac Conference and probably wants to run for president someday. I was real tempted to get a big banner up there that said "Marco Rubio for Senate." Marco Rubio is Charlie Crist's opponent in the primary. Rubio has one of my favorite quotes. “If you are unhappy with the Republican establishment, then let’s get a new establishment.” Right now, we're in the process there in Washington. The DC insiders don't support Rubio, but that's changing. Rubio called out Crist and rightly so in the magazine Human Events.

The only enduring legacy of this stimulus will be the deficit it’s left us with,” Rubio said. “I don’t care how much money he raises — he will never convince Florida Republicans that the stimulus package and his embrace of it, and his campaigning in favor of it — hand in hand with the president — was a good thing for Florida, a good thing for their children, or a good thing for our country”

Rubio is frank in his assessment of why Crist went along with the stimulus at the time: Obama was popular.

“I think he supported the stimulus package because Barack Obama was popular at the time, and I think he supported it because he didn’t want to have a budget session in Tallahassee where he had to make difficult decisions — which, quite frankly, is reflective of everything that’s wrong in American politics today,” Rubio said. “We have too many people that just want to be popular.”

Right on the nose. That is also a big reason why I NEVER donate to the NRSC or NRCC. Those two groups pick and choose establishment candidates and fund them, even in primaries.

In 2005, the NRSC ran negative ads against Steve Laffey who ran against RINO Lincoln Chafee. Chafee got the establishment GOP support and won the primary. He still lost in the general in 2006. The NRSC spent money meant to support republicans, not fight them.

In 2009, the NRSC endorsed big spending Arlen Specter for re-election. Specter is now a democrat because the grassroots republicans had enough of him. Pat Toomey for senate. Toomey is an electable (won three times in a district that went for Gore and Kerry) conservative who can win a tough state like Pennsylvania.

Also this year, the NRSC said they would stay out of the Florida open primary, changed their mind, and supported Charlie Crist. My response? Rubio for senate.

The NRCC isn't much better. In Arizona, they flodded a district with money in an open primary for a candidate that lost. Wasted money.

Those are reasons why I don't give money to the establishment committees. If you plan on donating, the best way to go is to individual candidates, like Rubio, Toomey, Pence, DeMint, etc. Cut out the middleman.

That leads to the Politico article today which was very interesting. Tea partiers turn on GOP leadership. I wouldn't say, "turned" on GOP leadership. Most of the tea partiers I know and talked to never liked the GOP leadership anyway. This is grass roots. These aren't followers, but they chose their own paths. If you give them a big spending republican, they will get opposed just like an Obama democrat.

“It’s an outgrowth of the frustration people have had with the Republican Party,” said Andrew Moylan, director of governmental affairs for the National Taxpayers Union, another group that has played a large role in organizing the tea party movement. “I think a lot of people have been angry at Republicans for betraying our trust.”

“I think the GOP establishment has ignored their constituents and the feelings of their constituents for years,” added Meckler.

It’s an unusual predicament for the Republican Party, since the conservative-oriented issues that animate Tea Party activists once seemed destined to make the movement a valuable auxiliary to the Republican Party.

While there’s little evidence of tea party activist support for Democratic candidates, the specific notion of electing a GOP majority hasn’t ranked high on their agenda either.

Trust has to be re-earned. This was the major damage done to the GOP after Gingrich and Armey left, and after the arrival of President Bush.

One of those activists, Canyon Clowdus, an Army veteran who is taking on third term conservative Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), has blasted the incumbent for making “a horrible mistake” in voting for Troubled Asset Relief Program.

“He has put a financial burden on my four children that will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars each,” Clowdus says of Conaway on his campaign website.

“I think it was a bad, bad political decision,” Armey said of the 34 Senate Republicans and 91 House Republicans who voted for the TARP bailout, “and if you talk to grassroots activists, it has become a political test for them.”

Moylan agreed that TARP is “really kind of the flash point that started all of this.”

The bailout, supported and OWNED by Obama, Bush, and McCain. The stimulus package. Cap and trade. One after another. ALL of it is bad. Pete Hoekstra has mostly a good record, but he voted for the bailout the second time it was in the house. I can't get past that, and it cost him a chance at my primary vote (I'm supporting Mike Cox) for governor. Hoekstra's a good guy, but on fiscal issues that are tough decisions, I now have big doubts about his ability to handle pressure.

