The Violence Worker!

Newspaper Bailouts

You had to know this was coming.  Newspaper bailouts have been bandied about here and there, but not much has been done toward that end.  That's all changed now.  A bill was introduced today in the Senate to provide a form of bailout for newspapers.  It's not exactly a cash infusion like AIG, but it does offer them a lifeline of sorts.  From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

So much for a free and independent press.  It's not like we've really had that in awhile, but this would certainly be the death knell to an industry already choking on their own effluvium.

A newspaper owned by a larger company would be ineligible unless the newspaper was sold to a non-profit to run.  Once run as a non-profit, some different rules would apply.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

Somehow, I derive little comfort from that part of the bill.   Reporting can often be slanted and facts either left out, or distorted just enough to make your side look better.  The fact that they would be barred from making endorsements is a minor impediment.

Gone would be any pretense that the newspapers were some kind of a watchdog over the government.  My dog is a good watchdog, but he won't bite me and presumably the press would not bite the hand that was feeding it the tax breaks it needed to survive.  All it would take would be an accusation of impartiality and a prospective loss of tax-exempt status and the watchdog would quietly remove its teeth.

There are a lot of reasons why newspapers are failing and although I've speculated as to the cause of death, my guess is probably as good as anyone's.  If there was a better guess as to the reason for failure, one would think the owners would be be fixing the problem rather than shutting down the presses.  Even if this abomination passes, I think it's only postponing the inevitable. NPR is not all that popular and making a newspaper into some kind  of print version is not going to save the industry.

No respectable newspaper should even consider something like this.  It goes against everything a free press stands for.   Hmmmm...check that, they shed that respectability cloak years ago.

On the other hand, ACORN will soon be flush with a few billion from the stimulus bill.  One might speculate that purchasing the Seattle Post-Intelligencer woul be something they may want to look at.  If you can control the news, no one will notice you are rigging the vote.

VW

They Can't Handle The Truth!

Apparently, Washington state Democrats do not want to be told that the effects of their tax and regulate ideology is not good for business.  Not only do they dislike it, they intend to make it illegal for a lobbyist to tell them if they pass a stupid bill that the company may move.

From House Bill 2316:

A person required to register as a lobbyist under this chapter shall also have the following obligations, the violation of which shall constitute cause for revocation of his registration, and may subject such person, and such person's employer, if such employer aids, abets, ratifies, or confirms any such act, to other civil liabilities, as provided by this chapter:

   (g) Threaten any legislator, or any government official, with the relocation of manufacturing jobs including, but not limited to, jobs involving commercial airplane manufacturing, based upon the outcome of any pending or proposed legislation.

Can they do that in this country? 

I've seen the result of hostile laws to manufacturers.  Pontiac, MI all but ran GM out of town.  Every Pontiac car on the road came out of that old factory between Baldwin and Joslyn Avenues.  It's been years since even one car has rolled out of there.  I think the last one was the Fiero.  Pontiac told the city to lay off or they would shut it down - they warned them and the city persisted.  They closed it down and moved out of town.

It's common knowledge that the Big B (the only airplane manufacturer around hereabouts) has threatened to move out of the state.  They moved their headquarters to Chicago a few years back.  I suspect it's only a matter of time until they do if WA  keeps beating on them.

VW

Hat Tip:  Sound Politics

Banning Campaign Lies

With all of our budget problems in Washington, you'd think our duly elected legislators would be hard at work trying to balance the budget and get us out of the fiscal failure they created.  Au Contraire ,  mon Ami!  Our legislators are hard at work passing idiotic laws.

One of the more inane laws they passed - almost unanimously - was a law against politicians telling lies.  A similar law was deemed unconstitutional by the WA State Supreme Court in 2007, but it's been resurrected in a form that will supposedly pass constitutional muster.  

From the Seattle P-I:

OLYMPIA -- Political candidates in Washington would once again be banned from telling lies on the campaign trail under a proposed law approved Monday by the state House.

The bill, passed out of the House on a 92-2 vote, seeks to reinstate an old law that was thrown out on free speech grounds by the state Supreme Court in 2007. The court said the state's former ban on lying in campaigns violated the First Amendment because it did not require proof that campaign falsehoods were defamatory.

