Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

"What are the odds that every Detroit 3 exec of the last 35 years has been an idiot?"

by reader Sammy Title: “What are the odds that every Detroit 3 exec of the last 35 years has been an idiot?” “In their almost gleeful calls for the death of the domestic auto industry, some U.S. senators and other critics of the Detroit 3 have suggested rampant incompetence and utterly failed business models.“They’re not […]

Was GM et al asking for Central Planning (as in communism)?

by: Divorced one like Bush Ok, the auto CEO’s are all lined up. They get asked the populist setup question: Are you going to sell your jets? And they just sat there, as dumb looking as could be. They didn’t say a word. Not a word! To me, that proved they were the wrong people […]

Chrysler and Cerberus

Full article here Chrysler is the smallest of the Big Three automakers, but it stands apart from its peers in another crucial respect. While General Motors and the Ford Motor Company are public corporations, Chrysler is controlled by one of the world’s richest and most secretive private investment companies. That investment company is Mr. Snow’s […]

General Shinseki is back

Juan Cole comments on General Shinseki’s appointment to oversee the care of our veterans. He also re-introduces us to the General’s testimony in Congress and the Cheney/Wolfowitz responses to the call for several hundreds of thousands troops to police, maintain infrastructure, and keep thing going in Iraq after the attack, taken from direct experience in […]

Job losses more than in auto industry

rdan NYT reports: With its losses mounting, Wall Street is cutting jobs faster — and deeper — than even pessimists had feared… In one the largest single rounds of layoffs on record, not just for the financial industry but for any industry, Citigroup said on Monday that it planned to eliminate a staggering 52,000 jobs, […]

Nationality Act of 1940: Nipping wingnut memes in the bud

by Bruce Webb Right Wingnuttia is ablaze. Time for some cold water. There are a couple of lawsuits floating around concerning Obama’s alleged non-citizenship. One is Berg v. Obama which was dismissed due to lack of standing on October 24. Berg has appealed that to the Supreme Court which has not to my knowledge taken […]

Taxes or tariffs?

hat tip cactus Reader Josh asks: I always find it interesting that those who scream for lower corporate taxes always claim that they are necessary for America to compete in the global economy. Is this not using tax policy to attempt to undercut other competing nations? Is the use of a tariff not the same […]

A Very Good Question

by cactus A Very Good Question You don’t even have to get past the headline and byline to read an excellent question posed by David Lazarus in the LA Times: Why were Wall Street workers not asked for concessions? He goes on: Say what you will about the role of the union in exacerbating Detroit’s […]

The Folks Running GM… And the Folks Running the Country

by cactus The Folks Running GM… And the Folks Running the Country Say you were a congresscritter or a President or a President-elect asked to give taxpayer money to GM. You might, at the very least, want to know that the folks running GM know what they’re doing and are capable of putting out a […]

Bush as a Great Man – The New Meme

by cactus Bush as a Great Man – The New Meme Let’s say, hypothetically, GW had had a cause these past eight years: reducing auto accident fatalities. Let’s say he also set forth a plan that greatly increased the amount of funding to the state highway agency. But there was a catch – states only […]