Month: November 2008
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How Will History Judge Bush?
A few months ago, a friend started a conversation with the words, “now that George Bush is generally agreed to be the worst president in history…” I have no idea what she said after that, as my mind was reeling. I silently edited the statement: “Among partisan Democrats who ignore Warren Harding, George W. Bush […]
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Reasons for Republicans to be Thankful
Jennifer Rubin offers some Thanksgiving cheer at Pajamas Media. I don’t agree with every word of her post, but I love these parts: First, President-elect Barack Obama won by assuring voters he would pursue tax cuts, victory in Afghanistan, prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and go “line by line†through the federal budget to […]
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Mr. Obama: Declare War on Rube Goldberg
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Holman Jenkins identifies the key culprit in the current economic woes. It’s not Hank Paulson or Hank Greenberg or Stan O’Neal or even George Bush. The most formidable enemy of the American economy is Rube Goldberg. Jenkins starts by discussing the complex set of rules that have enabled autoworkers to […]
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The Perils of Blogging
Like many (most?) bloggers, I crave a bigger audience, and I thought I had found a gambit that might tempt James Taranto to link to me from his “Best of the Web Today.” Yesterday’s BotWT included one of his “Wannabe Pundit” items, quoting a journalist taking a pot shot at the Bush Administration in the […]
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A Not-So-Simple Question: How Many Countries Is Citigroup "In"?
Many, many people spent a busy weekend hammering out the details of the government rescue of Citigroup that was announced last night. The rescue clearly is a Portentous Event, so I went searching this morning for insights about what the portents are portending. I got as far as the third paragraph of the Wall Street […]
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Quote of the Day
The internets are a-twitter with news that the Detroit automakers flew on private corporate jets to argue for bailouts in front of Congressional committees in Washington. “There’s a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands,” Rep. Gary L. Ackerman […]
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A Disconnect in Romney’s Plan for Reviving the Auto Industry
Former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has an op-ed in today’s New York Times titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” His prescription for saving American automakers through Chapter 11 begins with these two steps: First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits […]
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Bankruptcy is the Right Medicine for Automakers
Look at the bright side – GM stock only has $3 farther to fall. (From Yahoo Finance) The more I read and think about a potential further bailout of the auto industry, the nuttier the idea sounds. Michael E. Levine is a former airline executive, so he knows about bankruptcy. He puts it this way […]
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Obama Cyber-Ironies: The YouTube President May Give Up Email
Yesterday, Barack Obama used YouTube to deliver the Democrats’ response to President Bush’s weekly radio address. Obama, who took full advantage of the power of the internet in his successful campaign, plans as President to transplant the weekly radio message onto YouTube. Today comes the revelation in the NYT that Obama, who like many hard-charging […]
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Bailouts: Further Down the Slippery Slope
David Brooks makes the case against an auto industry bailout more eloquently than I did: A Detroit bailout would set a precedent for every single politically connected corporation in America. There already is a long line of lobbyists bidding for federal money. If Detroit gets money, then everyone would have a case. After all, are […]