Random Stuff
I’m taking a page from my compadre and posting a few random thoughts about the economy and the runoff election in Georgia.
First, there was a report issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research that states the US has been in a recession since December of 2007. That’s right, it’s taken almost a year for the NBER to figure out what the American public has known for quite some time. What was it that clued them in? Was the housing crash? The financial crisis/credit crunch? The drop in the Dow? Hard to believe that these academics are almost a year late in determining that we are in a recession. Further proof that you college folks shouldn’t take everything your professors say as gospel. Do they teach you some good stuff? Yes. Are they the foremost experts on every economical and political issue? No. They spend too much time patting themselves on the back for their perceived intellectual prowess to realize what’s going on in the real world.
Up next: Ford. Ford’s CEO, Alan Mulally, must have giant brass balls. He has stated that he will work for only $1 a year if the government supplies them with bailout dollars to keep the company afloat. That’s a very generous gesture. I’m assuming that it would be modeled after Ed Liddy’s contract at AIG ($1 in salary but loads of company stock). Here’s the problem. If Mulally really wanted to see Ford succeed, he would have cut executive salaries and reduced his own salary long before Ford hit rock bottom. Instead, he has waited until it looks like his company might not get the tax payers money and made one last desperate grab at our money. He sacrificed everything he could before he was willing to cut his own bloated salary. And anything over $0 is bloated for a man who has helped destroy one of the largest companies in the world through poor management. Sadly, I think that Congress will fall for this move and give Ford and the other automakers $25 billion of our money.
Finally, Georgia held its runoff election today between Democrat Jim Martin and incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss. As of 9PM, Chambliss leads Martin 59% to 41% (50% of precincts reporting). This lead is good for 2 reasons. First, if Saxby retains his seat, then the Democrats will not have a super majority in the Senate. This is good for the long term health of our country. Nothing would be worse than a liberal president and more than enough votes in the Congress to back anything he wants to do (like expand social programs and government run health care). Second, and perhaps most importantly, there will be no more Chambliss and Martin campaign ads on TV. And after enduring 6 months of these ads, I’m sick of seeing them.