2010 Census stupidity
I got a letter at my house this evening from the US Department of Commerce. The text of this letter is below:
Dear Resident:
About one week from now you will receive a 2010 Census form in the mail. When yuo receive your form, please fill it out and mail it in promptly.
Your response is important . Results from the 2010 Census will be used to help each community get its fair share of government funds for highways, schools, health facilities, and many other programs you and your neighbors need. Without a complete, accurate census, your community may ot receive its fair share.
What a waste of taxpayer dollars. Why do they need to send me a “warning letter” telling me that I will get a form to fill out next week?
Mike
Teacher salary comparison
The local school districts have to cut costs; due to this the pay and benefits of local teachers has underwent a lot of scrutiny.
I have decided to compare my wife and her earnings to that of the average local teacher. I think this comparison will surprise many of you!
The US Senate is full of hypocrites
I am sick and tired of hearing about reconciliation and the “nuclear option.”
Both Democrats and Republicans use the reconciliation process in the US Senate when they are in the majority. Both Democrats and Republicans whine and cry when they are in the minority and the other major political party uses reconciliation. It is pathetic and I am sick of it.
The US Senate is dysfunctional.
Listening to conservative talk radio today was educational; at least as far as illustrating how the Democrats in the Senate are hypocrites. Today I heard soundbites from 2005 including the current President of the US, the current Vice President of the US, and the Democrat in charge of the US Senate rail against using reconciliation. Now that those same people are in the majority party they have “changed their minds.”
Don’t think the Republicans are any better on this issue. They do the exact same thing when “the shoe is on the other foot.”
There are so many hypocrites in the US Senate that we realistically need to throw almost all of them out and start over.
Mike Sylvester
Illinois is completely screwed
There has been a great deal of media attention concerning the fiscal crisis in many states including California, New York, New Jersey, etc. That being said Illinois is also in serious trouble.
Illinois has an annual budget of around 53 billion dollars. They are looking at an annual deficit of about 12.8 billion dollars. They are borrowing one dollar for every three dollars they spend. This is completely insane and obviously unsustainable.
Worse yet the state of Illinois has seriously underfunded their public pension plans. Per a recent report the State of Illinois public pension funds are only 54% funded.
Worse yet the City of Chicago, the public transit system in Chicago, and many other large organizations in the state of Illinois are completely broke.
Unless Illinois enters an economic period with massive growth there is no way that the State can stay solvent without both large tax increases and large spending cuts.
This situation is going to be interesting to watch and it is going to be extremely ugly. I am glad I do not live in Illinois.
Mike Sylvester
Senator Bayh
Senator Evan Bayh, in a news conference just before the filing deadline to run in the primary, announced his retirment from the US Senate.
Reaction from Indiana Democrats has been interesting to say the least. Senator Bayh’s announcement appears to be a shock to the entire Democratic establishment. Senator Bayh kept his retirement secret and shocked even his own campaign manager.
Nadia Bashir called me today and I did a short interview with her in my office; part of which will be aired on WFFT-TV tonight on their 10 PM news on channel 55.
I have several observations about this retirement:
1. His last minute retirement is a slap in the face to The Indiana Democratic Party and to Indiana voters. Now the Democrats will have to appoint a candidate and there will not be a Demcoratic primary. That is shameful.
2. I think it is very likely that Evan Bayh would have won re-election. I personally think the only Indiana Republican that could have beat Senator Bayh was Mike Pence. Unfortunately Mike Pence decided not to challenge Bayh.
3. I now think the Republicans will win a second Indiana Senate seat in November 2010.
4. I think Bayh’s “retirement” will serve to energize the Indiana Republican Party and will tend to hurt the morale of the Indiana Democratic Party. I think whoever wins the Republican Primary for US Senate will win in November fairly easily.
Mike Sylvester
Lincoln Financial Games the TARP System
Apologies if this has been reported elsewhere as the information is about a month old but given Lincoln’s ties to Fort Wayne I thought it would be of interest. In December, the Special Inspector General for the TARP (that’s the $750 Billion bank bailout) issued a report regarding the usage of TARP funds by various institutions.
