They came from Middle
America.  From farms, small
towns, humble beginnings.
For many, the first uniform
they ever wore was that of
a Boy Scout.  Some were
even the children of immi-
grants.  They were the
quintessential product of
the Horatio Alger Era.  Where
anybody, with patience, hard
work and ambition, could
rise to "the top of the pyramid".

My fondest childhood memor-
ies are that of the Space Race.
Especially during Project
Gemini and Apollo, there were
frequent space flights.  Every
few weeks it seemed like our
astronauts were excelling,
doing more and more amazing
things as we aimed for
The Moon!

This weekend marks the 40th
Anniversary of the Apollo 11
mission, the first landing of
men on the Moon.  So it is
with fondness and some
lamenting that I think back
on the event.  The awe and
joy I felt as a child watching
this most amazing adventure.
And the reflection and dismay
over how distant we seem to
be as a nation from that age
of enthusiasm.

Those who journeyed to that
silvery orb were all rugged
individuals.  They achieved
their position through the
purest of meritocracies.  From
Boy Scout, to pilot, to test pilot,
to astronaut, and finally, a walk
on the Moon.  Only in America!
What a legacy!

I could drone on and possibly
bore you with trivia.  But I'd
rather just say that here we
are, 40 years after that first
moon walk.  This country has
been through rough times
before.  Sometimes even close
to the brink of societal collapse.
But out there, in the country-
side, there always seems to be
individuals who defy the odds.

The astronauts of the Great
Space Race, as well as the
thousands of scientists and
engineers who built their
machines, stepped forward
to inspire the nation and the
entire world.  They epitomize
the power of the individual.
It may sound hokey or out
of fashion, but at the time,
when little else made sense
or could be trusted, these
people were the ideal of
America.  They were confi-
dent in themselves and in
those they worked with. They
had the hope and courage
to face uncertainty and accept
any challenge.

When I look about today, and
wonder who inspires us to
that same sense of greatness,
it's a hard sell.  Certainly, very
few people whom we see on
a regular basis in today's
media organs qualify.  But
America's heroes are out there
today.  They get little fanfare
and frankly they aren't seeking
it anyway.  

Like the heroes of the Space
Race, they come from humble
origins.  They live quietly and
with conviction of the mind and
soul.  They believe in God and
in themselves.  That whatever
talents they've been blessed
with should be used for good.
Yeah, it's corny, but we need
some corn to balance out the
daily helpings of cynicism and
detraction.

So here's to the 40th Anniver-
sary of the Apollo 11 Moon
mission!  Thank you all for
the memories and for those
dreams yet to be fulfilled!

Some have wondered with all
of the economic doom and
gloom, if there are any actual
success stories.  Any easy one
lies just north of the border...

Canada is weathering the
global crisis fairly well.  Sure,
unemployment is rising there
as well, manufacturing and
exports are down (as we in
the U.S. buy less from our
favorite trading partner) and
the Canadian stocks have also
been hit hard.  But on the plus
side, their banks were generally
in better shape at the beginning
with less leveraged in specula-
tive markets.

Another key factor is that the
Canadian government has
been practicing better fiscal
policy.  Their reaction to the
financial upheaval has been
more sound as well.  Taxes
have been cut!  There's a
novel approach!  LOL!  Yes,
apparently the Canadian
government understands that
any recovery will start in the
private sector.  Lower taxes
and creating incentives for
markets to invest, expand
and employ people are work-
ing!  Early forecasts that
Canada's GDP would drop
about 4-5% has been revised.
A new report from the IMF
predicts Canada's GDP to
only decline 2.3% and the
INCREASE 1.6% in 2010,
nearly double previous pre-
dictions.

Another step in the right
direction are the policies
of Canada's central bank.
The Banque du Canada
is sticking to it's bible of
printing money such that
the rate of inflation stays
in the 2-3% range.  The
Canadian dollar is gaining
strength against the Green-
back of the U.S., as well
as other currencies such
as the Yen.

While America is Canada's
#1 trading partner, the de-
cline in exports to the U.S.
is making the Canadians to
look elsewhere for markets.
China is the obvious place
to do business.  With the
Chinese also practicing sound
Capitalistic solutions, such
as lowering taxes and easing
regulations, China is expected
to grow their GDP some 7-8%
this year.

Sure, Canada has a lot of pro-
blems.  Their health care sys-
tem is a disaster.  Their pro-
gram to digitize all medical
records is ripe with corruption.
They are also handicapped
by the problems of the North
American auto industry.  But
an interesting trend is unfold-
ing.  A major Canadian chain,
Tim Horton's, which had moved
it's headquarters to Delaware
for tax purposes is now moving
back to Toronto!  Why?  For
tax purposes!  Also to avoid
the ridiculous flow of new Fed-
eral regulations being unleash-
ed by Washington.

Perhaps the most amusing
moment of this past week
was Obama's trip to Russia.
While being manhandled by
Putin and others, Obama was
also scolded by Pravda and
the Russian media.  He was
informed that Russia has much
more freedom than the U.S.,
since people can smoke any-
where they damn please!
They invited Obama to light-
up!  LOL!  This, while Obama
tightens tobacco regulations,
increases tobacco taxes and
now is going to target the U.S.
military's tobacco policies.
China, too, is far more 'liberal'
about allowing people to smoke
as well.

John Clark, one of the heroes
of Tom Clancy's 'Jack Ryan'
and "Rainbow Six" series of
novels, once described how he
rated countries by their
"Saturday nights".  The more
fun the better.  Perhaps we
can now rate countries by
similar measures.  If they
allow smoking in public? Are
their governments cutting
taxes?  Reducing regulations?
Lessons to be learned...

In case you were wondering
all these past few months, it
is now official:

The U.S. Economy is indeed
a TRAIN WRECK!

Morgan Stanley's chief econo-
mist, Richard Berner declared
that, "America's long-awaited
fiscal train wreck is now under
way."

Mr. Berner says that the out-of-
control federal budget deficits
will surely drag the economy
under.  "Depending on policy
actions taken now and over the
next few years, federal deficits
will likely average as much as
6 percent of the gross domestic
product through 2019, contri-
buting to a jump in debt held by
the public to as high as 82
percent of GDP by then -
doubling over the next decade."

