Chrysler

You gotta love the balls that Barack Obama has displayed in his first 100 days. This Chrysler fiasco is icing on the cake!

In one move, he has demonstrated his willingness to throw out the rule of law, change the bankruptcy laws, demonize capitalism via the hedge funds and give 55% of a company to a labor union. It is a brilliant move by a socialist. GM you are next!

• Rule of law - Bondholders be damned. These types of subversive moves will dampen future investment in the United States. The only reason America affords investors better opportunities than other places in the world is the enforcement of contract law.
  
• Bankruptcy laws - "We are going to fast-track the bankruptcy proceedings". Why do you think this needs to be fast-tracked? Could it be that it needs to get done before the American people figure out how royally the Obama Administration screwed this up?
  
• Demonize the hedge funds - This was classic! Obama will never miss an opportunity to bash capitalism. How many times have you heard the Obama Administration and liberal talking heads use the word "greedy" to describe bondholders who would not "do what was in the best interest of the country". This is Socialism 101. Bondholders are not in the business of doing what is in the best interest of the country. They have a fiduciary duty to do what is in the best interest of their investors. Just like the unions have a duty to represent their members. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is not an advocate of the free market system.
  
• 55% of the company given to labor unions - This is pay back for the unions' support of Democrat candidates; pure and simple. Within the next six months, GM will be "given" to the unions as well.

So let's recap: we give majority ownership to the party who is most responsible for the company's demise. So while the Japanese build cars in South Carolina and Alabama for a fraction of the labor costs, Detroit and the entire state of Michigan will continue over the cliff to bankruptcy and depression encouraged by a healthy dose of denial and socialism.

Just watch the billions of dollars that Obama will shovel to the automakers during the course of his administration; $8 billion more just committed on top of $3 or $4 billion already thrown down the hole. Since the goal is to preserve the unions and not to improve the business, tax-payer funds will be limitless. Just another perpetual federal subsidy and constituency that needs to be placated. Can anyone say "farm subsidies"?

Barack's successor will be forced to deal with a repeat bankruptcy of Chrysler in 5-10 years after taxpayers rebel over the billions upon billions used to prop up the unions. Wake up America!

Update May 5, 2009:

May 4, 2009 Op-Ed from IBD - Don't Demonize Chrysler's Debt Holders For Standing Up For Their Shareholders

Arlen Specter

As a conservative, Arlen Specter's departure from the Republican Party is a non-event. Take Olympia Snowe and a few others with you.

However, from a humanistic perspective, I am concerned. Does anyone else find it sad that a 79-year old man clings to his J-O-B as if he has three kids to get through college and two ex-wives in which to pay alimony? Why doesn't he just ride off into the sunset, write a book and enjoy life! Can you say Robert Byrd?

We have all heard the quote, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". When I look at the political landscape through the Specter-Byrd lens, a better quote may be "It is said that power corrupts . . . The sane are usually attracted by other things than power." - - David Brin, Ph.D.

What the hell happens to people when they go to Washington?

Obama - The First 100 Days

If he can accomplish all of this in less than 100 days, just imagine what the next 1,365 days have in store for us.

In less than 100 days, Barack Obama has:

• Nominated five tax cheats to his cabinet, including the man who oversees the IRS.

• Pushed through a "stimulus" bill that not one Congressman read before voting for it.

• Promised to put all bills on the Internet for public consumption five days before any votes. That promise was broken with the non-Stimulus bill.

• Banned lobbyists from his administration, while appointing many.

• Pledged to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

• Told us the economy was the worst since the Great Depression.

• Told us the economy was better and advised us to buy stocks because “What you’re now seeing is a profit and earnings ratios get to the point that buying stocks is a good thing if you have a long-term perspective on it”. Just imagine if Bush had said this!

• Will produce a larger national debt over the next decade than the first 43 Presidents combined WHILE PROMISING FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY!

• Prompted the creation of a new term, "generational theft".

• Bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia while allowing further restrictions on domestic drilling for oil and natural gas .

• Returned a gift from one of our staunchest allies, Great Britain, that was displayed in the White House (a bust of Sir Winston Churchill given to President Bush after 9/11).

• Insulted the prime minister of England and the queen of England with thoughtless gifts.

• Was ridiculed by French president Sarkozy who invited Obama to walk on water at Normandy beach.

• Openly lied that Caterpillar would hire back previously laid off workers if his non-stimulus bill was passed.

• Proved himself to be incapable of communicating without a teleprompter while the press continues to declare him "The Great Communicator". This is the same press who called Bush and idiot and made fun of his speech patterns. I hear more "uh's" uttered during a Obama non-teleprompter-press-conference than from a 10-minute Stuttering John segment on The Howard Stern Show.

• Refused to allow some banks to pay back the TARP money while, at the same time, requiring that government-held preferred shares of stock be converted to common shares thus giving the federal government a large stake in and control of these banks. But don't you worry, he and Geithner say they are not nationalizing the banks!

• Sparked hundreds of protests involving hundreds of thousands of Americans at tea parties regarding irresponsible government spending while Obama's Homeland Security Secretary labels peacefully demonstrating Americans and returning veterans as security risks.

• Has proven that in his world, words speak louder than actions. It's easy to do when the mainstream media has become no more than a dictation service for the administration.

• His Homeland Security Secretary states that illegal immigration is not necessarily "illegal".

• Making enemies out of people in the private sector and ginning up protests by ACORN and labor unions at the homes of AIG executives further fomenting more class warfare.

• Saw no problem with an attainder law passed by Congress to tax AIG executives 90% of their bonuses in direct violation of Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution. Then again, as a good liberal, Obama believes The Constitution is a living, breathing, pliable document composed of negative rights, "it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf." That's right it doesn't! That's the whole point! He's a law professor and President of the United States for crying out loud!

• Has become a laughing stock around the globe - Putin and Ahmadinejad think he is a joke, Castro thinks he is superficial and the Europeans keep asking, "what the hell are you doing?"

• Commenced the "America is Sorry" world tour. In the words of Karl Rove, "he has apologized on three continents for what he views as the sins of America and his predecessors".

• Was shamed by Iran who took an American journalist hostage while Obama promises better relations.

• Was humiliated by North Korea with their missile launch while he called for the reduction in our missile and nuclear arms capabilities.

• Listened patiently while Daniel Ortega falsely charged the United States for every evil in the world without a single word objection. "I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old". That's leadership!

• Threatened to prosecute former Bush legal advisers and, in typical Obama fashion, never looks at the unintended consequences of such.

• Offered up laughable budget cuts ($100 million) while pushing through a multi-TRILLION dollar budget.

• Hung Israel out to dry with an enemy that has, on multiple occasions, threatened to wipe them off the map and is months away from developing a nuclear weapon. Another stellar example of outstanding leadership!

• Released cherry-picked secret documents for the world to see our interrogation tactics while leaving out what was garnered from those tactics.

• Repeatedly demonstrated his belief that the world was a mess prior to his arrival on the scene. There might be something to this "messianic complex" accusation.

Clearly no one in this administration has ever played chess where you must think two or three moves ahead; otherwise known in the real world as the law of unintended consequences. Every move this administration makes is done with, what appears to be, reckless disregard for the consequences of their actions.

Ask yourself one question: if any ONE of the occurrences highlighted above had happened between 2000-2008, what do you think the reaction of the mainstream media would have been? Not a regurgitation of White House talking points I can assure you of that.

Most of you probably recognize one of the core problems in America right now is APATHY. It is fed by a mainstream media which has the same agenda as the Democrat Party. The media is not supposed to have an agenda regardless of who occupies the White House. Instead of reporting the news, they are cheerleading and cherry-picking their coverage.

1,365 days and counting!

