“It will give millions of families resigned to financial ruin a chance to rebuild, By bringing down the foreclosure rate, it will help to shore up housing prices for everyone.”
So said Barack Obama. He was referring to a $275 billion giveaway.
Not a giveaway to homeowners.
Not a giveaway to the unemployed.
Not a giveaway to the soldiers fighting his stupid wars.
A giveaway to the banks.
A giveaway to the shareholders and highly paid employees of JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and so on down the line of incompetence.
A giveaway from you, me, and all the other suckers.
A giveaway from those who voted for him to those who paid for his television commercials.
And oh by the way, "shoring up housing prices" is bad for almost everyone. It would definitely be bad for the overall state of the economy. Growth will not return until home prices reach levels that can be sustained by the incomes of those who buy them. To do that, they must go down, down, down.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
If Corporations are Legally People, Then GM is a Drunk, Homeless Guy on the Street Corner
We live in a cartoon world. General Motors told us all today that they want $30 billion MORE dollars. They want it so they can, get this... cut production to match a weaker sales outlook.
A country that lends scarce resources to a business so that it can CUT production deserves a recession.
GM also plans to take advantage of gullible citizens of Sweden, the UK, Germany, and Canada. They are headed toward becoming the first multinationalized corporation. What happens when the chancellor of Germany and the Hopemeister disagree over engine specifications?
Did anyone happen to notice that all those workers whose jobs were supposed to be saved by the last bailout are getting fired anyway?
Our priorities are convoluted. GM is dead; Chrysler is dead; Ford is almost dead. They are zombies, walking the streets in clear daylight, sucking the vitality from the rest of us. If we keep this up, there will soon be nothing left. Someone should tell the federal government, that is, the democratic party, that if Americans wanted what GM is making, we would buy it.
A country that lends scarce resources to a business so that it can CUT production deserves a recession.
GM also plans to take advantage of gullible citizens of Sweden, the UK, Germany, and Canada. They are headed toward becoming the first multinationalized corporation. What happens when the chancellor of Germany and the Hopemeister disagree over engine specifications?
Did anyone happen to notice that all those workers whose jobs were supposed to be saved by the last bailout are getting fired anyway?
Our priorities are convoluted. GM is dead; Chrysler is dead; Ford is almost dead. They are zombies, walking the streets in clear daylight, sucking the vitality from the rest of us. If we keep this up, there will soon be nothing left. Someone should tell the federal government, that is, the democratic party, that if Americans wanted what GM is making, we would buy it.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Presidential Destruction of Words: Exceptional
Barack Obama has ordered that top executives at banks who receive exceptional assistance from the U.S. Treasury be limited to half a million bucks per year in compensation.
We the people are meant to be comforted by this. Our country's resources have been funneled down the sinks of failed businesses, but fear not. Those who manage the absolute worst of the worst will have salary caps.
At present, this edict would apply to 15 people at three institutions: AIG, Bank of America, and Citigroup.
It's been almost a year now since the Federal Reserve signed us all up to lend $29 billion to JP Morgan Chase against the worst collateral in the history of lending. That ominous beginning to the government takeover of the financial industry has mushroomed into a debacle that gets worse every day.
And we are to believe that the Fed's actions last March were not "exceptional."
Nor have bailouts of failed automakers been exceptional.
Nor have uncollateralized loans of 10 and 25 billion dollars been exceptional.
This most recent action is mostly meaningless. On Monday Obama will trot his treasury chief out to tell us that more must be done. Still greater resources must be thrown at failed banks. There is no other choice. We must suck it up.
When we complain and express disgust that they are taking from the relatively poor masses to give to the rich, not just any rich but those particular rich who have put their incompetence on display for all to see, they'll tell us it's okay because Ken Lewis is only getting $500,000.
This act is just the latest in a long series of reactions by people who have no clue what they are doing. They offer poison for food, then give poison as the antidote.
When Monday's "comprehensive" plan meets inevitable failure, they'll react again. Perhaps the next bailout will be called The Exceptional Bailout.
You get what you vote for.
We the people are meant to be comforted by this. Our country's resources have been funneled down the sinks of failed businesses, but fear not. Those who manage the absolute worst of the worst will have salary caps.
At present, this edict would apply to 15 people at three institutions: AIG, Bank of America, and Citigroup.
It's been almost a year now since the Federal Reserve signed us all up to lend $29 billion to JP Morgan Chase against the worst collateral in the history of lending. That ominous beginning to the government takeover of the financial industry has mushroomed into a debacle that gets worse every day.
And we are to believe that the Fed's actions last March were not "exceptional."
Nor have bailouts of failed automakers been exceptional.
Nor have uncollateralized loans of 10 and 25 billion dollars been exceptional.
This most recent action is mostly meaningless. On Monday Obama will trot his treasury chief out to tell us that more must be done. Still greater resources must be thrown at failed banks. There is no other choice. We must suck it up.
When we complain and express disgust that they are taking from the relatively poor masses to give to the rich, not just any rich but those particular rich who have put their incompetence on display for all to see, they'll tell us it's okay because Ken Lewis is only getting $500,000.
This act is just the latest in a long series of reactions by people who have no clue what they are doing. They offer poison for food, then give poison as the antidote.
When Monday's "comprehensive" plan meets inevitable failure, they'll react again. Perhaps the next bailout will be called The Exceptional Bailout.
You get what you vote for.
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