Writing for Morgan Stanley's
online Global Economic Forum,
Berner has more conclusions.
"Worse, barring aggressive
policy actions, deficits and debt
will rise even more sharply
thereafter as entitlement
spending accelerates relative
to GDP.  Keeping entitlement
promises would require unsus-
tainable borrowing, taxes or
both, severely testing the cre-
dibility of our policies and
hurting our long-term ability to
finance investment and sus-
tain growth."  Berner adds,
And soaring debt will force up
real interest rates, reducing
capital and productivity and
boosting debt service."  He
concludes, "not only will those
factors steadily lower our
standard of living, but they
will imperil economic and
financial stability."

This comes on top of our
Vice President, Joe Biden,
declaring on Sunday that
the Obama Administration
got it wrong.  They under-
estimated just how bad the
economy is.  That the stimu-
lus bill has not produced
any beneficial results.  In-
deed, Congressional hear-
ings today attested to how
the $57 Billion already spent
has done little else but help
state governments meet their
payroll and Medicare tabs.

Many of the so-called, “shovel-
ready” projects have turned out
to be either boondoggles or
less than originally billed.  For
example, the funds to begin
construction of NEW roads is
being spent instead on filling
in potholes on existing roads.
Many states have used their
stimulus money to pay salaries
for teachers and state troopers.
During the hearings, the price
tag for each new job allegedly
created costs the taxpayers
nearly $400,000 each!  Seems
it might have been better to
just hand out $50,000 each to
eight people if you wanted to
stimulate and spread the
wealth around.

The stock market has been
anemic.  Since bouncing back
from it’s lows below 7,000,
the DOW Jones has made
zero progress.  The last week
it’s lost more ground and is
once again threatening to
dip below 8,000.  The bond
markets have become a joke
with the U.S. Treasury holding
more auctions than eBay.
Even commodities like gold
and oil look shaky at the
moment.  So much oil is now
going unused that it’s being
parked in tankers all over the
world, waiting for better days.

Biden’s comments come only
a week after Obama declared
that the stimulus was a suc-
cess, accomplishing it’s ob-
jectives.  After Biden’s Sunday
talk-show remarks, Obama
has modified his tone while
abroad, acknowledging that
unemployment probably will
continue to increase and rise
above 10% by year’s end.
This, after promising that the
$787 Billion dollar stimulus
package would keep unem-
ployment below 8%.  Some
states have it even worse.
A recent study by the Uni-
versity of Michigan says that
the state’s current level of
14.2% unemployment will
rise well above 15% by the
end of the year.

Talk in Washington of the
need of another massive
stimulus package, or of
several smaller ones, is in-
creasing, despite polls
showing that American tax-
payers are unhappy with all
of the runaway spending
and deficits piling up.  Even
a TARP-2 is being discussed,
despite the fact that TARP-1’s
$700 Billion dollars did little
more than allow a handful of
corporations to be bailed out.
Many of which used TARP
money to buy other assets
like banks and tankers full
of oil at 3% interest.

The biggest problem looming
on the horizon, of course, is
the Federal Reserve and the
value of the U.S. dollar.  As
deficits increase, the need to
cover the debt with more
Treasury bonds seems to have
reached a saturation point.
For nearly two months now,
the Fed has had to step in and
buy bonds themselves when
nobody else would.  This using
money they just simply print.

The goal of every typical poli-
tician is to get re-elected.  They
achieve this by appeasing the
public and industries with good
lobbyists with spending bills
to benefit the constituents.  As
this method tends to add to
the National Debt, the old-
fashioned way to deal with the
Debt, other than cut spending
or raise taxes, is to make the
Debt worth less through infla-
tion.  As the dollar gets weaker
and more plentiful, the Debt
becomes easier to manage.

But this scheme only works
if the economy is growing
enough to accommodate
a reasonable rate of inflation.
As Lyndon Johnson, Richard
Nixon, Gerald Ford and James
Earl Carter came to realize,
once the rate of inflation ex-
ceeds 5%, it effects the interest
rates in the private sector
enough to slow down an eco-
nomy.  Houses become too
expensive to finance, as do
cars and other products.  The
average consumer does less
consuming, only buying what
he or she needs, and then so
only with cash.

This then begins a downward
spiral of less production, less
employment, and then even
less consuming, etc, etc, etc.
LBJ’s Great Society programs
and the Vietnam War led to
the ‘stagflation’ of the 1970s.
Even with the Reagan Revolu-
tion of lower taxes and less
regulations, coupled with
Paul Volker’s tightening of
Federal Reserve policy, while
ending stagflation, caused
a deep recession that lasted
nearly three years.  Economists
are split as to whether our
current situation is worse than
or better than the 1970s.

Already Obama has expanded
federal deficits to levels that
rival actual entire budgets only
a decade ago.  If his additional
programs, like health care and
Cap & Trade, are made law,
the impact could be enough to
completely cripple economic
growth for many years to come.
By 2012, the entire nation may
become like Michigan!  Or
even worse, bankrupt like
California.  Would you accept
an I.O.U. from Uncle Sugar?

Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin
announced today that she will
not be seeking a second term
as governor.  In true, Palin
fashion, she reasoned that to
be a lame-duck would not be
a benefit to Alaskans.  So she
also announced that she will
resign her office as of July 26
and turn the reigns over to Lt.
Governor, Sean Parnell.

Immediately, the hyenas
crawled out of the brush to
call her a coward.  That she
couldn't take the heat.  That
she's a quitter.  She's com-
mitting political suicide.  That
she's crazy.

Today's announcement was
Classic Sarah.  She is show-
ing once again that she has
the moral responsibility to be
a true leader.  Already under
fire for taking trips out of the
state to promote her charities
(such as Autism Speaks) and
causes she believes in (such
as the Right to Life), today's
move clears the path for
Palin to assume a more
national presence.  She will
no longer be restricted by
the critics, nor the great
distances to travel.

Palin is no coward!  I did not
hear the pundits recall how
she resigned from her pre-
vious position, on Alaska's
Oil Committee, because she
became frustrated by the
"politics as usual".  For over
a year she fought against the
stale and the corrupt, then
resigned to take up the sword
and run for governor.  And
successfully, so.  

Upon becoming governor, Palin
quickly went on the offensive to
clean up Alaskan politics.  Her
strong ethics legislation, in fact,
may have proved to be too
strict, as it allowed a flurry of
ethics charges to be leveled
against herself, all of which she
has been cleared from.

She took on the most powerful
forces in Alaska, the oil com-
panies.  Thanks to her, the
citizens now get a larger share
of oil lease monies.  Palin cut
through 30 years of red-tape
to finally get a natural gas pipe-
line built.  It will be the largest,
privately funded infrastructure
project in American history and
will deliver cheap, clean energy
to the "Lower 48".

