100 Days of Change

This is a powerful video that shows what Obama's 100 days of "Change" has done for families in America. It also shows what Obama stated pre-election and what he has actually done.

At a time of financial crisis, Nancy Pelosi's solution is to kill future taxpayers...

Hundreds of millions of the nearly $1 trillion price tag on President Obama's economic stimulus bill is expected to go to contraception and the abortion industry.

Somehow the left feel that contraception and abortion will stimulate the economy???

What??? huh???

Last week, during consideration of the congressional Democrats’ spending bill by the House Energy & Commerce Committee, the panel made universal a Clinton-era Medicaid waiver that allowed states to seek federal funding for contraception and abortion. Under the new program, the federal government would match state funding for "family planning" services with $9 for every $1.

House Republicans immediately criticized the move, questioning whether such funding actually helped stimulate the economy or create more jobs.

"How you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives – how does that stimulate the economy?" questioned House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH). "You can go through a whole host of issues that have nothing to do with growing jobs in America and helping people keep their jobs.”

House Democrats defended the measure, however, as an indirect means of reducing the burden on state budgets allotted to children's health and education.

George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a self-avowed Catholic: "Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?"

Pelosi responded: "Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

"So no apologies for that?" asked Stephanopoulos.

"No apologies. No," Pelosi responded. "We have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy. ...Food stamps, unemployment insurance, some of the initiatives you just mentioned. What the economists have told us from right to left. There is more bang for the buck, a term they use, by investing in food stamps and in unemployment insurance than in any tax cut.”

Catholic League President Bill Donohue criticized Pelosi’s statement, saying: “Now we have Pelosi arguing that the way to balance the budget is not by cutting expenditures, but by cutting kids. We have reached a new low when high-ranking public office holders in the federal government cast children as the enemy. But at least it explains their enthusiasm for abortion-on-demand.”

Will it work???

Will the spending on "family-planning services" help dig America out of its economic doldrums?

"That's not going to help grow the economy," Fani responds. "It doesn't even make sense as a prospect for helping this country through our economic crisis. So it's wrong on so many different levels, and just shows...a very flawed thought process."

American Life League calls Pelosi's remarks "a betrayal" of her Catholic faith, and the Christian Defense Coalition says it is "unthinkable" that she would try to stimulate the economy by "seeking to reduce the number of children."

Robbing a nation of a future labor force is never good for its economic health.

Besides the fact that Pelosi is once again directly contradicting the Catholic Church she claims to be a part of, she is also ignoring a basic economic principle that Europe and Asia are dealing with now: Robbing a nation of a future labor force is never good for its economic health. For example, Japanese corporations, which usually expect their employees to work 12-hour days, are now telling them to leave early two days a week so that they can "be fruitful and multiply." At its current death-spiral birthrate of 1.34, Japan will lose 21 percent of its population by 2050.

Eighteenth-century economist Thomas Malthus hypothesized that a smaller population allows for a higher standard of living. Later, Malthus himself acknowledged that he had been wrong, and Japan and Europe, with their dwindling labor forces, are proof of his mistake. Analysts are saying that the greatest threats to Japan's society are from within, and, if Nancy Pelosi and her ilk have their way, the same will be true for the U.S.

It's just another way to pour money into Planned Parenthood

Nikolas Nikas, a pro-life attorney with the Bioethics Defense Fund condemned the decision.

He told LifeNews.com that he decried "efforts to pass legislation that would appropriate hundreds of millions of tax-dollars to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider."

Nikas said Congress is wrong to send money to a group that does 25 percent of all abortions occurring annually in the U.S.

"Planned Parenthood is the number one provider of abortions in the United States. During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the nonprofit Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed a record 264,943 abortions according to its annual report," he said.

"Planned Parenthood is a non-profit organization that has no need for our limited tax dollars for the purpose of killing innocent unborn children," he added...

This is why it is ludicrous:

“Pelosi defended contraception as part of the stimulus,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) told CNSNews.com at the National Press Club. “It has to rate as one of the weirdest defenses in history -- ‘no children would lead to a better economy because there would be nobody to cost anything and therefore governing expenses are going down.’ You have to admit that’s very strange,” said Gingrich... “In other words, children are a burden to the economy, and Pelosi believes it's the government's responsibility to eliminate them,” said the Family Research Council. ... And if Congress continues to spend and spend, the nation will need more children – not fewer – to help pay for Social Security, Medicaid, and other government entitlements that Democrats hope to expand, the FRC said. ... Obviously, there's a practical danger in suggesting that babies are problems or ‘punishments’ (as President Obama called them) instead of blessings that build bridges to the future,” the FRC concluded. ...

Here is some more great economic advice from Pelosi on how food stamps will stimulate the economy more than tax cuts:

“(F)ood stamps and unemployment insurance, which affect the people in the states, are necessary at this time when funds are short and the economy is down, (and) actually have the most stimulative effect on the economy,” Pelosi said. “Food stamps first, unemployment insurance next, infrastructure after that, and it goes on from there.” “Actually, those investments bring a bigger return than the tax cuts,” she said, adding: “but tax cuts where we have them – to the middle class – we think will give us our biggest return.” ... Pelosi laid out the contents of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is expected to be passed in the House Wednesday. ... The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will devote $20 billion to “provide nutrition assistance to modest-income families and to lift restrictions that limit the amount of time individuals can receive food stamps,” according to a summary of the plan released last week by the House Appropriations Committee. “It’s about jobs, tax cuts and accountability,” Pelosi said of the legislation. ... Alan Viard said. “It’s also important to realize you are never going to get a large amount of stimulus from food stamps, just because it’s not a very large program.” Traditionally, governments raise interest rates and cut spending to stop inflation -- cutting down on “demand” – but they cut interest rates and raise spending to reduce unemployment – or “boost demand.” “The only purpose to boosting demand is to stabilize the economy,” he said. “When you boost demand, what you get is an upfront economic gain. But later you will have a payback once output goes down.”

