Gov. Rick Perry, Hypocrite?

At the beginning of this entire stimulus bill situation, Gov. Rick Perry criticized the federal stimulus bill saying "they should stimulate the economy with something that actually works: tax cuts." He wrote a letter to President Obama stating, “I continue to believe that the best way to stimulate the economy is the approach we are taking here in Texas...low taxes, controlled government spending and a predictable regulatory climate."
So now that the bill has passed through the house and the senate, then signed by Obama, Gov. Rick Perry is now asking the White House for Texas’ cut of the federal stimulus bill. Gov. Perry stated that the money will be used to promote economic growth and create jobs. So much for doing it the Texas way and sticking with, CONTROLLED GOVERNMENT SPENDING.

Police State!

I too agree with Steven Le, the government needs to halt all warrantless wiretappings. The government has already invaded our privacy, who knows what else they’ll do in the near future. I believe that the government shouldn’t be allowed to touch, see, or hear anything that we do in our own privacy. The government needs to act on a more “legal/moral” for surveillance on the American people. I highly agree with Steven when he says “we should spend more money to find another route that doesn’t violate certain rights of the people otherwise it would create chaos within the nation.” Why not spend more money on things like this instead of stupid bailouts.
I too agree with Steven when he mentions, “ I don't mind if the government is putting surveillance cameras up at street lights and department stores because I believe that is for a good cause,” but who knows if the government will go overboard and install cameras everywhere monitoring each and everyone of us 24/7. I already dislike the fact that they are starting to talk about a National ID with chips built insides that can track each and everyone of us.
“If the government believes warrantless wiretapping is fine by any means, there's no telling what they are going to do next. Before you know it, we won't have any privacy whatsoever. I believe something needs to be done before it gets out of hand.” Who knows maybe the next thing they’ll do is take away the 2nd amendment.

Another Bailout?!!??

So here we are again. Once again, a massive bailout is in the works for the 3 major automakers of the US, GM, Ford. and Chrysler. Again the public is against the bailout but even though I don’t support bailouts, I think this one is needed. Lets face the facts here, they make crappy cars that no one wants to drive, the UAW is raping them, and their business model is set up for failure. I feel that if we don’t bail them out, we might end up having to bailout the entire state of Michigan. I don't think people quite realize how big of a shockwave to the economy it would be if the automakers went bankrupt. If you think the Job losses currently this year were bad, wait till GM files bankruptcy. To give a feel for how much jobs would be lost, here is an excerpt from one of my emails my friend sent me, “every job at GM accounts for approximately 8000-10000 jobs worldwide. According to Standard and Poors, GM currently has 266,000 employees worldwide. Do the math. Granted not everyone would lose their job unless chapter 7 bankruptcy is filed, but I will guarantee you a whole hell of a lot of people will be layed off in a chapter 11.”
These companies didn't just magically fail, they have been failing for a while. I think in order for them to receive a bailout they need to be totally restructured. Somewhere along the lines like Toyota who is the number one auto seller and is doing very successful despite a weak economy.

Hooray for 700 Billion Dollar Payday!

Are we bailing out CEOs? Im going to have to agree with Brian and say, yes we are. He mentions “
Banks are notorious for their generous annual bonuses paid out to their CEOs and other top advisers. This bonus is thousands of times larger than the average annual American income and is on top of their overly bloated salary.” On top of that some of the bailout money was funding vacations and lavish “business meetings” that cost almost 300,000. The money spent doesn’t seem like a bailout to me, It seems like a huge bonus/payday for these CEOs.
Brian also mentions “Why do CEOs of failing banks continue to be hoisted to their relaxed and cushioned seats at a steep cost to the taxpayer? Should we reward these obese fat cats of failing businesses for running their corporation into the ground?” I say its cause the American government rewards failure.
Also here is some food for thought. The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

