For those of you who are paying attention to the headlines, General Motors is officially filing for bankruptcy protection, but the kind that only you and I could dream of being provided (could be a nightmare). The US government is going to become a 60% owner of the company… yup, a controlling interest.

Goodbye capitalism. At least for GM. And anyone that still owns a Chevy, Caddy, or some other GM vehicle.

On the positive side, the government can now start cranking out as many Cadillac limos as it does $100 bills to support the government’s activities.

On the negative side, the government can now start cranking out as many Cadillac limos as it does $100 bills to support the government’s activities.

The Press, those ready to speak the Truth, have finally seen the direction the government is going for what it is.

Okay, only one member of the Press.

Okay, it’s the Russian Press.

That’s right, Pravda, the state sponsored news agency, provided an incredibly insightful assessment of [...]

Like everyone else in America, I’ve been watching the AIG saga unfold with eager anticipation.  At first, I was in the “too big to fail” camp.  The sheer size of AIG, added to the complexity of its product offerings and coupled with the magnitude of its global positioning, suggested to me that the consequences of allowing [...]

As we continue our inexorable national slide into socialism, as our freedoms begin to slowly, but surely, be taken away, I have made the following observations (while I still can).

President Obama promised the following during the 2008 Presidential campaign:

• Fiscal responsibility/no new earmarks. Apparently someone has forgotten to tell him about the 8,500 earmarks in the current omnibus spending bill and the projected $1.9 trillion (that’s trillion with a “t”) budget deficit.
• Bi-partisanship. I’m not sure what that looks like, but I’m sure the Republicans don’t feel like anyone is listening to them and addressing their concerns right now (other than Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins).
• Economic growth. After less than two months in office, my retirement plan can’t take much more of President Obama’s “economic growth”.

The markets are nervous, and it reflects in current stock market indices. As I write this, the Dow is [...]

I caught bits and pieces of the press conference held by President Obama last night and I heard the subsequent reviews. My analysis suggests that our national media threw President Obama a bunch of softballs. President Bush would have held a lot more press conferences if the questions were that easy, I bet. Bill O’Reilly called the President “boring”. No kidding! And then some!

Here’s what’s starting to grate on me. For the last 18 months, all we’ve heard from President Obama is how terrible things are, and now “this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression”. Bad news is his mantra. I’m not sure if he can handle good news. It makes me wonder how he responded to the news he was going to be a father. Did he say “Great! Another mouth to feed”?

Americans, for the most part, are an optimistic lot. For us, the glass is always half full. According to President Obama, there is no glass, primarily because the greedy Wall Street types stole it. He can’t even discuss the whole Alex Rodriguez steroid thing without calling it “depressing”.

Eventually, the American people will tire of President Obama’s negativity. That day is getting closer. Three weeks into his administration, it’s already clear he’s in way over his head. Talk about above his pay grade! And by his own admission.

We’re looking at [...]

Bruce McQuain, this morning at Q&Q:

Well there’s an agreement on the Generational Theft Act of 2009. The squishy middle has capitulated.

As expected, just enough Republicans have signed on to ensure its passage. Names?

Specter for one:

Specter said Friday night that action was “very necessary,” and this bill, though not perfect, is better than inaction.

“I think no one could argue with the fact that the situation would be much worse without this bill,” Specter said at a news conference.

And of course, Susan Collins is the other (and Olympia Snowe is also reportedly going to vote for it). Voinavich and Martinez bailed. They’ll give this the veneer of bi-partisan legitimacy.

Which, doubtless, will be endlessly touted by the Democrats over the following two years. And, forever, for that matter, each time the amount of debt incurred by this mess turns up as a discussion point on online venues, or talking head programs.

The problem is obvious; it is what Bruce describes as the “squishy middle” . I’ve been telling you people for nearly a decade now that it is the centrists among us that are going to kill us off as a nation. If this [...]

Or is it change for a hope? I admit my confusion on this issue. The American public was told during the 2008 Presidential campaign that things would be different. So far, it’s more of the same, only worse. It seems like the entire country has gone stark, raving mad.

To wit, as the Obama Administration’s Cabinet nominees wind their way through the approval process, we find that not one, not two, not three, but four have a prior history of not paying their taxes. What is going on here? The best thing to come out of this mess is that the American taxpayer, at last count, is ahead some $176,000. Could this be President Obama’s plan to fund this massive “economic stimulus” package that is being ramrodded through Congress? Just collect the back taxes owed by his nominees? I’m not sure that the IRS, Congress or the American public would be as forgiving if I were the one to not have paid my taxes. But then again, I try to live a life of integrity.

I’ve read a lot about the economic stimulus package making its way through the bowels of Congress and I’m confused about that too. Or maybe I’m not the one who’s confused. To me, economic stimuli are those things that stimulate the economy. Immediately. Not three years from now. So, as one of the conditions for accepting TARP money, The Brains in Washington [...]

Here we are! 2009! What can we say?

2008 is gone and I think we’re all grateful for that. Republicans had their hats handed to them, although Conservatives fared pretty well. And there’s the difference. Moderate Republicanism is indistinguishable from the Democrats. If Republicans want to regain their stature in Washington and the state houses across America, they need to do it at the grass roots level and they need to return to Conservative values. Barack Obama is the President-elect not because of his microscopic resume, or because of the political cesspool he climbed out of, or the message of change and hope, because he represents neither. He won the national election because the Republican candidate was a moderate with a poorly-crafted message, and so since the two were indistinguishable, people chose the candidate that was younger, better-looking, and articulate. We can’t do that again.

After 18 months of the media (and Obama) telling us [...]

As I’ve been listening to and contemplating the whole discussion around “spreading the wealth”, it’s occurred to me that when the wealth is being spread, there’s more than just wealth that gets spread.

That’s right, the poverty gets spread too.

Of course, calling it “spreading the poverty” might seem too severe, but here’s the thing: people have poverty, wealth, or something in between. If you spread one, you spread it all.

My preference now is to think of it as “spreading the mediocrity”. As we discussed in the past, providing equal access to economic resources (”spreading the wealth”, or “wealth redistribution”) is going to lead to a society that is motivated to meet the status quo, to do just enough to get by, to even lower itself to ensure that there is just enough work to either[...]

Sometimes it takes several days of events to unfold in order for me to put my thoughts in order and develop a coherent article. Such has been the case this week.

I’m a pretty disciplined reader of the Wall Street Journal. It’s not that I don’t want to read other newspapers, but I only have so much time, need to read it for my profession anyway, and can get a liberal prospective from any other media outlet at any time. Sometimes, it helps to read the Journal editorials just so that I know I’m not crazy.

I’ve been following the interesting events lately surrounding the current economic pounding the country is getting. I’ve commented[...]

I apologize that I will not be available to provide live comments during the debate tonight. I will be on the road and unable to blog during the debate, but I will be listening.

There will be an open thread entry that will appear at 8:30 PM Eastern time for those of you that wish to offer comments during the debate. Please come join us, and perhaps some of the other TCR writers will be here to comment.

I expect that after 2 other rather lack-luster events, we can probably expect[...]