Congress and NASCAR

Here's a great idea. Every member of Congress should wear a one piece uniform emblazoned with the icons of their corporate sponsors:

There's that saying...

Oh you know the one, something about pictures and what they're worth in words...

Budget deficit: past, present and future (source: Wapo)



This one has words and pictures. That doubles its value!

The Dodd Amendment

I do believe that the Obama administration and his congressional enablers finally have a plan in place to remove the last vestiges of faith in the federal government any of us may still harbor exempt their campaign contributors from having to take unsavory responsibility for their bad business decisions:

While the Senate was constructing the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. The provision, now called “the Dodd Amendment” by the Obama Administration provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009” -- which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax.

He was for the bonuses before he was against them. John Kerry would appreciate that. Also, it's pretty rich that they want to "tax" these bonuses. As the tax laws already stand the federal government will get about 35% of the gross amount. And depending on what state the recipients live in, they'll be lucky to see 55% of the gross amount after the local governments are through.

AIG's earmarks

The latest outrage washing across the political landscape is over AIG's decision to honor a commitment to pay out $165 million in bonuses to certain employees. Obama has said that he will "pursue every single legal avenue to block" the payout.

At issue are retention bonuses for employees of AIG's financial-products division, whose credit default swaps brought AIG to the brink of collapse. The government controls AIG through an 80% equity stake and as a major lender and doesn't have legal authority to freeze payments on its own. The U.S. has committed $173.3 billion to AIG, including $70 billion from Treasury's rescue fund.

The mortgage plan is revealed

U.S. Sets Rules for Mortgage Modifications, 2% Mortgages

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration set loan modification guidelines for its $75 billion homeowner rescue plan, agreeing to pay lenders for altering troubled mortgages while reducing borrowers’ interest rates to as low as 2 percent.

2 percent? sign me up! Sadly, I do not think I'll qualify, as I am current in my mortgage payments and have chosen to not live beyond my means. However I am troubled by all of this government intervention in the mortgage market. Though I don't think that's the kind of "troubled mortgage" candidate they're looking for.

Geithner to fight himself; Obama channels Jim Cramer

Everytime I see Treasury Sec Geithner's mug on TV, this is how I envision him:


Geithner: Obama to fight international tax dodgers

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's Treasury secretary says the administration will unveil a series of rules and measures in the coming months to limit the ability of international companies to avoid U.S. taxes.