Tag: bailout

What we should have learned from Iceland’s economic meltdown, but didn’t

Iceland is now sailing along like a Senator’s yacht while we’re headed for the rocky shore.

Iceland is a cold country with a very hot economy. Like us, it suffered a housing-related financial crisis in the Fall of 2008. Its stock market plunged, the country’s largest banks collapsed and were nationalized.

Unlike us, Iceland declined to bail out the bank bondholders (no TARPs in Iceland!)

iceland-girls
The economy isn't the only thing that's hot in Iceland (This cheesy photo and caption brought to you by IHTM)

Three years later, we’re flirting with a double dip recession and still have double-digit unemployment. And Iceland? Well, let’s hear from their Central Bank:

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Iceland has decided to raise the Bank’s interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.

…newly released data and the updated Central Bank forecast, published in Monetary Bulletin today, indicate that domestic demand and employment will grow more strongly in 2011 than was assumed in the last forecast.

“Unexpectedly” good results.

In view of the growing momentum in the domestic economy, as is described in the Bank’s updated forecast, the risk that a modest interest rate hike at the current juncture will derail the economic recovery is low…

Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama would kill for that kind of economic news, but won’t do something sensible like butting out and letting the private sector work.

Maybe because Wall St. banks donate big to Democrats and Obama (more so than to Republicans) and are really just welfare cheats in power suits.

Maybe because the collapse gave pols an excuse to create big pots of money (“The Stimulus”) and power-grabs (“Obamacare”) which became sources of goodies for their cronies and themselves.

Or maybe because just they’re idiots who can’t find their villages.

Regardless, Iceland is now sailing along like a Senator’s yacht while we’re headed for the rocky shore.

– Written by Bonfire of the Absurdities

Source: Sedlabank.is

Shell game in Detroit: Government lends Chrysler $3.5 billion so Chrysler can repay government $3.5 billion

There’s a shell game going on in Washington. They think they’re sneaky, by the con is easy to see. The government lends Chrysler $3.5 billion so Chrysler can repay government $3.5 billion

When President Obama finally leaves office, we expect him to end up working in New York. Not on Wall Street, but in Times Square. He’ll be there with a card table, challenging suckers to figure out which shell the ball is under.

While you may think this is an odd occupation for a former resident of the White House, it seems to be the one for which he is most qualified.

chrysler-obama-shell-game
Suckers continue to lose the Barack Obama shell game

The Washington Examiner has the story:

American taxpayers have already spent more than $13 billion bailing out Chrysler. The Obama administration already forgave more than $4 billion of that debt when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Taxpayers are never getting that money back. But how is Chrysler now paying off the rest of the $7.6 billion they owe the Treasury Department?

The Obama administration’s bailout agreement with Fiat gave the Italian car company a “Incremental Call Option” that allows it to buy up to 16% of Chrysler stock at a reduced price. But in order to exercise the option, Fiat had to first pay back at least $3.5 billion of its loan to the Treasury Department. But Fiat was having trouble getting private banks to lend it the money. Enter Obama Energy Secretary Steven Chu who has signaled that he will approve a fuel-efficient vehicle loan to Chrysler for … wait for it … $3.5 billion.

“Come on up, friends. It’s easy. Just keep your eye on the little ball. Tell me which shell the ball is under and you can win. Come on up.”

Source: The Washington Examiner

Nice work if you can get it: GM and Chrysler to pay bonuses equal to 50% of pay

General Motors and Chrysler, which went hat-in-hand to Washington begging for bailouts, are getting ready to cut big, fat bonus checks to their salaried employees. Some of them may add up to 50% of their annual salaries.

General Motors and Chrysler, which went hat-in-hand to Washington begging for bailouts, are getting ready to cut big, fat bonus checks to their salaried employees. Some of them may add up to 50% of their annual salaries.

gm-headquarters
An evolution: General Motors, Government Motors, Gimme Motors

Bloomberg.com has details of yet another taxpayer-funded rip-off in Motor City:

GM plans to pay bonuses to most managers equal to 15 percent to 20 percent of their annual salary and as high as 50 percent to less than 1 percent of its 26,000 U.S. salaried employees, said one of the people, who asked not to be named revealing internal plans. Bonuses for Chrysler’s 10,755 salaried workers will average about $10,000, with a small group getting as much as half of their salary, one of the people said.

