A Bailout That Worked

The new issue of Time magazine has an extraordinary piece on the resurrection of the American auto industry.

It was only a few short years ago that the American auto industry was written off and given up for dead.  In the true spirit of capitalism most Republicans and a few Democrats wanted to let the auto giants fall by the wayside.  Survival of the fittest was the cry.  The ramifications of adding 3 million laid off workers to the welfare rolls seemingly lost on the purists.

The Bush and Obama administrations correctly understood the disastrous effect an auto industry collapse would have on an already staggering economy.  They instituted what would turn out to be one of the largest and most successful stimulus plans in our history.  Buoyed by government loans, management and the UAW found common ground for the common good.  The industry rebounded and the country was spared the loss of a pillar of our American culture.   

By June of 2009 the American taxpayers had invested $80.3 billion dollars to save the auto industry and the 3 million jobs which depended on its survival.

On May 24, 2011 Chrysler paid back the last of the outstanding debt plus interest…six years ahead of schedule.

Today Chrysler sales are up 23% and they posted a $5 billion dollar profit. General Motors has realized a 7% increase in sales.  And Ford Motor Company, which did not take any bailout money, is up 13%.  The industry expects to generate 200,000 new jobs over the next several years.

At a time when there is so much negativity about our government and our economy it’s nice to know that government, management and labor can work together to revive an American industry.

Inept Congress Dithering Over Ideological BS

Here are two relatively obscure examples of why Congress may very possibly be the most inept governing body on the face of the planet.

You may recall that we had a banking crisis in this country back in 2008.  Many of the major financial institutions had participated in lending practices that were so risky, so unethical and so vast in scope that their failure threatened to bring down the entire economy.  Many of these major banks were on the verge of collapse.  Had they failed they would have taken the economy down with them.  So the government stepped in and bailed them out with a $700 billion bailout. 

 As you might imagine Congress thought it would be a good idea to make sure that the opportunity for such malfeasance never happens again.  So the Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill.  Included in the bill was the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The purpose of the bureau was to regulate consumer credit, mortgages, and other financial products.

The President appointed Elizabeth Warren to head the bureau.  Ms. Warren is an American bankruptcy expert, Harvard Law School professor and chairwoman of the oversight committee that managed the 2008 bailout.  She is more than qualified to chair the bureau.

Republicans do not like regulators.  Therefore Republicans do not like Dodd-Frank or the CFPB.  They feel Dodd-Frank is too broad in scope and might impair the ability of their banking buddies to operate profitably.  And they claim that the Dodd-Frank bill eviscerates fundamental constitutional principles.  They also realized that the CFPB could not legally begin to perform its oversight duties until a chairperson was confirmed by Congress. 

So Republicans blocked the appointment of Elizabeth Warren to head the CFPB.  The President acquiesced and withdrew Me. Warren’s name for consideration and nominated former Ohio attorney General Richard Cordray for the post.  Republicans say they will block his nomination as well.

So to summarize…the United States Congress passes a bill.  The President of the United States signs it into law.  Then members of that same Congress, alleging the evisceration of fundamental constitution principles, eviscerate constitutional principles by arbitrarily blocking the execution of a bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the President of the United States.  Got it?

Meanwhile the banking industry continues to operate under the same rules that allowed it to bring down the economy.  Got it!   

(Footnote:  Elizabeth Warren is apparently having the last laugh.  She currently leads incumbent Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race for Ted Kennedy’s old seat.)

Here is another example.

In September of 2010 the President appointed Marie Carmen Aponte Ambassador to El Salvador.  The Republicans are not fond of Ms. Aponte primarily because the President took advantage of a rule that allows him to make appointments during a Congressional recess without going through the process of a confirmation hearing.  Congress is still required to confirm her and assuming that she has done nothing illegal, confirmation would normally be a formality. 

Ms. Aponte is apparently very good at her job and has no evidence of witchcraft or other illicit behavior in her back round.  

Unfortunately, on June 28 Ms. Aponte took it upon herself to write an op-ed in La Prensa Grafica, one of the daily newspapers in El Salvador.  Ms. Aponte, responding to a State Department cable to all ambassadors worldwide urging them to recognize gay pride month, wrote in part: “No one should be subjected to aggression because of who he is or who he loves.  Homophobia and brutal hostility are often based on lack of understanding of what it truly means to be gay or transgender.  To avoid negative perceptions, we must work together with education and support for those facing those who promote hatred.”

Republican Senator Jim DeMitt and a few of his homophobic cronies have stated that they will withhold support for Ms. Aponte’s confirmation due to her stance on what they refer to as aberrant behavior.

