GM total confidence

As the anger welled up inside me after coughing up $800 in underpaid federal income taxes tonight, I couldn't help but think about those sappy GM total confidence ads that are all over television.

The voice-over tells us that "America needs a comeback". Apparently, America can't stage a comeback unless you (yes, you) don't go out right now and buy a GM. Concerned that you might not be able to afford a new car payment, especially if you lose your job? You shouldn't be, because GM will make your car payment for you if you lose your job. Think that buying a car, which depreciates as soon as you drive it off the lot, might not be the best investment you could make right now? Not to worry, as GM is guaranteeing the trade-in value of your car at NADA clean value. Apparently, GM decided not to publicize the fact that the federal government now backs their warranties as a part of their "total confidence" plan, but they very well could have -- it fits nicely into the whole picture.

Given that the federal government, for all intents and purposes, now controls and financially backs General Motors, I couldn't help but think about how much of my $800 underpayment (not to mention the thousands in withholding I already paid, at 0% interest) will end up in the pockets of idiots who go out and buy a car that they can't afford, lured in by the "total confidence" offered by Government Motors. I probably shouldn't think too much of it, though, since I'm already funding that idiot's mortgage, his idiot kid's college education, and his whole family's health insurance (well, I guess that last one won't take effect until next year). Why shouldn't I fund his car as well? I mean, that's the patriotic thing to do, right? I'd have to be some sort of cold-hearted selfish jackass to dare claim that I deserve the right to buy my own house, car, health care, or education with the money I earned. Right?

The verdict is in

The market is down 25% year-to-date. How long will Team Obama and his sycophantic followers get away with blaming it all on George W. Bush and his failed policies of the past?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123604419092515347.html

50 de-stimulating facts

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjcyODIyZGM2MGU1ZDdkNDgxZDc3OTNjYjM4ZDY1ODI

$4000 per person

$1 trillion (dollars in the stimulus bill) / 250 million (american citizens of working age) = $4000 per citizen

Just write the checks. That would be a much better use of the money.

The flip side...

In reacting to today's restrictions on executive pay imposed by the federal government, two things come to mind:

1. Am I the only person who is scared to death by the fact that the federal government (actually, the President personally) is placing restrictions on salaries in the private sector? Is there anyone else left out there who believes in free markets? Or has everyone bought into the era of Hope and Change?
2. Part of me says that the morons at these wall street firms who showed up in Washington with their damn hands out are getting exactly what they deserve. If you choose to be dependent on the government, the government now controls you. The rest of us out here in the real world should think long and hard about this episode before asking the government for our "universal" healthcare and our "affordable" housing.
3. A companion story in today's news is that BoA's share price is dropping dangerously on worries that the government will take over the company. Don't people get it yet? The best thing that could happen for BoA, Wells, Chase, and the rest is for the feds to come out tomorrow and guarantee that they will not nationalize the banking industry. The market is scared to death that the little shareholder value left in these companies will be blown away if/when The Messiah decides he can run them better than their boards.
   

It's only a matter of time...

Before the President starts deciding how much YOU deserve to be paid:

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/090204/business_us_obama.html?.v=9

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090204/D964VSP00.html

So, yeah, live it up, middle-class America, while your Messiah-in-chief tells those evil wall street CEOs how much they can be paid. I'm glad it makes you feel so good about yourselves.

The Generational Theft Act of 2009

That's what Michelle Malkin calls the stimulus bill. I think I like this name the best. It really captures the essence of what's happening here -- the current generation literally stealing money from their children. On top of the current $825 billion price tag, the CBO expects the stimulus to incur $347 billion in interest -- over just 10 years.

4.19 billion for ACORN

The bill uses the more generic "Neighborhood Stabilization Activities".

The European Social Welfare State Bill

That's what the corner is calling The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.

It’s easy to go through a huge proposal and find what seem like fairly ridiculous line items, so I’ll focus on as comprehensive a view as I can of the spending. The CBO reviews each Title (basically, spending area) of the bill, and calls out major items within each Title. Here are all the items that I saw them identify as individual programs with more than $10 billion of projected outlays, in the order that they call them out:

• $20.0 billion to increase the maximum benefit under the Supplemental Nutrition Assurance Program (i.e., Food Stamps)
  
• $18.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs
  
• $20.4 billion for programs administered by the Department of health and Human Services
  
• $20.0 billion to renovate elementary and secondary schools
  
• $17.6 billion for Pell grants and other student financial assistance at post-secondary institutions
  
• $29.1 billion for other elementary and secondary educational programs
  
• $30.0 billion for highway construction
  
• $13.1 billion for other transportation programs
  
• $11.2 billion for housing assistance programs administered by HUD
  
• $19.5 billion (minimum, could be higher, as per Title XIII) for education grants to states
  
• $27.1 billion for increase unemployment benefits
  
• $13.3 billion to increase health insurance for unemployed workers
  
• $11.1 billion for “Other Unemployment Compensation”
  
• $20.2 billion for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments to encourage providers to improve healthcare IT
  

What does this sound like to you? It sounds to me like a wish list for the left wing of the Democratic Party.

Read the stimulus

readthestimulus.org provides an indexed search of the stimulus bill (which is currently 1588 pages long), along with some nice charts of the CBO analysis of the bill demonstrating that the vast majority of the outlay occurs after 2009.