The payouts come as GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor Co. prepare for contract talks this year with the United Auto Workers, which is seeking a share of the industry’s growing prosperity. Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy in 2009, is expected to pay bonuses equal to 10 percent or more of base pay to some salaried staff, said a person familiar with the plan.

“The union is going to be very angry about this,” Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, said in an interview yesterday. “If these kinds of bonuses are paid to salaried workers, then the union’s demands will increase, knowing management can’t claim an inability to pay.”

The unions are going to be angry? Screw the unions. As a result of the bailouts, they now own the damn companies. Their cushy pension plans and generous medical plans remain intact.

Far as we’re concerned, it’s the American taxpayers who deserve to be pissed.

Source: Bloomberg

New Government Motors commercial says, “Help. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up without a few billion tax dollars.”

General Motors is running a holiday commercial that pokes taxpayers in the eye by thanking them for helping the company get back up. The ad says, “Everyone falls down.” And that’s true, But, damn it, when most of us fall down, the government doesn’t rush in to give us $50 billion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr94zStsk8E

General Motors is running a holiday commercial that pokes taxpayers in the eye by thanking them for helping the company get back up.

The ad says, “Everyone falls down.” And that’s true, But, damn it, when most of us fall down, the government doesn’t rush in to give us $50 billion.

What GM should really be thanking us for is losing $9 billion on their initial public offering. And for all the stock that was given to the corrupt UAW. And the for $45 billion in unique tax credits they were awarded. And for the way the original stockholders and bondholders were screwed so that the President’s allies would profit. And for the way they were allowed to claim they had repaid the loan when they really hadn’t.

In reality, the commercial shouldn’t say, “We all fall down.” It should say, “We’ve fallen and we can’t get up without screwing the taxpayers.”

Duh! Pence tells House that Americans shouldn’t bail out Europe’s failed socialist states.

Of course, liberals will undoubtedly disagree with Republican leader Mike Pence, because they seem to think it’s the American taxpayers’ responsibility to subsidize friends, foes, strangers, aliens from other planets and even California.

Of course, liberals will undoubtedly disagree with Republican leader Mike Pence, because they seem to think it’s the American taxpayers’ responsibility to subsidize friends, foes, strangers, aliens from other planets and even California.

Here’s one of the reasons Pence 2012 bumper stickers are popping up around the country:

“Our country is weary of borrowing and spending and bailouts from Washington, D.C. so the American people deserve to know we are bailing out Greece and future Americans may be picking up the tab for as much as $50 billion in additional loan guarantees for the rest of Europe in the form of a bailout.


“Here’s how it works. The European Union’s members and the IMF recently pledged $145 billion in the Greek bailout. Forty billion dollars of that came from the International Monetary Fund. Since the United States pays 17 percent, we are the largest contributor to the IMF. American taxpayers are on the hook for $6.8 billion in loan guarantees from the IMF and it may just be a down payment.
 


“The EU this last weekend talked about a $1 trillion bailout plan that could put U.S. taxpayers on the hook for $50 billion in additional loan guarantees to bail out Europe.
 


“Look, the EU was formed to compete with the U.S.A., economically. It is simply not right to ask the people of the United States of America to provide loan guarantees to bail out an economic competitor in Europe. Nobody wants to see the EU fail, but we are not asking their help in New Jersey or California. They shouldn’t be asking our help with Portugal, Spain, or Greece.”

American taxpayers shouldn’t support Europe’s faild socialist states? Why this Pence person is obviously a right wing wacko.

Source: GOP.gov

Two Greeks and a German walk into a bar…

The Greek economy is a joke. Unfortunately, the joke’s on hard-working German taxpayers who now find themselves forced to bail out their lazy-ass EuroZone neighbors.


The Greeks will laugh and dance while the German taxpayers work and sweat.

The Greek economy is a joke. Unfortunately, the joke’s on hard-working German taxpayers who now find themselves forced to bail out their lazy-ass EuroZone neighbors.

Reuters explains how the Hellenistic economy went to hell:

Tens of thousands of unmarried or divorced daughters of civil servants collect their dead parents’ pensions, weighing on a social security system experts say will collapse in 15 years unless it is overhauled….

While the law protects civil servants from dismissal, it allows them to retire with a pension in their 40s.

