Arizona is now outsourcing corruption.

Ok, most every libertarian I've ever met believes that government intervention in the economy is a bad thing.  It gives bureaucrats and donation-seekers a chance to pick winners and losers.
 
Here's the Coyote Blog's take on the situation:

I have written before about government corporate subsidies and attempts at venture capital investment in the context of the “big shot” effect.  Many times I have come to suspect the biggest beneficiary of these programs is to the administrators themselves, who have no money of their own and wouldn’t ever be trusted to manage a private portfolio but get to act as “big shots” with other peoples’ money.  They get the psychic benefit of being little junior Donald Trumps.

Every libertarian I've ever met believes that giving subsidies, quotas, tax breaks and (ahem) "incentives" to some segments of the economy is a bad thing.  It gives bureaucrats and politicians a chance to pick winners and losers, reward friends and punish enemies. 

Every libertarian I've ever met also believes that a huge chunk of government activity should be left to the private sector or non-profits.  (Exceptions would be for activities requiring the use of force.) 

Most libertarians delight in pointing out how government screws up just about everything it touches.  (Exception granted for the military.  If you want to go overseas and blow up brown people, our forces are the best.) 

I'm as lazy as the next person.  But if I were to go work for the government, I'd want to control the distribution of the pork, the shoveling of the slop, and the gathering of the graft. 

The great state of Arizona has admitted that it can't even do that. 

Arizona has outsourced its corruption.  They've created a public/private "partnership" called the Arizona Commerce Authority to  hand out special priviliges, pork, and tax breaks.  I don't care who you are, what political label you wear, or even if you think tax breaks for donors are a good thing.  I don't care.  Because...This....Is....Funny !!

They've admitted they can't even dish out pork and patronage effectively.  Hell, what would the Daleys of Chicago think of this? 

Go here to read more at the Privatization Blog. 

Go here for the Coyote Blog's take on it. 

Then turn your ears toward Phoenix and listen for the sound of the scoops rattling around inside the slop buckets.  Come and get it !!! 

Should the corporate welfare recipients at Boeing and Caterpillar be drug-tested??

From the greatness that is Reason Magazine:

Here's the state of Republican economic policy today: A $35 billion federal loan-guarantee program for wind and solar companies is scandalous "crony capitalism" that must be shut down and investigated.


But a $100 billion federal loan guarantee program mostly benefiting Boeing and Caterpillar should be expanded by 40 percent. [...]

There's more....

On Wednesday, a large majority of Republican congressmen voted to reauthorize [the Export-Import Bank] (whose current charter expires later this month) and increase to $140 billion the legal limit on taxpayer exposure from Ex-Im financing. Currently, taxpayers are exposed to nearly $100 billion in Ex-Im loans and loan guarantees.

By supporting Ex-Im, instead of trying to kill it, Republicans aren't merely calling into question the concept of free enterprise, they are passing up the chance to make President Obama's corporate welfare a central theme of the 2012 election.

You pay for all of this.  Not the government.  You.  Your money.  Why aren't you out in the streets banging pots and pans together????

Hit this link for a long, long list of pieces in Reason that attempt to sound the alarm about the Import/Export Bank.  Man, talk about Socialism.....

Here's a list of Reason pieces on Corporate Welfare.  Man, talk about Socialism....

Here's a pic of all the insane crap the Republicans have introduced over the last few years.  (BTW, blocking the American Jobs Act was a benefit to humanity.  Taking money from people by force and giving it to people for unproductive busywork is not a net gain.) 

"Small-Government Republican" - the funniest three words in the English language.  Well, maybe with one exception....check out the last question. 
 

War Is A Racket, by General Smedley Butler

People have sent me snippets from Smedley Butler for years, but I've never gotten around to posting it or linking to anything he said or wrote. 

I can remember seeing a few old Baptist hymnals from the 1920's and 1930's that included responsive readings under the following header:  "Against War As An Instrument Of Foreign Policy".  At the time I read those things, it seemed strange.  The Viet Nam war was going on, and most god-fearing Baptists supported JFK, LBJ, RMN, or whoever was in charge at the time.  Almost all of the anti-war people were filthy hippies. 

There really was a fierce anti-war movement in the U.S. in the 20's and 30's, mostly as a response to the senseless slaughter of World War One.  One of the participants in that idiotic slaughter was U.S. General Smedley Butler.  Here's his Wikipedia intro:

Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps, an outspoken critic of U.S. military adventurism, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.


During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, and France in World War I. By the end of his career, he had received 16 medals, five for heroism. He is one of 19 men to twice receive the Medal of Honor, one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal and the Medal of Honor, and the only man to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.

In his 1935 book War is a Racket, he described the workings of the military-industrial complex and, after retiring from service, became a popular speaker at meetings organized by veterans, pacifists and church groups in the 1930s.

