Nice to know that a private company can convert to a bank holding company under its own rules and get taxpayer money. GMAC gets help
GMAC has been trying to raise capital after the Federal Reserve said last week that it would approve GMAC’s conversion to a bank holding company. The Fed usually requires banks to have $30 billion of capital on hand, but it made a special exception for GMAC, as the government considers the company critical to the recovery of the U.S. auto industry.
The company is trying to recover from $7.9 billion of losses in the previous five quarters, most of which came from risky subprime mortgage bets made by ResCap. It got some help Monday night when the Treasury Department invested $6 billion in the company through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Partially owned by Chrysler parent Cerberus and also by General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), GMAC did not release details of how much capital it has raised to date. It previously said it would need 75% of bond holders to change their stakes to equity holdings to reach the $30 billion plateau.
I guess rules are only rules as long as they are convenient, as soon as they are not convenient the rules can be changed to whatever King Paulson says is OK.
Of course, GMAC will pay the “loan” back to the taxpayer with interest. GMAC is going to loan the money out and I am sure that the interest GMAC will charge will cover the interest owned on the loan to the taxpayer. HAHA. As noted in this article. GMAC loosens credit to make vehicles easier to buy
Detroit-based GM said it was offering zero-percent or low-interest financing on some slower-selling 2008 and 2009 models over the next week — a promotion made possible by the billions provided to GMAC.
The economic solution to people not paying off loans, loan more money to higher risk people at 0%, that will make a bank financially viable.
The incoming administration has a high bar to reach, no attacks on the mainland US since 9-11-01. 7+ years. I hope Obama and his team take this report and the threats against America seriously.
Based on this report out of the UK that the Bush administration is spending lots of time showing the Obama team the ropes.
Ken Wainstein, President Bush’s adviser on homeland security, told reporters the “tabletop exercises” for incoming cabinet officials were part of an initiative by Bush to ensure the US does not drop its guard during the first post-9/11 transition of power.
Preparing for Obama’s takeover on 20 January has become an overriding preoccupation of both camps. Bush has pledged repeatedly to ensure a smooth handover. “We care about [Obama],” he told CNN this week. “We want him to be successful, and we want the transition to work.” The Obama camp has praised the Bush administration for its co-operation.
White House officials yesterday cast those efforts as part of Bush’s mission to leave America safer than it was at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
I think the historians will finally admit Bush did bring try to reach across the isle continually which cost him lots of support from his base.
The one bright sport of the Bush administration is that they have given the impression that protecting the homeland is their number one job. I just wish they would have been stronger on the boarder enforcement.
Energy Policy: The heavily subsidized ethanol industry is the latest to seek a federal bailout. If there is any industry that deserves to go bankrupt, it’s this one. Time has come to stop putting food in our gas tanks.
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The product has benefited from a tax credit paid to gasoline producers to blend gasoline with ethanol; a federal fuel economy standard that sets a minimum amount of ethanol to be blended; and a 54-cents-a-gallon tariff on cheaper imported ethanol made in places like Brazil. Brazilian ethanol is made from sugar, not corn. But corn is grown in Iowa, and Brazilians can’t vote.
Recent legislation mandated increased ethanol use as well as a 51-cent-a-gallon tax credit and more corn subsidies. Over the last two decades the ethanol industry has been kept alive with more than $25 billion in federal handouts. Yet it still can’t compete.
Five of Iowa’s 32 ethanol plants are in bankruptcy. They are operated by Sioux Falls, S.D.-based ethanol giant VeraSun Energy, which itself filed for Chapter 11 on Oct. 31. Eleven plants in other states have also fallen into bankruptcy. Nationally the ethanol plant failure rate is at 8.8% and could reach 22% in short order.
The Renewable Fuels Association, the industry’s lobbying arm, has talked with Team Obama about further handouts such as $1 billion in short-term credit to keep failing plants in operation and $50 billion in loan guarantees to build more. The association wants to increase the 10% ethanol limit in gasoline for conventional cars and trucks and require that any carmaker getting federal funds produce only vehicles that can run on any blend up to 85% ethanol.
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I have been telling people for years that Corn Based Ethanol will be a failure and it will cause many more problems than it solves (high food prices have just started due to lack of corn for cattle and poultry).
Make alternative fuels out of something we do not eat or we feed to what we eat. Make it out of refuse, algae or something that is a positive energy producer.
On Tuesday, December 23, 2008, the President signed into law:
H.R. 6184, the “America’s Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008,” which establishes a program in which the reverse side of quarter dollars issued beginning in 2010 will have designs emblematic of a national park or other national site in each State, the District of Columbia, and each territory of the United States; and requires these coins to be issued at a rate of five new designs each year in the order in which the sites selected were first established as a national site;
H.R. 7327, the “Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008,” which delays required minimum distributions from certain retirement accounts for one year; makes changes to funding requirements for certain pension plans; and makes other miscellaneous changes to tax and pension laws;
S. 3663, the “Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act,” which requires the Federal Communications Commission to implement a program to encourage and permit analog television broadcasting of safety information and digital television transition information for the 30-day period following the February 17, 2009, digital television transition deadline; and
S. 3712, which conforms the effective date of certain mental health parity requirements for collectively bargained group health plans with the general effective date of mental health parity provisions of Public Law 110-343.