We Are Doomed :(

As I start to grow and get more into politics and this election, my eyes have started to open on things. I think both these candidates are not worthy enough nor have the experience to be President. I also think Bush was a terrible president also. These men seem like they are just puppets and it’s the guys behind them that actually run this government. Obama and McCain are not the ones to vote for in my opinion. The one and only thing we need to do on Election Day is not vote for Obama and McCain but write in Ron Paul. If you want to vote and make a difference for the better of our country, you shouldn’t vote for these two clowns. If you actually look into Obama’s tax plan, it’s socialist. Same applies for McCain when a girl asks why her father, a doctor, should pay more because he makes more and McCain replies that, "once you reach a certain level of comfort, you can afford it". We are forced to pick the lesser of the two evils. Instead of picking them we should write in, Ron Paul, who would get things done.
We are forced to live in a country where the majority of voters (a.k.a. majority of the nation's citizens) make uninformed decisions which consequently leads to a major race between two of the highest funded puppets. The country is turning into a hole of uniformed people. They would rather have the media tell them who is good/bad vs. getting off their ass and doing some research on their own. No one wants to think for themselves anymore.

I'VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE

So I’m going through these blogs and found a interesting one by Steve Benen off the Washington Monthly. What stood out was the line “I got nothing to lose.” It has to do with Sarah Palin and her interview with Rush Limbaugh. First she was asked why she is more aggressive then John McCain and she responds, "Rush, I've got nothing to lose in this and I think America's got everything to gain by understanding the differences, the contrasts here between Obama and McCain." Another thing Steve brings up about Sarah Palin is that she likes to talk a lot on things that she knows nothing about. This reminded me of her first televised interview where she couldn’t answer anything. Benen had to say this, “It seems even stranger than someone would talk to a national audience about voter fraud without knowing what it is, but that's Palin for you.” And I have to completely agree with what he said about her. He also brought up the fact that the McCain is trying to keep Palin more hidden by having her, “talk to anyone but sycophantic conservatives.”
The last and final thing brought up in his blog was the fact that “Palin is right about not having anything to lose. If McCain comes up short in three weeks, she returns to her day job in Alaska, and she remains the darling of unhinged right-wing activists everywhere.” He says she can say whatever she wants from now to election. He also says “It's tempting to think the governor does have something to lose -- her credibility, her dignity, her sense of decency, her honor -- but we are talking about Sarah Palin. After watching her conduct over the course of this campaign, serious observers know she lost these qualities a while ago.”
I completely agree with Steve Benen and I too think Sarah Palin is dumb. I don’t see how Sarah Palin lost these “qualities” when she had none to begin with. What exactly has she lost? She's been like this since before her political career began.

Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer

The financial situation we are in right now was created by the government and the government wants to try and "fix" this problem. A vast majority of Americans have decided to speak up (finally), and finally decided to put it out there that the American people are against the bailout plan. Economist Jeffrey Miron says the bailout plan presented to Congress was the wrong situation presented to Congress. He believes that, “The fact that government bears such a huge responsibility for the current mess means any response should eliminate the conditions that created this situation in the first place, not attempt to fix bad government with more government.” I totally agree with this, sounds to me from what I’ve heard, what the government is doing and planning to do sounds very socialist if you ask me. He believes that the troubled financial institutions should declare bankruptcy and I agree. After all, this is a free open market so we should let these companies run their course they have chosen without government interference. Bankruptcy isn’t such a bad idea after I read what Jeffrey Miron had to say. He says it best when he tells it like this, “Bankruptcy does not mean the company disappears; it is just owned by someone new (as has occurred with several airlines). Bankruptcy punishes those who took excessive risks while preserving those aspects of businesses that remain profitable.” There is a lot more to it and I think you should take a look at the article yourself.
Economist Jeffrey Miron isn’t just speaking out of his you know what. I think he makes valid points and the thing he says makes sense. He is s senior lecturer in economics at Harvard University, so that’s got to mean something.