"This is not class warfare - it's math" said the President when pushing for the infamous Buffet Rule back in September. He was wrong then, and apparently he has not gotten any better in the ensuing three months!
Just as the fact that the wealthiest 0.1% (or the 1%, 5%, and even 20%) pay a way larger share of their income in federal taxes than everyone else in effective terms eludes the Demagogue-In-Chief, the fact that 2% of $50,000 does not equal $40 per week also does.
Apparently, what is needed most sorely for this incompetent bunch is arithmetic tutors. My seven year old son is available at a nominal rate, Mr. President.
P.S.
My comment at the WH site was: "It means $40 bucks to donate to whoever will kick your sorry Marxist butt out of the White House" I am sure it will not be one of the comments they will be publishing!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
MF Global: A Case Study In How Soros Makes Billions
Here is an interesting article by Peter Brandt, who is a renowned commodity trader, that walks the readers step by step how George Soros has ended up with the money MF Global clients have lost. So this is how progressive causes get funded on the most part! Personally, I think that the corrupt congress does not want to make the connections. Not much of a surprise there either!.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Oh When the Chickens Come Home to Roost....
Yesterday, there was a significant news story that may not have gotten the attention that it deserves. As you may remember from my previous posts, I was highly critical of the 2009 trade tariffs imposed by the Obama Administration on tires being imported from China. Well, it is now obvious that the chickens have finally come home to roost as I fully expected. China, the world's largest automobile market, has just slapped the U.S. with punitive tariffs on auto imports to the tune of 21% which will have an estimated $2.5 to $4.5 billion impact on ailing U.S. auto manufacturers.
Historically, tariffs have never resolved any trade disputes; they did not during the Great Depression as with the over studied case of Smoot Hawley Act (which arguably contributed greatly to turning a recession in to a painful and prolonged depression), or in any other time (remember the Tariff of 1828 and others?) in history. In fact, they have almost invariably always hurt trade and, as a natural extension, prosperity.
Tariffs are punitive, anti-free trade, actions (usually pushed by labor unions) that inevitably lead to retaliatory actions by those countries they are levied against. They destroy the mechanism of free trade that is supposed to keep in place efficiencies (translation: favorable cost structures) enjoyed by nations which hold comparative advantages in either labor, technology, or capital. At the end, although it may look like a victory for local manufacturers, the indisputable loser is the public in general because they lead to higher costs and even shortages of goods.
It took the world, led by the U.S., well over a century to abandon its relatively protectionist stance. Although GATT was established in 1947, it was finally in the post Reagan era that the U.S. fully embraced free trade with establishment of NAFTA and Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. As a direct result, global wealth increased dramatically in those countries engaging in free-trade over the past thirty or so years. Now it seems, after a three decade trade renaissance, we are back to square one. What a shame!
Historically, tariffs have never resolved any trade disputes; they did not during the Great Depression as with the over studied case of Smoot Hawley Act (which arguably contributed greatly to turning a recession in to a painful and prolonged depression), or in any other time (remember the Tariff of 1828 and others?) in history. In fact, they have almost invariably always hurt trade and, as a natural extension, prosperity.
Tariffs are punitive, anti-free trade, actions (usually pushed by labor unions) that inevitably lead to retaliatory actions by those countries they are levied against. They destroy the mechanism of free trade that is supposed to keep in place efficiencies (translation: favorable cost structures) enjoyed by nations which hold comparative advantages in either labor, technology, or capital. At the end, although it may look like a victory for local manufacturers, the indisputable loser is the public in general because they lead to higher costs and even shortages of goods.
It took the world, led by the U.S., well over a century to abandon its relatively protectionist stance. Although GATT was established in 1947, it was finally in the post Reagan era that the U.S. fully embraced free trade with establishment of NAFTA and Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. As a direct result, global wealth increased dramatically in those countries engaging in free-trade over the past thirty or so years. Now it seems, after a three decade trade renaissance, we are back to square one. What a shame!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
A Dangerous Game in the Middle East
Bad news. Don't expect Turkey to be the moderating voice in the Middle East that Bush and Obama administrations foolishly hoped she would be.
I previously wrote about the Erdogan government and the prevailing anti-America/anti-West sentiment in my native country of Turkey, and its potential role in a catastrophic break-down of relative peace in the Middle East.
As I noted in my post, Turkey's relations with Israel have been deteriorating rapidly over the past few years. This is not welcome development since Turkey sways major influence in the region as a strategically located G-20 country as well as the most powerful military outside of Israel. The complicating factor in this development is the anti-western public sentiment that has been escalating over the past decade.
Turkey is a study in societal contrasts. The ultra modern and the devout Islamists coexist uneasily side by side, united in their distrust - and at times distaste - for the West, especially the United States. These Islamists and progressive leftists have formed an unholy alliance to undermine the free society that Ataturk envisioned eight decades ago. As such, Turkey is travelling on the same road that countries experiencing Arab Spring (spearheaded by similar coalitions of Islamists and Marxists) like Egypt and Libya are: a road that leads to disaster and terrible consequences that may well reach well beyond Turkey's borders.
Now comes the report that Erdogan government is intending to give Hamas $300 million - yes, you read right, Hamas the internationally recognized terrorist organization!
Here are the facts (as uttered by Erdogan and not by speculation) that give credibility to the report. First, we know of his government’s involvement and approval of the Gaza flotilla debacle last year. Second, Erdogan said to Charlie Rose in an interview that to regard Hamas as a terrorist organization is to disrespect the Palestinian people. He made it abundantly clear by saying “Hamas is not a terrorist organization”. That is quite a puzzling conclusion on his part since, not only Hamas’ charter calls for destruction of Israel but they are responsible for killing thousands of innocent Israeli civilians as you well know. Erdogan also said that he was very pleased that Hamas and Fatah had joined forces.
Finally, for those thinking this is an Israeli plot to isolate Turkey, further adding to the credibility of the story is that it was published in IMEMC, a Palestinian organization.
So, here we seem to have the symbol of so-called moderate Islam supporting radical Islam not only in words but in deed.
I'd like to think that there is no substance to this outrageous story but having seen the current AKP government in action over the past couple of years, I am more convinced than ever that Erdogan, who is shrewd and perhaps overly ambitious, is out to have himself declared leader of the Islamic world.
This is a very dangerous game, indeed. One that requires utmost care by the U.S.........
Oops, I forget..... our leadership over here supports the Islamist/Socialist Arab Spring whole heartedly too, don't they?! It seems, once again, we are at the mercy of outside forces thanks to a lack of vision that is worthy of a super power.
2012 just can't get here soon enough!
I previously wrote about the Erdogan government and the prevailing anti-America/anti-West sentiment in my native country of Turkey, and its potential role in a catastrophic break-down of relative peace in the Middle East.
As I noted in my post, Turkey's relations with Israel have been deteriorating rapidly over the past few years. This is not welcome development since Turkey sways major influence in the region as a strategically located G-20 country as well as the most powerful military outside of Israel. The complicating factor in this development is the anti-western public sentiment that has been escalating over the past decade.
Turkey is a study in societal contrasts. The ultra modern and the devout Islamists coexist uneasily side by side, united in their distrust - and at times distaste - for the West, especially the United States. These Islamists and progressive leftists have formed an unholy alliance to undermine the free society that Ataturk envisioned eight decades ago. As such, Turkey is travelling on the same road that countries experiencing Arab Spring (spearheaded by similar coalitions of Islamists and Marxists) like Egypt and Libya are: a road that leads to disaster and terrible consequences that may well reach well beyond Turkey's borders.
Now comes the report that Erdogan government is intending to give Hamas $300 million - yes, you read right, Hamas the internationally recognized terrorist organization!
Here are the facts (as uttered by Erdogan and not by speculation) that give credibility to the report. First, we know of his government’s involvement and approval of the Gaza flotilla debacle last year. Second, Erdogan said to Charlie Rose in an interview that to regard Hamas as a terrorist organization is to disrespect the Palestinian people. He made it abundantly clear by saying “Hamas is not a terrorist organization”. That is quite a puzzling conclusion on his part since, not only Hamas’ charter calls for destruction of Israel but they are responsible for killing thousands of innocent Israeli civilians as you well know. Erdogan also said that he was very pleased that Hamas and Fatah had joined forces.
Finally, for those thinking this is an Israeli plot to isolate Turkey, further adding to the credibility of the story is that it was published in IMEMC, a Palestinian organization.
So, here we seem to have the symbol of so-called moderate Islam supporting radical Islam not only in words but in deed.
I'd like to think that there is no substance to this outrageous story but having seen the current AKP government in action over the past couple of years, I am more convinced than ever that Erdogan, who is shrewd and perhaps overly ambitious, is out to have himself declared leader of the Islamic world.
This is a very dangerous game, indeed. One that requires utmost care by the U.S.........
Oops, I forget..... our leadership over here supports the Islamist/Socialist Arab Spring whole heartedly too, don't they?! It seems, once again, we are at the mercy of outside forces thanks to a lack of vision that is worthy of a super power.
2012 just can't get here soon enough!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Barack the Bad Ass Assasin
In response to the GOP presidential candidates calling him an appeaser, Obama said "ask Osama Bin Laden or any one of the other dead Al Qaeda leaders if I am an appeaser".
Isn't it like the progressives to make a straw man argument in order to misrepresent who they really are? It is a little like the police chief whose town is unsafe to walk around saying "ask the jay walkers we have been ticketing at a record pace if we are soft on crime".
