COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Does the Government investment in the car industry make sense?

The Obama administration's commitment of $30 billion on Monday to General Motors Corp. as it files for bankruptcy, brings the total amount of funds allocated and promised to the auto industry to $110 billion, including bailout capital and funds to be made available for green car component suppliers. Does that make sense?

Possibly.

When BMW built a new plant in South Carolina, 17 years ago , BMW promised 2,000 direct jobs and $500 million in capital investment. By early 2008, the company reported that it had 5,400 full-time jobs at the 1,150-acre site. More than $5 billion had been invested (in 2007 dollars), much more than originally promised. In March 2008, BMW announced it would invest $750 million more in South Carolina, taking production capacity to 240,000 units by 2012. The new investment will augment the plant size to 4 million square feet.

Chrysler has less than 30,000 UAW workers. GM has 70,000. A little math and we have 100,000 active members. Remember the $110 billion figure committed to the auto industry? That is ONE MILLION DOLLARS per job. BMW created 5400 jobs with $5 billion. That is one million dollars per job.

BMW produces 45 cars per job or $1.8 million in production per worker.

GM and Chrysler should be able to meet that.




69 comments:

  1. Somewhat else needs to check my math.

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  2. feeling optimistic. maybe they'll turn GM into the worlds largest electric car company. we need to sever our connection with the oil beast.

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  3. That number has been bandied about here in Canada with respect to the Canadian portion of the bailout. The politcos response, which has some truth to it, is that that figure represents simply the job cost if you consider only the GM/Chrysler worker. To get a more accurate picture you should consider the industry, the auto parts workers ect. Their justification for the bailout is that if we didn't follow the US down this merry path the whole industry would collapse and the failing auto parts companies would cause major grief for the healthy car industry here (Toyota, Honda ect.)

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  4. Remember that 57 Chevy? Do you really? Do you remember how many miles you drove it before you had to replace the transmission? Do a Ring and Valve job? Replace the shocks?

    Scrap it?

    The fact is cars last a whole hell of a lot longer, today, than they did even 20 years, ago.

    There's a LOT more competition. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, VW, etc.

    We'll, probably, never again NEED 16 Million Cars/Yr.

    I'm not upset about the bailout. I'm, also, not "ecstatic" about it. It was, probably, pretty much a "coin-flip." I hope it works out.

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  5. My problem with the bailout is that it puts the US Federal Government in charge of running a huge car company. There are numerous conflicts of interest created and the government should not be running industry directly. Regulation is one thing, trying to compete within a regulatory structure is entirely different.

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  6. The reason I don't worry about that too much, Ash, is I know, eventually, we'll elect another Republican President, and he'll sell our stake.

    That's the beauty of having a population that's divided 50/50. Nothing's, forever.

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  7. The reason the gov. is buying is no one else is willing to buy. I'm not sure the gov. will clean up the beast enough to warrant a buyer's interest. Running a successful car company is a tough thing to do and I fear that there will be substantial more money tossed down that hole before it goes the way British Leyland did.

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  8. Toyota and BMW would have a proportional number of service and parts related jobs as do GM and Chrtsler.


    So the cost per job, it can be measured in direct employees, or per the number of cars built, and extrapulated down the supply chain.
    Hourly rate or piece work.

    Take your choice, but measure each equally. The supply chain for BMW USA is going to be similar in jobs produced, by which ever measure, as the supply chain for GM.

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  9. The best route would have been for the Federals to nationalize the Big Three's "Legacy Costs", back in October.

    Taken the health care and retirement costs off the table.

    Putting the Big Three on an equal footing with the foreign trademarks.

    Then there'd be buyers for the infrastructure and tradenames.

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  10. Cars are a lot better that's for sure. 100,000 miles and they were dead meat in the old days.

    Looks like the Chinese are buying Hummer. So says Drudge, must be true.

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  11. Jacqui Smith Out, Savage Still In--
    -/

    Heh, or her man, charged up porn films to the British taxpayer, pissed people off.

    That's about the level of our politicians these days too. A good image.

    Sitting around around watching porn, charging it up to us.

