As everyone's mother has always told them, "It's not nice to speak ill of the dead," but I am fed up already - and it's only the first day - at all the fawning praise of Ted Kennedy's life. I would love to hear someone in the MSM step up and interview surviving friends and family of Mary Jo Kopechne to get their opinion on his being characterized as a "Lion."
Ted Kennedy rode on the coattails of his family name his whole life. He was a cheat in school and a scoundrel and coward in the face of a true human tragedy at Chappaquiddick. The left wing loons loved him for his unabashed progressive agenda. The fact that he was elected to the US Senate for as long as he was says more about the cynicism of Massachusetts electorate than his prowess as a senator.
To top it off in his final days and knowing his clock was about to run out he actively tried to get the law he promoted overturned so that his Democrat governor could appoint a like minded lib in his place. Recall that five years ago he pushed for a special election law in Massachusetts to block the Republican governor at that time - Mitt Romney - from being able to appoint a replacement for John Kerry who was running for Prez. But according to Ted now that Democrat is in the state capital building, it is "vital" that the state of Massachusetts have two senators immediately. I guess it's only important to have two senators when you can assure that they will be good soldiers in promoting the the socialist agenda of the current occupant of the White House. What unabashed hypocrisy.
As for me I will not miss Ted Kennedy or his bloviated rhetoric one bit. The US Senate and the country are better off without his influence.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Recent Rubbish from the Administration
Why, pray tell, was Hillary Clinton in India signing an agreement to allow US companies to bid on nuclear power projects in that country when the Obama administration is unsupportive of nuclear power in the US? HC correctly stated that allowing US firms to participate in the Indian projects would provide high paying, high technology jobs to US workers. Well if it works in India don't you think the same logic would apply in the US where even more high skilled design, manufacturing and construction jobs would be created by an aggressive push to make nuclear power the backbone of our electrical production infrastructure?
As has been posited before in this space, the only intelligent solution to our energy independence problem is to create a battery-based all electric ground transportation system fueled and recharged by electricity from nuclear power plants. Not only will this free us from dependence on foreign oil but to the extent that CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels is of concern, this is the silver bullet solution. As much as it is hyped by the Obamaites and their MSM camp followers wind and solar ain't going to get the job done.
On the Health Care Reform issue tonight we will hear the "Savior" himself pitch his vision to the country. I suspect that he will reiterate the phrase that I have heard more than a few times this week that, "The worst thing we can do is to do nothing." Well here's a newsflash. That statement is not only false, it is dangerous. Despite all the liberal hand wringing on this issue and despite its shortcomings, the US health care system is still the best in the world when it comes to choice and quality of care. It may not be the most universal in its availability, but no one can argue that if you are really sick you need to be in the US for the very best care.
So the response to the above claim is "Rubbish." The worst thing we can do to the health care system in the US is to legislate changes that restrict choice, mandate coverage, increase costs (which even the CBO says is inevitable) and in the end ration care. In every country where there is universal national health care, treatment options are always rationed because at the end of the day that is the only way to contain costs.
Speaking of costs, the real way to address the problem with the cost of health care in the US is to enact meaningful medical tort reform. The ugly truth is that it is the trial lawyers who drive up the cost of malpractice insurance and the over prescription of tests and drugs as the docs try to defend themselves from these ambulance chasers. But do you think tort reform will play any part in a democratic drafted bill. Forget about it. The dems are in the pocket of the trial lawyers association and its hefty contributions to their campaigns.
When Obama complains that his plan is not about politics and that the critics are just taking partisan shots, I just want to puke at the hypocrisy of that statement.
And why, one has to ask, is Obama on such a rant about the need to move quickly. The answer is simple. He knows the only way to ram his wrong headed socialist agenda down the throats of the American people is to do it so quickly that no one has a chance to really understand what he is doing and what the consequences - both intended and unintended - might be. This is a stealth health plan and BHO is trying his best to get it passed under the radar of congress and the American people.
My friends, watch your wallets and your health care options because both are in serious jeopardy if Obama gets what he wants.
