C.S. Lewis comments on the narcissist-in-chief

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

"Hey - We Won. Get over it"

We have been hearing this response from those on the left who are cramming socialism down the throats of the American people.

Here is my response. It is the American response:

"You may have won the election. That does not give you the right to trample the Constitution your guy swore on oath to preserve, protect, and defend. If you are trampling the Constitution, your authority is compromised, and so is your right to maintain your office."

The Mess at DPS

That would be "Detroit Public Schools". Great article today at RightMichigan: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2009/4/9/103128/9367

(This is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs. Hope to see you at the Tea Party, Nick!)

Folks, if we want to save Detroit - if we want it to return to it's former status, it must first be allowed to fail. The school district is as good a place to start as any. It must fail so the entrenched bureaucrats can be broomed out, corrupt school board members prosecuted and incarcerated, and people who care about fiscal responsibility and the education of children (in that order) put in their places. That is what will save DPS. But you know that won't happen, because bureaucrats look out for their own, as this article points out.

Longtime readers know that I am no fan of public education, but these kids deserve more than what they are getting in Detroit.

A Note to Europe

Just a quick note to any European readers that might wander by: Our President is an idiot and you should not listen to him when he says we are sorry for stuff. We aren't. In fact, we're pretty angry that this empty suit with a teleprompter thinks that he can just go all over the world trashing the rest of us back here at home, and apologizing for imagined offenses against the world.

The truth is, you are about to see a world that is not protected by American strength and resolve. You are about to see a world where cowardice reigns, clothed in the expensive tailored suits of "diplomacy" and "negotiation". You are about to see a world where "senseless violence" becomes the norm, because these cowards in suits will not confront the bullys that preach and commit it.

The one thing you can say about Americans is that we were fools for even electing this fool. That is it.

"The Anschluss was Peaceful..."

My kids have had "The Sound of Music" on the brain since seeing a performance of it on Saturday by the local homeschool community, so they decided to watch the movie version yesterday. I happened to plunk down with them about the time that Capt. Von Trapp was on his honeymoon, and Herr Zoeller was getting antsy about carrying out his orders to whisk the Captain away to Bremerhaven. Upon returning from his honeymoon, Capt. Von Trapp is confronted by the reality of the Anschluss - the political union of Austria and Germany, and "Uncle Max" Detweiler's go along to get along attitude, encompassed by his observation that "...the Anschluss was peaceful."

As I watched, I was struck by the thought that we in the modern United States have also had our own Anschluss. It was voted in by the people (though admittedly, not the 97% the Nazi's garnered in the Austrian Anschluss), and the Government is changing into something resembling the National Socialists of those days, constitutional strictures notwithstanding.

The question is, will we who still love our country stand and fight for it, or will we passively let it be taken over by the National Socialists? It is a daunting task, and I must admit to a large dose of trepidation as I ponder my own place in it, and how it will affect my life and my family. But how can I (we) turn away? How can we just let the National Socialists have their way, and destroy the last bastion of liberty on the planet? It has already begun - the nationalization of the banking and financial systems, and the auto industry. Soon it will be the healthcare system, the transportation systems, and then infrastructure. The currency is being debased at a rate unprecedented outside the Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe, and the entire nation will soon be reduced to either abject poverty or total dependence on the fedgov. That will be the only choice left to us.

And so, as weak and disorganized as we are now, we must fight them. We must somehow find it in ourselves to be free men again, and not accept the rise of National Socialism, and the destruction of all we hold dear. We must understand the motto of New Hamphire: "Live Free or Die" once again, or we will descend into comfortable slavery. Or maybe not so comfortable.

Tigers Release Gary Sheffield

News over the sports wire today is that the Detroit Tigers have released DH Gary Sheffield.

My heart leaped with joy at this news, as Sheffield has been dead weight to this team over the last two years, and has done nothing to justify all the money he was paid. He has been a fragile, aging, ineffective, complainer for most of his stay here, and I'm glad to see that the Tigers will be giving his roster spot (and batting order spot) to someone who deserves it. Perhaps Marcus Thames will get the at-bats he deserves now, or someone like Jeff Larish, who is a left-handed bat with some pop the Tigers desperately need in their lineup.

