The Associated Press reports that “General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will step down immediately at the request of the White House.”
Perhaps Wagoner should have stepped down long ago. But the problem is that this sets a terrible precedent. Since when does the President have such authority over a publicly traded company? Why don’t the other creditors and shareholders have a say?
While the executives at GM have consistently underperformed, it’s the labor union that really drove this company into the ground. Obama even cited the lack of union concessions as a primary fault with GM’s restructuring plan. It’s the union leaders that control this! Yet the CEO was made his scapegoat, and this is only one facet of Obama’s anti-business repertoire.
Just last week, Obama and other democrats were calling for executive salary capping - of all publicly traded companies. Do they not understand the implications of this policy? The best executives will leave the US for higher paying jobs, thus strengthening foreign companies. We’ll be stuck with mediocre leftovers. Read any book on corporate philosophy and it will tell you the same thing: a great company has a great CEO behind it.
This week Barney Frank is proposing government control over all employee salaries, not just top executives. It looks like the government may soon determine our wages.
Obama’s power grab doesn’t stop there. He also wants the government to be able to seize any financial institution. This isn’t limited to banks. This isn’t limited to institutions that have received government bailout money. Any financial institution will be subject to seizure, basically at the whim of Washington officials. This could represent the largest permanent expansion of government regulatory power in the history of the US.
Every day Obama becomes less like FDR and more like Hugo Chavez.
Even the head of the European Union is criticizing Obama’s socialist spending spree, saying that the United States is on “the road to hell.” Other high-ranking officials in France, including the French President have commented that Obama’s plan to spend $2 trillion to escape the recession is absurd.
Obama’s budget will create almost $10 trillion in debt over the next decade so that he can expand the government. This is $10 trillion that tax payers will have to pay interest on just so Obama can create worthless government programs to expand his power. This is $10 trillion to provide “tax-relief” for people who don’t pay taxes. This is $10 trillion to pay mortgages for people who lied about their income and can’t afford their houses. This is $10 trillion that Obama and Pelosi are robbing from our children and grandchildren to create bailouts for reality television. This is $10 trillion of government that we don’t need and can’t afford.
President Obama has altered the U.S. Government so that he will directly oversee the census in 2010. It’s important to consider why he would want this control, and why it violates the Constitution.
First, the census directly effects congressional redistricting. This can ultimately determine which political party a district favors. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 under Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to keep the census out of partisan hands. This is also one of the primary reason why the Department of Commerce was created in 1903. Expect gerrymandering to be much more prominent when 2010 comes around.
Second, the census determines how government funding is allocated. Everything from spending on schools to roads is dictated by the census.
Even though we have a Department of Commerce specifically dedicated to “gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making,” Obama wants to oversee the census himself for inarticulate reasons. Starting to see why Obama’s first two picks for Commerce Secretary turned down the job? And remember, liberals have also allocated an extra $1 billion dollars to the census this year through the the porkulous package. You can sure change a lot with that kind of cash.
Thanks to the liberals in office, our government will now be deciding where your donations to charity go. They will be taking money out of your taxes to give to charities of their choice. Charities like tattoo removal. Obviously they are selecting charities backed by their campaign donors, possibly making this one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation in American history. So much for Obama’s promise to clean up Washington…
You don’t think tattoo removal is a worthy cause? Adding insult to injury, the Obama tax plan will also reduce the deductions for voluntary charitable contributions (in addition to increasing the taxes of those making over $250,000 - otherwise known as the top 2% of Americans who already pay more than 40% of all federal income taxes!!). Many are rightfully angered by the proposition, arguing that not-for-profits can barely survive amidst the downturn in the economy. They rely on each and every dollar coming in from donors, and reducing the charitable donation tax deductions will most definitely decrease donations.
Liberals love to vilify the rich by painting them as selfish misers, only out for the tax benefit of donating. Of course those who are already predisposed to donate will continue, but when you take away the additional tax benefits, it is only reasonable to assume that people will reduce their contributions during tough times.
But charities be comforted! Peter Orszag, Obama’s director of the Office and Management Budget, assures that in the recovery act “there’s $100 million to support nonprofits and charities as we get through this period of economic difficulty.” That is, if you are one of the liberals’ pet charities. As NYT-labeled “fundraising expert” Robert Sharpe Jr. says “The administration’s proposal is doing just that, reordering charitable priorities by taking money wealthy people would have given to other charities and making it go into the health care system.” Unfortunately, health care is only one of the many “charitable contributions” that the government is making with taxpayer dollars.
I’m curious where it says in the Constitution that the government is equipped to “reorder” American citizens’ priorities. This is just another way that the democrats are taking personal decisions out of the hands of Americans and making the decisions for them. Should the government really decide which charities are worthy and which aren’t?
Less than one week after passing the $787 billion stimulus bill, the Democrats have already unveiled another $410 billion spending bill to increase revenue for government programs.
