4/29/2009
Back to The Remaking of America: Daily Log
A New Era of Responsibility
Democrats in Congress gave final approval to their $3.5 trillion budget plan for 2010 without any Republican support.
"Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account—to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day—because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
– President Barack Obama
Potential corruption in the budget:
ACORN
ACORN has received $53 million in federal funds since 1994. Now, despite being under investigation for voter registration fraud in a dozen states, the 2010 federal budget contains $5.5 billion that ACORN is eligible to receive. That is in addition to the $3 billion that ACORN is eligible to receive from the economic stimulus bill enacted in February, bringing the potential total for 2009 to $8.5 billion.
Obama has had ties to ACORN for years, having provided legal representation, leadership training, and campaign finance funds to ACORN. During his 2008 campaign, Obama made it clear that ACORN would help shape the agenda for his administration.
If you search the budget for "ACORN", you will not find it, but...
* The $47.5 billion Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget provides $1 billion for an affordable housing trust fund.
* $4.5 billion in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) funds can be funneled to ACORN indirectly. CDBG allows local politicians to use federal dollars on local projects that they wouldn't dream of spending their own local tax dollars on.
ACORN Sources:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/special-editorial-reports/ACORN-got-53-million-in-federal-funds-since-94-now-eligible-for-up-to-8-billion-more-44406217.html
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/05/06/acorn-could-be-eligible-for-85
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI
http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2009/04/obama-ties-to-acorn-grow-stronger-involves-acorn-in-census/
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Day 101 - Chrysler Files Bankruptcy
4/30/2009
Back to The Remaking of America: Daily Log
After having already received $4 billion in bailout money from taxpayers, Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (which it should have been forced to do in the first place), after debt-restructuring talks collapsed.
The Obama administration had pre-“negotiated” deals with the majority of the stakeholders. However, the judgements that Obama attempted to impose are not necessarily in the best interest of the business, and are definitely not in the best interest of many investors. Obama appeased his labor supporters by giving the majority share of Chrysler (55%) to the United Auto Workers union retiree health fund. While Cerberus Capital Management, which struck a $7.4 billion deal to buy control of Chrysler two years ago, will lose ALL of its equity in the company.
Obama praised the large banks that hold most of the Chrysler debt and supported his plan. But of course, the big banks (JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs) are also recipients of billions of taxpayer dollars and have a strong interest in playing nice with Obama. Obama also publicly denounced the 20 smaller lenders that refused to take the deal (which would have returned only a third of their investment), in yet another political attack on private businesses.
The U.S. government has plans to provide at least $8.08 billion in additional financing to Chrysler. So, the pressure to restructure efficiently and become more profitable, which is normally placed on companies in bankruptcy, has been limited by the government’s involvement. The U.S. government owns 8% of Chrysler, and as part of Chrysler's bankruptcy filing, the government has the right to appoint four directors to Chrysler's board, further solidifying the government’s role in this once private business.
Sources:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=anOtOhu3yDyU&refer=news
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/04/21/2009-04-21_more_money_please_general_motors_and_chrysler.html
http://www.sacbee.com/341/story/1825237.html
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/01052009/323/factbox-u-s-bailout-money.html
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed040209a.cfm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124139467875781705.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124113484242375207.html
Back to The Remaking of America: Daily Log
After having already received $4 billion in bailout money from taxpayers, Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (which it should have been forced to do in the first place), after debt-restructuring talks collapsed.
The Obama administration had pre-“negotiated” deals with the majority of the stakeholders. However, the judgements that Obama attempted to impose are not necessarily in the best interest of the business, and are definitely not in the best interest of many investors. Obama appeased his labor supporters by giving the majority share of Chrysler (55%) to the United Auto Workers union retiree health fund. While Cerberus Capital Management, which struck a $7.4 billion deal to buy control of Chrysler two years ago, will lose ALL of its equity in the company.
Obama praised the large banks that hold most of the Chrysler debt and supported his plan. But of course, the big banks (JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs) are also recipients of billions of taxpayer dollars and have a strong interest in playing nice with Obama. Obama also publicly denounced the 20 smaller lenders that refused to take the deal (which would have returned only a third of their investment), in yet another political attack on private businesses.
The U.S. government has plans to provide at least $8.08 billion in additional financing to Chrysler. So, the pressure to restructure efficiently and become more profitable, which is normally placed on companies in bankruptcy, has been limited by the government’s involvement. The U.S. government owns 8% of Chrysler, and as part of Chrysler's bankruptcy filing, the government has the right to appoint four directors to Chrysler's board, further solidifying the government’s role in this once private business.
Sources:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=anOtOhu3yDyU&refer=news
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/04/21/2009-04-21_more_money_please_general_motors_and_chrysler.html
http://www.sacbee.com/341/story/1825237.html
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/01052009/323/factbox-u-s-bailout-money.html
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed040209a.cfm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124139467875781705.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124113484242375207.html
The Remaking of America: Daily Log
1/20/2009 - Day 1
Inauguration Day. "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America." OK. Here goes...
1/21/2009 - Day 2
Obama signs a presidential executive order limiting lobbyists' influence on his administration. He then promptly hires at least a dozen former lobbyists for top jobs in his administration.
1/26/2009 - Day 7
Timothy Geithner is sworn in as the nation's new treasury secretary. A man who cannot use TurboTax properly is now in charge of the IRS.
2/23/2009 - Day 35
Obama announces his intention to cut the massive federal budget deficit in half by the end of his four-year term. Of course, he's going to increase it by 4 TIMES in 2009 -- from $459 billion to $1,845 billion -- so it shouldn't be hard to cut that amount in half in 4 years.
