Amazing that the DNC believes their ad to be a winning strategy: Let’s characterize and flippantly dismiss concerned Americans on both sides of the political aisle as nothing more than torches-and-pitchforks-style rabble-rousers. Brilliant.

Thanks to skye for use of her photos and apologizes to Dana Loesch for pillaging her photos like the uncouth, ill-mannered mobster, that I am.

The ones who are “scripted” and “astroturfed” are the Democratic leaders out there following their “playbook”. Any “community organizing” on the part of the vast rightwing conspiracy of an honest-to-goodness- grassroots movement should be described more like Miracle-Gro than the manure-fractured outrage which the term “astroturfing” suggests.

How dare they condescend and dismiss the concerns of real ordinary Americans! The reason why some of these “mob” citizens resort to anger and “shouting down” is because they already tried listening and reasoning with their congressional leader, and all they are getting back in return are DNC-talking points and pre-scripted answers. The Dem leaders aren’t engaged in debate and conversation but following their own Pelosified marching orders; they aren’t talking to their constituents, but at them.

Meet the mob.

Someone should make one of those “I’m with stupid ->” style t-shirts, but saying “I’m with the mob” with arrows pointing every which direction. Oh, and bring along some (cardboard/fake) torches and pitchforks.

Now, with the unrealistic financial demands on industries, combined with risking the taxpayers’ cash on the future of GM, the Dems find themselves between a “palladium” and a hard place with their economic policies.

They can opt to protect the US taxpayers investment in GM (aka Government Motors) by continuing to refuse to honor a GM contract with Stillwater to purchase their metals for catalytic converters at (oft times) higher than market prices.

Or they can shop on the free market, purchasing their metals cheaper from Russia or South Africa, and let the US PGM’s mining business cascade into the financial hole, and leave thousands of American workers jobless.

Democrat Governor Brian Schweitzer has picked which liberal economic approach he’s on… the side of his Montana miners. It is a vote for subsidies…. none of which would have to exist if the government didn’t create an environment for the lopsided playing field with their legislation.

The Montana citizens themselves get screwed either way. If they lose their mining jobs, the repercussions echo not only thru the Big Sky State, but potentially rumble all the way to NJ and CA where the metals are refined. But even if their jobs are saved, they… along with the nation’s taxpayers… lose because the new government owned GM cannot purchase the metals from foreign nations… not burdened with the US regulations, taxes and union contracts… at a better price.

What was that about chickens and roosting again?

As I pointed out, Gov. Schweitzer was demanding intervention from the O’admin. Schweitzer is looking for a bud in the WH for his miners, and today he’s just been handed a huge gift….Steve Rattner has resigned as the Obama top dog of auto czars, and passed the blow torch to Ron Bloom. And Bloom is fresh off his last gig of 13 years as the assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers union…. coincidently the same union who represents the Stillwater Mining Company’s workers.

… [Ron Bloom was] employed by the Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers union, which has 1.2 million working and retired members. Bloom has worked as a special assistant to the USW president since 1996 and his duties include helping the union affect corporate business restructuring, investments, bankruptcies and mergers. He is particularly known for working on deals related to recent steel industry bankruptcies. In many of these deals, the USW made considerable concessions in order to help steel companies stay afloat.

Needless to say, the USW will be demanding the ear of one who was formerly their own to step in to the situation, coming to the aid of their mine union workers. This, of course, would reverse what Rattner himself helped construct as he spent his entire five months tenure overseeing both the GM and Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings.

GM emerged from bankruptcy last week after removing tens of billions of dollars in debt. Chrysler emerged earlier from its own bankruptcy proceeding.

Both car companies are undergoing dramatic restructuring plans that will see them drop several brands and lay off tens of thousands of factory workers in states across the country. House and Senate lawmakers will see thousands of constituents lose jobs in the process as the industry tries to regain its footing.

“With GM’s restructuring complete, Steven Rattner, whose leadership and vision were invaluable to the auto task force’s efforts, has decided to transition back to private life and his family in New York City,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement on Monday.

