Thursday, November 20, 2008

U.S. Automotive Bailout

Enough already!

The automotive industry should not expect a bailout package.

The American taxpayer is already on the hook for over $700 billion dollars in the current financial market meltdown. How much more can a man bear? The automotive industry should have foreseen their problems with soaring gasoline prices throughout the country. Demand for the vehicles that they were making started to dwindle yet they did nothing to improve their business model except bury their heads in the sand.

We have to step up our pressure on Congress to let them know that the US treasury cannot become the lender of last resort for failed business models. Congress approved $15 billion in bailout to the airline industry post September 11. This was money guaranteed to an industry where only a handful of players, Southwest and Continental to name two, had cash on hand to survive the downturn and passenger fear of flying prior to the terrorist acts. All the while not one dime was spent bailing out all of the dot com business failures in 2000 and 2001. I would have loved to see Web Van survive.

Should the auto industry be allowed to enter bankruptcy? Probably would be the best answer. For at least as an entity in bankruptcy they can continue to operate as a debtor in possession and restructure debt and contracts to allow for a stronger company post bankruptcy. Yeah, the shareholders of these organizations would lose out but the investors knew that going in. Buying stocks is a risky business and not all investments are good investments.

Who else would lose? The unions most certainly would stand to lose. Contracts could become void or re-negotiated to make for a more favorable business climate. Waste would be eliminated throughout but innovation would be increased. There would be the human toll of possible loss jobs.

Should retailers such as Linens n Things, Circuit City, Mervyns, and Tweeter ask for a bailout because of their inability to survive in a competitive yet challenging economy? Sure why not, these companies are no less important as the U.S. automakers. Should we bail this industry out we send another signal to all other industries that if you cannot succeed then the taxpayer has your back. This has to stop and has to stop now. .

Instead of interfering with the market forces, Congress must find a way for the automotive industry to fast track themselves through the bankruptcy and reorganization procedures.

What about Honda, BMW and Toyota? They too operate in the US. Yet they are not lining up to get their check. Hmmmmm, I wonder why?

Friday, November 7, 2008

We Now Return You To Your Regularily Scheduled Program...

...already in progress.
Congratulations President-elect Obama! A historic election from the word go. Who thought that an upstart Black Senator from Illinois would unseat the more powerful "Clintonistas" for the Democratic party nomination? Who thought this same Senator would then beat out a more seasoned American Naval Aviation hero to become the nations first Black President.

Gone are the attack ads. Gone are the mind numbing lies and deceits. This has been a very trying election year. And guess what we do it all again all too soon. If this election taught us one thing; it is that there is no amount of money and energy that will be used to obtain the White House. Barack Obama proved that he could get millions excited to vote as well as upset the establishment to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to finance his campaign. Buying air time for a round the clock channel on Dish Network. Buying 30 minutes of air time on most major networks during prime time. Shoot we could have probably fixed this little financial mess we have if we would just let Barack turn his fundraising team on the American people.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Barack Obama raised over $639 million dollars and spent $573 million in pursuit for the highest office in the land. Of that he has $66 million dollars on hand with only $2 million dollars of debt. I got four words: Spread The Wealth Around. Let's level the playing field and float me a personal bailout Mr. President-elect! And in all fairness (Obama speak) John McCain has $67 million left over as of October 28th.

I will miss all of the ads that were a part of my Saturday and Sunday football rituals. This past Sunday was especially trying as at almost every break in play there was "Do You Want More of The Same" or "Even Joe Biden Does Not Believe In Barack Obama." Now that this is over; the ad agencies can focus their attention on creating some very entertaining beer commercials. I only wish the campaign ads were more like these.



...already in progress! Wow isn't this a great country?!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

You Can Vote However You Like

In the midst of the current election cycle there have been many angry words and actions bantered about. But we fail to remember one thing and that regardless of who the winners are we are still Americans and we are still friends. So the next time you think your friend is a sell out for not supporting Barack Obama or the next time you hear someone denigrating John McCain, just remember that we are all Americans and we live in the best country on the planet. Many countries would not even allow their citizens to have opposing views with regards to politics.

These kids are not old enough to vote yet they sing a song for Americans.



Mama, There Go That Man Again!



This guy has a lot to say and he knows how to say it and keep you entertained.

An Ignorant Voter Is A Dangerous Voter

For years Blacks have fought for the privilege to vote. Yet as far as we have come we have let the battle for equality and inclusion in the political process be destroyed because we have not educated our children to think and seek knowledge. I was listening to a radio show recently where radio shock jock, Howard Stern side kick Sal, did an on the street interview with three potential “voters” in next week’s presidential elections. These voters all said that they supported Barack Obama. Nothing wrong with that except when Sal flipped the script and asked questions that were part of the McCain platform yet he attributed them to Obama is where their ignorance shows.

