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Unemployment Stands at 17.5% November 7, 2009

Posted by Joey in Bailout, Economics, Politics.
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Thanks to Barack Obama and George W. Bush, the rich get bailed out, but the poor suffer. But that’s the nature of our government, it takes from the poor and gives to the rich.

Broader Measure of Unemployment Stands at 17.5% – NYTimes.com.

For all the pain caused by the Great Recession, the job market still was not in as bad shape as it had been during the depths of the early 1980s recession — until now.

With the release of the jobs report on Friday, the broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment tracked by the Labor Department has reached its highest level in decades. If statistics went back so far, the measure would almost certainly be at its highest level since the Great Depression.

In all, more than one out of every six workers — 17.5 percent — were unemployed or underemployed in October. The previous recorded high was 17.1 percent, in December 1982.

Dude, Where’s Our Money? October 27, 2009

Posted by Joey in Bailout, Economics, Government, Politics.
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The Federal Reserve’s own auditor doesn’t know where the money went.

Government Motors Sells Hummer To Chinese Company October 11, 2009

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GM continues dumping loser brands, this time dumping Hummer on a Chinese company.

G.M. to Sell Hummer to a Chinese Company, Sichuan Tengzhong – NYTimes.com.

General Motors said Friday that it would sell its Hummer brand, once a crucial part of its strategy to expand its lineup of sport utility vehicles, to a Chinese heavy equipment maker and a private investor.

The sale, to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, is another step in G.M.’s rapid downsizing after emerging from a government-financed bankruptcy.

G.M.’s talks with Sichuan Tengzhong were disclosed in June, and the agreement is still subject to regulatory approvals by the Chinese government. No terms were announced, but people with knowledge of the deal estimated the price at $150 million.

Shedding the Hummer brand was a welcome development for G.M., which was disappointed last week when a deal collapsed to sell its Saturn brand to the Penske Automotive Group.

FDIC: We’re Broke September 28, 2009

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Yet another government agency is broke, this time the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Their solution? Force the banks to pre-pay premiums.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may take the unprecedented step of ordering banks to prepay about $36 billion in premiums to replenish the deposit insurance fund that has been severely depleted by a rash of bank failures.

The FDIC board likely will call for “prepaid” bank insurance premiums at its public meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue, three industry executives and a government official said. The banking industry prefers that option over a special emergency fee — which would be the second this year. The executives and the official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has yet to be made public.

It would be the first time the FDIC has required prepaid insurance fees. Under the plan, banks would have to pay in advance their insurance premiums for 2010-2012, bringing in about $12 billion for each of the three years, two of the executives said. That is the normal amount of insurance fees, though it could vary somewhat according to growth in total insured deposits — the basis for determining the fees.

Geithner Needs More Money to Waste August 9, 2009

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In 2000, the total budget of the US government was $1.8 trillion. The deficit for fiscal 2009 will be $1.8 trillion.

How much money can these idiots waste?

Geithner Asks Congress to Increase Federal Debt Limit.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asked Congress to increase the $12.1 trillion debt limit on Friday, saying it is “critically important” that they act in the next two months.

…

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday the federal government’s budget deficit reached $1.3 trillion through the first ten months of fiscal 2009, on track to reach a record high of $1.8 trillion for the 12-month period.

Congress Gets New Corporate Jets August 7, 2009

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Let’s get this straight: Congress is buying itself new jets, while running at least a $1.8 trillion deficit. No wonder Congress’ approval rating nears single digits.

Let these spendthrifts take the bus.

Vote all these bastards out of office. All of them, except Ron Paul. We’ll keep him.

Congress Gets an Upgrade.

Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds.

The purchases will help accommodate growing travel demand by congressional officials. The planes augment a fleet of about two dozen passenger jets maintained by the Air Force for lawmakers, administration officials and military chiefs to fly on government trips in the U.S. and abroad.

The congressional shopping list goes beyond what the Air Force had initially requested as part of its annual appropriations. The Pentagon sought to buy one Gulfstream V and one business-class equivalent of a Boeing 737 to replace aging planes. The Defense Department also asked to buy two additional 737s that were being leased.

Fannie Mae To Suck Down Another $11 Billion August 6, 2009

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Just when you thought that maybe, just maybe, we’re done with the bailouts, here comes Fannie Mae (again!) wanting to suck down another $11 billion of your tax dollars.

Fannie Mae seeks $10.7B in US aid after 2Q loss.

Fannie Mae plans to tap $11 billion in new government aid after posting another massive quarterly loss as the taxpayer bill from the housing market bust keeps growing.

