Tag: economics

An Interesting Movie

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I post this because I believe that it is interesting. Alex Jones has always struck me as a kook. Someone amongst the “Tin Foil Hat” crowd. However, it is something interesting to watch.

Enjoy…

What do you think? Do you think that there is any truth to this?

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I must admit, Patterico does have a good point

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I normally wouldn’t link this guy, but he does have a very valid point.

Basically, Patterico says that the Democrats have zero right to criticize we Conservatives  for wanting Bambi to fail. Why?

This: (click to make it bigger)

poll-should-bush-succeed

Basically, in 2006, there was a poll taken, where 53% of Democrats said that they hope that Bush failed. (Poll is in PDF format…)

So, as Patterico says:

Have this poll handy the next time some Democrat gets snooty about Rush wanting Obama to fail. It’s proof that the Democrats didn’t want Bush to succeed. They have no standing to claim the moral high ground. None.

I cannot say that I disagree with this. The Democrats from the time that the Iraq war started turning bad, till the day Bush left office, would not cut George W. Bush any slack at all. I even, once the surge started, gave him a little slack to see if it worked, Obama and his Democratic partners in crime, like over at the DailyKos, would not, at all.  To this day, Obama refuses to admit that the Surge in Iraq worked.

Update: Oh, before anyone asks; No, I was not cool with the idea of going into Iraq; especially when the whole WMD thing came up as bogus.  But, I was willing to give the President a break and let him get the situation straightened out there. The Liberal Left? Not so much. All one had to do, is tune into MSNBC or CNN and listen to the talking heads criticize Bush.

Good show Patterico, even if you did try and slander me over at another Blog, by bringing up crap that happened over a year ago, and something I totally apologized for. 😛

Others: Flopping Aces and Sister Toldjah

Can someone remind me as just to why exactly we elected this douche nozzle??!?!?

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First off, check this out: (Via America Digest)

Via U.K. Telegraph:

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been “overwhelmed” by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama’s inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.

Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president’s surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama’s inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to “even fake an interest in foreign policy”.

A British official conceded that the furore surrounding the apparent snub to Mr Brown had come as a shock to the White House. “I think it’s right to say that their focus is elsewhere, on domestic affairs. A number of our US interlocutors said they couldn’t quite understand the British concerns and didn’t get what that was all about.”

The American source said: “Obama is overwhelmed. There is a zero sum tension between his ability to attend to the economic issues and his ability to be a proactive sculptor of the national security agenda.

“That was the gamble these guys made at the front end of this presidency and I think they’re finding it a hard thing to do everything.”

Oh, it gets better, trust me… Too Tired?!?! Seriously? Think that’s bad?

Via The Old Gray Lady:

President Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq.

Mr. Obama pointed to the success in peeling Iraqi insurgents away from more hard-core elements of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a strategy that many credit as much as the increase of American forces with turning the war around in the last two years. “There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region,” he said, while cautioning that solutions in Afghanistan will be complicated.

[…]

“I don’t think that people should be fearful about our future,” he said. “I don’t think that people should suddenly mistrust all of our financial institutions.”

As he pressed forward with ambitious plans at home to rewrite the tax code, expand health care coverage and curb climate change, Mr. Obama dismissed criticism from conservatives that he was driving the country toward socialism. After the interview, which took place as the president was flying home from Ohio, he called reporters from the Oval Office to assert that his actions have been “entirely consistent with free-market principles” and to point out that large-scale government intervention in the markets and expansion of social welfare programs began under President George W. Bush.

Sitting at the head of a conference table with his suit coat off, Mr. Obama exhibited confidence six weeks into his presidency despite the economic turmoil around the globe and the deteriorating situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He struck a reassuring tone about the economy, saying he had no trouble sleeping at night.

[…..]

Asked if the United States was winning in Afghanistan, a war he effectively adopted as his own last month by ordering an additional 17,000 troops sent there, Mr. Obama replied flatly, “No.”

