Auto Bailout — Part II

It seems that the Auto Bailout war is the Civil War Part Deux.   The biggest people fighting the auto bailout is Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby which are the senators from Alabama

 

Both senators are conservatives and so they want to challenge the unions.   However, the real argument is not union vs management but in reality, a turf war.   They want the South to be the only place where auto manufacturing in the country is performed.

 

Jeff Session opposition to Bush’s approval of the Auto Bailout is the following

 

“”The president’s decision to allocate financial bailout funds to private automobile manufacturers represents a further entanglement of the federal government in the free market.  I am disappointed that the president has apparently yielded to the temptation of substituting the whims of politicians for the wisdom of the free market.”

 

So Jeff Sessions wants the “invisible hand” of the free market to solve the problem and of course, GM and Chrysler would go under.   What Jeff Sessions want is to Big Three go under and all of the automobile manufacturing would be done in the South instead of the Rust Belt..

 

In reality, the problems in Michigan would affect Alabama.   According to the Birmingham News, the unemployment rate in Alabama would rise by 4 percent if the Big Three collapse.

Keivan Deravi, a professor at Auburn University, challenges the accusation made by the Economic Policy Institute.   In the article, the Economic Policy Institute is actually a left-wing policy organization some of their research could have been biased in natured.    

 

The impact of Big Three collapse for the Deep South would result in a short-term layoffs.  In the long term, the forces of “creative destruction” will work and the results will be a transfer of the center of auto manufacturing from the Rust Belt to the Deep South.  The two senators from Alabama engage in “tunnel-vision” thinking.    They are not interest in the impact of the Big Three collapse on the national economy.  They could careless what happens to the national economy.

 

They know that their state will benefit from a Big Three collapse.  However, the human consequences would be devastating.  Michigan will turn from one proud manufacturing state into a state that resembles a third-world country.  Massive unemployment and underemployment of skilled employees would dominate the state.  Michigan would be an industrial wasteland where nothing but sorrow and gloom originate from/

 

The question that Shelby and Sessions should answer:  Is it ethical to allow such human tragedy for the purposes of mere selfishness?

The GOP Is Dumb

Capitol Notes reports that the State GOP has decided to significant cut.  Capitol Notes states

“Legislative Republicans have crunched the numbers on their proposal for erasing some, but probably not all, of the shortfall facing the state over the next 18 months — a $22 billion proposal that suggests more than $2 in cuts for every $1 in new revenues”

The result of the GOP plan is massive cuts for bread and butter public services like education, police, the prison system, and social services.    I doubt the GOP has any structural reforms for the prison system because the GOP does not want to see (i) the rollback of Three Strikes, (ii) reduction of parole time required for non-violent offenders, and (iii) possession of controlled substance reduced to misdemeanor.

Here is the GOP plan for the slashing

“Legislative Republicans have crunched the numbers on their proposal for erasing some, but probably not all, of the shortfall facing the state over the next 18 months — a $22 billion proposal that suggests more than $2 in cuts for every $1 in new revenues”

Again, let’s cut the education budget without cutting the Department of Corrections budget.  And of course, no methods of revenue increases like an increase in sales tax and roll-back of car tax.

To me, the GOP’s plan is dead on the arrival.  As a fiscal conservative, I consider the GOP plans reckless

It is Over

Finally, the general election is done with! None it is time to move on with life.

The Limbaugh Effect

I wonder how of my friends are going to fall for “Limbaugh effect” especially my conservative Christian friends which I have lots of. The Limbaugh effect are Republicans who don’t it known they are voting for Obama.

I should do a Facebook poll to test my 101 friends to determine the impact of the “Limbaugh effect”. However, I do not think that I have time to put it together.

Smear Campaign

 

Mr. McCain has gone completely over the edge.   Instead of any attempt to focus on the issue, McCain is engaging in slime ball tactics as reported by the AP.  McCain is using the same dirty tactics as the Swift Boaters.

 

Unlike the Swift Boaters who directly attacked Mr. Kerry’s actions, the new attacks involving Ayers involves by guilt by association argument.   They are implying that Barack Obama is a radical just because he had few meetings with Bill Ayers. Their argument, guilt by association is  considered to be a logical fallacy.

 

McCain is using smears, which are based on a logical fallacy.   Unlike the 2004 election, the American people have discovered that this smear campaign is based on logical fallacy and will collapse like a house of cards.  Instead of developing a independent vision for the government to mitigate the economic damage that has been incurred by this current Wall Street fiasco, he resorts the smear tactics because he (i) does not admit the truth that he has no plan or (ii) it is easier to attack your opponent than developing your own plan.  

