Tag: economics

The Worry in my Father’s Eyes (A Personal GM Posting)

As many of you know, I am the son of a retired General Motors worker.  Ironically, I am also a Conservative.  No, I am not a Republican; or even a formal Libertarian.  I am someone that believes that the less Governmental interference in my life, the better.   However, there is a place, where my politics ends and a genuine concern for my family begins.

I see that General Motors is going to be taking more money from the Government, and is desperately trying to salvage what is left of that company:

Quote:

General Motors Corp. will get up to $5 billion and Chrysler LLC $500 million in short-term aid, according to a 250-page government report obtained Monday by The Detroit News.

The Detroit News reported Friday that GM would get about $5 billion and Chrysler $500 million, citing an Obama administration official, which prompted a denial from the White House.

The short-term aid figures are disclosed in the report from the Treasury Department’s Inspector General on the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The report was obtained from a congressional source late Monday.

Meanwhile General Motors is is doing its damnedest to rid itself of waste:

General Motors Corp. has started notifying about 1,600 white-collar workers — most of whom work in southeast Michigan — that they will lose their jobs this week as the cash-strapped automaker cuts costs that could help the automaker qualify for up to $16.6 billion in additional federal aid.

The announcement was made by GM North American President Troy Clarke in an e-mail sent to employees today, spokesperson Tom Wilkinson said.

“This is part of really restructuring the company to a smaller, leaner company, one that can, as the (Obama) administration requested, be profitable on an ongoing basis,” Wilkinson said.

While this might be a good thing, there are those out there that believe that this is too little too late:

It’s ironic enough that Italy’s Fiat Auto could end up being the savior for Chrysler. After all, former Chrysler President Bob Lutz once likened Fiat to a dead bride when his old boss, Lee Iacocca, wanted the company to join up with the Italian carmaker. Now, Lutz is at General Motors until he retires in December, and Fiat may help his current employer.

Yes, the Italian carmaker is reportedly in talks with GM about forming a partnership with its European and South American businesses, says Automotive News. How ironic is that? Well, in 2000, GM bought 20% of Fiat Auto for $2.4 billion. Back then, GM was healthy and Fiat was in serious financial trouble. The Italian company was wracked by quality issues. It was so bad that GM actually paid another $2 billion a few years later just to avoid a put option that would have made GM the sole owner of Fiat. GM’s board didn’t want that kind of headache.

But now, after Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has fixed the company, he could help save Chrysler in the U.S. and GM in Europe. GM lost $1.5 billion in the Olde World last year, with its Opel and Vauxhaul brands suffering mightily with too many factories. GM is actually doing very well in Latin America, where the auto giant earned $1.3 billion last year. Fiat is pretty strong there, too, so they could make a powerful pair down there. The only catch is that Fiat doesn’t have any cash either. But the alliances will help be getting each company jointly-engineered vehicles and sharing parts.

The bottom line: Fiat is not a great carmaker by any stretch. But Chrysler and GM are in so much trouble that anyone could help at this point. Even Fiat.

Which brings me to my point; have any of you really looked at your Father?  I have.  I see worry in his eyes.  I see worry in both my parents eyes.  The questions my parents are facing, as they enter into their golden years are unfathomable, for someone my age.  Will my parents lose everything that my father worked hard to obtain?  We are talking 31 years worth of blood, sweat, and tears.  My Father earned every damned last penny.  I dare some idiot beltway type to say otherwise.

I have been a critic of the Obama Administration for much, as of late.  However, I will give him credit for one thing.  The President is looking out my Father.  I just hope he does not throw my Father under the bus, as he has many others in his short time in the White House.

Some of you might look at this posting and call me some sort of a hypocrite.  That is your right as an American.

However, if you could only see my Father’s eyes; you might just might be able to understand.

The Southern Avenger on "The Illiberal Media"

The Southern Avenger’s Blog (New Address!)

The Southern Avenger @ Taki’s Magazine

The Southern Avenger on "The Radical Right"

The Southern Avenger’s Blog

The Southern Avenger @ Taki’s Magazine

Books Mentioned:

Even More Professional Behavior from President Teleprompter

This is unbelievable:

The bankers struggled to make themselves clear to the president of the United States.

Arrayed around a long mahogany table in the White House state dining room last week, the CEOs of the most powerful financial institutions in the world offered several explanations for paying high salaries to their employees — and, by extension, to themselves.

“These are complicated companies,” one CEO said. Offered another: “We’re competing for talent on an international market.”

But President Barack Obama wasn’t in a mood to hear them out. He stopped the conversation and offered a blunt reminder of the public’s reaction to such explanations. “Be careful how you make those statements, gentlemen. The public isn’t buying that.”

“My administration,” the president added, “is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.”

via Inside Obama’s bank CEOs meeting – Eamon Javers – POLITICO.com.

Talking about cashing in on the public outrage! What’s more is this one here:

There were signs from the outset that this was a business event, not a social gathering. At each place around the table sat a single glass of water. No ice. For those who finished their glass, no refills were offered. There was no group photograph taken of the CEOs with the president, which typically happens at ceremonial White House gatherings but not at serious strategy sessions.

