fly at night

Even the California media is getting in on the act. Times are tough and dollars are hard to come by…

Workers at the Appeal-Democrat will get a 5 percent cut in pay effective July 13 as part of an across-the-board reduction being implemented by its parent company, Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc.

The economy has digressed during the current economic turmoil. Dow 10,000 is the new Dow 14,000. Salaries and wages will likely adjust accordingly especially with the absence of inflation.

Over the last couple of years, Freedom has implemented a range of cuts including voluntary severance, layoffs and ending the company’s matching contribution to the 401-K plan. During the second quarter, all employees had to take a five-day unpaid furlough.

The times are difficult but having a job is important. With cap & tax just around the corner we all might just start getting used to doing more and paying more and expecting less in return.

GM, too big to fail - Cash from the people

Bof A, too big to fail - Cash from the people plus the destruction of bankruptcy laws

President Obama, too big to fail? Too big to regulate? Is this Bush’s third-term?

A new era of open and transparent government?

More on IG Gerald Walpin HERE

Ethics in government in action?

By now everyone should know that GM is in bankruptcy. You probably also know that with another $50 billion ready for investment in the new company, you as the proud owner of GM will have a total investment of about $70 billion in a company with an unproven business plan (reminds me of the dot com problems of the 90s).

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said today that the taxpayer will get its money back on this investment.

Something to ponder: $70 billion investment. 72.5% 60% ownership. To get our “investment” back the New GM will have to achieve a capitalization value of at least $97 $117 billion. It is important to note that GM, at its best was worth only about $60 billion (2000).

According to Rasmussen, the public, the new owners of GM, are apparently opposed to the additional $50 billion investment.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% are opposed to a plan that would provide GM with $50 billion in funding and give the government a 70% ownership interest in the company.

Here is what Bloomberg has to say on the problems of GM.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor will have her day with the Senate. Tough questions will be asked, answers will be short and without much detail, but she will be confirmed without a hint of filibuster.

Michael Ramirez Nails The Health Plan In A Nutshell

Michael Ramirez, from IBD Cartoons, nails the proposed Obama health care plan.

The cost for AF 1 to fly over NYC was a mere $328K. I wonder what they learned?

State Finance Director, Michael Genest, explains California’s structural deficit:

Genest cited two factors contributing to the budget gap:

1. The gap is partly due to the continued structural budget deficit that began 10 years ago and that never been completely eliminated.
2. A major part of the state’s budget gap is due to the dramatic decline in revenues during the current recession.

In 1998-99, the state’s budget was balanced and projected to remain in balance. One year later, however, revenues increased by 23 percent due to a stock market and dot-com boom that drove unprecedented increases in stock option and capital gains income. These were magnified from a state revenue perspective, because the state’s income tax system relies disproportionately on the high-end earners most likely to receive such gains.

The surge in revenues resulting in massive — and unsustainable — new spending commitments. When revenues declined, the state relied on mostly one-time measures, such as borrowing, to temporarily reduce spending without cutting back underlying program commitments. Thus, the structural deficit was born.

10 years of phony budgets.

Spending that the Legislature knew they could not sustain (much like the Feds today).

One-time fixes and revenue.

Now you know the facts on how we got to where we are today. Does it really make sense to vote on May 19th for simply more of the same? There is no FIX in 1-A through 1E and 1F isn’t enough of a penalty.

Now you know so vote wisely.

The Obama administration may have a small problem:

Giving the banks their test results Friday, more than a week before they’re to be released, is supposed to give them time to process the data internally. But it could lead to speculation and turbulence as information leaks out — especially from strong banks that wish to trumpet their results.

The Fed, which is overseeing the tests, asked banks not to reveal their results during quarterly earnings announcements. Regulators worry investors might run down banks without any good news to announce.

The SEC requires companies to report when they learn of a material item. The Treasury is demanding that the banks delay releasing the results.

Is the Treasury again asking public companies to breach their legal requirements to properly report a potential material item?

The Wall Street Journal reports today that there are about 20 million bloggers with about 452,000 of them earning their primary income from blogging.

The best studies we can find say we are a nation of over 20 million bloggers, with 1.7 million profiting from the work, and 452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income. That’s almost 2 million Americans getting paid by the word, the post, or the click — whether on their site or someone else’s.

Could this be a reason why the Main Stream Media (MSM) is having a difficult time in keeping readers?

Bloggers are well educated:

Demographically, bloggers are extremely well educated: three out of every four are college graduates. Most are white males reporting above-average incomes. One out of three young people reports blogging, but bloggers who do it for a living successfully are 2% of bloggers overall. It takes about 100,000 unique visitors a month to generate an income of $75,000 a year.

Blogging has grown over the past three years. Opinions are easy to express and you don’t have to worry about the editing process or length restrictions that you find in your local newspaper. You can link to other posts, articles, or documents that you believe support your opinion. You can’t do that in the letters to the editor section of your local paper.

Evolution is the law of the land. Plants and animals evolve to meet the current environmental requirements of the day.

Is it wise for man to “save” “endangered species” when they have failed the laws of evolution? What are the unintended consequences of such actions?