Socialism Explained

From my friend Joe D:

A Simple Analogy

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A."

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

I presented this analogy to my family at dinner the other night. One of my daughters (10-years old) had a friend spending the night. When I had finished presenting the scenario, her friend said, "that's not fair!". Given that The Left in this country has hijacked this word, I asked her what she meant by "fair" She explained that it wasn't fair that the kids who worked hard were given lower grades.

Don't you find it ironic that a 10-year old's understanding of fairness and opportunity far exceeds that of the President of the United States?

Why the Federal Government's Power Should be Limited

"Unfortunately, for the future of our nation, Congress has successfully exploited American constitutional ignorance or contempt." Walter E. Williams

Why should the federal government's power be limited?

Because The U.S. Constitution says so! The Tenth Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

In case you are wondering, The U.S. Constitution does NOT enumerate: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, war on poverty, highway funding, education, healthcare, bailing out private businesses, taxing targeted citizens 90%, cap-and-trade, CAFE standards or light bulbs.

What does the federal government do well besides waste our money? NOTHING! Even national defense, which is one of the enumerated powers, is full of wasteful spending.

Social Security - if you were outraged at the Bernie Madoff ponzie scheme, your mind will be blown if you knew the truth about this abomination. Never forget who tried to save it by privatizing part of it and who stood in the way (Answer: George W. Bush. Democrats.)

There is so much waste in our governments at all levels yet, even in times like these, you very rarely hear them (local, state or federal) talk about cutting their budgets and/or wasteful programs. That's what happens when you are playing with other people's money.

Washington uses federal money as an extortion racket against the states. Look at how the Obama Administration is treating Governors Sanford, Gindall, Perry and Palin as they try to reject the non-Stimulus bill money or try to use it for purposes found unacceptable by our omnipotent federal government.

The fed's favorite tool is the highway funding money which they use to blackmail the states into forcing seatbelt laws and speed limit regulations among other things.

Education spending comes next. The per pupil spending in America is outrageous. The return on our "investment" is sagging graduation rates and substandard academic performance versus the rest of the world. Why do we keep pouring good money after bad? Teachers unions!

The whole point our Founding Fathers made with the enumerated powers clause was to allow the states to do as they pleased knowing that "the people" could flee if things got out of hand. Examples of this would be the liberal utopia of California, which is bankrupt, or New York, where they are raising taxes. Another example is Oregon with their continuous experiments on social programs. If you don't like it, get the hell out. Flee and take your tax dollars with you.

Where can I flee to avoid Obama's unprecedented power grab and avoid the unprecedented levels of inflation that will inevitably be coming down the pike?

Here's a great piece by Walter E. Williams about democracy versus majority rule.

Check out this editorial cartoon from the March 30 edition of Investor's Business Daily.

Obama for Dummies

Country music singer Clay Walker appeared on the FoxNews Show 'Hannity' on March 26. During a panel discussion about the Obama Administration's power grab, he declined to offer an opinion because he didn't feel he was well-informed enough to weigh in. He described himself as "growing up poorer than dirt" and "not the sharpest knife in the drawer".

How many other people think they are not "informed" enough to offer an opinion about our current Administration. If you asked these same people similar questions about The Bush Administration, they, no doubt, could regurgitate some mindless criticism as articulated by the mainstream (lamestream) media. For the benefit of those who feel they are not informed about Obama, I offer the following list of five factors that explains the insanity we are experiencing from his Administration.

#1 - Home Field Advantage:

Obama has no fear of being called out for anything he does or says by the lamestream media. They protect him because they think like him and voted for him. During the Bush Administration, the majority of the lamestream media forfeited everything they were taught in J-School about being the watch-dog for the American people (the fourth branch of government), etc. Obama's left-leaning, liberal agenda is there agenda and they are willing to leave their journalistic integrity at the door to advance it (or, in the case of the last eight years) tear down a man with whom they disagreed.