More:

For some, supporting insurgent campaigns or waging primary bids just isn’t a strong enough signal to send to a Republican Party that has abandoned core conservative policies.

Erick Erickson, founder and editor of the influential conservative blog RedState, has urged Tea Party activists to “put down the protest signs” and stage takeovers of local Republican parties.

“Grassroots activists need to start infiltrating the party,” said Erickson. “The only way to start getting [the establishment] back is to start pounding them with every fist we have.”

While I'm more judicious with the fists and pound them when I must, I don't believe in fighting blind. Know the rules of the game and use them to your advantage. I agree with the general premise, which goes to Rubio's comment about getting a new establishment.

In Michigan, our GOP committees are elected. It starts with precinct delegates. There are also usually more openings than spots filled for this position. That is an elected position in the August primary election. I've run for the position, and won every single time without even running a campaign. The primary job of the precinct delegates is to seat people at the state convention and elect people to the county executive committee. It's relatively easy, at least here, to seat people at state convention. I've been a state delegate every time I wanted to be. State delegates vote on district committee (where I currently serve), state committee, state chair/vice chairs, RNC committeeman, and candidates for some offices on the November ballot, including Attorney General, Supreme Court, and Secretary of State. It's a big deal. Those are the rules of the game, and also remember this. Washington establishment is the big problem. Many, many, mid and low level establishment figures in the GOP away from Washington are good friends of fiscal conservatism. Not everyone in the party is a RINO.

I don't know how it works in states besides Michigan, but if people really want to make a change on spending issues, it starts with getting involved long term. If you are a conservative and an old style 1994 Republican, get involved. It's your party as much as it is mine. Work hard, but most importantly, work smart. That's how to get a new establishment, and how to LAND a right hook against the Washington establishment instead of a swing and a miss.

Brighton takes a stand against big government

Holy Smokes. I didn't expect this big of a crowd.

It's the joker.


























The Three Stooges, Larry, Moe and Curly, and the crowd.

I debated whether to go to the tea party or not, but decided to do so. With the punk and Joker Mr. Obama's latest proposal, it was the last straw. He now wants to fine individuals $3800 for forgoing health insurance. Whether or not one wants insurance is none of your damn business. Bastards. In other news, he wants to raise the debt ceiling to 12 trillion. We got to pay that off somehow. China will collect eventually.

It's time to run the big spenders, taxers, and regulators out of DC and Lansing. This tea party needs to be a first step to run the clowns out, whether it be local, state, or federal. Unfortunately, we don't have a big chance federally until 2012 when the Dangerously Incompetent Debbie Stabenow is next up. A major difference can be made at the state level when we have an open seat for the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and State Senate positions. John Cherry spent 8 years as Granholm's LT. Nice guy, but wrong for the job. Valde Garcia is term limited out. Joe Hune was solid in his six years against the big spending, tax raising, fee raising, and regulations that were pushed in Lansing. He'll be solid as a senator.

The estimates of the crowd range from 2000 to 4000. I'm not sure of the exact number, but it was wall to wall of people on all sides of the Mill Pond going back from Main Street to St Paul to the Gazebo to the Imagination Station Playground border. I haven't seen this many people in one spot in Brighton since the old football games in the mid 90's against South Lyon. Parking? Forget it. It was a clustermuck.

The speeches were basic less government and more freedom talk. I've heard them before as a political junkie, but it was cool for those who haven't heard them. The crowd numbers sent the biggest message. One other good thing I saw was that there wern't many idiots. Out of the thousands there, only two signs I saw that did not belong there because of Godwin's law. That's not a bad ratio. Less than 1%.

My favorite sign was this:

Democrats destroyed Detroit, now Michigan. That is the absolute truth. The liberal democrats - starting with WHITE democrats in the 1960's destroyed that city (riots were on his watch), moved out, and now want to inflict what they did there here. If you want what happened to Detroit to happen here, vote the same bums in, the Jerry Cavanaugh's of today, and continuing with the Coleman Youngs afterward.

That is what will happen if the same jokers are elected here in Livingston County. That is what will happen to the state if the same jokers are elected in Lansing once again, and what will happen to the entire country if the current fools in DC are brought back again in 2010 and 2012. Send them home. Cherry, Whitmer, Stabenow, Levin, Schauer, Peters, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Baucus.

