David Pleasant

Good Lord. Gregory Levey, in a Newsweek article, is proposing that President Obama make George W. Bush his special envoy to the Middle East. Um, the only place I propose the federal government send Mr. Bush to is the SuperMax Prison in Florence, CO.

Dear God. President Cheney wanted to turn the U.S. military on its own people, people living in the United States, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and the Posse Comitatus Act.

Top Bush administration officials in 2002 debated testing the Constitution by sending American troops into the suburbs of Buffalo to arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with Al Qaeda, according to former administration officials.

Some of the advisers to President George W. Bush, including Vice President Dick Cheney, argued that a president had the power to use the military on domestic soil to sweep up the terrorism suspects, who came to be known as the Lackawanna Six, and declare them enemy combatants.

Well now, was President Cheney contemplating attacks with Predator Drones or would people have just woken up one morning to discover tanks rolling down the streets of their neighborhood?

I’ve thought this for quite some time: the Cheney administration declared civil war on this country a long time ago. We just didn’t see it so easily because there had not been a general call to arms. Obviously the government was preparing to remove even that thinly veiled cover.

What else will we find out that Congress and President Obama intend to ignore. Remember, looking forward is what we’re supposed to do according to President Obama. Nothing to see here folks, just move along now. We’re not supposed to concern ourselves with the past. I’m not sure why The New York Times wastes their time and ink reporting such god awful stories.

Add ice, stir, and make your own jokes.

By David Horsey at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The media is all atwitter today over the notion that Democratic leaders are ”ready to provide a short-term rescue plan for American automakers,” as The New York Times reports. The Washington Post leads with “White House, Democrats Near Short-Term Deal for Automakers.”

One could easily be led to believe that George Bush and the Democrats suddenly had a Kumbaya moment — that miraculously, after eight years of George Bush’s my-way-or-the-highway policies and what’s-in-it-for-me deals, that modus operandi did not apply to this “deal.” Well, that’s simply not the case.

Yes, Congress and the White House may be on the verge of a deal, but the White House and Wall Street are most likely the big winners rather than Detroit and Main Street.

It’s simple. As currently reported, Congress will give the Big Three $14 billion, but it must take it from the $25 billion energy-related “re-engineering” legislation previously passed. In exchange for the $14 billion, which is $20 billion less than the automakers say the need, Congress must agree to give Hank Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, the $350 billion remaining from the original $700 billion bailout bill.

Seeking to end a weeks-long stalemate between the Bush administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, senior Congressional aides said that the money would most likely come from $25 billion in federally subsidized loans intended for developing fuel-efficient cars.

By breaking that impasse, the lawmakers could also clear the way for the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., to request the remaining $350 billion of the financial industry bailout fund knowing he will not get bogged down in a fight over aiding Detroit.

Voila! Hank Paulson is allowed to continue flooding Wall Street with hundreds of billions of dollars that are virtually untraceable; certainly with no accountability if history is any indicator. Yet, Democrats must reduce the approved energy-related legislation by 56 percent and attempt to reappropriate the lost funding in the 111th Congress.

Where’s the “deal” that The Washington Post so gloriously touts between the White House and Congress? There is no deal. Democrats give up $14 billion and George Bush gives up absolutely nothing. Instead, he gets everything he has demanded since he submitted his three-page piece of emergency legislation to bailout Wall Street back in September.

Who would be foolish enough not do a “deal” where they received $350 billion in that deal and consequently forced their opponents to, in essence, reduce a previously agreed to “deal” by $14 billion in order to save the largest sector of manufacturing in the country?

Whether you agree or disagree with the automakers getting a bailout, it’s hard to argue that Democrats didn’t cave in again to the bullying by the most unpopular president in history and to a Republican Party that has been virtually decimated. It’s disgraceful.

*****

I believe the automakers should receive assistance, but only because of the substantial consequences of not bailing out Detroit. Management of the Big Three has been atrocious for at least three decades, in my opinion, but if the Big Three collapse – even just one of them — the implications are dire.

This is what the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) reported in a recent study (PDF – see page four) on the potential contraction of the Big Three automakers.

We assume that domestic production by international automakers in the United States would be seriously affected by a major contraction of the Detroit Three automakers for at least a period of one year due to the high likelihood of many U.S. supplier company insolvencies. In fact, we assume in our 100 percent contraction scenario that not only does domestic production by the Detroit companies fall to zero in the first year, but that domestic production (in the U.S.) by the international producers also falls to zero. That is because we expect a major wave in supplier bankruptcies or a “supplier shock.” The collapse of a domestic market for suppliers coupled with the reality that few auto suppliers serve export markets would result in manufacturing utilization rates below 50 percent, forcing suppliers to restructure or liquidate. The scale of the contraction of the Detroit Three would overwhelm any attempt by the international producers to keep their existing suppliers in business or to find alternative suppliers, here or elsewhere. U.S. consumers would be forced to rely on only imported vehicles as a source of new vehicle purchases in the first year. [Emphasis added]

Of course that is the extreme case — failure of all three. But as CAR points out, something similar would happen if just two of the domestic automakers had a serious contraction, which is precisely the scenario presented here.

We assume essentially the same first year supplier crisis for all automakers in the United States. Production would fall about 50 percent in the first and second years for the international producers….

In all contraction scenarios, imported automotive supplies and parts prices are increased by 15 percent because of the probable disruption in the domestic supplier sector.

Late Update: I stated the amount of the bailout for the Big Three was $14 billion. Some media outlets are reporting $15 billion while others are reporting $14 billion. Who knows what the right amount is? We’ll find out soon enough, but I just wanted to note why there was a discrepancy in what I stated in my post and what is in certain press reports.

President Bush’s new home in Dallas.

Mi Casa Su Casa

 

Bush Surveys Katrina Aftermath

The economy is tanking, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke is issuing dire warnings about housing foreclosures, the Treasury Department refuses to work with Congress, Pakistan won’t cooperate with India, the war in Afghanistan is totally out of control, and according to multiple press reports, President Bush does not have a single event planned on his public schedule.

Why you might ask? He’s been busy buying his new residence in Preston Hollow, a posh neighborhood in Dallas.

The White House announced today that after the president leaves office next month, the first couple will be moving to the upscale Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas….

According to property records on file with the Dallas Central Appraisal District, the home at 10141 Daria Place has a market value of over $2 million. The 8,501 square foot, four-bedroom residence, which includes a cabana and servant’s quarters, was built in 1959 and sits on 1.13 acres.