In 1934, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow Franklin D. Roosevelt. The purported plot would have had Butler leading a mass of armed veterans in a march on Washington. The individuals identified denied the existence of a plot, and the media ridiculed the allegations. The final report of the committee stated that there was evidence that such a plot existed, but no charges were ever filed. The opinion of most historians is that while planning for a coup was not very advanced, wild schemes were discussed.

Butler continued his speaking engagements in an extended tour, but in June 1940 checked himself into a naval hospital, dying a few weeks later from what was believed to be cancer. He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Chester, Pennsylvania; his home has been maintained as a memorial and contains memorabilia collected during his various careers.

Here's General Butler's famous speech, the one that seems to have made his speaking career.  All I can say is....Wow.  Do things ever change? 

************

CHAPTER ONE WAR IS A RACKET

WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few – the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.

And what is this bill?

This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.

For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it. Now that I see the international war clouds gathering, as they are today, I must face it and speak out.

Again they are choosing sides. France and Russia met and agreed to stand side by side. Italy and Austria hurried to make a similar agreement. Poland and Germany cast sheep's eyes at each other, forgetting for the nonce [one unique occasion], their dispute over the Polish Corridor.

The assassination of King Alexander of Jugoslavia [Yugoslavia] complicated matters. Jugoslavia and Hungary, long bitter enemies, were almost at each other's throats. Italy was ready to jump in. But France was waiting. So was Czechoslovakia. All of them are looking ahead to war. Not the people – not those who fight and pay and die – only those who foment wars and remain safely at home to profit.

There are 40,000,000 men under arms in the world today, and our statesmen and diplomats have the temerity to say that war is not in the making.

Hell's bells! Are these 40,000,000 men being trained to be dancers?

Not in Italy, to be sure. Premier Mussolini knows what they are being trained for. He, at least, is frank enough to speak out. Only the other day, Il Duce in "International Conciliation," the publication of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said:

"And above all, Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace... War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the people who have the courage to meet it."

Undoubtedly Mussolini means exactly what he says. His well-trained army, his great fleet of planes, and even his navy are ready for war – anxious for it, apparently. His recent stand at the side of Hungary in the latter's dispute with Jugoslavia showed that. And the hurried mobilization of his troops on the Austrian border after the assassination of Dollfuss showed it too. There are others in Europe too whose sabre rattling presages war, sooner or later.

Herr Hitler, with his rearming Germany and his constant demands for more and more arms, is an equal if not greater menace to peace. France only recently increased the term of military service for its youth from a year to eighteen months.

Yes, all over, nations are camping in their arms. The mad dogs of Europe are on the loose. In the Orient the maneuvering is more adroit. Back in 1904, when Russia and Japan fought, we kicked out our old friends the Russians and backed Japan. Then our very generous international bankers were financing Japan. Now the trend is to poison us against the Japanese. What does the "open door" policy to China mean to us? Our trade with China is about $90,000,000 a year. Or the Philippine Islands? We have spent about $600,000,000 in the Philippines in thirty-five years and we (our bankers and industrialists and speculators) have private investments there of less than $200,000,000.

Then, to save that China trade of about $90,000,000, or to protect these private investments of less than $200,000,000 in the Philippines, we would be all stirred up to hate Japan and go to war – a war that might well cost us tens of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives of Americans, and many more hundreds of thousands of physically maimed and mentally unbalanced men.

Of course, for this loss, there would be a compensating profit – fortunes would be made. Millions and billions of dollars would be piled up. By a few. Munitions makers. Bankers. Ship builders. Manufacturers. Meat packers. Speculators. They would fare well.

Yes, they are getting ready for another war. Why shouldn't they? It pays high dividends.

But what does it profit the men who are killed? What does it profit their mothers and sisters, their wives and their sweethearts? What does it profit their children?

What does it profit anyone except the very few to whom war means huge profits?

Yes, and what does it profit the nation?

Take our own case. Until 1898 we didn't own a bit of territory outside the mainland of North America. At that time our national debt was a little more than $1,000,000,000. Then we became "internationally minded." We forgot, or shunted aside, the advice of the Father of our country. We forgot George Washington's warning about "entangling alliances." We went to war. We acquired outside territory. At the end of the World War period, as a direct result of our fiddling in international affairs, our national debt had jumped to over $25,000,000,000. Our total favorable trade balance during the twenty-five-year period was about $24,000,000,000. Therefore, on a purely bookkeeping basis, we ran a little behind year for year, and that foreign trade might well have been ours without the wars.

It would have been far cheaper (not to say safer) for the average American who pays the bills to stay out of foreign entanglements. For a very few this racket, like bootlegging and other underworld rackets, brings fancy profits, but the cost of operations is always transferred to the people – who do not profit.

