Dose of Clarity

How do you create a multi billion dollar taxpayer-funded Government work program? Well, you begin with taking General Motors into a pre-packaged bankruptcy and come out with 60% ownership for the Government after sinking in a total of $50 billion (possibly higher), then give 17.5% ownership to the Union, offer 12% to the Canadian Government for their cooperation and investment, and finally provide a crammed down 10% piece to the bondholders with some possible warrants in the future to get the deal done. You then operate the company knowing that the Government is the majority owner, lender, regulator, and primary administrator of the new business, and possibly its number one customer. Combine that with the fact that there is no exit strategy planned for the Government’s withdrawal from the company therefore effectively resulting in another annexation of private industry that increases the Administration’s power and control of the economy. Sound familiar?

To progress this picture a bit more, you consider that profits will not matter to this new organization because theoretically they can always worry about that at some other time if the company becomes viable. Producing [Read the rest of this entry...]

I have been thinking recently about social security and what actions the Government might take to solve the impending crisis. Some very strong measures must be taken simply because the United States can not afford to administer this program by increasing the national debt to any greater extent than what is already projected. The solution obviously comes down to either increasing the individual withholding which will prove more difficult as taxes increase to support the nonstop governmental spending every year, or the benefits provided can be reduced which will prove very unpopular. Any reduction of benefits will likely be in the form of elevating the eligible retirement age and/or by lowering the level of benefits paid out. Once the Government really becomes convinced they must act, then one of these actions or a combination of them must be executed if the program is to be viable in the future.

A question worth pondering arises by considering the amount of pain that will be created to work this program back into solvency, what is the Government willing to do to accomplish it? What if they increase the withholding [Read the rest of this entry...]

We are living in a time where the Federal Government is expanding its footprint with an arrogance that may never have been witnessed before on this scale. The Administration and Congress feel emboldened by their implied mandate from the people for change, and that change is being brought in a flurry of initiatives with total disregard of whose rights are infringed in the process. These infringements include both individual rights as well as state rights. Several states are currently posturing themselves for the many potential conflicts they see coming their way. They are passing resolutions that are reaffirming their 10th Amendment rights which expresses that any power not delegated to the Federal Government by the Constitution are reserved to the states unless prohibited. The effectiveness of this action is left to be seen, but it will likely show to be more formality than [Read the rest of this entry...]

A Federal Constitutional Republic that is maintained by occasionally reflecting on the Constitution while subjectively disregarding it as needed to facilitate the specific agendas of elected officials serving their own best interest.

A place where you are permitted to be successful provided you share an ever-increasing amount of that success with the masses of people that failed to achieve or have chosen to not even try.

A nation of citizens clutching to nothing more than “hope” that they will not be crushed by the massive debt amassed by the few to acquire and maintain political power at the expense of many.

A country perceived with such wealth that its citizens commonly choose to remain uninformed and uninvolved yet they still expect the entitlement of that wealth.

An unconcerned populace expecting a prosperous future while blatantly disregarding all perils since they have never proved ruinous before. Assurance is bestowed by the impression that government cares about its citizens more than itself.

There are basically two conflicting beliefs in our country and whichever one prevails will determine the future path for our nation for better or worse. Forget about the rich and the poor, republicans and democrats, young and old, the real clash boils down to the most basic philosophy of Government and its purpose. There are those that believe Government should be limited and disciplined. They know that Government can not possibly pay everybody’s way in life because there just is not enough money for that to be achievable. They realize that the Government does not have money of its own that can be shared with the people to make their lives easier, the only money in their possession is the money seized from specific citizens of the population of which they likely belong, and simple math dictates that the few can not endlessly carry the burden for the many. This group of people realizes the true ingredients for success and prosperity stem from individual rights and freedoms that allow each of us our own personal pursuit of happiness. It is clearly believed that individuals would prefer to be responsible for their [Read the rest of this entry...]

For a long time I did not fully agree with the thought that there should be term limits for Congress even as it was discussed as a solution to the ills of this institution. It seemed obvious to me that term limits already existed for all intents and purposes because voters can always vote their respective members of Congress out of office. If the elected officials were not acting in the best interest of their constituencies, and the country in general, then they would not be reelected. My thinking has since changed on this issue because we Americans have proven apathetic over and over again when it comes to our Government. We currently have a Congress with a single digit approval rating, but it is likely that most incumbents will still be reelected again by wide margins. Members of Congress become entrenched in their offices and it is just easier to keep voting them in than be forced to [Read the rest of this entry...]

Every American should be extremely disgusted with the tyrannical actions that have transpired regarding Chrysler with our Government browbeating some of its creditors into submission. They publicly chastised a group of creditors that had a right, in fact a fiduciary duty, to protect the value of their investments in Chrysler for the benefit of their shareholders. These assets were senior to all other claims in the capital structure thus giving them the right to the company assets before any junior creditor is to be paid. However, the Obama administration was more interested in the company quickly reorganizing to protect the union, thus embarking on a plan to hand Chrysler over to the union as the majority shareholder under reorganization and upon doing so they offered the senior creditors what they thought was deserved in this restructuring. Four major banks that held about 70% of the debt [Read the rest of this entry...]

The anger of America and the world has showered down on the mortgage business and the practices used over the last few years that led to so much damage. The toll for the irresponsible lending from all participants will be felt for years to come. It has become very easy to focus on the negative aspects right now while we are in the midst of its repercussions and taxpayers are mad because they feel the bill is getting stuck with them with no benefit to show for it. The primary dialogue in our nation right now is focused on the losses generated and the redistribution of income to individuals that purchased homes that they could not afford, and they should have never qualified for a mortgage by any measure. These arguments are as justified as they are correct, but there is another part to this story [Read the rest of this entry...]

In an attempt to kick-start our struggling economy that has been suffering from this formidable global slump, our Government has been pumping money into the system relentlessly with no end in sight. To accommodate this spending debauchery they are embarking on a program of borrowing and of printing money in some coordinated effort to cover the absurd level of capital needed. The borrowing of money will soon show signs of declining interest as foreign sources of capital start investing elsewhere to reduce their exposure to our excessive needs as we knowingly overextend ourselves. The printing of money presents the downside of creating widespread inflation that will not be a very desirable consequence in our economy. Both methods will have an inflationary tendency, but printing the money will vastly accelerate [Read the rest of this entry...]

It is very hard to fathom that there are people who still feel that America’s best days are ahead. It is easy to quote all the statistics about how we still are a superior manufacturer in specific industries, or how America is a leader in creating jobs, or any other host of selected facts and figures one chooses to present. Without any doubt there can be a list offered that will fully outline our current competencies and detail all of our past successes with it all supported by testimonies as to our resilience. Defending our current state of affairs or our future direction based on how we choose to see ourselves or on historical accomplishments sounds very much like denial. There are so many perils assailing us from every direction in America and we are increasingly becoming incapable of employing the necessary [Read the rest of this entry...]