Also Read "Pelosi should abstain from social engineering"

"If Nancy Pelosi wants fewer births, I have the way to do this, and it won't require any contraception. You simply put pictures of Nancy Pelosi in every cheap motel room in America. That will keep birth rates down, because that picture will keep a lot of things down." --radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh

Stocks tumble on Inauguration Day

Okay, now that Obama's President, where is the hope and change? The market is definitely not seeing hope yet & the change is going in the wrong direction...

"The dawn of the Obama presidency could not shake the stock market from its dejection over the rapidly deteriorating state of the banking industry.

Financial stocks, many of them falling by double digit percentages, led a huge drop on Wall Street Tuesday that left the major indexes down more than 4 percent and the Dow Jones industrials down 332 points. Although traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange paused to watch the inauguration ceremony and Obama's remarks, the transition of power didn't erase investors' intensifying concerns about struggling banks and their impact on the overall economy. ....

"The reason we're having a panic drop is the fact that Europe is catching our cold, and we could have deeper and deeper problems that could require more and more money. And eventually the government is going to have to stop spending," said Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services. "It's a pretty dangerous situation to be in."

...The Dow Jones industrial average fell 332.13, or 4.01 percent, to 7,949.09, its lowest close since Nov. 20, when the blue chips ended at 7,552.29 -- their lowest point in more than five years. It was also the blue chips' biggest drop since Dec. 1.

During much of Obama's address, the average was down about 150 points. Traders hadn't appeared so focused on TV screens since Sept. 29, when the House initially voted against the banking bailout package and the Dow tumbled 777 points.

The Dow's showing was its worst ever for an Inauguration Day.

Broader stock indicators also fell sharply Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 44.90, or 5.28 percent, to 805.22, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 88.47, or 5.78 percent, to 1,440.86.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 32.80, or 7.03 percent, to 433.65.

Losing issues outnumbered gainers by about 9 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 6.23 billion shares compared with 5.92 billion shares traded Friday....."

to read the rest click here

Bush's Achievements and Failures...

Please read the entire article: "Bush's Achievements
Ten things the president got right" , but here's a summary of the list: (tip from Right Voices)

His decision in 2001 to jettison the Kyoto global warming treaty so loved by Al Gore, the environmental lobby, elite opinion, and Europeans.

Enhanced interrogation of terrorists.

The rebuilding of presidential authority, badly degraded in the era of Vietnam, Watergate, and Bill Clinton.

Bush’s unswerving support for Israel.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the education reform bill cosponsored by America’s most prominent liberal Democratic senator Edward Kennedy. The teachers’ unions, school boards, the education establishment, conservatives adamant about local control of schools–they all loathed the measure and still do. It requires two things they ardently oppose, mandatory testing and accountability.

Bush declared in his second inaugural address in 2005 that American foreign policy (at least his) would henceforth focus on promoting democracy

The Medicare prescription drug benefit, enacted in 2003. It’s not only wildly popular; it has cost less than expected by triggering competition among drug companies.

John Roberts and Sam Alito. In putting them on the Supreme Court and naming Roberts chief justice, Bush achieved what had eluded Richard Nixon, Reagan, and his own father. Roberts and Alito made the Court indisputably more conservative. And the good news is Roberts, 53, and Alito, 58, should be justices for decades to come.

He strengthened relations with east Asian democracies (Japan, South Korea, Australia) without causing a rift with China. On top of that, he forged strong ties with India. An important factor was their common enemy, Islamic jihadists. After 9/11, Bush made the most of this, and Indian leaders were receptive.

THE SURGE. Bush prompted nearly unanimous disapproval in January 2007 when he announced he was sending more troops to Iraq and adopting a new counterinsurgency strategy. His opponents initially included the State Department, the Pentagon, most of Congress, the media, the foreign policy establishment, indeed the whole world. This makes his decision a profile in courage. Best of all, the surge worked. Iraq is now a fragile but functioning democracy.

Do you agree?
However... he lost faith in the Free Market Principles that make this country great... Bush Admits, ‘I Chucked Aside My Free Market Principles’

"President Bush on Monday defended his economic record, noting that he’s taken “extraordinary measures” to deal with the frozen credit markets. He said the main question for the president is not when the problem started, but what action was taken once the problem was recognized: “And I readily concede that I chucked aside some of my free market principles when I was told by chief economic advisers that the situation we were facing could be worse than the Great Depression,” Bush said at a White House news conference." ...

To read more about what he believes his mistakes were and what his regrets are -taken from a Monday morning press conference at the White House- read the rest of the article here.

Many believe that Bush chucked his free market principles long ago...

"However, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute told CNSNews.com that Bush had strayed from free market theory continuously over his two presidential terms

“(I’m not) quite sure if President Bush would recognize free market principles if they were on fire and rollerblading naked through the White House,” Crews said.

Boaz pointed out that federal spending increased by over $1 trillion during the president’s eight years -- not including increased expenditures that will likely result from Bush’s Medicare Prescription Drug program and the bailouts of the banks and the auto companies.

“We had steel tariffs, we had nationalization of education, we had incredible growth of government under Bush,” said professor Don Boudreaux, chairman of the economics department at George Mason University. “He did keep taxes lower than the Democrats were clamoring for, but that alone is not sufficient to establish one as a free marketeer.”

Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education, agreed.

“We got some tax cuts, but the total picture is that government is bigger today than when he [Bush] took office,” Reed told CNSNews.com."

So yes, I do have some criticism of Bush and how he ran things, but here's the media's take on him: (should we be surprised?)