As has been posited before in this space, the only intelligent solution to our energy independence problem is to create a battery-based all electric ground transportation system fueled and recharged by electricity from nuclear power plants. Not only will this free us from dependence on foreign oil but to the extent that CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels is of concern, this is the silver bullet solution. As much as it is hyped by the Obamaites and their MSM camp followers wind and solar ain't going to get the job done.
On the Health Care Reform issue tonight we will hear the "Savior" himself pitch his vision to the country. I suspect that he will reiterate the phrase that I have heard more than a few times this week that, "The worst thing we can do is to do nothing." Well here's a newsflash. That statement is not only false, it is dangerous. Despite all the liberal hand wringing on this issue and despite its shortcomings, the US health care system is still the best in the world when it comes to choice and quality of care. It may not be the most universal in its availability, but no one can argue that if you are really sick you need to be in the US for the very best care.
So the response to the above claim is "Rubbish." The worst thing we can do to the health care system in the US is to legislate changes that restrict choice, mandate coverage, increase costs (which even the CBO says is inevitable) and in the end ration care. In every country where there is universal national health care, treatment options are always rationed because at the end of the day that is the only way to contain costs.
Speaking of costs, the real way to address the problem with the cost of health care in the US is to enact meaningful medical tort reform. The ugly truth is that it is the trial lawyers who drive up the cost of malpractice insurance and the over prescription of tests and drugs as the docs try to defend themselves from these ambulance chasers. But do you think tort reform will play any part in a democratic drafted bill. Forget about it. The dems are in the pocket of the trial lawyers association and its hefty contributions to their campaigns.
When Obama complains that his plan is not about politics and that the critics are just taking partisan shots, I just want to puke at the hypocrisy of that statement.
And why, one has to ask, is Obama on such a rant about the need to move quickly. The answer is simple. He knows the only way to ram his wrong headed socialist agenda down the throats of the American people is to do it so quickly that no one has a chance to really understand what he is doing and what the consequences - both intended and unintended - might be. This is a stealth health plan and BHO is trying his best to get it passed under the radar of congress and the American people.
My friends, watch your wallets and your health care options because both are in serious jeopardy if Obama gets what he wants.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
My Education in Education
It's been a while since my last post. One reason for this is that for the last four months or so I have been working as a substitute teacher in the Houston school system. Anyone who has run the gauntlet of substitute teaching knows how difficult this form of public service can be. This is especially true when one is working in "underprivileged" Title 1 program schools.
My very first sub assignment was a 7th grade math class in just such an environment. The school's demographics were 88% Hispanic, 10% black and 2% Caucasian. The community that feeds students to this middle school is not a ghetto but is most definitely low income where Hispanic gang violence - including drive by shootings - is a regular occurrence. As a general rule the culture of this community does not value education, so parent involvement and support is non-existent. For these parents school is no more than a state run day care center where any academic progress is just a by product.
In Texas in order to "graduate" from 8th grade and move on to high school, all students are required to pass state run standardized tests in English (reading), math and science. As a result there are 17 and 18 year old boys and girls still treading water in middle school along side 11 year old 6th graders. These kids are simply "putting in their time" until by law at 18 they no longer have to attend school. On-campus gang fights and teen pregnancy are not at all uncommon. My initial trial by fire as a substitute teacher was in this academic wasteland.
Not surprisingly I had the typical classroom management issues that face all substitute teachers but at this school they are an order of magnitude more challenging. In spite of the distractions I made my best effort to teach the material and found to my surprise that at least a few of the students were in fact interested in learning but could not bring themselves to participate in the classroom session due to peer pressure to be disruptive and disinterested. I found this out in the last period of the day which is a free period when some of the students came to me for one-on-one assistance.
I shared this experience with the head of the math department and she asked that I return on a continuing basis to team-teach and tutor 7th and 8th students along with the regular math teachers to help them prepare for the state math test. This is what I have been busy doing for the better part of the last 4 months. I am happy to report that we had a 75% pass rate in math for our 8th graders this year. Not a world beating performance, but this is up from less than 50% last year. I like to think I had something to do with this improvement.