CHAPTER TWO WHO MAKES THE PROFITS?

The World War, rather our brief participation in it, has cost the United States some $52,000,000,000. Figure it out. That means $400 to every American man, woman, and child. And we haven't paid the debt yet. We are paying it, our children will pay it, and our children's children probably still will be paying the cost of that war.

The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits – ah! that is another matter – twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent – the sky is the limit. All that traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it.

Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "we must all put our shoulders to the wheel," but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket – and are safely pocketed. Let's just take a few examples:

Take our friends the du Ponts, the powder people – didn't one of them testify before a Senate committee recently that their powder won the war? Or saved the world for democracy? Or something? How did they do in the war? They were a patriotic corporation. Well, the average earnings of the du Ponts for the period 1910 to 1914 were $6,000,000 a year. It wasn't much, but the du Ponts managed to get along on it. Now let's look at their average yearly profit during the war years, 1914 to 1918. Fifty-eight million dollars a year profit we find! Nearly ten times that of normal times, and the profits of normal times were pretty good. An increase in profits of more than 950 per cent.

Take one of our little steel companies that patriotically shunted aside the making of rails and girders and bridges to manufacture war materials. Well, their 1910-1914 yearly earnings averaged $6,000,000. Then came the war. And, like loyal citizens, Bethlehem Steel promptly turned to munitions making. Did their profits jump – or did they let Uncle Sam in for a bargain? Well, their 1914-1918 average was $49,000,000 a year!

Or, let's take United States Steel. The normal earnings during the five-year period prior to the war were $105,000,000 a year. Not bad. Then along came the war and up went the profits. The average yearly profit for the period 1914-1918 was $240,000,000. Not bad.

There you have some of the steel and powder earnings. Let's look at something else. A little copper, perhaps. That always does well in war times.

Anaconda, for instance. Average yearly earnings during the pre-war years 1910-1914 of $10,000,000. During the war years 1914-1918 profits leaped to $34,000,000 per year.

Or Utah Copper. Average of $5,000,000 per year during the 1910-1914 period. Jumped to an average of $21,000,000 yearly profits for the war period.

Let's group these five, with three smaller companies. The total yearly average profits of the pre-war period 1910-1914 were $137,480,000. Then along came the war. The average yearly profits for this group skyrocketed to $408,300,000.

A little increase in profits of approximately 200 per cent.

Does war pay? It paid them. But they aren't the only ones. There are still others. Let's take leather.

For the three-year period before the war the total profits of Central Leather Company were $3,500,000. That was approximately $1,167,000 a year. Well, in 1916 Central Leather returned a profit of $15,000,000, a small increase of 1,100 per cent. That's all. The General Chemical Company averaged a profit for the three years before the war of a little over $800,000 a year. Came the war, and the profits jumped to $12,000,000. a leap of 1,400 per cent.

International Nickel Company – and you can't have a war without nickel – showed an increase in profits from a mere average of $4,000,000 a year to $73,000,000 yearly. Not bad? An increase of more than 1,700 per cent.

American Sugar Refining Company averaged $2,000,000 a year for the three years before the war. In 1916 a profit of $6,000,000 was recorded.

Listen to Senate Document No. 259. The Sixty-Fifth Congress, reporting on corporate earnings and government revenues. Considering the profits of 122 meat packers, 153 cotton manufacturers, 299 garment makers, 49 steel plants, and 340 coal producers during the war. Profits under 25 per cent were exceptional. For instance the coal companies made between 100 per cent and 7,856 per cent on their capital stock during the war. The Chicago packers doubled and tripled their earnings.

And let us not forget the bankers who financed the great war. If anyone had the cream of the profits it was the bankers. Being partnerships rather than incorporated organizations, they do not have to report to stockholders. And their profits were as secret as they were immense. How the bankers made their millions and their billions I do not know, because those little secrets never become public – even before a Senate investigatory body.

But here's how some of the other patriotic industrialists and speculators chiseled their way into war profits.

Still another had the brilliant idea that colonels shouldn't ride in automobiles, nor should they even ride on horseback. One has probably seen a picture of Andy Jackson riding in a buckboard. Well, some 6,000 buckboards were sold to Uncle Sam for the use of colonels! Not one of them was used. But the buckboard manufacturer got his war profit.

The shipbuilders felt they should come in on some of it, too. They built a lot of ships that made a lot of profit. More than $3,000,000,000 worth. Some of the ships were all right. But $635,000,000 worth of them were made of wood and wouldn't float! The seams opened up – and they sank. We paid for them, though. And somebody pocketed the profits.

It has been estimated by statisticians and economists and researchers that the war cost your Uncle Sam $52,000,000,000. Of this sum, $39,000,000,000 was expended in the actual war itself. This expenditure yielded $16,000,000,000 in profits. That is how the 21,000 billionaires and millionaires got that way. This $16,000,000,000 profits is not to be sneezed at. It is quite a tidy sum. And it went to a very few.