"Reacting to President Bush's Monday press conference, on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith remarked: "Not going to get a 'job well done'...on the report card, on the final report card." That observation was prompted by Republican strategist Ed Rollins declaring: "I think to a certain extent, we have a lot to be thankful to this president for his service, but he's not going to get a 'great job' from the American public."

Prior to that exchange, Rollins criticized Bush for being too confident: "...you saw a lot of confidence yesterday, he always was a man that was overly confident." Smith asked: "Did you say overly confident?" Rollins elaborated: "I think he's overly confident. I think he's overly confident about a lot of things. I -- there was no humility there yesterday when you basically talk in terms of the 'Mission Impossible' [Referring to 'Mission Accomplished' banner] sign, at the same time he can't find weapons of mass destruction...You know, you also -- forget 'Mission Accomplished,' he flew in a jet, he had a pilot's outfit on, it was sort of the conquering hero."

and ...

"On CBS's Sunday Morning, correspondent Thalia Assuras examined President Bush's historical legacy and relied on two historians in her lengthy piece, both of whom labeled Bush one of the nation's worst Presidents. Douglas Brinkley declared: "I think it's safe to say that President Bush is going to be seen as the very bottom-rung of American Presidents...As a judicial historian looking at what's occurred on his watch, it is almost void of genuine accomplishment." Joseph Ellis contended: "I think that George Bush might very well be the worst President in American history...He's unusual. Most two-term Presidents have a mixed record...Bush has nothing on the positive side, virtually nothing." Following these Bush-bashing historical assessments, Assuras exclaimed: "And that's not a minority opinion. In a 2006 Siena College survey of 744 history professors, 82 percent rated President Bush below average or a failure. Last April, in an informal poll by George Mason University of 109 historians, Mr. Bush fared even worse; 98 percent considered him a failed president. Sixty-one percent judged him, as Ellis does, one of the worst in American history." The only positive assessments of Bush's legacy in the January 11 report came from former Bush advisors Dan Bartlett and David Frum. No historians who viewed Bush positively were featured. Near the end of the segment, Assuras wondered: "So is President Bush's current low rating among historians just liberal bias?" She quickly countered: "Douglas Brinkley doesn't think so." Brinkley explained: "When I'm sitting here telling you that Ronald Reagan and, you know, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower were outstanding presidents, these are Republicans. I'm telling you, Ronald Reagan was one of the five greatest Presidents in American history. I'm not saying that because I'm a liberal. I'm just saying it because it's a fact. But you have to then accept when I'm telling you George Bush is one of the five worst presidents in American history, it's not because I want to stick it to him. He simply failed on the big questions of his day."

The media not biased is it??? just in case you're wondering...

"In contrast to his opinion of Bush, Brinkley managed to find positive words for Jimmy Carter in his 2006 biography of the former President, entitled The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House. In the first chapter, Brinkley described Carter this way: "In fact, although his critics saw him as self-righteous, Carter was the most principled American President since Harry Truman -- and nowhere was his morality on clearer display than in his insistence that human rights be a cardinal principle of global governance." During the Sunday Morning story, Brinkley attacked Bush on the same issues: "I think President Bush was a good man so infuriated and angered by 9/11 that he put on his ideological blinders and forgot that we have other things we represent -- civil liberties here at home, a Constitution, global human rights. That he started disliking the world community, alienated allies for no reason."

While some may point to Bush preventing another terrorist attack after September 11th, in a 2006 New York Times editorial, Ellis saw the 9/11 attacks as a mere footnote in American history: "...it defies reason and experience to make Sept. 11 the defining influence on our foreign and domestic policy. History suggests that we have faced greater challenges and triumphed, and that overreaction is a greater danger than complacency." In the CBS story, Ellis argued: "John Adams, the second president, said that there's one unforgivable sin that no president will ever be forgiven, and that is to put the country into an unnecessary war. I think that Iraq has proven to be an unnecessary war, and will appear to be more unnecessary as time goes on."

(For Ellis's 2006 New York Times op-ed: www.mtholyoke.edu)

Interesting reads...

Bush's auto U-turn incites GOP

"(Bush) Considers rescue with remaining bailout funds
Republicans on Friday angrily demanded that President Bush respect the legislative process after the Senate blocked a bailout for the automakers and the White House said that Mr. Bush would consider reversing course and rescuing them using the Wall Street bailout funds." ...

Uh-oh: Gas prices on the rise...

"After eighty-six consecutive daily declines, the average price of gas nationwide has now increased for the past two days. Have gas prices bottomed? ...On Friday, Jason Toews, co-founder of GasBuddy in Minneapolis, warned that gas prices may be bottoming out. ...

..."Enjoy the gas prices while they're here," he said.

Since July, the price of gasoline has fallen along with the price of crude oil, gas's main ingredient. Crude has fallen more than $100 a barrel since July as investors worried that the U.S. economy was consuming less fuel.

However the decline in the price of crude may be setting us up for a gas price "super spike" in two to four years, said Toews." ...

In Europe, conserving gas is a matter of habit

..."Stricter standards, higher taxes, and a new president with a green agenda could completely reshape the way Americans drive. To see what the future could look like, just cross the Atlantic.

...American drivers could soon find that Steinmetz's present world is their automotive future. Already, US automakers are slashing production of SUVs in favor of more popular hybrids and compact cars. With the US auto industry on the brink of collapse, the Bush administration is trying to accelerate a $25 billion loan program to produce fuel-efficient vehicles. And while President-elect Barack Obama prepares an ambitious green agenda, local politicians, from Massachusetts to Oregon, are already calling for increases to gas taxes to fill civic coffers bled dry by an economic downturn.

In Europe, gas prices have been shooting up for a decade, long before they did in the United States, and peaked at $10.64 a gallon this summer as American drivers were gagging at $4.50 a gallon. In an effort to reduce fuel consumption, European governments steadily raised fuel taxes over the 1990s - between 40 and 50 percent of the retail price of gas. That action forced motorists to scale back their driving habits and forced manufacturers to meet the demand for more fuel-efficient cars.