During her first two years, Palin
also opened the door to more
exploration for oil and gas in
Alaska.  Been an advocate for
the state's resources and wild
life.  Protecting Alaska from
all exploiters, including the
Federal government.  The state
just won two major lawsuits
against unconstitutional regu-
lations and mandates.  Palin
accomplished her campaign
objectives and kept her
promises, something very few
politicians do.

During her announcement,
Palin made it clear how unhap-
py she was about the amount
of time and money the state
was spending just to defend
her from frivolous charges.
Some as inane  as her wearing
a store-bought jacket that has
a company logo on it.  Like
who in ‘normal America’ does
not own one jacket, t-shirt or
ball cap with a corporate logo?
Can you say “NIKE”?

Palin also cited her disdain
for the usual role of a lame
duck politician.  To mark time
with junkets and banquets,
all the while drawing a public
paycheck and using the office
for personal gain.  This woman
IS A TRUE MAVERICK!  Far
more so than John McCain
ever dreamt of being!

Resigning now was a bold
and smart move!  Palin may
now freely travel to promote
her causes and prepare for
2012.  She knows she has
more ‘star power’, or celebrity,
than any other potential GOP
candidate.  Romney already
had a shot and blew it, coming
off as somewhere between a
slice of milk toast and the boss
who lays you off.  Huckabee,
while self-promoting himself
as a God-fearing populist,
also hit a brick wall, due to his
tax and regulating policies as
Governor of Arkansas.  The
Governor of Minnesota, Tim
Pawlenty, is another stale
politician with a mediocre
record as a chief executive.

Palin shattered the mold of
your typical politician from
Day One!  A humble, REAL
person, who’s life story any
of us can relate to.  McCain
energized his anemic cam-
paign when he selected her
to be his running mate.  Across
America, Sarah Palin electrified
crowds and large they were!
She saved McCain from total
disaster, despite the mishand-
ling by jealous McCain staffers
and Democrat smear mer-
chants.

So Palin now has the freedom
to due what she needs to for
her family and future ambitions.
She can help pay the $500,000
some-odd dollars of legal fees
she’s been forced into defend-
ing her honor and integrity.  I
hear she can easily get as
much as $50,000 for a speech.
Palin can now spend the next
18 months writing her book,
raising money for charities, and
helping kindred spirits run for
offices across the nation.  And,
of course, carefully prepare
and build an national campaign
organization to run in 2012.

This is not the end of Sarah
Palin.  It is the beginning of
the next chapter.  A recent
Rasmussen poll showed that
Palin was way ahead of any
of the other GOP contenders.
Palin has chosen not to be a
typical politician, who uses
their elected office while run-
ning for another.  (Hint, hint,
Obama?  LOL!).  That she is
not some power-crazed
egotist who has to cling to
their office.  She got a taste
of national politics.  She met
real people from Florida to
California.  Palin knows how
unhappy the public is right now
of our nation’s political class.

So Palin has shed herself of
any restrictions.  She is now a
free agent.  Independent of
all ‘official’ scrutiny.  Able to
go where she wants and say
what she wants.  Palin has
cast off the shackles of stale
conventions.  

RUN, SARAH!  RUN!!!

During the 'staged' townhall
meeting on health care yes-
terday, President Obama de-
clared that the stimulus pack-
age passed earlier has done
it's job.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Not as dramatic as from the
deck of an aircraft carrier, but
then Obama is not a pilot.
None the less, we have to
shake our heads and say...

           HUH???

The economy is hovering
between stagnation and
disaster.  Unemployment
continues to rise.  Today's
numbers for June show the
nation with an average unem-
ployment rate of 9.5%.  If
you factor in the under-em-
ployed, such as those with
part-time jobs while seeking
full-time, the number is closer
to 16.5%.  The number of
those unemployed for more
than six months is 4.38
million people, 29% of all
of the 14.7 million who are
unemployed.

Another Chinese minister
spoke out again the other day
warning America to defend it's
currency.  The U.S. dollar is
getting weaker and weaker.
China, and the rest of the world
would like us to stop spending
so much, stop borrowing so
much, and stop printing so
many dollars and Treasury
bonds.  Even a United Nations
committee denounced the
"Cap & Trade' bill passed
last week by Congress as bad
economic policy.  Things are
really bad when the U.N. says
we're too Socialistic!

On Wednesday, the State of
California began paying credi-
tors in I.O.U.s!  About $3
Billion dollars worth!  Next
month will be $4 Billion.  Many
of states, especially those in
the Northeast or run by
Democrats, are deep in debt
and forced to raise taxes
and cut services.  California
has declined deeper and faster
as they have policies, regula-
tions and tax rates which are
stifling employment and driving
businesses to flee.  The same
policies, regulations and tax
philosophy which is embraced
by Obama and the Democrats
in Congress to inflict upon the
rest of the nation.

The prospects for improvement
are very bleak.  Just the threat
of Cap & Trade has already
forced two new steel plants to
relocate to Brazil and Malaysia.
They had originally fled Europe
due to their Cap & Trade regu-
lations.  Major industries, espe-
cially the auto makers, are in
the process still of down-sizing.
Chrysler is still scheduled to
eliminate 25% of their job base
and a like number from GM.

Small businesses, which em-
ploy more than half of the work
force, are stagnating.  The new
rounds of taxes and regulations
unleashed by the Obama Ad-
ministration, coupled with the
still looming credit crunch
(which Obama has done
NOTHING to rectify) have
caused small businesses to
sit on the side lines and wait.
Many are struggling to just
survive.  In EVERY PREVIOUS
recession, it was ALWAYS
small businesses which led
the way to economic recovery.
Yet, Obama has given them
absolutely ZERO INCENTIVE
to grow, expand, invest or
hire new employees.

So I have to wonder how
Obama figures that his $787
Billion dollar stimulus package,
of which only a small fraction
has actually been spent on
such notable projects as
turtle tunnels in Florida and
sex worker studies in Puerto
Rico, has accomplished it's
mission?  Even those 24
policemen hired in Columbus,
Ohio with stimulus money have
already been laid off!  I wonder
when they'll be appearing on
stage with Obama again?

NO!  It's time for those mem-
bers of the Congress as well
as state government officials
to put an end to this madness!
The Congress must reopen
the stimulus bill and rewrite it,
this time carefully and thought-
fully, with an eye to using the
funds to slash taxes and pro-
vide true incentives to the
private sector, especially to
small businesses!  At the same
time, those U.S. Senators who
claim to be rational MUST
reject the Cap & Trade bill,
as well as any new major
government programs, like
national health care, and other
job-killers, like 'Card Check'.