The Senate (Nye) committee probe of the munitions industry and its wartime profits, despite its sensational disclosures, hardly has scratched the surface.

Even so, it has had some effect. The State Department has been studying "for some time" methods of keeping out of war. The War Department suddenly decides it has a wonderful plan to spring. The Administration names a committee – with the War and Navy Departments ably represented under the chairmanship of a Wall Street speculator – to limit profits in war time. To what extent isn't suggested. Hmmm. Possibly the profits of 300 and 600 and 1,600 per cent of those who turned blood into gold in the World War would be limited to some smaller figure.

Apparently, however, the plan does not call for any limitation of losses – that is, the losses of those who fight the war. As far as I have been able to ascertain there is nothing in the scheme to limit a soldier to the loss of but one eye, or one arm, or to limit his wounds to one or two or three. Or to limit the loss of life.

There is nothing in this scheme, apparently, that says not more than 12 per cent of a regiment shall be wounded in battle, or that not more than 7 per cent in a division shall be killed.

Of course, the committee cannot be bothered with such trifling matters.

You can go here to read the rest.  If this piece didn't remind you of at least a dozen parallel instances in the last twenty years, perhaps you should read more.  Sheesh. 
I wish I could've met this guy. 

Fort Worth might get a Flood Control Drive-In Theatre !!!

I've long thought that the purpose of government projects is to transfer money to donors. 
The project needs to have some feasibility, but not much else.  Just get the taxpayer money into the hands of your friends without causing too much of a fuss. 

It's getting ridiculous. 

Arlington built George W. Bush a stadium to his exact specifications.  He moved his baseball team in, and then sold the team for far more than he paid for it.  (86 million purchase price, 250 selling price.)  The difference?  His almost-free stadium.  (Taxpayer subsidy of 205 million.)

  Well done, thou good and faithful servants. 

Arlington built Jerry Jones a stadium to his exact specifications, and then leased it to him.  I don't remember Jerry saying "Thank You", or mailing me some tickets to games.  Oh well. 

Iron Horse Motorcycles of Fort Worth went bankrupt several years ago.  The city is stuck with their manufacturing facility for reasons that I don't quite understand. 

I think "we" agreed to give them a building if they would bring X number of jobs to Fort Worth.  If you need a free building, forcibly funded by taxpayers, you might not have a good business model.  I looked at leasing the Iron Horse factory for my employer last year, but the dock locations in the building were all wrong for us.  Getting new docks added would require the permission of several layers of city government, so we declined the opportunity.  Whether you know it or not, you own an abandoned motorcycle factory. 

Does anyone out there remember the Fort Worth Rail Market?  It was supposed to be a downtown Farmers' Market, luring downtown shoppers into the rail area to pick up tomatoes and onions before they went back home to Mira Vista. 

Part of it was supposed to get funded through transportation money.  (Yes, Kay Granger was involved.  I think that Railroad Produce Stands were a primitive ancestor of Flood Control BarBQ restaurants.)  The thing is now closed.  Shut down.  Abandoned.  It never made a dime.  Go here for an analysis of the boondoggle. 

How about The Mercado de Fort Worth? 

This was a Northside con job that was supposed to be the crown jewel of Cowtown. 

When the Mercado itself last made news, it had just landed its first tenant after more than five years of sitting empty and neglected.

What was supposed to be the pillar of a $6.5 million Northside redevelopment – an authentic Mexican marketplace – had failed to ignite the expected growth along North Main Street.

....It seemed like a good idea at the time: Bring economic development to Fort Worth’s near Northside by developing an area of shops, restaurants and stalls – a Mercado, reflecting the heritage of the mostly Hispanic residents of the neighborhood – and, in the process tie the touristy Stockyards District to downtown.

It started with a sidewalk, an expensive three-block-long sidewalk, in the alley between the mostly dilapidated buildings in the 1400 block of North Main Street and the houses that backed up to them. The plan was for local merchants to set up stalls to sell their goods to tourists who would make their way from the Stockyards area, several city blocks away. The city spent about $1.5 million to pave the alley and renovate the Rose Marine Theater.

Then came the Mercado de Fort Worth building, the brainstorm of local developer Deyla Guadiana. It was supposed to be a 58,000-square-foot, Mexican-style marketplace three stories high that would be the focal point of the Mercado area. Guadiana got a $3.1 million loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and construction began in 2003.

The city tried to spur interest in both the walkway and the Mercado building by offering low-interest loans and a building site to anyone willing to take a risk. They didn’t find many takers.

Guadiana defaulted on the loan after failing to come up with the private financing to cover the remainder of the construction costs and the city took back the property, taking over the note and spending $1.3 million from a special economic development fund to finish the building.

