Good Old American Ingenuity!

Last week, I wrote about Don Davis, the president of Centrue Bank in St. Louis who picked up his ball and went home after legislation passed the US House of Representatives limiting the salaries of bank executives whose banks were recipients of TARP monies (either willingly or under duress as the FDIC was encouraging banks, even those like Centrue with strong balance sheets to take TARP money to increase their capital). This afternoon Fox News reports that Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM will be stepping down immediately at the request of the Administration.

A White House official told FOX Business that Wagoner was asked by the Administration to step down as a precondition for the company to continue to get help with its restructuring.

The idea that our government can cherry pick the businesses that survive, the salaries that executives can make, and the conditions under which people can continue in their positions is, frankly, frightening! While the two aforementioned individuals also had something to do with government bailouts, it is not a far stretch to imagine that this kind of meddlesome behavior could extend to companies and people who have not been bailed out. They may simply have rubbed someone the wrong way or said the wrong thing to the wrong person. They may have espoused the wrong philosophy. They may have unknowingly made an enemy who is now exacting a twisted revenge. In the case of Wagoner, it may be that he is on the wrong side of the UAW to whom Obama owes a great debt of gratitude for his election and perhaps Wagoner has seen fit to call BS on the UAW and its monstrous pension, legacy healthcare and wasteful pay for no work clauses in the union contracts.

"This does not surprise me... Rick has seen good and bad times and it seems that a fresh face is needed,” said Mike Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 652 in Lansing, Mich. "There are a lot of smart, capable people inside GM and this will not muck up anything moving forward."

Or could it be that Obama is playing good cop, bad cop with the UAW so that by removing Wagoner they can also justify strong arming the UAW into concessions under the same threats.

A source told FOX Business that the Obama Administration is likely to set a hard deadline for GM and Chrysler to meet their restructuring goals, which include getting bondholders and the United Auto Workers union to agree to major concessions. If they don’t meet those goals by the deadline, the source said, the auto makers would likely be allowed to enter into bankruptcy protection.

So it is with some degree of pride that I read in the St. Louis Business Journal on Friday March 27, 2009, that Don Davis is giving the middle finger salute to the Administration and TARP and has already lined up a couple of partners, $10million dollars in capital, and is looking to buy a bank! He and his partners have joined forces and pooled their own money and are looking for a small bank in which they can take an ownership interest and......BEGIN LENDING!!!

"The time is perfect to buy or merge with a small bank," Davis said. "So many good people can't get capital right now. I have capital. We can raise another $5 million easily, and once you get $15 million, you can get $20 million." He said the money he and his partners have raised can be an alternative to government bailout money for a bank in need of capital.

"The advantage to buying a bank, instead of starting one....is that you can get into the business immediately. The regulators are not in the mood to hand out new bank charters. Davis' plan to buy a small bank is smart because small banks are more likely to have fewer problem loans. Dan Hogan, a banking consultant, said Davis and his partners are doing what good capitalists do----they adapt! "If you change the rules of the game, a capitalist will learn the new rules and win the game--unless you keep changing the rules."

Perhaps Rick Wagoner can do the same and like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, rally entrepreneurial individuals to take Saturn back as its own quality brand in the USA while GM goes bankrupt under its own weight and the weight of the UAW. Capitalism and American ingenuity is still alive in spite of the fact that TARP monies have put Chris Dodd and Barney Frank in charge of your bank and a tax cheat in charge of the IRS.

It's Happening---We Told You So

Sometimes it is so much fun to say "I told you so!" Like when you are on an auto trip and your husband gets lost and you tell him to go one way and he wants to go the other way and after an hour of driving in circles, you end up where YOU said to go in the first place! There is much glee derived from the phrase!!

Sometimes, however, "I told you so" comes with sadness, regret, tragedy and even ruin. And then there are those times where "I told you so" lies somewhere in the middle.