The results are clear: Gasoline consumption on the continent dropped from 3.21 million barrels a day in 1992 to 2.51 million barrels a day last year, according to David Martin, an oil market analyst at the International Energy Agency in Paris". ...

Tapes have potential witnesses speaking out

"When it comes to coming clean, nothing is as motivating as a wiretap.

Last week's revelation that Gov. Blagojevich was secretly recorded in his campaign office and on his home phone has prompted more than a dozen potential witnesses in recent days to come forward. They've been calling investigators and defense lawyers to talk about deals or discussions they've had with Blagojevich." ...

ABC Hails Obama's 'Green Team,' Slams Bush's Climate 'Censorship'

"Less than a week after a new report from the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee showcased hundreds of scientists who disagree with the United Nations' alarmist take on global climate change, ABC's World News on Sunday night featured a report devoted solely to cheering Barack Obama's new "green team" -- the promotional term was embraced by ABC News -- and laying the groundwork for radical action on global warming after what ABC termed "censorship" and "stonewalling" by the Bush administration.

Senate committee report: epw.senate.gov

The story by ABC's Bill Blakemore offered a manipulative presentation, asserting that "wildfires, droughts and downpours [are] increasing exactly as predicted for global warming" -- but not mentioning that global temperatures are actually lower now than in 1998 -- and scolding how the Bush White House allowed "political assistants in their 20s to rewrite the conclusions of leading climate scientists" -- as if the liberal political opinions of scientists could not be second-guessed." ..

CBS and ABC Tout Shoe-Thrower as 'Celebrity'and 'Folk Hero'

"Usually rude protesters who disrupt events by throwing objects at state leaders don't earn media celebrations, but instead of being embarrassed by their Iraqi media colleague who, as he spewed venomous hatreds, dangerously threw his shoes at President Bush on Sunday in Baghdad, ABC and CBS on Monday night championed his popularity amongst Iraqis. ABC put "Folk Hero?" on screen as fill-in anchor Elizabeth Vargas trumpeted how Muntathar al-Zaidi has "become an instant celebrity to many of his countrymen" while CBS anchor Katie Couric hailed how "many Iraqis are calling him a hero" before reporter Elizabeth Palmer snidely concluded: "Al-Zaidi should do jail time, said the Iraqi bloggers, because he missed."

From London, ABC's Jim Sciutto maintained: "Shoes have become a new symbol of anti-Americanism in the Arab world. And the Iraqi reporter who threw them, Muntathar al-Zaidi, a folk hero." Sciutto touted how "more than 100 lawyers volunteered to defend him. It was a heroic way to say goodbye to Bush, said one Iraqi." Though Sciutto at least noted how "some Iraqis are embarrassed," he countered: "Still, in news coverage, on new fan Web sites, in Arabic text messages, the overwhelming sentiment: giddy satisfaction."

CBS Palmer, also from afar in London, asserted "al-Zaidi's become an instant hero. Today, thousands demonstrated for his release"." ...

Christmas Spirit Spreading, but Grinches Getting Grinchier

"There’s good news and bad news this Christmas. First, the good. Americans are pushing back more than ever against the generic “holiday” tide (see Santa’s Helpers list below). As part of that effort, CMI is unveiling the Grinch-o-Meter, which rates those who are Christmaschallenged. But here’s the bad: Some of the Grinches seem to be scaling new heights of peevishness and absurdity. And although the national news media are largely ignoring the cultural battle underway, local news sources have been rich with detail.

Here is a roundup of some of the more interesting people, institutions and media stories in this season’s Christmas culture clash, with their Grinch-o-Meter ratings. The Grinch-o-Meter is CMI’s new tool for measuring the Grinchiness of those seeking to secularize, diminish or tarnish the celebration of Christmas in America. People who actively seek to wreck Christmas for others" ...

to find out who the grinches are click here

Americans Say Bankruptcy, Not Bailout for BigThree

from red planet cartoons



from stix blog


... what's happening so far - excerpts from CNSNews.com

"Congressional Republicans blocked consideration of a $14-billion federal loan for the auto industry Thursday night.

Republicans leaders said they want the U.S. auto industry to survive and thrive, but they also insist that a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer loan is not the only option. There’s also federal bankruptcy protection.

According to the Associated Press, the deal stalled over the United Auto Workers’ refusal to agree to wage cuts before their current contract expires in 2011.

The auto bailout bill, which easily passed the House on Wednesday, failed to advance in the Senate Thursday night. Fifty-two senators voted to consider the bill, but 35 of them (31 Republicans and 4 Democrats) voted against consideration. Supporters needed 60 votes for the bill to advance. ....

...“We simply cannot ask the American taxpayer to subsidize failure,” McConnell added.

McConnell also drew a distinction between the financial industry bailout and the auto bailout: While the financial rescue plan approved by Congress in October was intended to rescue the entire economy, the auto bailout is intended to save a single industry, he said. ...

...McConnell said the simplest reason to oppose the bill is also the best reason: “A government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take everything we have,” he said. ....

....“Government should not be in the auto industry,” DeMint told the National Review Online. “We’ve set up laws to deal with companies that are financially strapped, and we’ve got bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11, which would allow them to restructure their debt and their union contracts under the authority of a bankruptcy judge, who could help them make the hard decisions that would create a sustainable business.”

DeMint pointed to the airline industry as an example of an industry that has “gone through the bankruptcy process and come out the other side.” He told NRO the American people would have more confidence in buying a General Motors product if they knew the company was reorganizing under bankruptcy protection, rather than “being propped up by the federal government.”...

and some info from Human Events:

"Taxpayers should not be held accountable to bailout the automobile industry or any other industry for that matter. There is constitutional authority for the decades of poor management decisions, forecasting and labor deals that have put GM, the U.S.'s largest automobile maker, perilously close to going belly up.