Finding a buyer took years. 

 And I hope the cashier remembered to give him his change back after the purchase.  The Mercado isn't quite as empty as the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, but it's close. 

If I steal money from your wallet, and use it to buy jewelry and cocaine and cars from my friends, it's going to cause a temporary increase in prosperity for the jewelers, coke, and car dealers.  But it will never last.  It always seems to require an additional theft, doesn't it? 

I could go on and on, but here's the latest....from the Star-Telegram, which reported this with no irony or sarcasm, which might explain why newsstand sales are declining:

FORT WORTH -- The Tarrant Regional Water District next week will consider entering into a lease with Dallas-based Coyote Theaters for a drive-in theater on vacant land near LaGrave Field.
The drive-in would be there for about 10 years, potentially drawing 300,000 patrons a year to Trinity Uptown. It would also net the water district about $1.7 million in rent, according to information filed with the district.

And wild monkeys will fly out my rear end and put on an amateur production of "A Chorus Line".  I'd bet that every Texas drive-in combined doesn't draw 300,000 patrons a year.  For those of you new to the Trinity River development controversy, Congresswoman Kay Granger and her son J.D. are trying to pump a bunch of money into a flood control scam that involves million-dollar BarBQ restaurant giveaways and now, drive-in theatres.   

The drive-in would be called Coyote Theater in Trinity Uptown and would be on part of the 34 acres that the water district bought in 2010 from LaGrave Field owner Carl Bell. The site is near North Calhoun and Northeast Fifth streets, north of downtown Fort Worth.
"Drive-ins are making a comeback with a 20 percent increase in the number of venues since 2007," a district memo says. "The nostalgic outdoor theater is being reintroduced by Coyote as a high-quality, state-of-the-art, family-friendly entertainment option."

Drive-ins couldn't compete with indoor air-conditioned theatres.  Theatres in small towns couldn't compete with television, and almost all of them closed.  Theatres in cities are having a hard time competing with DVD's.  But J.D. Granger is going to reverse the trend, because this drive-in will be for.....flood control. 

The theater would have three or four screens, show first-run films and offer food, the memo says. The movies would be in English and Spanish.
J.D. Granger, Trinity River development director for the water district, could not be reached for comment Friday. The district is scheduled to consider the proposal Tuesday.

I cannot wait to post J.D. Granger's comments, if he ever has the nerve to make any.  I cannot wait.  I have no doubt that this project will be approved, and that it will quickly go broke as the Ten Commandments.  All I ask is an opportunity to post The Granger Gang's comments on building a new drive-in with your money, in the year of our Lord 2012.  Please, please, please Dear God, let me have his comments. 

Drive-ins.com lists 17 drive-in theaters in Texas, including one in Ennis and one in Granbury.
Not much is known about Coyote Theaters, but the Fort Worth site will apparently be its first location. The company does not have a listed phone number.
Coyote Theaters filed incorporation papers with the Texas secretary of state's office Aug. 2 and lists its management as Todd Minnis, Brady Wood, Scott Wilson and Glenn Solomon.

I couldn't find anything on them either.  That is the nature of the coyote.  Go in, feast on the rotting carcass, and get out in a hurry.  We'll see if the name fits, won't we? 

Wood, who was involved in some West Seventh Street corridor projects with the development group Incap Fund, was the only person to attend a tour and pre-proposal conference last month at the project site. Minnis is head of Arrow Retail, a sister company of Dallas-based Cypress Equities, which developed the West 7th office, retail and residential project.
Last month, the water district requested proposals from developers who would want to use the land temporarily. The theater proposal was one of two submitted. The district said it would like to see a project under way by May.
The $909 million Trinity Uptown project will feature a town lake and 12 miles of waterfront development.

See you at the drive-in !   You might as well go, since you're going to pay for it. 

I couldn't find a picture of a Flood Control Drive-In, so I had to make do with a picture of a flooded drive-in.  My apologies.  The picture came from here.  The other pics came from this website, or the official websites most associated with the ripoffs. 

When you're about to lose an election....POSTPONE IT !!!

A government outfit known as the Trinity River Vision Authority is trying to use Eminent Domain, Earmarks, Extreme Environmentalism, and almost every other vice of this horrific decade to take land and money from taxpayers for a private real estate development. 

The Trinity is beautiful from a distance.  Up close, according to Channel 8, it's still filled with feces, much like the Trinity River Vision Authority.  Here's a picture from one of last summer's TRVA events, featuring people floating around in your old sewage:

The original plan was to turn part of the Trinity into something like San Antonio's "Riverwalk".  That stunk too much of cronyism even for our slumbering citizenry, so now the emphasis is on flood control.  It's now a safety project that just happens to have major real estate developments, theatres, restaurants, etc. along its banks. 

