Free Republic

How To Restructure Without Getting Taken

An ongoing post over at Fabius Maximus on solutions to the current economic crisis has helped sharpen my thinking on the problem. In general, I would echo commenter R Hendrick's priorities: 1. Size alone is insufficient, as Prez Bush and Henry Pauson have now reproven. Effectiveness is equally as important as dollar volume. 2. Providing lending capacity when consumers and businesses want to borrow less won't be sufficient. Fiscal policy will be more effective in the near term, 2009 & perhaps even 2010, than currently overemphasized monetary tools. Similarly, tax cuts will be less effective than govt. spending as much...

The Richard Corey Syndrome Do you know what these men have in common? First there was Kirk Stephenson, a happily married man, with a loving wife and an eight-year-old son, whom he kissed goodbye after they had breakfast together before throwing himself in the path of a 100mph express train. Then there was Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet who was found collapsed at his desk, having anesthetized himself with sleeping pills and slashed his wrists with a box cutter. There was also Steven L. Good who shot himself while sitting in his Jaguar. And there was Adolf Merckle, who also...

Colleges Bite the Bullet by: Deborah Lambert, January 07, 2009 Could the global economic crisis actually force the nation’s colleges and universities to rethink their priorities? The Wall Street Journal’s Eric Gibson noted, after a recent tour of campuses, that today’s student life resembles something like the Court at Versailles. “One college tour guide proudly informed us that upon arrival every freshman is issued a brand-new laptop. Even students who already have one? ‘Why yes,’ the guide replied.” The lavish school menus cater to every ethnicity, food group and taste… And it doesn’t take long to realize that maintaining this...

A bevy of Democratic governors made a desperate plea to incoming president Barack Obama for a bailout of their states. A statement joined by New York’s Governor David Paterson, New Jersey’s Governor Jon Corzine, Massachusetts’ Governor Deval Patrick, Ohio’s Governor Ted Strickland and Wisconsin’s Governor Jim Doyle threatened “dire consequences” if the federal government doesn’t come through with financial aid. “There are states that are talking of not being able to meet their financial obligations in the coming months,” Paterson said. “We have payrolls to meet. People are dependant upon the money we hand out.” Paterson discounted the strategy of...

If you were to rely solely on the "press release journalists" at L.A.'s newspapers and TV stations -- i.e., faux reporters who merely reprint or re-broadcast City Hall's press releases and press conferences without any independent analysis -- you might think Villaraigosa has made tremendous progress in reducing crime. Villaraigosa and Bratton have held self-congratulatory press conferences because crime is down 2.5% this year. The press release journalists simply transmit the information and wait for the Mayor to deliver the next item of “news,” like “Arts Month,” for example. If there were a real press corps in this town, however,...

El Universal (Mexico City) 1/6/09 During the Christmas season, the Mexican Chamber of Deputies [House] received 26 complaints of extortion by officials in all three levels of government. The charges were made by Mexicans returning home for the holidays. The number of complaints were through a program encouraging contact with representatives and are considered to be only a small indication of the "hundreds of other such cases" that went unreported because of fear of reprisal. Reports are expected to increase after the victims return to the US. A federal legislator from the state of Zacatecas said that the complaints were...

Think the answer to saving money on your kid's clothes lies in the thrift shops? You might want to stock up fast. Because the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that will go into affect on February 10 will affect not only sellers of new products but those selling used goods too. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last week, Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of Resale and Thrift Shops, said the places most people go to save a few extra bucks on outfitting their families won't be able to cough up the thousands of...

To All My Valued Employees, There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country. However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests. First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against...

GM is currently in the midst of having Barrett-Jackson sell off some of the GM Heritage Collection of vehicles, and while many of the vehicles are of questionable taste, and more to the point, should have never been inventoried whatsoever, there are a few vehicles that really do fall into the collector car column. Cars that are scheduled to be auctioned include some really rare vehicles like a couple of Corvette Z06s, Corvette ZR-1s, and late model Camaro and Trans Am models. They also have a 1904 Oldsmobile, a 1993 GMC Typhoon, a 1916 GMC, a 1931 Oldsmobile Rolling Chassis,...

James Madison, during the First Continental Congress, was asked to vote for an appropriation of money to settle some Frenchmen in our new country who had helped in our revolution from England. While holding a copy of the newly adopted Constitution, Madison asked the body of legislators to show him somewhere in the document where it allowed the taxation of all people for the benefit of only a few. The bill was defeated. It should be remembered that our Constitution is not just some historical document to be admired by later generations for its linguistic style and mastery of the...

