PR from AP: Wire Service Lets GM, Chrysler Make Vague, Unchallenged, N
Executives from Government/General Motors and Chrysler are at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit vaguely holding forth on the prospect of reopening previously shuttered production facilities. Uh, don't sales have to start heading seriously upward before that happens? Apparently the Associated Press's Tom Krisher, who has his hands in separate stories on the two companies, and…
'World News' Plays Populism Card: Bashes Wall St. Bonuses; Ignores Fan
Just in time for what they call "bonus season," ABC's "World News" treated its viewers to a little anti-Wall Street populism Sunday night. On "World News" Jan. 10, weekend anchor Dan Harris explained there was "backlash" against Wall Street for bonuses that haven't even been paid out yet. But the ABC report made no mention of bonuses paid to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives. "This week on…
Time's Joe Klein: Prop 13, Conservatism Caused 'California Bust
While he conceded that liberal labor unions, particularly "reactionary" teachers unions have had a role in California's fiscal mess, Time columnist and blogger Joe Klein placed the lion's share of the Golden State's woes on conservatives who have pushed for lower taxes. Upset that conservative writer George Will had chalked up "all that is wrong in California at liberalism's doorstep," Klein used…
Ho Hum: CBO Estimate of $390 Billion Oct.-Dec. U.S. Deficit Gets Two E
On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office issued its Monthly Budget Review for December 2009. It estimates that December's federal deficit will be $92 billion when the Treasury Department releases its Monthly Treasury Statement on Wednesday, and that the deficit for the first fiscal quarter will be "about $390 billion." The CBO director's related blog post is here. The establishment press has…
Venezuela Slipping Into Socialist/Statist Darkness, Figuratively and L
Four recent stories out of Venezuela each give readers brief glimpses at how Hugo Chavez's brand of authoritarian socialism is critically wounding what could be a resource-rich, financially prosperous country: January 9, Associated Press -- "Venezuela weakens currency for 1st time in 5 years." January 10, Bloomberg -- "Chavez Says He’ll Seize Businesses That Raise Prices." December 22, AFP…
ABC Profiles Campaign Urging Folks To Move Money From Big Banks
It goes without saying that what America's struggling banking industry doesn't need is for all of its depositers to withdraw their funds.Regardless of this seemingly obvious truth, the folks at ABC and "World News with Diane Sawyer" actually did a report Friday profiling a campaign started by the far-left website the Huffington Post to get people to pull their money from the larger national banks…
CNN: December Layoffs Exceed Expectations...But Still Good News
CNN's efforts to spin the current economy have gotten to the point of being ridiculous. For three days in a row, a series of reports all showed persistent layoffs above expectations, and in each case CNN.com inexplicably reported optimism. First up was an ADP report released Wednesday which tracked the economy from the side of business owners and how many workers they laid off. Instead of…
Pity Party at NYT: Obama Finding It 'Hard to Focus on Any One Issue' W
In a Friday news analysis piece that appeared in the paper's print edition today (teased at its web site as seen on the right), Jackie Calmes at the New York Times began with a pathetic headline, and opened with pity on our poor overwhelmed, stressed-out, stretched-in-all-directions President: Obama Tries to Turn Focus to Jobs, if Other Events Allow President Obama keeps trying to turn attention…
Former BB&T CEO: Current Policies Will Push U.S. to be a Third-World C
While countries like China, Brazil and India are on the path to ascendency, the United States appears to be heading in the opposite direction, according to the former CEO of a major U.S. bank. In a segment on the Jan. 7 broadcast of the Fox Business Channel's "Stossel," John Allison, the former CEO of North Carolina-based BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT), the 10th largest bank in the United…
AP: Bad Jobs Report Good Thing for Obama, Enabling Him to 'Change Subj
The Associated Press's Tom Raum had to work really, really hard to come up with a sunny way to present today's jobs report and the President's reaction to it, which consisted of awarding $2.3 billion in "New Clean Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits." Here's what he concocted: The weak employment report gave Obama the chance to change the subject from terrorism, where he continues to get hammered…
GM's 2010 Profitability Brag Masks Its Thin Lead in Domestic Unit Sale
Toyota and Ford are on the verge of catching Government/General Motors in monthly U.S. vehicle sales. Based on the sales trends at the three companies, GM may lose its domestic kingpin status in just a few months. I heard the December facts giving rise to the aforementioned tidbit on the radio Monday afternoon, and wondered whether the commentator came up with them on his own or if early wire…
New Year Brings Daunting Challenges and a Reckless Government
First of all, let me wish you a happy and prosperous New Year, and I want to thank you all for reading this column and letting your thoughts be known by responding.Whether your reaction to what I write be pro or con, it's always good to know what's on your mind, and I sincerely hope that you will continue to do so.There is a great frustration abroad in America these days and goodness knows we…
In First Year, Obama Presides Over 4.1 Million Jobs Lost, Most Since
Unemployment shot up in 2009 from 7.7 percent in January to 10.1 percent in October before settling at 10 percent in December. Behind those percentages were more than 4.1 million people who lost their jobs during the year. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that's the most job losses in a year since 1940. (BLS could only provide data from 1940-2009) But don't expect…
December Job Losses Worse Than Expected, Healthcare Gains
The economy shed far more jobs in December than economists had expected.The Labor Department announced moments ago that nonfarm payrolls declined by a surprising 85,000 workers last month. Economists had been expecting no change or maybe a small decline.One bright spot was healthcare which added another 22,000 jobs. Despite efforts by Democrats to "reform" this industry, it remains one of the few…