My very first sub assignment was a 7th grade math class in just such an environment. The school's demographics were 88% Hispanic, 10% black and 2% Caucasian. The community that feeds students to this middle school is not a ghetto but is most definitely low income where Hispanic gang violence - including drive by shootings - is a regular occurrence. As a general rule the culture of this community does not value education, so parent involvement and support is non-existent. For these parents school is no more than a state run day care center where any academic progress is just a by product.
In Texas in order to "graduate" from 8th grade and move on to high school, all students are required to pass state run standardized tests in English (reading), math and science. As a result there are 17 and 18 year old boys and girls still treading water in middle school along side 11 year old 6th graders. These kids are simply "putting in their time" until by law at 18 they no longer have to attend school. On-campus gang fights and teen pregnancy are not at all uncommon. My initial trial by fire as a substitute teacher was in this academic wasteland.
Not surprisingly I had the typical classroom management issues that face all substitute teachers but at this school they are an order of magnitude more challenging. In spite of the distractions I made my best effort to teach the material and found to my surprise that at least a few of the students were in fact interested in learning but could not bring themselves to participate in the classroom session due to peer pressure to be disruptive and disinterested. I found this out in the last period of the day which is a free period when some of the students came to me for one-on-one assistance.
I shared this experience with the head of the math department and she asked that I return on a continuing basis to team-teach and tutor 7th and 8th students along with the regular math teachers to help them prepare for the state math test. This is what I have been busy doing for the better part of the last 4 months. I am happy to report that we had a 75% pass rate in math for our 8th graders this year. Not a world beating performance, but this is up from less than 50% last year. I like to think I had something to do with this improvement.
Monday, March 9, 2009
BHO Report Card
Here's my assessment of BHO's performance since his inauguration.
Economy - Yes something had to be done to inject capital into the banks and since the fed has used up its most effective pump priming tools, the only significant option left is fiscal policy - thus the bloated, earmarked stimulus package. His biggest mistake was allowing the left wing kooks in the house to write the bill so they could include all their little pet projects that the Bush administration had more effectively blocked. Not to say that the republicans were without blame in this 'pork" game. Witness Ron Paul - he of a most conservative and libertarian bent - was one of the worst offenders from my state of Texas. Plus much of what is in this bill will take many months if not years to have any meaningful effect on job creation and consumer confidence so my overall assessment is too much, too late and we'll pay dearly for it with inflation down the road. Grade C-.
Housing - As much as I personally abhor the idea of bailing out people who bought houses that they knew they couldn't afford, doing nothing is not the best option since stabilizing housing prices is key to stabilizing the economy and the markets. Whether or not the TALF legislation will be effective in doing so remains to be seen since the details of how it will work are still a little fuzzy, but we'll see. Grade an optimistic B.
Markets - Obama and his team seem blissfully unconcerned about Wall Street. Well Wall Street seems very concerned about Obama and his policies since the market has been free fall to new 12 year lows seemingly every day since his election - only to accelerate since the inauguration. Message to the Obamaites - the financial security of Main Street is intimately linked to the strength of Wall Street. Pension funds, 401K's, IRA's and the like have all been battered - and by extension the financial security of millions of Main Street folks - by the recent market implosion. To paraphrase an often misquoted former President of GM, what's good for Wall Street is good for Main Street. Obama was loud and clear on the Armageddon message to get his stimulus bill through congress, but I think he oversold the fear factor and needs to use his bully pulpit to talk up the strengths and examples of resiliency of the American economy (and there are more than just a few of those) that will lead to a strong recovery. In other words he needs to listen a little more to Warren Buffet and less to Barney Frank. Grade F.
Stem Cell Research - Reopening the door to embryonic stem cell research is a very good idea. Grade A.