Again, can someone please tell me why we elected this feckless idiot douche nozzle? I am really beginning to believe that America blew it. In a really, really, really, big way.

Those who were actually stupid enough to vote for this socialist idiot, get what is coming to them. (yes, that applies to my family too.)

I mean, this asshole is acting like this is some sort of a community organizer job. Being the President is a serious job and this idiot is not even acting remotely like a President. 😡

As much as I disagreed with President George W. Bush on Iraq, I will say this; you never, EVER heard George W. Bush complain or his staff ever say to reporters, even anonymously say that the job was making him tired! Not once.

Not getting enough sleep, what a pansy ass! 🙄

Others: JustOneMinute, Power Line, Pajamas Media, Flopping Aces, QandO, Six Meat Buffet, Macsmind, Flopping Aces,  Gateway Pundit, NO QUARTER, AMERICAN DIGEST,  Wizbang,  Atlas Shrugs, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, HotAir, NO QUARTER, PoliGazette and Cold Fury

Update: Right Voices links in. Thank you! 🙂

Update #3: Peace and Freedom Global Future links in. Thank you! 🙂

Update #2: Whole Bunch more cool people covering this:

Edited to remove accidental dupe links… ooops!

A New Parody “Barry’s Farm”

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Here’s the Original Song:


Update: It seems that some Fascist Socialist Liberal twit keeps going around getting my video yanked. No biggie, if they yank it. I will find it elsewhere and put it up. This is America and not fascist Germany and I have the RIGHT to express my opinions about the President and his fascist polices. You liberals don’t like it? TOUGH SHIT! 😡

History about the song and concert

New Lyrics:

Barry’s Farm

(Sung to the tune of Maggie’s Farm by Bob Dylan)

Written by Paleo Pat

I ain’t gonna work on Barry’s farm no more.
I ain’t gonna work on Barry’s farm no more.
Well, I wake up in the morning,
Fold my hands and pray that I might keep my gain.
I got a bill full of Taxes
That are drivin’ me insane.
It’s a shame the way he makes me tip the whore.
Naw, I ain’t gonna work on Barry’s farm no more.

I ain’t gonna work under Barry’s Law’s no more.
I ain’t gonna work under Barry’s Law’s no more.
Well, he hands you a Dollar,
Taxes you a dime,
Looks at you with a grin
While robbin’ you fuckin’ Blind,
Then he taxes you every time you open the door.
I ain’t gonna work under Barry’s Laws no more.

I ain’t gonna be a slave for Barry’s Government no more.
No, I ain’t be a Slave for Barry’s Government no more.
Well, he puts a Tax Bill
in your face just for kicks.
His White House
It is made out of Bricks.
The Secret Service stands around his door.
Ah, I ain’t gonna be a slave for Barry’s Government no more.

I ain’t gonna work for Barry’s Bitch no more.
No, I ain’t gonna work for Barry’s Bitch no more.
Well, she talks to all the people
About Equality and Race and Law.
All the while the workin’ people
Are payin’ for other peoples bad calls
She’s a lying thief, but she says her honesty stands tall.
Naw, I ain’t gonna work for Barry’s Bitch no more.

I ain’t gonna work on Barry’s farm no more.
I ain’t gonna work on Barry’s farm no more.
Well, I try my best
To do the best I can,
But everybody wants you
To pay thier bills for them.
They eat steak while you slave and I just get bored.
I ain’t gonna work on Barry’s farm no more.

T. Boone Pickens does The View

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You know, it is no secret that I have a link in my “Friends” sidebar to T. Boone Pickens Website, called PickensPlan.  Unlike some of my Neo-Conservative counterparts, I believe that we really have to stop our dependence on foreign oil. I believe that T. Boone Pickens brings one of many alternatives for fossil fuels to the table.  Many have bad mouthed him for his activies in the 2004 election.  I just don’t agree with that. The man see’s the need and he is stepping up, which is more than I can say for some.

