Isn’t it curious that Obama used Caterpillar as his bellwether company to push forth the stimulus package, or better known as the Generational Theft Act. Even better, he tells us the Caterpillar story in Peoria, Ill., home base to the Caterpillar manufacturing plant.
So what’s happening at this company tells us a larger story about what’s happening with our nation’s economy — because, in many ways, you can measure America’s bottom line by looking at Caterpillar’s bottom line.
Caterpillar builds the equipment that moves the earth. Your machines plow the farms that feed our families; build the towers that shape our skylines; lay the roads that connect our communities; power the trucks that deliver our goods, and more.
So those 22,000 layoffs aren’t just a crisis for those families, or for the communities like Peoria and Decatur and Aurora — they are an urgent warning sign for America, because when a company as good and successful and efficient and lean and mean as Caterpillar is cutting back production and shedding jobs, that means we’re not building up this country. It means we’re not building new homes and offices, or rebuilding crumbling schools and failing infrastructure.
~~~But the debate is now coming to an end. The bill has passed the House and it’s passed the Senate. It’s been reconciled and now it’s going back to those two chambers so it can get on my desk. It is time for Congress to act, and I hope they act in a bipartisan fashion. But no matter how they act, when they do, when they finally pass our plan, I believe it will be a major step forward on our path to economic recovery.
And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off. And that’s a story I’m confident will be repeated at companies across the country — companies that are currently struggling to borrow money selling their products, struggling to make payroll, but could find themselves in a different position when we start implementing the plan. Rather than downsizing, they may be able to start growing again. Rather than cutting jobs, they may be able to create them again.That’s the goal at the heart of this plan: to create jobs.
We now know that Obamas assertion that Caterpillar will be able to hire back those laid off is a fairy tale:
Asked if the stimulus package would be able to stop the 22,000 layoffs or not, Owens said, “I think realistically no. The truth is we’re going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again”
“It is going to take some time before that stimulus bill” means re-hiring, he said.
Obama embellished the story of Caterpillar to make the stimulus appear more palatable to those wary of stepping up to the trough.
Why use Caterpillar? As frequent commenter Aye reminded us, could it be because of one Jim Owens? Head of Caterpillar:
President Barack Obama is bringing in a team of outside advisers to help steer the economy out of a tailspin, including Obama campaign finance chairwoman Penny Pritzker and Caterpillar Inc. Chief Executive Jim Owens.
Obama had already tapped Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman, as the leader of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
So what we may very well have here is a stageshow of epic porportions.
Mataharley has a few of her own thoughts about this stage show:
Uh… that’s my cue, eh Curt? LOL
Yessir, I do have a theory. In a nutshell? Obama’s happy trails to change the tide on the stimulus were planned for dramatic effect, and timed to end up in Springfield on Lincoln’s birthday… and Caterpillar was to be that day’s shock and awe fireworks. Proof positive that Obama could put thousands back to work almost immediately with the stroke of a pen.
He attempted to play the nation, and enjoy a swell of support with a carefully orchestrated theatrical stage production.
Obama is all about visual symbolism and grandeur. David Axelrod, Obama’s packaging guru, specialized in staging Obama’s campaign shows in arenas, complete with elaborate backdrops and pyrotechnics. Axelrod, no fool, knows how to stage for the great photo ops and symbolism.
Getting his stimulus passed was never the problem. But Obama didn’t face just GOP opposition. The more we learned, the more the public approval rate was dropping for the bill. Much to Obama and the Dem’s chagrin, the Republicans were winning the “message war”, as even Reid’s own aide admitted (via subscription Roll Call on Feb 12th):
Mata note: Roll Call is subscriber only. Some excerpts also appear in the Arkansas GOP blog.
Obama wants the public behind the Dems and his stimulus. For future political capital, he desperately needs to isolate the Republicans and dilute their resonating message of pork, disguised as “stimulus”. Despite having ultimate Congressional power, Obama must convincingly portray the conservatives as being in the wrong to the masses.
