Posts Tagged ‘congress’
Bailout Cop: TARP’s Not Working
I am actually disappointed at this one; but, not surprised. Besides, the word ‘tarp’ gives me a vision of an older trailer home that has a leaky roof and the occupants have simply put a blue tarp over the roof to ‘temporarily’ stop the leak until they can get it permanently fixed. The problem with that is: it has been several years now since they were going to fix the problem and the tarp is now all frayed and the roof is beginning to leak again!
Pay close attention to typical government spin on this one. In particular this telling quote:
There was at least one bit of good news from Barofsky’s latest report however. He acknowledged that while the ultimate cost will still be “substantial” for American taxpayers, it will be less than originally estimated….TARP will ultimately cost taxpayers approximately $159 billion.
Gee, that’s great! Out of over $700 billion invested we will only experience a $159 billion loss! I don’t for the life of me see why we are so upset at the prospect of the government running our health care system with this kind of ‘return on their investment’ track record?!
Here’s the link to the whole story:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/31/news/companies/tarp_report/
Once again a glaring example of the foxes guarding the chicken house!
Again?!
It seems now that Obama is president, he has a new take on increasing the debt load on our children and grandchildren. He has requested Congress to raise the debt ceiling before October in order to avoid the government going into default on its debt load. Here is the article link with some quotes first:
The Senate must move legislation to raise the federal debt limit beyond $12.1 trillion by mid-October, a move viewed as necessary despite protests about the record levels of red ink.
The move will highlight the nation’s record debt, which has been central to Republican attacks against Democratic congressional leaders and President Barack Obama. The year’s deficit is expected to hit a record $1.6 trillion.
When he was the junior senator from Illinois, he had a different take on the matter of debt:
Obama said in a 2006 floor speech that preceded a Senate vote to extend the debt limit. “America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.”
Obama later joined his Democratic colleagues in voting en bloc against raising the debt increase.
No matter what, it is clear that the debt ceiling will need to be raised again next year!
Should the Senate follow the House’s lead and set the new debt limit at $13 trillion, lawmakers would probably have to raise the limit again next year, when the Obama administration expects to run a $1.5 trillion deficit.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/57493-senate-must-raise-debt-ceiling-above-12t
This goes along with Joe Biden’s quote very nicely:
“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that’s what I’m telling you.”
Reminds me of the couple who found an item they were looking for that was 50% off and, after the purchase, reasoned that they actually got it for free because, instead of paying $200 they only paid $100 and, since they saved $100…We are in soooo much trouble!
Shakedown Congress Style
Here is a link to Ms Underestimated with video from Neil Cavuto addressing the outrageous letter sent out to insurers of health care coverage “requesting” they open their financial books to congressional scrutiny, to determine whether they have overstepped their compensation expenditures. In other words, Congressional thugs want to have final say as to how much employees are worth, regardless of what their employers might think!
To whet your appetite, here is an idea of what is in letter:
By Sept. 4, the firms are supposed to supply detailed compensation data for board members and top executives, as well as a “table listing all conferences, retreats, or other events held outside company facilities from January 1, 2007, to the present that were paid for, reimbursed, or subsidized in whole or in part by your company.”
For employees or officers making $500,000 or more, the committee wants information on salary, bonus, options and pension.
And by Sept. 14, the firms are supposed to provide copies of reports from compensation consultants, plus board drafts of compensation plans and information about market share.
If you want to read the letter in its entirety, when you click on the link and go to the story, there is a link within the story that will take you to the letter.
This is nothing short of a Jesse Jackson style shakedown and I hope the response is similar to the one Neil recommends. We have to treat this like we would a loved one who is an alcoholic and take away that which is making these elected representatives of ours drunk with power, either by exposing their overstepping of the very Constitution they are supposed to uphold or, if that fails, remember all this come 2010 and throw the bums out!