Only then we MAY see some
improvement in our economy.

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If you don't watch that 'evil'
Fox News Network, or read
"The Washington Examiner",
then you probably have not
heard this story yet.  It seems
that the Obama Administration
is firing the very people who
are charged with watching
over all of those billions and
billions of stimulus money
being spread around.  Three
Federal Inspector Generals
are being fired.

Neil Barofsky was fired after
embroiled in a dispute with
the Treasury Department over
being denied access to key
documents.  Judith Gwynne,
who provides oversight to the
International Trade Commis-
sion, is being cached out as
the White House is not re-
newing her contract.  No re-
placement is planned as of
yet.

But perhaps the most shock-
ing is the case of Gerald
Walpin.  He was called last
week Wednesday evening
by the White House on his
cell phone and was given one
hour to choose between re-
signing or termination.  Nice,
huh!  The feisty 78 year old,
who as a lawyer took on Joe
McCarthy, Nixon's staff and
even defended Mia Farrow
in her divorce of Woody Allen,
declined to resign.

It seems that Mr. Walpin has
been putting pressure on the
'non-profit' St. Hope Academy.
Walpin discovered that some
$850,000 of Federal grants
were misused by the org,
which was run at the time by
Kevin Johnson.  The former
NBA star and new mayor of
Sacramento, California is a
close friend of President
Obama.  Due to Walpin's
findings, the group is being
denied further access to
Federal money.

Oddly enough, Obama, as a
senator, co-sponsored a bill
made into law last year that
requires the White House to
give Congress 30 days notice
with cause before firing any
Inspector Generals.  The
cases for both Walpin and
Barofsky (who oversees TARP
funds)  appear to be very sus-
picious and extremely political.

Yet, the Main Stream Media is
not covering the story!  One
would think that after they at-
tacked Bush for firing five
Federal attorneys, which he
could do so without cause or
any notification, that the press
might see the possible violation
of Federal laws by the White
House as a worthy news story.
But, of course, the MSM have
no stomach to rain on their
hero's parade.

The White House first tried to
explain Walpin's dismissal as
due to a "lack of confidence".
When that didn't pass the scru-
tiny test, they release another
statement accusing Walpin,
essentially, of being senile and
too old to do the job.  After see-
ing Mr. Walpin on "The Glenn
Beck Show" yesterday easily
pass a state mental compe-
tency test, that one doesn't
wash, either.

Over a year ago, way back
when Obama and Clinton were
neck-and-neck in the Democrat
primary, I warned that Obama's
true mission in running for the
presidency was to stop the
Federal investigation into the
Illinois 'Combine', called Opera-
tion Board Games.  This is the
investigation that since 2003
has arrested and prosecuted
some 22 associates of former
governor, Rod Blagojevich.
The most recent case being
that of Antoin "Tony" Rezko,
who was also a close friend of
Barack Obama.

I believe that these new firings
are just the first of many more
to come.

This week may go down in
history as when America was
finished.  The rule of law, the
U.S. Constitution, was further
torn and trashed, by the very
people who are tasked to pro-
tect and enforce it.  On this
past Tuesday, the United
States Supreme Court, denied
a stay to hear the case of the
State of Indiana versus the
Federal Government.

The Indiana State Pension
Fund is amongst the many
holders of secured loans to
the Chrysler Corporation.  Now
in bankruptcy, Chrysler is obli-
gated, under U.S. contract law,
to compensate secured lenders
first, in full if possible.  Instead,
the Obama Administration has
intervened in the bankruptcy
and such secure lenders are
instead moved off their 'pay-
back-first' status.

The secured lenders, pension
funds for retirees (mostly state
employees like public teachers)
will get only 23 cents on a dol-
lar for their investments.  The
UAW, through their health care
organization, will get 43 cents
worth of Chrysler's remaining
equity. The secured lenders,
who purchased bonds from
Chrysler in the past, are what
the law defines as "senior
creditors".  Others with a finan-
cial stake, such as the UAW's
benefits group, VEBA, are
"junior creditors".

Under the rule of law, which
has managed bankruptcies in
America for over 200 years,
senior creditors must be com-
pensated first before junior
creditors.  A deal devised by
the Obama Administration has
reversed this precedent.  In
addition to contract law being
turned on it's head, the senior
creditors have been denied
their 5th Amendment rights to
"due process" by the govern-
ment.

The law is what shapes society.
Our Constitution was a colaber-
ation amongst the "several
states", each relinquishing a
small amount of power and
authority to the Federal govern-
ment.  The states saw the need
for the Federal government to
have authority for national de-
fense and other aspects, such
as the coining of money, inter-
state commerce, etc.  Under
the 10th Amendment, any
functions or aspects of society
not specified in the Constitu-
tion to the Fed is the province
of the Several States.

Our rule of law is derived from
long legal traditions stemming
back some nearly 5,000 years.
Mosaic Law, Roman Law, and
Anglo-Saxon Common Law,
all combined to form a base of
our way of life.  Honoring writ-
ten agreements, contracts, is
at the heart of our society.  It
is the glue that binds us and
provides us with the confidence
to plan for the future.  Without
it, we are forced to into the
savagery of grabbing what we
can now, for tomorrow is un-
certain.

One of the earliest documents
that defines what a government
can and cannot do is the
Magna Carta.  Latin for "Great
Charter", it was conceived in
1215 when landed barons and
noblemen in England sought
to end the tyranny of the whims
of then King John.  It forced
the king to respect certain
rights of his subjects.  It pro-
tected them against arbitrary
imprisonment, seizure of pro-
perty, and provided a means
to appeal the king's actions.

After John's older brother,
Arthur, disappeared myster-
iuously, John ascended to
the throne following the death
of the eldest brother, Richard.
John's actions, such as marry-
ing Isabella of Angouleme,
who had been engaged to
another nobleman, many be-
gan to question John's claim
on the throne and rule over
England's holdings in France.
John then picked a fight with
the Church in Rome over his
choice for Archbishop of
Cantebury.  John was excom-
municated from the Church
in 1209.  

This resulted in King Philip
of France attacking England
and it's holdings in Normandy.
John needed cash to raise
an army, and levied a series
of taxes.  He even instituted
the first income tax on nobles.
Needless to say, that was
enough to send the nobles
into revolt.  With support from
France and Scotland. the
nobles and their troops entered
London.  On June 15th, 1215,
King John agreed to the nobles'
demands at Runnymede and
the Magna Carta was since
been the foundation of English
Law, and our law ever since.

