2 Birds With One Stone

Q: What do you get when you kill 2 chickens with 1 stone?

A: Food for thought.

Here's a way to solve 2 socioeconomic problems with 1 stone. Problem Number One: thanks to the recession--some have called it the worst economic crisis since the FDR's Great Depression, but I think the Carter stagflation era was worse than the 2008 recession--we have higher than normal unemployment. Problem Number Two: thanks to our government's unwillingness to protect our borders, we continue to have illegal immigration.

Well, here is something that would solve both problems: all those unemployed Americans should go to work on farms, in restaurants, and for landscaping companies. Unemployment would plummet, and since there would be no jobs for them, the illegals would stop coming here!

Food for thought.

Uncle Chuck Wants You ['re Money]

I recently received the following email from Senator Schumer. The letter is reproduced here in its entirety, for your enjoyment. I have changed the addressee (that's me), as indicated by italics, to protect my anonymity, in case the democrat storm troopers want to come after me.

"Dear smarterthancongress:

Thank you for writing and sharing your thoughts about America’s financial crisis. I agree with you that giving the Secretary of the Treasury authority over a $700 billion dollar fund to stabilize the financial system, without any checks on his authority, or oversight of his actions, would have been a grave mistake. However, the severity of this economic crisis forced the Congress to act in order to save Main Street from further financial pain. If we had not acted when we did, small businesses trying to fill orders and meet payroll, students looking to pay for college, consumers looking to buy cars and so many others would have faced even greater economic hardships, which would have been disastrous for household wealth and jobs in our country. That is why I made the difficult decision to support the administration’s rescue plan after insisting on changes to the program to ensure that taxpayers will share in the rewards of recovery, that executives of these mismanaged financial institutions would not be enriched with taxpayer money, and that there would be effective oversight of the program. When the economy recovers, taxpayers should be able to recoup most, or all, of this money because the federal government will earn a return from any investments it makes in banks needing assistance. To hold the banks’ executives accountable, the bill requires that all companies that benefit from government assistance limit how much they pay their top employees and, in many cases, eliminate golden parachutes entirely. And to guarantee effective oversight of the rescue program, major oversight mechanisms were written into the legislation, including the creation of a new Inspector General and Congressional oversight panel. Finally, we forced the Administration to add protections for homeowners into the bill that address the eye of the financial storm – the foreclosure crisis. Of course, this is only one part of a comprehensive solution needed to get our economy back on the right track. Congress stands ready to deliver a broad-based economic stimulus package to invest in Main Street, create new high-paying jobs, and keep the engine of our economy going. Again, thank you for contacting me on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can be of further assistance on this, or any other matter.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer

United States Senator

Please do not respond to this email. To send another message please visit my website at http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/contact/webform.cfm . Thank you."

There is no need for me to nitpick this letter. You can do that yourself, since you are

smarter than congress. However, please notice that there is no (zero, zip, zilch, nada) acknowlegement of Congress's share of responsibility for the recession. You know what I mean:

democrat cronies like Frank Raines running Fannie and Freddie into the ground with the encouragement of Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank; democrat/environmentalist policies blocking American oil production; CAFE standards, etc. And Schumer is up to his neck in this, and shows not one scintilla of introspection, apology, or responsibility.

Letter from D.C., or Why is this Woman Smiling?

What, me worry?

The following is an email that I received from the junior Senator from New York. That's right, she is still the Senator, even though she has been pretty scarce the past 3 years, and is abandoning us in the very near future(boo hoo!) to advance her own career . The email is shown here in its entirety. Changes are in italics.

"Dear smarterthancongress.com:

Thank you for sharing your views on the state of the auto industry. I appreciate your concern and I welcome the opportunity to respond.

The auto manufacturing sector has been devastated by the recent economic crisis. Frozen consumer and commercial credit and sharply declining sales have pushed U.S. automakers to the edge of bankruptcy. According to one estimate, almost three million American jobs are tied to the Big Three automakers. The collapse of the domestic auto industry would have a ripple effect that would be immediately felt by New York's nearly 98,000 auto manufacturing-related workers and the many suppliers and dealers throughout the state and the entire nation. Moreover, a collapse would have a destructive impact on our economy.

It is profoundly disappointing that the measure on the floor of the Senate last week was blocked. It would have provided critical assistance for American automakers and the millions of workers whose jobs are directly and indirectly in jeopardy. Millions of Americans, whose livelihoods are in jeopardy, are left to wait over the holidays to see whether their jobs will be saved.

This is a difficult time for America and for American families. Our economy has been buffeted by turmoil in the financial markets and the growing mortgage crisis, resulting in - and compounded by - severe job losses and a deepening sense of anxiety across this country. Inaction is not an acceptable option. I have called for the current administration to use the tools at its disposal to keep our automakers afloat, including using the authority given to the Treasury Secretary to stabilize our markets and troubled companies. In the long term, we must pursue economic policies that will not only create jobs but create the incentives for these companies and many others to lead our nation and the world in developing innovative technologies that will shape our future and ensure our prosperity.

Again, thank you for your letter regarding the auto industry and our economic challenges ahead. For updates, please check my website at http://clinton.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton"

So thats it.   I will not nitpick the Senator's letter;  I will leave that to you.  After all, you are SMARTER THAN CONGRESS.

73 - 44 = ? OR, WHY ARE THESE MEN LAUGHING?

Do you think the geniuses in Congress can do the math?    Lets see.   73.   That would be the average hourly labor costs paid to UAW workers by the not-so-big three Detroit automakers.   44, on the other hand, is the average hourly labor costs  of the other car manufacturers in the U.S., i.e., Toyota.  

So, what's the answer?   73 - 44 = an untenable business model.   The geniuses in Congress, mostly democrats, who are beholden to the unions and the environmental wackos, have pressured the auto makers to accept ridiculous UAW contracts, and have imposed CAFE standards upon them.   Add to the cauldron the big-bonus nincompoop auto execs  that came up with the Hummer and the Scion, and you come up with a poisonous potion worthy of the Wierd Sisters of  Macbeth.

Now the same geniuses, plus Bush and King Henry (Paulsen), want to use my money, my hard-earned money, to bail Detroit out.   Not to worry, you say, its a loan to Detroit, and they have to pay it back to the taxpayers.    Remember the last time Congress said the loans would be paid back?   Its called the sub-prime mortgage crisis.   

NO MORE BAILOUTS!

Kudos to Kongress

The price of petrol in suburban New York has finally dipped below $2.00/gallon.  Time to go buy me another Hummer.   But seriously, all praise is due to the geniuses in Congress who rescued us from $4.00 a gallon gas;   and thanks to President Bush and King Henry (Paulson) for their part in this process.  I knew that bailing out AIG, and buying up all those risky subprime mortgages would do the trick.   Those evil oil barons must have been shaking in their boots when they  stared into the steely eyes of Charles "Chuck" Schumer, and "Dirty" Harry Reid.     Now, whenever I fill up, I think fondly of our fearless leaders on Capitol Hill (see list on the right side of this page) and in the White House.   They have shown that they have the power to take care of us in these troubled times.   Thank God they did not leave us in the hands of market forces.

But wait, I just thought of something.   The price of gas really started to plummet after the election.   Maybe its the messiah--I mean, the Obama--who is responsible for our fuel savings.

Lets all say a prayer of thanks to Him, also.

Barack atah adonai....