“The only way they could have sent a more Spartan message is if they had served bread along with the water,” says a person who attended the meeting. “The signal from Obama’s body language and demeanor was, ‘I’m the president, and you’re not.’”

Way to go there Mr. Bambi, piss off the very people that made you on wall street. What more do the people need to see, to realize that electing this buffoon was the biggest mistake America ever made?

You know, I criticized Bush relentlessly during the man’s time in office. But the actions of this new President is starting make me really wonder just how better off we truly are. I mean; this guy is right now over in Europe, and now going to France to make speeches saying that the United States of America was arrogant?? I have to admit, I do not always agree with Sean Hannity, But tonight he was spot on. Obama ought to be impeached for treason, first for bowing an Arab leader and then going overseas and basically sounding like the Dixie Chicks! I am, quite frankly, surprised that our media here has given him a pass on that one. But then again, when you are in the tank for the guy. What can one expect??

Not to mention that, he is spending like a drunken sailor, which is going to weaken our dollar. It is truly unbelievable.

You see people want to say that Bush caused all this economic recession, and that’s just flat out horse hockey! Bush did not cause this recession, Bill Clinton did! Clinton was one the one who placed the high pressure on the big lending institutions, like Freddie Mack and Fannie Mae to give loans to those who could not normally afford them. Then the people on Wall Street, thanks to the stupid deregulation of the Markets, cooked up these crazy credit swaps.  Bush’s White House saw the impending disaster and warned sternly the Republican controlled Congress that there were signs that the Markets are showing signs that there was about to be a serious problem. This was in 2003, Congress then began an investigation and the then President/CEO or whatever the hell you call him, who was black, did what any black person does when they’re under the gun. He played the race card. Rep. Barney Frank sat right up there and said there was no crisis.

So, this whole notion that is being peddled by the Democrats is totally false and is basically revisionist history. No wonder Bill O’Rielly flipped out on Barney Frank. Because the man is a damned liar. As are the Democrats in general. But yet, the President can sit there and act like a total asshole?!?! It was his party that created this whole mess!

Unbelievable, just totally unbelievable.

Generational Theft Act of 2009 has been passed

It seems that the Liberal Congress and Obama are hell bent on devaluing our dollar:

Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly embraced President Obama’s ambitious and expensive agenda for the nation yesterday, endorsing a $3.5 trillion spending plan that sets the stage for the president to pursue his most far-reaching priorities.

Voting along party lines, the House and Senate approved budget blueprints that would trim Obama’s spending proposals for the fiscal year that begins in October and curtail his plans to cut taxes. The blueprints, however, would permit work to begin on the central goals of Obama’s presidency: an expansion of health-care coverage for the uninsured, more money for college loans and a cap-and-trade system to reduce gases that contribute to global warming.

The measures now move to a conference committee where negotiators must resolve differences between the two chambers, a prelude to the more difficult choices that will be required to implement Obama’s initiatives. While Democrats back the president’s vision for transforming huge sectors of the economy, they remain fiercely divided over the details.

via Congress Approves Budget – washingtonpost.com.

$3.5 trillion dollars; That’s more money than I’ll ever see in this lifetime. Spending that much money will do nothing more than devalue our dollar to the point where the simplest things will cost more than most can afford.  Ron Paul said it right in this video here; the Liberal Congress are simply trying to recreate the bubble that burst and they are simply going to try create another.

This of course will create another burst somewhere down the road that will be greater than this one. Our only hope is that someone like Mark Sanford will get in there and order the fed audited and possibly closed. Also maybe Sanford would put us back on the Gold Standard and back Austrian Economics and put this silly Keynesian economics to pasture, where it belongs.

One can only hope.

Others: Sweetness & Light, , Fausta’s Blog, Donklephant, Hot Air, Right Wing News, Dr. Sanity, , QandO and Wake up America

The Southern Avenger on "Steadfast Sanford"

When hundreds of protesters showed up at the South Carolina statehouse to protest Gov. Mark Sanford’s refusal to accept $700 million in federal stimulus, it was worth noting how Sanford doesn’t represent economic disaster – but perhaps the only chance we’ve got.

The Article referenced in this Video is found here

The Southern Avenger’s Blog

The Southern Avanger @ Taki’s Magazine

President Barack Obama asks G.M. CEO Rick Wagoner to resign

Full disclosure: My Father is a Retired G.M. Employee and a member of the United Auto Workers.

I have known about this for a while. I’ve just been waiting for as much info as I could get, before doing a post on it.

Originally Via the Politico:

The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said.

On Monday, President Barack Obama is to unveil his plans for the auto industry, including a response to a request for additional funds by GM and Chrysler. The plan is based on recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, headed by the Treasury Department.

The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government’s behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

General Motors issued a vague statement Sunday night that did not officially confirm Wagoner’s departure.