That constitutional authority is the basic freedom everyone in America has: to succeed or fail on your own, and accept the consequences or the benefits. ....

...GM, Ford and Chrysler are sinking ships. With cash reserves dwindling, their only viable option is to try and stay afloat in these turbulent economic seas is bankruptcy.

Truth be told, it is not a question of if GM will file for bankruptcy protection, but rather when. Bankruptcy will provide GM the necessary protection and some time to possibly turn a dying automotive dinosaur into a smaller, lithe, profitable company that is sized for its shrunken market share. "Possibly" being the operative word.

Filing Chapter 11 protection protects GM from itself. Bankruptcy could free GM from costly labor contracts, provide them the opportunity to restructure hugely expensive pension programs, and renegotiate health benefits. Other unprofitable assets could also be amputated. Bankruptcy puts all options on the operating table to try and stop the massive bleeding of cash....

...Bailing out GM with billions of taxpayer dollars is the wrong approach. GM is not too big to fail. What GM may be is too unprofitable to stay in business." - Ted Nugent

A really good explanation on the Bailouts.... Blame the Bailouts on Mister Rogers?

Throwing money at failing businesses doesn't save the businesses - it postpones the failures. Sooner or later we have to pay the piper.

Here's a parable to understand this concept:

"There is a parable I learned long ago from the continuous improvement management philosophy. It’s called “rocks and water.”

Imagine you want to row your boat along a full, gently flowing river. No sweat. Imagine the water level drops significantly, exposing the jagged rocks along the riverbed. Now try rowing. Can’t do it; too many rocks.

In the parable, the water is any enabling resource of which having lots can obscure problems. In many businesses, the water is cash. Too much cash makes it easy to ignore the rocks underwater. Only when the water is drained can we see — and remove — the rocks. Many of the best organizations keep their water level low on purpose so that when rocks begin to appear they can be seen and dealt with. ...

We’ve let the water level rise for decades, hoping it would keep everyone floating along. The so-called “predatory lending” that some point to is just a sliver of the problem. The real problem is that, driven by well-intentioned policies, some smart pencil-pushers figured out how to create a mechanism for avoiding risk altogether. Make the loans, sell the risk to someone else. This opened the floodgates as it became easy to invest with little apparent downside. With the system set up this way, no one feels the pain — until everyone feels the pain. ...

The river’s drying up now. ...

I know from listening to ordinary Americans all through the country that there is a pervasive sense that, at some point, we’re going to have to pay the piper. The people I hear almost lament that nothing seems able to shake us from our collective consumption and obsession with more. When that time comes, companies will fail. Our lifestyle will drastically simplify. We will feel pain, all of us.

Maybe that time is now. Maybe, with the water receding, we can set to work removing the rocks." (- by Brad Rourke)

We got to remove the rocks at some point - either now or later - pouring more water (money) in the river NOW won't make the rocks (problems) disappear. Later when the river dries up again, we will be faced with the same rocks (problems) and have less water (money) to spare. When are we going to remove the rocks?

Top 10 Media Myths for 2008

I came across this article tonight. Here are some excerpts, very interesting...

The Media's Top 10 Worst Economic Myths of 2008
-BMI's collection of outrageous economic bias for the entire year: From the salmonella outbreak to the media's call for a new, New Deal. Each year the Business & Media Institute looks back on the year's news and selects the top 10 worst economic myths. Here is our 2008 list:

10. Capitalism is dead or dying.
Media myth: From Michael Moore to CNBC, people wondered about the end of free-market capitalism. -Is free-market capitalism really at death’s door? That’s what the media have claimed, beginning with Pulitzer-prize winning columnist Steven Pearlstein’s obituary for capitalism Aug. 1..... “Although Washington is using non-market solutions in an attempt to unfreeze the credit markets, they have not succeeded, and are unlikely to be permanent. The next administration, Republican or Democratic, might take over more of the economy,” Furchtgott-Roth said. “But if one country in our global economy proceeds down an unsuccessful socialist road, others will demonstrate the effectiveness of capitalist measures—just as America led the way with tax cuts in the 1980s.” ...

9. Gas at $4-a-gallon, blame the oil companies.

Media myth: Oil companies and CEOs were a favorite media target in 2008, but the monopolistic oil cartel that does manipulate oil prices was rarely scrutinized. -When gas hit 4 bucks a gallon, who got the blame? Not the oil cartels, that’s for sure.When oil prices climbed to more than $100 a barrel, journalists were looking for someone to blame for Americans’ “pain at the pump.” They called “Big Oil” companies “thieves” and accused them of reaping “excessive profits” driven by “greed.” But the networks ignored one of the leading causes of high gas prices – the hostile leaders of the world oil cartel – the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)....

8. Fannie’s failure
Media myth: When it came to the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the network news never saw the trouble coming. -Print journalists had been warning of trouble at government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 2002. But in 2008 ABC, CBS and NBC were clueless when it came to the extreme risk the duo presented to taxpayers....
(the media) neglected to mention the enterprises’ government mandate to increase home ownership and the implied taxpayer guarantee that enabled the two public companies to dominate the market. The media also underreported accounting scandals at Fannie Mae. In 2004, earnings restatements at Fannie Mae were $11 billion. That was 19 times bigger than Enron’s, yet Enron is the scandal everyone remembers. ... After Fannie and Freddie failed some in the media blamed free markets, but both Investor’s Business Daily and The Journal explained that it was socialism that created the problem: “We haven’t suddenly become socialists. What taxpayers need to understand is that Fannie and Freddie already practice socialism, albeit of the dishonest kind. Their profit is privatized but their risk is socialized,” said a July 12 Journal editorial.