The EPA, last year, published its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act. One of the suggestions the EPA made to regulate GHG is to levy a tax on livestock. “The tax for dairy cows could be $175 per cow, and $87.50 per head of beef cattle. The tax on hogs would upwards of $20 per hog,” the release said. “Any operation with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs would have to obtain permits.” Analysts predict that it would raise the cost to produce a...

If Congressmen got a report card, Barney Frank's would say "does not play nice in the sandbox with the other children" To understand the congressman you must understand that there are two types of people, those who agree with him and and those who distort the facts and are too stupid to understand the truth. One of my favorite TV moments of 2008 was his battle with Bill O' Reilly, today's conversation with Chris Cuomo wasn't as "loud" but just as Barney Frank Nasty:

Too many in Congress and the Senate appear to be there for the wrong reasons. Some have made their fortunes and now want to be a part of the most exclusive club on Earth. Some go there to enrich themselves. Some are there because they want to some day be President I'm tired of the old platitude "he went to Washington to change Washington - then Washington changed him!" That continues to happen because the people we send are often far from true patriots. Many are ambitious egotists who want to: a. be President some day b. be part of...

Stanley Carter, a 21-year-old man discovered hiding in a Pennsylvania family’s attic, said he’s not a criminal, but was only trying to implement President-Elect Barack Obama’s “spread-the-wealth” policy. Carter had apparently been living in the attic for more than a week, sneaking downstairs at night to raid the refrigerator and use the bathroom. He only was caught after cash and an iPod went missing. “These people have more than they need,” Carter asserted. “Why shouldn’t they share it with me?” Obama is reported to be “monitoring” the situation.

This year already we’ve heard calls for reintroduction of the Fairness Doctrine, and Internet censorship. Now, the first call for public funding for newspapers is here. Lining up behind GM and AIG, media outlets could join the many “distressed businesses” begging for government aid.

In a shocking display of capitalist greed, that quaint little, soon-to-be-bankrupt newspaper in Manhattan broke with tradition and ran an advertisement on the front page of yesterday's paper. Women fainted, dogs barked, and babies cried, as it became clear that, along with the liberal propaganda, readers of the Times would have to gaze upon a crass commercial pitch from CBS. More . . .

American energy independence may be closer than anyone realizes, and one of the most promising sources is neither wind nor solar nor oil nor coal nor even nuclear – as useful as all of the above may be in their own right. It is biomass, especially bacteria – genetically manipulated to produce hydrocarbon fuels like gasoline and diesel. I wrote about this in May 2008, and in the eight months since then the people involved have made so much progress that a major announcement is scheduled for next week in Washington D.C. My prior column explained the efforts of Tifton,...

Sony one of the worlds largest electronic companies has teamed up with the Islamic propaganda giant of the world Al Jazeera. Now Sony cellphone owners in the Middle East and North Africa can have the news feed from Al Jazeera pre-installed on their phones.

Financial pressures have inspired the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) authorities to implement a get tough “zero tolerance” policy for suspected fare evaders. The first person to face the consequences was a young man who was shot to death by a BART officer on the platform of the Fruitvale Station. “When we see a person trying to enter without paying, we accost them on the spot,” explained a BART spokesman “off-the-record.” “If they won’t voluntarily pay a fare and fine, we physically remove their wallet from their pocket or purse. If they resist, well, we exert the necessary force. In...

While a carbon tax is nothing new to those leading the charge for anthropogenic, or man-made, climate change, it is a new concept to many of us in the United States. The idea is simple. A carbon tax is a fee paid to emit greenhouse gases. Unless you are completely self- sustained on your property and in your travels, you will be impacted. Companies that generate electricity will feel the pinch of a carbon tax for burning natural gas or coal to generate power. Steel mills will be impacted for burning fossil fuels to keep their furnaces hot. Automobile manufacturers...

I'm referring to CHARLES EVANS, President of The Chicago Fed, JAMES BULLARD, President of The St. Louis Fed, and Janet Yellen of The San Francisco Fed, along with CHAIRMAN BERNANKE. The former wants to "mimic" below-zero interest rates, while Bullard wants an "inflation target" and Yellen says "its worth pulling out all the stops" according to speeches today. All are displaying absolute panic as the reality of what they have done has finally crossed their conscious barrier and is now staring them in the face. Yellen's commentary is particularly outrageous: “Although our economy is resilient and has bounced back quickly...