Rep. Mark Miloscia, D-Federal Way, said this year's attempt at reinstating the ban on campaign lies addresses the court's problems with the old law. Specifically, the bill approved Monday would prohibit false statements that are libelous or defamatory, and committed with actual malice - a key legal test in free speech case law.

The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) is the state elections watchdog and they are the organization that requested this bill. 

We all want our politicians to tell us the truth.  What constitutes a lie is often open for interpretation.  If you accuse your opponent of being a liberal and she takes a little umbrage to that, can she make a libel case?  Probably not, but I'm certain someone will try and push the limits in a test case or two,  I'm also certain, if it is a borderline case, the tie will go to the Democrat.  It's how things work in this state.

Personally, I think it's unnecessary.  There are already laws concerning libel and defamation and they supposedly apply to all including politicians.  Let the voters decide.  As much as I want honesty from the people I vote for, this is bad law and I'm sad that all but one Republican in the house saw fit to vote for it.

VW

Pushing Us Over The Edge

It's a done deal now.  The Democrats cheerily voted our future away to the tune of untold trillions in interest payments alone and placing a couple of generations in debt before they are even born.

Except for a few short term construction jobs scattered across the nation, there isn't much here that will do any immediate good.  Even the CEO of Caterpillar as much said that Obama was lying about Cat's ability to rehire workers and if there is one industry who would benefit from an increase in construction activity, it would be Caterpillar!

The Democrats promised accountability and transparency along with this legislation and in true Democratic-Socialist style, delivered neither.  As a matter of fact, they've done their dead-level best to hide the contents of this bill prior to voting.  The only people who had 48 hours to review this bill was K Street in DC.  So much for change and transparency.

Whatever good this bill might do, it will be short-lived.  This bill is like giving an 18-year-old a credit card with a million dollar limit.  All well and good, but sooner or later, the bills will start rolling in and unlike our happy teen who can probably declare bankruptcy,  our Chinese lenders will not be so easily dealt with.  At some point, we will have to start paying these bills and it ain't going to be easy.

In order to pay our Chinese pipers for this dance, we will have to raise taxes to astronomic levels.  The crooks in DC just leveraged our grandchildren's future for a slim chance that the present recession beast will be temporarily sated so they can hold on to and consolidate their power.

I've never been for excessive government spending and I was not happy with the overspending of the Republicans.  The difference here is that while the Republicans spent far more than they should (with ample help from the Democrats), it was at least manageable.  This will push us into an abyss that we may never be able to climb out. 

The great American Dream is now a memory.  With the increased taxes that will be required to pay for this abomination, it will be harder and harder for working families to advance. 

We are told over and over again that paying taxes is somehow "patriotic".  I suppose to some extent it is, but never in the history of the world has anyone been taxed into prosperity.

We are falling and we will not be able to get up.

VW

ELOI Alert: File this under "YGTBSM"

Teacher placed on leave for questionable Facebook posting

http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9781795&nav=menu1362_10 

You know what?  Present-day parents, and especially modern teachers and media types never cease to amaze me with just their....Eloi-like outlook on things.  The fact that people, anywhere, are "surprised" by acts of violence, with that stupid, vacant puppy-dog look that says "What is this 'violence' of which you speak?" God Almighty! (this little bit was not inspired so much by the story  itself, but by the station editor's blog entry and the perspective of some of the parents).  I call people like this the "first to be eaten" when XYZ disaster  (Posleen, Zombies, whatever) happens, because that's what their mentality has made them perfect for.

Lt Col Dave Grossman wrote a book recently called "On Killing" and he's also one of the guys behind the "Sheep, Sheepdogs and Wolves" meme that runs around the net.  I've bought his book but haven't started reading it yet, but I think I already disagree with his fundamental thesis - I think EVERY human being walking the planet, or the vast majority at least, has it in them to kill, or commit serious acts of violence given the right motivation and set of circumstances.  Even the Eloi-parents mentioned in the story, I'm willing to bet, would go to ANY lengths necessary to protect the lives of their kids, and I'm willing to be the moms would be willing to commit acts 10 X WORSE than anything the dads could come up with, if push came to shove.