The Chrysler bankruptcy, and
that for General Motors, has
now established a precedent
that any contract may be ignor-
ed or modified retroactively at
the whim of the government.
There have been other inci-
dents over the decades which
have diluted the law and the
Constitution.  But the signifi-
cance of the decision this week
by the Federal courts now sets
the stage for the terms of any
investment, any loan, to be
changed or ignored without
due process.

The law makes possible our
economic system, Capitalism.
Without the law upholding the
rights agreed to under a con-
tract, protecting property rights,
Capitalism cannot function.
The incentive to invest is gone.
The Obama Administration
is whittling away at the law,
the Constitution and the funda-
mentals of the marketplace.
The end result can surely only
lead to disaster for our country
and our way of life.

The Obama-Democrat Con-
gress spending spree of the
past few months may have
hit a brick wall.  Federal
Reserve Chairman, Ben
Bernanke, testified before the
House Budget Committee on
last Thursday.  He warned the
Congressmen that current
spending and borrowing levels
could not be sustained.  He
intimated that spending cuts
and taxes increases needed
to be planned.

The issue Bernanke raised was
the ratio of National Debt to the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
which currently is at 41%. By
2011, should the current bud-
get plans continue, it will ex-
ceed 70% of the GDP.  By
2019, it is projected to be at
82.4%.  Without spending cuts,
taxes would have to be raised
60% across the board to have
any hope of preventing this.

Keep in mind that we are still
only talking about CURRENT
spending levels, already voted
on and approved by the Con-
gress.  The expected new
health care program promoted
by Obama, who insists that it
be enacted upon before August
could add $1 Trillion dollars of
more to the already $1.8 Tril-
lion dollar budget deficit this
year.

The impact of the rising ratio
is a very simple one.  We can
expect our AAA bond status
to be lowered to AA before the
end of the year.  The British
are also facing a similar fate,
possibly within the next few
months.  Such a reduction
would mean that the bonds
issued by the Treasury to fund
and service our National Debt
would be less secure.  There
fore, less attractive to buy.

Already, the number of major
bond buyers has dropped from
over 50 nations and institutions
to 16.  This coming week, more
bonds will be auctioned, and it
is anyone's guess as to how
this sale will go.  Even if it is
successful, and the bonds are
purchased, the interest rates
will undoubtedly be much high-
er.  This will 'trickle-down' and
effect interest rates on all com-
mercial and consumer borrow-
ing, further impacting any re-
covery out of the current rec-
cession.

China, one of the largest pur-
chasers of our debt-bonds,
has been very vocal for several
months, warning that they will
not be buying as much, if any
at all.  They are already in dis-
cussions with other trading
partners, such as Brazil, to
switch from using U.S. dollars
to other currencies, such as the
Euro, anticipating higher infla-
tion rates on the dollar.

Bernanke made it clear on
Thursday that the Federal Re-
serve will not continue mone-
tizing the debt, as they have
been for the past few months.
He also warned that not only
will budget deficits of 12% of
the GDP, the percentage of
this year's level, can be sus-
tained, but even future levels
in the 4-5% range will be dif-
ficult to manage.  Even the
reductions that Obama has
promised in the outlying
years of his administration,
will not be sufficient.

Bernake said this to the Con-
gressmen:  "At some point,
you have to have a path of
spending and taxes that will
give you a stabilization of the
debt-to-DGP ratio.  If you
don't, then fear that the debt
will continue to rise will make
it very difficult to finance it.
And at some point, you'll hit
a point where you'll have to
have both very draconian cuts
and very large tax increases,
which is not something we
want."

Most of the bonds being sold
now are short-term notes.
The average length of the
bonds servicing our debt is now
at around 4 years.  Something
which has not happened since
World War 2.  The confidence
required to encourage the sale
of long-term notes, such as
the 10-year, has ebbed.  This
causes uncertainty and fear
in the markets.  Coupled with
a reduction in the bond rating,
this spells bad news for get-
ting our financial house in order
and ending the current recces
-sion.

Some folks think I'm too mean
towards Obama.  They think I
should be more supportive of
his administration and of our
government in general.  That I
should embrace the historical
nature of his presidency.  I
have one thing to say to that...

NUTS!

I support many aspects of our
government.  Mainly those
hard-working, non-political
types who protect America and
help it to function.  But when
it comes to our elected officials
and those they appoint, well
that's where I draw the line.

Sure, Obama's election was
historic.  Much of what he has
done thus far is historic.  In-
cluding his recent nomination
of Sonia Sotomayor to sit on
the Supreme Court.  After all,
why not have a person on the
highest court of the land who
could not sit on a jury since
she's so emphatic and could
not hear evidence objectively?

Obama, and the Democrats in
Congress, are spending money
in historic levels.  People com-
plained when Bush would turn
in a budget deficit of $400
Billion dollars.  Obama's first
budget is pegged at $1.7 Tril-
lion dollars!  And that's only if
his own rose-tinted projections
occur.  Already, they ain't.

After two consecutive quarters
of losing about 6% GDP each,
the economy is clearly in de-
cline.  Unemployment has
doubled since prior to the
Democrats taking back Con-
gress in November, 2006.
The IRS now reports that
tax revenues are off some
44% from last year!  So I
think it's fair to say that the
projections for Obama's 1st
year budget deficit will exceed
$2 TRILLION dollars, easily.

And that's just his FIRST year!
By the end of his first term of
four years, Obama will have
doubled, and probably more
than doubled, the National
Debt.  He'll overspend more
than every single president
since George Washington,
cramming 218 years of fiscal
irresponsibility into 4 years.
And we haven't even gotten
yet to his plans to nationalize
health care!

Another historical first for
Obama is that, thanks to all
this runaway spending, our
national bond rating will pro-
bably be downgraded from
the Triple-A status it has had
since bond ratings were con-
ceived in 1917.  Some analysts
predict America will be lowered
to Double-A by the end of this
year, and, if Obama continues
his spending ways, be down
to 'junk-bond' status within 10
years.

This will make servicing our
National Debt far more ex-
pensive.  Interest rates will
rise, impacting the rest of the
economy.  Already, many
nations, like China, who were
financing our debt, have
stopped buying our Treasury
bonds, particularly the long-
term notes, such as the 10
year, which helped keep our
interest payments on the
National Debt tolerable.  China,
and others, are currently only
buying short-term notes, which
pay a higher interest rate.