This Administration has done nothing but appease: they have appeased the Russians by giving up our missile shield; they have appeased the Palestinians by abandoning our ally Israel (remember the 1967 borders debacle?); they have appeased the radical Muslims in Iran by turning their backs on Iranian protesters and allowing them to be slaughtered just for a chance to sit at the table with Ahmedinejad; they have appeased Muslims here at home by calling the Fort Hood shootings a case of "work place violence" and the shooting of the Army recruitment center in Little Rock as "a random act" - both by Muslims who have indicated their devotion to Jihad -; they have appeased every little tin pot dictator from Venezuela to Honduras to you name the banana republic; the list is too long to go on but you get the point.
Yes, the President has succeeded in assassinating senior Al Qaeda leaders but that is where his bravado ends. Otherwise, Barack the assassin has only succeeded in assassinating one other thing: Our prestige and influence around the world.
Isn't it like the progressives to make a straw man argument in order to misrepresent who they really are? It is a little like the police chief whose town is unsafe to walk around saying "ask the jay walkers we have been ticketing at a record pace if we are soft on crime".
This Administration has done nothing but appease: they have appeased the Russians by giving up our missile shield; they have appeased the Palestinians by abandoning our ally Israel (remember the 1967 borders debacle?); they have appeased the radical Muslims in Iran by turning their backs on Iranian protesters and allowing them to be slaughtered just for a chance to sit at the table with Ahmedinejad; they have appeased Muslims here at home by calling the Fort Hood shootings a case of "work place violence" and the shooting of the Army recruitment center in Little Rock as "a random act" - both by Muslims who have indicated their devotion to Jihad -; they have appeased every little tin pot dictator from Venezuela to Honduras to you name the banana republic; the list is too long to go on but you get the point.
Yes, the President has succeeded in assassinating senior Al Qaeda leaders but that is where his bravado ends. Otherwise, Barack the assassin has only succeeded in assassinating one other thing: Our prestige and influence around the world.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Speech That Betrayed The Chameleon
Those who are on the far left of the political spectrum, like Robert Reich and the NYT editorial staff among others, have called the President's Kansas speech the most important of his presidency.
We, on the opposite end of the spectrum, agree whole heartedly. This was the landmark speech as far as shining the light on who Mr. Obama really is. The snippets of video and various infamous quotes from his books as well as radio by the President made it clear for those with intellectual honesty that we had elected our first Marxist wannabe president in 2008. His actions in office - particularly the anti business, pro labor ones - cemented that view while the left was disingenuously complaining that he was "too Bush like". A likely tactic. Distracting the public by making false allegations, setting up straw arguments, applying Alinskyite tactics,........it is all part of what the progressives must do to advance their agenda.
Yes, the speech was pivotal and it probably cemented the support of the President's base: those who make up the 21% of the electorate who self identify as progressive liberals. It, however, lost everyone else who was paying attention to it. And that, provided that enough independents were paying attention, is a losing strategy.
At the end, it was his own words (or, likely, his speech writers) that did the chameleon in. I will disect the speech later.
We, on the opposite end of the spectrum, agree whole heartedly. This was the landmark speech as far as shining the light on who Mr. Obama really is. The snippets of video and various infamous quotes from his books as well as radio by the President made it clear for those with intellectual honesty that we had elected our first Marxist wannabe president in 2008. His actions in office - particularly the anti business, pro labor ones - cemented that view while the left was disingenuously complaining that he was "too Bush like". A likely tactic. Distracting the public by making false allegations, setting up straw arguments, applying Alinskyite tactics,........it is all part of what the progressives must do to advance their agenda.
Yes, the speech was pivotal and it probably cemented the support of the President's base: those who make up the 21% of the electorate who self identify as progressive liberals. It, however, lost everyone else who was paying attention to it. And that, provided that enough independents were paying attention, is a losing strategy.
At the end, it was his own words (or, likely, his speech writers) that did the chameleon in. I will disect the speech later.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Obama Scandals and Other Outrageous News Update
Just a short post to keep up with developments in the ongoing Obama scandals (though I missed some recent items due to timing constraints) and other outrageous news items:
A new Reuters story talks about the staff mutiny at Solyndra in the days leading to Obama's infamous visit to the plant.
In other news, as Obama keeps on running from his radical past, more and more indications of his true colors surface. Here is one more tie between him and the Marxists:
When Marxists everywhere, from the CPUSA to the labor unions, are lockstep behind you, how can anyone deny that you are not sympathetic to their ideology?
---
Another Obama campaign cash bundler who has benefited from the Obama crony cash machine has surfaced. Abound Solar backed by bundler/investor Pat Stryker is the latest addition to a long list highlighted by Solyndra, SunPower, Evergreen, etc., etc. This time, the amount is $400 million. What is a few hundred million here and there among friends, right?
---
Congressional Republicans are pushing hard to eventually defund NLRB (Craig Becker's outfit that sued Boeing on behalf of the labor union for moving an assembly facility from the union friendly state of Washington to the right to work state of S. Carolina). The push back by union friendly Democrats has started.
Workers of the world, unite! Ooops, I forgot...they are all busy with Occupy whatever!
---
The inner workings of the incredibly radical - not to mention corrupt and inept - Obama Administration is highlighted once again. Based on the Obama administration’s latest document dump of visitor logs, convicted fraudster and community organizer Robert Creamer (architect of the Democrats’ political strategy for imposing Obamacare) has visited the White House sixty times since January 2009–five times in August 2011 alone. Creamer’s efforts this fall to promote the Occupy Wall Street movement and to target Bank of America in particular makes one wonder how involved is the Administration in directing the Occupy movement. Remember as well that the labor unions, especially AFL/CIO (head of which have been visiting/conferencing with the White House almost on a weekly basis) are the main influence behind the movement.
---
Finally, on the economic front, the Commerce Department cut its estimate of third quarter GDP growth from 2.5% to 2%.
On Friday, however, there was what seemed - at first glance - to be some good news. The nation's unemployment rate has gone down from 9% to 8.6%. Before you get overly excited, however, let me point out that:
1) Seasonal (and temporary) hiring starts around mid October. Come February, many of those new hires will be let go.
2) The U3 data does not include those who have dropped out of the labor force. Despite 120K new jobs, the reports indicate that over 315K workers dropped out (thus stopped being counted as unemployed). The translation is that U6 probably increased by a few tenths of a percent!
---
...And the Obama disaster chugs along!
A new Reuters story talks about the staff mutiny at Solyndra in the days leading to Obama's infamous visit to the plant.
The company had received a $535 million federal loan guarantee in 2009 and was held up by the Obama administration as an example of how it could help create green jobs.---
Behind the scenes, Kaiser's Argonaut Private Equity was trying to right the flailing company. "To put it bluntly our poster child of private equity is acting up something fierce," a senior official from the George Kaiser Family Foundation said in an internal e-mail dated May 8, 2010, warning Solyndra's long-term business plan was in jeopardy.
The new emails highlight how the government backed a company that was in trouble from its early stages, giving more fuel to critics who believe the government threw good taxpayer money after bad.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu's top adviser on stimulus projects brushed aside White House questions about financial red flags ahead of Obama's May 25 visit.
In other news, as Obama keeps on running from his radical past, more and more indications of his true colors surface. Here is one more tie between him and the Marxists:
While addressing a gathering of the international communist front World Federation of Democratic Youth, in Lisbon Portugal, November 10, 2011, Young Communist League USA organizer Lisa Bergmann, boasted of communist leadership in the US “Occupy” movement and their desire to harness the movement to the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama.
When Marxists everywhere, from the CPUSA to the labor unions, are lockstep behind you, how can anyone deny that you are not sympathetic to their ideology?
---
Another Obama campaign cash bundler who has benefited from the Obama crony cash machine has surfaced. Abound Solar backed by bundler/investor Pat Stryker is the latest addition to a long list highlighted by Solyndra, SunPower, Evergreen, etc., etc. This time, the amount is $400 million. What is a few hundred million here and there among friends, right?
---
Congressional Republicans are pushing hard to eventually defund NLRB (Craig Becker's outfit that sued Boeing on behalf of the labor union for moving an assembly facility from the union friendly state of Washington to the right to work state of S. Carolina). The push back by union friendly Democrats has started.
Speaking at a forum sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said efforts to defund the labor board and reduce its power amount to an attack on workers’ rights.Also, on Wednesday, the NLRB voted to change the rules to benefit labor unions.
Workers of the world, unite! Ooops, I forgot...they are all busy with Occupy whatever!
---
The inner workings of the incredibly radical - not to mention corrupt and inept - Obama Administration is highlighted once again. Based on the Obama administration’s latest document dump of visitor logs, convicted fraudster and community organizer Robert Creamer (architect of the Democrats’ political strategy for imposing Obamacare) has visited the White House sixty times since January 2009–five times in August 2011 alone. Creamer’s efforts this fall to promote the Occupy Wall Street movement and to target Bank of America in particular makes one wonder how involved is the Administration in directing the Occupy movement. Remember as well that the labor unions, especially AFL/CIO (head of which have been visiting/conferencing with the White House almost on a weekly basis) are the main influence behind the movement.
---
Finally, on the economic front, the Commerce Department cut its estimate of third quarter GDP growth from 2.5% to 2%.
On Friday, however, there was what seemed - at first glance - to be some good news. The nation's unemployment rate has gone down from 9% to 8.6%. Before you get overly excited, however, let me point out that:
1) Seasonal (and temporary) hiring starts around mid October. Come February, many of those new hires will be let go.