During the run-up to the election, candidate Obama's ties to William Ayers and Reverend Wright, were poo poo'ed as being inconsequential and yet in the prism of now President Obama's sweeping plans for our government, free enterprise, charities, immigration, taxes and even basic Constitutional freedoms, we can see the fingerprints of these individuals all over them. Sadly, Obama is doing exactly as he promised and we told you so!

When candidate Obama told Joe the Plumber that his plan was to "Spread the Wealth Around", Joe was excoriated for having the unmitigated gall to question "THE ONE". We were told, that this was the way to a healthy economy during an "unprecedented" downturn. The threat of spreading the wealth and setting a boundary of $250,000 for the line dividing the rich from the rest of the unwashed masses was taken very seriously by many small businessmen and the contraction of the economy was well on the way before candidate Obama ever set foot in the Oval Office. Well before the election, small businesses started pulling back on expansion plans, unnecessary spending, and started laying off people. Smart small businesses hunkered down and went into survival mode and vowed to stay small to avoid being penalized for their success....we told you so!

Conservatives railed against wealth redistribution and warned that demonizing the earners who create the jobs, buy the goods and give to charities would take away any incentive for them to be productive. Now in a mere two months we have thrown trillions of dollars down the rat hole of unsupervised bailouts in the name of Stimulus only to see the recipients give us the middle finger salute on so many fronts that our legislators have initiated legislation to tax away the bonuses of bankers and other companies that take bailout funds. Well, yesterday in the St. Louis Business Journal, this story was featured.

Don Davis, president of Centrue Bank in St. Louis, has resigned because his income will be severely restricted by new federal limitations on bank executives. In January, Centrue accepted $32.7 million under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly called TARP. Later the federal government imposed restrictions on the bonuses of top executives at banks and other financial institutions that took TARP money. "My salary and bonus isn't going to work — TARP isn't going to allow it," Davis said in an interview Monday. Davis, for example, is paid $350,000 in base salary, but also receives 10 percent of the profits of the St. Louis branch of Centrue. In 2008, that amounted to about $750,000 for Davis. "TARP doesn't like me getting that," Davis said. Don Davis, president of Centrue Bank in St. Louis, has resigned because his income will be severely restricted by new federal limitations on bank executives.

So now we are seeing that this prophecy is coming true. Businessmen are taking their ball and bat and going home--game over. If government can determine who will be punitively taxed, what is standing between you, the ordinary guy, and them???? The answer is..."nothing". And it does NOT give me pleasure to say "I told you so."

Have You Met Thomas??

Part of the responsibility of a good citizen is to be informed and educated about their government. This is a task in which we have failed miserably.....so miserably, in fact, that Jay Leno, Sean Hannity and other popular entertainers and commentators have made sport of going out and interviewing the "man in the street" about current events and important government figures to highlight and laugh at the fact that the common man is ignorant of the activities of our government and the world at large. Our youth are taught a watered down version of revisionist history. Newspapers are dying daily because the media has changed from reporting news to making up the news and shaping it to suit their own agenda. People get their news from MTV and all sorts of quasi-journalists. Political correctness has diluted just about every topic that could be taught, discussed or reported. We have a populace that is ripe for the taking. So how does one learn about what is going on in the government? Well, for one thing you could become friends with Thomas.

While Thomas can, at times, be like reading the phone book, Thomas can also be quite enlightening. So who or what is Thomas?? Thomas is a subsidiary of the Library of Congress, established in 1995 by the 104th Congress to make federal legislative information easily available to the public. Over the past 14 years, Thomas has been expanded to provide information on bills, resolutions, Congressional activity, treaties, government resources and there is even an area for teachers.

Maybe it's just me, but I like to visit Thomas from time to time to see what our legislators are up to. We, obviously, hear about the bills that are associated with dollar signs followed by 9-12 zeroes, but much more telling are the smaller actions that may never bubble to the top, but say volumes about the true feelings of some our legislators. Remember we elected them...but...did we REALLY know what we were getting???