US Oil Shale - Blocking large tracts of western lands to oil shale development is a very bad idea when we need all the sources of energy we can muster. Grade D-
Iraq - As much as it may rankle the hotheads on the left, BHO has generally a good job listening to his generals and executing Dubya's plan. Let's just remember that when the troops finally do come home and leave a stable, self-governing Iraq behind we know whom to thank. The "Surge" worked. Grade B+
Afghanistan - Too soon to tell where this waste of a nation is headed, but I do like Obama's resolve not to allow it to become the last refuge of the radical Taliban and Al-Qaeda factions that are still a severe threat to the west and all other developed nations. This place reminds me of the Mad Max film sets. Grade - Incomplete
Iran - Not off to the best start. Throwing Poland and the Czech Republic under the bus in an attempt to curry the assistance of Russia was naive at best and perhaps dangerous as it exposed how helpless the US government feels about having any influence in Iran. In the end however this will likely not be our problem to solve since absent some remarkable internal transformation driven by more moderate forces within the country, Israel will do what it needs to do - regardless of international opinion - to protect itself from the mad mullahs of Qom and Tehran. Grade D.
As always feedback and comments are most welcome.
Economy - Yes something had to be done to inject capital into the banks and since the fed has used up its most effective pump priming tools, the only significant option left is fiscal policy - thus the bloated, earmarked stimulus package. His biggest mistake was allowing the left wing kooks in the house to write the bill so they could include all their little pet projects that the Bush administration had more effectively blocked. Not to say that the republicans were without blame in this 'pork" game. Witness Ron Paul - he of a most conservative and libertarian bent - was one of the worst offenders from my state of Texas. Plus much of what is in this bill will take many months if not years to have any meaningful effect on job creation and consumer confidence so my overall assessment is too much, too late and we'll pay dearly for it with inflation down the road. Grade C-.
Housing - As much as I personally abhor the idea of bailing out people who bought houses that they knew they couldn't afford, doing nothing is not the best option since stabilizing housing prices is key to stabilizing the economy and the markets. Whether or not the TALF legislation will be effective in doing so remains to be seen since the details of how it will work are still a little fuzzy, but we'll see. Grade an optimistic B.
Markets - Obama and his team seem blissfully unconcerned about Wall Street. Well Wall Street seems very concerned about Obama and his policies since the market has been free fall to new 12 year lows seemingly every day since his election - only to accelerate since the inauguration. Message to the Obamaites - the financial security of Main Street is intimately linked to the strength of Wall Street. Pension funds, 401K's, IRA's and the like have all been battered - and by extension the financial security of millions of Main Street folks - by the recent market implosion. To paraphrase an often misquoted former President of GM, what's good for Wall Street is good for Main Street. Obama was loud and clear on the Armageddon message to get his stimulus bill through congress, but I think he oversold the fear factor and needs to use his bully pulpit to talk up the strengths and examples of resiliency of the American economy (and there are more than just a few of those) that will lead to a strong recovery. In other words he needs to listen a little more to Warren Buffet and less to Barney Frank. Grade F.
Stem Cell Research - Reopening the door to embryonic stem cell research is a very good idea. Grade A.
US Oil Shale - Blocking large tracts of western lands to oil shale development is a very bad idea when we need all the sources of energy we can muster. Grade D-
Iraq - As much as it may rankle the hotheads on the left, BHO has generally a good job listening to his generals and executing Dubya's plan. Let's just remember that when the troops finally do come home and leave a stable, self-governing Iraq behind we know whom to thank. The "Surge" worked. Grade B+
Afghanistan - Too soon to tell where this waste of a nation is headed, but I do like Obama's resolve not to allow it to become the last refuge of the radical Taliban and Al-Qaeda factions that are still a severe threat to the west and all other developed nations. This place reminds me of the Mad Max film sets. Grade - Incomplete
Iran - Not off to the best start. Throwing Poland and the Czech Republic under the bus in an attempt to curry the assistance of Russia was naive at best and perhaps dangerous as it exposed how helpless the US government feels about having any influence in Iran. In the end however this will likely not be our problem to solve since absent some remarkable internal transformation driven by more moderate forces within the country, Israel will do what it needs to do - regardless of international opinion - to protect itself from the mad mullahs of Qom and Tehran. Grade D.
As always feedback and comments are most welcome.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Change? More like back to the future!
For a guy who campaigned hard on the theme of a fundamental change in the way Washington works, President Obama's cabinet choices are somewhat befuddling. Let's see now.... We have the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff, the head of the CIA and the ambassador to the UN all folks from the Clinton administration. Not to mention the new Secretary of State - Mrs. Clinton her very own self!! I guess in hindsight the Dems were happy with the way Washington works when they are in charge and only object to the process when the GOP is calling the shots. Things that make you want to go hmmmmm........