2) The U3 data does not include those who have dropped out of the labor force. Despite 120K new jobs, the reports indicate that over 315K workers dropped out (thus stopped being counted as unemployed). The translation is that U6 probably increased by a few tenths of a percent!
---
...And the Obama disaster chugs along!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Radical-In-Chief Busted Again
B.O. became president with the help of the complicit media who refused to dig in to his background despite warning lights flashing all over the board. Whether it was his associations with known radicals, mysterious lack of college or law school records and thesis, or various actions and statements (including the infamous "fundamental transformation of America") he has made in his professional life leading up to 2008, Obama had to answer no questions. On rare occasions that he or his campaign were asked about some of the less significant issues, they outright denied the charges which would shine the light on the cockroach that he is. We knew they were lying but the self admittedly 90% progressive media was intent on electing one of their own ideological kind.
Now, we have a video of Bill Ayers surface that proves, once again, that Obama and his entourage are nothing short of the radicals that we know them to be:
Bill Ayers is just one of the many highly disturbing indications from the past of the President. In the overall scheme of things, Ayers, by himself, is really meaningless. However, the totality of the radical personalities and his own comments from the past is a damning indicator of Obama's true ideology. After all, there is truth to the saying "Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are".
Had the media done one tenth of the digging they have on candidates Perry, Cain, or any other conservative, we would at least be calling a RINO our president, and that would still be infinitely better than the hole we have dug for ourselves to climb out of come 2013!
Now, we have a video of Bill Ayers surface that proves, once again, that Obama and his entourage are nothing short of the radicals that we know them to be:
Bill Ayers is just one of the many highly disturbing indications from the past of the President. In the overall scheme of things, Ayers, by himself, is really meaningless. However, the totality of the radical personalities and his own comments from the past is a damning indicator of Obama's true ideology. After all, there is truth to the saying "Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are".
Had the media done one tenth of the digging they have on candidates Perry, Cain, or any other conservative, we would at least be calling a RINO our president, and that would still be infinitely better than the hole we have dug for ourselves to climb out of come 2013!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
One Hot Car
Yes, the indisputable verdict is in! Detroit's hottest car is the Chevy Volt. In fact, it is so hot that the darn thing catches on fire!
Now, if this was a Toyota or any other car (with the exception of a Chrysler), the NTSB and every other agency charged with "consumer safety" would be clamoring for a piece of the company but, lest we forget, anything that reflects badly on GM is as an extension a bad reflection on the policies of Obama Administration therefore must be covered up by the bureaucracy as well as the media! So, do not expect investigations to result in massive recalls or anything like that (though with sales figures ranging in low hundreds, that would be the smallest recall in automotive history)!
And yes, the Volt - just like Solyndra and countless other green failures - is a great symbol for this Administration's amply demonstrated incompetence. Now, who would oppose more government spending in their right minds?
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Another Example of Government Tyranny
A Massachusetts fisherman accidentally caught a giant, 881 pound tuna - worth an estimated $400,000 - while fishing for bottom dwellers with a net. When he got on shore, federal fishery enforcement agents were quick to confiscate his catch because he did not have the proper permit to fish for tuna which requires using a rod and reel.
Isn't it amazing that the same incompetent federal government which cannot keep track of the guns they knowingly sell to Mexican drug lords is so quick and efficient in confiscating an "illegally caught" tuna? Federal tyranny knows no bounds when it comes to cracking down on citizens. Just don't ask them to crack down on illegals or the Occupy movement.
This is no longer the "land of the free".
Isn't it amazing that the same incompetent federal government which cannot keep track of the guns they knowingly sell to Mexican drug lords is so quick and efficient in confiscating an "illegally caught" tuna? Federal tyranny knows no bounds when it comes to cracking down on citizens. Just don't ask them to crack down on illegals or the Occupy movement.
This is no longer the "land of the free".
Friday, November 18, 2011
(Green Energy) Cronyism of Apalling Proportions
In several previous posts, I expounded on the corrupt green energy dealings of this Administration but even at that, little did I realize the significance and level of corruption that permeates this rotten bunch.
Now, I am not going to sit here and pretend that it is only this Administration that is guilty of cronyism. God only knows that Republican establishment type politicians are not exempt from the temptation of cashing in on their power. Obama Administration, however, carries cronyism to new levels that are unheard of in advanced countries.
According to the explosive new book 'Throw Them All Out' by Peter Schweizer, which blows the lid off Washington corruption, green energy cronyism is worse than we know. Schweizer’s research reveals that of the $20.5 billion in the DOE’s 1705 Loan Guarantee Program, $16.4 billion in taxpayer money–roughly 80% of all loans in the program–went to green enterprises “either run by or heavily owned by Obama financial backers–individuals who were either bundlers, members of Obama’s national finance committee or large donors to the Democratic Party.”
The returns on investing in Obama’s 2008 campaign have been incredibly lucrative, according to Schweizer. For every dollar committee members raised, they received $24,783 in return in the form of DOE sweetheart loans, on average.
We also know that at least a third of those loans have (or are in the process of) gone bad, costing the taxpayers billions of dollars.
That is about $50 per household. Yes, in other words, we all are contributing to the Obama re-election fund whether we like it or not since these bundlers are all Obama supporters - just like with non Democrat union members contributing to Democrat party whether they want to or not, thanks to forced union dues.
So, how was such a brazen swindle made possible? Easy. Instead of scientists and other professionals evaluating the worthiness of businesses applying for the loan program, the Administration appointed Steve Spinner who served on the Obama campaign’s National Finance Committee as the “chief strategic operations officer for the DOE’s loan programs. Spinner himself was a top bundler himself. He was joined at DOE by another Obama fundraiser, Sanjay Wagle, and by Democrat donor Jonathan Silver, who would serve as executive director of the program. In other words, a team of foxes were guarding the henhouse in the most transparent Administration in history.
To make matters worse, Government Accountability Office red-flagged this apparent–and historic–pattern of crony capitalism in its March 2011 report, which found that the DOE’s loan and grant programs had doled out federal monies through a process that appeared “arbitrary,” lacked proper documentation, and that “had treated applicants inconsistently in the application review process, favoring some applicants and disadvantaging others.”
In a country governed by laws, media as well as law abiding citizens (including honest politicians) would be calling this a huge scandal. Unfortunately, apparently that does not include us as a nation. We have become a banana republic America, whether we realize it or not.
Now, I am not going to sit here and pretend that it is only this Administration that is guilty of cronyism. God only knows that Republican establishment type politicians are not exempt from the temptation of cashing in on their power. Obama Administration, however, carries cronyism to new levels that are unheard of in advanced countries.
According to the explosive new book 'Throw Them All Out' by Peter Schweizer, which blows the lid off Washington corruption, green energy cronyism is worse than we know. Schweizer’s research reveals that of the $20.5 billion in the DOE’s 1705 Loan Guarantee Program, $16.4 billion in taxpayer money–roughly 80% of all loans in the program–went to green enterprises “either run by or heavily owned by Obama financial backers–individuals who were either bundlers, members of Obama’s national finance committee or large donors to the Democratic Party.”
The returns on investing in Obama’s 2008 campaign have been incredibly lucrative, according to Schweizer. For every dollar committee members raised, they received $24,783 in return in the form of DOE sweetheart loans, on average.
We also know that at least a third of those loans have (or are in the process of) gone bad, costing the taxpayers billions of dollars.
That is about $50 per household. Yes, in other words, we all are contributing to the Obama re-election fund whether we like it or not since these bundlers are all Obama supporters - just like with non Democrat union members contributing to Democrat party whether they want to or not, thanks to forced union dues.
So, how was such a brazen swindle made possible? Easy. Instead of scientists and other professionals evaluating the worthiness of businesses applying for the loan program, the Administration appointed Steve Spinner who served on the Obama campaign’s National Finance Committee as the “chief strategic operations officer for the DOE’s loan programs. Spinner himself was a top bundler himself. He was joined at DOE by another Obama fundraiser, Sanjay Wagle, and by Democrat donor Jonathan Silver, who would serve as executive director of the program. In other words, a team of foxes were guarding the henhouse in the most transparent Administration in history.
To make matters worse, Government Accountability Office red-flagged this apparent–and historic–pattern of crony capitalism in its March 2011 report, which found that the DOE’s loan and grant programs had doled out federal monies through a process that appeared “arbitrary,” lacked proper documentation, and that “had treated applicants inconsistently in the application review process, favoring some applicants and disadvantaging others.”
In a country governed by laws, media as well as law abiding citizens (including honest politicians) would be calling this a huge scandal. Unfortunately, apparently that does not include us as a nation. We have become a banana republic America, whether we realize it or not.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Union Outrage
Unions are supposedly there to look out for their members' interests. They like to project a humane image - that is until you look deeper in to what they really stand for.
Here is the latest from Detroit. What would you say if you found out someone was taking money - without permission - from medicaid checks meant for disabled children? Well, it's happening to thousands of families all over Michigan right now. This money is being deducted automatically by a state agency and given directly to a union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Whether they like it or not, these people are classified as state employees because they provide care for their children, who would have otherwise ended up in a nursing home. Each month, they see a portion of their Medicaid checks siphoned off to a union that provides them with no benefits. One couple says they've tried to get out, but to no avail. Here is their sad but typical story:
Everything about labor unions like the SEIU and the AFL/CIO is outrageous in that they are run by avowed Marxists, compel workers to join them if they work in a union shop or in a field that is unionized, and support only Democrats with literally hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign cash regardless of their members' political views and wishes.