This weekend's Tickers have exposed the same thing on Tickerforum that is rife throughout the country and political class. In response to pointing out the mathematical facts relating to money, credit, debt and the compound nature of interest (and thus debt), there has been a persistent call for the impossible. As just one example, a call for The Fed to simply print money at some ridiculously low interest rate, however much it needs to (ignoring that all money is in fact a bond on future tax collections, and therefore is debt and increases the base subject to that exponential growth)...

Imagine there’s no religion, it’s easy for The New York Times to do — even in a Christmas Day editorial that somehow forgets that Christmas is about Christ’s birth. In fact, the NYT decided that this Christmas was its opportunity to wallow in worse-than-ever sentiments and to bemoan that this year’s Christmas isn’t as good as it used to be. Oh, they tried to dress it up a bit by saying it is great to have a Christmas that gets us back to basics and also by slipping in some global warming clap trap, but it is still a...

...the EPA [is]considering a tax on the owners of farting cows...Since I am more of a tax cut guy, than an advocate of increasing government revenues, I say ditch the tax on farting cows and replace it with a tax credit for mailing in dead cockroaches to the IRS....

Cradle to Grave Conservatism? by: Bethany Stotts, January 05, 2009 Airing a new book which purports to think outside the policy box, Joseph V. Kennedy, author of Ending Poverty, explained his solution to the problem of American poverty at Heritage this December. “Conservatism does not imply the complete absence of government involvement in the market, nor does it imply that economic interests always are paramount and that raising [Gross Domestic Product] GDP should be the sole goal of public policy,” he argued. “What conservatives do advocate for are the importance of individual freedom, restrictions on the arbitrary powers of government,...

...you can see that you’re going to lose at Monopoly way before you mortgage Mediterranean Avenue and they actually close the coffin lid. So while we grown-ups waited for our inevitable demise, it occurred to us that the game doesn’t really reflect the pressures and challenges present in the New Jersey business community of today. So we came up with a few ways that we could modernize the ‘Chance’ and ‘Community Chest’ cards make the game a little more accurate for the current NJ business climate.

Connecticut State Representative Frank Nicastro (D-Bristol) warned that without a government bailout, his town’s newspaper, The Bristol Press, may be forced into bankruptcy. “Newspapers are a vitally important part of America,” Nicastro asserted. “Too important to be allowed to fail just because they can’t get enough readers or advertisers to support their publication.” Nicastro argued that a government bailout could be a “win-win” proposition. “There’s a saying that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune,’” he said. “The government’s relationship with the press could be greatly improved if the legislature provides the funding to keep the paper afloat.” The...

“Live from Washington! It’s that fun and exciting new game show, Let’s Make a Stimulus Deal! Starring D.C.’s Big Dealer, Harry Reid!” “Thanks, Johnny. Let’s get right to our first contestant. Dressed in driving goggles and long coat for the ultimate road trip, it’s General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner!” “Yep. Drove all the way here again in that overpriced and completely impractical Chevy Volt. It’s the only way my PR people let me go anywhere these days. Gotta stop for Starbucks every 40 minutes to plug the dagnab thing in. You got a bathroom around here?” “We do, but first...

Some new tough questions are being asked about Black Lake Golf Club, the luxury golf course owned by the United Auto Workers union in Cheboygan County, Michigan. Along with the multi-million dollar golf resort, the UAW also funds what it calls an "education center" with the funding connected to the resort. As the UAW cried that it needed a bailout from Congress, its ownership of this luxury resort was revealed to the chagrin of union employees everywhere. Millions of dollars of union member's dues money have been pumped into this project over the years, but now there are questions being...

In his November 2004 message to Americans, Usama bin-Laden stated the 9/11 attack was chosen in order to continue the "policy of bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy." He added that it appears to "some analysts and diplomats that the White House and we are playing as one team" towards "the economic ruination of the country even if the intentions differ." He cited the Royal Institute of International Affairs estimate that the attacks cost al Qaeda just $500,000. For related prior post on January 2 at Pasadena Sub Rosa see below (text in full): ALL FOR THE LOSS OF...