“We are anticipating an announcement soon from the Administration regarding the restructuring of the U.S. auto industry. We continue to work closely with members of the Task Force and it would not be appropriate for us to speculate on the content of any announcement,” the company said.

The surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.

Reaction from the Conservative Blogsophere has been predictable negative. Also I have observed via the local media, that some auto workers are not happy about the President asking a C.E.O. to resign.

I have an opinion on this. It is simply this. I want to wait and see what happens. I do not want to pass judgment upon this until I see what is going to happen. This could be a bad thing and then again, it could be a very good thing. I shall, like many from this God-Forsaken part of the Country are playing the wait and see game.

Reaction to this from the Editorial board of the The Detroit Free Press is not a good one:

The risk was there from the start.

The federal money flowing to Detroit to help struggling automakers was always going to come with strings.

But there’s a fine line between holding General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC accountable for a pile of taxpayer cash and inappropriate government efforts to actually run the companies.

President Barack Obama’s Auto Task Force may have crossed that line over the weekend when it reportedly asked for GM Chairman Rick Wagoner’s resignation as part of a plan to get more aid to the struggling automaker.

It’s hard to see how canning the chief executive is far shy of actually running the company. And if that’s the case, if GM’s federal overseers are stepping up their efforts to actually manage GM through its restructuring, this sets an awful precedent, both on general principle and in this particular instance.

The principle at stake says government shouldn’t manage private businesses. GM has a board of directors that, no matter its many mistakes, is accountable for the company’s fate. The government should ensure the board doesn’t squander taxpayer funds, but that doesn’t include selecting the company’s leadership.

It didn’t for banks, mortgage companies or insurance outfits like AIG. Why should GM be treated differently?

Something tells me that there is going to be a huge blow back from this and it might just cost Obama a reelection, should be try and run in 2012.

Additional Coverage:

Blogs:

The Southern Avenger on "AIG Bonuses are a Ruse"

How the controversy over the AIG bonuses imbedded in the stimulus obfuscate the root problem of spending in general.

The Southern Avenger’s Blog

The Southern Avenger @ Taki’s Magazine

The Southern Avenger on "What Happened to the War on Terror?"

On the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq, why are the loudest champions of the War on Terror no longer talking about it?

The Southern Avenger’s Blog

The Southern Avenger @ Taki’s Magazine

President Barack Hussein Obama's March Towards Communism

In all honesty….  it is more like a marathon run towards Communism actually.

Thanks to the stupidity of the Carter and Clinton Administrations and the inaction on the Republican controlled 2003 Congress. We are now becoming a Communist Nation. We have no one to blame, but ourselves.

The Communist owned Washington Post reports:

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

Giving the Treasury secretary authority over a broader range of companies would mark a significant shift from the existing model of financial regulation, which relies on independent agencies that are shielded from the political process. The Treasury secretary, a member of the president’s Cabinet, would exercise the new powers in consultation with the White House, the Federal Reserve and other regulators, according to the document.

The administration plans to send legislation to Capitol Hill this week. Sources cautioned that the details, including the Treasury’s role, are still in flux.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is set to argue for the new powers at a hearing today on Capitol Hill about the furor over bonuses paid to executives at American International Group, which the government has propped up with about $180 billion in federal aid. Administration officials have said that the proposed authority would have allowed them to seize AIG last fall and wind down its operations at less cost to taxpayers.

The administration’s proposal contains two pieces. First, it would empower a government agency to take on the new role of systemic risk regulator with broad oversight of any and all financial firms whose failure could disrupt the broader economy. The Federal Reserve is widely considered to be the leading candidate for this assignment. But some critics warn that this could conflict with the Fed’s other responsibilities, particularly its control over monetary policy.

The government also would assume the authority to seize such firms if they totter toward failure.

Besides seizing a company outright, the document states, the Treasury Secretary could use a range of tools to prevent its collapse, such as guaranteeing losses, buying assets or taking a partial ownership stake. Such authority also would allow the government to break contracts, such as the agreements to pay $165 million in bonuses to employees of AIG’s most troubled unit.

The Treasury secretary could act only after consulting with the president and getting a recommendation from two-thirds of the Federal Reserve Board, according to the plan.

Geithner plans to lay out the administration’s broader strategy for overhauling financial regulation at another hearing on Thursday.

You see folks, this is where it starts. They start seizing businesses, and taking the assets for themselves. Then the Government decides to take YOUR assets; because they happen to think that you are making too much money. What amazes me, is the resounding silence from the Republicans, especially the Neo-Conservatives like Michelle Malkin and over at HotAir.com. Could it be that the Neo-Conservatives secretly approve of such actions? Possibly the Republican Party as well? Could it be that the Republican Party is now infiltrated with Communists to the point of having lost it’s true identity?

You decide.

Others: The Moderate Voice, Reuters, pw,  , The Strata-Sphere,Bloomberg, Washington Monthly, Pajamas Media, Right Wing News, Sweetness & Light, Neptunus Lex, Stop The ACLU, Sister Toldjah, and Fausta’s Blog

(Via Memeorandum)