Detroit finally runs out of other people’s money

Bob Beckel, one of the lefties in the Fox News stable of political pundits, has slowly and grudgingly evolved to accept a harsh reality-Utopian, liberal, social engineering doesn’t always work.

Shockingly on the popular Fox news show “The Five,” Beckel admitted that well intentioned social welfare programs instigated during the 60's, have created generations of dependent welfare families. The head of household is big daddy government; the real fathers are nowhere to be found.

Welcome to reality Mr. Beckel, you are a perfect example of how long it takes for sunshine to penetrate concrete. In your case is it too soon old and too late smart? 

Beckel has been intertwined in shaping left wing social welfare policy using terms such as “social justice” during a long career as a political consultant. He was even the campaign chairman of the failed 1984 Walter Mondale presidential run.

When liberals like Beckel start to see the light at the end of their tunnel, they are just scraping the surface and aren’t quite realizing that light is a speeding train heading their way, fueled on bloated runaway government programs…from social welfare to corporate welfare and every entitlement program in between.

But let’s not expect overnight miracles out of folks who have invested their entire life in a failed ideology. Beckels admission is an important step in his path to his/our recovery; we must measure in terms of progress, not expect perfection.

So it was no surprise as Detroit announced it was filing for bankruptcy, Bob Beckels knee jerk reaction, was a call for the federal government to bail them out of their 18 billion dollar debt. Detroit has been spending 100 million more per year than it takes in. Beckel and people like him default to the bail out in order to avoid the inevitable crash of socialism vs. economic reality…..

Related article....................................................................

 As California's cities go bankrupt, will they emerge safe?

...............................................................................................

Perhaps this hits too close to home for him, since Detroit is the epitome of union control, one party rule that fosters corruption…. and the bottomless pit of every social welfare program dreamed up by utopians in Washington DC, since the 1960’s.

Even Joe Biden was uncharacteristically tongue tied and not able to give a coherent answer when asked about Detroit’s announced bankruptcy; he momentarily had the deer caught in the headlights look as cameras focused in on him….Because this flies in the face of every finger pointing speech he lectured us about how the Obama administrations policies work.

Unfortunately, the failed economic model that Detroit represents is not unique to American cities and states AND our out of control federal government.

Their day of reckoning will come as bondholders refuse to finance debt that just covers operating expenses of bloated/corrupt and inefficient governments.  These same governments maintain untenable union contracts with benefits…..Many cities/states pay one active workforce and three retired workforces with lifetime benefits not dreamed of in the private sector.

As Margaret Thatcher once said “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

That harsh reality comes when investors no longer want to buy your debt at artificially low interest rates and then problems get compounded when investors don't want to buy your debt, no matter what the interest rate.

Time for colleges to have skin in the game-They need to guarantee student loans

America’s student loan debt is in excess of 1 trillion dollars; it is believed this will be our next huge financial crisis as these loans go into default.

One of the reasons people are having a difficult time repaying their student debt, is that they can’t find jobs as newly minted college graduates. See the 10 worst college degrees by Forbes.

Granted the economy is in the doldrums and good jobs are hard to find.  But a college education was sold to these students by the education industry as their ticket to a good paying job.

Let’s use some outcome based education for a change. If you are going to let a student burden him/herself with a huge debt in order to graduate from your school, you should have some skin in the game.  Colleges should have to guarantee these loans, instead of laying that debt off onto taxpayers if the student defaults. Perhaps there would be a change in admissions, stricter standards and heavier counseling.

Right now colleges and universities have the best of all worlds.  Many are in receipt of government funding, many have endowments and almost all are the recipients of an unending stream of government guaranteed tuition. There is no incentive for them to see if the student loans ever get paid back.

It’s a one way street in the higher education system and it’s time to make some changes. . These easy government backed student loans are correlated to rising costs. Colleges have every incentive to raise costs knowing the loans will be adjusted upward to reflect those costs.

Colleges should have job placement programs for the students they graduate.  There needs to be some responsibility from the higher education system and some accountability.

Should taxpayers be put on the hook for a college graduate with a liberal arts degree who can’t find a job?  Or if the jobs available with those degrees are low paying and will never be able to justify the student loan amount?

Additionally, let’s face it, many of those attending college aren’t college material and should be learning a trade or craft.  Skilled craftsmen make on average far more than many college graduates.  Why aren’t colleges and universities offering these types of educations?

The country has a problem supplying the manpower needs of our high tech sector, so much of a problem, that special laws are being created to allow foreign workers into our country that have the math and engineering skills necessary to work in this environment.