 

He should engaging Obama on the issues instead sending his attack dog, Palin, to use smears that are based on logical fallacies.   And everyday he does continues to run the smear campaign, his polls numbers will continue to fall and fall until he starts to “engage” the people on the issues.  And Obama will the election and Democrats will have both houses of Congress and the White House. 

 

Just my two cents, Senator McCain

Palin Should Shut Her Trap Up

Why doesn’t she shut her trap up?  Sarah Palin just lets her trap running and states that Obama associates with “terrorists”.  What?.

Another myth created by the conservatives to get off attention the economy.  I do not see the conservatives draft an alternative and innovative free-market solution to this financial problem.  I am sure some person at a thinkthank has addressed this but McCain is more interested in mudslinging than trying to find a economic plan to mitigate the damage of the economic meltdown that we are going through.

And Tina Fey is funny as Palin on Saturday Night Live.

Clarification on Palin

In interview that I listen today on Fresh Air, Bill Maher calls the Kenyan pastor that “blessed” Palin and Maher said that he was some kind of witch doctor.   Too many people in the media take the word “witchcraft” at its literal meeting.

In reality, that word is Christian jargon.  The proper meaning of the word is that it has to deal with fighting spiritual oppression from Satan and not real witchcraft.  While I view her church as crazy from Reformed perspective (when I talk about Christianity), all of the conservative churches discuss sprirtual oppression from Satan and prayer is how a person protects themselves from Satan.    Therefore, the real point of the Youtube event was a prayer to protect her aganist spiritual oppression from Satan.  And when the pastor speaks in tongues, they are practicing the gifts of the Holy Spirit that were given to the church atPentecost.  According to their theology, the gifts of holy spirit are still valid for this date.

The media needs to do their homework before rushing judgement before making judgements on a person spirituality. You have to take to learn about the spirituality and have an open mind to it.   If we did more of this, a lot of our partisan bickering would disappear and we could really get some of the very difficult problems that our nation faces.

Obama and Ayers

Here is a excerpt from a blog from Boarshead (http://www.boarsheadtavern.com/archives/2008/10/01/1164941.html),

bama is one of those “teflon” people that nothing sticks to. Radical, leftist past? Bill Ayers? Jeremiah Wright? Franklin Raines? The Action Wire? Legal bullying in Missouri? Some how, none of that matters at all. Maybe it’s because Obama’s been so successful at generating an image of himself as the sort of person who really wouldn’t get his hands dirty, and image is so much more powerful than fact. Or it could be the media not going hardball on those things. I don’t know, but either way, he’s made of teflon, so much so that even BHTers are praising him for being above the fray.

He’s the ultimate chameleon. Bill Clinton was quite gifted at saying whatever the people in front of him wanted to hear, and I see this same knack for public rhetoric in Obama.

I am not going to delve into his post except I do want to critique his point on Ayers and Wright. The conservatives are overblowing the connection between Ayers and Wright. People like that paint the image that Obama is some type of socialist based on these connections.

People who use the subject reasoning have a poor case. Mr. Wright and Mr. Ayers are not policy advisiers and have little to do with how Obama shapes his policy position. Criticism of he choose as his advisers is much stronger arguement but to suggest that Obama is a some radical just because he associates with Mr. Ayers and Mr. Wright is a weak position and voters who believe in the subject line of reasoning are decieved by conservatives. I consider this to be Republican propaganda and therefore, should not be used as a reason for voting aganist Obama.

What is Up with Sarah Palin

She does sound like bumbling, stumbling fool.

Anger

My anger aganist the Conservative right is growing by the second. This post on Truthdig is fueling my activism (http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.truthdig.com%2Freport%2Fitem%2F20080925_they_say_the_bailout_is_necessary_but_is_it_constitutional%2F. I am person who believes in fiscal conservatism but I also believe in the concept of social justice and now this make me angry.

Along with the information that I learned about prop six turns me into full-time political activist for one month, I support the Junior Senator from Illinois and must support him as much as I can. I no longer hide in my bunker in Mission Viejo because it is time to get the message out. This fuels my anger and now my passion for change is deep.

I am a DOD auditor so there is limits on what I can do but last time I heard there is free speech and this protected by the Bill of Rights. My goal is protect the American people from graft and abuse from Defense Contractors.

This is no longer but politics but rather protect the freedoms that I cherish and social views that I cherish. Now it gers personal.

As a country, we need to rise up and face the Congress and demand change. But before we demand change, the American people must do extensive research on the issue before demanding change. When a uber-informed public contacts Congresss and we know the issues inside and out, we can demand change and they will listen. But changes requires a significant amount of effort on YOUR part. D.C listens to the citizens that do their homework and know the issue inside and out.

Our Congressman listen to the lobbyist because they know the issue inside and out because they are paid. But if we take the time to learn the issues instead of watching American Idol, then we can demand change