It's had the usual cost overages:

The politically-connected are all in place:

And the usual victims (you) are on the hook for any failures.  Socialize The Cost; Privatize The Profit !!!!

And now, from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, comes this bit of greatness about the Tarrant Regional Water District Board, the outfit responsible for the necessary thefts, looting and dredging required to build Lake Granger:

In a 3-2 vote, the Tarrant Regional Water District board voted to shift its election date for three board seats from May 2012 to May 2013. Vic Henderson, chair of the water board, said the switch was made to bring the water district's election date in line most of the other Tarrant County governmental entities that have shifted to odd rather than even years. But the water board, which historically has been known for casting unanimous votes, was split on the issue. Board members Hal Sparks and Jim Lane voted against the issue, saying they felt the water code was clear that elections should be held in odd years even though the water district had obtained a letter from the Secretary of State's office saying they could move the date. Sparks, Henderson and board member Jack Stevens were slated to be up for re-election but will now serve for another year. Sparks said he felt like he made an agreement with voters to serve four years when he was elected and voted his conscience on the issue. But he said he plans to serve the remainder of his term.

They are postponing their own elections for a year !!!   They are postponing their own elections for a year !!! 
Unbelievable !!!  And we're probably going to put up with it, like a bunch of compliant sheep !! 

Had this happened to any reasonably alert group of voters, the hardware stores would already be sold out of pitchforks and torches.  Good Lord in heaven.  When are we going to wake up ????

There is an alternative to this madness, called the Trinity River Improvement Partnership.  They're trying to act as a Granger watchdog group, and to present an alternative plan.  Hit the link.  Please help them out any way you can. 

Congratulations, Intelligrated

Congratulations Intelligrated !
Modern Materials Handling, one of the many trade periodicals that shows up in my workplace inbox, was the first to give me this good news:

Intelligrated, a leading American-owned automated materials handling solutions provider, announced yesterday that it has accepted more than $24 million in financial incentives from the state of Ohio. In conjunction with the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), company executives formally accepted the comprehensive package during Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s visit to Intelligrated’s manufacturing facility in West Chester, Ohio.


The state’s incentive package accelerates the company’s efforts to integrate the operations of recently acquired FKI Logistex and expand its facilities in West Chester, London and Mason, Ohio. During the three-year period of the project, Intelligrated will retain 537 full-time positions and create 267 new jobs in Ohio.

The incentives include low-interest research and development investment loans and Ohio enterprise bond fund loans from Ohio’s DFAC to the Butler County Port Authority to support costs associated with the acquisition of a 282,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in West Chester to be leased to Intelligrated.

The Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit Authority also awarded Intelligrated an Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit to support the project in Butler County as well as expansions in Mason and London.

While there are millions of people in Ohio (and the rest of the United States) who think that they are the best judges of which companies to support with their paychecks, they are mistaken.
The Ohio Department of Development and Governor Ted Strickland know best. After all, Governor Strickland has a Bachelors degree in history, a Masters Of Divinity from a freakin' seminary, and a doctorate in counseling psychology.
Here's some more advice on how Big Bidness can work hand in hand with Big Government to ensure that you pay your fair share of our $12,000,000,000,000.00 debt. And how companies like Intelligrated can pay as little as possible. This is from the Intelligrated website:
Thanks to the Stimulus Package that was recently approved by the United States President, Senate and Congress, businesses are receiving special tax incentives to invest in new equipment. According to Section 179 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, businesses are allowed to fully expense up to $250,000 of new equipment acquisitions in 2009. Also, the first year depreciation bonus is boosted to 50%
For example, if a business were to purchase $750,000 in new equipment, they can fully expense $250,000 and then take 50% of the balance (50% of $500,000=$250,000), plus the first year’s MACRS (14% of $250,000=$35,000). This adds up to $535,000 or over 71% of the purchase price. The balance would be depreciated normally on the standard seven–year schedule.
If you were planning a project prior to the recent economic downturn, please speak to your tax or financing professionals about the incentivized options you have in 2009.

This picture of the Intelligrated Logo, with the E Pluribus Unum slogan came from the Intelligrated website. E Pluribus Unum means "Out Of Many, One" - Many revenue streams, and only one that matters.

We the Sheeple of The United States....

I've got a question for you, but first let me rule out the answers I'm not looking for, and why....

Let's rule out The Roman Empire, which required its satellite nations to pay heavy taxes to support the various Caesars, the Roman army, and building projects. The satellite nations generally didn't have a voice in the Roman government.

Let's rule out the various Communist regimes of the past century, and the North Koreas and Cubas which claim to carry the Marxist dream into this century. Those unfortunate people didn't have a choice about the actions of their government either.