Greek pension spending is expected to rise by 12 percent of gross domestic product by 2050, according to EU Commission data. That compares with an EU average of less than 3 percent of GDP…

Labour unions foiled government attempts to sell debt-ridden Olympic Airways for decades, costing Greek taxpayers millions while employees enjoyed generous benefits—their family members could fly around the world for free… Olympic was sold in 2008, but only after the state lavishly compensated or re-hired about 4,600 employees…

The state owns 74 companies, mainly utilities and transport firms, many of which are overstaffed and loss-making, the OECD says…

Hundreds of state-appointed committees employ staff though it is not clear what they all do. Greece has a committee to manage Lake Kopais, which dried out in the 1930s…

But nearly 80 percent of Defence Ministry spending goes on administrative costs and payments of army staff.

The Greek Army? Consider that the punchline to Germany’s very expensive joke.

Source: Reuters

Socialist hypocrite Michael Moore to take Michigan tax credit he strongly condemned others for taking

Moore’s most recent effort, Capitalism: A Love Story, took aim at businesses that used shelters to avoid paying taxes and took government bailouts during the market crash. The thing is, Moore used similar tactics,

In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, all pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others.

In the case of Michael Moore, some slobs are more equal than other slobs.

Moore’s most recent effort, Capitalism: A Love Story, took aim at businesses that used shelters to avoid paying taxes and took government bailouts during the market crash.

The thing is, Moore used similar tactics, taking advantage of a Michigan tax break to fund the making of his film–which raked in millions, by the way. Michigan taxpayers–already hit hard with the collapsing auto industry–were left holding the funny money bag for that one.

Maybe the taxpayers should pull together for the sequel, Socialism, a Fraud Story.

Source: Brietbart.tv

– Written by Sven Waring

Chrysler repays American taxpayers by hiring Italian ad agency

The geniuses in the Obama administration spent billions of your tax dollars to keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy. And Chrysler has repaid your “generosity” by hiring an Italian advertising agency.

The geniuses in the Obama administration spent billions of your tax dollars to keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy. And Chrysler has repaid your “generosity” by hiring an Italian advertising agency.

As if that weren’t bad enough, they fired BBDO Detroit, their long-time American ad agency, which will now be forced to lay off hundreds of employees come January.

Well, you say, surely Armando Testa has been ordered to create some hard hitting commercials designed to drive people into Chrysler dealerships. Right?

Wrong.

Advertising Age describes the situation:

“The 30-second commercial for the sleek Chrysler 300 sedan breaks today on national TV and is very similar to a Lancia commercial from a year ago calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, who has been in and out of house arrest since 1989. Although the car is shown, it is not the focus of the commercial. A version of this latest video was initially created as part of the Lancia brand’s sponsorship of the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Berlin last month. Lancia also sponsored the event a year ago, when the first Lancia spot broke.

“We produced the TV film in honor of all those who put their lives at stake in the hopes of making the world a better place,” Mr. Francois said in a prepared statement. “For Chrysler, this is a chance to use our brand image to join with others in the fight for peace and to knock down the walls that divide us. We at Chrysler believe in doing the right thing and making a difference.”

The way we interpret Francois’ comments, he’s saying that increasing sales isn’t a priority.

Any question why these morons went bankruput?

Source: Advertising Age

French government now giving away newspapers to buy loyal readers

The French government Tuesday detailed plans of a project called “My Free Newspaper,” under which 18- to 24-year-olds will be offered a free, yearlong subscription to a newspaper of their choice.

A rough translation of the headline: President Obama thinks this would be a good way to control the media
A rough translation of the headline: "President Obama thinks this would be a good way to control the media"

Earlier this year, Democrat Senator Ben Cardin introduced a bill to help struggling newspapers by allowing them to restructure as nonprofits giving them a boatload of tax breaks. Ahhh, but the French government has one-upped Cardin.

Naturally, the story is reported by the New York Times, which would, of course, be one of the primary beneficiaries if a similar plan were to be adopted in the United States:

Newspapers have tried many things to stave off a seemingly relentless decline in readers. Now France is pushing forward with a novel approach: giving away papers to young readers in an effort to turn them into regular customers.

The government Tuesday detailed plans of a project called “My Free Newspaper,” under which 18- to 24-year-olds will be offered a free, yearlong subscription to a newspaper of their choice.

“Winning back young readers is essential for the financial survival of the press, and for its civic dimension,” the culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand, said.

The project is one of a number of measures, including direct financial subsidies, announced by the government last winter, after a study of the problems facing the newspaper industry.

About 60 publications are participating in the new project. In addition to papers like Le Monde and Le Figaro, they include a variety of local publications, as well as the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times. Even L’Équipe, a popular sports daily, is taking part.