Here’s his adventure to “The View”:

When your done, head on over, sign up on PickensPlan Website and drop a couple bucks in his donation kettle. When your done, come back and drop a couple bucks in mine! 😉 😀 😛

Another Boneheaded move from the Obama Administration….

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Another smooth move from the Harlem Globetrotter Administration. This time towards Michigan, The Detroit News laments:

President Barack Obama’s proposed cap-and-trade system on greenhouse gas emissions is a giant economic dagger aimed at the nation’s heartland — particularly Michigan. It is a multibillion-dollar tax hike on everything that Michigan does, including making things, driving cars and burning coal.

The president is asking for a system of government limits on carbon emissions. The right to emit carbon would be auctioned off to generate revenue for more government spending programs.

The president’s budget projects receipts totaling $646 billion through 2019 from the sale of these greenhouse gas permits.

The goal, according to the president’s budget outline, is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide to 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Doing so will drive up the cost of nearly everything and will amount to a major tax increase for American consumers.

Such a tax will hit the Midwest particularly hard, which is why House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, told the New York Times, “let’s just be honest and call it a carbon tax that will increase taxes on all Americans who drive a car, who have a job, who turn on a light switch, pure and simple.”

The carbon tax will be paid by energy companies, manufacturers and public utilities, who will pass the cost on to their consumers. Michigan will be especially targeted. It gets 60 percent of its electric power from coal plants, and the state’s economy is still reliant on heavy manufacturing such as car and truck assembly and auto parts production.

Michigan will lose as carbon tax money is shifted to states with a greater presence of high-tech and service businesses.

The proposed tax would take effect in 2012 and has the very real potential to throw the nation back into recession, if indeed the expected recovery has arrived by then. It’s impossible to raise costs for such basics as manufacturing and energy production by more than half a trillion dollars over a decade and not have the effects felt across the economy.

The nation’s gross domestic product contracted at an annualized rate of 3.8 percent in last year’s fourth quarter — the worst economic record in nearly three decades. Is this really a good time to be talking about a carbon tax? How will such talk impact investment decisions?

Obama promises to use some of the revenues for tax relief for certain workers and some of the rest for subsidies for alternative energy. But that won’t make up for the damage this huge new tax will do to the economy, especially in Michigan.

I would be willing to bet that many people here in Michigan, who voted for the magic moon bat are having a bad case of buyers regret today. This is what happens when you run a Presidential Administration that caters to special interests on the far, far, left and basically tells the rest of the Country to go to hell.

The liberals once made a movie called “Who Killed the Electric Car?” Pretty soon those same Liberals will be making a movie called “Who Killed the Detroit Auto Industry?”

On Heals of AIG News Markets off to Shaky Start

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The News this morning that AIG is going to get even more bail out monies from the Government. To put it mildly, the markets are not reacting too well at all.

Here’s the charts:

Dow Jones:

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VIX:

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NASDAQ-100:

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S&P 500 Index

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QQQQ’s

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XAU

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Charts Courtesy of Think or Swim

Others: JustOneMinute, Commentary, Fausta’s Blog,Michelle Malkin,Don Surber, and more via Memeorandum 

Asian Markets Slide

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The ripple effect of Government Socialism spreads:

Asian stock markets slumped Monday amid resurgent concerns that a recovery in the global economy is unlikely to materialize until next year and worries about the global financial sector following fresh government bailouts for the insurance giant American International Group and Citigroup.

The Nikkei 225, Japan’s benchmark index, was down 4 percent and the Kospi in South Korea fell 3.6 percent, while the key index in Hong Kong sagged 3.8 percent. Singapore’s stock market fell 3.3 percent, and the markets in Australia and Taiwan dropped 2.8 percent. Stocks in mainland China declined least, falling 0.2 percent by Monday afternoon.

Stock in banks like Mitsubishi UFJ and Mizuho Financial Group were more than 4 percent lower in Tokyo because of fears about the health of the global banking system, after the United States government moved to take a larger stake in the ailing banking giant Citigroup and was set to give an additional $30 billion in taxpayer money to AIG.