Good luck to you Gary, I hope you find another team to hook up with, but I'm not sorry to see you go.

Barack Motors

A new automaking entity was created over the weekend: Barack Motors. Here is their logo.


The "On-Star" program is also being renamed to "O-Star", and the "turn-by-turn directions" feature will only give left turns in any route requested. Steering control programs will be automatically upgraded so that drivers will not have to think about which way to turn the wheel, it will only turn left. New features to be added will be an automatic tendency to drive off of cliffs, and revisions to the computerized information that mechanics use to diagnose problems with the car. It will now report back for every problem "Don't worry, Barack will fix it".

Seriously folks - where does the hubris of this man end? He now expects us to believe he knows how to fix the auto industry? From my perspective all he seems to know anything about is NCAA Brackets (now known as "Barack-ets").

The reality of it is, he has just signed the death warrant for the state of Michigan. We were on life support and he has just pulled the plug. Tens of thousands of auto workers in this state just lost their jobs. They may have still gone to work today, but they have no future. I wonder how happy they are with their union now - their union that was in the tank for Obama from the get-go? They've really got a lot of job security now, don't they? And all those laid-off autoworkers are streaming back to those factories that can't make enough cars to meet demand, aren't they?

Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing firsthand the destruction of the United States of America. And we have done it to ourselves by electing a fool as President.

Earth Hour

Lots of posters hanging up all around the office building this week promoting "Earth Hour" - a time to turn off your electrical stuff to save the planet. There was also a march scheduled from Spartan Stadium to Beaumont Tower at Michigan State University, where you would be given a free compact fluorescent light bulb.

Not one to sit idly by while this kind of foolishness happens, I created my own "Earth Hour" celebration. I turned on all three of the computers in my office, all the desk lamps, and the radio (to Rush Limbaugh, of course). I then got in my car and drove to Sam's Club to purchase paper products that had been bleached to pristine whiteness.

Unexpectedly adding to my festivities was the Michigan High School Basketball playoffs at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, and the new construction zone on US127. Both of these events caused large amounts of traffic in East Lansing, thus causing lots of sitting and idling while waiting for the ill-timed lights to allow us all through. And since the 127 construction includes bridge work, all the streets that pass under it are construction zones too, and reduced to 1 lane each way. So lots of gas was burned waiting for lights and looking for alternate routes around all the traffic.

It was the perfect way to celebrate Earth Hour!

George Kell

Sad news this morning, word that George Kell, Hall of Fame third baseman and longtime radio and TV announcer for the Detroit Tigers, has died.

I never saw George Kell play, except in an old-timers game on TV, (I think as part of an All-Star game) where he was playing second base (of all places). He must have been in his 70's at the time, but he went to his right on a grounder, dove, snagged the ball, came up throwing, and threw out the batter at first. I wish there was video of that play!

For me, George Kell was one of the voices of baseball that I grew up with, as he teamed with Larry Osterman, and later Al Kaline, to call Tigers games on TV until 1996. Ernie Harwell on the radio and George Kell on the TV calling Tigers games were things you could count on every summer. The current announcers do a fine job, but I think even they would admit to being spoiled for all those years listening to the likes of Kell, Harwell, Kaline, and Carey. They don't make 'em like those guys any more.

So Mr. Kell, thank you for all those warm summer nights describing baseball both good and bad, to kids like me who had no idea until much later how good we had it then.

Rest in Peace, sir.

The National Financial Mess

I haven't blogged recently - not for a lack of topics, but for the absolute abundance of topics. It's hard to know where to start - trying to drink from a firehose and all that. And since I am one of the few people left in Michigan still working (and I would like to keep it that way!) I haven't had time. But today I have a few minutes so...

I note with interest the calls for the resignation of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He is, according to those doing the calling, completely over his head and out of his element, and is making a fool of himself and the Administration with his bumbling.

This may or may not be true, but I have to ask the followup question: "And replace him with whom?"