With all the important problems facing our country…a failing economy, two wars, rampant unemployment, crumbling infrastructure and mounting debt…you would think Congress would have better ways to spend its time then dithering over this ideological bulls--t.                 

Newt Blowing Away The Field

CNN and QUINNIPIAC released some mind boggling poll numbers this morning that have folks in the Romney Campaign and the White House a bit rattled.

CNN shows Newt leading Romney in Iowa 33% to 20%.  In South Carolina CNN has Newt pounding Romney 43% to 20%.  And in the important swing state of Florida CNN has Newt blowing away Romney 48% to 25%.  Adding credence to the CNN numbers is a QUINNIPIAC poll in the swing state of Ohio that shows Newt hammering Romney 55% to 28%.

But the most telling poll of them all is the QUINNIPIAC poll that shows Newt leading the President 43% to 42% in Ohio.  In spite of all his baggage Newt is in a statistical tie with the President in what has historically been the most important state in the election process.

Political pundits believe that this is a Newt bubble that will eventually burst.  They feel that once people start really delving into the substance of these candidates voters will find that when it comes to policy Newt very rarely practices what he preaches.

Establishment Republicans are hoping the pundits are right.  They believe that they have a very real chance of taking the House, the Senate and the White House.  They see Newt’s nomination as a disaster for local Republican candidates; and they don’t believe that he can defeat the President in a general election.  They are hoping that Romney can find it within himself to show some fight. 

Romney’s reserved and stoic demeanor has not served him well.  Newt’s combative personality has resonated with the voters.  Romney is going to have to demonstrate that he wants the job badly enough to leave his comfort zone and go toe to toe with Newt.

It was just a few short weeks ago that Newt’s campaign was dead in the water.  His staff had abandoned him.  He was drowning in debt.  His bombast and loose cannon mouth had brought him nothing but trouble.  Today he is riding the wave…leading the polls.  Whether he can maintain this momentum and raise enough money to fight off the well funded Romney onslaught that is about to rain down upon him remains to be seen.

Newt’s rise in the polls feels different to us than the similar rise of Bachmann, Perry or Cain.  It’s hard to put a finger on just why…but it does feel different.  More real!

If nothing else these poll numbers show us that people are very, very angry and dissatisfied with the way Washington is run; and Newt has surged at just the right time to take advantage of that unrest.  In 2008 voters turned on the Republican Washington establishment and elected a black Democratic outsider to the White house.  In 2010 they expressed their dissatisfaction once again by sweeping away the Democrats and giving Republicans control of the House.  Will similar changes be in store in 2012?   

   

It's About Fairness

It’s hard to read a newspaper or watch a televised news program without being bombarded with quotes and sound bites vilifying the Occupy Wall Street movement.  If you can get past the slurs of “dirty”, “lazy”, “Marxist” and “Socialist” you find that the overriding complaint against OWS centers on “class warfare against the rich” and “redistribution of wealth.”  One pundit went so far as to say that if government redistributes the wealth of the hard working rich it takes away their incentive to create the products that make society better for everyone.  He went on to say that the blame for the disparity between the rich and the “99%ers” lies with those who plunk down their $10 and $20 to buy the products that make the rich…rich.

These comments are little more than ideological nonsense that completely miss the point that OWS and the Obama administration are trying to make.

No one begrudges the rich their “richness.”  In the material girl society that we live in it is what most people aspire to be…rich.  The objection is to the unlevel playing field on which the game is played.  The objection is that the same rules don’t apply to everyone. 

If you are going to bust Joe Bag O’ Donuts for holding a dime bag of weed then why does the President of Citigroup, who fraudulently certifies inflated financial statements, get off scot free?  If you are going to throw Joe Six Pack out of his home for failing to pay his mortgage then why do you bail out banks that can’t meet their obligations to depositors?  And why are those failing banks allowed to spend that bailout money on employee bonuses for a job well done?  Why do you cut jobs, reduce benefits, freeze wages and outlaw collective bargaining rights on the middle class but ask nothing of those who have benefited most from the hard work of that same middle class?  And why are you talking about cutting entitlement programs that the middle class depends on while continuing to provide tax loopholes and subsidies to the most affluent?

Yesterday, the President gave a very populist speech that many are calling his first re-election speech of the campaign.  In his remarks he addressed the inequities between the top 1% earners and the rest of the country.  He called for a fair and equal playing field that allows everyone to achieve all that is within them.  His rhetoric, as usual, was eloquent and inspirational.  If only he had offered the specifics of how he proposes to achieve that equality.  Sadly, he did not.