And in Hong Kong, trading in HSBC was suspended in the wake of reports that the British bank will announce on Monday that it is tapping investors for about £12 billion, or about $17 billion.

“It’s pretty despondent everywhere,” said Dwyfor Evans, a strategist at State Street Global Markets in Hong Kong. “Okay, there are signs that some of the leading indicators have stabilized to some extent, but it’s at a very, very low level, and we’re not seeing corporate investment picking up, or consumers starting to spend again – in other words, the traditional mechanisms by which economies come out of a recession are absent at this time.”

via Asian Markets Slump in Monday Trading – NYTimes.com.

While Barack Obama might be the President that saved the working class family in America, he might very well go down as the President who destroyed the free market capitalist system in America and around the World. Although, I will admit, that he did have help. Bill Clinton’s polices, along with the inaction of the Republican Congress of 2003, did nothing to stop this mess.

The bad part about is, I and everyone else will be most likely dead before it is all straightened out.

Welcome to the 21 century. 🙄

Guest Voice: Chuck Baldwin Video Sermon “What Every Christian Should Know About The New World Order”

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This is a sermon that I think every Christian of all denomination ought to listen to.

High Speed Video

Video for Dial Up Speeds:

Audio (BroadBand):

Audio (Dial Up):

Chuck Baldwin Live official Website

Crossroads Baptist Church – Pensacola, FL

Freaky Deaky – Ball Lightning As a weapon?!?!

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Now this is quite interesting:

Two hundred years ago this week, the warship HMS Warren Hastings was struck by a weird phenomenon: “Three distinct balls of fire” fell from the heavens, striking the ship and killing two crewmen, leaving behind “a nauseous, sulfurous smell,” according to the Times of London.

Ball lightning has been the subject of much scientific scrutiny over the years. And, as with many powerful natural phenomena, the question arises: “Can we turn it into a weapon?” Peculiar as it may seem, that’s exactly what some researchers are working on — even though it hasn’t even been properly replicated in the laboratory yet.

The exact cause and nature of ball lighting has yet to be determined; there may be several different types, confusing matters further. But generally it manifests as a grapefruit-sized sphere of light moving slowly through the air which may end by fizzling out or exploding.

via Scientist Looks to Weaponize Ball Lightning | Danger Room from Wired.com.

Here’s a video to go with the freaky deaky story… Although, I think some of the “so-called” Ball Lightning in this video is Fireworks and also some shots of the moon. Although, I could be wrong.

Oy. That music is enough to make one want to hide under the bed. 😮

Between that and watching Glenn Beck’s show on “What could go wrong.” I’m inclined to just stay in the house until the rapture of the Church!

(H/T to Freedom’s Phoenix)

Swiss are not happy about US probe of UBS

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Now this is interesting:

The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) called on Saturday for retaliation against the United States over a U.S. tax probe into the country’s biggest bank UBS that threatens prized banking secrecy.

The populist SVP, the country’s biggest party, said Switzerland should not take in any detainees from the U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which the Swiss government said last month it could consider to help shut the camp down.

Switzerland should also reconsider its policy of representing the United States in countries where it has no diplomatic presence, the parliamentary SVP said in a statement.

The SVP said gold stored by the Swiss National Bank in the United States should be repatriated and Switzerland should ban the sale of U.S. funds in the country to protect Swiss investors after the failure of U.S. regulators.

The SVP has one minister in the seven-member Swiss government which is made up of the biggest four parties, but its populist policies have shaken up usually consensual Swiss politics.

via Swiss party wants to punish U.S. for UBS probe – Reuters.

You see, this is what happens, when the United States entangles itself in the affairs of other Governments. Switzerland has been a neutral country for years and a somewhat friend of ours, now they’ve become a enemy. Real smart there Barry, Real fucking smart.


Obama to Unveil Class Warfare Plan

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I knew this was coming:

President Obama is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious first budget that seeks to cut the federal deficit in half over the next four years, primarily by raising taxes on business and the wealthy and by slashing spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration officials said.