Where the hell are the Democrats on this issue? C’mon, man, we want our free newspapers. We already have our free food, free rent, free cars, and free cell phones.

It’s a right. We’re pretty sure it’s in the Constitution. Isn’t that what they meant when they talked about freedom of the press?

Source: Reuters, New York Times

Three states got 66% of bailout money, five states got 84%. How badly did your state get screwed?

Can’t wait to hear the Obama administration explain this: the top three states took home 66% of bailout dollars and the top five nearly 84% of the total, which leaves a paltry 15% to be divvied up between the remaining 45 states and territories.

bailout map

(Click to enlarge)

Can’t wait to hear the Obama administration explain why the bailout is overwhelmingly concentrated in a small handful of states.

According to the ProPublica data, a total of $476.5 billion in bailout money has been doled out so far. New York, has garnered $175 billion, more than one third of the total. Michigan walked off with $80.7 billion, North Carolina netted $56.3 billion, Virginia totaled $54.9 billion, and California picked up $34.4 billion.

(Our thanks for thesaurus.com for the assistance with the previous paragraph).

That means the top three states took home 66% of bailout dollars and the top five nearly 84% of the total, which leaves a paltry 15% to be divvied up between the remaining 45 states and territories.

That should be just enough for a road sign in your neighborhood that says, “This construction project paid for by The Greatest President In History and the generous benefactors of the Democrat-controlled Congress of the United States.”

No construction projects, mind you, but some very nice signs.

h/t: NewsMax.com

Obamanomics: Elevating the circle jerk to an art form

obamanomics, copyright IHateTheMedia.com

Bad news for American workers and taxpayers. That auto bailout isn’t quite working the way they hoped it would.

According to a leaked document, GM plans to sell Chinese-manufactured cars to American consumers as soon as 2011.

Here’s how Fox News reports it:

General Motors is currently the best-selling foreign automaker in China, and Buick is number one brand overall, part of the reason that the nameplate was saved during a recent round of cuts that included the elimination of Pontiac. As an example of the growing influence of that marketplace on the company, the interior of the upcoming replacement for the Buick LaCrosse sedan was designed at a GM studio in Shanghai.

According to the report, GM plans to sell nearly 18,000 Chinese-made vehicles in the US in 2011, with that number rising to over 50,000 by 2014.

The chart above shows exactly what a circle jerk this is.

China buys US government debt. The US government uses that money to bailout General Motors. General Motors manufactures cars in China which it then sells in the United States. Americans buy those cars which gives GM the money to pay back the government which then pays back China.

The end result: The Chinese get the jobs. The Chinese get the money. And the only thing Americans get is the shaft.

Source: Fox News via BluegrassPundit.com

Obama takes control of auto companies, Chavez tops him by taking control of oil companies

"Good work, mi amigo. How about if I take over the healthcare industry next and you take over the media."
"Good work, mi amigo. How about if I take over the healthcare industry next and you take over the media."

Please allow us to talk out loud while we try to make sense of this:

When Hugo Chavez nationalized the oil companies in Venezuela and said he was doing it for the good of the country, that’s bad. But when Barack Obama nationalized the car companies in the United States and said it was for the good of the country, that’s good.

Here’s how CNSNews.com reports events in Venezuela:

The BBC recently carried this headline: ‘Chavez seizes oil service firms.’ The article describes how the president of Venezuela “sent troops to take over companies that provide services for the oil industry.” This is the kind of stuff which used to make headlines, back in the days when it was rare for central governments to take control of private companies. But, these days it passes almost without comment. Chavez didn’t try to couch the takeover in terms of TARPs or Stimulus Packages or Stress Tests. Chavez said, “This is a revolutionary offensive.”

Oh, just imagine the laughs these two amigos will share the next time they get together.

Unfortunately, the laugh’s on us.

Source: CNSNews.com

Government bailout subsidizing Olbermann salary,
sign the petition


Left wing lunatic Ben Afleck does a perfect impression of
left wing lunatic Keith Olbermann on Saturday Night Live.

Is Keith Olbermann a hypocrite? Of course. A congenital liar? Certainly. A lunatic. Without a doubt.

That’s why we’re happy to lend our support to this internet petition objecting to his latest outrage. Click on the link at the bottom of the story to sign the petition.

