THE BAILOUT

aka:

POLITICAL THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

I have heard endless discussions on the pros and cons of the financial bail out. Everybody seems to have at least one opinion as to why, how much or when. There is a multitude of catch phrases, buzz words and protracted ideological musings making their way through Americana that attempt to condemn or support this latest "entitlement" program. I have not the background nor the intellectual capacity required to dissect this tumultuous can of worms. However, like the rest of us I have an opinion supported by facts that may shed a new light on this “PROFOUND POLITICAL THEATRE”.

From a prima fascia standpoint I find a number of flaws in this bailout. First and foremost, where the hell is this money coming from? America is currently in debt to the tune of eleven trillion dollars (not to be confused w/the federal deficit). This represents the combined indebtedness of intra-governmental holdings coupled with debt held by the public. Our government is broke. The only way that this bailout can get off the ground is by printing more money. Since America has been off of the gold standard since 1933 there is absolutely nothing that guarantees the worthiness of the dollar. The projected cost of this bail out is expected to reach as high as four trillion dollars in the next four years. When the theoretical economics of this plan catch up with practical application, look out America. There will be double digit inflation, double digit unemployment and double digit interest rates. I don’t care whose rules of economics you apply be it Obama-nomics or those of noted Harvard economics professor Kenneth Rogoff. We are in a recession and the bill for this government giveaway is going to come due sooner or later, but rest assured that it will come due.

Secondly, a large part of the government’s plan to jump start this floundering economy is with a multitude of public works projects. I know this sounds exciting and has that sacrosanct FDR ring to it. Delightful visions of “New Deal” politics and programs like the WPA, TVA and the NRA (National Recovery Administration) come dancing through one’s mind. This is music to the ears of the beltway politicians. To invoke and administer the ideals of the grand daddy of entitlement programs is an honor indeed. There is one small flaw to this logic other than paying for these projects. There is a federal law called the Davis Bacon Act of 1931 that is a United States federal law which established the requirement for paying prevailing wages on public works projects. How does this affect the application of bailout funds you ask? This law requires non-union contractors working on public works projects to pay the “prevailing union scale” to all employees. It is nearly impossible for a small company, much less a start-up company, to qualify. For small companies to get bonded for a public works project is next to impossible these days. The only people that are going to benefit from these public works projects are well established larger contractors. As usual, the little guy gets left out in the cold. However, this does allow the politicians to funnel money to their union constituency. Only 12% of American companies are unionized with 5% of that being government unions. The Democrats have always had the union leaders in their pocket and still do. In essence, only a very small percentage of the American work force is going to profit. The “trickle down” from this stimulus package is negligible at best.

let’s talk about Detroit and the Big 3. The Detroit bailout has taken center stage for the past six months. Nancy Pelosi and her traveling troupe of jesters have harangued this issue to death. The highlight of this sitcom came when the Big 3 CEO’s were harshly criticized for their reckless use of personal jets to fly from Detroit to Washington DC. However, with our country buried in red ink, Nancy Pelosi has no problem flying from Washington, DC to her home in California in a USAF C-40A (see picture) on an almost weekly basis.

The C-40, described by the Air Force as: “An office in the sky w/beds, two galleys and business type seating”. The plane is equipped the most sophisticated electronics and avionics available. This way she may stay in constant touch with the White House. She’s not even in touch with her own constituency for crying out loud! The expense to the taxpayer for this “fringe benefit” is $60 thousand one way or an annual expense of $6 million. This is, however, justified by the fact that the government feels that this type of security and convenience is appropriate for the leading lady of this farcical comedy. Give me a break! We are constantly faced with this political elitism that smacks of a dual standard of conduct that is so far gone awry that no amount of recalibration will ever right the ship of state. The government is picking our pockets with both hands. This is the only way they can prop up corrupt financial institutions who should have never survived in the free market in the first place. However, I digress. Back to the Big 3 and the purported bailout.

If you really think that our government’s intention is to bail out the car companies, you are either delusional, uninformed or both. Let me make this very clear to everyone. The government is not bailing out the Big 3; they are bailing out Ron Gettelfinger and the United Auto Workers (UAW). This is an absolute no brainer. The UAW has approximately 500,000 active members and 575,000 retired members. Negotiating for overly generous health benefits for union members has aided and abetted the decline of the auto industry. The “Big Three” collectively spent almost $10 billion on health insurance in 2002 and $12 billion in 2008, yet UAW has heedlessly continued to waste money. Big governments’ primary concern is not the Big 3. The health of Ford, Chrysler and GM is a by-product of the UAW bailout. The beltway bandits are only concerned with the 1 million+ votes the UAW represents, nothing more, nothing less. If this union was allowed to go bankrupt, the votes the Democrats’ stand to lose in the future is astronomical. Michigan would probably never again vote Democratic.

Ron Gettelfinger has a base pay of approximately $160 thousand a year. With the perks he enjoys such as meals, travel, lodging and his staff of goons, thugs and advisors, some people speculate that the job may be worth close to $8 million a year! Now couple these trivial incidental dollars to the fact that the UAW has built a luxurious “private members only” country club at their members’ expense: http://www.blacklake.com/ This place has a full sized gym, two basketball courts, an Olympic sized pool, sauna/steam rooms, billiard tables and on and on ad nauseum. This extravagant, palatial country club was built with sweat equity of the membership. How many do you think will ever get a chance to play there? Never a mention of this by the congressional interrogators who slammed the Big 3 CEOs’ for their irresponsible business practices.

I am not anti union nor am I anti big business. However, there is so much underhanded politics going on “in front” of the scenes that to conger up what goes on behind the scenes is truly frightening. We have been sold a bill of goods by our leaders in Washington, Democrats and Republicans alike. There must be a moral accounting, a true reconciliation of fiscal responsibility and economic integrity. It is time for us all to step up and be counted. Even a short email to your representative is better than NOTHING! Tell them you want an honest and impartial disclosure of your tax dollars. The operative word there is yours by the way. If there is any question on whom or how to contact your elected player in this comedy of errors, here is the link:
http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

Those decade old anthems of the 60's ring now, truer than ever:

"POWER TO THE PEOPLE" & "QUESTION AUTHORITY"