In addition to tackling a deficit swollen by the $787 billion stimulus package and other efforts to ease the nation’s economic crisis, the budget blueprint will press aggressively for progress on the domestic agenda Obama outlined during the presidential campaign. This would include key changes to environmental policies and a major expansion of health coverage that Obama hopes to enact later this year.

A summary of Obama’s budget request for the fiscal year that begins in October will be delivered to Congress on Thursday, with the complete, multi-hundred-page document to follow in April. But Obama plans to unveil his goals for scaling back record deficits and rebuilding the nation’s costly and inefficient health care system Monday, when he addresses more than 100 lawmakers and budget experts at a White House summit on restoring “fiscal responsibility” to Washington.

In his weekly radio and Internet address today, Obama expressed determination to “get exploding deficits under control” and described his budget request as “sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don’t, and restoring fiscal discipline.”

Reducing the deficit, he said, is critical to the nation’s future: “We can’t generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control.”

Obama faces the long-term challenge of retirement and health programs that threaten to bankrupt the government years down the road, as well as the more immediate problem of deficits bloated by spending on the economy and financial-system bailouts. His budget proposal takes aim at the short-term problem, administration officials said, but also would begin to address the nation’s chronic budget imbalance by squeezing savings from the federal health programs for the elderly and the poor.

Even before Congress approved the stimulus package earlier this month, this year’s deficit was projected by Congressional budget analysts to approach $1.2 trillion, or 8.3 percent of the overall economy, the highest since World War II. With the stimulus and other expenses, some analysts say the annual gap between federal spending and income could approach $2 trillion when the fiscal year ends in September.

Obama proposes to dramatically reduce those numbers by the end of his first term, cutting the deficit he inherited in half, said administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the budget has yet to be released. His budget plan would keep the deficit hovering near $1 trillion in 2010 and 2011, but shows it dropping to $533 billion in 2013 — still high in dollar terms, but a more manageable 3 percent of the overall economy.

To get there, Obama proposes to cut spending and raise taxes. The savings would come primarily from “winding down the war” in Iraq, a senior administration official said. The budget assumes that the nation will continue to spend money on “overseas military contingency operations” throughout Obama’s presidency, the official said, but that number is significantly lower than the nearly $190 billion the nation budgeted for Iraq and Afghanistan last year

via Washington Post – Obama to Unveil an Ambitious Budget Plan.

Well, one can forget about any new jobs coming to Michigan or anywhere else in America, because if Businesses are taxed, they will not hire new people. Just more class warfare from the Democrats. I also notice that Obama is cutting funds to Iraq and Afghanistan, that will be the precursor to ending the war. Because you cannot fight a war, if you do not have the funds.

We are headed into a repeat of the 1990’s all over again, ending the deficit on the backs of the wealthy in the Country, while the rest of Country gets off scott free. Where is the fairness in that? The reason why this is so bad is this, if you tax the wealthy and business owners, they are much less likely to hire new employees and also they are less likely to spend money, thereby adding to the economy. This whole idea of the Democrats of Tax and Spending our way out of our Economic woes is just plain idiotic.

We are headed towards very scary times in America. Act accordingly.

(H/T and Thanks to Drudge)

Awesome Karl Denninger lays the smack down on White Press Secretary Gibbs

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This is just too awesome!

Wow! I love it when smart people to stuff like that…

Karl Denninger’s Blog

(H/T Lew Rockwell)

HELL FREEZES OVER! Andrew Sullivan says something nice about Ron Paul

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Holy Moses ‘n Aaron! I never thought I’d see this day, ever!

I do not know these things. But I do know that a serious engagement with the ideas and principles of a non-Keynesian approach to economics – of the kind Ron Paul talks about – is worth having again. At some point the right will have to govern again; and reminding people of the dangers of excessive government, excessive debt, and printing money will be necessary. The groundwork needs to start now. And it needs to be free of partisan cant and ideological posturing.

via The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (February 20, 2009) – A Conservative Of Doubt.