We understand that fame and fortune buys you the best table at the coolest new restaurant.  We get it!  But that is not what this is about.  It’s about fairness…and a belief that the same rules should apply to everyone…no matter your station in life.

There is a song that says: “happiness on earth ain’t just for high achievers.”  Most of the country would disagree.

       

Newt's Surge Draws Concerns Within The Party

The Iowa Caucuses will be held four weeks from today and Newt Gingrich is lapping the field.  Recent polls show that Newt has surged to a 15 point lead in Iowa and 18 points in South Carolina; nearly doubling runner-up, Mitt Romney.  Never in the history of the Republican Party has a candidate with so much baggage pulled off such a remarkable resurrection.

Newt’s meteoric rise in the polls has generated a mixed response from within the Republican Party.  “Establishment Republicans”, who know Newt, fear that his candidacy would be a disaster and would ultimately destroy the party.  They see Newt’s personal failings and bombastic personality as easy pickings for the Democrats.  They see attack ads playing some of Newt’s more outrageous and incendiary comments followed by the question: “Is this the man you want negotiating with China or going toe to toe with Iran?”  There are already rumblings from “establishment Republicans” with big money that Newt’s candidacy would signal the need for a brokered convention with hopes of attracting a Jeb Bush or Chris Christie into the fray.

But the rank and file Republican voters see another side of Newt.  They see the guy who spearheaded the first Republican control of the congress in a generation. They see the guy who as Speaker passed Welfare Reform and balanced the budget.  And they see a guy who, unlike Romney, they believe can go toe to toe with Obama in a debate.

With only 30 days until the caucuses the Newt campaign is snowballing and rolling rapidly downhill toward Iowa.  Mitt Romney needs to figure out how to stop it before it runs him over.          

Cain's Parting Shot...Pokemon

The Herman Cain Circus Train pulled into the station for the final time this past weekend.  The recent frontrunner for the Republican nomination announced that he was suspending his campaign; citing the impact that the unsubstantiated accusations of infidelity were having on his family, his campaign and his supporters.  Appropriately, a defiant Cain ended his bizarre run for the White House by quoting lyrics from the theme song of a Pokémon movie. 

The benefactor of Mr. Cain’s withdrawal is Newt Gingrich.  Cain supporters are already flocking toward the Gingrich camp and Cain himself has endorsed Newt for the nomination.  Gingrich, who only a few weeks ago was considered dead in the water, is now the frontrunner and finds himself holding the inside track in three of the first four primary elections.  Apparently the party of conservative family values is willing to overlook Newt’s infidelities, hefty Tiffany’s line of credit and cozy relationship with the reviled Fannie and Freddie.   

Many conservatives who worked with Newt during his days as speaker are openly criticizing his management style and questioning his conservative bona fides.  Conservative columnist George Will, Republican Senator Tom Coburn and popular conservative talk show host and former congressman Joe Scarborough have all weighed in with scathing commentary.  Nevertheless Newt is riding the wave; and with just four weeks until the first primary he is likely to hold that position until the actual voting begins.

As we view the ebb and flow of this process we are given to wonder…is this a testament to our democracy that anyone…regardless of their qualifications or flaws…can aspire to be President of the United States?  Or is this further proof that our political process is truly broken?     

Gingrich Out Of Touch

“Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who work.  So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday.  They have no habit of staying all day.  They have no habit of…I do this and you give me cash…unless it’s illegal”

These offensive, ignorant words were uttered just yesterday by Newton Leroy Gingrich; the former Speaker of the House and current front runner for the Republican Party’s nomination for the office of President of the United States. 

Mr. Gingrich’s comments demonstrate his insensitivity and complete lack of awareness of the plight of roughly one third of the country he seeks to lead.  He does a disservice to the millions of single parent mothers and fathers who go to work every day, working two and three jobs at minimum wage so their children can have a better life.  Apparently Mr. Gingrich believes that everyone who lives in a poor neighborhood is either a drug runner, gang banger or crack head.  He fails to realize that in fact most are hard working people with strong family values, a sense of responsibility and dreams of a better life. 

Mr. Gingrich, like many of the people who make their living in Washington, is out of touch with the American people.  He views the country from an elitist perch, painting a large swath of the populace  with the broad brush of stereotypical ignorance and bias.

Since Mr. Gingrich has chosen to make a broad generalization about the poor perhaps he won’t mind if we make a generalization of our own.

By uttering the words quoted at the top of this piece Mr. Gingrich has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is not qualified to hold the office of President of the United States.