Washington F's over the automakers, but not the banks

I know that the auto industry has never been cool in Washington. There has been few friends among recent presidential candidates and they were long shots like Duncan Hunter and Pat Buchanan. Gore, Kerry, and their Toyota Prius/Pious crowd hates us. Bush wasn't a great friend either. Neither was McCain or Obama. All of them back NAFTA and GATT.

Flash back to last October. We had this massive crash in the financial markets that could be seen eventually a mile away. Thanks to Fannie Mae, Freddic Mac, subprime mortages, and bad decisions, it was bound to happen. After that, there was this rush from Washington and its leaders - Bush, Obama, McCain, Dodd, Frank, Pelosi, Reid, McConnell, and Boehner, to bail out the financial industry. Trillion dollars. This was in addition to the current national debt, and any budget. This bailout did nothing for reform.

Now the auto industry is in trouble and asks for a loan (not a bailout). They however get a double flank from the government. This isn't based on party as much as geography and ideology. Part of this the union leadership bringing it on themselves with their hyperpartisanship alienating some people that would otherwise support them. Part if it is the eco-wing of the democrats and their Priuses with their jihad against American auto industry. This was shown in spades when San Francisco resident and speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi got enough people to oust John Dingell off the commerce committee over the issue of the auto industry. His replacement was the totalitarian Henry Waxman from Hollywood. Part of this is Southern senators like Richard Shelby in Alabama (Thanks for making the rebuilding of the Michigan GOP that much harder you prick) beholden to foreign car plants in his state.

Now we got this micromanagement from Mr. Obama.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is sending a blunt message to Detroit automakers: To survive — and win more government help — they must remake themselves top to bottom. Driving home the point, the White House ousted the General Motors chairman as it rejected GM and Chrysler's restructuring plans.
..
New directors will now make up the majority of GM's board. Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, became the new CEO. Board member Kent Kresa, the former chairman and CEO of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., was named interim chairman of the GM board.

"The board has recognized for some time that the company's restructuring will likely cause a significant change in the stockholders of the company and create the need for new directors with additional skills and experience," Kresa said in a written statement.

The Obama administration move comes amid public outrage over bonuses paid to business leaders and American International Group executives — set against a severely ailing economy.

What has Obama ever run to tell GM to do anything? This jerk's taskforce has only two people that even drove an American car.

This guy said it right.

Machine repairman Don Thompson, a nearly four-decade Chrysler veteran, said the automakers are being punished because of populist anger over the financial bailout.

"They're using us for the mistakes they've made in Washington," Thompson said.

You have this AIG bailout and those bonuses which are oh-so-outrageous now, were known when the reps voted on the bailout. As for the rest of the financial industry and the bailouts, the first one did not work. So what do we have here in Obama's proposed budget - another bailout of another trillion dollars!

It's okay if your the financial industry, but woe to those who build American cars. I'll close this out with this statement. Out of a job yet, keep buying foreign.

Obama talks fiscal responsibility, but delivers a $1.75 trillion dollar deficit budget (With yet another bank bailout)

I've come to understand that whenever Obama promises something, it is time to expect the opposite. Nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to fiscal responsibility. This budget does not deliver whatsoever when it comes to that. I knew it was a joke when he talked about slashing the deficit in half in four years. That's unacceptable. It needs to be balanced. Period. This is going in the opposite direction.

From the AP

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is sending Congress a "hard choices" budget that would boost taxes on the wealthy and curtail Medicare payments to insurance companies and hospitals to make way for a $634 billion down payment on universal health care.

Obama's first budget, which will top $3 trillion, predicts the deficit for this year will soar to a whopping $1.75 trillion, according to administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity before the public unveiling of the budget Thursday. The huge deficit reflects the massive spending being undertaken to battle a severe recession and the worst financial crisis in seven decades.

As part of the effort to end the financial crisis, the administration will propose boosting the deficit by an additional $250 billion this year, enough to support as much as $750 billion in increased spending under the government's financial rescue program. That would more than double the $700 billion bailout effort passed by Congress last October.

How many bailouts does this make now? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is going on here? At least 2 trillion dollars have gone to the banks that screwed things up in the first place. They get rewarded for this junk. It also sounds as this new bailout is just a placeholder for yet another bailout.

