Colonoscopy in Paulson’s Future?

Two months before Washington Mutual failed, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned then-CEO Kerry Killinger that he ought to sell the Seattle-based thrift before it deteriorated further.

“Paulson said, ‘You should have sold to JPMorgan Chase in the spring, and you should do so now. Things could get a lot more difficult for you,’ ” said one of several current and former high-ranking WaMu executives familiar with details of the call.

It looks like when Secretary Paulson gives you a warning, you better take it to the bank!  The above quotation is from Sunday’s Seattle Times. (read the article here)

I disagreed with the bailout when it was proposed which of course, puts me in the conehead category but this, this makes me wonder how much of the original problem was contrived.  When I read the morning WSJ that told of the purchase of WAMU by Chase for the fire sale price of 1.9 billion dollars in the dead of night I just knew Killinger was ground sluiced.  Rami Grunbaum’s piece in the Seattle Times is proof to me that Killinger was not allowed to do his job. 

There is a short piece written by a WAMU employee on a website called I-Newswire.  It seems anyone can post a press release there but I found this while doing some keyword searching on Google.  The story is titiled Goldman Sachs’ Alumni and JP Morgan Potentially Conspire to Bring Down Washington Mutual  is written by a WAMU empolyee and gives a little more detail on what Killinger and WAMU were doing to raise capital and what happened a couple days before the seizure.  Give it a look.

Secretary Paulson will be at the Reagan Library and is scheduled to discuss our economic future for the annual Reagan Lecture on November 20th.  I just called and there hasn’t been a cancellation.

Consumer Confidence Index is the Poll That Counts

This morning’s Wall Street Journal has the following:

NEW YORK — U.S. consumer confidence fell to an all-time low in October, after a slight rise a month earlier, and expectations are even bleaker, a report released Tuesday said.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer confidence for October dropped to 38.0, compared with a revised reading of 61.4 in September. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected a reading of 51.5.

The consumer expectations index for the state of economic activity over the next six months declined to 35.5 in October from 61.5 in September.

“The impact of the financial crisis over the last several weeks has clearly taken a toll on consumers’ confidence,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Their earnings outlook, as well as inflation outlook, is also more pessimistic, and this news does not bode well for retailers who are already bracing for what is shaping up to be a very challenging holiday season.”

The present situation index, a gauge of consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions, fell to 41.9 from 61.1 in the prior month.

 Since 60 percent of the CCI is weighted by consumer’s expectations of the future with the election only 7 days away, I am assuming there is a real fear that Obama will win the election. 

Thinking people understand that the MSM are in the tank for Obama and manipulate their polling data giving Obama the advantage.  However, the CCI could show an actual landslide for McCain on voting day.  It can be a real buzz kill when people are worried about their future and the Democrat candidate is talking “spread the wealth around”.  By landslide I mean 5 to 8 points.  “Change” just might not cut it.  Real fear could rule the day on the 4th and give McCain the edge he needs.

More Bad News For the Taxpayer

On SouthCoasttoday.com there is a news story quoting Barney Frank as saying “There is money to lend and projects worth borrowing money to do. But people are afraid to lend. That’s what we’re trying to unfreeze.” 

Democrats and Republicans decided the way to do this is to take 250 billion dollars of tax payer money and give it to banks.  (I guess banks are people)  And, right now, banks are so afraid to lend money that they are seriously considering using borrowed money to buy, uhm, more banks that are afraid to lend money.  This of course gives the acquiring banks more deposits (also knows as assets) with which to lend, (oops, I mean) buy more banks.

While President Bush uses his radio time this morning to assure us there is reason for optimism about the country’s economic outlook, the government is actually making it more difficult to get out of this hole.  The odds are the most radical lefty the country has produced will be in the White House with the added bonus of a super majority in Congress.  They are already planning their second economic stimulus package and according to Steve Urbon of the Standard-Times, Barney Frank may use a 25 percent cut in the military budget to help finance it. 

The military budget is just a tad complicated but the OMB says the 2009 proposed budget was 594.5 billion dollars.  And that is just the base spending to keep us in military readiness.  You also have to add in money for Homeland Security and supplemental spending for the War on Terror.  This probably adds up to what we just gave our financial institutions to-un screw their screwup.  So, Barney Frank wants 25 percent of this plus more so we can pay for other people’s health care expenses, food stamps, extended unemployment and so on.  Are these entitlements really more important than our national security? 

It seems to me you can only do this once.  After spending, then taxing, then spending, on the scale we are spending now and taxing in the future, you are done!  What well do you go to that isn’t already dried up?  Small business across the country will have laid off and cut margins to the bone just to stay viable.  Just where is all this money coming from?  Who will Congress rob next?  As Ray Charles would say, “somebody help me with this song”.

Personal Rant

What bothers me most is nobody is analyzing the obvious.  This presidential election is a fight between ideologies.  I would say the country is divided but it’s more than that.  We are truly Balkanized now. Everyone has made up their minds less the waste of skins that don’t have an ideology and can be manipulated for a cup of coffee and a sweet roll.  The independents don’t count because, let’s face it, they are democrats.  They just didn’t have mothers that paid much attention to them.

Talk radio has made up its mind.  Fox News has made up its mind and the MSM have up theirs.  For weeks I have had to listen to nuance, details and cheerleading on talk radio but they miss what is going on.  Our country is changing its ideology.  Most talk radio hosts will not say Obama is unpatriotic.  They will say he is a nice guy that is talented and wrong.  That’s it!  Nothing more.  Everything Obama represents from his social ideology, the people that he relies on to support his career, his economic and tax policy are all totally un-American which in my book makes Obama un-American. 