And how about those ethics? Lot's of role models there. Richardson had to bail out as Secretary of Commerce because of a conflict of interest regarding campaign contributions and municipal bond projects in New Mexico. Daschle just removed his name from consideration for HHS Secretary and Nancy Killefer from consideration as "Performance Czar" (whatever that is?) due to unreported taxes. Treasury Secretary Geithner squeezes by in spite of tax problems of his own. Then we have the whole congress giving a pass on Bubba's influence peddling to Saudi sheiks and other foreign interests while confirming his wife as secretary of state. Am I the only one that is appalled at the blatant hypocrisy of the Democratic party and the MSM which up till now has largely ignored these issues.
What's particularly galling is that it is the dems who are in the vanguard of raising taxes to fund their never ending list of pork barrel and social engineering initiatives. But it seems when it comes to paying taxes the old "What me Worry?" attitude that seems to be the operative mindset. How about that Charlie Rangel as another example of Dems who think only Republicans should pay taxes. Some wag suggested that we all invoke the Rangel Rule when we fail to pay our taxes.
The times may be a changin' though for the Obama extended honeymoon. At the press conference today Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs was getting grilled on the litany of tax and other problems that team Obama's picks have run afoul of. His responses were revealing in that rather than helping to bring transparency to the process (I think that was another BHO campaign theme), he was stonewalling and refusing to admit that there was anything wrong with the vetting process. The press corps was getting restless. Is it possible that the anointed one's free pass from the MSM might be revoked sooner than we first thought? Perhaps.
And how about those ethics? Lot's of role models there. Richardson had to bail out as Secretary of Commerce because of a conflict of interest regarding campaign contributions and municipal bond projects in New Mexico. Daschle just removed his name from consideration for HHS Secretary and Nancy Killefer from consideration as "Performance Czar" (whatever that is?) due to unreported taxes. Treasury Secretary Geithner squeezes by in spite of tax problems of his own. Then we have the whole congress giving a pass on Bubba's influence peddling to Saudi sheiks and other foreign interests while confirming his wife as secretary of state. Am I the only one that is appalled at the blatant hypocrisy of the Democratic party and the MSM which up till now has largely ignored these issues.
What's particularly galling is that it is the dems who are in the vanguard of raising taxes to fund their never ending list of pork barrel and social engineering initiatives. But it seems when it comes to paying taxes the old "What me Worry?" attitude that seems to be the operative mindset. How about that Charlie Rangel as another example of Dems who think only Republicans should pay taxes. Some wag suggested that we all invoke the Rangel Rule when we fail to pay our taxes.
The times may be a changin' though for the Obama extended honeymoon. At the press conference today Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs was getting grilled on the litany of tax and other problems that team Obama's picks have run afoul of. His responses were revealing in that rather than helping to bring transparency to the process (I think that was another BHO campaign theme), he was stonewalling and refusing to admit that there was anything wrong with the vetting process. The press corps was getting restless. Is it possible that the anointed one's free pass from the MSM might be revoked sooner than we first thought? Perhaps.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Why do people have weird ideas?
In an earlier blog I named a few of my heroes in the cause of rational thinking. One of those is Michael Shermer who writes the Skeptic column every month for Scientific American. His latest in the December 08 issue talks about the penchant for us mere mortals to seek meaningful patterns in the random cacophony of news and events that bombard us every day. This is called patternicity.
As examples Mr. Shermer asks why do people see faces in nature, hear voices in electronic white noise, or images of the Virgin Mary in coffee stains and dirty windows. The answer he effectively argues is that we are programed by evolution to do so because sensing and reacting to patterns is at the very least a competitive advantage and in some cases a survival mechanism.
It is a competitive advantage because it provides for greater efficiency. For example early humanoids that were able to detect and then predict patterns of movement of game would be more efficient hunters. Similarly the ability to recognize patterns in the behavior of predators would clearly lead to a greater probability of survival and thus would be a genetic trait that would be reinforced in subsequent generations.