There's also tax increases

The $634 billion down payment on expanding health care coverage would come from a $318 billion increase over 10 years in taxes on the wealthy, defined as couples making more than $250,000 per year and individuals making more than $200,000. The tax increase would occur by reducing the benefit the wealthy get on tax deductions. As one example, taxpayers in the current top tax bracket of 35 percent would see their tax deduction for every $1 given to charity drop from 35 cents to 28 cents.

The other half of the down payment on Obama's drive toward universal health care — $318 billion — would come from curtailing payments to hospitals and insurance companies under Medicare and drug payments under Medicaid.

The first one sucks, the second gets my guard up even more. I need more information to analyze what is meant by "curtailing payments," but I don't trust it, that's for sure.

The cost of the stimulus bill and the increased bailout support would push the deficit for this year to $1.75 trillion, nearly four times last year's record $455 billion and a percentage of the economy — just over 12 percent — not seen since World War II. The deficit is expected to remain around $1 trillion for the next two years before starting to decline to $533 billion in 2013, according to budget projections.

I think we all agree that Bush was not a fiscally responsible president. Obama exceeds Bush's fiscal mismanagement in spades. A 1/2 trillion dollar deficit is ridiciulous. $1.75 trillion is insane - and that is in addition to the "govenmental stimulation" package that was passed, along with the bailouts that the tag team of Bush and Obama both gave to us.

Then there is this:

The plan also contains a contentious proposal to raise hundreds of billions of dollars by auctioning off permits to exceed carbon emissions caps, which Obama wants to impose on users of fossil fuels to address global warming.

Are you f'ing kidding me? After this winter, we can use some global warming.

The last Bush budget sucked. This budget goes beyond sucking. It sucks on the level of former Lions GM Matt Millen. We have a tax increase for another bailout. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expected different results. The first bailout did not work. The newest bailout will not work and have the same effect as the old one. The tax increase irks me, but the bailout is what angers me the most.

However, saying "No" is not enough. There needs to be a counter budget that needs to be proposed and marketed. With the current membership in the screwed up organization known as Congress, it won't pass. However, it needs to be pushed into the minds of the public. The conservative wing of the GOP (Hensarling, Pence) need to go out and propose a balanced budget like they did in 2006. Unlike 2006, the GOP needs to embrace that budget and push that for a vote. If Pelosi fails (as she probably will) to allow a vote, run on that.

We're going from the bad to the worse, and it's time for this to be stopped.

The Crap Sandwich Bailout is a failure.

Prior planning prevents piss poor performance. This rush job, which was "the only solution" according to those BRILLIANT minds in Washington with names like Pelosi, Reid, Boehner, Bush, Obama, McCain, and McConnell, is not working.

From the AP

WASHINGTON – Urgently shifting course, the Bush administration is abandoning the centerpiece of its massive $700 billion economic rescue plan and exploring new ways to shore up not only banks but credit-card, auto-loan and other huge nonbank businesses. Democrats are pressing hard to include a multibillion-dollar bailout for faltering automakers, too — over administration objections. Unimpressed by any of the talk on Wednesday, Wall Street dove ever lower.

"The facts changed and the situation worsened," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said at a news briefing, explaining the administration's switch from its original plan to help financial institutions by buying up troubled assets, primarily securities backed by bad home loans.

How is throwing money at charlie foxtrots beneficial to the economy? As I said about the crap sandwich back on September 29.

Emergency and rushed Bills usually turn out to be real turkeys. That got us the Patriot Act approved by 99 senators. That got us the department of "Homeland Security." That got us a massive increase in government, the loss of our freedoms, and in my opinion did nothing to make us safer.

You can't rush this crap. You have to first try and prevent this. If that doesn't work, as it did not work here, you find the root of the problem. When a Japanese Maple (my dad will get that reference) wraps around a septic pipe and breaks it, you don't fix the pipe until you correct the Maple. Else, it will break again, and the maple roots would be even bigger. This bandaid does nothing to fix the problem. It is so Pelosi, Chris Dodd, GW Bush, Goldman Sachs Paulson, Barney Frank, and Boehner can say "Hey, we did something!" and go back to put their heads in the sand and hope the worse collapse happens when they retire so it isn't their problem.

There's no secret to the problems here. People spent more than they had. They screwed up. The banks also screwed up in lending. Fixed costs they did not budget for increased. Housing markets dropped. Jobs (in Michigan and some other places) were scarce. Energy prices increased dramaticly. Unless these are addressed, then this bailout will only make it worse down the road.