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  12. sould read: Heh, she or her man




    How can the new Government Motors compete with Ford? Won't they have to screw Ford up some way?

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  13. What brought GM down was there was no competition in the labor market.

    Rat's right, the legacy costs probably should have been 'nationalized.'

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  14. If the Chinese are buying Hummer, I quess we'll have to call it Chummer.


    "Does the Government investment in the car industry make sense?"

    Yes, maybe, but not for long.

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  15. Rat,

    I'm having trouble getting my head around your notion of the Federals taking the "Legacy Costs" off the table for just those three companies. I can see the logic of removing some of those legacy costs, well health care anyway (pension benefits not so much) but for all companies not just those privileged three.

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  16. All companies, all people, all countries.
    Free Health Care for Everybody!

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  17. (I was the first one to suggest the legacy cost solution, btw)
    ...just sayin.

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  18. Al Qaeda’s Xbox Fantasy Game You may be wondering why Begg was transferred to the UK in 2005. Cucullu reports:

    All major U.S. security organizations – the DOD, FBI, and CIA continued to say that Begg was a committed terrorist and active supporter of terrorist organizations. His release by the personal intervention of President Bush, a decision that overruled all three agency recommendations that he be detained, was done, many think, as a political palliative to his friend and war supporter British prime minister Tony Blair, who was under much criticism at the time for not demanding immediate release of all British citizens held at Guantanamo.Cucullu adds that Gitmo interrogators told him “that Begg in their opinion is a hardened terrorist who has used the opportunity of release to enter the public information forum in a big way. “He is doing more good for al Qaeda as a British poster boy than he would ever do carrying an AK-47,” Gitmo’s chief interrogator Paul Rester told Cucullu.

    Begg’s propaganda efforts will now include a disgusting video game in which Begg, who once admitted he was a committed al Qaeda fighter, gets to target “mercenaries” -- in reality, stand-ins for American servicemen. One wonders if leftist organizations, such as Amnesty International which has supported Begg in the past, will support his latest endeavor.

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  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. Brooks can be right when not sucking up to the Beltway Culture:-
    The elemental facts about the Obama restructuring plan are these:Bureaucratically, the plan is smart. Financially, it is tough-minded. But when it comes to the corporate culture that is at the core of G.M.’s woes, the Obama approach is strangely oblivious. The Obama plan won’t revolutionize G.M.’s corporate culture. It could make things worse.

    First, the Obama plan will reduce the influence of commercial outsiders. The best place for fresh thinking could come from outside private investors. But the Obama plan rides roughshod over the current private investors and so discourages future investors. G.M. is now a pariah on Wall Street. Say farewell to a potentially powerful source of external commercial pressure.

    Second, the Obama plan entrenches the ancien régime. The old C.E.O. is gone, but he’s been replaced by a veteran insider and similar executive coterie. Meanwhile, the U.A.W. has been given a bigger leadership role. This is the union that fought for job banks, where employees get paid for doing nothing. This is the organization that championed retirement with full benefits at around age 50. This is not an organization that represents fundamental cultural change.

    Third, the Obama approach reduces the fear that impels change. The U.S. government will own most of G.M. It would be politically suicidal for the Democrats, or whoever is in power, to pull the plug on the company — now or ever. Therefore, the current managers can rest assured that they never need to fear liquidation again. There will always be federal subsidies for their own mediocrity.

    Fourth, the Obama plan dilutes the company’s focus. Instead of thinking obsessively about profitability and quality, G.M. will also have to meet the administration’s environmental goals. There is no evidence G.M. is good at building the sort of small cars the administration demands. There is no evidence that there is a large American market for these cars. But G.M. now has to serve two masters, the market and the administration’s policy goals.

    Fifth, G.M.’s executives and unions now have an incentive to see Washington as a prime revenue center. Already, the union has successfully lobbied to move production centers back from overseas. Already, the company has successfully sought to restrict the import of cars that might compete with G.M. brands. In the years ahead, G.M.’s management will have a strong incentive to spend time in Washington, urging the company’s owner, the federal government, to issue laws to help it against Ford and Honda.

