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Next Big Collapse: The UAW?

Posted by on 24 September 2011, 3:05 am

The news is out. The UAW is in financial difficulty. Based on the reports, without major changes, the UAW could be facing bankruptcy within 5 years. From The Truth About Cars comes the news. (HT Tea Party Patriots)

What they wrote may not have been known in public. The Detroit automakers are well aware of the perilous state of the UAW. In the run-up of the contract negotiations with the UAW this summer, one automaker did what one should do before going into battle: Assess the strength or weakness of the adversary. In-house economists of a Detroit company came back with a surprising piece of intelligence: The UAW is hollowed-out and heading for disaster.
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In many ways, the UAW resembles the companies it opposed for so long. The UAW is America’s richest union. One of its biggest assets is its strike fund, which stood at $763 million at the end of 2010. If push comes to shove, a union is as strong as its strike fund. The trouble is: The UAW spends more than it takes in. Increasingly, the union has to dip into the strike fund, the Reuters report says. According to government filings, the UAW liquidated $222 million of investments from 2007 to 2009 to cover the shortfall between expenses and revenue.

In 2003, the UAW funded 1 percent of its 325.1 million dollar annual operating costs via selling assets and investments.

In 2007, the UAW funded 6.2 percent of its 327.6 million dollar annual operating costs via selling assets and investments.

In 2010, the UAW funded 22.9 percent of its 274.0 million dollar annual operating costs via selling assets and investments.

Reuters reports the UAW Labor Bureau filings are the source of the above data.

It looks like unless the UAW practices some serious Conservative austerity (like that’ll happen), it’s going to fail. It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of anti-competitive business destroyers. Bless their little hearts.
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Filed under Business, Car stuff, Culture and Society, Defecate Spending, Economics, Political Correctness, Politically Incorrect, Politics, The Treasury Vault Is EMPTY. Tagged , , ,
2 Comments

Obama Fail Of The Day

Posted by on 22 September 2011, 6:51 pm

So, Barack Obama has his “jobs” bill that is designed specifically to force all Republicans to “obstruct” it so Obama can have a talking point in an attempt to raise his abysmal and falling poll numbers. So, Obama decides what better place for a photo-op than a bridge that needs repair between the Speaker of the House’s state and the Senate Minority Leader’s state. So, Obama jets off to Cincinnati, Ohio, to tout the “shovel-ready” infrastructure spending in his “jobs” bill. And the hilarity ensues from there.

Remember the last big-spending bill that Obama touted as “shovel-ready”? That Porkulus bill that did not produce jobs and that Obama had to admit was not “shovel-ready”? Well, here’s round two. Andrew Malcom provides some of the detail in the Los Angeles Times. (I know, right? The normally sycophantic LA Slimes. HT Hot Air Headlines)

You know all those rusting bridges that President Obama wants to spend billions more dollars repairing to allegedly stimulate the economy?

He’s headed out to one today which he’s described as a “bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that’s on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America.” It is on a busy trucking route, spanning the Ohio River between Covington, Ky., and Cincinnati.

It’s the Brent Spence Bridge. It doesn’t really need repairs. It’s got decades of good life left in its steel spans. It’s just overloaded. The bridge was built to handle 85,000 cars and trucks a day, which seemed like a lot back during construction in the Nixon era.

Today, the bridge sort of handles more than 150,000 vehicles a day with frequent jam-ups.

RTWT.

The bridge doesn’t need repairs. It’s not scheduled to get the repairs it doesn’t need. A new bridge is scheduled to be built, at a cost of 3.2 billion dollars, to ease the congestion. But it’s not scheduled to start for another four years. There goes that “shovel-ready” crapola again. And the false integrity again.

Oh, and guess which state the Ohio River is in. Ohio? Wrong. Ohio’s border stops at the river’s edge. So, touting a “shovel-ready” that won’t start for another four years job to repair a bridge that isn’t in need of repairs and isn’t scheduled for repairs in a state that isn’t even responsible for repairing it is one huge compound fail.

UPDATE
Allahpundit weighs in on Obama’s dishonest campaigning in Ohio.

