Recent comments

  • I don't think anyone has raised the corporate tax rate to 50% in proposals but a much more modest, 1% tax credit was introduced and believe it or believe it, corporate lobbyists went nuts in opposite.

    Patriot Employer Act of 2007

    I think it's a good idea. There are so many loopholes in the corporate tax code to pay zero taxes plus move jobs, capital around the globe, a restructuring to have them move capital, jobs, to the United States is in order.

    What I find interesting is how their hordes of lobbyists hate these ideas...and since the taxes are the same, there are clearly other reasons multinational corporations want to move capital, jobs, investments around the globe vs. into the U.S.

    What the buzz phrase "remove tax incentives to offshore outsource jobs" from the campaign is simply not nearly enough.

    Reply to: Corproate Taxes   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • A lot of that retooling you refer to was already in the works prior to the Cerberus takeover.

    Auto companies are slow moving ships that take a while to turn

    It takes 3-5 years to tool up for a new auto platform

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • Something you never hear the right wingers and free marketeers talk about is the success of Conrail.

    In the 70's Congress stepped in and took over several bankrupt railroads and formed Conrail. It took a while, but eventually Conrail became profitable. So profitable in fact that rivals NS and CSX made several overtures to take it over - which eventually did happen.

    Conrail was a govt takeover success story. Perhaps if big auto continues down the long downward slide, a conrail style temporary nationalization might be in order.

    As brleed suggests, manufacturing assistance has less financial risk because there are hard assets that can be taken over - just like railroads - physical plant, equipment, real estate, trademarks and patents to back it up, unlike Wall Street bailouts hose assets are largely "paper" and essentially worthless in failure.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • I find the right wing odd in that they clearly know something is wrong but seemingly cannot let go of small government, lower taxes mantra, along with a host of social agenda items.

    Don't forget Ron Paul. He really has a dedicated following and there is a new party, the Populist Party that from what I can gather is a ring wing sort of Populism.

    I'd have to agree with Nadar, although an uprising could change it, but the Democrats and Republicans have locked up elections so it's a seriously rigged game and a 3rd party candidate cannot get even on the ballot in many states.

    Reply to: Despite recent grain crash, long term food $$ is on the rise   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • That is something I did not think about, is/will the financial crisis affect investment funds, private equity, VC funds. If that happens Dr. Doom looks more plausible.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • While they did get slashed and burned after being sold off to private equity when DamienChrysler split...
    they are also retooling in Detroit, a multi-billion dollar investment, so I don't think they are headed for the chop and drop shop just quite yet.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • The reason I made a case for loans and Investment Tax Credits for manufacturing assest is that I fear government management as well. Loaning money for hard plant & equipment is totally different from subsidizing auto enterprises.

    Other Chrysler type bailouts are possible in an Obama administration. Bail-outs and subsidies can be avoided by the asset finance route. This way a 2-3 year secured loan is let out on plant and equipment. If the enterprise goes belly-up, another company can take over the plant.

    Make the financing available to both domestic and foreign companies and no one is going to complain except those who have done the damage to the industrial base in the first place. The implacable out-sourcers and 'Free Traders' will still complain, but few others, and they are increasingly irrelevant.

    To those who say, let private equity do the job of rescue of manufacturing, I say, Ok, let them step up. But that is not happening because of the meltdown in in the finance patch and general scarcity of private equity compared the the size of the rebuilding task that needs to happen.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • Hopefully, I can do better next time.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • They have much of the technology. They just need to retool so they can bring it here. I squarely hold Bill Clinton and his NAFTA responsible for all of this. IF he hadn't of made it more lucrative to throw the old away and buy new in Mexico, this probably would have happened several years ago.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • If you think he looked bored tapping his flag on his knee at the Olympics, you should have seen him checking his watch every five minutes when he met with the CEOs of the big three. They had to beg and wait years for that meeting for that. It is our hope that Obama/Biden plus pressure from the progressive movement and unions will result in investing in this country. They can either bring the jobs and technology here or let Japan and Europe have them. We need to make sure them come here.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • Its looking more and more like things are going to have to get much worse before they get better.

    I think it will take yet another humiliating loss for democrats for them to finally "get religion" and remember they are supposed to be the party of labor and working people.