We should be proactively pushing students to get educations in the sectors the country desperately has a shortage in, even offering discount tuition, etc. Perhaps even using a hybrid of the voucher system that the Friedman Foundation is promoting for public school choice and introduce some competition.

If a student wants a degree in ethnic/gender studies, music appreciation, law and a whole host of liberal arts that don’t necessarily translate into lucrative careers, then there should be an agreement between the college and the student over how the tuition gets paid. Let colleges aid the student in finding scholarship help, etc. 

We saw the problem that unfulfilled promises academic institutions made to students when our cities were clogged with Occupy Wall Street. Many of these young people expressed anger at their inability to find a job, a good paying job with the liberal arts degrees they possessed.  They felt they were lied to by their education institutions…in a way they were.

There is also growing unrest among students who are seeing their ever increasing college tuitions rise, while chancellors and educators don’t take a hit and in fact get raises.

Here is an excerpt from an excellent expose’ by JosephPalermo in the California State University system:

“Last year, CSU executives were paid between $240,000 and $400,000 in salary alone. On top of that, each executive is allotted $12,000 per year as an auto allowance. Campus Presidents and the Chancellor each receive either state-owned homes or housing allowances of $50,000 or $60,000 per year. Other perks available to executives include special retirement packages such as lifetime employment as a tenured professor.”

Looking at the above salaries you can see these educators are insulated from the realities that many graduates face after they leave their institutes of higher education.  Instead of raises, many of them should be fired. Let’s get some accountability into education

As Texas attracts California companies, will Texas be Californicated?

Years ago, road signs at the border proclaimed: “Welcome to Oregon, Now Go Home” and: “Don’t Californicate Oregon,” met California motorists as they crossed into Oregon. Those signs are long gone as the process of transforming Oregon into a liberal blue state, have been completed.

California’s Apple Computer recently announced that expanding their Texas presence will make them central Texas’s largest employer.

Other large California corporations say they are transferring all or part of their operations out of the once formerly golden state.  California has been getting deluged with television ads from other states, particularly Texas, who invite them to set up shop in their business friendly environments.

Apple, Campbell Soup, Comcast, Chevron Oil, Google and countless others are just the public tip of the iceberg, as California is engulfed in an economic wildfire burning up its private sector with record high taxes and miles of government red tape.

But will Texas and other business friendly “red states” soon regret what they wished for as they woo California business to their fold?

California’s recessions of the 70’s-80’s saw an outflow of residents seeking jobs and more reasonable living conditions in neighboring states.  These new residents established themselves and invited extended families and friends to join them. 

Soon these new residents started to outnumber the native Oregonians/Washingtonians and Nevadans.  These former “red or red leaning states” with a rural flavor, started to see a distinct transformation of demographics, especially in their larger cities and urban areas. Today these states are reliable blue, or blue leaning states, supplying Washington DC, with an unending stream of liberal politicians who impose their values on the rest of America.

Google, another California company that has had Al Gore as one their senior directors, is a huge consumer of electric energy. Ironically/hypocritically, Google been quietly shifting operations to more energy friendly states/countries; translated: Fossil fueled energy states.  Recently Google announced it especially loved Irelands cool rainy climate, which they claim make it a more energy efficient location. Ireland’s energy sector is fueled mainly with fossil fuel.

Last month, George Lucas announced he had sold his Lucas Film operation to Disney for a whopping 4 billion.  Lucas had finally given up his decade’s long/multi million dollar battle with environmental zealots of Marin County California to expand his facilities.  Eventually these hundreds of jobs will be transferred out of Marin to friendlier business climates.  California’s film industry is already producing many of its films out of state where they are being wooed w/large tax credits.

California’s new main export seems to be companies and jobs that it once used to attract like a magnet.  But will this export of California prove detrimental to the very business friendly states that are attracting them?

The bakers union cooks its own goose as Hostess shuts its doors

If there’s anything that symbolized America’s greatness in the snack industry, it was the iconic Hostess Twinkie.  The tasty snack was a must have for cravers of a cheap, high caloric/carb/sugary fueled food rush.

We grew up with the entire family of Hostess snack foods:  From chocolate covered Cupcakes, to the powder sugar Gems, Ding Dongs, Ho Ho’s, Sno Balls and Donettes.-these were comfort foods to millions of Americans.   Every quick stop and grocery store in America carried Hostess products.

Everyone has had a personal relationship with some Hostess product at some point in their life.

But today it was announced that relationship is coming to an end as Hostess stated they were shutting their doors forever.