Here’s video of him in front of the bridge today, following Maxine Waters’s advice to “fight” by stuttering his way to class-warrior glory. Speaking of things that are crumbling: His approval’s at 39/57 in Florida, which not long ago was a swing state if you can believe it, and a new Democratic poll of 60 battleground congressional districts held by Republicans finds that 50 percent support the GOP incumbent compared to 41 percent who support a Democratic challenger — a slight increase since the midterms last year. …

Obama’s reelection campaign, which started in January, 2009, got off to a rocky start and it’s been fail after fail after fail ever since.
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Filed under 2011 Economic Stimulus/Jobs Creation Bill, 2012 Election, Absolute Total Ignoramus, Cult of Personality, Culture and Society, Defecate Spending, Demagoguery, Democratic Party, Economics, Elections, Federal Budget, Freedom from Reality, Lunacy From The Left, Obama's Destruction of America, Obama's Failures, Philosophy, Playing The Public For Fools, Political Correctness, Politically Incorrect, Politics, President Obama, Pure Unrefined Washington Bovine Feces, Stimulus Failure, the Same thing over and over., The Treasury Vault Is EMPTY, Totally Moronic. Tagged , , , , , ,
28 Comments

The Hate Surrounding Israel

Posted by on 22 September 2011, 5:36 pm

The Palestinians are trying to force UN recognition of them as a Nation. That cannot happen else Israel will indeed be faced with another war for her survival. Let’s look at some facts, shall we?

The Weekly Standard (HT Hot Air Headlines) has the logo of the “Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations” straight off their webpage, which I will not link because I don’t want to help publicize their hate-filled site.

Israeli land without Israel

Absent from the logo is any hint that Palestine consists of anything other than Arab territory. No nod is given even to the U.N.’s 1948 decision to divide the region into Jewish and Arab sectors. As for the shape of Israel by the time it was forced into waging the defensive Six Day war in 1967: irrelevant. The logo illustrates that the Palestinian bid before the U.N. for support of a unilateral declaration of statehood is disingenuous and dangerous.

There is not too much left to the imagination here: Israel is “wiped off the map.”

Matthew Knee clarifies the issue:

The root of the conflict is not that Israel currently controls the West Bank. The root of the conflict is that the Palestinians and their allies are still unwilling to accept that Israel exists at all.

Ivy League law professor William A Jacobson responds to an Atlantic article:

Obama assured the rise of Hamas? Hamas has already risen. Obama legitimated violence in the pursuit of Palestinian political goals? Have you been sleeping the last 60 years? Really, can’t The Atlantic do better than this nonsense? Bring back Andrew Sullivan, the relative voice of sanity.

The “occupation” is the cause of all the problems?. Oh wait, Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza and Gaza now is an Iranian missile base. Oh wait, the effort to drive the Jews into the sea started before the 1967 war, indeed, prior to the creation of Israel; just ask the Jews who used to live in the centuries-old Jewish community in Hebron before the 1929 Arab riots and massacre. Oh wait, Hamas does not agree to the existence of Israel. Oh wait, Abbas said just a few weeks ago he never — as in never — will accept Israel as a Jewish state.

Land for peace is risky enough; land without peace is a suicide pact.

And Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader of the West Bank who will never accept Israel as a Jewish state, has been declared to be one of the “moderate” Mohammedans in the region.

Hube, at Colossus of Rhodey (I suggest you read his article), linked to a Cal Thomas commentary surrounding this issue.

Israel — like the Jewish people for centuries — has become the fall guy for people who prefer their anti-Semitism cloaked in diplomatic niceties. The Palestinians could have peace any time they wish and probably a state, too, if they acknowledged Israel’s right to exist and practiced verbal, religious and military disarmament. One has a right to question the veracity of a people who claim they want peace, while remaining active in ideological, theological and military warfare aimed at its publicly stated objective: the eradication of the Jewish state.
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Before Israel is allowed to disappear again (as Palestinian maps and school textbooks already depict) and the Jews who survive are sent into exile (who would take them?), it is worth noting a few of the numerous contributions Israel has made to the world, compared to what the Arab-Muslim-Palestinian culture has contributed.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again denied the Holocaust ever happened on the floor of the UN today. The man who is pumping massive amounts of military grade weapons into Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza so Mohammedan Terrorists can keep murdering Israelis continues to be a Holocaust denier, believing the history is all made up by Westerners and Jew-lovers.

No, since the Reconstitution of Israel, these people have been all about wiping Israel off the map. Even before the Reconstitution of Israel, these people have been all about the genocidal eradication of the Jews.

Israel won the Sinai Peninsula in a defensive war against Egypt. Israel offered it back to Egypt in return for a Peace Treaty. Israel offered Jordan a continuous supply of water, huge amounts continuously flowing out of Israel and into Jordan, for a Peace Treaty with Jordan. Those two Middle East countries are the only two who have agreed to peace with Israel. Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza and got in return Palestinians stepping up their terrorist attacks on Israel.