7. Barack Obama sends stocks soaring, but not sinking.
Media myth: Journalists gave the new president-elect credit for an Election Day stock market rally, but when markets collapsed Obama got a pass. -As stocks rose on Election Day 2008, the media were more than happy to credit investors’ excitement over Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s chance of winning. But when stocks tanked in the days following Obama’s election, concern over Obama’s economic policies was the last possible culprit....

6. Alternative energy: All gain, no pain.

Media myth: According to journalists, the only way out of high gas prices and global warming are expensive, impractical “green” fuels. Rather than give an even-handed report on the oil supply situation, many journalists continued to push the “green” theme in 2008, calling alternative energies “a surefire way to cut fuel costs” and saying that a fuel other than gasoline would be “a welcome relief,” despite the trillions of dollars and number of years that may take....

5. The economy has a fever and the only prescription is more bailouts.
Media myth: From the economic stimulus early in 2008 to the call for a Big Three auto bailout in December the media couldn’t find a bailout it disliked. -Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 2008 was the year of the government bailout and the news media supported such interventions time and time again....

4. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Media myth: A salmonella scare frightened everyone and upset one CNN anchor so much that he called for the impeachment of President Bush – but it turned out peppers were the culprit. -CNN’s Lou Dobbs, host of “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” called for the impeachment of President George W. Bush on June 19, 2008 – but this wasn’t about the Iraq war or some sort of atrocity. It was over tomatoes.....

3. Oil prices will skyrocket to $200 a barrel, gas to $15.
Media myth: Journalists warned of super-high oil and gas prices, but then the bubble burst. =Journalists predicted skyrocketing oil prices in 2008 up to $400 a barrel. NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel warned on the July 1 “NBC Nightly News” an attack by Israel could send oil prices soaring – sending gas prices into territories never imagined....

2. Welcome to 1929: Great Depression II
Media myth: The news media drew hundreds of parallels to the Depression, despite economic data that is not even close. -According to network reports, America’s finances are “like a house of cards.” The media thought things were so bad that journalists on ABC, CBS and NBC hyped similarities to the Great Depression more than 70 times in the first six months of 2008. An additional tally found at least 157 more comparisons from July 1, 2008 to Oct. 27, 2008....

1. America needs a new, New Deal.
Media myth: Time magazine and other media outlets pushed the idea that Obama must be the next FDR, but they are misrepresenting the impact of the New Deal. -Imagine the classic image of FDR sitting in his car grinning, with a cigarette perched from his mouth. Now imagine it had the face and hands of president-elect Barack Obama instead of FDR. No, it wasn’t a dream – it was the cover of Time magazine on Nov. 24 which made it clear the media had crowned Obama the new FDR and wanted him to institute a new New Deal.....

to read more about each myth and see the video/news links click here - Business and Media Institute

Stop Income Tax for Two Months...

Sign the petition today! HUMAN EVENTS and its sister website RedState are fighting to get Rep. Louie Gohmert's income tax break proposal enacted. This saves the typical American family around $2,000 -- we think it makes sense for you to keep the money rather than throwing $350 million at bailout programs that don't help the American people.

Sign today -- just click here.

"Rep. Louie Gohmert (R.-Tex.) has proposed a very important tax-cut alternative to the Pelosi-Paulson big-government bailout plan.

Where the Pelosi-Paulson plan takes the taxpayers’ money and puts it under the government’s thumb so that predatory politicians and micromanaging bureaucrats have more and more control over the American economy, Congressman Gohmert’s plan puts the money back into the pockets of the American people and allows them to choose.

In the Pelosi-Obama model, Washington politicians and Washington bureaucrats decide which auto companies to save and with how much money in huge taxpayer-funded checks (bringing with them politician oversight and bureaucratic micromanagement in a manner guaranteed to kill entrepreneurial innovation and market-oriented flexibility).

In the Gohmert model of empowering the American people, you -- not some bureaucrat -- decide which auto companies ought to prosper by your decision about which cars you want to buy. If Washington wants to develop a better energy-environment strategy by having a tax credit for buying electric cars or hybrids or flex fuel cars, that changes the incentives for both customers and manufacturers but keeps the playing field fair and market oriented by letting you decide which product you want to buy.

In this citizen-empowerment model, you the customer pick the winners and losers and you have the power to decide where to spend your money and which innovations fit your values the most.

...For the $350 billion second bailout installment Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is going to request, every American taxpayer could have a two-month tax holiday from both income tax and the Social Security-Medicare (FICA) tax.

That means that for all of January and all of February you would pay no federal income tax and no FICA tax, which -- for most Americans -- amounts to about 33 percent of your gross income.

Furthermore, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed an additional $700 billion as a stimulus package.

That would pay for an additional four months of a tax holiday.

Thus, if you combined the Pelosi and Paulson proposals, you could create a tax holiday through June.

That would mean no working American would pay a penny in income tax or a penny in FICA tax for the first six months of the year.

And that would mean no business would pay a penny in matching FICA tax for the first six months of the year.

As a pro-small business, pro-jobs creation, pro-market stimulation measure, imagine the power of that much extra money in the hands of the American workers and the American entrepreneur.

Imagine how many more people could afford to keep their homes, how many people could pay down some of their debt, how many will be able to rebuild some of their retirement funds, how many people might find the extra resources to start a new business or expand their existing business.

Now that would be a stimulus plan that stimulates the American people. That is quite a change from the big business, big bureaucracy, big politician model we have seen in Washington recently. ...

The Gohmert plan is a plan to get America growing again. It is not a bailout plan. It is an economic growth plan. ...

Call your congressman and senators (202-224-3121) and urge them to sign on to the Gohmert plan for economic growth, smaller government, and greater freedom. You can also sign this petition in support of Gohmert's plan."

excerpts by Newt Gingrich, Human Events

The Socialist Road

"No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass." —George Washington, letter to Benjamin Lincoln, June 29, 1788

George Washington never thought our country would depart from the path of freedom and journey on the socialist road... but here we are ...

