Archive for March, 2009

The President yelled ‘JUMP’, GM and Chrysler asked ‘how high?’. Yesterday, Chrysler jumped as high as the Mr. Obama wanted them too.

Chrysler LLC has reached an agreement on a framework of a global alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) that has the support of the U.S. Treasury, Chrysler’s CEO Bob Nardelli said on Monday.

“We appreciate the willingness of the (autos) Task Force, along with industry and financial experts, to consult closely with us in order to achieve this significant step,” Nardelli said in a statement.

Chrysler, owned by private equity Cerberus Capital Management, was deemed by the task force to be not viable as a stand-alone company and was given 30 days to complete an alliance with Fiat or be cut off from U.S. government funding.

Sad, sad, sad. Almost as sad as the fact that the U.S. taxpayer is now paying for his/her own GM auto warranty.

Think about this for a moment. The government says it will help your company, but only if the CEo steps down. The government tells a private business how to operate, or else. And they flinch.

General Motors Corp Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will resign from the top job at the struggling automaker, a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday, just a day before the U.S. government makes a key announcement on whether it will extend more aid.

The person, who declined to be identified because the decision has not been made public yet, did not provide further detail.

You may as welcome socialism people, because you voted for it.

Didn’t we already bail these guys out?

The latest bailout plan for the U.S. auto industry will be unveiled Monday by President Barack Obama after a federal auto task force put the finishing touches on its recommendations Friday.

“I think they are winding down the decisions that have to be made and putting in place a plan that the president will announce on Monday, ” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in describing the meeting of the group charged with oversight of federal money given to automakers last winter.

The task force has been meeting for about six weeks behind closed doors.

Isn’t it nice to know they were meeting behind closed doors for six weeks. You know, just about the same time they started paying out for the first one…

The agency that owns the space where the World Trade Center towers stood is freeing itself of the term “freedom” to describe the signature skyscraper replacing the buildings destroyed on September 11, 2001.

The change from Freedom Tower was revealed Thursday at a news conference where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the signing of the first commercial lease in the building to a Chinese company. The building is expected to be completed in late 2013.

Personally, I think this is a bad idea.

Jack Dreyfus, the so-called “Lion on Wall Street,” died March 27 at New York Hospital, the asset management firm that he founded said on Friday.

He was 95. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Dreyfus was considered an American investment innovator whose career spanned from mutual fund management to medical research and the writing of two autobiographies.

“This remarkable individual was a legend in the creation and marketing of mutual funds and a humanitarian with a heart of gold,” The Dreyfus Corporation said in a statement.

Rest In Peace, Jack.

How does this work anyway?

Reports of deep job cuts at International Business Machines (IBM) come at a potentially delicate time for the company—just as it is hoping to secure money from the federal stimulus package. The company will lay off as many as 5,000 U.S. workers in its Global Business Services unit, transferring some of the work they performed to India.

IBM spokesman Mike Fay declined to confirm or to comment on any job-cut plans, which were reported on Mar. 25 by The Wall Street Journal (NWS) and Bloomberg News. The cuts will affect mainly information technology and consulting work in such areas as customer relations management and supply chain management, says Lee Conrad, national coordinator of Alliance@IBM, a group that is seeking union representation at IBM and is allied with the Communications Workers of America Local 1701.

Doesn’t this happen all the time? I mean, not on this scale, but don’t companies make cutbacks in areas that are not as profitable so they can focus on the areas that are? I don’t like the whole outsourcing to India issue at all.

I got a phone call at 2:15pm about a job. Made it to the interview location before 4. Things look promising. But, have you ever had one of those days?

see more pwn and owned pictures

Fifteen of 20 American International Group leading bonus recipients have agreed to give them back in full, said New York’s top legal officer who is probing into $165 million in executive pay at the troubled company bailed out by the U.S. government.

It’s amazing what guilt can do to people. Well, law abiding, self-respecting people, anyway.

If you live out west, there’s good news.

Sales of previously occupied homes in the Western United States climbed in February, as low mortgage rates and cheap foreclosed properties drew in many first-time buyers and investors, according to two reports released Monday.

If you’re in the Midwest, not so much.

Home sales in the Midwest fell again in February as doubts about the economy and tighter credit requirements stymied potential buyers, according to two reports released Monday.

Existing home sales in the 12-state region slid 18 percent from February last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median price in the Midwest declined 8 percent to $131,000 — the second-smallest drop of any region.

From Powerline:

Wells Fargo didn’t want any TARP money, but the government forced it to take more than $5 billion worth, so Wells Fargo employees who receive bonuses would be subject to Pelosi’s proposed tax. Say you’re a teller at a Wells Fargo branch in Minnesota and you’re married to a lawyer who makes $250,000 this year. You get a $10,000 bonus for your good work during 2008. The government steals it all (90 percent federal plus 8.5 percent state plus, unless it’s included in the 90 percent, 3 percent Medicare). That is simply insane.

If the Pelosi bill is actually enacted into law (which I still think is doubtful) and upheld by the courts, there is no limit to the arbitrary power of Congress. In that event, we have no property rights and there is no Constitution–no equal protection clause, no due process clause, no impairment of contracts clause, no bill of attainder/ex post facto law clause. Instead, we are living in a majoritarian tyranny.

Read that again. Yes, I’ll wait.

The taxes on that “bonus” will amount to more than the bonus itself. Should these people get bonuses when their companies are receiving bailout funds? No, they shouldn’t. But it’s the job of Congress to fix this will future legislation.

It’s their fault this was passed without anyone reading it. I think the repayment of these bonuses should come out of the salaries of the Senators and Representatives that voted for the bailouts in the first place. It’s their fault for not doing their job.