So he hits the road to do what he does best… excite the public. The trip was carefully planned to showcase Obama mingling with the commoners first in Elkhart, IN on Monday the 9th, and in Ft. Myers FL on Tues the 10th. In the afternoon of the 12th, he was to visit the Caterpillar factory, then culminate in Springfield, IL that same night where Obama was to attend the Abraham Lincoln Association’s annual Lincoln birthday banquet, at the invitation of Dick Durbin. An event for which he had a national audience.
Each place had it’s dramatic backdrop for symbolism – but instead of Greek columns this time, the locations were chosen for their high unemployment numbers as the backdrop. Elkhart’s went up to 15.3%, and Ft. Myers is at 10%. The ultimate photo op for Obama’s purpose is to contrast the Dems and GOP arguing over the stimulus in Washington, while he is seen with the crowds in the worst hit parts of the nation pushing his message – that being pass the stimulus, or face catastrophe.
But what of the last Illinois stops… Peoria and Springfield? Let’s go back to that day off from townhall selling… Wednesday the 11th. Per Ben Feller’s AP article, Obama hails agreement on massive stimulus package, the POTUS was back in the nation’s capital congratulating Congress, and laying plans for his next day’s travel to Springfield… but first with a mid afternoon stop in Peoria, IL to speak with the Caterillar workers.
Before leaving, he framed his Peoria visit with a promise… supposedly from Caterpillar’s CEO, Jim Owens… that passage of the stimulus would result in laid off Caterpillar’s employees going back to work.
Earlier Wednesday, trying to cast the plan in terms of real jobs, Obama announced that machinery giant Caterpillar Inc. plans to rehire some of its laid-off workers if Congress approves a sweeping stimulus bill.
That Obama statement came just one day before he was heading to Peoria, Ill., to visit the company’s workers and keep pushing his plan. The heavy-equipment maker has announced more than 20,000 job cuts as shrinking credit and construction demands hurt orders for tractors and other machines.
Said Obama: “Today, the chairman and CEO of Caterpillar said that if the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan passes, his company would be able to rehire some of those employees.” He did not specify to whom the company chairman and CEO, Jim Owens, made such a pledge.
Obama’s great confidence in these promises of the stimulus’ success may have come from the fact that (as Aye mentioned) Jim Owens had been added to his Economic Recovery Advisory Board just five days before.
Per Jake Tapper, those promises were repeated at the Caterpillar event… along with Obama encouraging the workers to lobby a freshman Republican Representative that wasn’t on board with the stimulus.
Obama, before launching into his speech did a little political arm-twisting aimed at freshman U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock (R-18th District). “Aaron’s still trying to make up his mind about our recovery package,” Obama said. “He has a chance to be in the mold of Bob Michel and Ray LaHood.” Obama suggested to those in attendance they talk to Schock and convince him to do what the president said is “the right thing.”
Schock was present at the speech himself, and Obama singled him out… making him stand so the audience could see him.
By the time Obama returned to Springfield for the evening Lincoln festivities, his orchestrated tour and commanding presence and promises should have worked their magic. In three days, Obama planned to showcase the unemployed, and make sure the world knew he could magically re’employ the Caterpillar thousands if only the stimulus passed, and stand triumphantly with his Lincoln speech.
Little did he know, but his finale swan song pep talk was unraveling at the seams.
Well, we all know how the Caterpillar promise worked out… No sooner had Obama left the Caterpillar site that Jim Owens was busy, at the same podium, backtracking on Obama’s second repeated promises. Jake Tapper’s got a great video on this from yesterday. (not embeddable… sorry…)
What about Obama’s attempts to put pressure on Rep. Aaron Schock? Despite his best try to put Schock on the spot at the factory site, this is what happened:
Today Rep. Schock said on the House floor that “I found it very interesting that after the president finished his speech and I stayed around, not one employee at that facility approached me and asked me to vote for this bill.”
In fact, said Schock, “I have received over 1,400 phone calls, e-mails and letters from employees alone asking me to oppose this legislation.”