Ladies and Gentlemen, the fiscal and financial system of this country has been under the control of politicians, professional economists, and bankers for over a century now (some would say longer than that, but it makes no difference to my argument). What has been the effect of these "experts" having that control?

The easiest way to grasp what has happened is to relate it to some fixed point of reference - that is, something that is a known quantity that has a specific value or worth that isn't affected by the whims of markets or economies. I believe a great thing to use as a fixed point when talking about economics is gold. An ounce of gold is an ounce of gold, whether it's a thousand years ago or today. So let's talk about what these "experts" have done by using an ounce of pure 24-carat gold as our measuring stick.

In 1907, the famous Saint Gaudens gold "Double Eagle" coin was first minted, with a face value of twenty US dollars (USD). It contained nearly one ounce of fine gold. So for arguments sake we can say that around the turn of the last century, one ounce of gold was worth approximately twenty dollars. This is not collector value, just the value of the gold content if the coin were melted down. This was a circulating coin in those days - you could actually buy stuff with it.

For this month so far (as of Mar. 23, 2009) gold has traded anywhere from 880 to 960 US dollars per ounce, for an average of USD920 per ounce. So that is the number we'll use for this example. Plugging those numbers into the formula for percent increase: ((new -old)/old)*100 gives us ((920-20)/20)*100, which comes out to 4500%. That is, it takes 4500% more US dollars to buy that one ounce of gold than it did 100 years ago.

That, my friends, is how weak our currency is today, after 100 years of central management by all of these "experts". 100 years of currency inflation. 100 years of booms and busts and depressions and recessions. 100 years of ever increasing public debt, welfare, and bailouts. That is what you have gotten from all these "experts".

So you want Tim Geithner out? Fine - throw the bum out. But all you'll get is another one of the same clowns who has been destroying the value of the currency (and oh by the way your purchasing power and your retirement income) for the last century. Is that what you really want?

Think about it. And remember the oft-quoted definition of insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results".

Oh, by the way, the spot price of gold as I publish this is just over USD950. So it's even worse now than my example!

UN "Rights of the Child" Treaty - an Abomination that needs to die in the US Senate

Although I believe all Home Educators should oppose ratification of this treaty, it's ramifications go far beyond homeschooling, as this article points out. I urge everyone to contact your US Senators and tell them to OPPOSE the ratification of this treaty.

From WorldNetDaily today:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=87929

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

A United Nations human rights treaty that could prohibit children from being spanked or homeschooled, ban youngsters from facing the death penalty and forbid parents from deciding their families' religion is on America's doorstep, a legal expert warns.

Michael Farris of Purcellville, Va., is president of ParentalRights.org, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association and chancellor of Patrick Henry College. He told WND that under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, or CRC, every decision a parent makes can be reviewed by the government to determine whether it is in the child's best interest.

"It's definitely on our doorstep," he said. "The left wants to make the Obama-Clinton era permanent. Treaties are a way to make it as permanent as stuff gets. It is very difficult to extract yourself from a treaty once you begin it. If they can put all of their left-wing socialist policies into treaty form, we're stuck with it even if they lose the next election."

The 1990s-era document was ratified quickly by 193 nations worldwide, but not the United States or Somalia. In Somalia, there was then no recognized government to do the formal recognition, and in the United States there's been opposition to its power. Countries that ratify the treaty are bound to it by international law.

Although signed by Madeleine Albright, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., on Feb. 16, 1995, the U.S. Senate never ratified the treaty, largely because of conservatives' efforts to point out it would create that list of rights which primarily would be enforced against parents.

The international treaty creates specific civil, economic, social, cultural and even economic rights for every child and states that "the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." It is monitored by the CRC, which conceivably has enforcement powers.

According to the Parental Rights website, the substance of the CRC dictates the following:

• Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.

• A murderer aged 17 years, 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.

• Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.

• The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent's decision.

• A child's "right to be heard" would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.

• According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children's welfare.

• Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.

• Teaching children about Christianity in schools has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.

• Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.

• Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent.