    Sixth, the new plan will create an ever-thickening set of relationships between G.M.’s new owners — in government, management and unions. These thickening bonds between public and private bureaucrats will fundamentally alter the corporate culture, and not for the better. Members of Congress are also getting more involved in the company they own, and will have their own quaint impact.

    The end result is that G.M. will not become more like successful car companies. It will become less like them. The federal merger will not accelerate the company’s viability. It will impede it. We’ve seen this before, albeit in different context: An overconfident government throws itself into a dysfunctional culture it doesn’t really understand. The result is quagmire. The costs escalate. There is no exit strategy.

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  21. Why can't the Google Braintrust Handle Elementary Formatting, huh?

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  22. Meanwhile, the U.A.W. has been given a bigger leadership role.--
    -/

    Kiss o' Death.


    to issue laws to help it against Ford and Honda.--
    -/

    Kiss o' Death for the whole industry.

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  23. Yeah, that's the part that really sucks.

    As we speak, Ford seeks to exploit their new hard won advantage.

    I have no doubt the UAW/Chicago Machine will find a way to thwart them.

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  24. I'll be buying a new car, or pickup, one of these days. It's gonna be a Ford.

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  25. Window of opportunity now until the new CAFE (or more accurately now - Obama Mandates) standard come into effect.

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  26. King Obama gets what King Obama wants.
    As the MSM sings Hosannas in addoration of his Messiahship .

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  27. Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin notices that Obastard condemned the killing of the abortion doc, but no mention of the killing of a military recruiter in Arkansas by a muzzie (and wounded another), even when he had the perfect opportunity to do so, at the swearing in of some administration defense official.

    "I'll stand with the muslims" Obama said during the campaign.

    When stories like this come up, I always recall Ash mightily striving to defend the mobs trying to shut down the recruiting office in Berkeley, California.

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  28. This is interesting--sounds credible--


    Liberty Co., FAA to discuss report of object near plane

    By MIKE GLENN Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE

    June 1, 2009, 11:38PM

    County Sheriff’s officials are expected to meet with the FAA on Tuesday to discuss what a Continental Express pilot reported as a “missile or rocket” flying near his airplane.

    A pilot reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that at about 8:15 p.m. Friday, an object passed within 150 feet beneath the aircraft, sheriff’s officials said.

    The aircraft was near the southern edge of the county, flying at about 13,000 feet, officials said.

    “The pilot, from what we understand, was former military. He was able to get the coordinates down real quick,” said Cpl. Hugh Bishop with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department.Sheriff’s deputies searched Friday night for signs of evidence where a missile might have been launched or landed.

    “We couldn’t find anything,” Bishop said.

    ---

    13,000 feet

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  29. 13,000ft seems like the operational limit of most shoulder fired surface to air missiles.

    Chinese QW-1 Shoulder-Fired Missile - Range 3.1 miles, Altitude >13,000 ft. ... made man-portable surface to air missile


    FIM-92 Stinger can attack aircraft at a range of up to 15,700 feet (4,800 m) and at altitudes between 600 and 12,500 feet (180 and 3,800 m).

    The Roland is a French/German mobile short-range surface-to-air missile system. ... Ceiling: 4,000 m (13,100 ft). Floor: 20 m (65 ft). Model: Roland 2. Country: ...

    Osa
    Ceiling: 5,000 m (16,400 ft). Floor: 25 m (82 ft).

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  30. The Associated Press
    Tuesday, June 2, 2009 3:40 PM



    LONDON -- President Barack Obama reiterated that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it takes steps to prove its aspirations are peaceful.

    In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, Obama also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it to set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor.

    Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons.

    "Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region," Obama said.

    The comments echo remarks Obama made in Prague last month in which he said his administration would "support Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy with rigorous inspections" if Iran proves it is no longer a nuclear threat.

    Iranian state television described the news as Obama recognizing the "rights of the Iranian nation," a phrase typically used to refer to Iran's nuclear program
    .

    Rigorous inspections, of the full fuel cycle.

    That is what the Treaty allows.
    No doubt of that, at all.

    On either side.

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  31. Liberty County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 70,154. The 2007 Census estimate placed the county population at 75,434. Its county seat is Liberty[1].