    What is a likely outcome, though is the populist factions (Huckabee wing} of the republican party could sieze the opportunity and bring in their own brand of populism that has some marked differences from left leaning populism

    Perhaps finally a credible third party could emerge that would combine the disaffected populists from both parties who share common ground on social fairness and economic issues

    Reply to: Despite recent grain crash, long term food $$ is on the rise   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • Taxpayers have every right to expect something in return for federal assistance - such as a cut of the profits, increased scrutiny and/or regulation, domestic investment in jobs, technology, facilities and equipment, energy efficiency and so forth

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • The sole purpose of the private equity takeover of Chrysler is the classic strip and flip - that's what private equity does - chop it to the bone , milk it for all its worth, then sell off whats left.

    Bringing Nardelli (yes, that Nardelli of running home Depot into the ground and pocketing 210 million infamy) on board pretty much confirmed that.

    Chrysler would have been much better off in the long run in the hands of Canadian auto parts giant Magna, who has a stake in a successful Chrylser and understands the auto industry

    Chrylser will most likely end up in the hands of India's Tata or China's Cherry when its all said and done

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • works for me 8-)

    Reply to: An Economic Populist Test   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • "He is saying the Fed catered to banks and is causing inflation."

    Boy if there was ever a more Mr Obvious statement than that

    Not only is the fed causing inflation, but they also are causing bubble after bubble with their Greedspanite over-reliance on artificially low interest and too easy credit

    Reply to: Gun Fight at OK Corral - Former Bank of England Policy Maker Slams Fed in Jackson Hole meeting   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • is one of our current buzz campaign lines but in this case, hell this is taxpayer money so at least the US worker should get something out of it, at least guaranteed jobs.

    EU subsidizes industries constantly and in China I believe the percentage of state owned or 50-50 split companies are incredibly high.

    We just don't want G.W. Bush to manage any public-private enterprise, that would surely muck it up.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • quite a bit and frankly I cannot come up with anything better. I like it.

    Reply to: An Economic Populist Test   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • It's John Kerry.

    Reply to: Despite recent grain crash, long term food $$ is on the rise   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • Roubini is saying to nationalize the GSEs, which saves a $50B a year anyway to minimize the bailout costs.

    Then on your first quote, China I believe is heavily invested in the GSEs.

    Roubini:

    Freddie. Such a bailout of the creditors/bondholders of the two GSEs would result in the “mother of all maoral hazard-laden bailouts” in terms of its size and consequences. And such a bailout is neither necessary, appropriate nor desirable.

    Of course most of Wall Street, domestic and foreign investors and Congress are already screaming and begging “Bail us out, bail us out!” as their $5 trillion holdings of agency debt will take a significant hit if the insolvency hole of the GSEs – after the shareholders are wiped out – is filled not with public bailout money but rather with an haircut on the bonds held by Fannie and Freddie creditors. On top of bondholders not wanting to take a hit almost every politician – including McCain that in a former life was one of the shamed and corrupt members of the Keating Five club when he facilitated the S&L scam – is now clamoring for a bailout of Fannie and Freddie under the argument that not rescuing them would lead to a collapse of the mortgage and housing markets. But these screams of “the sky will fall” if we don’t rescue Fannie and Freddie are vastly exaggerated and incorrect for a number of reasons

    This is from his site which requires a registration to view it. It's worth it, the article is long and has a lot of info I for one had not seen previously.

    I saw the Buffett quote and put it in Instapopulist also. That was really damning and maybe Dr. Doom is right...again.

    Reply to: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The Game Is Over   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:
  • including the above statements about car models and tarrifs, if we taxpayers are shelling out the cash, then we taxpayers should have special prefferred shares issues that pay a dividend. Oh I can hear many now, "a state owning a company, gee Venom that sounds like socialism!" Yes, it may, but its high time we get something back for our constant bailouts. Under new management, flushed with cash, fresh models, and essentially have the market "protected," they will emerge profitable. And when they do start producing quarter after quarter of black statements, then we sure as hell better get not only our money back, but a little extra. On top of that, have the profit go straight into Medicare and Social Security! Seriously, this would work, look at Singapore's Tamasek or Korea. I recommend folks read the book Bad Samaritans, a real eye opener.

    Reply to: Why autos are important to winning MI & Ohio   15 years 8 months ago
    EPer:

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