Congress critters have the right to free speech. They also have the right to remain silent. There is a message there to those who would listen.
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), is a lawyer and Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), is a lawyer and Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.
“With regard to the automobile industry, certainly we should not throw good money after bad,” Senator Dodd said, “nor should we subsidize ineffective performance and inefficient production.”
Thank you, Senator, for that insightful, positive, and critical decree.
I need to analyze the players a bit before I get to the main point of this piece.
Senator Dodd and Representative Frank make the perfect pair. Combined, they are the Barney Rubble of the United States Congress.
I looked at the $700 billion Barney Rubble campaign finance bill and it is indeed an interesting pattern. See, Barney Rubble specifically enabled the formerly illegal activities that lead us into the “mortgage crisis,” then rejected all attempts to get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under control. Barney Rubble has blocked expanding domestic oil production because it is bad for us. (As an aside, Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi told 60 Minutes last night that he is bullish on oil’s future and that expanding domestic oil production here is bad for us.) Barney Rubble did plenty more but you can Google it yourself.
I have been noodling about how this perfect storm of a financial crisis hit. Few scientists, fewer engineers, and no forensic guy believes in coincidence. It is almost impossible to believe that sheer happenstance conspired to put crooks in the banks, burst the housing bubble, jack oil prices, and more all in the same few months.
Somebody did it on purpose.
I nominate Barney Rubble.
Has our hero ever held a real job? Made anything with his (collective) hands? Yes, I used collective on purpose. Barney Rubble gave away $700 billion in handouts with scarcely a whimper but when three actual manufacturers who are the end source of more than a third of this country’s jobs asked for just five percent of that in loans, Messrs. Rubble know, absolutely know, that Congress needs to micro-manage the supplicants.
Boy, do I feel better about my tax dollars now. Congress gonna protect me from those evil auto makers.
Why?
My friend “Bob” posited the question, “Anyone know how to find which politician got money from which source?
“My guess is,” he said, “you will find that the car companies haven’t been making their proper political contributions like the lads on Wall Street.”
Christopher Dodd has received $21,202,690 in contributions. His top contributors include security brokers and investment companies, lawyers, the insurance “industry,” banks, investment banks and hedge funds, and, of course, lobbyists.
Barney Frank has received only $4,231,044 in contributions. [Piker.] His top contributors include lawyers, UBS Americas, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co, JPMorgan Chase, Ernst & Young, the Credit Union National Association, and Independent Community Bankers Of America.
“Bob” was right. Not a single car company on the list.
Money doesn’t buy influence, right? Our Congress Critters would never sell their votes, right? Right?
To paraphrase “Bob,” if you pay off Barney Rubble, he treats you right. If you diss him, he burns you. Just like the Mafia. Our Congress.
Main Point: Starting today, certainly we should not throw good money after bad, nor should we subsidize ineffective performance.
Not one single Representative or Senator has offered to work for $1 per year. The car company CEOs are.
Not one single Representative or Senator has offered to give up their aircraft. The car company CEOs are.
We are doomed. Sell your automobile stock right now. Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank held a news conference today.“Come March 31,” Speaker Pelosi said, “it is our hope that there will be a viable automotive industry in our country with transparency and accountability to the taxpayer.”
Under the plan, automakers will be given $15 Billion in loans.
Thats a winwin for Congress. Barney Rubble can say We did all we could but they screwed the pooch. Sure enough. Since $15 billion is less than half what the companies need to weather the crisis, they might as well fold their tents now.
“How could you possibly accept the same management to run restructured companies that have driven us into the ditch we are in?” Senator Dodd asked.
Was he talking about the automakers or the Congress?
Paraphrasing Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), The model of this Congress is failure. This Congress has already failed and should we rescue them? I say no.
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Senator Dodd almost said it. Starting today, with regard to the United States government, certainly we should not throw good money after bad, nor should we subsidize ineffective performance.
Thanks to Senator Dodd, we don’t have to.
Say, hey, IRS. It’s been real but I’m afraid you won’t be getting any more checks this year. Senator Dodd says NO to throwing good money after bad.
And about Barney Rubble? I’ve said it before. It’s time to throw da bums out and start over.