Never mind the fact that unions are a relic from the past with no present day use, and that they represent less than 15% of the labor force -- they wield great political power over Democrat Party politics. Passage of Issue 2 in Ohio, which effectively overturned the Kasich bill that limited the collective bargaining powers of State employees, demonstrated what money and organization can accomplish when too many are clueless about the ruthlessness and radicalism of labor unions.
Here is the latest from Detroit. What would you say if you found out someone was taking money - without permission - from medicaid checks meant for disabled children? Well, it's happening to thousands of families all over Michigan right now. This money is being deducted automatically by a state agency and given directly to a union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Whether they like it or not, these people are classified as state employees because they provide care for their children, who would have otherwise ended up in a nursing home. Each month, they see a portion of their Medicaid checks siphoned off to a union that provides them with no benefits. One couple says they've tried to get out, but to no avail. Here is their sad but typical story:
Everything about labor unions like the SEIU and the AFL/CIO is outrageous in that they are run by avowed Marxists, compel workers to join them if they work in a union shop or in a field that is unionized, and support only Democrats with literally hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign cash regardless of their members' political views and wishes.
Never mind the fact that unions are a relic from the past with no present day use, and that they represent less than 15% of the labor force -- they wield great political power over Democrat Party politics. Passage of Issue 2 in Ohio, which effectively overturned the Kasich bill that limited the collective bargaining powers of State employees, demonstrated what money and organization can accomplish when too many are clueless about the ruthlessness and radicalism of labor unions.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Scandal du Jour: Siga
You have got to give it to the Obama Administration; they have the uncanny ability to keep going without skipping a beat regardless of how many scandals rear their ugly heads! (Well, it is not entirely them, of course; it is the media that sees to it that the majority of the public do not become aware of what kind of corruption and thuggery they are dealing with in Washington)
So, what is the scandal of the week, you might wonder?
Now that Fisker, Solyndra, Solexel, Sun Power, Evergreen, Mojave Solar, and god knows how many other scandalous crony relationships costing the taxpayer billions have been mostly swept under the rug, the scandal du jour is Siga.
Yes, another major Obama supporter is sailing in to the sunset with your tax dollars, America.
As the L.A. Times reported:
I just wonder if there is a point where the media (en masse) will not be able to ignore these scandals anymore? I believe that there is as much a chance of that happening as a jackal developing a sense of honor.
So, what is the scandal of the week, you might wonder?
Now that Fisker, Solyndra, Solexel, Sun Power, Evergreen, Mojave Solar, and god knows how many other scandalous crony relationships costing the taxpayer billions have been mostly swept under the rug, the scandal du jour is Siga.
Yes, another major Obama supporter is sailing in to the sunset with your tax dollars, America.
As the L.A. Times reported:
Over the last year, the Obama administration has aggressively pushed a $433-million plan to buy an experimental smallpox drug, despite uncertainty over whether it is needed or will work.That is over $2.8 billion for a non-existent terror threat, which the country has more than enough doses of vaccines to counter. Dr. Thomas M. Mack, an epidemiologist at USC who battled smallpox outbreaks in Pakistan and has advised the Food and Drug Administration on the virus called the plan to stockpile Siga's drug "a waste of time and a waste of money." I call it outright fraud by this Administration.
Senior officials have taken unusual steps to secure the contract for New York-based Siga Technologies Inc., whose controlling shareholder is billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, one of the world’s richest men and a longtime Democratic Party donor. (emphasis mine)
When Siga complained that contracting specialists at the Department of Health and Human Services were resisting the company’s financial demands, senior officials replaced the government’s lead negotiator for the deal, interviews and documents show.
When Siga was in danger of losing its grip on the contract a year ago, the officials blocked other firms from competing.
Siga was awarded the final contract in May through a “sole-source” procurement in which it was the only company asked to submit a proposal. The contract calls for Siga to deliver 1.7 million doses of the drug for the nation’s biodefense stockpile. The price of approximately $255 per dose is well above what the government’s specialists had earlier said was reasonable, according to internal documents and interviews.
I just wonder if there is a point where the media (en masse) will not be able to ignore these scandals anymore? I believe that there is as much a chance of that happening as a jackal developing a sense of honor.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Contrary to America's Traditions?
During the latest Republican presidential debate, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann said they would reinstate waterboarding as an interrogative technique.
Obama yesterday called waterboarding (which actually causes no physical harm and was always conducted in the presence of a physician) torture and contrary to America's traditions.
So, Mr President, is raining death from the skies, with no regard to who else other than the primary target is killed in the Predator drone strikes, our tradition?
How about turning our back on allies all across the globe, would that one be the "American way"?
Or dismantling the free market capitalist system block by block - now, is that considered to be consistent with our tradition?
Just wondering aloud since no one in the traditional media will!
Obama yesterday called waterboarding (which actually causes no physical harm and was always conducted in the presence of a physician) torture and contrary to America's traditions.
So, Mr President, is raining death from the skies, with no regard to who else other than the primary target is killed in the Predator drone strikes, our tradition?
How about turning our back on allies all across the globe, would that one be the "American way"?
Or dismantling the free market capitalist system block by block - now, is that considered to be consistent with our tradition?
Just wondering aloud since no one in the traditional media will!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Smart Power: Some Are Apparently Smarter Than Others
Hillary Clinton is fond of saying that this is the era of "smart power" - that under this Administration being a non aggressive approach to national and global security threats around the world. Regimes in countries like Iran and N. Korea live outside the boundaries set by international laws. As such, they are willing to go to any lengths to achieve their fanatical goals. Using smart power, which is the combination of diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural tools available, works when dealing with law abiding nations. Otherwise, it is a little like asking a hardened criminal to pretty please not commit any more crimes - unrealistic!
Diplomatic incompetents that they are, this Administration has only been successful in alienating our allies across the globe - from Taiwan to Colombia, with many more in between. One of those nations is Israel - the very country that Iran and every Middle Eastern terrorist outfit have sworn to annihilate.
While the U.S. has been busy using "smart power" around the globe, Iran has come to the doorstep of producing their first nuclear warhead. Coupled with their existing missile technology, Iran is potentially only months away from carrying out their threat. As such, Iran is expecting a preemptive attack from Israel any day now. So, what is Iran doing in part to deal with this threat, you might wonder? Simple. Using "smart diplomacy". They have been actively supporting the Occupy movement since its beginnings to try and turn public opinion against Israel and the U.S.
Hillary Clinton's "smart diplomacy", though involving abandoning our allies, apparently does not include bringing down a terrorist government by supporting its people against it. The whole world watched in 2009 as the Iranian regime crushed the democracy movement in Iran by massacring its citizens on the streets. The mostly youthful protesters waited in vain for support from the U.S. whom they undoubtedly viewed as the leader of the free world.
Contrasting Iranian Support for OWS to Obama Non-Support for Iranian Protesters, it becomes painfully clear who the diplomatic novices are. Lets hope that the price we have to pay for this foolishness is not too steep.
Diplomatic incompetents that they are, this Administration has only been successful in alienating our allies across the globe - from Taiwan to Colombia, with many more in between. One of those nations is Israel - the very country that Iran and every Middle Eastern terrorist outfit have sworn to annihilate.
While the U.S. has been busy using "smart power" around the globe, Iran has come to the doorstep of producing their first nuclear warhead. Coupled with their existing missile technology, Iran is potentially only months away from carrying out their threat. As such, Iran is expecting a preemptive attack from Israel any day now. So, what is Iran doing in part to deal with this threat, you might wonder? Simple. Using "smart diplomacy". They have been actively supporting the Occupy movement since its beginnings to try and turn public opinion against Israel and the U.S.
Hillary Clinton's "smart diplomacy", though involving abandoning our allies, apparently does not include bringing down a terrorist government by supporting its people against it. The whole world watched in 2009 as the Iranian regime crushed the democracy movement in Iran by massacring its citizens on the streets. The mostly youthful protesters waited in vain for support from the U.S. whom they undoubtedly viewed as the leader of the free world.
Contrasting Iranian Support for OWS to Obama Non-Support for Iranian Protesters, it becomes painfully clear who the diplomatic novices are. Lets hope that the price we have to pay for this foolishness is not too steep.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Rejection of Issue 2: A Harbinger That Financial Doom is Inevitable
Issue 2, which would have upheld Ohio Senate Bill No.5 and limited the Ohio public sector unions' ability to bargain for their benefits and forced the employees to contribute in to their pensions, got trounced by a margin of 2:1 yesterday.
After a contest that was marred by class war rhetoric and tainted by tens of millions of labor union dollars
(aka taxpayer dollars), which dwarfed the $350,000 spent by individual Ohio residents, the opponents of Governor Kasich sponsored bill succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations.
OWS embracing Marxist union bosses who make salaries in the range of $200,000 to $800,000 parrot the same Obama Administration line that rich ought to pay their fair share so that the little guy can have a better living standard. To them, little does it matter that the rich (as well as the top 20% of earners) account for practically all the individual tax revenues that flow in to the treasury.
The bigger issue here is not the implications of the defeat of Issue 2 in Ohio elections yesterday. I have written off almost all bluest of the blue states already - states like Illinois, NY, NJ, California, and Michigan will never be able to fully reform their pension systems to avert impending financial disaster. With the net migration of taxpayers from those states to lower tax/lesser regulated states, both the revenue and the cost side of the equation are, and will keep on, heading in the wrong direction until those states default.