My plan would be this.
1. All of the above (Except ethanol which raises food costs) energy policy. We need to open up our domestic energy sources, creating jobs here and improving our national security at the same time. Drill in Alaska and offshore. Clean Coal electricity. Nuclear Power. And at the same time work for alternative fuel. Fuel Cell, cold fusion. This needs to be long term. As people spend less on energy costs, they have more money in their pocket. Demand will only increase with an industrializing China and India and their 2+ Billion people.

2. Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This should have been done 5 years ago.

3. Cut pork spending.

4. As far as the Wall Street plan, the Republican Study Committee has an alternative plan which I can support. Click here to see Pence and Jeb Hensarling's plan

Paulson put all his eggs in one basket, as did Pelosi, Boehner, Dodd, Frank, Bush, etc. The rank and file house democrats and republicans alike united against this crap sandwich. It's time to think things through, quit rushing, and deliver something that isn't a crap sandwich.

I hope Obama's first act as president is to fire Henry Paulson, and then replace him with someone better.

Goldman Sachs? You gotta be kidding me...

I shouldn't expect anything less from the company that gave us Jon Corzine and Henry Paulson.

Paulson picks interim head for rescue effort

WASHINGTON - The administration has selected a former Goldman Sachs executive to be the interim head of its $700 billion rescue effort for financial institutions.

Neel Kashkari, the Treasury's assistant secretary for international affairs, was selected Monday to be the interim head of Treasury's new Office of Financial Stability.

The designation was made by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was the head of Goldman Sachs before he joined the Bush administration in 2006. Kashkari, 35, will head the office created by the emergency legislation enacted Friday to fund the largest government bailout in history.

Former Goldman Sachs head appoints his own. To say my guard is up is an understatement.

Bailout passes house, will become law

Bad news. The house passed the Dodd/Reid/McConnell/Paulson/Bush bailout bill. The worse news is that this is the exact Senate bill so this will not go to conference committee. It will go strictly to Bush's desk where he will sign this.

YEA - 263 - 172 Democrats, 91 Republicans
NAY - 171 - 108 Republicans, 63 Democrats.

Both parties are to blame for this turkey.

Michigan Delegation:
Yea
Camp, Dingell, Ehlers, Hoekstra, Kildee, Kilpatrick Knollenberg, Levin, Upton
Nay
Conyers, McCotter, Miller, Rogers, Stupak, Walberg.

Thanks Mike. You did your part. So did McCotter.

The house bill was a crap sandwich. The Senate draft is a Matt Millenesque Clusterbleep

Copy is at the National Review website

This thing must change or get defeated.

Now, before panicking, remember that this is a DRAFT and NOT the final bill. This is being considered. A better, or worse bill could pass the senate.

I skimmed the bill since I don't have time to in depth read 400 pages. So far I don't like:
- Massive power to the sec of treasury. (Paulson's bill from before)
- Does not reform the problems. Bandaid. Subprime still here. No drilling.
- Debt limit - $12 TRILLION?
- INCREASE in Coal tax.
- Ethanol
- "Energy bonds"
- Carbon credits
- Carbon Dioxide treated as income? WTF?
- Most of the bill is unrelated to fixing the problem of energy COSTS, Mortgages, and debt.
- Reduction of deductions due to domestic drilling (Tax increase)
- Increase in oil tax per barrell.

That's just what I saw already in 20 minutes. This bill is unacceptable, and why we ALWAYS need to watch to see what crap Congress springs on us in what is deemed an emergency situation. Emergencies is how we were stuck with the Patriot Act, the MBT tax, and the department of homeland security. It will be how we get something as bad or worse than this draft if we don't call our congresscritters and presidential candidates.

Bailout fallout - The good, the bad, and the ugly crap sandwich

There was an interesting dynamic to the bailouts. This was a populist revolution against leadership. About 40% of the democrats said no. Over 60% of the Republicans voted no. I salute those that voted no, from Mike Pence to Dennis Kucinich to our state delegation that said "No deals." Mike Rogers, Tim Walberg, Thad McCotter, Pete Hoekstra, Joe Knollenberg, Candice Miller, John Conyers, Bart Stupak, and Carolyn Kilpatrick. 6 Republicans and 3 democrats.

The finger pointing has begun. Some blame Pelosi. Some blame some Republicans who may have thought about voting for it until Pelosi ran her big mouth. Some blame Bush and Paulson. Some blame the dems. Some blame Mike Pence who was one of the few real leaders in this.