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  32. Unlike his two immediate predecessors (Bill Clinton and George W. Bush), the president has decided to draw the line with Israel and push for a comprehensive freeze on settlements on the West Bank. The president seems unwilling to yield ground and to allow the Israelis any of the traditional loopholes that would have permitted some settlement construction. If the U.S.-Israeli brouhaha leads to a real confrontation, even the fall of the Netanyahu government, President Obama may not feel too bad about it.
    ...
    As President Obama heads to Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week, his strategy is not altogether clear. The logic appears to be to get Israel to freeze settlements, the Arab states to offer up partial normalization and together this will somehow get Israel and the Palestinians into a successful negotiation on the toughest issues -- Jerusalem, borders and refugees. The president would presumably be prepared to lay out his own peace plan if necessary.

    To make this work, the sun, moon and the stars would need to align almost perfectly. Netanyahu has already rejected an airtight freeze on settlements; the prospect of the Arabs, already scared of Iran, giving visas to Israeli entrepreneurs is unlikely. And the idea that a conflict-ending agreement can be reached between a Palestinian national movement so broken that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas share control over the guns, people and legitimacy of Palestine, and a right-wing Israeli government almost seems fantastical.

    I can only conclude that the administration -- filled with talented and experienced people -- understands the long odds, too. In fact, both White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have seen the Netanyahu movie before (he was prime minister from 1996-1999) and may well have advised the president that getting an agreement with him will be almost impossible.
    ...
    President Obama may be banking on the fact that no Israeli prime minister can afford a confrontation with America, particularly with a popular president at a time when Israel needs America to deal with Iran. And the president may also have concluded that if the prime minister decides to hang tough, well, we'll let the chips and his government fall where they may. The problem is the next Israeli government may be no more willing or able to do what the president and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would demand.

    It's a risky play so early in his administration. I hope the president has thought through the consequences, because what's left of the peace process depends on it
    .

    Editor's note: Aaron David Miller, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington since 2006, served in the State Department as senior adviser for Arab-Israeli negotiations and in other roles under six secretaries of state.

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  33. LONDON -- President Barack Obama reiterated that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy _ provided it takes steps to prove its aspirations are peaceful.

    Russia offered them all the fuel they would need a few years ago. They kept the centrifuges spinning and built more. Their interests in "nucular" are not for electrical power.

    ...Obama also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it to set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor.

    Choosing a different flavor of cake would be a start. Dutch chocolate with that kinda carmel and coconut icing is always nice.

    "Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region," Obama said.

    I'm reminded of Major DeCoverly's outburst in "Catch-22" as he was waiting in line at the mess hall while all those in front of him repeated the loyalty oath, "Hernia, hernia, hernia..."

    Or words to that effect.

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  34. Current and historical information about Liberty County. ... The altitude varies from twenty to 200 feet.

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  35. ...The problem is the next Israeli government may be no more willing or able to do what the president and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would demand...

    The problem is the two-state solution requires a second state that's worth trusting. The pali have proven they're not.

    Fuck CNN.

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  36. The Iranians will not be held hostage for the fuel, when they have bountiful uranium deposits, of their own.

    They're gong into the nuclear electrical power generation export business, compete with GE.
    In Cuba, Venezuela and the like. Where their commercial interests are taking shape along ideological lines.

    Develop a market for all that uranium, and do it well with in the scope of NPT.

    Their own 24 reactors and a network if power plants around the whirled.

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  37. Current and historical information about Liberty County. ... The altitude varies from twenty to 200 feet.--
    -/

    Whole place will be under water in a few years, you wait and see, unless THE ONE can get it undone, and stop the risin' o' the seas.

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  38. And with that proof, lineman, demands for external intervention.

    And binding arbitration.

    Until the Palis are capable of managing their contigous State, with its' capital in Jerusalem.

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  39. Resolution of the Israel-Palestine issues would rank somewhere lower than 20th in a rational world.

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  40. ...They're gong into the nuclear electrical power generation export business, compete with GE.
    In Cuba, Venezuela and the like. Where their commercial interests are taking shape along ideological lines
    .