What I want to know is are these same talking heads going to fight this guy when he is president?  When Obama and the Democrat majority in congress is changing this nation into something that our forefathers would physically go to war with, will these talking heads still deny the obvious?  They won’t have the chance.  They will be silenced by the fairness doctrine.  Hugh Hewitt will be lawyering, Dennis Prager will be thinking lofty thoughts at the Council on Foreign Relations, Michael Medved will be doing movie reviews and Michael Savage will be under observation with massive doses of Thorazine.  The 47 million listeners that were once the silent majority will no longer have their voice.

With the election of Barack Obama the culture war will be over without a shot being fired. Change will come quickly with his inauguration.  I believe we will lose the America our parents and grandparents knew.  Freedom will do a disappearing act under the guise of national and economic security.  But this time there won’t be any complaining.  The MSM will have what they want, the voters will have what they deserve. 

Just a couple weeks left for McCain to call it the way it is.  This election is for all the marbles.  If Obama is elected, we will never get our hands on that marble bag again.  At least, not without a fight.

Stevie Wonder Could See This Coming

Several major U.S. banks are leaning toward spending a portion of their federal rescue money on acquiring other financial firms rather than for issuing new loans, the primary purpose of the government’s $250 billion initiative to invest in banks.

After all the assurances from the pinheads on talk radio, the WSJ, MSM and just about everyone else, the banks will use their newfound taxpayer wealth by bolstering their acquisition portfolio until they too become sooooo big, we will have to bail them out, just like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

The pundits were wrong about using our money for a bailout.  If McCain fought the bailout, he could be ahead in the polls by now. 

Read more here from the Washington Post. 

Obama Takes 10-Point Lead in Latest Poll

It is starting to look like this blog could be very germaine for the next 4 years.  The WSJ says there is a 10 point lead among suburban voters and has a 25 point lead in the midwest. 

Does this “majority” actually believe they won’t be taxed in a Obama administration?  Yikes! 

Read the article here …. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122462257051655701.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

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State Department Investigating GPO Overcharges

Bill Gertz has a followup on yesterday’s story on the GPO subcontracting the printing of U.S. passports overseas. 

Asked about the overcharges and outsourcing of computer chips, Miss Rice quipped, “I was glad to learn that” from The Times report.  Security officials at the State Department assured her that the production process is protected, she said.

Wheeeew!  I was worried for a while that we had a national security problem handing over a computer chip used in a U.S. passport to a manufacturer in Thailand for the installation of an RFID chip. 

We have absolutely no clue how national security is compromised daily by the bureaucrats in the State Department. 

GPO Profits From Outsourcing Passports to Europe

Bill Gertz and The Washington Times has posted the first of 3 articles on the Government Printing Office outsourcing the printing of U.S. passports to Europe where they are then subcontracted to a facility in Thailand for the installation of a RFID antenna. 

So, the government is now subbing out our passports and risking national security and making a profit.  Is there a name for that? 

Are our tax dollars are making a profit for someone’s Canary Island bank account?  Is there any other reason for risking national security AND a Bill Gertz rectal exam?

The National Security Issue with Boeing v. Airbus

 EADS has tried to sell to Iran and to Venezuela and Russia wants to increase it’s stake in the EADS consortium.  And I have to write again, it is a SUBSIDIZED consortium.  Not exactly free market huh?  Not that I want free market consideration with our weapons systems technology.

Below is an excerpt from a speech given by Senator Pat Murray D-Washington

1. How Can We Justify Outsourcing our Military Capabilities?
For one – how – while we are at war across the globe – can we justify putting a contract that involves military security into the hands of a foreign government? M. President, outsourcing a key piece of our American military capabilities to any foreign company is a national security risk.

And Airbus and its parent company EADS have already given us plenty of reason to worry about how hard they will work to protect our security interests. In 2005, EADS was caught trying to sell military helicopters to Iran, despite our concern about Iran’s support of terrorists in Iraq – and their efforts to develop nuclear weapons. When confronted, M. President, EADS answered that “as a European company” they were “not supposed to take into account embargoes from the U.S.”

But that isn’t the only example.

In 2006, EADS tried to sell C-295 and CN-235 transport and patrol planes to Venezuela – a circumvention of U.S. law. M. President, we prohibit foreign countries from selling military products containing U.S.-made military technology to third countries without U.S. approval. And part of the reason is because we want to keep our weapons from falling into the hands of countries like Venezuela, which have threatened U.S. security and mean us harm. We can’t trust a foreign company to keep our military’s best interests in mind – especially one that has a history of trying to sell weapons and military technology to unfriendly countries.

But I think this raises a bigger question, too. What happens if France – or Russia, which is pushing to increase its stake in EADS – decides it wants to slow down our military capacity because it doesn’t like our policies? Do we want another country to have that kind of control? I think that’s one of the questions we need to decide the answer to now.

Carbon Taxes

John Dingell, D-Mich.  He’s  just one Congressman (and already a documented knucklehead) but AFTER the election, if the Democrats gain seats and win the White House, they will think they have a mandate to do this.  Of course, during the fall elections gas will already be over 4.00 bucks a gallon.  Discretionary income will be going down for many Americans, fuel surcharges will start it’s climb to the roof and prices to the consumer on most goods will go up to cover costs. 

Michigan congressman wants to put a 50-cent tax on every gallon of gasoline