The bigger issue is what Ohio and other blue states, Greece, Italy, and other socialistic countries that are in financial trouble are indicating about human behavior that will make it impossible to change the direction of the disastrous policies socialism gives birth to. Once people are hooked on the drug called "government dependency", they develop a fatal malady called "entitlement mentality". The symptoms are unwillingness to provide for one's self and rioting if any such nonsense is even suggested. This is a malignant tumor that has 0% survivabilty rate. The only possible course of action is for the patient to die off and new life to rise out of the ashes. This is the inevitable result of socialism, and the voters in Ohio just reaffirmed that "entitlement mentality" also has them hopelessly in its deadly grip.
After a contest that was marred by class war rhetoric and tainted by tens of millions of labor union dollars
(aka taxpayer dollars), which dwarfed the $350,000 spent by individual Ohio residents, the opponents of Governor Kasich sponsored bill succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations.
OWS embracing Marxist union bosses who make salaries in the range of $200,000 to $800,000 parrot the same Obama Administration line that rich ought to pay their fair share so that the little guy can have a better living standard. To them, little does it matter that the rich (as well as the top 20% of earners) account for practically all the individual tax revenues that flow in to the treasury.
The bigger issue here is not the implications of the defeat of Issue 2 in Ohio elections yesterday. I have written off almost all bluest of the blue states already - states like Illinois, NY, NJ, California, and Michigan will never be able to fully reform their pension systems to avert impending financial disaster. With the net migration of taxpayers from those states to lower tax/lesser regulated states, both the revenue and the cost side of the equation are, and will keep on, heading in the wrong direction until those states default.
The bigger issue is what Ohio and other blue states, Greece, Italy, and other socialistic countries that are in financial trouble are indicating about human behavior that will make it impossible to change the direction of the disastrous policies socialism gives birth to. Once people are hooked on the drug called "government dependency", they develop a fatal malady called "entitlement mentality". The symptoms are unwillingness to provide for one's self and rioting if any such nonsense is even suggested. This is a malignant tumor that has 0% survivabilty rate. The only possible course of action is for the patient to die off and new life to rise out of the ashes. This is the inevitable result of socialism, and the voters in Ohio just reaffirmed that "entitlement mentality" also has them hopelessly in its deadly grip.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Where Are They Now?
Remember the days when...................
Under Obama, record number of insurgents are being killed (many along with their families and other collateral damage) thanks to ramped up use of drones. Deaths of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan is at a record level. Guantanamo is still open. Interrogations at black sites go on as usual. Yet, despite the truly lawless and arguably inhumane actions this Administration has taken, these jokers above have mysteriously disappeared from the streets.
Where are they now? Shouldn't the Occupy protests be adorned with signs equating Obama to Hitler or even worse? Or is all forgiven when a fellow Marxist doubles down on a strategy these people found so despicable? Just wondering.
...all because of Bush administration's efforts to liberate stone age people from oppressive regimes while acting in the name of U.S. national security, holding enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, and using 'harsh' interrogation methods like water boarding. My, my; how vicious and barbaric!
Under Obama, record number of insurgents are being killed (many along with their families and other collateral damage) thanks to ramped up use of drones. Deaths of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan is at a record level. Guantanamo is still open. Interrogations at black sites go on as usual. Yet, despite the truly lawless and arguably inhumane actions this Administration has taken, these jokers above have mysteriously disappeared from the streets.
Where are they now? Shouldn't the Occupy protests be adorned with signs equating Obama to Hitler or even worse? Or is all forgiven when a fellow Marxist doubles down on a strategy these people found so despicable? Just wondering.
Hilarious and Outrageous News Items
As usual, the week was so full of (sad but nevertheless) hilarious and outright outrageous news stories that I cannot convey them all. Here are just a few highlights:
OWS Protesters Turn Down Jobs (Video):
Now that you have probably peed your pants from laughing, here are some outrageous news capsules:
Wisconsin teacher takes 4th graders to union sponsored anti-Walker protest. Yes America, that is what your 10 year olds are learning in our esteemed public schools. Here is the video:
I am sure, let alone being disciplined, the teacher in question will end up being commended by NEA, AFT, and the school board.
EPA chief Lisa Jackson calls Republicans "jack-booted thugs". Yes, you have not read wrong. An Obama administration official, under whom the rule of law has been regularly circumvented and court decisions disregarded, calls Republicans thugs! It is the same person who does not know how much CO2 particles are in the atmosphere but is nevertheless willing to kill businesses and the economy; the same person who is getting ready to implement the EPA dust rule that will start regarding farm dust as pollutant and regulate it at prohibitive costs to our farmers.....
The federal debt jumps $203 billion in October. That is at a record rate of $2.44 trillion on an annual basis. Can you say Greece?
Finally, the efforts to bring down Herman Cain are intensifying. Politico - a left wing outfit co-founded by the Washington Post - has already done over 90 stories on the so-called harassment, while other MSM outlets have been covering what is essentially a "he said, she said" as a scandal that should put Bill Clinton's real scandals with Paula Jones, Jennifer Flowers, etc. to shame. Again, where were all these outlets when candidate Obama was running for the Presidency with enough baggage to fill a freight train?
OWS Protesters Turn Down Jobs (Video):
Now that you have probably peed your pants from laughing, here are some outrageous news capsules:
Wisconsin teacher takes 4th graders to union sponsored anti-Walker protest. Yes America, that is what your 10 year olds are learning in our esteemed public schools. Here is the video:
I am sure, let alone being disciplined, the teacher in question will end up being commended by NEA, AFT, and the school board.
EPA chief Lisa Jackson calls Republicans "jack-booted thugs". Yes, you have not read wrong. An Obama administration official, under whom the rule of law has been regularly circumvented and court decisions disregarded, calls Republicans thugs! It is the same person who does not know how much CO2 particles are in the atmosphere but is nevertheless willing to kill businesses and the economy; the same person who is getting ready to implement the EPA dust rule that will start regarding farm dust as pollutant and regulate it at prohibitive costs to our farmers.....
The federal debt jumps $203 billion in October. That is at a record rate of $2.44 trillion on an annual basis. Can you say Greece?
Finally, the efforts to bring down Herman Cain are intensifying. Politico - a left wing outfit co-founded by the Washington Post - has already done over 90 stories on the so-called harassment, while other MSM outlets have been covering what is essentially a "he said, she said" as a scandal that should put Bill Clinton's real scandals with Paula Jones, Jennifer Flowers, etc. to shame. Again, where were all these outlets when candidate Obama was running for the Presidency with enough baggage to fill a freight train?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Where Is the Outrage on Fannie and Freddie Bonuses?
Remember the days when the President lectured the banks because of the "obscene" bonuses their executives were receiving after the so-called bail-outs by taxpayer funds?
Leaving aside the fact that it was really the holders of U.S. Treasuries - both foreign and domestic - who funded the nearly $700 billion TARP and not the tax revenues, and that practically all private banks paid the TARP funds they received back with interest, this mightier-than-thou attitude/outrage of the Marxist-in-Chief seems to be quite selective. Other than GM (who "paid off" its TARP funds with more borrowed TARP funds) and AIG, Fannie and Freddie are the only two financial institutions that still owe $170 billion to the Treasury.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two GSEs that were responsible for buying the lion share of the mortgages throughout the 2000s, announced recently that they will payout nearly $13 million in bonuses to their top executives. As I mentioned above, unlike the banks, Fannie and Freddie who are recipients of $170 billion in bail-out funds have not paid back 85% of what they borrowed, nor do they have any hopes of doing so in the future! In fact, the U.S. government is likely to continue pouring billions to keep these two government sponsored enterprises from imploding. The eventual cost to the treasury is expected to be around a trillion dollars.
So, I ask, where is the outrage Mr. President? Could it be because these agencies have been scandalously run by Democrats for the past decade as their own piggy banks as well as serving as one of their favorite vehicles of social engineering? Could it be because your party has blocked every effort to reign in the run away GSEs everytime it was tried? Could it be because you and your party were, and are, the top recipients of their campaign contributions? Could it be that you need the financial institutions on your side, supporting you with their contributions now that your election prospects do not look so good anymore?
White House spokesman Jay Carney said yesterday that the President was not - nor should he be - involved with bonuses paid by these entities. You could have fooled me, Mr. Carney! The canary was singing a whole different tune not-so-long ago.
Leaving aside the fact that it was really the holders of U.S. Treasuries - both foreign and domestic - who funded the nearly $700 billion TARP and not the tax revenues, and that practically all private banks paid the TARP funds they received back with interest, this mightier-than-thou attitude/outrage of the Marxist-in-Chief seems to be quite selective. Other than GM (who "paid off" its TARP funds with more borrowed TARP funds) and AIG, Fannie and Freddie are the only two financial institutions that still owe $170 billion to the Treasury.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two GSEs that were responsible for buying the lion share of the mortgages throughout the 2000s, announced recently that they will payout nearly $13 million in bonuses to their top executives. As I mentioned above, unlike the banks, Fannie and Freddie who are recipients of $170 billion in bail-out funds have not paid back 85% of what they borrowed, nor do they have any hopes of doing so in the future! In fact, the U.S. government is likely to continue pouring billions to keep these two government sponsored enterprises from imploding. The eventual cost to the treasury is expected to be around a trillion dollars.
So, I ask, where is the outrage Mr. President? Could it be because these agencies have been scandalously run by Democrats for the past decade as their own piggy banks as well as serving as one of their favorite vehicles of social engineering? Could it be because your party has blocked every effort to reign in the run away GSEs everytime it was tried? Could it be because you and your party were, and are, the top recipients of their campaign contributions? Could it be that you need the financial institutions on your side, supporting you with their contributions now that your election prospects do not look so good anymore?