Mr. Shermer refers to work done by Harvard University biologist Kevin R. Foster and University of Helsinki biologist Hanna Kokko who have put forth the notion that whenever the cost believing a false pattern is real (i.e. a false positive) is less than the cost of not believing a real pattern (i.e. a false negative) natural selection will favor the development of patternicity.
A real life example that we can all identify with is how we react to a sudden change in our environment. Be it a loud noise or a surprise encounter with another person most people would describe their reaction as being startled - or some might say that (or you) gave me a fright. In other words we are programed to react to such situations as potential threats. You can see how the above theory works in this situation. Clearly the risks of reacting to a non-threat situation as if it were real are low, but the risk of not reacting to a real threat situation are very high.
The problem - As Mr. Shermer points out - is that we are not very good at figuring these probabilities so our tendency to see all sorts of weird patterns in non-meaningful data is usually a harmless low-cost artifact of our evolved need to detect and react to non-weird patterns. So keep on looking for UFO's and messages in tea leaves. For the most part it won't hurt anyone, but don't quit your day job.
As examples Mr. Shermer asks why do people see faces in nature, hear voices in electronic white noise, or images of the Virgin Mary in coffee stains and dirty windows. The answer he effectively argues is that we are programed by evolution to do so because sensing and reacting to patterns is at the very least a competitive advantage and in some cases a survival mechanism.
It is a competitive advantage because it provides for greater efficiency. For example early humanoids that were able to detect and then predict patterns of movement of game would be more efficient hunters. Similarly the ability to recognize patterns in the behavior of predators would clearly lead to a greater probability of survival and thus would be a genetic trait that would be reinforced in subsequent generations.
Mr. Shermer refers to work done by Harvard University biologist Kevin R. Foster and University of Helsinki biologist Hanna Kokko who have put forth the notion that whenever the cost believing a false pattern is real (i.e. a false positive) is less than the cost of not believing a real pattern (i.e. a false negative) natural selection will favor the development of patternicity.
A real life example that we can all identify with is how we react to a sudden change in our environment. Be it a loud noise or a surprise encounter with another person most people would describe their reaction as being startled - or some might say that (or you) gave me a fright. In other words we are programed to react to such situations as potential threats. You can see how the above theory works in this situation. Clearly the risks of reacting to a non-threat situation as if it were real are low, but the risk of not reacting to a real threat situation are very high.
The problem - As Mr. Shermer points out - is that we are not very good at figuring these probabilities so our tendency to see all sorts of weird patterns in non-meaningful data is usually a harmless low-cost artifact of our evolved need to detect and react to non-weird patterns. So keep on looking for UFO's and messages in tea leaves. For the most part it won't hurt anyone, but don't quit your day job.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Auto Industry Dilemma
When is a "bailout" not a bailout? When it isn't. The choice of the loaded word "bailout" to describe the recent $700B TARP legislation and now being used in the context of the US auto industry travails is both unfortunate and inaccurate.
First a few facts. As previously explained in this blog we got into this mess because the dems in congress and their activist legal pit bulls cajoled and threatened banks to lend money to people who couldn't afford it to buy houses. Then they compounded the problem by strong arming Frannie and Freddie into guaranteeing those loans so that they could be packaged and sold as high quality investments. This whole house of cards was working fine until the housing bubble popped and folks who had no business being in homes they couldn't afford in the first place were under water and facing higher interest rates as their "teaser" mortgage rates began to reset to market values.
If this weren't bad enough a few "too clever for their own good" insurance industry types created the Credit Default Swap (CDS) product which basically became a naked short vehicle for investors to bet that there would be a higher than normal default rate. This proved to be like throwing gasoline on a fire. The result is history.
So when the media and some in congress referred to the TARP as a Wall Street bailout they were flat out wrong and in some cases purposely disingenuous. The TARP was absolutely necessary to protect Main Street from a complete lock up of the credit markets. Furthermore the way the TARP funds have been used to date is anything but a taxpayer funded bailout of the financial industry. The TARP funds have been used to purchase preferred stock in banks and other financial institutions. These purchases are time bound with respect to when they have to be liquidated and the taxpayers made whole, and in the meantime Joe and Jane taxpayer get to earn a very nice interest rate to boot. Not a bad deal for anyone.