So that you don't have to do it, I went to Thomas and scrolled through some of the bills that have been introduced since January 2009 and are working their way through committees, etc. This is just a bit of what I found.

H.J.RES.4 Representative Betty McCollum MN-4 introduced 1/6/09 without co-sponsors.
Constitutional Amendment - Health Protection Amendment of 2009 - Declares that health care, including care to prevent and treat illness, is the right of all U.S. citizens and necessary to ensure the strength of the nation.
this should pave the way for nationalized healthcare

H.J.RES.5 Representative Jose Sorrano NY-16 introduced 1/6/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual
may serve as President.
this should pave the way for Obama to become imperial president for life

H.J.RES.9 Representative Gene Green TX-29 introduced 1/7/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the electoral college and to provide for the direct popular election of the President and Vice President of the United States.
this could effectively allow the voters of New York and California with some help from Florida to elect the president and nullify the voters in the rest of the entire country.

H.J.RES.26 Representative Dennis J. Kucinich OH-10 introduced 3/2/09 with 29 co-sponsors.
Proclaiming Casimir Pulaski to be an honorary citizen of the United States posthumously.
while Casimir Pulaski may have been a very important foreign figure in the American Revolution, he has been dead since 1779! Given the current economic climate and the larger problems facing us....isn't this a waste of legislative time and effort. Pulaski already has a major state holiday in Illinois and commemorative days in Wisconsin and Indiana.

H.J.RES.29 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right of all citizens of the United States to a public education of equal high quality.
Common sense says that vouchers would put a huge dent in that problem.... but then there are also the horses that you can lead to water but can't make them drink. I don't think this mandates a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

H.J.RES.30 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right of citizens of the United States to health care of equal high quality.
he must not speak to Betty McCollum MN-4 who already introduced the same thing 2 months earlier--Get with the program Jesse.

H.J.RES.31 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to equality of rights and reproductive rights.
Article --
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2. Reproductive rights for women under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State.
hmmmm, I think Jesse wants to take away states rights!!

H.J.RES.32 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States respecting the right to decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing.
so now I will get my house from the government too....let's see, healthcare, education, house...Obama is my shepherd, I shall not want....

H.J.RES.33 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment the Constitution of the United States respecting the right to a clean, safe, and sustainable environment.
by now you should see a pattern evolving......

H.J.RES.34 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to taxing the people of the United States progressively.
Article--Section 1. The Congress of the United States shall tax all persons progressively in proportion to the income which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the United States.
Read this one VERY carefully......

H.J.RES.35 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States respecting the right to full employment and balanced growth.
Article--
Section 1. Every person has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.
Section 2. Every person, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Section 3. Every person who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for themselves and their family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Section 4. Every person who works has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of their interests.
Translated entitlements galore!!! And then when they have that nice, just, favorable job and protection against unemployment, the government can tax their income progressively per H.J.RES.34!

H.J.RES.36 Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. IL-2 introduced 3/3/09 without co-sponsors.
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President by the popular vote of all citizens of the United States regardless of place of residence.
Oops--I guess he missed the fact that someone else (Gene Green TX-29) scooped him on this one too! Gosh, Jesse Jackson Jr sure had a busy day at work on 3/3/09!

So this is just a teeny bit of what you can find on Thomas. Are any of your US representatives involved in wasting legislative time? Are any of your US representatives writing inane bills? As their boss you should want to know. This is the way to keep tabs on your legislators and make sure that they are doing the job YOU would want them to do. It is also a way to peek into their cubicle and see how they waste their day..just like your boss does! If you want to be engaged and up to date on the workings of the legislature, Thomas can be your best friend.

Birth of a Blog

I would like to invite all of you to visit a new conservative blog put together by a number of very interesting ladies (Mothahs) who look at the conservative landscape from a variety of viewpoints. Mother of all Conservatives is a compendium of conservative writings from these women and invited bloggers with strong views and great writing styles.