(Story continues below)

"Where the child has a right fulfilled by the government, the responsibilities shift from parents to the government," Farris said. "The implications of all this shifting of responsibilities is that parents no longer have the traditional roles of either being responsible for their children or having the right to direct their children."

Michael Farris

The government would decide what is in the best interest of a children in every case, and the CRC would be considered superior to state laws, Farris said. Parents could be treated like criminals for making every-day decisions about their children's lives.

"If you think your child shouldn't go to the prom because their grades were low, the U.N. Convention gives that power to the government to review your decision and decide if it thinks that's what's best for your child," he said. "If you think that your children are too young to have a Facebook account, which interferes with the right of communication, the U.N. gets to determine whether or not your decision is in the best interest of the child."

He continued, "If you think your child should go to church three times a week, but the child wants to go to church once a week, the government gets to decide what it thinks is in the best interest of the children on the frequency of church attendance."

He said American social workers would be the ones responsible for implementation of the policies.

Farris said it could be easier for President Obama to push for ratification of the treaty than it was for the Clinton administration because "the political world has changed."

At a Walden University presidential debate last October, Obama indicated he may take action.

"It's embarrassing to find ourselves in the company of Somalia, a lawless land," Obama said. "I will review this and other treaties to ensure the United States resumes its global leadership in human rights."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been a strong supporter of the CRC, and she now has direct control over the treaty's submission to the Senate for ratification. The process requires a two-thirds vote.

Farris said Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., claimed in a private meeting just before Christmas that the treaty would be ratified within two years.

In November, a group of three dozen senior foreign policy figures urged Obama to strengthen U.S. relations with the U.N. Among other things, they asked the president to push for Senate approval of treaties that have been signed by the U.S. but not ratified.

Partnership for a Secure America Director Matthew Rojansky helped draft the statement. He said the treaty commands strong support and is likely to be acted on quickly, according to an Inter Press Service report.

While he said ratification is certain to come up, Farris said advocates of the treaty will face fierce opposition.

"I think it is going to be the battle of their lifetime," he said. "There's not enough political capital in Washington, D.C., to pass this treaty. We will defeat it."

Ramos, Compean receive Commutation

Well, it's better than rotting in a jail cell for the next ten years, but frankly, it's like drinking a glass of warm spit. A pardon is what was deserved, Mr. Former President, under the circumstances. But commutation? That was the parting middle finger to all those men and women who are trying, with a shot glass, to bail out your leaky southern border lifeboat. If you had taken your duty to the country seriously and acted to secure the border instead of doing nothing, these guys (and many others like them) would never have had to deal with the vermin that infest our southern border. They would have stayed where they belonged. Instead, those who are defending (as best they can) our border, are prosecuted for DOING THEIR JOBS!

Boys, I'm glad you're getting out of the slam, and going home to your families who need you.

Al Franken is ...

...a big fat liar (to coin a phrase). Wall Street Journal story here.

Hereinafter, this lump of biomass will be referred to (when referred to at all) as "The Fraudulent Senator from Minnesota".

The Obama Test

Blogger Cassy Fiano linked to this test today, so I went over and took it.

Barack is very disappointed with me!


I only scored 24 on the Obama Test

What I can't understand is how I scored so high. She only scored 14!

0-16

I kept my word and didn't blog about the Detroit Lions after their second game, but today I am breaking my silence, since the season is over. We now know that it was over before it began.

This has been the most disgusting display of football ownership ever seen in professional sports. Yes, Mr. William Clay Ford, the blame for this forty-year debacle rests squarely on your shoulders. You are the one who has hired doofus coaches, doofus GM's, doofus scouts, all of which has lead to doofuses on the field. You wasted 10 years of Barry Sanders on Wayne Fontes and Bobby Ross. There should have been 2 or 3 Super Bowls in that span alone, but you can't pull your head out to find people to run your team! And all you had to do is look down the road about 20 miles to see how it's done, because there are teams in Auburn Hills and Detroit that have won championships and made an impact in their sport. I'm talking about the Pistons, Red Wings, and yes, even the Tigers.