The Israeli move into the Gaza Strip may just be the opening shot in an American corporate giant's move to break into the Middle East discount retail market or so left-wing, anti-capitalist, anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-meat peace activists believe. Dirk Gnute, left-wing activist for the Death To Israel With Love group and corporate watchdog, said he has discovered plans from the WalMart chain to erect their signature big box stores in occupied Zionist territories, including stores on Islamic religious sites. Gnute said that the hundreds of Israeli tanks, armored personnel carriers and jeeps crossed into Gaza is just the beginning of...

Well it's back to work tomorrow and the kids will be back to school as well. I had a great time with my family over the Christmas Season. I have made quite a few resolutions which I will keep to myself, so that if I break three or four of them, no one will know. I suppose I am relieved to get back to work, I am not very good to myself when I am off-schedule. I have had a multitude of ideas that I wanted to write about, but never really had a "get me to my computer" moment....

Three weeks ago, in Investment U Issue #898, I promised you a 30% return on my “Keynesian investment strategy” of buying a deeply discounted fund, the John Hancock Preferred Income Fund (HPI). Guess what? It’s already achieved the goal of 30% return (including a nice dividend). Today, I’ll show you how to keep your hard-earned profits from being stolen by some unscrupulous broker or money manager through financial fraud. Sadly, quite a few wealthy individuals lost their entire fortune and are now penniless because they invested their money with Wall Street veteran Bernie Madoff. He is alleged to have lost...

Before we break into 2009 and consider what the future may offer, it is worthwhile looking back to review the year that passed. So I’ll do that right now, in real time. 2008 was a signature year of change - and not just in politics and economics. The changes in technology and the technology market were many and various, and some were profound. Here are the ones that I suspect were the most important. 1. The GPU and the CPU: The GPU (graphics processing unit) is in the process of usurping the CPU on client computers and access devices (but...

American Council on Technology Williamsburg, PA October 27, 2008 Thanks Mike, it’s good to be in Williamsburg, and back before this group. I had an opportunity to participate in this annual conference when I was Comptroller General of the United States, and you were meeting in Hershey, PA. I’ve been asked to speak on the issue of What would the Founders say—meaning the Founding Fathers—but I also recognize the theme of your conference, and therefore I’ll talk a little about technology as well. What would the Founders say about where we are today? How can we get back on track?...

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Big Labor is finding that it might have a bit less of a lock than it thought on its pet legislation, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Apparently, several southern Democrats -- those that live in right to work states -- as well as some moderates are signaling Senate Majority leader Harry Reid that they are not as interested in entertaining passage of the act as they were when they knew that the GOP was strong enough to filibuster it and when they had a president that stood ready to veto it....

Personal Letter from Satan to Paulson FROM THE OFFICE OF SATAN"Prince of Lies and proud of it" Dear Hank: You have outdone yourself once again, my loyal servant, with these fraudulent, deliciously deceptive proposals to reform the utterly corrupt financial system you exploited so profitably as head of Goldman Sachs. My plans for the destruction of the United States of America have been going along rather swimmingly until we rushed things a bit with Bear Stearns--ah, the wondrous power of pure, unmitigated greed! It remains my favorite tool--and calls for reform were suddenly everywhere. The rules which would have undone...

MoveOn.org is asking its members to donate to lefty groups hurt by liberal philanthropist-financier Bernard Madoff. The text of the new email is reproduced below. Names on the list include the ultra-leftist law firm, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the Brennan Center for Justice. We noted previously that Madoff's improprieties killed off the JEHT Foundation. (JEHT funded CCR.) George Soros's Open Society Institute and the Atlantic Philanthropies have promised to match donations until January 1. Here is the MoveOn email: Dear MoveOn member, You've probably heard about how Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff scammed investors out of at...

From the DVD jacket of Bail Out: "International action star David Hasselhoff stars in this action comedy about three bumbling bounty hunters on the trail of an escaped daughter of a millionaire. Their assignment: bring her in so she can stand trial on drug charges. Bail Out features non-stop action and some great one liners as Hasselhoff and his companions chase the runaway heiress, played very convincingly by Blair. Will they get her to trial on time or will they Bail Out?" Maybe someone should make a sequel. Something like: International financial star Henry Paulson stars in this comedy of...

Five Democratic governors are determined to help President George W. Bush secure his legacy as the president who helped to destroy the U.S. economy in order to protect idiot real estate speculators. Placing their faith in the false gods of Keynesianism, they want the U.S. government to fork over $1 trillion --in addition to the $8.5 trillion the federal government and the Fed have already committed to various bailouts-- to help cash-strapped states, Reuters reports. In other Bush legacy news, the U.S. Treasury announced it plans to provide financial aid to companies that supply automobile manufacturers. President Bush better pick...