As the radical Leftist commenter at Common Sense Political Thought (Perry) constantly says, don’t look at Israel; look at the other side. Well, I have looked at the other side. I have examined the histo-facts. I have examined current events. And I say it is foolhardy for anyone to require Israel to negotiate with terrorists who want nothing less than the annihilation of Israel. And until the Palestinians repent of their desire to wipe Israel off the face of the map, I say do not negotiate with the genocidal terrorists.
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Filed under Ancient History (10+ Yrs ago), Culture and Society, History, Lack Of Responsibility and Morals, Lunacy From The Left, Personal Responsibility, Philosophy, Politics, Terrorism, War Against Islamic Fascism. Tagged , , , , ,
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I worked from 0445 . . .

Posted by on 22 September 2011, 6:46 am

. . . to 2050 yesterday, so I didn’t get much work done on this site. Sorry about that.

Filed under Blogging Matters.
8 Comments

Sarah Palin Suddenly Electable?

Posted by on 21 September 2011, 4:44 am

I warned people previously about succumbing to the Abilene Paradox regarding Sarah Palin and electability. Of course, a great many have done just that. But the tables may be turning. A new poll has Sarah Palin trailing Barack Obama by a mere 5 points, with Obama under 50 percent. And she isn’t even a candidate, yet. That same poll has Rick Perry trailing Obama by 9 points, with Obama at 50 percent.

Allahpundit reports:

The Palin fans on Twitter were nudging me to post this before I’d even seen it. Now I understand why. Might be the best poll she’s had since the ’08 election.

After trailing Obama by more than 20 percentage points in polls all year, the new national survey, taken Sept. 13-14, found Palin trailing the president by just 5 points, 49-44 percent. The key reason: She now leads Obama among independents, a sharp turnaround…

By a margin of 49 percent to 36 percent, voters said they definitely plan to vote against Obama, according to the poll. Independents by 53 percent to 28 percent said they definitely plan to vote against him…

Back in March, 1980, another Republican was likewise “unelectable” — until he wasn’t. Steven Hayward has the histo-facts Democrats, mainstream media (but I repeat myself), and the Republican establishment don’t want anyone to know (or remember, for those of us old enough):

Continue reading ‘Sarah Palin Suddenly Electable?’ »

Filed under 2012 Election, Contempt for the Sake of Contempt, Crime and Punishment, Culture and Society, Democratic Party, DERANGED, Elections, Inciting Violence, Lack Of Responsibility and Morals, Lunacy From The Left, Media Bias, No Journalistic Standards, Obama's Destruction of America, Obama's Failures, Palin Derangement Syndrome, Personal Responsibility, Philosophy, Political Contempt, Political Correctness, Political corruption, Politically Incorrect, Politics, President Obama, Pure Unrefined Washington Bovine Feces, Republican Party, Republican Primary Campaign, Sarah Palin. Tagged , , ,
21 Comments

Sleight of hand

Posted by on 20 September 2011, 4:06 pm

From msnbc.com:


To rescue economy, Fed gets ready to twist and shout


By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer

After pumping $2 trillion into the system, pushing interest rates to the floor and making a bold promise to keep rates low for two years, the Federal Reserve is running out of options.

Now, with the U.S. economy flagging and the European financial system under siege, it’s time to twist and shout.

A lot more at the link, much of it describing what Fed watchers think the Federal Reserve Board will do to stimulate growth in the economy. The problem is twofold:

  1. The Fed has already used all of its “traditional” means, and is out of that kind of ammunition; and
  2. There is no shortage of capital available; there is simply not enough demand for borrowing money.

Interest rates are already in the dirt, so while the Fed may be thinking of ways to lower longer-term interest rates, if there isn’t any real, unmet demand for money, lowering interest rates even further — and at roughly 2%, there isn’t much lower you can go — doesn’t really help much, and it can hurt. If interest rates are too low, then banks don’t make any money at all on lending money, and there’s no sense in lending money at unprofitable rates, given that there’s always some risk of the loan not being repaid.

Well, maybe the Fed will come up with negative interest: you borrow a million bucks today, and only have to repay $950,000. If that’s the case, I’ll fill out my loan application today! :)

But here’s the part that concerns me the most:

As the U.S. economy falters, Europe has presented Fed officials with an even greater challenge. Last week, the U.S. central bank joined others around the world to open their “dollar windows” by offering to swap as many dollars for euros as the European banking system needs to fund its dollar-denominated loans. The U.S. banking system is believed to be relatively well ring-walled from the potential fallout of one or more European bank failures. But it’s impossible to predict just where the damage might be inflicted from another Lehman Brothers-like financial panic.

U.S. Fed officials are relying on their European counterparts of head off disaster. But the European Central Bank is badly split over how to deal with the crisis. It also has much less capital to work with then the U.S. central bank.