While I do not blame Obama
for General Motors going bank-
rupt, it should be noted that
this will be the largest bank-
ruptcy in history.  Since some
of you want Obama to be a
historic president, I think it's
fair to mention that this, too,
will be part of his legacy.  
Especially since his admini-
stration is playing such a huge
role in the terms of the bank-ruptcy.

In both the Chrysler and GM
bankruptcies, Obama and his
minions are aiding the UAW
in getting more power.  He
has even disregarded legal
precedent by downgrading
the status of secured bond
holders for both companies.
Instead of being at the front
of the line in getting compen-
sated for their investments
in the auto companies, the
secured bond holders are
being screwed by Obama.

But what else can one expect
from somebody who has no
use for the U.S. Constitution?
Why should centuries of con-
tract law matter?  Obama in-
stead wants empathy to be the
ruling principle, as it bends to
his whim.

So this year will be one for the
history books.  We shall see
many historic changes and
events which will shape our
nation's future.  None for the
better, in my opinion.

There is one good piece of
history I should mention.  The
Detroit Red Wings are facing
the Pittsburgh Penguins for
the second year in a row for
the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.
It's the first time in 25 years
that the two same teams are
facing each other in consecu-
tive seasons.  Now that's a
piece of history I can live with!

Watching the news is making
me feel like Mr. Gumby.  He's
the character from the old
BBC comedy show, "Monty
Python's Flying Circus", who
always says, "My brain hurts!"
To which, Dr. Gumby answers,
"Well Mr. Gumby, it will have to
come out then."  LOL!

Just this past week seems like
I've woke up and found myself
in some twisted, parallel uni-
verse.  Last week Thursday
was when President Obama
gave his national security
speech claiming to be person-
ally responsible for defending
the nation, and maintaining it's
morality.  He claims that it's no
big deal to transfer prisoners
from Guantanamo Bay to the
nation's 'super-max' prison for
safe keeping.  Unfortunately,
nobody told Obama that the
super-max facility in Colorado
has only one empty cell right
now.

Mr. Responsibility then went
on CSPAN Sunday and men-
tioned that we're out of money.
DUH!  No kidding we're out of
it, he's been spending it fast
enough.  Obama will double
the current national debt of
$11 TRILLION dollars in his
first term, and double it again
to $44 TRILLION by 2018.
And that doesn't include his
national healthcare program.

Oddly enough, the CBC re-
ported yesterday that the
national healthcare system
in Canada has a new scandal.
Two, in fact.  In Quebec, some
400 women were misdiag-
nosed with breast cancer,
which led to their receiving
the wrong treatments.  Fears
are that similar results are
more widespread in all of
Canada.

We hear Obama and his
minions often talk about how
we'll lower costs of medical
insurance if we digitize all
medical records.  The other
new scandal in Canada is
that the e-Ontario program
for putting medical records
on-line is extremely corrupt
and wasteful.  Millions of
dollars went to companies
without competitive bids and
many of these have done
little or nothing.  One contractor
received $200,000 for merely
cataloging news articles on
the healthcare system.

North Korea tested a nuke
and also launched more
missiles to flaunt their power.
They now insist that a state
of war exists between them
and South Korea.  Russia
has responded by activating
their Far-East anti-missile
system.  Huh?  I thought
the Russians didn't like anti-
missile systems?  Oh, not to
be out-done, Iran has deployed
warships into the Gulf.  Who
knows what they're going to
do next?

Back at home, Obama has
nominated to the Supreme
Court a woman with very
questionable legal skills and
even more questionable per-
sonal opinions.  But that really
doesn't matter much to him
as he's not a big fan of our
Constitution anyway.

And how I could possibly not
mention last Friday's presser
with Nancy Pelosi.  After being
caught fibbing about how the
CIA lied to her and Congress,
she is skirting her lies by just
refusing to talk about the sub-
ject anymore.  Our milk-toast,
corrupted media seems to be
going along, cutting her and
any other Democrat the slack
they would never have given
to a Republican.

All in all, this has been just
another crazy week in our new
crazy world of Obama Land.
Interest rates are climbing,
tax revenues are down and
the spending just keeps in-
creasing.  General Motors
will soon become Govern-
ment Motors as they prepare
to file bankruptcy.  Uncle
Obama Sugar will own 70+%
of the New GM, adding to
their ownership of the New
Chrysler.

Say what you want about
George W. Bush, at least he
was nice enough to only give
us one brain aneurysm at a
time.  Curious how that Iraq
War thing Obama campaigned
about seems to have been
shelved as it was reported yes-
terday that we may have to
keep troops there for another
10 years.  I suppose that's still
90 less years that John McCain
would've done.

So as I fumble to find my
Excedrin Migraine tablets
before my brain explodes, let
me leave you with this happy
thought.  Obama told a group
of Hollywood stars and money
types last night that, "You
ain't seen nothing yet."  Uh-
huh!  I think I'm going to need
either a bigger bottle of
Excedrin, or maybe something
stronger.

God bless Dick Cheney!
The former Vice President
gave a speech today where
he challenged the Obama
Administration positions on
national security policies.
Obama also gave a speech
today on the same subject,
starting late and going long,
possibly deliberately to re-
duce any media coverage of
Cheney's speech.  The con-
trasts between the two is
remarkable.

Obama spoke mainly on how
the Bush Administration mis-
handled the War on Terror.
He was critical of many of the
policies and decisions made.
Chief among them are the use
of enhanced interrogation
techniques at Guantanamo
Bay.  He referred to the
methods, such as 'water-
boarding' as torture and tried
to tie it's use to increased
hostility towards America.

Cheney defended the policies
as necessary to safeguard
America and to take the fight
to the terrorists themselves.
He recounted the horror of
the 9/11 attacks, of watching
people leap from windows of
the World Trade Center to
escape being burnt to death.
He again assured that the
information gleaned from
using enhanced Interrogation
of three 'high value' prisoners
helped thwart additional plots
to attack America.

Cheney has become more
vocal since Obama had
some documents declassi-
fied concerning the interro-
gation of Guantanamo
prisoners.  The former Vice
President has challenged
the Obama Administration
to release other documents
which detail the intelligence
gained from these interroga-
tions.  Thus far, the White
House has refused to make
these available.

Most notably of these plots
which were revealed was a
plan to crash airliners into
the Bank Tower, also known
as the Library Tower, in Los
Angeles, California.  There
is some dispute concerning
the timeline.  That the plot
was foiled or abandoned be-
fore the interrogations.  But
such did reveal details of the
plot, according to Cheney,
and overall, the methods
provided U.S. intelligence
personnel with valuable in-
formation and insights into
the inner workings of Al
Qaeda.