    When pigs fly. They can't even maintain their own oil fields now.

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  41. The pali have proven they're not.--
    -/

    It's in the Hamas charter, isn't it, no Israel.

    Tough to negotiate with those boys. And in the West Bank, they've got Abbas hanging on, even though his term is over, because Hamas might win there too.

    Since war is likely to break out soon anyway, the whole issue might have some entirely different solution.

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  42. ...Until the Palis are capable of managing their contigous State...

    When pigs fly?

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  43. They're going into the nuclear bomb business unless Israel stops them, because floppy ears the muzzie lover isn't going to do it.

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  44. Global health - The Boston Globe.
    ... US government estimates that healthcare spending will account for 18.7 percent of GDP by 2014. ...

    And if that were not enough ...

    PPI: Almost Half of All World Health Spending is in the United States.

    That'd certainly rank above 20, in a rational whirled.

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  45. Was reading an article last night about how to control l'le Kim. Suggestion was have the Japanese announce they are nuking up until the l'le Kim threat goes away, at which point they will nuke back down. Since the Chinese don't want a nuclear Japan, this should do the trick, the author thought.

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  46. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  47. Tue Jun 02, 07:04:00 PM EDT
    -
    So nuclear means peaceful uses,
    nucular refers to weapons.

    I always wondered about that.
    Thanks.

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  48. There are 182 F22s to stop them, bob. But I doubt, hope, that they'd all not have to be deployeed.

    If that is in the National Interest of the US, as decided by the President.

    Let's wait for his Cairo speech, and where he gives it. Then see if it impacts the Lebanese elections.

    That's the next test of US policy. Was US policy to support the Cedar Revolution, in Feb 2005 a success, or not?
    GW Bush's whole second term.

    wi"o" and others have said that Hezzbollah will win he election, in Lebanon. That would represent a poor showing for US policy. If President Obama can turn that around, with a speech three days prior, a June Surprise. Well, that'd be something.

    If not, Mr Bush and Condi's plan became for transforming the region becomes a crapper.

    In any case, Obama's gonna turn the screws on Israel, whether or not Bibi is the tougher man, looking stern while the President appears like a happy lad.

    Despite the differences in their educations and backgrounds. One has the power of the United States at his command and the other guy, well he does not.

    They were not arm wrestlin' across the Resolute desk.

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  49. The Swine Flu, already.

    The external intervention would be long term, that's a given.

    Obama is pressing, most Presidents wait until year 8 to try the MidEast on for size, but not Obama. 120 days in, he is firing on all eight.

    For better or worse, he ain't half-steppin'. Pressure the Afpaks with six stars and press the Israeli government to honor their past promises.

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  50. At first I thought it was a whoopie cushion, the tootinobama.

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  51. ...If President Obama can turn that around, with a speech three days prior, a June Surprise. Well, that'd be something...

    Sure would be.

    That day the pig's would be flyin' for sure.

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  52. "That's the next test of US policy. Was US policy to support the Cedar Revolution, in Feb 2005 a success, or not?
    GW Bush's whole second term.
    "
    ---
    The De-Hated Decider-Boy couldn't stand up to Condi.
    ...and Powell and the Fat Headed One Neutered Cheney/Liddy.

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  53. The fast start, because he has a long range plan, multiple steps and levels. Be my guess.

    He's going to accelerate the process. He is all about process, remember it is what got him his Party's nomination.

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  54. Process and power, those are the drivers, for Obama.

    Based on obsevations to date

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  55. Obama's push previews the long-awaited Cairo speech, which Obama aides hoped would start to repair badly frayed relationships between the United States and Muslims and their nations and which Israeli officials planned to watch for clues as to Washington's next steps. Opinions of the United States run negative in Muslim capitals, fueled by the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and its longtime support of Israel.

    Ahead of the speech, Obama has told interviewers he is committed to an independent Palestinian state but has not shied from the United States' deep ties to Israel. Obama's advisers hope that stance would position him to be an honest broker for both sides, particularly over settlements that were supposed to be halted under the peace plan.