The mounting price tag for the rescue of Fannie and its goverment-sponsored sibling, Freddie Mac, is surpassed only by insurer American International Group Inc., which has received $182.5 billion in financial support from the government so far.

Fannie Mae’s new request for $10.7 billion from the Treasury Department will bring the total for Fannie and Freddie to nearly $96 billion. Freddie is expected to report its quarterly results on Friday.

Warren Buffett: Socialist August 5, 2009

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Warren Buffett, through Berkshire Hathaway, is profiting mightily on the backs of US taxpayers. Companies in which Berkshire Hathaway owns stock have received $133 billion of taxpayer largess.

I can only conclude that Warren Buffett is no capitalist, but is just another socialist pretender sucking on the government tit.

For shame. But given his remarks that the US is undertaxed, perhaps this is no surprise to anyone that he’s nothing more than a crony-capitalist.

Rolfe Winkler » Blog Archive » Buffett’s Betrayal.

But it turns out much of the story is fiction. A good chunk of his fortune is dependent on taxpayer largess. Were it not for government bailouts, for which Buffett lobbied hard, many of his company’s stock holdings would have been wiped out.

Berkshire Hathaway, in which Buffett owns 27 percent, according to a recent proxy filing, has more than $26 billion invested in eight financial companies that have received bailout money. The TARP at one point had nearly $100 billion invested in these companies and, according to new data released by Thomson Reuters, FDIC backs more than $130 billion of their debt.

GM: One Rule for Socialists, Another for Capitalists August 5, 2009

Posted by Joey in Automobiles, Bailout, Economics, Politics.
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The rule of law no longer really exists here in the Nanny States of America. Here’s more proof. GM gets a tax break that’s not available to any other company who comes out of bankruptcy. Beneficiary: The UAW.

Don’t buy from Government Motors or any other socialist company supported by TARP or any of the other nefarious bailout programs. Don’t buy their bonds either (though feel free to short them, while you still can).

GM Profits from “Tax-Loss Carry Forward” .

As everyone else’s taxes rise, one favored outfit may not have to pay federal taxes for years: General Motors. In another sweet deal from its benefactors on Pennsylvania Avenue, the government-owned car company is set to profit from billions of dollars in tax breaks not available to other businesses in the same predicament.

The new GM will be allowed to claim a tax benefit from some $16 billion of net operating losses carried over from the old company, allowing it to avoid paying taxes on future profits, perhaps for years. The issue is a common accounting practice called “tax-loss carry forward,” under which businesses can write off losses against future profits for up to 20 years.

The losses are considered important assets on any company’s balance sheet, but they typically don’t survive bankruptcy. Under a longstanding section of the tax code passed to prevent companies from buying other companies for the purpose of assuming their tax losses, a business that undergoes a change in ownership usually has to forfeit the old company’s net operating losses.

That would normally be the case for GM, except that the government is its new majority shareholder. While transfers of net operating losses during bankruptcy can sometimes be handled through reorganization plans, that was not what the Obama Administration did. When GM filed for bankruptcy, it chose a so-called “363 sale,” which allows the company to take a fast track to the sale without the due process protections usually provided to creditors.

‘Cash for Clunkers’ May Die in Senate August 3, 2009

Posted by Joey in Automobiles, Bailout, Oops!, Politics.
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Let’s hope this subsidy for car makers fails. If it does, I expect the Obama administration to use TARP funds, the all-purpose multi-billion political slush fund.

‘Clunkers’ Rebates at Risk Unless Senate Acts.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday that unless the Senate approves $2 billion in additional funding, the Obama administration could be forced to halt as early as Tuesday the “cash for clunkers” program that has become one of the most visible and fast-acting of the government’s economic-stimulus programs.

The government program has helped cut stocks of unsold vehicles at many dealerships to their lowest levels in years. When major auto makers report U.S. sales Monday, Ford Motor Co. expects to post its first year-over-year monthly increase since 2007, in part because of the bounce from the program. And Chrysler Group LLC is dropping its offer to double the government rebates as the company’s dealers say they are running short of vehicles amid the jump in demand.

U.S. auto sales have been running at an annual pace below 10 million a year since January, a steep drop from the 16 million annual sales levels normal earlier in the decade. That sales collapse has led to tens of thousands of layoffs at auto companies and the manufacturing and service firms that support them.

But the response to the clunkers offer is fueling hopes that the U.S. auto market is slowly turning a corner — which could give a broader economic boost if car makers and their suppliers start to build more vehicles. Higher sales are also critical to the Obama administration’s effort to start selling off the government stakes in General Motors Co. and Chrysler next year.