I agree with Sullivan; for a change. I feel so Odd, and like I need to shower. 😉

CNBC’s Rick Santelli goes off on a rant about the Bailouts and the Stimulus

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Sometimes I just wuv BreitBart. This has to be one of the best things I’ve ever seen on MSBC/CNBC.

Exit Question: I just wonder how long it is before Rick Santelli gets terminated for not embracing the politics of hope and change?

Manufacturing Suffers

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Some more grim news… 🙁

Via the Economist:

$0.00, not counting fuel and handling: that is the cheapest quote right now if you want to ship a container from southern China to Europe. Back in the summer of 2007 the shipper would have charged $1,400. Half-empty freighters are just one sign of a worldwide collapse in manufacturing. In Germany December’s machine-tool orders were 40% lower than a year earlier. Half of China’s 9,000 or so toy exporters have gone bust. Taiwan’s shipments of notebook computers fell by a third in the month of January. The number of cars being assembled in America was 60% below January 2008.

The destructive global power of the financial crisis became clear last year. The immensity of the manufacturing crisis is still sinking in, largely because it is seen in national terms—indeed, often nationalistic ones. In fact manufacturing is also caught up in a global whirlwind.

Industrial production fell in the latest three months by 3.6% and 4.4% respectively in America and Britain (equivalent to annual declines of 13.8% and 16.4%). Some locals blame that on Wall Street and the City. But the collapse is much worse in countries more dependent on manufacturing exports, which have come to rely on consumers in debtor countries. Germany’s industrial production in the fourth quarter fell by 6.8%; Taiwan’s by 21.7%; Japan’s by 12%—which helps to explain why GDP is falling even faster there than it did in the early 1990s (see article). Industrial production is volatile, but the world has not seen a contraction like this since the first oil shock in the 1970s—and even that was not so widespread. Industry is collapsing in eastern Europe, as it is in Brazil, Malaysia and Turkey. Thousands of factories in southern China are now abandoned. Their workers went home to the countryside for the new year in January. Millions never came back (see article).

This is what happens when you create an economic bubble, by loosening up regulations to sell mortgages to those who cannot afford them. The whole world suffers. Our American companies suffer, the World manufacturing sector suffers. It is a domino effect. The problem is, that the United States is going about this all wrong. Instead of changing the way our economic system works. They are simply trying to reinflate the broken bubble. It is like trying to tape up a busted air ballon and trying to put air back into it again. It works for a while, but ends up breaking again.


Greenspan says “nationalize now”

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Now this is something:

The US government may have to nationalize some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times.

In an interview, Mr Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of laisser-faire capitalism, said nationalisation could be the least bad option left for policymakers.

”It may be necessary to temporarily nationalise some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” he said. “I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do.”

Mr Greenspan’s comments capped a frenetic day in which policymakers across the political spectrum appeared to be moving towards accepting some form of bank nationalisation.

“We should be focusing on what works,” Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, told the FT. “We cannot keep pouring good money after bad.” He added, “If nationalisation is what works, then we should do it.”

Speaking to the FT ahead of a speech to the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, Mr Greenspan said that “in some cases, the least bad solution is for the government to take temporary control” of troubled banks either through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or some other mechanism.

The former Fed chairman said temporary government ownership would ”allow the government to transfer toxic assets to a bad bank without the problem of how to price them.”

But he cautioned that holders of senior debt – bonds that would be paid off before other claims – might have to be protected even in the event of nationalisation.

”You would have to be very careful about imposing any loss on senior creditors of any bank taken under government control because it could impact the senior debt of all other banks,” he said. “This is a credit crisis and it is essential to preserve an anchor for the financing of the system. That anchor is the senior debt.”

via FT.com – Greenspan backs bank nationalisation.

Let me get this straight, one of the main douche bags that was responsible for the meltdown of the bank industry and the economic collapse is now telling us what we should do with our banks?