Dear Mr. Olbermann,

While General Electric, the parent-company of your MSNBC network, was negotiating a $126 billion taxpayer-funded bailout, you signed a new contract raising your salary from $4 million to $7.5 million annually. You have used your show as a platform to call for the resignation of corporate executives accepting excessive bonuses on the backs of taxpayers who are picking up the tab for these atrocious bailouts, yet you yourself have no problem engaging in the same “class economic rape” that you accuse them of.

Please heed your own advice and stop accepting taxpayer money to subsidize your nightly diatribes. Resign or return the balance of your excessive raise to the U.S. Treasury.
Sincerely,

(add your signature at the link below)

Source: WorstBailoutInTheWorld.com

Associated Press thinks Michael Moore’s opinion is 2.1 times more important than Ted Nugent’s

ted_nugent1 The Associated Press makes it pretty clear where they come down politically. In fact, they couldn’t disguise it if they tried.

Take Saturday’s AP story on Detroit, for example. They asked three homegrown Detroit celebrities – Michael Moore, Ted Nugent, and Mary Wilson – about the city’s troubles.

They lead off with liberal fantasy moviemaker Moore, giving him seven paragraphs and 204 words. Yet conservative Motor City Madman Nugent merits only two paragraphs and 96 words (previous article). Even politically unannounced former Supreme Wilson tops that with four paragraphs and 104 words. The story even allowed Moore a chance to promote his new “documentary,” but mentioned no current or future projects from Nugent nor Wilson.

We’d like to propose a debate between the Moore and Nugent. A ten round debate. Mary Wilson can be the ring girl. Sell tickets. Bingo. Detroit’s financial problems are solved.

Mortgage your house. Put the money on Nugent.

We’re geniuses.

Source: Associated Press

NY Times’ Krugman turns on Obama & Geithner, rejects latest rescue plan

A breakthrough for economist Paul Krugman?
A breakthrough for economist Paul Krugman?
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy. It’s hand-wringing time in the Big Apple.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s latest bailout plan is causing a personal crisis of confidence for Paul Krugman, the New York Times’ Nobel-prize winning economist.

The plan is supposed to convince private investors to take up to $1 trillion in toxic assets off the hands of troubled banks.

“This is more than disappointing,” Krugman said in the Times. “In fact it fills me with a sense of despair.”

“It’s as if the president were determined to confirm the growing perception that he and his economic team are out of touch, that their economic vision is clouded by excessively close ties to Wall Street. And by the time Mr. Obama realizes that he needs to change course, his political capital may be gone.”

You know things are bad when we’re not pleased by anything that causes despair in Paul Krugman.

Source: New York Times

Irate Republican congressman rips Democrats over bail-out. You’ve never heard anything like it.

This is the most honest, remarkable, refreshing speech you’ve ever heard on the floor of the House of Representatives.

We’ve never heard of Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican from Michigan, until now. But we have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future.

Here’s how McCotter ends his speech:

“Here’s the sad reality of where we are today. In a time of crisis they passed the Wall Street bailout, the nightmarish prognostications of myself and others have been exceeded. Now what we find is an attempt to cover ones tracks with another bill in a time of crisis that will leave no one–no one–safe from the hand of the taxman when the politicians come to cover their tracks at your expense. The public deserves better. The public deserves transparency. We cannot fail them again.”

Anyone seen our checkbook? We’re thinking of sending a McCotter a campaign contribution. This is the kind of guy we need to keep in Washington, DC.

Source: Breitbart

Liberal Nancy Pelosi wants bailout money for liberal San Francisco Chronicle

The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle from the days when it backed America instead of expecting America to back it.
The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle from the days when it backed America instead of expecting America to back it.

There goes Nancy Pelosi again. First she wanted bail-out money to save some mice in the San Francisco wetlands. Now she wants bail-out money to save some rats in the San Francisco media.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Duh) asked Attorney General Eric Holder “to weigh the public benefit of saving The Chronicle and other papers from closure against the agency’s anti-trust mission to guard against anti-competitive behavior.”

She neglected to mention anti-competitive behavior by the government.

According to The San Francisco Gate, Pelosi’s letter said, “We must ensure that our policies enable our news organizations to survive and to engage in the news gathering and analysis that the American people expect.”

Obviously, what Pelosi meant to say is, “We must ensure that our policies enable Democrat-friendly news organizations to survive and to engage in the indoctrination and manipulation that the American people need.

Hey, wait a sec. Where’s our bail-out money? We want to pay ourselves $160,000,000 in bonuses, but there’s not quite enough in the petty cash jar.

Source: SFGate.com

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