I cannot fault one Black American for voting for Barack Obama because he is Black, as this is a historic feat in a country where men that looked like Barack were for decades treated less than human. Now, he can very well be the President of this country. But I can fault people for not having a stance in the political process and not understanding what the candidate stands for. Jim Crow laws to prevent us from voting were a mechanism created by Southern Democrats. Yet when I hear these three “voters” in Harlem not know that Sarah Palin is running with McCain not Obama. That leaving the troops in Iraq to finish their job is a McCain platform then we should erase these “voters” from the rolls. They are not alone in their ignorance. People have been led around for years by political parties by using race baiting, class warfare and ignorance of the issues to get them to vote for their candidate.

I can't make this stuff up so take a listen.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Just For The Funk Of It

I have always been a George Clinton/Parliament-Funkadelic fan. So it was with great pleasure when I first saw this commercial, it stuck in my heart. But MasterCard pulled a coup by adding the three kids dancing. The final line of "being with people who understand you: Priceless" is befitting of this blogger.

Funkateers Unite!

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Do We Need Gun Control?

The Second Amendment to our Constitution protects the individual right to carry and possess arms. There have been challenges to this right and states have imposed laws that try to restrict this individual right as defined by the Constitution of the United States of America.

I personally do not own nor carry any weapons (at this time) but if I chose to do so I should not have anyone telling me that I do not have the right to personal self defense. Arguments are abound about how guns kill. We rarely hear the stories of the many lives that are saved when an armed citizen takes the TRASH OUT!

I am pro-gun ownership. It is a right and it is guranteed by our Constitution. Now watch this quick video and think.......


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Can He Lose? Obama that is!

Can Barack Obama Lose?

It is his election to lose! According to most of the media outlet polls, Obama has a double digit lead toward election in three weeks. But what if Obama experiences the Bradley effect? The Bradley effect is when people are polled about who they plan to vote for but actually vote for someone else. This term was coined after the 1982 California gubernatorial race where longtime Democratic Los Angeles Mayor, Tom Bradley who is black lost to his Republican contender, George Deukmjian, who is white, after being well ahead in the polls. Some think that there is a tendency among the polling public to give information that is inaccurate to be socially desirable. That a candidate can be leading in a poll and still lose an election calls into question the validity of the poll in the first place. All polls always show you a margin for error of +/- so many points. There are two independent polls that currently show Obama with only a 5 – 7 point lead: Rasmussen and Zogby. Yet most of the media outlet polls show a more commanding double digit lead for the Senator from Illinois. Although I took statistics and statistical analysis in college, I never could get past the idea that 1,200 people could speak for a population of 200,000,000. Makes you say Hmmmmmm!

So, if the polling public is doing the socially desirable thing of telling the pollsters what they think they want to hear then the race for the White House is still up for grabs. And any politician that runs his race based upon polls deserves to lose. We do not govern from polls nor should we. If we did things base upon polls then we would no longer be the Republic that this country was founded as and we become a country of Mob Rule. What do you think of polls and have you ever been polled? Let me know what you think.

Friday, October 3, 2008

5,000 Dead And No One Has Missed Them

If former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney had her way we would be looking for the killers of 5,000 former prisoners and dumping their bodies in the Louisiana swamps. According to McKinney, she knows a woman, whose son said he was involved in a cover up of throwing 5,000 executed prisoner remains into the swaps during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I always knew this woman was crazy. First, telling us that President Bush knew in advance about the attack upon the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001. Then punching a Capitol Hill police officer as he tried to do his job of not allowing her admittance without a congressional lapel pin. Just to think, this woman once represented the district where I live in Georgia.


It is amazing that if 5,000 prisoners were executed it would stand to reason that someone, somewhere would be missing their dead or missing relative. If each one of those prisoners only had one relative then there would be 5,000 missing persons reports that would have to be systematically suppressed by a group of co-conspirators, since no one person could kill that many people at one time.

It's a wonder what lack of publicity and a few cameras can do for your judgement.


I have one message to Ms. McKinney...Please Take Your Med's!

Let me know what you think.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Did Pelosi Sabotage The Bail Out Plan?

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, gave a scathing speech prior to the House vote on the proposed $700 billion dollar bail out plan. Was this a deliberate attempt to sabotage this bill? Was it a political ploy to help Barack Obama score points in the polls showing the Republicans as being callous about the economy. If Republicans were swayed by her speech then we have some weak leaders in Congress. Oh wait. We really do have some weak leaders in Congress. Always partisan never common sense or what is good for the country.

The House vote on the bill was 228 nay; 225 yea.
Democrats voted 140 to 95 in favor of the legislation, while just 65 Republicans backed the bill and 133 opposed it.

Old Fashioned American Justice


What would you do if a convicted sex offender entered your home and was in your young daughters room? An Indianapolis father did what any American father should do. He gave this SOB (pictured right) a "FIST NECKLACE" and led him to his maker. So much for rehabilitation. Read more.


Thursday, September 25, 2008

Bailout Crisis

Just like Hurricane Katrina, there were warnings. Did anyone listen? We kept going on like nothing could or would happen. Proposed $700 billion to fix this mess and no one goes to jail!

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