"What we are watching is Carter-esque interference with the economy. President Bush's handling of this economic debacle will go down as the biggest black mark on his legacy. While supposedly touting the importance of capitalism, Bush has embraced the same Keynesian solutions that trashed the economy during the 1930s and 1970s. And both Republicans and Democrats go right along with him, psychotically citing the Great Depression while ignoring the basic fact that Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's tinkering made a depression into the Great Depression. The bailout is a disaster." --columnist Ben Shapiro

"Yes, letting GM go into bankruptcy would be scary. But a GM bailout merely kicks GM's problems down the road while spreading the fear about where Uncle Sam's big feet will land next. Besides, bankruptcy isn't the end of the world. It's the means by which bad companies restructure to fix themselves. Bailouts are the means by which governments subsidize bad companies." --National Review editor Jonah Goldberg

"Democrats are suggesting, however, an even more ambitious reason to nationalize [the auto industry]. Once the government owns Detroit, it can remake it. The euphemism here is 'retool' Detroit to make cars for the coming green economy. Liberals have always wanted the auto companies to produce the kind of cars they insist everyone should drive: small, light, green and cute. Now they will have the power to do it. In World War II, government had the auto companies turning out tanks. Now they would be made to turn out hybrids. The difference is that, in the middle of a world war, tanks have a buyer. Will hybrids? One of the reasons Detroit is in such difficulty is that consumers have been resisting the smaller, less powerful, less safe cars forced on the industry by fuel-efficiency mandates. Now Detroit would be forced to make even more of them. If you think we have economic troubles today, consider the effects of nationalizing an industry of this size, but now run by bureaucrats issuing production quotas to fit five-year plans to meet politically mandated fuel-efficiency standards -- to lift us to the sunny uplands of the coming green utopia." --columnist Charles Krauthammer

"Detroit is in nose dive, no doubt about that. So is a $50 billion government bailout the answer? President-elect Barack Obama thinks so, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi points in the same direction with her call for extending 'emergency and limited financial assistance' under the $700 billion bailout plan enacted last month. Democrats clearly want something big and something soon for the Big Three. We agree that the automakers can't go on much longer burning cash and piling up an Everest of debt. They're close to the breaking point. But there's a system in place for dealing with crises such as this, even at the scale of massive corporations. It's called bankruptcy, and it should not be written off as unthinkable. Filing for Chapter 11 protection under bankruptcy law is the normal way a company stays in business when facing an unmanageable financial situation. It keeps creditors at bay while the company reorganizes under court supervision and settles its debts. In recent years it has served as a refuge for major airlines (Delta and United) which, you may notice, continued to fly while in Chapter 11 and, post-bankruptcy, fly today. Bankruptcy protection also frees companies from union contracts. Could this be why it seems to have been taken off the table as an option, at least among Democrats? We can only surmise, but it's clear that a bankruptcy process would be rough going for the United Auto Workers." --Investor's Business Daily

"As usual, government's stumbling, bureaucratic 'solutions' exacerbate problems that free people, allowed to pursue their own self-interest, would address on their own. We'd still suffer some tough times -- it's painful when bubbles pop -- but recovery comes sooner when businesses must quickly fix their own mistakes -- or die." --John Stossel, co-anchor of ABC News' "20/20"

"Part of the problem is that we have enjoyed such unparalleled freedoms and prosperity that we have been lulled into the false notion that they will continue in perpetuity, even as we betray, to ever-greater extremes, our founding principles. But traditionalists understand that there is a tipping point beyond which this incessant socialist piggybacking on our capitalistic economic system and these ever-deepening encroachments on our scheme of government (for example, through judicial activism) will finally bring us to our knees." --columnist David Limbaugh

"I was always taught when growing up that when you reward bad behavior all you get is more bad behavior. From the mortgage meltdown to the automaker debacle to cities and states going under, it's all bad behavior. It should not be rewarded. The problem here is that our culture of debt -- both personal and corporate -- has created a culture of dependency. Everyone is calling out to our central government to give them money. And horrors of horrors, many are willing to let the federal government take ownership stakes in these entities and have a hand in their management. That is the road to socialism. The first step to ending the culture of dependency is to tell these corporations, cities and states they need to start taking responsibility for their actions by dealing with the consequences they have created for themselves. If not, then we could accumulate a national debt that even our grandchildren will never pay off." --columnist and former Mayor of Cincinnati Ken Blackwell

"Every time that we try to lift a problem from our own shoulders, and shift that problem to the hands of the government, to the same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of our people." --John F. Kennedy

tip from PatriotPost.com

Newt explains: "Crony capitalism is when government controls significant parts of the economy. Under this kind of bureaucratic micromanagement, politicians - not the free market - call the shots. And that means that the decisions that control the economy are of necessity political decisions, not economic ones.

Crony capitalism is bad for government. Economic power in the hands of politicians breeds corruption.

Crony capitalism is bad for democracy. Individuals and businesses outside favored industries have an unequal voice in self-government.

Crony capitalism is bad for business. Politicians wedded to the status quo stifle growth and innovation.

And there's one more thing about crony capitalism: It's come to America." excerpts from: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29544


More information below:

Bailout - Simply Drawn

More on Bailouts

A letter from the Center for Individual Freedom:

"Do you think money should come out of your wallet to cover greedy union fat-cats?

The United Auto Workers Union says "YES"... to the tune of $25 billion.

And right now, as you read this letter, Big Labor is aggressively twisting arms in Washington D.C. to make it happen.

You've heard the nightly news.

You've heard the desperate reports that $25 billion - or even more - of your hard-earned tax dollars are needed right now or the auto industry may collapse by the New Year.

You've heard the horror stories... decent hard-working Americans will lose their jobs if something isn't done this very second....