Simplify this.
John Boehner voted for this and was part of the GOP leadership. He called the bill a "crap sandwich". I agree with him. The question to Boehner is this. Why did you vote for a "crap sandwich?" Why did you push for the rest of the GOP to go for this "crap sandwich" that even 40% of the democrats refused to back? This isn't leadership. Real leadership is pushing an alternative plan to this, one that isn't a bandaid. This quote also isn't leadership and is part of the reason why democrats currently control the house.

"I do believe we could have gotten there today if it had not been for this partisan speech the speaker gave on the floor of the House"

That's Boehner. I think we could have gotten there if we wern't given a "crap sandwich" (your quote) of a bill. Boehner would have lost my vote if I lived in his district. This is why I wanted Pence to be minority leader.

Where did the real leadership come on this bill? McCotter started the major push in the house with a speech on TV. This was his post vote statement. "The voice of the Main Street has been heeded and obeyed by Congress. Americans said 'No!' to the Paulson bailout. Now, let our work commence in earnest and prudence on behalf of the American people."

Mike Pence was one the most visable leaders on this. ""Ask yourselves why you came here and vote with courage and integrity to those principles. If, like me, you came here because you believe in limited government and the freedom of the American marketplace, I urge you vote in accordance with your convictions. Stand up for limited government and economic freedom. Stand up for the American taxpayer. Reject this bailout and vote no on the emergency economic stabilization act,"

Pence and the Republican Study Committee had an alternative plan here that wasn't a crap sandwich.
Three of the best quotes here are from fellow Midwesterners in Indiana. One is Republican, one democrat. Both opposed the bill. All said close to the same thing.

From Baron Hill (D) - I have been rushed to judgment by the Bush Administration before. There hasn't been enough time to evaluate the impacts this legislation would have if enacted, or to consider alternatives. Congress deserves time to weigh the benefits and the potential pitfalls of borrowing this money."

From Steve Buyer (R) - "I am bothered that Secretary Paulson offered an immediate government solution rather than taking the time to explore effective private sector and market based solutions. The Paulson plan was an unprecedented infusion of government power into the private financial sector."

From Mike Pence (R) - “"The last time I heard that, I was on a used car lot. The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you've got to do the deal right now, it usually means they're going to get the better part of the deal."

Emergency and rushed Bills usually turn out to be real turkeys. That got us the Patriot Act approved by 99 senators. That got us the department of "Homeland Security." That got us a massive increase in government, the loss of our freedoms, and in my opinion did nothing to make us safer.

You can't rush this crap. You have to first try and prevent this. If that doesn't work, as it did not work here, you find the root of the problem. When a Japanese Maple (my dad will get that reference) wraps around a septic pipe and breaks it, you don't fix the pipe until you correct the Maple. Else, it will break again, and the maple roots would be even bigger. This bandaid does nothing to fix the problem. It is so Pelosi, Chris Dodd, GW Bush, Goldman Sachs Paulson, Barney Frank, and Boehner can say "Hey, we did something!" and go back to put their heads in the sand and hope the worse collapse happens when they retire so it isn't their problem.

There's no secret to the problems here. People spent more than they had. They screwed up. The banks also screwed up in lending. Fixed costs they did not budget for increased. Housing markets dropped. Jobs (in Michigan and some other places) were scarce. Energy prices increased dramaticly. Unless these are addressed, then this bailout will only make it worse down the road.

My plan would be this.
1. All of the above (Except ethanol which raises food costs) energy policy. We need to open up our domestic energy sources, creating jobs here and improving our national security at the same time. Drill in Alaska and offshore. Clean Coal electricity. Nuclear Power. And at the same time work for alternative fuel. Fuel Cell, cold fusion. This needs to be long term. As people spend less on energy costs, they have more money in their pocket. Demand will only increase with an industrializing China and India and their 2+ Billion people.

2. Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This should have been done 5 years ago.

3. Cut pork spending.

4. As far as the Wall Street plan, the Republican Study Committee has an alternative plan which I can support. Click here to see Pence and Jeb Hensarling's plan

Paulson put all his eggs in one basket, as did Pelosi, Boehner, Dodd, Frank, Bush, etc. The rank and file house democrats and republicans alike united against this crap sandwich. It's time to think things through, quit rushing, and deliver something that isn't a crap sandwich.