Now if you want to argue that the photo, with the teacher sighting up the camera, is a little over the top, I think that's just arguing semantics, something else that the three groups I mentioned in the intro seem really good at.

Here’s something else: I see this story as somewhat similar to this one.

And here’s the worst part.  This will NOT change unless people like the woman in the original story, or Carol Thatcher in the second one, FIGHT BACK.  As long as they keep taking the easy way out – the “it’s not worth it” approach to fighting back, it’s going to get worse, and worse.

I’ve had it with the damn Eloi running the show.  It’s why I mean it, if I ever have children of my own, I’m homeschooling them, or at least sending them to a private school, Catholic or otherwise, that ain’t “ate up” like this.

Jeez Louise on a Sunday.

And if I seem disrespectful towards parents or what have you, bite me.  Any parent who teaches their child to be a drone, not even capable of defending themself or naive enough to think they can kumbaya their way out of every situation is a failure.  Teachers who do the same are grossly negligent in my book too.

Satire? Yeah right....

Thanks Instapunk.

THE AMERICANS WITH NO ABILITIES ACT

Washington, DC - Congress is considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many Americans.

The Americans With No Abilities Act (AWNAA) is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real ambition or skills...

'Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society,' said California Senator Barbara Boxer.

'We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing.'

In a Capitol Hill press conference, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the Transportation Security Administration, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. 

Approximately 74 percent of postal employees lack any job skills, making this agency the single largest U. S. employer of Persons of Inability. Private-sector industries with good records of non-discrimination against the Inept include retail sales (72%), the airline industry (68%), and home improvement 'warehouse' stores (65%).

At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has an excellent record of hiring Persons of Inability (63%).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million 'middle man' positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given so as to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees.

The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability into middle-management positions, and gives a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the AWNAA contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the Non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, 'Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?'

'As a Non-abled person, I can't be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,' said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, due to her inability to remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. 'This new law should be real good for people like me,' Gertz added. 

With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL): 'As a Senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen,   regardless of his or her adequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a good salary for doing so.'

Killing The Flea

In our lives, if we encounter a problem, we not only seek to fix the problem, we seek to keep it from happening again, or at least find the source of our predicament and deal with it in some form or fashion.  It's what separates us from the animals.  The dog will scratch the itch, we'll kill the flea.

The above rule appears to have an exception where Congress is concerned.  It appears to me that this bailout is applying a mighty set of claws to scratch that huge itch and we hope it goes away.  the problem is that it does nothing to deal with the underlying parasites that are causing this huge irritation in the first place.  I say irritation, it's more like a case of plague, but you catch my drift.  Let's throw 700 billion dollars at it and see if that satisfies the itch.  It might for the moment, but our flea problem is still there!  No where in this whole debacle have I heard anyone say we need to get rid of the flea.  I've heard we should tighten the rules on how a flea operates and how much blood they can suck, but it's still a flea and it still will cause huge problems!

Kill the flea!  If we are going to apply the scratch, kill the flea so it doesn't bite!  Repeal the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)! 

If all we do is bailout the financial market by treating the symptom and not the cause, then I guarantee you, we will be back in the doctor's office sooner than later looking for a new treatment.  It's ludicrous!

Repeal it or seriously overhaul the CRA to protect us against this kind of disaster in the future, then we can talk about a bailout.

VW

Where's Mine?

Call me hard-hearted, uncompassionate or even uncaring, but why are we rewarding people who borrowed way beyond their means with a chance to keep failing?

From MSNBC:

The plan lets homeowners buckling under mortgage payments they can’t afford keep their homes and get more affordable mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Banks that agreed to take substantial losses on those distressed loans could avoid costly foreclosures and be assured of recovering at least some money.

Things are tough, I know.  I have a mortgage, car payments and bills too.  Where's mine?  What about me?

When the President signs this bill, can I just stop paying my mortgage and wait for foreclosure and negotiate a better rate? 

Even if I could, I wouldn't.  It isn't right.  It's legalized thievery. 