Why!? Because, Schock said, “They know that this bill is not stimulus. They know that this bill will not do anything to create long-term, sustained economic growth. This bill is too big to get it wrong.”
It’s even better visually. Below, watch Schock take Obama’s ploy, and throw it’s failure right back into his face when addressing the House floor today… I like this freshman Representative.
And what of Obama’s “prize”? The “feather” for his “cap”? The claim that he instantly saved Caterpillar jobs just by passing the stimulus? Up in flames….
Politico’s Carol E. Lee also notes Obama’s misplaced bet on his Caterpillar promises… calling the whole debacle Obama’s Premature Victory Lap”.
Obama built his speech that eve around a particular written Lincoln phrase:
“The legitimate object of government is to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they can not, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, by themselves.”
Despite his best theatrical efforts, Obama’s three day stage show fails to net results. Despite the stimulus, Caterpillar announced it will continue to lay off. The Caterpillar workers themselves came out against the stimulus. The economy… already starting to do a slow turn around… will return slowly but surely… more quickly if an interfering Congress doesn’t “help”.
Obama will, of course, still get his stimulus. He never needed to embark on this theatrical tour for it’s passage. But he won’t be getting it the way he wants – with cheers from the Republicans’ and/or the public.
But it can be said he’s remaining true to Lincoln… just with a bit of a twist on the end. He still believes that the object of government is to do for the people what they cannot do (or do so well) by themselves….
….even if they don’t want the government’s help.
See author page
All of this was unnecessary. If the “stimulus” was so important, they could have passed it last week with all Democrat support if they wanted. But they didn’t. They kept saying that the sky was falling and they needed to do something immediately, yet they kept dawdling and pontificating about everything without any action. Why? Why didn’t they just pass the “stimulus” in both Houses without waiting for “bipartisanship”? Afterall, the President and the Democrats made clear that “we won”, so there was no need to get Republican support. The American people voted, the Democrats won and so they can pass bills however they want, without Republican approval. Why the need for all this delay and all these needless trips to Indiana and Illinois for President B.O. to give all his stupid speeches?
And I really can’t get energized about any of this anymore. Because regardless of all the B.S. from B.O. his approval ratings still remain strong and we still have all these morons going to his townhalls worshiping him. It’s disgusting.
The more this crap happens, the more I lose faith in the American people.
Also, I still don’t know what the purpose of all this campaigning was by B.O. and the Democrats. They won, afterall. If this is so important, pass the damn thing last week and move on. It’s not like the American public really even cares. I learned that in 2008 when the American public completely forgot about their outrage of the day of Amnesty and turned around and nominated King Amnesty himself for President. The American people are more outraged about scandals on American Idol than they are about scandals in government. So I don’t get why Democrats and B.O. even care about campaigning for this, when the American public would just forget some 2010 anyway. Besides, B.O. and the Democrats have their own propaganda arm in the mass media and their own smear machine working in concert with the mass media in the Lefty blogs and places like Media Matters and *huge* funding from the likes of George Soros. So what are they even afraid of?
I truly don’t understand any of this. What is this game all about? The Democrats have complete power in every area of American society except for talk radio. And talk radio is pretty much powerless, except for preaching to the choir. And the Democrats are gearing up to silence that last medium of opposition with the “Fairness” Doctrine soon anyway. So they will soon have unimpeded and unopposed power to do anything they want. So I really don’t get this game, unless it is just massive egomania for B.O. to do all this.
gotts to love whent he o steps in it. i am not suprised that most haven’t seen the actual bill, or that lobbyists got ahold of it first. even hard core dems are pissed.
Michael, the “purpose” of the campaigning by Obama is future CYA insurance. If they shove the bill thru with no GOP support, PLUS no public support, they are all left on the limb by themselves with it crashes. And this type of spending will invariably crash.
It’s all about sharing the blame, and discrediting the Republicans simultaneously. If the GOP got willingly on board, he probably wouldn’t care about public opinion. Since they didn’t, he needed Joe Blow citizen’s stamp of approval.