<— click Blank

Grim Local News – GM, Chrysler seek more money and will cut more jobs…

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Kind of a depressing local story for me:

Video:

The Story:

Billions of dollars in government loans to prop up General Motors and Chrysler won’t be enough. The companies, which have received $17.4 billion so far, filed plans with the government more than doubling that request to a staggering total of $39 billion.

The requests, made in government-required restructuring plans filed Tuesday, were accompanied by plans for thousands more job cuts, slashing of models and brands, union concessions and the prospect of even further expense cuts.

In a dramatic acknowledgment that conditions in the U.S. auto industry have grown significantly worse in just two months, GM alone said it would cut 47,000 jobs globally by the end of the year — 19 percent of its work force. It also said it would close five more U.S. factories, although it did not identify them.

Chrysler said it will cut 3,000 more jobs and stop producing three vehicle models.

The grim reports came as the United Auto Workers union said it had reached a tentative agreement with GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. on contract changes. Concessions with the union and debt-holders were a condition of the government bailout.

GM said it could need up to $30 billion from the Treasury Department, up from a previous estimate of $18 billion. That includes $13.4 billion the company has already received. The world’s largest automaker said it could run out of money by March without new funds and needs $2 billion next month and another $2.6 billion in April.

“We have a lot of work to do,” General Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said. “We’re still going at this with a great sense of urgency.”

via The Associated Press: GM, Chrysler seek billions more, to cut more jobs.

I think I’ll just refrain from public commentary on this one. There’s family, my family involved here; so, I’m totally biased. I just do not think those Conservatives who opposed this money to these companies really get it. All I am going to say. Anyone that’s read this Blog, or wants to know what I think. Do a search on “Tarp Loans” and you’ll see why I feel the way that  I do.

Republicans now supporting nationalization of banks

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It looks like the party of Freedom is selling the American people up the river:

Nationalization, long regarded in Washington as a folly of Europeans, is gaining rapid ground among US opinion-formers. Stranger still, many of those talking about federal ownership of banks are Republicans.

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator for North Carolina, said that many of his selloutcolleagues, including John McCain, the defeated presidential candidate, agreed with his view that nationalisation of some banks should be “on the table”.

Mr Graham said that people across the US accepted his argument that it was untenable to keep throwing good money after bad into institutions such as Citigroup and Bank of America, which now have a lower net value than the amount of public funds they have received.

“You should not get caught up on a word [nationalisation],” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “I would argue that we cannot be ideologically a little bit pregnant. It doesn’t matter what you call it, but we can’t keep on funding these zombie banks [without gaining public control]. That’s what the Japanese did.”

Barack Obama, the president, who has tried to avoid panicking lawmakers and markets by entertaining the idea, has recently moved more towards what he calls the “Swedish model” – an approach backed strongly by Mr Graham.

via FT.com – Bank nationalisation gains ground with Republicans.

Nationalization is nothing more than Communism. We are being sold up the river. Remember this come 2010.

(H/T Drudge)

Obama signs the Generational Theft Act and Promises Another, Markets Tank…

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I figured this was coming:

The Story:

President Obama has not ruled out a second stimulus package, his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said on Tuesday, just before Mr. Obama signed his $787 billion recovery package into law with a statement that it would “set our economy on a firmer foundation.”

The president said he would not pretend “that today marks the end of our economic problems.”

“Nor does it constitute all of what we have to do to turn our economy around,” Mr. Obama said at the signing ceremony in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. “But today does mark the beginning of the end, the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the way of playoffs.”

Mr. Gibbs, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Denver, said, “I think the president is going to do what’s necessary to grow this economy.” While “there are no particular plans at this point for a second stimulus package,” he added, “I wouldn’t foreclose it.”

Mr. Obama began the first leg of a two-day trip, using the museum ceremony to spotlight the bill’s clean-energy provisions. The president will also visit Phoenix, where he will unveil his new housing plan on Wednesday.

After a bruising legislative battle on the stimulus bill, which drew only three supporting votes from Republicans in the Senate and none in the House, the White House is trying to recapture the debate over the economy. Mr. Obama’s message is that the bill will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.