Well... it's not quite that simple.

C. Edmund Wright, with the Internet blog, The American Thinker wrote:

"Make no mistake, this is about the unions, the whole unions and nothing but the unions. It has nothing to do with what a sustainable U.S. auto industry looks like."

But more to the point, will giving Detroit a pound of flesh avert economic disaster?

Former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney says the opposite is true.

In a recent Opinion Editorial published in The New York Times, Romney says if Detroit gets your tax dollars as requested, "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed." [Emphasis Mine]

Romney goes on:

"... the automakers will stay the course - the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check."

Peter Flaherty of the National Legal and Policy Center agrees:

"If he [President-elect Obama] provides a short-term fix now on the UAW's terms, these companies are doomed. Later, he will face requests for even more taxpayer money."

And the irony here is that hard-working folks like us only get insult on top of injury.

C. Edmund Wright again:

"Americans who have seen their 401 K's and jobs go away might well balk... Folks will lose patience with semi-skilled assembly line workers retiring in their 50's and living like royalty."

The legendary figure Robin Hood didn't steal from the poor and give to the rich.

A rough economy is not an excuse for stupidity, and it is most certainly NOT an excuse to pander to special interests at American taxpayers' expense!

Tell our elected officials to put an end to the INSANITY right now.'

The Union, The Whole Union And Nothing But The Union.
Lori Roman, a former manager for General Motors, summed it up best in a recent Opinion Editorial published by The Examiner in Washington D.C.

According to Roman:

"[W]e are asking taxpayers who make market-based wages to bail out autoworkers who make wages that do not correlate in any way to their skill level in the workforce. Why should other manufacturing workers who make $15 an hour bail out folks who make about 70% more before benefits?"

Why, indeed.

Particularly when you consider that the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) is refusing to make concessions.

The Financial Times recently wrote:

"The US United Auto Workers (UAW) union has ruled out concessions - at least for the time being - to help rescue the ailing Detroit-based car industry. The union has been emboldened by the election of a Democratic president and a Democratic-controlled Congress."

And why won't the UAW make concessions?

Could it possibly be because higher hourly pay for auto workers translates to higher union dues?

If so, it's not just union dues at stake.

CNSNews quoting Peter Flaherty with NLPC:

"'The union will not allow companies to deploy capital in ways that the market would dictate, such as closing plants and layoffs.' NLPC says the UAW wants additional taxpayer money to enrich health and retirement plans it controls."

Spreading the misery is never sound economic policy.

But in tough economic times, shouldn't we all tighten our belts?

The Washington Post reported on an almost sublimely ridiculous interchange between Senator Bob Corker, Bob Nardelli of Chrysler and Ron Gettelfinger of UAW.

According to The Post :

"Sen. Bob Corker told Chrysler chief Bob Nardelli that one of his lobbyists told him the previous day that, even if a Chrysler plant is shut down, Chrysler still has to pay wages to its union employees. How can you come before us, Corker directed to both Nardelli and UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger, and ask us for $25 billion if you're asking taxpayers to fund this sort of activity?"

And That's Not The Only Activity You're Funding.
Lori Roman in the Opinion Editorial previously quoted - in which she compares giving the UAW government funding to sending an arsonist to put out a fire - gives two prime examples of the activities your tax dollars would continue to fund.

Here's the first:

"The strength of the union and the weakness of management made it impossible to conduct business properly at any level. For instance, I had an employee who punched in his time card and then disappeared."

"The rules were such that I had to spend hours documenting that he was not in his work area. I needed witnesses, timed reports, and plant wide searches all documented in detail.

"After this absurdity I decided to go my own route; I called the corner bar and paged him and he came to the phone. He received a 30-day unpaid lay-off because he was a 'repeat offender.'

"When he returned, he thanked me for the paid vacation. I scoffed, until he explained: (1) He had tried to get the lay off because it was fishing season; (2) The UAW negotiated with GM to give him the time with pay."

But the second incident is even better (or worse as the case may be):

"One afternoon I was helping oversee the plant while upper management was off site. The workers brought an RV into the loading yard with a female 'entertainer' who danced for them and then 'entertained' them in the RV."

"I went to Labor Relations for assistance. The Labor Relations rep pulled out the work rules and asked me which of the rules the men were breaking. None applied directly, of course... There were no consequences...."

Roman's recommendation:

"This is why, with deep regret and sympathy for the many fine folks who work in the auto industry, I think it is time for consequences. Let them file Chapter 11 and reorganize. Don't make taxpayers foot the bill for an incompetent Congress, a greedy union and wimpy managers."

Is Bankruptcy A Viable Solution?
Roman is not the only one advocating Chapter 11 bankruptcy for these companies.

C. Edmund Wright quoting Arizona Senator Jon Kyl:

"These companies could easily survive under a properly structured re-organization plan. 'We have a mechanism for this' said Arizona Senator Jon Kyl. 'It is called Chapter 11.'"

Mitt Romney:

"A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk."

"In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate...."

There you have it.

If done the right way, Chapter 11 could actually save the U.S. auto industry.

But throwing money at Labor Unions and companies that refuse to take steps to become solvent is not the solution. It's simply an invitation to throw more money at that same company down the road.

Steve Moore recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

"It's the model that Europe used in the 80s and 90's. Anytime an industry would get in distress, they would throw money at it. They haven't created a single new job in two decades, whereas the dynamic U.S. economy with entrepreneurship but also creative destruction has created 40 million jobs in the last 25 years."

Senator Richard Shelby puts it another way:

"I am concerned that, once again, we are about to employ the 'ready, fire, aim' approach to problem solving."

Shelby hit the nail on the head.

Now let's make sure the rest of our elected officials understand as well.


Yours In Freedom,

Jeff Mazzella
President"
cfif.org