He now has neither. He threw this to Pelosi/Reid and ilk to build so he could sign it. So far, he’s lost control of his own leftist Congress (as they are calling the shots in this bill), has no bipartisan support to speak of, and the public is wary.
Good start for, as Mark Steyn calls him, the “community organizer in chief”.
@MataHarley:
Well, that’s how it looks to us, sure, but the mass media and the Left are not portraying it that way. Heck just in a recent comment here by an “Independent”, s/he stated that GOP was acting like children. And then there was those annoying townhalls where people were back to drooling all over B.O. and praising him and everything. Is the public actually “wary”? I don’t think so. I really don’t see this cult worship ending at all. And I still see people blaming the GOP and Bush and conservatives for anything and everything and praising B.O. for anything and everything, even in the face of logic and facts which should have them doing otherwise. I see everything now just flipped from the past 8 years. Instead of the mass media leading the sheep public to irrationally hate everything President Bush/GOP/Conservative, the mass media is leading the sheep public to worship everything B.O.
And reading this – and the comments – tonight was just downright depressing. I have to admit that I feel the worst I have felt in my entire life right now, feeling that it seems everything is now out of our control and our country has been taken over by the one-worlders and the gullible, ignorant American public is just going along with it.
I wish I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I just don’t.
Speaking of cult, I shared this picture I took yesterday in South Central, while working, with the other authors….figured its fitting in here also:
http://www.floppingaces.net/php16sQWOPM.jpg
While we’re at the Obama’mania nonsense, the State of IL is getting into the act of selling anything and everything Obama to cash in. Latest entry in Obama paraphenalia… yup… Obama license plates.
From the Chicago Sun Times…
The thing that game me the grin was the “temporary” and “expiration date” of only thru April 17th of this year. And for this privilege, you get to pay $50 per plate. LOL!
@MataHarley:
Always have been a good driver, but if I should happen to back end a vehicle with one of those on it, I might not feel too bad.
Thanks Curt. The entry to the home is lovely, too bad they went and messed it up like that, hopefully, that too is tempory.
Anyone catch the blonde lady next to Henrietta “Queen for a Day” Hughes? Or the now popular enough to get on the Olberman show guy? The guy that held a quick solo revival in the aisle during the Q&A with “the one” in FLA? Insanity on parade.
Bit backwards today, for some reason I read comments first and then the post.
Well, it didn’t “play in Peoria” in addition, the folks found out, up close and personal, that their president is a liar.
And are we to thank Axelrod for purposely enflaming those Obots that are teetering on the edge?
Michael in MI – I am in AZ and I prepare income taxes. In discussions with my clients, I am seeing an American public that is very worried and concerned. The middle class of this country is silently arming itself. I live in a more Republican area, but even those who are all for “hope’n’change” are not as vocal about their voting choice now. People are bailing out of the stock market, because they know this stimulus is not going to work and is going to cause turmoil in the short-to-intermediate term. It is by no means over, but the O has not impressed in this first 3-4 weeks, and it is showing up out here more than I ever saw in my 40+ years of paying attention to politics.
Educating a Foster Chile
Some of us have another dependent.
Last November 53% of Americans were so mentally immature they voted for a NANNY Government to take care of them
and supply their every need from the cradle to the grave. The 46% of us who do not need a NANNY, who took advantage of
the opportunities there for every person who is willing to make the effort, has just been given guardianship over the 53% who voted for
a Nanny. Those of us who made the effort to study in school,Worked hard and advanced on our jobs, and gained enough wealth to
take care of ourselves and our families and still have enough to give others a helping hand, we, without choice or recourse will have
our hard EARNED money stolen from us to care for the 53% of mentally immature Americans.
We must condition our new foster children that the best schools, the best teachers, the best equipment cannot teach them anything,
but CAN give them the opportunity to learn.
We must some how dispel the belief they have that someone or something else is responsible for their condition,
We must dispel their belief that they are victims, therefore are OWED something someone else has EARNED
When our foster child takes responsibility for his/her actions, is able to sustain him/herself, and defend him/herself.