White House spokesman Jay Carney said yesterday that the President was not - nor should he be - involved with bonuses paid by these entities. You could have fooled me, Mr. Carney! The canary was singing a whole different tune not-so-long ago.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Insidious Motive Behind Fast and Furious
I wrote on several occasions about the Fast and Furious scandal that has been unraveling for the past few months. Some (including me) who have been following this scandal closely have concluded that the real motivation behind the operation was to achieve more stringent gun control laws that generally have been eluding progressives for decades now.
Once again, we are being proven correct in our suspicions. As CNS reports, making a case for national gun registration, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said “perhaps mistakes were made” in the botched gun-walking program known as Fast and Furious, but she said trying to assign blame misses the larger problem. “This is a deep concern for me. I know others disagree, but we have very lax laws when it comes to guns,” Feinstein, an advocate of gun control, said during Tuesday's hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.
All the lies told by Attorney General Holder and the President are well calculated to mislead the American public. We know that this is an incompetent bunch but, by the same token, we also know of their radical goals which I have chronicled on my blog from early on in this Administration.
As I opined many times before, the progressive movement is insidious in nature. It is well disciplined and patient. They are well aware that their Alinskyite tactics stand much better chance of success than failed direct action strategy Marxism has employed in the past.
After all, it took them over eight decades to (perhaps) irreparably degrade our Constitution and half a century to immerse our school system in cultural Marxism. If anything, progressives know the value of discipline, stealth, and patience when it comes to actuating bloodless coups. It is about time to learn their tactics and turn the tables on them.
Once again, we are being proven correct in our suspicions. As CNS reports, making a case for national gun registration, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said “perhaps mistakes were made” in the botched gun-walking program known as Fast and Furious, but she said trying to assign blame misses the larger problem. “This is a deep concern for me. I know others disagree, but we have very lax laws when it comes to guns,” Feinstein, an advocate of gun control, said during Tuesday's hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.
All the lies told by Attorney General Holder and the President are well calculated to mislead the American public. We know that this is an incompetent bunch but, by the same token, we also know of their radical goals which I have chronicled on my blog from early on in this Administration.
As I opined many times before, the progressive movement is insidious in nature. It is well disciplined and patient. They are well aware that their Alinskyite tactics stand much better chance of success than failed direct action strategy Marxism has employed in the past.
After all, it took them over eight decades to (perhaps) irreparably degrade our Constitution and half a century to immerse our school system in cultural Marxism. If anything, progressives know the value of discipline, stealth, and patience when it comes to actuating bloodless coups. It is about time to learn their tactics and turn the tables on them.
It's Been Three Years.....
.....and we will not be holding our breath!
Now, why can't the RNC run these ads nationally? Not enough money? Too early? It is never too early to wake the masses up.
Were they more strategic in their approach to dealing with progressives, more people might be inclined to support them with their donations!
Now, why can't the RNC run these ads nationally? Not enough money? Too early? It is never too early to wake the masses up.
Were they more strategic in their approach to dealing with progressives, more people might be inclined to support them with their donations!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Peter Schiff Schools OWS
The great one decides to take a microphone and a camera and hit the streets of NYC. What ensues is priceless! The amount of ignorance these protesters demonstrate in general is mind numbing, though a few seem to be teetering at the border of reasonableness. Capitalism is a strange notion to them, yet they could not explain why the alternative is preferable. The interview runs a little long but it is well worth investing 18 minutes to comprehend what kind of intellectually incapable people we are dealing with. Enjoy:
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The Book Controversy
As I have been busy the past few days on preparing several blog articles and other matters, I almost missed this one!
Imagine this: You are the President of a modern, civilized country. You have written a book (at least you claim to have even though the evidence is pretty clear that terrorist Bill Ayers was the ghost writer) - an autobiography of sorts - years ago. Your State Department buys thousands of copies of your books and distributes them as gifts around the world. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
It takes a great deal of arrogance, narcissism, and down right corruption for an Administration to spend tax dollars on buying the President's own book (the proceeds from which will almost undoubtedly go in to his re-election campaign). Other than the obvious ethical questions, how sickeningly narcissistic must a President be to allow that to happen? Moreover, since different embassies have ordered the book at different times, obviously the order had to come from high on down.
Whether Hillary or Barack, we are not simply dealing with ineptness here. This is the corruption of an Administration down to its rotten, stinking core. Nearly everything this Administration does is calculated. I am sure, as always, the media will be glossing over this incident as well. Oh well, welcome to the 21st century banana republic extraordinaire.
Imagine this: You are the President of a modern, civilized country. You have written a book (at least you claim to have even though the evidence is pretty clear that terrorist Bill Ayers was the ghost writer) - an autobiography of sorts - years ago. Your State Department buys thousands of copies of your books and distributes them as gifts around the world. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
It takes a great deal of arrogance, narcissism, and down right corruption for an Administration to spend tax dollars on buying the President's own book (the proceeds from which will almost undoubtedly go in to his re-election campaign). Other than the obvious ethical questions, how sickeningly narcissistic must a President be to allow that to happen? Moreover, since different embassies have ordered the book at different times, obviously the order had to come from high on down.
Whether Hillary or Barack, we are not simply dealing with ineptness here. This is the corruption of an Administration down to its rotten, stinking core. Nearly everything this Administration does is calculated. I am sure, as always, the media will be glossing over this incident as well. Oh well, welcome to the 21st century banana republic extraordinaire.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Move Over Solargate: More Crony Capitalist Corruption
I was starting to wonder that although a week had passed since the latest Administration scandal hit the news, no new scandal was raising its ugly head from the cess pool that is the Obama Administration. Multitudinous non-energy related scandals aside, could it be that we would not be treated to another Solyndra, SunPower, or other failures associated with this Administration's obsession with green initiatives (like Evergreen, SolarCity, Solexel, Majave Solar, LightSquared, Tesla, and GE among others)? Well, I was not let down as this is the Administration that keeps on giving.
The latest scandalous story unearthed by ABC news revolves around another Obama supporting crony investor who took the tax payers for another half a billion dollar ride.
Yes students, the corrupt crony capitalist of the week is Henrik Fisker.
Fisker, a car company backed by a prominent venture capital firm Gore is a partner at, and pumped by Vice President Biden, took over half a billion dollars from the federal loan guarantee program I discussed in earlier posts. Vice President Biden heralded the Energy Department’s $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland. The reason? There are no facilities in the U.S. that can do the job!
Furthermore, Fisker Karma is not only behind schedule but its touted fuel economy is a sham. Like Tesla - the other electric car company U.S. tax payers are on the hook for - it stands almost no chance to compete in the market place against other cars. How do I know it? Just look at GM's Volt that is only selling between 100-200 cars per month. At a much steeper cost of over $90 thousand, the Karma is sure to be a bust. So is Fisker as an entity American taxpayers are unwittingly betting on.
The immediate question that comes to mind is, why did the DOE not know any of this before backing a massive loan for purposes that had no prayer of being realized in this country (or anywhere else in my opinion)? A second question is how much did the fact that the principal of the company is not only a heavy Democrat contributor but has connections in high places play in securing the loan guarantee?
Despite the unconvincing DOE attempt to defend their policies, the tens of billions of dollars poured down the drain on green energy related ventures is as good as gone. The question remains, will this Administration ever be held accountable. I am not betting o it.
The latest scandalous story unearthed by ABC news revolves around another Obama supporting crony investor who took the tax payers for another half a billion dollar ride.
Yes students, the corrupt crony capitalist of the week is Henrik Fisker.
Fisker, a car company backed by a prominent venture capital firm Gore is a partner at, and pumped by Vice President Biden, took over half a billion dollars from the federal loan guarantee program I discussed in earlier posts. Vice President Biden heralded the Energy Department’s $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland. The reason? There are no facilities in the U.S. that can do the job!
Furthermore, Fisker Karma is not only behind schedule but its touted fuel economy is a sham. Like Tesla - the other electric car company U.S. tax payers are on the hook for - it stands almost no chance to compete in the market place against other cars. How do I know it? Just look at GM's Volt that is only selling between 100-200 cars per month. At a much steeper cost of over $90 thousand, the Karma is sure to be a bust. So is Fisker as an entity American taxpayers are unwittingly betting on.
The immediate question that comes to mind is, why did the DOE not know any of this before backing a massive loan for purposes that had no prayer of being realized in this country (or anywhere else in my opinion)? A second question is how much did the fact that the principal of the company is not only a heavy Democrat contributor but has connections in high places play in securing the loan guarantee?
Despite the unconvincing DOE attempt to defend their policies, the tens of billions of dollars poured down the drain on green energy related ventures is as good as gone. The question remains, will this Administration ever be held accountable. I am not betting o it.
Friday, October 21, 2011
A Quick Question to OWS Protestors...
...Ok, lets say you have a point protesting the banks; then how come you are not protesting in front of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who are just as responsible (if not more) as financial institutions for the current mess, yet were exempted by Frank-Dodd legislation that supposedly imposed necessary regulations on the financial sector? While you are at it, how come you are not protesting in front of White House (Obama) and the U.S. Capitol (Barney Frank) those Democrats who were in 2008 - as well as today - the number one and two recipients of Wall Street campaign money?
Let me guess, all the parties (and entities) I listed are actively working to destroy the one thing you also want destroyed: Capitalism. Right?
Let me guess, all the parties (and entities) I listed are actively working to destroy the one thing you also want destroyed: Capitalism. Right?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
OWS Vs. TEA in Pictures (No Words Needed!)
