Paging Congressional Republicans: you want to run with a populist issue that could also get bipartisan support? I’ve got a law for you to push: Prohibit airlines from charging for the first checked bag. Here’s the deal: some of you will have a gut reaction that this is bad form — free marketers should not want to prohibit businesses from making money as they see | Read More »
(H/T to Van Schaffner.)
I am getting a first hand sense of what the coming “economic stimulus” package is going to be. In short, nothing but a hand out to municipalities around the country. In my role as city councilman here in Macon, I received a letter from the local congressman about the economic stimulus package that gives away the game. You can read the letter here [2.4 MB | Read More »
We’re going to need constant mitchslapping in the 111th Congress. This should cheer some Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Monday threw cold water on Democratic hopes of passing a massive economic stimulus package in time for President-elect Barack Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration, exactly two weeks after the 111th Congress convenes for the new year. With estimates for the stimulus package reaching as high | Read More »
I find it hard to believe Obama could be more disastrous at this point on the auto bailout than George Bush has been. Jenn Rubin points out that the Senate was very close to a deal on the bailout, but Gettelfinger, the UAW head, refused to any concessions to get a deal. Why? Because he knew he could get everything he wanted from George Bush | Read More »
The Latin American Herald Tribune reports General Motors (GM) plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market, said the beleaguered car maker. According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and | Read More »
Standing in the well of the House today, Thad McCotter (R-MI), who I sincerely like, did what the constitution expects — he stood up for his constituents and voted for the bailout. I’d expect nothing less of a Congressman from Michigan. The bailout will benefit his constituents. But in his floor speech imploring others to do the same, he ran aground on some populist rhetoric. | Read More »
I reported this morning John Boehner told Don Young ($-AK) that Young would be opposed as ranking member on the Natural Resources Committee. House sources tell me Don Young has decided to withdraw from consideration for the position. This is great news.
This is some big news being leaked to RedState by a source on Capitol Hill. In a meeting yesterday afternoon, John Boehner informed Rep. Don Young that Boehner would not support Young’s candidacy to remain Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee. It is very unlikely the Steering Committee will support Young either, which means he is toast. This is a great, great sign | Read More »
When people on the left start favorably linking to this Wall Street Journal article, you know the bailout has problems. [I]n the other American auto industry you rarely read about, car makers are gaining market share and adjusting amid the sales slump, without seeking a cent from the government. These are the 12 “foreign,” or so-called transplant, producers making cars across America’s South and Midwest. | Read More »
Congratulations to RedState friend Kevin McCarthy, a Republican Congressman from California. Eric Cantor has just named him the Chief Deputy Whip for the House Republicans. It is a fine choice.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), a member of the Republican Study Committee, has had enough of Congressional bailouts. Right now there is $350 billion left of he $700 billion Congressional bailout funds. He has an alternative to more bailouts: a two month tax holiday. Gohmert’s tax holiday plan is elegant in its simplicity: every American taxpayer would pay no federal income or FICA taxes for the | Read More »
All they needed were twelve more votes. It looks like they now just need eleven. Two changes in the economic bailout proposal have bi-partisan support and could enhance its chances of passage when it comes before the House a second time, according to Arizona Congressman John Shadegg. Shadegg, a Republican who voted against the bailout bill that was defeated by the House on Monday, said | Read More »
If you listen closely, you can hear a lot of the “hell no” rhetoric starting to shift to “maybe we should vote for a plan.” Even Tom Coburn has now said he would vote for the plan. Why? Because while the conservatives on the Hill have been listening to people like me and you who are opposed to the plan, they are starting to hear | Read More »
The media today is trumpeting the fact that today the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by more points than on any other day in history. This caught my attention not because of the number, but because usually the media also gives us the percentage drop. Today they did not — caught up instead in the number. Peter Robinson notes the drop was only 7% in | Read More »
In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy. “It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.” (SOURCE)
People vastly smarter than me say that the Paulson bailout plan is a necessity to prevent a market meltdown. I trust these people. But I also know that people smarter than me got us into this mess and the Democrats will not allow us out of this mess without creating another mess of some sort down the road. I have no bone to pick with | Read More »
Here is what it says: TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS. DEPOSITS.Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2). USE OF DEPOSITS.Of the amount referred to in paragraph (1) 65 percent shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the | Read More »
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