Obama countered in his
speech today that none of
the information acquired
during water-boarding and
other 'enhanced' techniques
use could not have been
gotten using 'normal' interro-
gation methods.  He further
added that our use of such
techniques, as well as the
mere existence of 'Club
Gitmo' (the nickname for
the prison on Guantanamo)
actually fueled more resent-
ment and helped recruited
more members to Al Qaeda
and the Taliban.  This also
has a timeline issue, since
the prison and interrogations
happened well after the
height of terror activities.

The bottom-line in all of this
is very simple.  The Bush
Administration policies for
fighting terrorism have proved
to have been effective as no
attacks have occurred since
9/11 in the United States.  In
addition, we now have a much
better understanding of the
workings and organization of
Al Qaeda, which was largely
ignored by the Clinton Admini-
stration despite several attacks
launched during the 1990s.

There is no doubt that we are,
or were, much safer since 9/11.
How much safer we are now or
in the future is more doubtful
as Obama takes us back to a
pre-9/11 mentality of treating
terrorism as merely a law en-
forcement matter.  Self-criti-
cism and apologies only fuel
the resolve of our enemies.

NBC, the National Broadcast-
ing Company, is no stranger
to committed fraud on TV.
You may recall the movie,
"Quiz Show", based on the
TV game show, "21".  On
the evening of Dec. 5, 1956,
the current champion of the
show, Herb Stempel, was
'scripted' to finally lose to
one Charles Van Doren.  Van
Doren then became the toast
of America, and was given a
spot on NBC's morning show,
"The Today Show".  By 1958,
stories of NBC fixing their
game show finally rose to the
forum of the U.S. Congress
which held hearings on the
public frauds.  On Nov. 2nd,
1958, Van Doren testified
against NBC himself and
admitted to being coached.
Congress then passed a law
prohibiting fixing game shows.

Another famous incident was
the NBC "Dateline" episode
where they faked a gas tank
exploding on a GM truck.  The
story distorted a legal case
against GM whom were being
sued for wrongful death.  NBC
technicians rigged the gas
tank to split open seconds
before a test crash.  The show
aired on Nov. 14th, 1992, but
it did not take long for the truth
to come out.  Private detectives
hired by GM tracked down the
hulk of NBC's test truck after
searching some 22 junkyards.
A scientific examination proved
that the gas tank had been
tampered with.

Fast forward to Sunday night's
finale of "The Celebrity Appren-
tice 2" which aired on NBC for
3 hours.  The series features
Donald Trump who has celebs
perform various tasks to raise
money for charities.  Each epi-
sode concludes with Trump
firing the least productive
celebrity.

That is, unless the least pro-
ductive has ties to the show's
host and producers.  Joan
Rivers faced off against Annie
Duke on Sunday's show.  A
rivalry had developed during
the series between these two
ladies, which was easily ex-
ploited for ratings.  However,
there may be more to the
story than just ratings.

In other episodes and seasons,
Donald Trump always was
very harsh to those who he
viewed to be 'quitters'.  Trump
has no stomach for those who
give up.  So, why did he allow
Joan Rivers to return to the
show after she walked off?
She had become outraged
when her daughter, Melissa,
was fired by Trump two epi-
sodes prior to the finale.
Melissa threw a temper tan-
trum and stormed off the set
after hurling abusive remarks
to the show's staff and other
contestants.  Joan also railed
against Annie Duke and
Brande Roderick, whom Joan
both blamed for Melissa's
firing.

The next episode, Joan returns
and continues the competition.
Why did Trump allow her to?
Why did he select her to ad-
vance to the finale?

The charity which Joan Rivers
was playing for is God's Love/
We Delivery, based in New
York.  They provide meals and
assistance to the ill and home
bound.  Joan is very active as
a member in the charity, having
served on their board in the
past.  In 1995, she served on
the board of directors alongside
Blaine Trump, socialite and the
sister-in-law of one, Donald
Trump.  Blaine is married to
'The Donald's' younger brother,
Robert.  Blaine currently serves
as Vice-Chair for the charity.

Hmmmm?  Are we talking a
possible conflict of interests
here?  Well stayed tuned, my
friendly 'stay-tuners'.  Because
there is one more minor issue.

Joan Rivers, who was fired
along with Melissa from the
TV Guide Network, will soon
have a new TV show on the
TV Land Network, produced
by none other than Mark
Burnett.  Burnett, who co-
produces "Apprentice" and
is the man who created
'reality TV' with his hit
series, "Survivor", will be
doing a new reality series
called, "How'd You Get So
Rich?"  The series will air
this fall on TV Land with
Joan as it's host.

So was Joan allowed to win
"Celebrity Apprentice 2" de-
spite failing to earn as much
cash for charities as Annie
Duke?  Annie raised some
$465K in the finale alone,
more than triple Joan's take
from their competing charity
auctions.  During the course
of the season, Duke raised
far more money and won more
challenges than any of the
other contestants.  She was
clearly the better player.

So, the question is, did NBC
allow another game show fraud
to be committed?  I would sug-
gest that an investigation is in
order, both from the U.S. Dept.
of Justice and the New York
State Attorney General at the
very least.  There appears to
be sufficient indicators that
there was a conflict of interest
with allowing Joan Rivers to
continue after quitting, and to
be awarded the victory of the
series despite failing to out-
perform Annie Duke on every
substantial level.

I happened to be flicking thru
the TV channels today and
came across that classic film,
"A Guy Named Joe".  There
was a particular scene which
impressed me.  The one where
Lionel Barrymore tells Spencer
Tracy about how one can mea-
sure their life by what they
leave for the future.

Colin Powell, former general
and leader of men, recently
made comments about how
the GOP was failing.  He cited
polls showing how American
citizens wanted national health
care and more from govern-
ment.  Well, NO KIDDING!
Of course people want more,
especially if they do not have
to pay for it!

And that is the nasty catch,
isn't it?  All of the wonderful
programs, new and old, that
the government provides for
us are not being paid for by
us, the current generation. Oh
sure, we pay for some if it.
Up until the last eight months
or so, we paid a reasonable
amount of it.  But not all of it.
We are leaving mountains
of debt to our children.

With Obama and the
Democrats on a spending
spree now, we are leaving
whole mountain ranges of
debt!  Obama will double
the existing national debt
in five years, and double
it again or more as his new
programs and policies linger
into the future.  There seems
to be no end to it, either, but
an end is inevitable.