Didn’t President Obama call for more fiscal responsibility during his speech at the Economic Summit on Monday? Apparently someone forgot to pass the memo - possibly the head of Obama’s National Economic Council who actually fell asleep during the conference!
According to the Associated Press, the new spending bill includes thousands of earmarks, pet projects, and other forms of pork barrel spending.
Recovery: A Laughing Matter?
When combined with funding from the “economic stimulus,” there has been an astronomical increase in spending on government programs. Where is the extra money going to come from?
Well, the docket certainly implies they will be coming to the U.S., since some of the funding will be allotted to our Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department of State. A primary function of this agency is “admitting refugees to the United States.”
An executive order designed to allow Palestinians from Gaza to resettle in the United States is frightening. These are the same people who voted Hamas into power en masse. And 55% of them support suicide bombings.
How many Hamas operatives and other terrorists will slip into the U.S. through this huge influx of Gaza refugees? Thanks to Obama’s soft-on-terror attitude, they shouldn’t have a problem doing so.
The primary purpose of the Government should be to protect us. But Obama seems to think the government is supposed to do everything but protect us. Major media outlets have not reported on this order, and only time will tell the outcome.
CNBC’s Rick Santelli said that Obama’s bailout plan is promoting “bad behavior” and correctly pointed out the American people do not support foreclosure bailouts. He even called for a “Chicago Tea Party,” since our elected officials clearly aren’t representing us.
CNBC did a poll and 90% of the 63,000 Americans surveyed said they agree: they don’t like Obama’s plan.
Politicians are not representing their constituents anymore; they are representing the lobbyists and special interest groups that keep them in power.
Even the high school students Obama visited this week realize his plan is a bad idea:
“The spending bill he just passed is just progressing the Democratic agenda rather than addressing the economic issues in the country.” said senior Maaike Albach.
“This puts us more into debt,” said Daudfar, 18. “It’s a horrible situation we’re in.”
“I think it’s cool he’s here,” said Miller, 18. “I just don’t believe all the things he’s telling us.”
This guy is such a moron I’m not sure where to start.
First of all, if you’re in college and can’t find a better job than McDonald’s after working there for four years, then something is probably wrong. Especially in that part of Florida, where up until recently the economy has been great. In all likelihood, he is either lazy or incompetent (or both). But now he is asking for tax payers to help him out because of his poor decisions and lackadaisical attitude.
But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and check out how bad the benefits at McDonald’s really are. Full-time restaurant crew at McyD’s get a 401(k), profit sharing, stock shares, medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, flex accounts, vacation, affiliate discounts, scholarships, a credit union, and those are just a few of the highlights. But lets look closer. Most of the insurance plans have no deductibles or low deductibles. Vision includes contacts and glasses. Plus 401(k) matching: “McDonald’s matches eligible employees’ contributions with $3 for each $1 of the first 1% of pay they contribute, and $1 for each $1 on the next 4% they contribute.”
These aren’t bad benefits… These are amazing benefits. So what else does this guy want? What else could you want? Does he expect to get benefits for working part-time?
This guy is asking for free handouts and Obama said that his work ethic is “the right thing.” What if everyone in America did the bare minimum and then asked for the government to provide for us like Julio? Obama says that’s what we should be doing.
During his campaign, Obama said he would run the most transparent government we’ve ever had. But the new stimulus bill is up for vote today, and the Republican congressmen still haven’t even seen it - let alone the general public!
The day after inauguration, our President said, “Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency. Our commitment to openness means more than simply informing the American people about how decisions are made.”
Well at least we know how decisions are made… Congressmen will have only a few hours to read hundreds of pages of legislation before 9 AM!
What happened to the democrats’ promise that the new stimulus bill would be posted on the internet at least 48 hours prior to the vote? They flat out lied. Why are they are so afraid of letting the American people know what’s in this bill?
Furthermore, our President has been telling lies left and right to get this bill passed. According to Obama, the CEO of Caterpillar “said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off.”
But Jim Owens actually said the exact opposite! “I think realistically no. The reality is we’re going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again.”
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled his financial sector rescue plan today… Immediately afterward, stocks plummeted across the board - down almost 500 points in all today.
To investors, the incompetence of this man is obvious. They want to know why “critical details of the plan remained unanswered, despite the weeks of planning leading up to Tuesday’s announcement.”
Geithner’s best response is, “We are not going to put out the details, until we get it right.” What does that even mean? Blind trial and error, without even telling the American people what the government is up to?
Geithner also said they will “try things we’ve never tried before. We will make mistakes. We will go through periods in which things get worse…” That sounds exactly like something Wall Street likes to hear.
Again, you can probably guess who we have to thank for this pinhead appointment. What was Obama thinking? This guy is one of the reasons we are in the crisis we now face. He’s a total moron. He even cheated on his taxes, and now he’s in charge of the IRS! He’s employed an illegal immigrant. He’s a crooked thief like all of Obama’s other friends.