It is so simple in concept: find people who are really, really good at what they do and put them in a position where they can let their talent and experience work to build up your team. Yes, you have to be able to find those people, but you should have enough contacts in the sport to find these people.

Bill Davidson and Mike Ilitch have both shown you the way, but apparently, Mr. Ford, you are unable to learn the lessons. You are satisfied with the losing, as long as there are butts in the seats. Well, how did that turn out for you this year? With a brand new stadium that is 20% empty, that's how!

And so with all of this mediocrity, this record-breaking badness, most owners with an ounce of common sense would broom the lot of these people and find new ones who could do the job. But what do you do, Mr. Ford? You promote them!!!!

Mark my words (and I'm sure I'm not the only one saying this): The Detroit Lions will never amount to anything until William Clay Ford is no longer the owner.

I think I may become a Titans or Panthers fan, or maybe even Atlanta. They at least have ownership that cares and players that can play. Certainly the Detroit Lions don't have many of those qualities going for them.

To Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith: you deserve better than what you have here. Thank you for showing up and caring when everything was going to hell around you, but my advice to you is to play out your contract and leave for a team that will give you a chance to win. Just ask Barry Sanders about what playing in Detroit will do for you. The greatest running back ever to play the game quit because he was tired of the crap in Detroit. I was mad at him then - felt that he abandoned all of us Lions fans, but I don't blame him any more. I completely understand why he did what he did. Don't let it happen to you!!

I will probably always follow the Lions (call it "Battered Football Fan Syndrome"), but I will have no hope for them until WCF no longer owns the team.

Pausing to reflect on the season

Mostly, it seems, I blog about foolishness. Today, I'm taking a moment to blog about the foolishness of God. That may sound sacrilegious to some, but hear me out.

To a world that was violent, callous, and hard, God sent relief and redemption not in the form of a conquering army (as was expected), but in the weakness of a baby. What foolishness! To think that a baby would be able to do anything against the might of Rome, or the evil of men!

Yet on that night, that foolish story written from the foundation of time, foretold to Adam and Eve as they were expelled from Eden, and repeated by the prophets of old - began.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:8-20)

Christmas has become the season for excessive spending, excessive eating, and all kinds of self-indulgence. But in reality, Christmas is the moment where God took upon himself our flesh in all its weakness and frailty, so that he could rescue us out of the sin that has enslaved us and restore us to our proper place in his kingdom, if only we would accept that rescue.

And so, from my house to yours, we wish you not just Merry Christmas, but all the blessings and joy that extend from the birth of that Savior. Gloria in excelcis deo!



Thanks to Musings of a Vast Right Winger for the video

White House releases Automaker bailout money from TARP

I have blogged against the bailout a couple of times, and I have not changed my position. I do, however, understand the inevitability of it.

Nevertheless, I note with disappointment the announcement from the White House today that the federal government will in fact bail out the "Detroit 3" automakers, via TARP.

I hope it works - I really do. But when you do something like this, which is so totally against any kind of sound economic and fiscal practice, you shouldn't expect some sort of miracle. What you should expect is resounding failure, followed by more government intervention (especially since the next time around it will be the Obama administration that will be in charge), and more failure. And more government intervention. And...well, you get the idea.

Just as the laws of physics determine that when you drop an object it must fall to the ground (Wile E. Coyote notwithstanding), so the true laws of economics (as differentiated from Keynesian economics) determine that when a company is too inefficient, mismanaged, in debt, producing a product that is no longer wanted, or any combination thereof, it must fail and be liquidated. Newer, better, stronger, more responsive, and more profitable companies will be the result, and will absorb the displaced workers. But of course, we can't have that in this country, now can we?

What we really want, according to the latest election, is nice-sounding slogans and European Socialism. Gee, that's working out real well for them, isn't it?

Chris Dodd now giving advice on how to run International Corporations?

After teaming up with Rep. Barney Frank to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiscally sound and profitable, Senator Chris Dodd (S-CT) has turned his expertise to new horizons: the U.S. Auto industry. To those readers who don't have a sarcasm sensor installed, this last paragraph is dripping with it.