We can say that we were good foster parents.
So, let’s see…
– Owens is on Obama’s economic advisory committee,
– Obama and crew went into Caterpillar at Owens’ request to help the company plan its recovery strategy,
yet they have different ideas about the immediate benefit to Caterpillar of an influx of tax money from the pork … er, stimulus … er, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) [snicker, snicker, cough, cough].
Honestly, I think Obama was caught up in his own hype while speaking to the Peoria crowd. It seemed like the idea to revise Owens’ cooments just came to him while he was speaking. I have no doubt that the two discussed how much financial help Caterpillar would need to bring back at least some employees; ANY large influx of money is going to help a company in the short term, but I think Obama jumped the gun. Most likely, Cat hadn’t completed it’s workforce reduction yet, and was in the process of re-evaluating the timeline for recalling workers *once the stimulus, IF effective, results in increased new equipment sales*.
The increased road, bridge, and building repair and construction included in the ARRA will certainly help Cat over the next few years, but it’s all temporary. We’ll have spiffy new roads, spiffy new bridges, and spiffy new administrative buildings (LOTS of money for that last item), but they’ll be vastly underutilized until the economy’s problems are fixed. The bill offers very little hope of anything more than temporary job and entitlement aid lasting past 2011 (just in time for the 2012 presidential campaigns to kick into high gear).
One last thought – has any president in the last 50 years been involved in so much micromanaging as Obama? The media makes things worse by reporting on every comment He makes, but it doesn’t seem like Obama has been able to keep his hands out of anything.
Just my observations,
Jeff
Jeff, INRE a few of your comments:
The reason the dual post is titled “orchestrated theatrics” is because too many (like you?) are going to believe it was an honest mistake and he was just “caught up in his own hype”.
His “own hype” started the day before, and repeated several times to the media. Hardly excitement of the moment.
It was his plan to proudly annouce Caterpillar rehires as a result of the stimulus to prove to Americans that this was going to work. In other words, he’s saying “the day my package passes, I can save up to 22,000 jobs. Believe me now?”
oops….
Remember that Cat is in the business of building new machines. There are many contractors with Caterpillar equipment already owned or on lease payments that are sitting idle. Before Cat workers can come back, all that existing equipment out there must be put to use, and orders for more need to come in. It’s as simple as that.
This is why the billions for the US infrastructure is not enough to bring them back to work. Caterpillar sells 60% plus of it’s equipment out of the country. In order for them to return to the status quo, they have two problems. They need overseas infrastructure contracts on top of the US contracts, and they need the fine print language on the “buy American, but not against int’l trade” removed. Congress has just hampered US manufacturers who do business outside the US.
You are correct in your analysis that the bill doesn’t offer much more than entitlements and temporary jobs in the long run. But I did want to clarify your idea that this was just an excited Obama error. It was a deliberate scam, with Caterpillar as the centerpiece, to run past the US public in order to get their support for this spending spree. A scam that failed.
“President Barack Obama on Friday warned that economic recovery in the United States “will be measured in years, not months” as he scored a major victory in his young presidency with the approval in Congress of a $787 billion (£542) bill to revive the economy. ”
This is only the beginning, the article goes on to mention, health care reform, green energy bill and the bank bailout. This trillion dollar boondoggle is just the beginning of spending money our children and grandchildren may never be able to earn let alone pay for the mess that will be hanging over their heads. He intends to be bold, transform our economy for the 21st century. It will be transformed, it will be sweeping, but it will be junk.
Then we have this, those nasty Republicans. Tell Representative Schock about “improving the tone.”
“Encouraging bipartisanship and “improving the tone” in Washington was central to his political philosophy, but aides now say the bruising experience of the past few weeks will make it much less of a priority.
Rahm Emanuel, the president’s chief of staff admitted to reporters that the administration had overdone its overtures to Republicans, which included two gatherings with alcohol at the White House.
“There’s an insatiable appetite for the notion of bipartisanship here and we allowed that to get ahead of ourselves,” he said.