3/3/2009 - Day 43
Obama snubs our greatest ally, Great Britain, by canceling the traditional joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown because he is "too tired".
3/5/2009 - Day 45
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown presents President Obama with: a pen holder carved from the timbers of HMS Gannett, a sister ship of HMS Resolute, the commissioning certificate of HMS Resolute, and a seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill. In return, the Prime Minister gets 25 DVDS, which don't work in Britain.
3/11/2009 - Day 51
Obama criticizes pork barrel spending in the form of "earmarks", and then signs the $410 billion omnibus spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them. Notable among them are $155.9 million worth of projects that six members of the Obama administration had inserted into the bill last year.
4/1/2009 - Day 72
Obama breeches protocol and bows in a deferential gesture to the king of Saudi Arabia.
4/7/2009 - Day 78
The Department of Homeland Security releases a "right-wing extremism" memo that points to a potential threat from returning war veterans, abortion opponents, gun-rights advocates, and supporters of third-party candidates, among others. I'm expecting DHS to show up at my door any day.
4/18/2009 - Day 89
Obama shakes hands with Venezuela’s Communist leader, Hugo Chavez, and receives an insulting "gift" Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent.
4/20/2009 - Day 91
Obama promises to cut a whopping $100 million from his 2010 budget proposal. The Congressional Budget Office projects Obama's budget will create a 2010 deficit of $1,379,000,000,000, so the cut should leave us in the red for only about $1,378,900,000,000 of 2010 spending. What a relief!
Source:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/100xx/doc10014/selected_tables.xls (March 2009)
4/27/2009 - Day 98
The Air Force One backup plane causes a panic when it flies low over NYC escorted by two F-16 fighters. Head of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, approved the flyover for a photo-op that cost taxpayers $328,835. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tells a reporter to "ask the White House about it." Huh?
4/29/2009 - Day 100
Obama's 2010 budget approved (potential corruption)
4/30/2009 - Day 101
Chrysler files bankruptcy after receiving bailouts
5/7/2009 - Day 108
Budget cuts: Take 2
White House budget chief Peter Orszag announces that $17 billion will be cut from his 2010 budget proposal. The cuts would involve 121 programs, half of which are defense related.
The Obama administration had projected a $1,171,000,000,000 deficit for 2010, so the cut should leave us in the red for only about $1,154,000,000,000 of 2010 spending, according to the administration. Again... What a relief!
So, the debt will still increase by $1,154,000,000,000, plus interest, of course.
Source:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.4292ad3a1989e9a21136c0c51cdca897.21&show_article=1
Inauguration Day. "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America." OK. Here goes...
1/21/2009 - Day 2
Obama signs a presidential executive order limiting lobbyists' influence on his administration. He then promptly hires at least a dozen former lobbyists for top jobs in his administration.
1/26/2009 - Day 7
Timothy Geithner is sworn in as the nation's new treasury secretary. A man who cannot use TurboTax properly is now in charge of the IRS.
2/23/2009 - Day 35
Obama announces his intention to cut the massive federal budget deficit in half by the end of his four-year term. Of course, he's going to increase it by 4 TIMES in 2009 -- from $459 billion to $1,845 billion -- so it shouldn't be hard to cut that amount in half in 4 years.
3/3/2009 - Day 43
Obama snubs our greatest ally, Great Britain, by canceling the traditional joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown because he is "too tired".
3/5/2009 - Day 45
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown presents President Obama with: a pen holder carved from the timbers of HMS Gannett, a sister ship of HMS Resolute, the commissioning certificate of HMS Resolute, and a seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill. In return, the Prime Minister gets 25 DVDS, which don't work in Britain.
3/11/2009 - Day 51
Obama criticizes pork barrel spending in the form of "earmarks", and then signs the $410 billion omnibus spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them. Notable among them are $155.9 million worth of projects that six members of the Obama administration had inserted into the bill last year.
4/1/2009 - Day 72
Obama breeches protocol and bows in a deferential gesture to the king of Saudi Arabia.
4/7/2009 - Day 78
The Department of Homeland Security releases a "right-wing extremism" memo that points to a potential threat from returning war veterans, abortion opponents, gun-rights advocates, and supporters of third-party candidates, among others. I'm expecting DHS to show up at my door any day.
4/18/2009 - Day 89
Obama shakes hands with Venezuela’s Communist leader, Hugo Chavez, and receives an insulting "gift" Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent.
4/20/2009 - Day 91
Obama promises to cut a whopping $100 million from his 2010 budget proposal. The Congressional Budget Office projects Obama's budget will create a 2010 deficit of $1,379,000,000,000, so the cut should leave us in the red for only about $1,378,900,000,000 of 2010 spending. What a relief!
Source:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/100xx/doc10014/selected_tables.xls (March 2009)
4/27/2009 - Day 98
The Air Force One backup plane causes a panic when it flies low over NYC escorted by two F-16 fighters. Head of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, approved the flyover for a photo-op that cost taxpayers $328,835. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tells a reporter to "ask the White House about it." Huh?
4/29/2009 - Day 100
Obama's 2010 budget approved (potential corruption)
4/30/2009 - Day 101
Chrysler files bankruptcy after receiving bailouts
5/7/2009 - Day 108
Budget cuts: Take 2
White House budget chief Peter Orszag announces that $17 billion will be cut from his 2010 budget proposal. The cuts would involve 121 programs, half of which are defense related.
The Obama administration had projected a $1,171,000,000,000 deficit for 2010, so the cut should leave us in the red for only about $1,154,000,000,000 of 2010 spending, according to the administration. Again... What a relief!
So, the debt will still increase by $1,154,000,000,000, plus interest, of course.
Source:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.4292ad3a1989e9a21136c0c51cdca897.21&show_article=1
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