Over the weekend, the Senator took his expertise to the Sunday talk circuit, stating that a condition of the bailout (yes, bailout) for U.S. Automakers should be that General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner should be fired.

This morning, according to The Paul W. Smith Show on WJR radio, Dodd has expanded this call to include the heads of Ford and Chrysler as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the American voting public: behold what you have elected. Not just this year, but for the last 40 at least. The halls of Congress are now filled with this kind of foolishness, and we keep sending more of them up there. And frankly, it's on both sides of the aisle. How is it that we keep electing people who have no economic common sense at all? How is it that Chris Dodd didn't understand that when you "encourage" mortgage lenders (with threats of prosecution by Janet Reno if they don't) to make loans to people who can't pay them back, that those institutions would go bankrupt? How can any of them not understand that giving away trillions of dollars (which is not backed by anything tangible like, oh, say GOLD), is going to destroy the economy, either through hyperinflation (ala' Germany in the 1920's), or through a currency crisis (via panic selling of dollars by other countries seeking to cut their losses)

What most folks don't understand is that recession, and even depression, are necessary economic evils. Just like surgery is often required to remove diseased organs in the body, and that surgery can have a difficult and painful recovery (but you're still alive!), so recession and depression cut out the diseased parts of an economy and allows healing to take place.

I don't like the idea of millions out of work and thousands of businesses failing any more than the next guy, but I like the idea of total economic collapse even less, and that is where people like Chris Dodd are leading us.

Has the Dust Settled Yet?

There has been so much worthy of writing about over the last couple of months, but either someone else said things better than I could, or I was so angry that any post would have devolved into a stream of expletives, or I still hadn't sorted through everything in my mind enough to create a coherent message. But I have a few minutes tonight to write a few blips about a few things.

1. "The Bailout". In my last message I was quite happy than some folks in congress had the stones to stand up and say "This sucks". Not that I thought it would ultimately do any good, but it was nice to see that stinking, steaming pile of legislation known as "The Bailout" sent down to defeat in round one. Of course, subsequently, it was passed, sticking future generations of Americans with staggering national debt and a thoroughly debased currency. Don't believe for a minute that AIG and those financial services companies will ever pay that money back. Hope my kids and yours can find work somewhere in the world so fedgov can confiscate all their money to pay off that debt. Thanks a lot, jerks!

2. The Election. As you might surmise, I was none to pleased (although not terribly surprised) at the results of the election. The United States of America is mostly dead, being replaced by the United Socialist States of America. Hope you like it folks.

3. The Election, part two - a Christian perspective. Bottom line - God was not surprised by this result. He ordained it, in fact. I noticed that the sun still shines, there is still an atmosphere, and all the stars are still in the heavens. God is bigger than this election, and he still cares for his people. So, Christian, ask yourself: "Why did God allow this to happen"? Then ask yourself "What am I supposed to learn from it"? Apply as revealed.

4. Auto Bailout/Bridge Loan. There is a part of me that really wants to let the automakers fail, file for bankruptcy, and have their assets purchased by companies that are better run and will run a car company better. It would be worth it to break the UAW, which has priced American labor out of competitiveness in the world market. It would also get rid of the dinosaurs in the leadership positions of those companies who can't run a modern auto company.

The question of course is how do we deal with the impact on all those who make their living serving the auto industry at every level? Many other businesses will fail, and many thousands of people will be laid off. That is hard to contemplate, and it would also give the new president just the crisis he wants to use to implement his socialist plans for America. So which is worse: socialism or an increasingly uncompetitive auto industry and loss of manufacturing capability in this country? My gut says take the bitter medicine now, as it will be worse later, and we will be on the hook for a whole lot more, financially.

The Bailout: Round 1

Round 1 of the great $700 billion bailout scam goes to the voices of sanity. Wow! Big slap to Pres. Bush and the House Democrat leadership, all of which needed the slap desperately.

I applaud all those who voted against this package and defeated it. Keep up the good work!

America - the worst thing we could do is to take on these mortgages. We need to just hunker down and ride this out. We will be better off in the long run than passing this monstrosity of a bailout.