From now on, the president would be civil to Republicans but has learnt there is little point expending energy on those with unwilling to compromise, either because of irreconcilable ideological differences or political calculations.
Mr Emanuel said of the president in the future: “He has an open hand, but he has a very firm handshake.” ”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4614806/Barack-Obama-warns-economic-recovery-will-take-years.html
Jerks!
@MataHarley:
Mata, do you think Owens was in on it? These are all union members, if they would have been convinced that Obama’s stroke of the pen would have turned it around for them, that would have created future problems for Cat. You think that’s could be why Owens cleared it up so fast?
@Missy:
CAT isn’t made up of *all* union members. They had a lot of contract workers there as well (including quite a bit from my old company, an engineering consulting firm which provided a LOT of engineering CAD designers, both on-site at CAT and doing in-house work for them through POs (purchase orders)). Back in December 2008, CAT eliminated tens of our employees who were working on-site at CAT and then also canceled numerous POs, which caused my old company to lay off tens of employees (including me).
Now, that is just in the engineering and design area of the company. Most companies (including the auto companies like Ford, where I worked on-site for 9 years until this past June) use contract work in their engineering and design departments. That way, when things get tight, they can simply eliminate us on a whim, without having to offer us any compensation. Not so for direct hire employees and union workers. I don’t know the details of the layoffs CAT had recently, if they were union or direct hire workers or just contract like the tens of contract workers they eliminated from my company back in December.
To answer your question, Missy. No… I don’t think Owens was in on Obama’s orchestrated theatrics. Nor do I think he feared union repercussions. He’s already living with a union contract anyway. What’s the difference?
If he were “in on it”, he would have held his corrections much longer from the press, and at the same podium that Obama just vacated.
Owens, personally, supported *some* of the stimulus. But I think Obama heard what he wanted to hear, took into consideration that Owens generally “supported” the stimulus, and decided to use it as his centerpiece coup d etat.
My guess was Owens was pretty shocked at the extent Obama took it, and was trying to be as gracious in laying out the truth without pissing off the Community Organizer in Chief.
Fact is there is much in the stimulus that Owens, as Caterpillar CEO, does *not* like. For example Owens has been urging the Dem Congress to pass NAFTA since last year. These “buy American” caveats in the stimulus can hamper their business because other nations they do business with will be less inclined to work with Caterpillar.
Does he like the government throwing money at infrastructure contracts? Of course. But there’s not enough there to do anything for them. He needs other Euro countries to do the same before it makes a difference.
So nope… my guess is that Owens, behind the scenes, was muttering a few obscenities at Obama’s chutzpah.
Thanks Mata and Mike in MI. Immediately after posting the question I thought to myself, now that’s a dumb question, but hubby was rushing me out the door so I didn’t have a chance to change it.
I was curious about the need for Owens to clear that up because having a brother in the UAW, I know members rarely trust company, kind of a built in thing. That led me to think that if Owens let that stand he would be facing more problems.
I looked up and read through a few articles on the layoffs. The first link below has a few details about the different types of employees used and laid off by CAT, might be of interest to Mike. The second link is a union paper. CAT is building a new plant for small engines in Texas which is unnerving to the uniom members, but, they say they will chase those jobs down to Texas and unionize them. Obama’s union policies will no doubt be in play by the time the plant is built and running. Maybe he will appoint his friend Owens to work with him on his union policy. sarc.
http://www.pratttribune.com/news/business/x1841422709/Caterpillar-announces-mass-layoffs
http://www.pjstar.com/homepage/x1060481196/UAW-questions-reason-for-layoffs-at-Caterpillars-Mossville-plant
Missy, thanks for these links. I had read (somewhere… so many articles) that Caterpillar’s layoffs were not just those on the assembly line, but also included support and marketing. I had also read that, wisely, they were freezing and cutting compensation on the higher echelon in the company.
Overall, I believe Caterpillar is doing what any wise corporation, not under the thumb the the US federal government, would do to stay alive thru this. Notice that it didn’t take a Community Organizer in Chief or Congress to tell them to adjust the top tiers of corporate management salaries… just as it should be.