I also propose an exemption for the various Imperialist structures of the 1500's to the present. When Great Britain, for instance, ran India and Hong Kong, the subjects of their Commonwealth didn't get to vote on the activities of their government.

I think that covers the broad, general exceptions.....now, the question.

Can anyone think of a time when the citizens of any country voluntarily allowed their government to take this much from the poor to prop up the rich?

Let me define rich: AIG, The Big 3, The members of the United Auto Workers Union, Wall Street, assorted banks and bankers, and possibly American Express.

Is everyone too busy watching Dancing With The Stars to care? Are the struggles of The Dallas Cowboys to clinch a playoff berth too much of a distraction? Is Ron Paul not photogenic enough to get our attention?

Or is it because we don't get a bill for these expenses in our mailbox every month, and these charges are all being put on our grandkids' Bar Tab? My God, this is sickening.


Are we now a nation of sheep?

The picture of Sheeple Grazing In Their Pasture came from here.

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banksta

Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Banksta.... Note Paulson's salary at his previous job at Goldman Sachs. I wonder why he's working so hard to save them with your money.



Here's Ron Paul on The Bankstas:


You can click here for the large version of the cartoon parody of The Geto Boys' "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" (Warning: Adult Language)

And for those who still retain sentimental beliefs that there's a difference between The Mommy Party (D) and The Daddy Party (R)

And here's the Geto Boys' Original. The Somewhat Censored version:

And in case you're wondering, I'm in a Thomson Georgia hotel room with Damon, Damon's iPod, and not much to do but collect all these Gangsta/Banksta parodies.

There's a good chance that this trip will never end. We don't have all we need to get the job done. I don't think we'll ever get to go home.

There's going to be a total economic meltdown; Damon and I anticipate being stuck here for decades. We're looking at Real Estate in the area (which I bet is getting cheaper by the minute). We saw some gasoline for $2.99 a gallon, BTW.

We went to the Augusta Georgia Barnes & Noble this morning, and I found a Classic Rock magazine that ranked all the "Journey" albums as "Essential", "Good", and "Avoid". Click here to see the online version.

Michael C. Burgess didn't vote for the giveaway

My Congressman, The Honorable Michael C. Burgess, did NOT vote for the giveaway.

Therefore, I'm going to send him some money next time he runs for something. Whoops, he's already running for re-election. Will send something this week.

Here's the link to his official site.

Here's a link to his re-election campaign site.

I've been on the road for the last two days, and was struck by the rabid hostility to this legislation on talk radio. The only exceptions, of course, were public radio stations.

Does anyone (with a private sector job) believe that we should give this money away? Or to use the official BiPartisan line, does anyone believe that the taxpayers should invest in all these "assets" in the hope that the price will increase?

Remember, Nancy Pelosi is your broker.

Kill The Bill

Michelle Malkin is live-blogging the giveaway package Bailout Bill.

Worth perusing every couple of hours.

A few thoughts I've had today....

I know a lot of people who have defaulted on their mortgages - mostly employees going through divorces, dealing with addictions, or other circumstantial reasons. But the number doesn't seem higher than usual. Where are all of these millions of people who are losing their homes? Do you know many?

Regarding the inevitability of the giveaway bailout....

1) The people on Wall Street clamoring for this bailout, are they friends and contributors to various Congressmen and Senators?

2) Have Wall Street and the banks succesfully lobbied government for tariffs, quotas, tax breaks, loopholes, and other freebies?

3) Will this bailout increase the power of government?

4) Will most Americans continue to vote the way they've always voted?

5) Was the 700 billion dollar figure arbitrarily pulled out of someone's nether regions? Do you believe it's merely the amount they think they can loot from the treasury?

6) Do you believe that we're merely refilling more Golden Parachutes?

If you answered YES to all these questions, but haven't written or emailed your representatives yet, please email me. I want you to invest in this nice Nigerian Lady's project to get some money out of Africa.

If you don't have strong opinions on these questions, don't worry about it. "Dancing With The Stars" and "American Idol" will be into their new seasons soon.

Regardless of our opinions, we can kiss that money goodbye. Check out the National Debt Counter to your right. It's spinning like mad.

That's nothing. It's going to be whirring around like the odometer on Haley's Comet.

A Prophetic Book - "The Revolution: A Manifesto"

Here's Texas Congressman Ron Paul on CNN, commenting on the root causes of our financial meltdown.

Most of this information was available four or five months ago, in his book "The Revolution: A Manifesto".

It's one of those books that's so good, you have to stop reading every few sentences to think over the implications of what the author saying.

Finishing it a few weeks before a major financial crisis has been an unnerving experience.

In a truly caring society, this little book would already be required reading in High School Government classes. The chapters entitled "Economic Freedom" and "Money: The Forbidden Issue" should be tattooed onto Paulson and Bernancke's forearms. Remember the Alabama courthouse that tried and failed to have a marble statue of the Ten Commandments in one of the courtrooms? Let's put copies of this book in a glass case in that space.