Translation: we are being exposed to the potential defaults of Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain. And even if they don’t default, but the euro undergoes inflation in the attempt to prevent default, we will have lost money in the exchange. As bad as our economic problems are, Europe’s are worse. As you can see here, the euro has already been losing value against the dollar, from $1.4882 per €1.00 to $1.371 to €1.00.¹

The report on CNBC:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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¹ – The actual numbers are subject to change.

Filed under Economics.
6 Comments

Could Mrs Weiner join Mr Weiner on the unemployment line?

Posted by on 19 September 2011, 9:44 pm

Thanks to Jeff Goldstein, I found this interesting article:

Anthony Weiner’s Whereabouts

By on 9.16.11 @ 11:32AM

Where was he while NY-9 was going down in flames?

Americans of a political cast of mind have focused this week on New York where Bob Turner, a Republican, was wrestling with David Weprin, a Democrat, for the seat vacated by Rep. Anthony Weiner (pronounced just as you would expect) owing to the public’s distaste for Weiner’s sending pictures of his best friend to women whom he hardly knew. Incidentally the seat has been in Democratic control since 1923. It went 54 percent to 46 percent to Mr. Turner, despite 1,000 Democratic apparatchiks hauling voters to the polls.

Yet where was Mr. Weiner during this race? Well, The American Spectator has had its investigative team following him and they report from posh Positano, Italy, along the Amalfi coast, that last week he dined with his wife Huma Abedin and a very cosmopolitan party at a very upscale restaurant, La Sponda. Mr. Weiner appeared subdued, but Huma was rather vociferous and denouncing the prudery of America to her polyglot companions. She objected to the provinciality of America, talking about the country as though this were 1924 and Anthony Comstock were burning licentious books. Apparently her dinner mates approved of her husband’s hobby. Maybe it was an international photography club for exhibitionists, though our crew reports that all were fully dressed.

More at the link. I’d like to see a second source, for verification, but the article said that it was an American Spectator “investigative team” doing the reporting, so there may be no second source. However, Huma Abedin is more than just the wife of a disgraced former congressman: she is a deputy chief of staff and aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a government employee who works for the Department of State. Just what happens, or what is supposed to happen anyway, to high-ranking State Department officials who trash their country to a foreign audience? Were I the Secretary of State, I would ask my deputy chief of staff if the report was accurate, and if it was, I would inform her that she had two hours to clean out her desk.

But I’m not the Secretary of State, and Hillary Clinton is; that means that nothing will happen.

Filed under Foreign Policy.
4 Comments

“You should pass it, right away.”

Posted by on 19 September 2011, 7:39 pm

While our good friend Perry would, quite naturally, blame the Republicans if President Obama’s American Jobs Act isn’t passed, it seems like the Senate, which is still controlled by the Democrats, isn’t in any big hurry, either:


Obama’s urgent jobs plan: Right now, ‘right now’ means sometime next month maybe

The president was in such a hurry to get this new spending going, everyone remembers, that during that address he said the phrase “right now” seven times. He didn’t actually mean right now that night because the NFL season was opening a few minutes after his remarks.

But Obama did want to show how really urgent he said the situation was, even though it had taken him 961 days as president to say them. And even though from Day #1 of the brief Obama Era polls had shown jobs and the economy were the No. 1 priority among voters but he pursued healthcare and financial reforms first. And even though unemployment had been at or above 9% for 26 of the last 28 months.

So, given the president’s professed urgency, the next day, Sept. 9, everyone asked where was his jobs legislation?

And, well, it seems the urgent jobs bill hadn’t actually been written yet but should be ready in a week or two. When the laughter died, the White House said on second thought the legislation would be ready for a photo op the next Monday.

Well, here we are on the next Monday after that next Monday and we’ve just learned from the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, that actually it seems that body won’t really be seriously getting into the legislation for a while yet. The Senate has some other more important business to handle. And then there’s this month’s congressional vacation, which in Washington is called “a recess,” like elementary school.

More at the link. According to Senator Durbin, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has put it on the calendar, but directly asked by CNN’s Candy Crowley just when the Senate would get to it, the Illinois Democrat said, “I think that’s more realistic it would be next month.”

As The Los Angeles Times’ Andrew Malcolm concluded:

Good thing the president’s own Democratic party controls the Senate. Because, otherwise, there might be some kind of silly, unnecessary delays in deliberating Obama’s urgent jobs bill that he says will surely help the nation’s unemployed millions if only those Republicans don’t connive to slow things down.

Hat tip to Gretchen for the article.

Filed under 2011 Economic Stimulus/Jobs Creation Bill.
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