Many businesses with defined-benefit plans have absorbed a double blow: abiding by a 2006 law that they fully fund the plans, and seeing the value of the plans eroded by declines in markets where the pension funds are invested. The new law does not erase the companies’ funding obligations but, given the current economic downturn, does adjust some payment schedules set up under 2006 law.
I hope this part is true but I have my doubts that the businesses will ever find their pensions per the law since they did fund them during profit time so they are underfunded and now they get relief from doing the necessary funding for the future.
At some point the businesses and government need to take responsibility for their actions with behavior that will take into account the long term needs of America first and tell everyone there is short term pain. You can’t have everything right now, sometimes you need to wait until it can be paid for with cash and stop the borrowing.
This is one of those videos that just touches your heart. You’ve probably heard the poem at least once over the years during the holidays as it’s made the rounds. Have the tissues handy.
A Soldier’s Silent Night
A Soldier’s Silent Night
Same words, different pictures
The original version was written by Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt in 1987 under the title “Merry Christmas, My Friend.”
A Soldier’s Silent Night
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I’D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN’T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY;
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
“SANTA DON’T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON’T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.”
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT’S CHILL.
I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, “CARRY ON SANTA, IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.”
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.”
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ON a lighter note
Charlie Brown Christmas, The Reason for Christmas
I have been having some fun lately pointing to all the snow and cold temperatures in the US over the last few weeks. As an Engineer I know that this an observation, it is not science.
I do believe that man-made global warming is now treated as a religion with believers and skeptics. Believers will try to discredit and personally attack those who disagree with their beliefs and call them environment hating/ earth hating/future generation hating people.
The map is based on thermal infrared (heat) observations made by a series of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite sensors. Because the satellite is observing energy radiated from the Earth’s surface, the image shows trends in skin temperatures—temperatures from roughly the top millimeter of the land, sea ice, or sea surface—not air temperatures. Making a long-term record out of data from different sensors is challenging because each sensor has its own quirks and may measure temperatures a bit differently. None of the sensors were in orbit at the same time, so scientists could not compare simultaneous observations from different sensors to make sure each was recording temperatures exactly the same. Instead, the team checked the satellite records against ground-based weather station data to inter-calibrate them and make the 26-year satellite record. The scientists estimate the level of uncertainty in the measurements is between 2-3 degrees Celsius.
Across most of the continent and the surrounding Southern Ocean, temperatures climbed. In some places the rate of warming approached a tenth of a degree Celsius each year, which would translate to more than two degrees over the entire period.
A scientist who admits that there is 2 to 3 degrees of inaccuracy in the data then tries to claim that the total change of 2 degrees is scientific proof is not being honest as a scientist. I was taught in my chemistry classes that the measurable difference has to be greater than the measurement inaccuracy for the result to be valid. So this alone should lead one to be a skeptic.
Another reason I am a skeptic is that the UN is pushing for this and I find the UN to be a very corrupt organization of mainly dictators who refuse their people liberties and freedoms. When people are allowed to realize their inalienable rights to liberty and freedom the advancement of the human race has been tremendous. The great thinkers and philosophers of ancient Greece thrived due to democracies of the time (not all people were free but those who were excelled). America is a great example of this as well, when government intruded the least into Americans lives the greatest expansion of life expectancy has occurred.
In 1900 US life expectancy was 49 years, in 1999 it was 77 years, a 57 percent increase. This is all due to improvements in the human condition due to modernization which has been driven by the use of coal, oil and gas to improve the lives of people.
The areas of the world that have had liberties and freedoms for the longest time have the longest life expectancy while the areas of the world which have the communist, fascist, socialist, totalitarian styles of government have the shortest life span.
Since the big government liberals, socialists, communists and dictators are saying America and western Europe has to change away from coal and oil to save the planet to me that means there is an alternative motive. If the masses of the world could learn the truth that it is their governments which are making their lives bad there would be world wide overthrows of the dictators like occurred in the French Revolution.
More reason to be a skeptic is that the consensus of the UN reports is a small group of scientist who agree with the conclusion as outlined in Sen Inhofe comments from Oct 2007.
I do believe that humans should be kind to the planet and good stewards but reducing the standard of living so that the US and Western Europe are lowered to the rest of the world is not the correct answer.
There was some publicity about these hearing in October before the election but it is amazing the the main stream media failed to mention this to much or at all.
Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.
Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly.
The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, in prepared remarks for the hearing on “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security,” blamed Wall Street for the financial crisis and said his committee will “strengthen and protect Americans’ 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement plans” and the “Democratic Congress will continue to conduct this much-needed oversight on behalf of the American people.”
