bail out

January 10, 2009April 18, 2020

Rep Jim Jordan still clueless and still hates the Unemployed

I like the old saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt”. Well it seems US Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH 4) seems not to be familiar with that quote because during a conversation with journalists in Findlay this past week, as he was about to start his second term in Congress, he removed all doubt on a number of issues.

In a question and answer format Jordan ran through the various issues facing the country:

Q: Are we not in different circumstances now? Making more credit available, more money available has not worked. The money has been sitting idle. Does not that argue more for government spending, putting people to work on public works projects who are not at work?
A: I would have to say just the opposite. All the government spending has not worked. When you think about the bailout fever that has grabbed Washington, whether it has been the Fed or it has been the Treasury itself (bailing out) Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie, Freddie, Citigroup, auto bailout… we have tried this. We have been through a year now, spending.
A better approach, I think, is allowing the marketplace, those people who make the marketplace work, to have tax breaks. That will have a better chance of growing the economy versus additional spending.

and this related answer:

Q: What is the threat to the work ethic?
A: Fifty-three weeks of unemployment insurance… When I was in the (legislature), one of the things we Republicans did for welfare reform was… putting on a time-limits component which said if you are an able-bodied adult after two years of welfare assistance, you are done.
As far as respecting the free market, when you look at all the bailout stuff, that is just anti-free market.
Jim Jordan: Tax cuts make sense, but spending a concern published in The Findlay Courier 01/10/2008

Did he check his e-mail or read the papers? The free market led to the bail out when selfish profit mongers did stupid things because of a lack of oversight and millions of people got hurt. It would be like cake frosting when the so-called free market would burst into flames, that it would take out the people who caused the flame out in the first place, but they seem to be the ones who get away with it every time.

I wonder if Jordan has ever had no money or so little he had to decide between filling the tank with gas or dinner?

I find in these comments someone who is out of touch with people who are poor and the working poor. Those who have no money and those who make so little that they are one check away from falling into the social safety net.

I don’t know of or have ever known anyone who wanted to be unemployed. Even after losing a job the bills don’t stop. There might be a mortgage to pay, electricity to keep on.

Of course at the end of a long day at the Capitol, Jordan can slip into his warm bed and not have to be concerned about the unemployed, afterall the free market will save the day.

December 12, 2008April 18, 2020

Proof Senate Republicans are douchebags and hate America

Late last night Republicans in the US Senate killed a bill that would provide a bridge loan to US automakers to prevent their collapse. What did they want in exchange for their vote? They wanted the UAW to make concessions on wages so that they make as much as workers in non-union foreign car plants that happened to be in the states many of the douchebags represent. How convenient.

Why do the Republicans hate America?

If the automakers fail next comes the suppliers then the suppliers of the suppliers and after any business dependant on car makers for their lively hood. You will see millions put out of work just so GOP douchebags can break a union.

Classy!!!

What ticks me off more is the GOP douchebags never demanded wage concessions from Wall Street when they voted to give it $700 Billion.

Here is a list of Senators who voted for the Wall Street plan but voted against the automaker plan:

Bob Bennett, R-UT
Richard Burr, R-NC
Saxby Chambliss, R-GA
Tom Coburn, R-OK
Norm Coleman, R-MN
Bob Corker, R-TN
John Ensign, R-NV
Chuck Grassley, R-IA
Judd Gregg, R-NH
Orrin Hatch, R-UT
Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX
Johnny Isakson, R-GA
John Kyl, R-AZ
Mel Martinez, R-FL
John McCain, R-AZ
Mitch McConnell, R-KY
Lisa Murkowski, R-AK
John Thune, R-SD

Also note that Corker and McConnell have foreign owned car plants in their state so we know why they want to kill US automakers.

Job killing douchebags, every last one of them.

*Update* The douchebags even wrote out their plans to bust the union in a freaking memo!!!!

November 24, 2008April 18, 2020

Once again in bad times Unions take a hit

Like clockwork whenever an economic downturn hits a manufacturer, the “let’s blame the Unions” criers come out of the wood work. Basically the lie is that due to the massive wages paid to union workers, a company can’t compete with makers in other countries where labor is close to slave wage-wise. Never do you hear that it is the fault of management making poor decisions.

One lie being told is that a UAW member is making $70 an hour.

Sen. Jon Kyl: “For years they’ve been sick. They have a bad business model. They have contracts negotiated with the United Auto Workers that impose huge costs.The average hourly cost per worker in this country is about $28.48. For these auto makers, it’s $73. And for the Japanese auto companies working here in the United States, it’s $48.”
Transcript: Sens. Dorgan, Kyl on ‘FOX News Sunday’

Well I think most union members would be thrilled with $70 an hour but in fact they have been giving concessions back to the companies for many years including a recent GM contract that had the Union take over providing health insurance for its members.