There’s little the feds in the US can do on their own to put the Caterpillar assembly line back into business. They require the foreign contracts, as they used to have. And the reason the layoffs didn’t happen sooner is because they were finishing existing contracts, as the spokesman explains in the second audio in my How Obama takes Credit where no credit is due post back on Feb 11th… right when Obama was announcing his Caterpillar “coup” faux pas.
I particularly love the second UAW article, whining about how Caterpillar was using the crisis in their plan to move their small engine facilities to a right-to-work state. This is a division wholely separate from their big moving equipment. That this economic crisis is an “excuse” is absurd, and a manufactured lie by the union. I suggest that even in the best of economic times, Owens – or any savvy business owner – would do the same.
Which means it’s actually the UAW “using” the economic crisis for political propaganda… not Owens.
Again, Owens, as a business man, will find himself at odds with a COIC (Community Organizer in Chief… my new permanent title for the POTUS. And I’m not sure who to credit for that. A Jake Tapper staff correspondent, Limbaugh, or who… but I love it!)
Owens knows as well as any other business man that to be unionized drives up the costs. When the times are hot, and you can afford to score political points with the majority liberal Congress… okay. Ain’t happening now, for sure. So don’t count on Owens working closely with a pro-union COIC, and the union itself, to usurp his company’s survival.
Owens is only part of the private entrepreneur’s that make up the Economic Advisory Council. They are held at arm’s length from Obama’s official economic team (who actually has the direct ear and helps make policy), which has WH offices and more direct access. Considering that Obama’s personal politicies differ from Volcker’s and fellow council members, this may be more “show” than “effect” on his future policies. Sorta the token Republican/business man/conservative to give the impression of “listening” and bipartisanship. More “theatrics”, of course.
I suspect after Obama’s theatrical play here, Owens may be a tad more leery of the COIC… as he should be.
@MataHarley:
I believe that it was Mark Steyn who came up with that, as I just saw it in one of his recent articles. But maybe he adopted it after hearing it from someone else as well.
Owens is a businessman fighting to save his company. Why pay to ship parts here and there and back again? Obama’s oilicies will severly hamper his efforts, maybe he’s figuring that out.
“Community Organizer in Chief… my new permanent title for the POTUS”
After seeing a clip of him today behind the big, wide desk in the OO sans suit jacket, helped me understand why others were referring to him as Erkel a few months ago. I like that, Erkel Obama.
Also in the Telegraph report that Missy posted:
“Mr Obama will continue to travel the country selling the next phases in his plans to turn America around,”
What next phases? And why does he need to sell anything? Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like O can’t get out of “campaign mode”. It’s getting very tiring to put up with the constant rhetoric.
Back to the 2009 Theft Act. We all heard that O wants health records to be computerized, and not surprisingly there’s a ton of money in the bill for developing a centralized system for Electronic Health Records (EHR).
However, there are also sizeable monetary incentives for doctors, clinics, and hospitals to use the system once it is designed.
Unfortunately, there are penalties for doctors, clinics, and hospitals who do not want to use the system (even for very good reasons, such as safeguarding patient data or protecting patient privacy). After 2015, the government will reduce payments for health services if these entities chose not to participate (or cannot participate due to insufficient Internet access). Oh, that’s right, the government is going to ensure that every citizen has access to and uses Advanced broadband services (whatever that means). It’s in the bill. Unfortunately, I took the time to read the whole damned thing.
Who’s going to pay for everyone to have advanced broadband, even if they can’t afford it? I suspect it will be determined to be a natural right, so everyone who CAN pay will likely have to subsidize those who cannot (or will not) pay. And to utilize broadband services requires a computer (and maybe a high-def TV with digital broadcast capabilities, no? I guess we’ll be subsidizing those as well.
The next administration cannot possibly get here too soon for my comfort. I happen to be one of those individuals who wold rather work for my lifestyle rather than just settle for what the government can scare up for me.
Call me a radical.
Jeff