A picture is worth a thousand words. Peruse and decide for yourselves
which group might represent your values and beliefs more closely:
which group might represent your values and beliefs more closely:
Occupy Wall Street TEA
So, the choce is yours; which will it be?
or
Better yet:
OR
It is your choice, America.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Irony of All Ironies...
A New York Post story points out the OWS protesters' woes with thieves among them. Some of stolen items are oddly ironic for a group protesting capitalism and, by extension, materialism: a $5,500 Mac and $2,500 in cash!
Here is the irony that I see: The protesters are supposedly protesting against greed of Wall Street bankers, the rich, and corporations, yet not only some of them possess far more than one would expect such warriors for social justice to possess, but they actually get mad about their goodies being stolen - as if what they are promoting is not stealing from those who have earned their worldly wealth.
Oh well, if it was not for hypocrisy, the left would not exist.
Here is the irony that I see: The protesters are supposedly protesting against greed of Wall Street bankers, the rich, and corporations, yet not only some of them possess far more than one would expect such warriors for social justice to possess, but they actually get mad about their goodies being stolen - as if what they are promoting is not stealing from those who have earned their worldly wealth.
Oh well, if it was not for hypocrisy, the left would not exist.
Premature Dismissal of CLASS - Update
Yesterday I wrote that the Administration had dismissed CLASS due to its unsustainability. It simply did not make financial sense to have a long term care component to Obamacare other than to make numbers look more respectable. As the revenues from the program would not have nearly as much expenditures to off set it in the short run, the cost of healthcare reform for the first ten years was artificially portrayed in a favorable light.
Fast forward a day......now it seems HHS Secretary Sebelius did not check with Barack before taking the only sensible decision she could regarding CLASS. The word now is that the President opposes dropping CLASS from the healthcare reform bill.
Even when this gang gets a decision right, they go back and undo it; therefore cementing their image as being intent on destroying this country any which way they can!
Fast forward a day......now it seems HHS Secretary Sebelius did not check with Barack before taking the only sensible decision she could regarding CLASS. The word now is that the President opposes dropping CLASS from the healthcare reform bill.
Even when this gang gets a decision right, they go back and undo it; therefore cementing their image as being intent on destroying this country any which way they can!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Global Leadership a la Barack and Hillary
You have got to love progressives who are not only incapable of learning from history, but make up their own in their alternate universe that no one else lives in.
Just today, Hillary said that she wants to be remembered for reasserting America as a global leader during her time in office. Clinton said on NBC’s “Today” that the legacy she participated in during President Obama’s first term is that “we have reasserted American leadership.”
She added:
“We are going to lead because America is destined to lead,” she said. “We do have to get our own house in order — our economic house, our political house — but we cannot abdicate leadership in the rest of the world.”
Excuse me madam but I would not exactly consider your and this Administration's foreign policy track record a reassertion of American leadership. In fact, it has been pretty disastrous since the early days. Just to point out a few inconvenient facts, under this regime:
Just today, Hillary said that she wants to be remembered for reasserting America as a global leader during her time in office. Clinton said on NBC’s “Today” that the legacy she participated in during President Obama’s first term is that “we have reasserted American leadership.”
She added:
- We have turned our back on allies in Taiwan, Tibet, Israel, U.K., Poland, Czech Republic, Honduras, and Colombia to list just a few;
- We have coddled dictators and similarly unsavory characters in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, Russia, Iran, China, Palestine, S. Arabia, and wherever Arab Spring has taken place;
- We have given away our missile defense trump card in return for nothing;
- Iran has practically declared victory as prime originator of state sponsored terrorism and come to the door step of acquiring nuclear weapons without a reaction from the Administration;
- Watched as protesters in Iran who were at the margins of a would-be revolution got massacred;
- Encouraged Islamic fundamentalism from Cairo to Tripoli to Ankara, to the capitals of Europe via words and inaction which are in tune with the President's convictions;
Is the Dismissal of CLASS an Indication of Obamacare's Overall Unsustainability?
Last week, we witnessed the Administration's dismissal of a major segment of Obamacare called The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS). CLASS was to be sponsored by the federal government but maintained as a voluntary plan to which healthy, younger, working Americans would contribute in the event they became disabled later on in life. Participants would have paid a monthly premium that ranged widely between $235-$3000, depending on income, during their employment years, and then collected a daily cash benefit of at least $50 if they became disabled.
Why did the Administration announce that CLASS was being dismissed? Unsustainability.
The program was fatally flawed because healthy, young people would need to subscribe to the plan for the premiums to be reasonable for all participants. Unlike the purchase of long term care insurance in the private sector, CLASS did not offer lower premiums to healthier participants. Thus, the program would likely attract those who were already disabled in some way, yet able to work to some extent, and who anticipated the need for long term care in the future. Without healthy subscribers paying into the system, these individuals would not likely be able to afford the steep premiums.
Of course, it goes without saying that, had the program survived, it would likely require a costly tax payer bail-out as the premiums collected (due to low level interest on the part of healthy individuals) could never suffice the costs incurred by those recieving payments. The same "too big to fail" - or too vital to let it fail - mentality as Medicare is concerned is currently bankrupting our nation.
What does the admitted unsustainability of CLASS tell us about rest of Obamacare that astute observers have known since the beginning?
First, the penalty for not carrying insurance under Obamacare is not sufficient for the healthy and the young to acquire healthcare insurance or change their habits.
Second, Obamacare dictates what services must be included with acceptable plans. This includes all sorts of services not currently covered under insurance plans (for birth control, etc.).
Third, Obamacare will increase demand on healthcare services as subsidizing a service always increases the demand for it.
Finally, taxpayers will have to subsidize the ever increasing costs of Obamacare if the health insurance system is to be kept semi-privatized. The hope of the progressives is that the system will become too costly and necessitate the final cross-over to a single payer, government run system as the President envisions.
All indications point toward the unsustainability of Obamacare. If allowed to stand by the SCOTUS, Obamacare will surely cost many times the rosy projections of this Administration. We may have dodged a bullet with the dismissal of CLASS but, if even Medicare does not bankrupt us, Obamacare certainly will.
Why did the Administration announce that CLASS was being dismissed? Unsustainability.
The program was fatally flawed because healthy, young people would need to subscribe to the plan for the premiums to be reasonable for all participants. Unlike the purchase of long term care insurance in the private sector, CLASS did not offer lower premiums to healthier participants. Thus, the program would likely attract those who were already disabled in some way, yet able to work to some extent, and who anticipated the need for long term care in the future. Without healthy subscribers paying into the system, these individuals would not likely be able to afford the steep premiums.
Of course, it goes without saying that, had the program survived, it would likely require a costly tax payer bail-out as the premiums collected (due to low level interest on the part of healthy individuals) could never suffice the costs incurred by those recieving payments. The same "too big to fail" - or too vital to let it fail - mentality as Medicare is concerned is currently bankrupting our nation.
What does the admitted unsustainability of CLASS tell us about rest of Obamacare that astute observers have known since the beginning?
First, the penalty for not carrying insurance under Obamacare is not sufficient for the healthy and the young to acquire healthcare insurance or change their habits.
Second, Obamacare dictates what services must be included with acceptable plans. This includes all sorts of services not currently covered under insurance plans (for birth control, etc.).
Third, Obamacare will increase demand on healthcare services as subsidizing a service always increases the demand for it.
Finally, taxpayers will have to subsidize the ever increasing costs of Obamacare if the health insurance system is to be kept semi-privatized. The hope of the progressives is that the system will become too costly and necessitate the final cross-over to a single payer, government run system as the President envisions.
All indications point toward the unsustainability of Obamacare. If allowed to stand by the SCOTUS, Obamacare will surely cost many times the rosy projections of this Administration. We may have dodged a bullet with the dismissal of CLASS but, if even Medicare does not bankrupt us, Obamacare certainly will.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
When Does 53 Exceed 99?
The Marxist left is up to its usual tricks at OWS and other "occupations" around the U.S. as well as the globe - calling themselves the 99%. The calls for end to capitalism, redistributing the wealth, and all sorts of new social rights are nothing one does not see at a typical anti-IMF rally or any other rally the left organizes.
Other aspects of OWS aside, the slogan "we are 99%" is cleverly designed to let people think this movement is about everyone but the super rich; well at least until the gullible finally figure out that the 1% that is being demonized do not possess the resources necessary to satisfy neither the demands of the so-called 99% or their real plans. The natural progression of this movement would therefore lead to a progressively larger pool of productive Americans being targeted along with the 1%
But now, there is a new - a different kind of movement that really is not a movement in a classical sense. It is the 53%. They are not organized in any way, nor are they on the streets; at least not yet
You, me, and all other federal income tax paying Americans are the 53% (as 47% not only pay no federal taxes but actually get tax credits from Uncle Sam. I urge you all to go to the site and read the notes posted by the 53%. They make me so proud to be the 53%.
By the way, as one 53%er puts it:
"I don't expect you or anyone else to finance my life style or my choices. And if you think that a few thousand whiny babies mewling in the streets about how horrible it is to pay back student loans are 99% of the population of this country of 307 million, then you need to pay more attention in math class. Here's a word problem for you: What is 53% of 307 million and how many streets would that many people fill up?"
That about sums it up.