Most of these authors who are contributing to Mother of All Conservatives are contributors to their own or other blogs as well. You are missing one of the newest and freshest conservative opinion sites if you don't bookmark them and visit frequently.

Where Does It All End???

Thanks to Ed Barnett, Wichita Falls, Texas for this open letter to the IRS that appeared in the February 6, 2009 Letters to the Editor in the Wichita Falls, Texas Times Record News. His point is one felt by all of us and we should get ready for more, thanks to BHO and his robber band.

Dear IRS,

I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April 15, but all is not lost.

I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax, CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog licence tax, federal income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting licence tax, fishing licence tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor tax, luxury tax, medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up 33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage
surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax, vehicle licence registration tax, capitol gains tax, lease severance tax, oil and gas assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can’t recall but I have run out of space and money.

When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Dashelle (sic) and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest.

P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check.

Ed Barnett
Wichita Falls

More Than the Camel's Nose is Under the Tent

We are being bombarded by the MSM with coverage of the never ending list of government spending and bailout bills, the bloated budget that even the Senate is choking on, the bleak economic forecast, jobless statistics, health care reform, and a daily roll out of more things that cost us money but do little for most citizens. The administration is coyly keeping us off balance with this barrage, and adding new concerns before you can wrap your head around the last one.

But, beware.....because as we are being kept off balance with the things that seem BIG, there are little things being proposed under the radar screen that are just as detrimental to the good of the country. Such as HJ Res 5 introduced by Rep. Jose Serrano NY 16:

H. J. RES. 5

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

This would require ratification by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification. Hmmm, submitted January 6, 2009. (Fast tracking could get this accomplished by 2016---just in time for BHO's third term or to set the stage for his dictatorship) Currently this resolution is in committee. Latest Major Action: 2/9/2009 Referred to House Judicial subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

Does anyone find this worrisome?? Does anyone question the timing of this?? This is serious legislation proposed and sitting in the work queue in the Pelosi/Reid Legislature. Ladies and Gentlemen, keep your eyes WIDE open and look beyond the obvious bad stuff we are being fed, because more than the camel's nose is under the tent!!

NOMOBAMA? Come to A Tea Party

Thanks to Bill Hennessy, who organized the St. Louis Tea Party held under the Arch on Friday, February 27, 2009. They must have hit a nerve, because the St. Louis Post Disgrace fired back with an editorial aimed at those who were a part of the Tea Party.

Bill Hennessy has promptly responded with this letter to the editor that may or may not ever see the light of day in the Post Disgrace, so I am posting it here so that it may get some press.

March 4, 2009

The Editor
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

FOR PUBLICATION AS LETTER TO THE EDITOR OR GUEST EDITORIAL

Tea Party Was About People and Participation

I am not sure which Tea Party the P-D editorial is writing about in its editorial of March 4. The one I attended – and helped organize – drew people from all over the region and all over the political spectrum to express their concern and yes, sometimes, anger over the recent “stimulus” bill, the proposed housing bailout, the $410 billion earmark extravaganza, President Obama's laughable budget, and the Wall Street bailout of last year. The attendees generally worry that these bills are too large, too unfocused, and, in the case of the stimulus bill, too hurriedly passed by the Congress.

Why We Gathered

We gathered precisely because we fear what our government is doing AND has done. We worry about all of the wasteful spending – by the Obama administration, by the Congress, and yes, by the Bush Administration. Why Mr. Roth would insult us for wanting to voice our concerns is beyond me.

We object, however, to the Congress and President Obama calling a hugely expensive stimulus bill “service to those in need” when the lion's share of the bill is for pet projects in the out years. Have you told your readers that only about 20 percent of the spending will occur during President Obama's schedule for the recession?

Even more insulting about the stimulus was the irresponsible hast and secrecy in which it was passed. Members of Congress like St. Louis Congressman Russ Carnahan admit that they did not allow even 48 hours to pass for Americans to review it. Carnahan told KMOX radio that he had no idea what was in the bill that he voted on. We are objecting to a stimulus – and extended spending spree – that we believe will lead to our children and grandchildren paying for our spending spree.

