May 2009

Stories I'm reading this Friday: Must read: Forbes' Flint on GM's doomed future Other media outlets finally catching on to the bogus "middle class tax cut" Influence of personal debt levels on bankruptcy filings Post: Man up,  Biden! Opinion: America's long nightmare over Chrysler has begun Tearing down homes in California Do bankers "own" ... read more

"Greedy." That's one of the nicer words being used this morning about the Chrysler secured lenders who refused to take the government's debt deal.    Yesterday the President said the group was "small" and merely "speculators."    Other political types - including the Governor of Michigan - piled on, calling these firms "greedy." It is easy to blame this ... read more

Stories I'm reading this Monday: Interview: White House press corps "threatened my client" Fiat may not be done with Chrysler, sets sights on Opel Despite the President's plea, few buying a Chrysler The small town where some in the police make more than $300,000 per year Golden parachute?   How about golden coffin? No more offshore? Are "green" lightbulbs poisoning ... read more

Stories I'm reading this Tuesday: More spending on the way as Dems ask for another $94 billion Roubini: we can't subsidize the banks forever How can Chrysler predict it will be profitable in 2012 New Jersey can't afford government Another big loss for GMAC as defaults rise Peterson Institute says President's tax plan is bad for ... read more

Stories I'm reading this Wednesday: Union gets (partial) bailout as taxpayer loan to Chrysler won't be repaid Hedge fund manager blasts the President's tactics Study: 20% of homeowners 'underwater' 4 ways to manage through surprises Bernie Madoff's secretary reveals his bizarre habits Disney results spark some optimism Why high speed rail is the key to ... read more

Today the President outlined some proposed cuts in his $3.40 trillion dollar fiscal 2010 budget. Those include cuts in defense spending, the elimination of a diplomatic position in Paris (saving $630,000 per year) and a few other cuts.   All-in, the President says the cuts will trim about $17 billion from the budget. Cuts of any kind are generally a good thing.  The government has ... read more

The President today asked every American to commit to at least one year of post-high school pcollege or vocational training.     He said the government will do what it has to do to help, and (of course) rolled out yet another new website, www.opportunity.gov (on a side note, wouldn't it stink to be in the private sector of any of these businesses that the government keeps building new ... read more

Stories I'm reading for Monday: Banks and government scaled back the stress level of the stress tests Study: Unions really do impact the value of companies The class of '09's curse of low wages Will the Fed buy more bonds to bring mortgage rates back down? Australia apparently learned nothing from America's housing boom Tips on rebuilding the family ... read more

Pepsi made a bid weeks ago to buy its largest bottler, Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG).   PBG rejected the bid as too low. Nothing unusual there, as negotiations like that happen all the time.   But now its turned ugly (and litigious, but that's really the same thing). According to Dow Jones: PepsiCo (PEP) filed a lawsuit Monday claiming Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG) and some of its ... read more

Last week the Administration happily touted the $17 billion in budget "savings" it had found by going "line by line" through the massive bill.   This prompted me to write about how the $17 billion is actually just 0.5% of the total budget, and how can you argue about 'savings' when the budget is up more than 14% from the previous spending plan. Some people wrote in saying "setttle down ... read more