    The Israeli government has moved to dismantle some small settler outposts that were established without government approval. But Netanyahu has refused to accept a complete end, as Obama has insisted.


    Defense Minister

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  56. After some thought, ash, and the lack of any other topic, the Legacy Costs of the Big Three, the anchor to their competitiveness, could have been made the proto-type of a national health care and pension guarentee program.

    Or just a one off, it would have been less expensive to pick up those liabilities than the path to bankruptcy and Federal ownership of GM that was chosen and ... less intrusive.

    GM still had healthy factories, trademarks and dealers. Still was selling as many vehicles annually as Toyota.

    They needed a scalpel to cut away some of the fat. A little liposuction.
    Instead we get a fad diet, at five star spa prices.

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  57. Well, it appears they've managed to shed a bunch of their debt and get a capital injection complete with new board members (US Federals with a token Canadian Federal and Union boyz) but the legacy costs linger as does the corporate culture. Somehow I doubt the new owners will usher in innovative forward looking exciting car stuff slashing costs and blazing new frontiers of corporate management and car design.

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  58. bobal said:
    They're going into the nuclear bomb business unless Israel stops them...

    That's the bottom line.

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  59. The Australian dollar slipped 0.3 percent to $0.8185 after jumping to an eight-month high of $0.8232, Reuters data shows.

    Australian first-quarter growth data is due at 0130 GMT. Analysts expect the economy escaped a recession, at least technically, by growing 0.2 percent in the quarter, helped mainly by a jump in net exports.

    Sterling edged down 0.2 percent to $1.6562. It hit a seven-month high of $1.6595 the previous day, according to Reuters data.


    Appetite Grows

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  60. Gallup: 54% Approve of Sotomayor Nomination


    A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds Americans' initial support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor "similar to what Gallup initially found for past nominees who were confirmed by the Senate, including Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Samuel Alito. Americans were slightly more positive toward John Roberts' nomination."

    For Sotomayor, 54% approve of her nomination, while 24% are not in favor of it and 19% have no opinion.

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  61. Did the Air France flight go down because of lightning, or a bomb? Nobody seems to know what really happened yet.

    I want to know what happened with that Continental air cargo flight in Texas. Dodging a ground-to-air missile?

    Sure sounds like it.

    Smuggled in up from Mexico?

    Would be another of the innumerable benefits of the open borders.

    You're cruising along at 13,000 feet and a surface-to-air missile scoots under your wing.

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  62. 54+19 = 73.

    73% of the American people are either basically traitorous to the Constitution, or have no idea what judges are supposed to do, or both.

    JUdges aren't supposed to be making laws.

    But in the last 50 years when has that stopped them?

    Not often.

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  63. Swedenborgian Alert!

    Some pyschology professor in England is running a twitter psychic/remote viewing experiment.

    Each day next week, he'll be going to an undisclosed location in London for a half hour or so, at a set time of day, and sit there and concentrate on the scenery.

    Then he will go to his office and post 5 pictures of local scenes on twitter, 1 of which is the correct scene.

    All psychictwitterites will be concentrating mightily during his half hour on location, then, viewing his options, will vote their choice.

    After the experiment is over, the professor will do the calculations to see if the results beat whatever the random outcome should be.

    I'm betting, if I'm able to follow this up, that the results will be a little above the statistical probablity in such a case.

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  64. Leahy quoted Sotomayor as saying, "There's not one law for one race or another. There's not one law for one color or another. There's not one law for rich, a different one for poor. There's only one law."

    The White House, choreographing Sotomayor's interactions with the Senate, called the first meetings productive.

    "We believe that she will get a fair shake and a fair set of hearings," presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said. At the same time, he said she should be confirmed before the August break.


    Bias Claims

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  65. White House 'dialogue' site
    scrubbed of eligibility posts


    Many Obama birth certificate queries
    yanked from 'transparency' debate
    --
    -/

    WorldNetDaily
    -------------------------

    Mark Levin just made a good turn of phrase. Obama is on the second leg of the apology tour, this leg called a grovelpalooza.

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  66. Air France jet departing Buenos Aires for Paris 5 days before crash received bomb threat.

    ReplyDelete