Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Your Morning News: 11.12.08
Posted by Josh in Automobiles, CIA, Democrats, economic crisis, Medicare, President Bush, Supreme Court, Transition 2008, Whales, Your Morning News
A lame duck congress is when Congress gavels back into session after the November elections but before the new Congress is sworn in in January. The majority of the Congress and Senate live pretty far from Washington and like to go home for the holidays, so they don’t tend to call these sessions unless there is something pretty important going on. Like, say, the collapse of the US Economy.
Democratic Congressional leaders way that they want to pass emergency legislation to aid the imperiled auto industry during the lame-duck session that begins next week. President Bush, predictably, has said that he doesn’t favor tapping the $700 billion bail out fund to help automakers. Don’t these factory workers understand that there are employees at Goldman Sachs who need to sell their second houses in the Hamptons? Thank god we have a President who looks out for the little guy.
GM plant employees are not the only one’s looking at the prospect of unemployment checks. The nation’s top two intelligence officers are not to happy about the indication that they are going to shown the door by President-elect Obama. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and CIA Director Michael V. Hayden today clearly leaked to the Washington Post that they want to remain in their current posts and that they feel early departures could be seen as politicizing their offices and keeping them could help stabilize the intelligence community. These are good points, but Hayden was in charge of the White House’s warrentless wiretapping program and both of them have publicly defended torture. Guys, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Unemployed autoworkers and senior intelligence officers will both but unable to afford prescription drugs. Monthly premiums for Medicare’s prescription drug coverage will increase on average 43% next year. So, uhh, don’t get sick.
You know who has had it for too easy for too long? Whales. You know, the big lazy fuckers just swimming around out there, getting in the way of our submarines, eating our krill. Thank God the Supreme Court is here to put them in their place.
Comments on this post
I’m unclear as to exactly why the bailout should be tapped to prop up the auto industry, again. The bailout is composed to free up credit and keep the economy from asphyxiating, allowing the finance sector to make good on overextended obligations, and more significantly, to allow new loans to be made. It’s not fair and shouldn’t be happening, but it’s the extra pint of blood we need to allow our Johnny Knoxville of an economy to survive its most recent downhill shopping cart ride.
By contrast, the auto industry shouldn’t be getting the same attention. Like the Palm Inc. or pets.com, it hasn’t moved from the past to the present as successfully as it needs to, and it’s suffering as a result. This is unfortunate, but there’s no reason to make a farm subsidy out of it. I’m all for smoothing out business cycles, but the US economy is as robust as it is because historically we have no qualms with letting things die, and I think after 30 years in the ICU I think we need to pull the plug on Detroit.
Posted by Patrick on November 12th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I have been uncovered as a faux-populist. I think you are absolutely right on a lot of counts Patrick. I actually tend to agree with you on the fate of the automakers. However, them going out of business would mean literally millions of Americans losing their jobs and some absurd amount in lost tax revenue. To extend your metaphor, that would likely be the rock on the hill that would send the shopping cart of flying and put our economy headfirst into a ditch.
However, I am all for attaching strings to things and for hardcore government intervention. I think the auto industry bailout should mandate executive pay cuts (same with the bank bailouts) and should also mandate X percentage be spent on hybrids and other technology.
I seem to recall one of the first things Obama proposed when he first got to the Senate was an auto industry rescue package that included the Federal Government taking on the health care obligations of the auto companies (their biggest liabilities) in exchange for investment in new technologies. That seemed like a great way to help the industries while also slipping single-payer health care through the back door in a big way. Maybe we can do that.
At least we can agree on whales. Seriously, screw those guys.
Posted by Josh on November 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
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