There's a little window in the article that asks why I should care about this and this is what it says:

You should care because...Foreclosures were up nearly fifty percent in May from a year ago. Millions more Americans are facing foreclosure, as a result of high-cost loans. These foreclosures can affect the value of homes in surrounding neighborhoods, discourage further investment in the housing market and generally dampen the entire economy. 

So this government handout is going to make all that go away.  Yeah, right.  Either way, it's going to cost me - either up front like the article suggests or by being slowly bled dry by the Government because someone has to pay for this mess and it will be the taxpayers.  Banks and mortgage companies don't pay taxes.  They are tax collectors, so anything they get stuck with will be passed on in the form of higher fees.  You and I pay those fees.  Either way, we pay.

This is an election year and this is nothing more than an attempt by a congress that has done nothing about anything else, to go back to their home districts and states and say they did something to help the little guy.

In my opinion, energy prices are a bigger threat than the flailing the mortgage industry. Left alone, there would be the inevitable shakeout.  Those who followed solid business practices and ethics will survive.  I'm paying my mortgage, but the price of fuel is taking away a lot of my discretionary spending and that hurts the economy too - maybe even more because it effects many more people.

VW

Democrats - Destroying Your Job In The Name Of Patriotism

There is a bill before congress that, if passed, will be the death knell for American Industry as we know it. 

From The National Association of Manufacturers:

 An interview in The Nation's blog with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH):

I've talked to Barack a lot about his Patriot Corporation Act, which is not trade per se, but it's certainly part of the economic package around globalization. The Patriot Corporation Act has not gotten the attention that I would hope it would. But, basically it says that if you play by the rules, if you pay decent wages, health benefits, pension; do your production here; don't resist unionization on neutral card check, then you will be designated a "Patriot Corporation" and you will get tax advantages and some [preference] on government contracts.

The tax incentive being talked about is a mere 1% off their corporate income tax.

It wouldn’t require a company to do all of that. It’s strictly an “incentive” plan at this point, but don’t rule out a punitive side to it if the Democrats win in the fall. If it’s purely incentive, I doubt they’ll get many takers which if there is no punishment part of the bill already, it will lead to a new bill that will. Essentially, it will make American companies less competitive. It may not hurt some of the smaller ones at first, but if they try and stretch out past our borders, it would definitely be a hindrance.

First of all, Corporations don’t pay taxes. People pay taxes. The corporation is essentially a tax collector. You, the consumer, pay those taxes either directly in the form of sales taxes, or indirectly as you buy their product. If the government decided to tax a corporation in some way, they will pay it and eat the loss, or they will just pass it on in the form of higher prices. Either way, you will pay it. If they eat the loss, they may delay hiring someone or introducing something new or people might even be laid off.

If it stays as an incentive, it will be largely ignored and the Democrats will get angry. If they decide to punish companies for not complying with burdensome taxes, or some other means, it will either drive the company completely out of the US, or the company will not be able to compete and fold. Either way, jobs will be gone.

It’s obvious that these law givers makers have never had to meet a payroll or run a business. If they did, they’d understand that what they are about do is not at all patriotic.

One last thought – Do we really want the government defining “Patriotic”?

VW

Where Will We Go?

From KOMO-TV News Seattle:

Some Canadian mothers forced to give birth in U.S.

SEATTLE -- A problem in Canada's hospitals is sending scores of pregnant women south of the border to have their babies.

Carri Ash of Chilliwack, B.C. was sent to the U.S. to have her baby after her water broke on Sunday, ten weeks ahead of schedule.

"And they came in and said 'you're going to Seattle,'" she said.

Ash's hospital couldn't handle the high-risk pregnancy. Doctors searched for another hospital bed, but even hospitals in Vancouver, B.C. didn't have a neo-natal bed.

"So two provinces didn't have enough room, so I have to go to another country," said Ash.

Ash was sent to Swedish Medical Center where, nurses told KOMO 4 News, five Canadian women have come to have their babies in the past six weeks. Some were even airlifted at up to $5,000 per flight.

And a woman from Calgary, B.C., one of the wealthiest cities in Canada, had to travel to Montana to give birth to her identical quadruplets.

So, when "Hillarycare" is enacted, will we have to go?

VW