Now to the auto industry discussion. There are people out there that just have it in for Detroit. I am not sure why but just as inexplicable as the left's hatred of Bush there are people who perceive the US auto industry as venal, corrupt and incapable of producing a quality product. I'm not saying the execs in the US industry are angels but let's face it, the real problem with the US auto industry is the legacy of the gold plated union contracts that were cut back in the 50's when the US auto industry was the only game in town. And as far as quality is concerned, I have owned both Ford and GM products for the last 16 years and I would match their quality with any of the foreign competition. The fact is that public perception of the quality of US manufacturers is a decade or more behind the reality. Now this is a legacy that the auto makers have to take ownership of because of all the crap cars they produced in the 70's and 80's. Trust lost is very hard to regain.
The US needs a strong domestically owned auto industry. It's not just jobs but also technology development and manufacturing process improvements. Furthermore once again whatever package is ultimately approved by congress it will not be a "bailout." It will have all kind of hooks to ensure that the taxpayers are repaid (remember we did this once before with Chrysler on Lee Iacoca's watch) and that executive compensation is moderate. My only concern at this point is that in pandering to the enviro-nazi movement the democratic controlled congress may try to dictate products that must be built rather than letting consumers drive that decision.
Bottom line - I am for helping the US auto industry through this trying and temporary situation and I hope you are too.
First a few facts. As previously explained in this blog we got into this mess because the dems in congress and their activist legal pit bulls cajoled and threatened banks to lend money to people who couldn't afford it to buy houses. Then they compounded the problem by strong arming Frannie and Freddie into guaranteeing those loans so that they could be packaged and sold as high quality investments. This whole house of cards was working fine until the housing bubble popped and folks who had no business being in homes they couldn't afford in the first place were under water and facing higher interest rates as their "teaser" mortgage rates began to reset to market values.
If this weren't bad enough a few "too clever for their own good" insurance industry types created the Credit Default Swap (CDS) product which basically became a naked short vehicle for investors to bet that there would be a higher than normal default rate. This proved to be like throwing gasoline on a fire. The result is history.
So when the media and some in congress referred to the TARP as a Wall Street bailout they were flat out wrong and in some cases purposely disingenuous. The TARP was absolutely necessary to protect Main Street from a complete lock up of the credit markets. Furthermore the way the TARP funds have been used to date is anything but a taxpayer funded bailout of the financial industry. The TARP funds have been used to purchase preferred stock in banks and other financial institutions. These purchases are time bound with respect to when they have to be liquidated and the taxpayers made whole, and in the meantime Joe and Jane taxpayer get to earn a very nice interest rate to boot. Not a bad deal for anyone.
Now to the auto industry discussion. There are people out there that just have it in for Detroit. I am not sure why but just as inexplicable as the left's hatred of Bush there are people who perceive the US auto industry as venal, corrupt and incapable of producing a quality product. I'm not saying the execs in the US industry are angels but let's face it, the real problem with the US auto industry is the legacy of the gold plated union contracts that were cut back in the 50's when the US auto industry was the only game in town. And as far as quality is concerned, I have owned both Ford and GM products for the last 16 years and I would match their quality with any of the foreign competition. The fact is that public perception of the quality of US manufacturers is a decade or more behind the reality. Now this is a legacy that the auto makers have to take ownership of because of all the crap cars they produced in the 70's and 80's. Trust lost is very hard to regain.
The US needs a strong domestically owned auto industry. It's not just jobs but also technology development and manufacturing process improvements. Furthermore once again whatever package is ultimately approved by congress it will not be a "bailout." It will have all kind of hooks to ensure that the taxpayers are repaid (remember we did this once before with Chrysler on Lee Iacoca's watch) and that executive compensation is moderate. My only concern at this point is that in pandering to the enviro-nazi movement the democratic controlled congress may try to dictate products that must be built rather than letting consumers drive that decision.
Bottom line - I am for helping the US auto industry through this trying and temporary situation and I hope you are too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