Powerdiggers Stealing Stories, Promoting Them It seems all good things are corrupted or abused eventually. For Digg.com, habitually, a better choice... SEOs, thanks to aggressive blackballing by the Digg “bury-brigade,” were perhaps the earliest and most blatantly ostracized group muscled out of the prevailing purist community there—no salesmen allowed. Marketers and PR flaks effectively excommunicated, internal drama is free is to ensue as “powerdiggers” are accused of setting up a Digg.com good ole boy network. Exhibit A is a submission ironically making the front page with screen-grab side-by-side comparisons of, as the title suggests, how the average Digg user is....

.....American mayors are wondering how much money President-elect Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress will take from taxpayers to hand over to them. "We're not intending to spend money lightly," Obama has stated, No,he intends to spend it heavily. ...The U.S. Conference of Mayors published a 1,557-page report of 15,221 "infrastructure projects" for 641 cities say they have "ready to go" as soon as Obama and Congress can send them the cash. ...A few examples: City of North Miami, Fla., proposes to "establish a 'change a light bulb' program for all income-eligible households and change out all incandescent bulbs to...

US steel companies want money, too. Does it ever end? Their collapse happened 30 years ago. Now they want a TRILLION DOLLARS! Specifically, they want every government contract to require the use of American steel. And right at the time of Bambi's "economic stimulus." Seems like market manipulative to me. Consistent.

Five Governors - all Democrats - are asking that the federal government provide a thousand billion dollars to the fifty states (that's a trillion dollars for those of you educated in public school) to help pay for "education, welfare and infrastructure."The Obamacratic trinity.According to New York Governor David Paterson - one of the five Governors pressing for the big T - forty-three states are running deficits totaling $100 billion (So, naturally, an extra $900 billion seems perfectly reasonable).Lookout taxpayers ... blue state grab-hands are on the way.As I have written about and lamented extensively since Bailout America hit the big...

Those jokers! I thought they'd send "an S&G," Sargent and Greenleaf, a standard safe lock found on almost everyone's safes. But those comic tricksters sent me the bottom-of-the-line LP Lock — a plastic piece of apparently made-in-China crap that you might find on those $29.95 "safes" available from the office supply store. At first, I was taken in...I thought they actually sent me this...toy...as a lock...then I realized the joke...it's an homage to rapper Flavor Flav, whose signature outfit always included a huge clock necklace. While the original failed KABA lock is all metal, weighs almost a pound, is contoured...

Tuesday, December 30. 2008 Posted by Karl Denninger at 08:30 Uh Oh..... Monetary Flat Spin That has gone "just below" 1.0. What is this? I could go through the derivation of how money supply works in a fractional reserve monetary system (any), but won't, because most readers would have their eyes glaze over. The important part of this graph is what it denotes. Bernanke has lost control of "N" (or velocity), which is the actual knob that he is trying to diddle when borrowing rates are changed (and in fact its the market that sets that, despite his protests.) In...

Washington- In this current economic climate, bailouts for industries in the private sector are quickly becoming the chief form of reform and stability. From newspapers to the financial sector to the auto industry, Congress is infusing life saving money into the bloodstream of the country's economy. But one sector is finding itself over burdened at an alarming rate. Critics say that much more strain will find the CPA's and accountants of America buckle and something needs to be done before it's too late. Milton Nebish, president of the B.A.N.A.L., the recently combined accountants unions the Bureau of Accountancy and the...

The misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will take away the secret ballot for potential union members and force them to openly declare their preferences for or against a union, causing that worker to be easily open to intimidation by union thugs. This is a law currently in the table in Congress, one that Barack Obama has pledged to push through regardless of how it eliminates one of the oldest democratic rights there is. But, now Missouri is trying to head off the possible federal enactment of "card check" (the provision that eliminates the secret ballot) by legislating that a...

US Treasury and Federal Reserve actions of the past three months have made one thing abundantly clear: The welfare-state mentality has extended to financial institutions. Treasury and the Fed now believe financial institutions must have a safety net to keep them from being on the streets, just as state governments believe people at large must have a safety net to keep them from being on the streets. The problem with this new policy is the enormous cost of it. Upwards of 8 Trillion dollars handed out welfare-style to financial institutions just in the past three months, with Trillions more likely...