On announcement of the news, stoners on the Cheech and Chong blog said one of their favorite treats is going up in smoke and decry the empty Hostess shelves in local grocery stores.

An American success story in manufacturing and marketing since 1930,, Hostess, (Interstate Bakeries), also owns, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake's brands.

Hostess had been trying to get an agreement from their unionized labor pool of approximately 18,000, in order to stay in business and remain competitive.  Operations at their plants had been paralyzed due to strikes and pickets.  Last minute negotiations had brought some of the unions to agreement, but the bakers union voted 92% to turn down requests for scale backs on pay.  As a result Hostess is shutting its doors and the 18,000 employees are all out of work.

The company had 372 collective bargaining agreements with a dozen unions and had roughly $2 billion in unfunded pension liabilities to its various unions' workers.

Hostess work rules based on labor contracts included separate drivers for deliveries of different Hostess products, vastly increasing labor costs to the company.

Management has a part to play in the demise of the company as well.  Many said they have been riding the popularity of the Twinkie since 1933 and had failed to refresh their company and products image.  Sales began to decline in the 1980s and '90s as consumers found healthier alternatives to snack cakes and white bread. The debt started to pile up and lead to the first company bankruptcy in 2004.

But a last minute order by a bankruptcy judge forced Hostess and the bakers union into a negotiation to see if a compromise could be worked out.  The judge said  there are “serious questions as to the logic behind the decision to strike.”

If the company is forced into liquidation, its brand names are valuable.  Prior to the judge announcing the forced, last minute labor negotiations, there were rumors that some companies were willing to step in and take over operations, but would not be honoring any of the union labor agreements.  Perhaps the Twinkie will be back, but it will never be the same.

Why Ireland should want a Romney Presidency

A recent “poll” saying 96% of the Irish population would vote for Obama if given the chance, is mystifying to many Irish Americans. 

America, more than any other country in the world, has been a shining beacon of light on the hill for millions of Irish emigrants.  They left by the boatload and later plane load, for a country of opportunities to those who wanted to work hard to better themselves.

But the secret fuel for that beacon of light on the hill was capitalism.  America has been a land of opportunity for anyone who wanted to succeed, in spite of their birth circumstances.  America was not saddled with a caste system, or royal class that pre determined ones future. 

But over the years, there has been a creeping “entitlement attitude” rising in America.  Many special interests with an axe to grind for past  unfairness, real or perceived, have spawned a government industry, that doles out “fairness” with pre-selected winners and losers in society.

This attitude coalesced into a political coalition of special interests, helping to elect our last President. The result: More Americans are on public assistance than ever before, the country is spending money it doesn’t have and government is consuming a portion of our GDP at record levels.

A mentality that encourages government “service” by the forgiveness of student loans if you choose a lifetime of working for the government, rather than working in the private sector, sends the message as to where we are headed.

In short, America is pointed towards a socialist European model.  The same failed model where government bureaucrats determine what’s best for its citizens.

I was on Irish radio last week and the host asked me: “Would a President Romney be good for Ireland?”

My answer was, an unhesitating yes.  The raw truth in President Kennedy’s words many years ago: “A rising tide will lift all boats,” is very evident today.

An economically healthy America will raise the economies of the world, including and especially Ireland.  Mitt Romney is not a product of government largesse or government programs, he knows how to ignite America’s moribund economy by encouraging the private sector. See: America is poised for a post Obama comeback.

He has spelled this out in his 5 point economic plan to make America the world’s economic powerhouse.

He will unlock America’s energy resources & make us energy independent.

He will encourage and support school choice for parents and children to break the chains of a failed public education system. America will soon have an educated electorate.

He will encourage fair trade around the world and establish economic zones.

Immediately cut our insane budget deficit, by measuring the value of government programs with the question: Is it worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?

As a member of the private sector for many years Romney sees the many shackles put on America’s small businesses. He will change this and reverse the anti business climate in Washington, with one of encouragement.

There is a clear cut choice for Americans this November and the choice they make will determine the economic climate, not just for Americans, but for the rest of the world. 

With a vibrant, bustling, American economic juggernaut, everyone in the free world will enjoy its success.  Not only will America remain a place for Irish to emigrate to if they want to try their luck, many Irish may want to stay in Ireland as more economic opportunities arise in the homeland. This is the promise of a Romney presidency.

Eds articles are carried in:

IrishCentral

Energy independence-Politics & More

Carrollstandard.com

Tea Party Cheer

Tea Party Patriots

AMAC
Restoring Liberty