At the core of the new deal is the transfer of retiree health-care payments from GM to the UAW. GM will pay an estimated $35 billion into a trust designed to appreciate in value and pay health-care benefits for retired workers for at least the next 80 years, the union estimated. In return, GM is able to unload a $51 billion burden in retiree health-care obligations from its books, enabling the troubled company to borrow money more easily and move more nimbly against competitors. GM’s health-care liability is more than twice the company’s $21 billion market capitalization.
In exchange for giving up annual raises over the course of the contract and allowing GM to pay new workers a lower wage, the union got job-security assurances. The deal must now be approved by union leaders at a meeting Friday, then by union members. Analysts expect the deal to be ratified.
GM, Union Agree on Contract to End Strike (09/27/2007)

The credit crunch and other economic issues have hit all auto makers not just the US Big 3.

And for the first time, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Nissan have each asked to lease space from the port for these orphan vehicles. They are turning dozens of acres of the nation’s second-largest container port into a parking lot, creating a vivid picture of a paralyzed auto business and an economy in peril.
“This is one way to look at the economy,” Art Wong, a spokesman for the port, said of the cars. “And it scares you to death.”
A Sea of Unwanted Imports

And some of the same people balking at providing a loan to the Big 3 didn’t have any trouble giving millions of dollars to foreign car makers to locate in the US

If it’s no surprise that Michigan lawmakers are behind the pitch for a $25 billion lifeline for Detroit automakers, then it might be just as predictable that Southerners would be leading the charge against it.
Southern politicians have spent years luring foreign automakers to build cars in their states, with huge success. South Carolina has BMW. Mississippi recently landed a major plant for Toyota Motor Corp. Alabama boasts plants run by Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.
After luring foreign automakers, Southerners have big incentive to oppose auto Detroit bailout

Then we have the excessive wages paid to the people who really don’t seem to have any ideas on what to do – the CEOs. For example in 2007, General Motors CEO Rick Waggoner made close to $20 million in total compensation.

But of course it is all the Unions fault – right?

October 4, 2008April 18, 2020

Rep Jim Jordan still has no answer to finance crisis but “No”

The US House of Representatives voted 263-171 to pass the Senate version of the so-called “Financial Economic Stabilization Act of 2008” which was meant to bail out Wall Street and get the credit markets moving again. Rep Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) once again voted against the bail out and once again for no apparent reason other than “free market” reasons.

Washington, DC — Today, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) issued the following statement on the treasury bailout.
“I understand that there are serious concerns in our financial markets and that it was appropriate for government to attempt to help.
Unfortunately, Washington, as it all too often does, chose a big government “solution,” rather than an “American” solution. Instead of looking to address the concern in a free-market fashion, this tax-and-spend Congress chose to spend $700 billion dollars, the equivalent of one quarter of the federal budget, on a Wall Street bailout.
Washington and Wall Street caused the situation, which is already hurting American families. Now, those same American families are asked to provide the dollars to fix it.
This legislation took our debt limit to $11.3 trillion dollars, proving that this is the wrong approach.
I will continue to protect taxpayers and families from the excessive spending habits of a Congress that is in need of fiscal responsibility.”
Rep. Jordan Statement on H.R. 1424

No suggestions of what he would do differently, only he didn’t like a big government solution.

In his official statement on why he voted against the first version of the bill he does offer one suggestion:

My support is with an alternative plan that would utilize private capital to solve the problem far better than government bureaucrats. By removing the barriers to risk-taking and investment, and providing a government-backed insurance program as a safety net, we would be laying the groundwork to avoid future problems.
Rep. Jordan Addresses Bailout

The problem with a private capital solution was the time factor and regulations. People who watch the credit markets said that the credit contraction going on on Wall Street would land on Main Street as early as Monday if nothing was done. That means some small businesses would be forced to close because they couldn’t meet their payroll. Some larger companies would come next and then you would see the free fall.

Also those with billions on the side lines would be wary of buying too much which would cause some banking regulations to kick in.

Jordan’s solution might work as a long term solution but the economy might have collapsed before it was set up. The bail out bill at least puts a cork in the free fall allowing for more time to fix the problem.

If Jordan seemed to understand that he might not have voted against the bill. It also seems he might not have read the bill since it includes an insurance program – to be funded with risk-based premiums paid by the industry as printed in Section 102 of the final bill.

September 29, 2008April 18, 2020

Rep. Jim Jordan clueless on Bailout issue

Jim Jordan cracks me up.

“It was a little bit surprising that we were able to prevail,” Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) said after the vote. He represents Ohio’s 4th District and was in Washington for the vote. Jordan, a Republican voted against the plan, which he said would have provided a government solution to a problem that would be best served by the free market. “I think members by the vote tally said loud and clear they want a different solution,” he said. “They want to do it the way America has always done it: with a free market, free enterprise solution.”
Jordan votes against rescue plan

I guess he isn’t aware how Wall Street got hold of those toxic assets. The Free Market!

Yes back in the 1990’s when the GOP was in charge they got rid of those nasty rules and regulations dating from the 1930’s. It was like giving booze and car keys to a teen and asking them to be safe….. and Jordan thinks the free market will help?

I feel bad for average people who will be really hurt if we just let the market collaspe. No credit, no money for growth, no money for new city projects, no money for school buildings etc….. if something isn’t done to bail out the frat boys on Wall Street.

I feel bad that Jordan and the GOP put themselves ahead of the country.