While the bill has been criticized by conservatives as bloated with pork-barrel spending, it has also been criticized by the left as too tepid and not bold enough to jumpstart the economy. Mr. Gibbs’s remarks on the plane seemed to echo that concern.

In describing the package, the press secretary called it “a strong start towards economic viability” and “the beginning of getting our economy back on track.”

via Signing Stimulus Bill, Obama Does Not Rule Out Another – NYTimes.com.

I figured Obama would do this, sign one porkus bill into law and say, “This is not the end, but just the beginning of the pork!”

Meanwhile, the markets basically tanked, even more so than last week: (Via the New York Times)

From Hong Kong to eastern Europe to Wall Street, financial gloom was everywhere on Tuesday.

Stock markets around the world staggered lower. In New York, the Dow fell more than 3 percent, coming within sight of its worst levels since the credit crisis erupted. Financial shares were battered. And rattled investors clamored to buy rainy-day investments like gold and Treasury debt.

It was a global wave of selling spurred by rising worries about how banks, automakers — entire countries — would fare in a deepening global downturn.

“Nobody believes it’s going get better yet,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor’s. “Do you see that light at the end of the tunnel? Any kind of light? Right now, it’s not there yet.”

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 297.81 points or 3.7 percent to 7,552.29 points as losses in General Motors, Bank of America and American Express dragged the blue chips lower. The only Dow stock in positive territory was Wal-Mart, which rose after reporting better-than-expected profits.

“If we get substantially below 800 then look out below,” said Marc Groz, chief investment officer at Topos, a risk-advisory firm in Greenwich, Conn.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index slid 3.7 percent to drop below 800, which analysts said was an important trading threshold.

Investors know what this is, it is basically nationalization of our Economy, our banks, everything. They are just not going to invest money in a Government owned banking system. I believe this drop is just the beginning. Wait till it totally collapses and the world is thrust into chaos. It will be an interesting time, indeed.

Some Funnies…

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Stock Advice

From Patriot Post:

Many people are looking for financial advice during these hard economic times. Normally, however, we avoid offering advice regarding buying or selling stocks. But as President Obama prepares to sign the stimulus bill today, the market fell 250 points by noon, and we thought it best to warn investors concerning a few specific companies. Please review any holdings you might have in the following stocks:

  • American Can
  • Interstate Water
  • National Gas Company
  • Northern Tissue Company

Due to uncertain market conditions, we advise you to sit tight on your Can, hold your Water, and let go of your Gas. You may be interested to know that Northern Tissue touched a new bottom today, and millions were wiped clean.

It’s a tough market out there!

If the Bill Fits:

and a Cartoon:

image

Rolling on the floor

Hurry up and Wait

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The Economy is going to hell and a hand basket and the President is shirking his responsibilities to take the First bitch Lady out for Valentines Day.

After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway.

Obama arrived at his home in Chicago on Friday, and treated wife Michelle to a Valentine’s Day dinner downtown last night. The couple was spotted leaving upscale Table Fifty-Two, which specializes in Southern cuisine, with the first lady toting what appeared to be a doggie bag.

The president plans to spend the Presidents’ Day weekend in the Windy City, and is not expected to sign the bill until Tuesday, when he travels to Denver to discuss his economic plan.

Both the House and Senate passed the bill Friday night.

The push to get the bill through before the holiday weekend was so frantic, members of Congress didn’t have a chance to read all 1,071 pages of the document before they could vote.

via WHAT’S THE RUSH? – New York Post.

After all, what does he care? That Limousine Liberal does not care, he’s got money coming out his rather skinny wazoo…

Of course, I just loved this comment over at the Post:

ConcernedAmerican wrote:
libh8r wrote:
I wander what was in the doggy bag that Michelle was carring home???
It’s Barry’s Balls
Indeed.
Others: Betsy’s Page, Scared Monkeys, American Thinker, Sister Toldjah, Ace of Spades HQ, Riehl World View and Don Surber