Friends and family, get ready. Ron Paul is what I'm getting you for Christmas.

Here's a brief excerpt from the CNN editorial:

Unfortunately, the government's preferred solution to the crisis is the very thing that got us into this mess in the first place: government intervention.

Ever since the 1930s, the federal government has involved itself deeply in housing policy and developed numerous programs to encourage homebuilding and homeownership.

Government-sponsored enterprises

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to obtain a monopoly position in the mortgage market, especially the mortgage-backed securities market, because of the advantages bestowed upon them by the federal government. Laws passed by Congress such as the Community Reinvestment Act required banks to make loans to previously underserved segments of their communities, thus forcing banks to lend to people who normally would be rejected as bad credit risks.

I can't believe that people are wanting to solve this problem with more government intervention.

Throw them out

A large group of bankers, lenders, brokers and bean counters tried to get rich quick with subprime mortgages.

They failed.

I've tried to get rich quick a few times. I've split 10's against a dealer 6 upcard. I've put everything on red.

I've failed.

The U.S. House and Senate will soon debate a bailout plan for the big money people who have failed to get rich quick. It will be cloaked in the language of "preventing a meltdown of the financial system", but basically, they're wanting you to cover their losses.

The only way to do so will be with dollars that don't exist. They will print more. A truthful government would write .50 on the front of this new currency, instead of $1.00. It will be totally devalued.

The question is this: Will you vote to re-elect any congressperson or senator who votes for this bailout?

It's time to pay your bar tab, sir....

Ever go out with a bunch of friends, set up a bar tab on your credit card, eat and drink for hours, only to have a few of your "friends" excuse themselves to go to the restroom and then leave the premises when it came time to pay the tab?

No? Well, look again.

If you're a U.S. citizen, some people from Bear Stearns recently came to your table and ordered appetizers, multiple entrees, enough drinks to float a small fishing boat, and some desserts for the group in the next booth. They lived like kings.

A few minutes before closing time, they excused themselves and ran for the parking lot. There you sat, wondering how to to explain all those credit card charges to The Little Woman Back Home.

Then, to add insult to injury, a husband and wife named Fannie and Freddie sat down with you the next night, ordered everything "to go", left the table to make some phone calls, and were never seen again. They apparently took their food with them. You're even more concerned this time, because you already talked some of your Chinese buddies into co-signing for this particular credit card.

Your Chinese buddies aren't very happy, and they're thinking of swinging by your house to pick up the dinette set you used as collateral.

You see, this is all fair. Fannie and Freddie have known all along that no matter how much debt they get into, or how many bad decisions they make, you're going to be there for them.

Here's where it gets really interesting. You are going to go out to yet another bar tonight. Yes, tonight. And this bar has it all ! ! ! The Lehman Brothers (see the excellent Michael Lewis book "The Money Culture" for tales of LB excess) are going to sit down at your table. They're going to ask if you're running a bar tab. You, like an idiot, are going to affirm that you're running a tab. Your credit card is there behind the cash register for The Lehman Brothers to see.

The Lehman Brothers are going to order food, drinks, birthday cakes, and promise the waiters very generous tips. They're going to bring in strippers from next door and purchase lap dances.

They're going to leave you with the bill. This is going to happen. And you're going to bend over and take it.

Because they can't be allowed to fail. You can, but they can't. They are the ones who have been making campaign contributions to their buddies in high places. All along there has been the unspoken promise that they can always put their expenses, their mistakes, and their bills on your bar tab.

It's a concept called "Privatize the profit; Socialize the risk".

Why aren't people rioting in the streets? Because we know the government will eventually print more money to pay for all this? Because the transactions are too complicated for us to understand? Because we're the ones who've been voting for Republicans and Democrats all these years?

Or perhaps it's because we're a nation of sheep.

Let The Bailout Begin ! ! !

Becky, The Girl In Short Shorts Talking About Whatever has the best post I've found on the subprime mortgage bailout. This is how it begins:

Congress has given us the most expensive, scandalous financial bailout in seventy years. Bush has promised to sign the shameful bill, designed to prop up the housing market, and calm the jitters of the Wall Street boys and girls.Like almost everything Congress does it will be expensive, underwhelming, put American taxpayers on the hook, make money for their partners in crime, is a nice pander to bring home to the voters—and will, in the end, exacerbate the core problems with the economy.

This is how it ends:

The final rub is the national debt ceiling is increased to 10.6 trillion, so it is legally possible to fund the bailout.Don't you wish you could call up VISA, and tell them you have doubled the limit on your card?

The really good stuff is in the middle.

Becky likes the artwork to the left. Don't know where she finds it.