Not a peep was heard from the likes of ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, et al. when Obama made bald-faced lies such as "we will cut the deficit in half" while increasing it by $10 trillion or "I will not sign bills full of ear marks" while signing one with 8,500 of them.

Finally, no one else could get away with associating with a domestic terrorist (Bill Ayers) AND a racist preacher (Jeremiah Wright) AND a Marxist community organizer (Saul Alinsky) AND working with a perpetually corrupt and often-indicted voter registration group (ACORN).The lamestream media is guilty of dereliction of duty and Obama and his lefty pals are taking full advantage of their home field advantage. The media's double-standard and hypocrisy are on full display for anyone who cares to see.

#2 - He's black:

In case you haven't noticed, Obama is . . . . black.

While the lamestream media protects Obama from the front, the race card protects him from the back forming a Star Wars-like force field around The Messiah. Thanks to decades of admirable work by the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (both of whom carry the title of Reverend - is nothing sacred anymore?), the race card is played when anyone dares to criticize The One.

Click here or here read two recent articles reviewing this phenomenon.

#3 - He's a Radical Leftist:

Obama's sparse voting record was good enough to gain the label as the most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate. Think about those who have influenced his life (see list above) and you can easily see why he is the way he is.

It is indisputable that Barack Obama is the least qualified candidate for President by a major political party in the history of this country. He has very little private sector and no executive experience. The leader of the formerly free world has been on the government dole his entire adult life. Ditto for all of his "advisors", none of whom have ever had to make payroll or manage a budget. That is a dangerous combination: a bunch of left-wing, ivory-tower, elitist with no private sector experience controlling the world's most powerful country. As of this writing, these same people control the auto industry and most of the country's banks.

#4 - The Apathetic Electorate:

Let's face it, most Americans could care less what a bunch of pompous, rich politicians in our state and nation's capital do on a day-to-day basis. The Democrats play this apathy brilliantly. Their liberal agenda, comprised of growing a powerful, centralized government by shaving individual rights requires an ignorant and apathetic populace. Anyone who understands The Obama Agenda feels like they are living in an alternative universe.

Consider for a moment the 'War on Poverty' OR the state of the African-American community OR the state of our public school system OR Social Security OR Medicare/Medicaid all of which are creations or constituents of Democrats. After considering these you cannot tell me that an engaged, enlightened populace would put up with the pathetic performance of any of these? Only in government can abject failure be rewarded.

On the other side of the coin, the Republican Party assumes the populace are not only engaged but are rational in their expectations of government. WRONG!

#5 - He is not President Bush:

Have you noticed that Obama is on TV every day? This stems from the liberal belief that President Bush was disengaged and recluse. Therefore, Obama will do the opposite despite risking overexposure.

Obama also believes that the whole world hates the United States because of Bush Administration policies and he is going to bring back the love. Look at his behavior at the G20 meetings where he spent four days trashing and apologizing for his own country's behavior while gladly giving up U.S. sovereignty to foreign entities such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations. Also, did you happen to catch Secretary of State Clinton's recent comments in Mexico? She blames America for Mexico's problems. It continually amazes me that leaders of the greatest, most generous country in the world feel compelled to kiss the ass of people who don't vote in our elections. Instead of spreading The American Way, they prefer to tear it down and join the Mediocrity Society.

Is anyone else concerned that while Obama is trying to be the anti-Bush, he has ignored the Iranian nuke issue, left Israel hanging out to dry and oversaw the dismantling of all the work done in North Korea?

My prediction: The Democrat Party will overstep their power and 2010 will see unprecedented turnover in The House (bigger than 1994) with the likes of Pelosi, Frank and Murtha shown the door.

Caveat: I haven't seen any indication that the RNC can take advantage of the Obama hanging curve ball. Unless Michael Steele is developing a secret grand strategy, I worry that the Republicans will miss a golden opportunity to retake power and roll back or slow down the Obama Agenda.

Speaking of the RNC, If I ran the Republican Party, was published last month.