America is currently trying to
find people to buy our debt to
the tune of $150 Billion dollars
PER WEEK!  In 2008, there
were about 50 major nations
and financial entities who would
buy and service our debt load.
Today, there are 16.  Major
purchasers, such as China, are
balking from buying anymore.

The situation has gotten to the
point where the Federal
Reserve and Treasury Depart-
ment are playing a shell game
of buying the debt from each
other.  But the reality is that
we are spending our way into
total ruin.  And the spending
is far from over as Obama
prepares to ram more entitle-
ment programs through a
willing Democrat-controlled
Congress.  This, despite the
fact that the current entitlement
programs, like Social Security
and MediCare, are on the
verge of collapsing, well before
they were expected to.

But who cares?  Why should it
bother us that the nation is
going bankrupt?  After all,
the impact will effect our child-
ren and future generations
more than us.  Oh sure, our
taxes will go up some and
the economy will suffer as
capital is funneled away from
investment.  True, more of
our generation will go thru
the uncertainty of holding a
job, but it won't be anywhere
as bad as employment will
be for our children!

Just look at Spain.  They enjoy
an unemployment rate of about
12%.  Obama wants to copy
their 'green-jobs' programs,
which cause 2.5 non-green
jobs to NOT be created
for each green-job.  And those
green-jobs that Spain does
create cost their government,
on an average, a mere $400
Thousand dollars each!  We
sure won't have to pay for
that.  Our children will!

It's bad enough that the
Democrats and their Pro-
gressive allies in the GOP
have already done such a
marvelous job of trashing
our education system.  I
consider this pure child
abuse.  The force feeding
and brain washing which
goes on daily in our
schools and universities
is absolutely appalling.

Saddling the future with
massive debt, and the con-
sequences of such, is just
as bad.  It is child abuse.

There is a word for it, extortion.
Over the past eight months,
we have seen a disturbing
trend coming out of Washing-
ton, DC.  We got a glimmer of
it when Bank of America CEO,
Ken Lewis, admitted to NY
State Attorney General
Andrew Coumo that BoA was
coerced into buying Merrill
Lynch.  Since then, rumors
have been circulating on how
other CEOs, of banks that were
not in peril, were forced to take
TARP money, or face lengthy
audits from the Treasury and
other government agencies.

This week the focus shifts to
the automobile industry.  GM
and Chrysler are in bankruptcy.
Chrysler, the weakest of the
'Big 3', had it's first day in court
today.  The Treasury is forcing
all of Chrysler's creditors to
accept a slice of a $2.25 Billion
dollar cash pie to write off $6.9
Billion in debts.  Most of the 42
creditors have agreed to the
proposal, and we may know
why now.  Those who aren't
have said that the White House
is threatening to publicly ruin
them via the press corps.  
HUH???

Those lenders who agreed all
have one thing in common,
they all accepted TARP funds.
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan-
Chase, Citigroup, and others,
accepted the Treasury's offer
of 29% outstanding loans
to the troubled auto maker.
The holdouts, whom include
Oppenheimer Funds and
Stairway Capital, are fighting
for the 70% share they are
entitled to under the terms of
the corporate bonds they own.

Attorney Tom Lauria of White
& Case, who are representing
the dissenters, says that,
"We're just standing on the
law."  Lauria explains that the
issue at hand is how the pro-
posed Treasury  plan "inverts"
the standard bankruptcy code
where secured lenders are
paid in full first, followed by
lesser and unsecured lenders.
Laurie told the press on Friday
that, "What's happening is the
senior secured creditors are
going to get 29 cents on the
dollar and the unsecured
creditors are going to get $10
billion dollars."

The group of 20 dissenters
are holding about $1 Billion
dollars of Chrysler's debt.
President Obama scolded
the hedge funds and others
publicly, calling them out
for not making the same
sacrifices as others are. But
Tom Lauria told WJR's
Frank Beckman today that,
"One of my clients was
directly threatened by the
White House, and in essence
compelled to withdraw its
opposition to the deal under
threat that the full force of
the White House press corps
would destroy its reputation
if it continued to fight."  He
was referring to the firm,
Perella Weinberg, which
caved in on Thursday to
accept the Treasury Depart-
ment's deal.

Lauria went on to say that
his clients are not opposed
to rescuing Chrysler, but still
seek to be compensated under
the law.  He added that the $10
Billion dollars the Treasury
plans call for paying off all
creditors will probably turn out
to be closer to $20 Billion
based on documents filed
in the bankruptcy court.  He
also pointed out during the
interview on WJR that many
of those who are accepting
the 29% compensation had
bought Chrysler bonds which
only offered 30% return in
the event of a default. So how
could this "sacrifice", as the
Obama puts it, be the same or
be fair?

The overall plan for rescuing
Chrysler calls for the U.S.
government to obtain an 8%
stake in the company.  The
UAW will get a 55% stake
through stock equity transfer-
red to VEBA, a trust fund set
up by the UAW and the Big
3 during previous contract
negotiations to manage the
union employee health bene-
fits.  Daimler will give up its
20% stake and cough up
$600 Million a year for the
next three years to the
pension fund to walk away
from this disaster.  Fiat will
buy between a 20% to 35%
stake in the company.  The
current owner of Chrysler,
Cerebus Capital Manage-
ment, who had 80% of the
company, will get the re-
mainder.

Over the years, Chrysler
has shrunk to only about
39,000 employees in the
U.S., and about 15,000
in Canada.  A similar deal
is now being worked out for
General Motors to be re-
structured.  The UAW is
expected to get a 39%
stake in GM, with the Federal
government getting a sizable
slice, too.  Their financing
division, GMAC, will be taking
over Chrylser's auto loans
and financial services. Only
Ford Motor Company seems
to be in a healthy enough
shape for now to avoid a trip
to bankruptcy court.

The essence of all of this is
very disturbing, as the Federal
government continues to take
over and run rough shod over
major economic sectors.  The
banks, auto companies and
credit card industry are the
first to feel the heat.  New
regulations on the energy
industry and Federal health
care programs will radically
alter the landscape for
American businesses.

As I wrote last time, we appear
to be trotting down the path of
soft despotism.  The govern-
ment, in league with labor
unions, are coercing business
to bend to it's will.  The threat
of audits, legislation, and now
enlisting the media, are all
being applied to force firms
into submission.  How is any
of this different than when a
criminal mob extorts money
from victims?  Apparently,
extortion is only criminal when
it is practiced by private enti-
ties, but perfectly appropriate
when done so by the govern-
ment.