The report highlights how Lincoln Financial bought a hole-in-the-wall bank in order to become eligible for TARP funds. Had the bank itself applied for TARP funds it would’ve only been eligible for $350k but Lincoln was able to buy this bank for ~$10 Million and then receive $950 Million in TARP funds. Keep in mind that without this purchase Lincoln would not have been eligible for any TARP funds. And to top it off, they haven’t used any of the money towards the bank’s activities but have instead used all of it to shore up their insurance business.
Here’s the relevant info from the SIGTARP report (PDF, p14):
H/T - Mish
An Explanation of the Carry Trade & how Banks are Looting Taxpayer Money
Since the President is finally heating up the rhetoric on big banks and their looting of taxpayer money I thought I’d do a post explaining how the banks are using the Federal Reserve to essentially steal your money. The President, and others, are focused in on the $200+ billion hole still left from the $750 Billion TARP bailout. While it is important that taxpayers be paid back in full for this, it is also important that taxpayers understand that this was only the tip of the iceberg in regards to the financial sector bailout.
I’m not going to go into the details of all the various programs being used to bail out these institutions but I do want to focus on what I believe is the most important – the easy monetary policy being used by the fed. It’s what helped cause the current crisis and it will likely be the cause of the next one as well.
Friday’s Stuff Worth Reading
- Simon Johnson calls Ben Bernanke’s reappointment “ A Colossal Failure of Governance“.
- Marshall Auerback, basically the opposite of a card-carrying member of the GOP, slams Obama on his inability to deal with the financial crisis and reform of financial sector.
It’s important for people to know that there are many serious and well-respected economists out there that don’t support Ben Bernanke. Johnson probably tops that list, and Obama would do well to fire Geihtner and replace him with Johnson.
I’ve been using the term “Clinton retreads” for years now so it’s always funny to see the term pop up in other writings. I’m going to blockquote a chunk of this post below the fold because I think it’s that good.
“Victory” for Bipartisanship
During Obama’s State of the Union address I continued to chuckle every time he mentioned working together or bipartisanship. This utopian dream of both parties singing kumbaya as they solve the country’s problems is pure fantasyland I said. But alas, within 48 hours I was reminded that both parties can work together. See, what I should’ve remembered is that anything both parties agree on is probably terrible for the country as a whole and that is the type of decision they are most likely to make.
I really am starting to believe that if both parties can’t agree on something then it’s probably something worth considering and vice-versa. It’s kind of like this scene from Seinfeld where George decides that every decision he’s ever made has been wrong and he’s going to do the opposite from now on:
The bipartisanship I’m speaking of is the renomination of Ben Bernanke which passed the Senate yesterday by a vote of 70-30. Nobody in a position of authority now was more responsible for the financial crisis than he was. The Federal Reserve, and Bernanke in particular, was the last to understand the depth and breadth of the current crisis. How anyone could take this guy seriously after his embarrassing failures is beyond me. And what’s more is that he (like Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner) doesn’t even acknowledge that he had any part in the financial crisis.
As long as Bernanke is in charge there can be no serious reform of the financial industry and what this means is that you can bet your life that there will be another disastrous meltdown directly attributable to his failures. But hey, as least our politicians worked together to pass some legislation - Obama must be so proud…
Massachusetts Senate race
Tomorrow is the special election to elect a replacement for Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy. Massachusetts is an extremely liberal state; in fact, it is so liberal that President Obama won this state by 26 points. Another intersting fact is that there are 3 registered Democrats for each registered Republican in the state.
Republican Scott Brown is running against Democrat Martha Coakley.
The polls are currently showing that Scott Brown is in the lead. President Obama stayed out of the race until yesterday.
Special elections are notoriously hard to poll; however, it looks like Scott Brown has a better than even chance of beating Martha Coakley.
If Scott Brown wins the Democrats will lose their 60 votes in the US Senate and the Republicans will regain the ability to fillibuster.
I think that if Scott Brown does actually win the special election the National Democratic Party; and many Democratic members of Congress, are going to go into panic mode; as well they should.
If Scott Brown wins it could well be a precursor to a massive electoral drubbing if Democrats do not get their act together.
Mike Sylvester