Currently, 401(k) plans allow Americans to invest pretax money and their employers match up to a defined percentage, which not only increases workers’ retirement savings but also reduces their annual income tax. The balances are fully inheritable, subject to income tax, meaning workers pass on their wealth to their heirs, unlike Social Security. Even when they leave an employer and go to one that doesn’t offer a 401(k) or pension, workers can transfer their balances to a qualified IRA.
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All workers would have 5 percent of their annual pay deducted from their paychecks and deposited to the GRA. They would still be paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, as would the employers. The GRA contribution would be shared equally by the worker and the employee. Employers no longer would be able to write off their contributions. Any capital gains would be taxable year-on-year.
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Another justification for Ghilarducci’s plan is to eliminate investment risk. In her testimony, Ghilarducci said, “humans often lack the foresight, discipline, and investing skills required to sustain a savings plan.”
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On July 31, 2008, Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, testified before the subcommittee on workforce protections that “from the standpoint of equal treatment of people with different incomes, there is a fundamental flaw” in tax code incentives because they are “provided in the form of deductions, exemptions, and exclusions rather than in the form of refundable tax credits.”
Even people who don’t pay taxes should get money from the government, paid for by higher-income Americans, he said. “There is no obvious reason why lower-income taxpayers or people who do not file income taxes should get smaller incentives (or no tax incentives at all),” Greenstein said.
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When asked whether committee members seriously were considering Ghilarducci’s proposal for GSAs, Aaron Albright, press secretary for the Committee on Education and Labor, said Miller and other members were listening to all ideas.
Miller’s biggest priority has been on legislation aimed at greater transparency in 401(k)s and other retirement plan administration, specifically regarding fees, Albright said, and he sent a link to a Fox News interview of Miller on Oct. 24, 2008, to show that the congressman had not made a decision.
After repeated questions asked by Neil Cavuto of Fox News, Miller said he would not be in favor of “killing the 401(k)” or of “killing the tax advantages for 401(k)s.”
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Should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency, congressional Democrats might have stronger support for their “spreading the wealth” agenda.
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There is a lot more in this article. Please go to the link and read about it. This is very scare to those of us who actually are saving our own money for retirement.
Government already runs the Ponzi scheme called Social security now they are discussing taking the money I have saved for my retirement outside of the ponzi scheme.
Credit townhall.com
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters found that only nine percent (9%) give Congress good or excellent ratings, while 54% give the legislature poor marks. Just one-out-of-50 voters (2%) think Congress is doing an excellent job.
About 70% of those polled disapprove on the job Congress is doing.
Since the Bush administration is coming to an end. I am looking for the 3rd mouse to go along with Reid and Pelosi as the 3 blind mice or are they the 2 of the 3 monkeys in
They are all spouting off on how it will help current retirees. They are leaving out the part where businesses can make future retirees more poor by underfunding pensions.
Like every federal government action, kick any problem down the road a month, year or two years. Never actually solve anything permanently since that will take an issue to campaign on for re-election off the table and we all know that is the one reason people in congress exist, get re-elected.
The senate is currently in a pro forma session to prevent any recess appointments by president Bush or allow a pocket veto to occur.
Since HR 7327 passed on Dec 10th. President Bush has until Wed the 24th to veto or it becomes the law with the result that government and business can put another nail in the coffin of current hard working Americans.
If there was a clean bill to limit the forced withdraws by current retirees without hurting future retirees I would be all for this bill but why sacrifice the future.
The National Retail Federation reported on Monday that more than 41 million people had not started holiday shopping, and those that had were further from being finished than they usually are by the third week of December. In New York, 60 percent of merchants surveyed by the Retail Council of New York State said their sales in the past two weeks were below their sales last year for the same period.
On the other hand there was a traffic jam leaving a local mall yesterday. I was at this mall area about noon on Saturday and the traffic was heavy and there very few empty parking spots and there was a line of cars waiting to enter the mall.
Traffic jams plagued Eastview Mall in Victor on Saturday night, with delays of up to three hours reported, according to the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office.
The cause: an unusually large influx of last-minute shoppers.
“It’s just volume-related,” said sheriff’s Sgt. George Killian. “(The traffic) is the worst that I’ve ever seen it up there, and I’ve been on the job 25 years.”
The 911 dispatch center was overloaded with calls reporting the backup.
Eight to 10 deputies controlled traffic at Route 96 and High Street and at Route 96 and Turk Hill Road.
Mall security officers patrolled the parking lot, where no serious incidents were reported, Killian said.
Delays were down to less than an hour as of 7 p.m.
Which is it, terrible sales or huge traffic jams at the mall because so many people are shopping?
Since I can see the huge lines at the store checkouts and the people waiting to enter and exit the parking lots I will go with the latter that the sales are not as bad as the whining that is occurring.
Maybe the retailers are setting themselves up to ask for a bailout from the Obama administration, retailers are an important cog in the US economy. Having them close would be catastrophic to the economy just like the mortgage brokers, banks, insurance companies, auto companies, etc… they need a government loan to get them through the lean times.
Posted by suemdonk 
Posted by suemdonk 
Posted by suemdonk 
or are they the 2 of the 3 monkeys in 