Adding Insult to Injury

The focus of the editorial is about service to those in need. We honor philanthropic and charitable activity among individuals and companies. We support community organizations and even local government agencies. Many of us volunteer through our churches and community groups. And we donate generously to many, varied causes.

In the comments on-line after the editorial was posted, one Editorial Board member, Ed Roth, goes so far as to insult the attendees of the Tea Party by insinuating that our chants were about “me, me, me, me.” I would be surprised if Mr. Roth was in attendance at the Tea Party because I have no idea what that means … except that it seems pretty insulting.

A large percentage of the protesters were small business owners. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, small business owners are among the most generous group in America, On average entrepreneurs give almost 7 percent of their income to charity. More than 75 percent of all small businesses give.

The average entrepreneur with revenues of $250,000--the principal target of Mr. Obama's War on Productivity--gives $15,000 a year to charity. Compare that to Mr. Obama's charity which totaled a Scrooge-like $27,500 for 2005 and 2006 combined (New York Times, March 26, 2008). That's only 1.04 percent of Mr. Obama's $2,638,932 income in those two year.

When will the Post-Dispatch and Mr. Roth criticize Obama's stinginess?

No One Left To Give

The markets have spoken on this current and continuing wave of government spending. Since the election last November, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 30 percent of its value. Each time the president, his Secretary of the Treasury, or the Chairman of the Federal Reserve speaks, people leave the market. They are hearing the steady rhythm of big government. Some might say, a government big enough to take everything we have.

We believe that the United States Congress, the President, and misguided people like Mr. Roth are leading this nation into a morass of stagnation, stultifying taxation, and, eventually, rampant inflation. At the same time, Mr. Obama and others are working to destroy the incentive to earn by punishing the most productive people in our economy. Moreover, Mr. Obama proposes discouraging charitable giving by capping the detectability of such donations.

If these trends continue--if the people who gathered at the Arch fail in our mission--there will soon be no one left to give.

The Tea Party Is a Ten-Round Fight

Haste makes waste, and today’s editorial is an insult in which the editorial writers rushed to judgment. I invite Mr. Roth and his fellow writers to attend our next Tea Party on April 15^th when we will protest that our taxes are too high because our elected officials pass so much wasteful “pork” in their legislation.

Sincerely,

Bill Hennessy
Co-Project Servant-Leader
St.Louis Tea Party

Conservatives tend to be a "Silent Majority". Since many conservatives tend to also be libertarian in thought, the tendency is to "live and let live." Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has shown us that the policies of this new administration are a serious threat to the very roots of the freedoms on which our country was founded. An outcome of the February 27 St. Louis Tea Party (and those all over the country) is that conservatives in attendance saw that there are lots of like minded people in their own communities. It gave many people a chance to meet and stay in touch with people that they would, otherwise, never have met. It fomented the formation of small groups who have continued to network in living rooms and chat rooms, reinforced by shared emotions and passions.

And now there is another Tea Party coming. April 15, which should be just another day in your life instead of a day to see your hard earned money being dumped down a socialist rat hole, will be "celebrated" with nationwide Tea Parties to protest the tax burdens that are being planned for small businesses, those who make more than $250K, and all of the rest of us who will see any tax advantage that we might have become nullified by the proposed increased energy costs, gasoline taxes, toll roads, mileage fees, lack of detectability for home mortgage interests and charitable giving, etc., etc., etc..... Those of you who are fed up with the whirlwind spending spree that has escalated by Robama Hood and his merry band of Chicago Thugs, grab your voice and find the Tea Party in your area. At the moment, there is a Tea Party in every one of the 50 states. If there is not one in your area, you can organize your own and there is assistance available if you feel that you need it! Get educated, connected and organized...Silent majority no more!