Other aspects of OWS aside, the slogan "we are 99%" is cleverly designed to let people think this movement is about everyone but the super rich; well at least until the gullible finally figure out that the 1% that is being demonized do not possess the resources necessary to satisfy neither the demands of the so-called 99% or their real plans. The natural progression of this movement would therefore lead to a progressively larger pool of productive Americans being targeted along with the 1%
But now, there is a new - a different kind of movement that really is not a movement in a classical sense. It is the 53%. They are not organized in any way, nor are they on the streets; at least not yet
You, me, and all other federal income tax paying Americans are the 53% (as 47% not only pay no federal taxes but actually get tax credits from Uncle Sam. I urge you all to go to the site and read the notes posted by the 53%. They make me so proud to be the 53%.
By the way, as one 53%er puts it:
"I don't expect you or anyone else to finance my life style or my choices. And if you think that a few thousand whiny babies mewling in the streets about how horrible it is to pay back student loans are 99% of the population of this country of 307 million, then you need to pay more attention in math class. Here's a word problem for you: What is 53% of 307 million and how many streets would that many people fill up?"
That about sums it up.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Administration Outdoes Solyndra Debacle
I know, it would be hard to believe that the $535 million federal loan guarantee to the failed solar venture Solyndra could be outdone. Well get ready for something more outrageous to be filed under 'crony capitalism gone wild'.
SunPower, a failing California solar company, recieved $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee under the DOE 1705 program on the last day of September, only hours before the deadline. This one stinks to high heaven so much that I don't know where to begin.
One would expect the federal government to evaluate the potential recipients of government largesse for integrity and financial as well as business plan soundness. It is the governments fiduciary duty to assure that taxpayer dollars do not benefit shady companies, are not risked on ventures that are not feasible or do not stand to benefit the public in general. Companies like Solyndra or Evergreen stand no chance to succeed in a free market environment (as they eventually proved to be the type of losers that only government foolishness can temporarily prop up). Believe me, if there was a demand for their product/service, they would not need the government to succeed.
A Bleak Financial Picture:
SunPower (SPWRA - NASDAQ) is a troubled company in the solar energy sector that is heavily shorted (ninth most shorted solar stock in major indices with nearly 11 million short positions - 15x daily volume!) and beset by multiple ongoing share holder law suits including a serious federal securities law violation charge. It's market cap is down 94% from its high of $13 billion to $800 million while it is indebted to the tune of $820 million. It's prospects for survival is iffy at best. Not the kind of company U.S. taxpayers should be risking their borrowed tax dollars on!
Cost per Job Created:
Then there is the issue of jobs proposed to be created by this ill-concieved project. According to the Department of Energy (DOE) website, the SunPower's CVSR project (which the loan was earmarked for) will create 10-15 permanent jobs. Lets see....$1.2 billion divided by 10 or 15......oh, a veritable bargain at $80 to 120 million per job created.
Cronyism:
As if that is not enough, there is the troubling (and common place under this regime) cronyism issue, complete with questionably convenient timing. First, the loan guarantee was heavily lobbied for by a congressman, George Miller (D-CA) and his lobbyist son. The loan guarantee was literally granted on the last day before the program expired and three weeks after the company announced that it was building a factory in Mexico (so much for creating jobs in the U.S.) to build the panels for the California project. In other words, they had started building a factory to manufacture the equipment necessary for a project they had no loan guarantees for. Rather puzzling, if not outright troubling detail!
This being the Obama Administration, you may be wondering if there were any previous financial ties between Obama/Democrats and SunPower like the campaign cash bundling backers of Solyndra, Evergreen Solar, and others. Wonder no more.
SunPower’s political action committee (PAC) was not shy about participating in the political process. According to the SunPower PAC filings for its activities in the 2010 midterm election campaign cycle, it donated more than $36,000, 94% of which unsurprisingly went to Democrats including Congressman Miller who was instrumental in pushing the federal approval. While SunPower was a financial partner in the congressman’s reelection campaign, it straight-out hired his son - an obvious ethical faux-pas. Oh, by the way, Rep. Miller's son is not registered to lobby in Washington.
SunPower's CEO Thomas Werner was also a regular contributor to Democrats throughout the past couple election cycles as I found out following a quick check on OpenSecrets.
Other Shenanigans:
The SunPower story doesn't quite stop there. There is also a small matter of the Obama pal insiders getting rich overnight though the story involves the federal government only indirectly. On April 12, 2010, the company, as well as the DOE, announced that it was seeking federal loan guarantees in the amount of $1.2 billion. Two weeks later, France's Total Oil announced its friendly buy out of 60% of SunPower at $23.25 - coincidentally a 60% premium over SPWR's trading price on that day. SunPower CEO Werner is typical of the insiders. On May 24 he exercised his right to purchase 428,343 shares at $3.30 per share, a $18 discount from the day’s trading range. He sold 478,084 shares June 15, the day the Total Oil takeover closed, at $23.25 for proceeds of $11,115,453.
Remember, Total Oil was offering at $23.25 per share in what was in effect a private sale. The SPWR, Class A or B, shares have not traded above $23 since June 10, 2010.
Had the company not been privately assured of the federal loan guarantee, would the Total Oil take over materialize (which allowed insiders to cash in handsomely; effectively on the backs of the American taxpayer)?
Conclusion:
SunPower case is even more troubling than Solyndra in that there are serious questions, any one of which should have disqualified the company from qualifying under the DOE program guidelines. So, why did the Department of Energy agree to backing SunPower to the tune of $1.2 billion? There are many yet unanswered questions. To recap:
A Bleak Financial Picture:
SunPower (SPWRA - NASDAQ) is a troubled company in the solar energy sector that is heavily shorted (ninth most shorted solar stock in major indices with nearly 11 million short positions - 15x daily volume!) and beset by multiple ongoing share holder law suits including a serious federal securities law violation charge. It's market cap is down 94% from its high of $13 billion to $800 million while it is indebted to the tune of $820 million. It's prospects for survival is iffy at best. Not the kind of company U.S. taxpayers should be risking their borrowed tax dollars on!
Then there is the issue of jobs proposed to be created by this ill-concieved project. According to the Department of Energy (DOE) website, the SunPower's CVSR project (which the loan was earmarked for) will create 10-15 permanent jobs. Lets see....$1.2 billion divided by 10 or 15......oh, a veritable bargain at $80 to 120 million per job created.
As if that is not enough, there is the troubling (and common place under this regime) cronyism issue, complete with questionably convenient timing. First, the loan guarantee was heavily lobbied for by a congressman, George Miller (D-CA) and his lobbyist son. The loan guarantee was literally granted on the last day before the program expired and three weeks after the company announced that it was building a factory in Mexico (so much for creating jobs in the U.S.) to build the panels for the California project. In other words, they had started building a factory to manufacture the equipment necessary for a project they had no loan guarantees for. Rather puzzling, if not outright troubling detail!
SunPower's CEO Thomas Werner was also a regular contributor to Democrats throughout the past couple election cycles as I found out following a quick check on OpenSecrets.
Other Shenanigans:
The SunPower story doesn't quite stop there. There is also a small matter of the Obama pal insiders getting rich overnight though the story involves the federal government only indirectly. On April 12, 2010, the company, as well as the DOE, announced that it was seeking federal loan guarantees in the amount of $1.2 billion. Two weeks later, France's Total Oil announced its friendly buy out of 60% of SunPower at $23.25 - coincidentally a 60% premium over SPWR's trading price on that day. SunPower CEO Werner is typical of the insiders. On May 24 he exercised his right to purchase 428,343 shares at $3.30 per share, a $18 discount from the day’s trading range. He sold 478,084 shares June 15, the day the Total Oil takeover closed, at $23.25 for proceeds of $11,115,453.
Remember, Total Oil was offering at $23.25 per share in what was in effect a private sale. The SPWR, Class A or B, shares have not traded above $23 since June 10, 2010.
Had the company not been privately assured of the federal loan guarantee, would the Total Oil take over materialize (which allowed insiders to cash in handsomely; effectively on the backs of the American taxpayer)?
Conclusion:
SunPower case is even more troubling than Solyndra in that there are serious questions, any one of which should have disqualified the company from qualifying under the DOE program guidelines. So, why did the Department of Energy agree to backing SunPower to the tune of $1.2 billion? There are many yet unanswered questions. To recap:
- How could the Department of Energy give a loan to a company that was under a shareholder suit alleging securities fraud and misrepresentations?
- The son of Rep. George Miller (D-CA) who was paid $178,000 to lobby on behalf of the company represented SunPower as a lobbyist. Why did Rep. George Miller tour the SunPower facility – which is outside his congressional district – and what other official action did Rep. Miller take on behalf of the company that is represented by his lobbyist son?
- Did the company’s hefty political contributions to the Obama campaign and the DCCC play a role in the deal?
- Did U.S. taxpayers help pay for the company to open a facility in Mexico after the announcement of the loan?
- Was the U.S. government aware that company executives were in the process of selling a portion of the company to a French company – an action that was undertaken two weeks after the loan was awarded? Did the loan allow insider’s to cash out leaving other investors holding on to the stock that has dropped by more than 60% since the loan was awarded?
The term crony capitalism - the success of a business being dependent on the favoritism that is shown to it by the ruling government in various forms, instead of free markets and the rule of law - is tailor made for the relationship of this Administration with companies like Solyndra, Evergreen, SunPower, or any one of dozens of other companies, green or otherwise. In this symbiotic relationship (just like with labor unions or trial lawyers), tax dollars circulate between the administration and their crony benefactors in the form of campaign donations and stimuli of the day to enrich the very people who are eager to return the favor to their Democrat puppets in government. There is only one clear loser and that is the American taxpayer.
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