Day: August 4, 2009

Cash 4 Clunkers!

I swear I look for stuff on the GOP, Repubs and conservatives that is positive….I really want to write about something positive coming from the party….but for the life of me I cannot seem to find much that is positive.  It is like the GOP cannot help itself…it just has to be a party of idiots or at least their leadership is idiots.

If you are a reader that has been keeping track of the economy you will remember back a month or so ago when the auto industry was talking about closing some of the dealerships.  At that time the Repubs were all over the decision saying that it would be an attack on America’s small business  and that the Dems were condemning small businesses by signing on to the decision.

Obama and his auto task force gave the order to close these dealerships, the actual revenue generators for the auto companies.  And then the rhetoric turned into accusation.

As was noted by Senators in the hearing and by House members in special orders floor speeches yesterday, the overwhelming majority of the dealership closures are in rural areas and are owned by Republican donors or politicians. A great deal of them are very profitable.

Now we have another twist in the rhetoric…..it seems that Repub. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina has come up with a new approach…I am pretty sure that he will not be the only one spouting the lunacy.

It appears that now ther Cash for clunkers program is an assault on other small businesses, that are not getting the support from Washington.  Also the Repub has used the program to illustrate the ineffectiveness of a government program.

“I just think this is a great example of the stupidity that’s coming out of Washington right now,” DeMint said today on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Our children and grandchildren can’t afford to make these car dealers well right now,” said DeMint, a South Carolina Republican.

But the most absurd quote from Sen DeMint is:

“The federal government went broke in one week in the used car business,” he said, “and now they want to run our health-care system.”

The program he is mentioning is a program that is creating something sadly missing in today’s economy…..DEMAND.  But then he is saying that since the program has been successful that it is the reason why we should not let the government run health care…..is that not the most absurd thing you have ever heard?  Yep, but the Repubs have not let rationality get in the way of there opposition.

The South Does It Again!

In the last election that brought Obama to the forefront of the world, his opponent Sen McCain did poorly throughout the country with the exception of the South, where the vote was divided down racial lines.

Back then it was analyzed to death but few really talked about it a a race issue, more like that Obama was too liberal for the mostly conservative South…..made good press but it was total BS!

I wrote about it then and was laughed at, but I said then and I say now that it was because Obama was an African-American had little to do with his liberal views.  The tale going around now is that the Repubs are a party of rural whites, mostly in the South…that is accurate.

But all that is old news…..but there is some more evidence of the racists in the South.  I live in the South and I can say that my intervbiews and analysis has shown that racism is NOT dead in the South.

As I have said there is more evidence of it…..the Birthers have jumped all over the citizenship thing, but beyond that the place that it has gotten the most traction is….you guessed it…the South.

A poll recently taken on whether the Birthers haver it right found that 23% said they believed he is not a citizen and 30% say thay do not know for sure.  That is 58% of the people either say no or they are not sure.  Of the other regions polled the South had the largest percentage that answered in the two ways.

I did not see a breakdown by age but if I had to guess I would saw that the people in the older brackets are the ones that say no or not sure.  This group, at least where I live, still hold the blacks as they were in the 50’s and early 60’s.

Racism is NOT dead in the South, the bigots just find  ways to talk about it without sounding like a racist….but a racist by any other name is still a……RACIST!

The Economy Is In Slow Recovery

At least that is what is being championed by the Obama mouthpieces on the Sunday talk shows and by the Prez himself in his radio address.

The Prez used his speech to pat themselves on the back.  Obama used his weekly address on Saturday to hail the GDP figures as a vindication of his economic policies. He said that his stimulus package and his “other difficult but important steps” had “put the brakes on this recession.”

“We took unprecedented action,” he continued, “to stem the spread of foreclosures by helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes and pay their mortgages. We helped revive the credit markets and open up loans for families and small businesses. And we enacted a Recovery Act that … provided relief to struggling states to prevent layoffs of teachers and police officers and made investments that are putting people back to work rebuilding and renovating roads, bridges, schools and hospitals.”

Tom Eley observed:

One can only wonder: What country is Obama talking about? State and city governments are slashing jobs and social programs to meet the most crippling budget deficits in modern history. New data released this week reveal that bailed-out banks continue to deny loans to consumers and are hoarding cash more now than at the beginning of the year. As for helping “responsible” homeowners, foreclosures in the first six months of this year hit a record 1.5 million.

The supposed success of his policies, Obama suggested, vindicated his unquestioning support for the profit system and his drive to relieve businesses of their health care obligations to workers. That this is the underlying aim of his health care proposals was made clear by his call for “a health care system that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to innovate and businesses to compete without being saddled with skyrocketing insurance costs.”

All of the policies of the Obama administration have been focused on protecting the interests of a financial aristocracy that exercises a de facto dictatorship over the social and political life of the country. Now, the crisis which the bankers precipitated is being used to effect a permanent reduction in the living standards and social position of working people.

There will be no return to the already depressed wage levels and paltry social benefits that existed prior to the crash of 2008. Instead, a further redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top will be carried out through the destruction of all that remains of past social gains and an immense intensification in the exploitation of the working class.

Mr. Eley sounds a bit radical in his observations, but I will have to agree with him….I see nothing on Main Street that says we are doing any better now than we were a year ago.  In the same vein, Wall Street is doing just fine, so much so that they are handing bonuses.  The stimulus money is well spent if you happen to be in the Wall Street clic.  Unfortunately, most of us live on Main Street and that road is full of potholes and speed bumps.