Ron Bloom, who has had a leading role on the task force, will take over.

~~~

“With day-to-day management of these companies in the hands of the private sector, the American taxpayers have a better chance of recouping their investment in these companies,” Geithner said.

With any intervention from Bloom on behalf of the USW and Stillwater, we can safely say Geithner’s comment about GM being “…in the hands of the private sector” couldn’t be any further from the truth. Plus, this is an administration who has demonstrated they place union interests above secured investors and pensioners.

At this point, there is no way Bloom can turn that doesn’t shaft one party (the taxpayers, including Montana residents), or the other (Montana, and possibly CA and MJ jobs… as well as damaging the American PGM industry). Small wonder Rattner is beating feet…

Keep your popcorn handy.

Unlike community organizing, there’s nothing like owning a car manufacturer that drives home basic business common sense, eh?

One of the darlings of the Dems, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, is calling upon Obama to force his new, majority government owned GM, to honor it’s contract with Stillwater Mining for PGMs- i.e. platinum, palladium and other metals – that are used in catalytic converters to control car pollution.

With platinum and palladium mined in just two other countries, Russia and South Africa, Schweitzer said GM’s cancellation would put the U.S. at a strategic risk and hurt the mining industry.

A White House spokesman declined comment.

All the palladium and 70 percent of the platinum produced by Stillwater’s mines had gone to GM and Ford Motor Co. Stillwater representatives won’t give specifics on how much GM’s contract was worth. It had been set to expire in 2012.

Stillwater Vice President John Stark said the contract cancellation will be challenged at a July 22 hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Detroit-based GM defended its decision to cancel the Stillwater contract, saying the deal had been “uncompetitive” and could have hobbled its efforts to repay the government loan.

“We will continue to make difficult decisions that best position the new GM for long-term viability,” said GM spokesman Dan Flores. “There is an obligation to the taxpayers to provide a return on their investment to our company.”

The contract set a floor price requiring GM at times to buy metals at prices above those on the open market. It also set production volumes, meaning GM had to keep buying a set amount from Stillwater even as its vehicle production fell from 9.2 million cars in 2006 to 8.4 million last year.

The Ford contract has similar terms.

At recent palladium market prices, the contracts had been shielding Stillwater from the equivalent of $57 million in lost annual sales, according to the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

No wonder the WH is dodging… and no doubt hoping that the media won’t pick up on the dichotomy of it all… You *do* see what we have here, right? The two other countries that supply the needed PGM market are those that operate sans American OSHA and EPA regulations – and are free of union demands and contracts. The agreement between Ford (who is still profitable) and GM was subsidizing our American PGM market in order to make them competitive.

In other words, these companies were demonstrating some “Buy American” loyalty… all without mandates.

Not any more. Now, in a complete 180 degree attitude, the new “Government Motors”… with Obama and his Treasury and car czar, Steve Rattner, at the helm… recognize the difficulty of competing successfully because of the cost of operations with the subsidy, and have demanded the new government GM entity purchase it’s PGMs elsewhere for a better price.

Is this gonna drive the “outsourcing” crowd nuts, or what?

This would be hilarious, were it not for the potential of debilitating effects. At risk are not only the very existence of the giant of the US precious metal market and their 1300 Stillwater Mining American workers, but potentially it’s domino effect upon the refining facilities in both NJ and CA.

By failing to shield the platinum and palladium mines, the Democrat said Friday that the administration had shown a bias against his state — at a time when other U.S. jobs were protected with a “buy American” clause in the $787 billion stimulus act. GM is shedding its contracts with Stillwater Mining Co.’s platinum and palladium mines as part of the automaker’s emergence from bankruptcy protection.

Details of the case paint a complex picture: GM was effectively subsidizing production by Stillwater, often paying above market price for the metals. And since 2003, the mines have been majority-owned by a Russian company, Norilsk Nickel.

GM’s reorganization is fueled by $50 billion in government loans. The loans are separate from the stimulus bill.

“When it comes to protecting the industries of the Midwest it’s buy American first,” Schweitzer said. “When it comes to Montana, they say buy anywhere but Montana.”

The state’s sole U.S. representative, Republican Denny Rehberg, said it was “beyond outrageous” that GM would use bailout funds to “move American jobs overseas.”

First, we will have to correct the Montana Governor, as Obama did think better of the “Buy American” clause in the stimulus, and officially nixed that idea as sounding too “protectionist”. There was, as Gov. Schweitzer noted, an attempt in the original language to protect the American iron and steel (and presumably metals) industry specifically. However it was revamped to a more ambiguous wording that “…requires only that the government spends funds in ways that do not violate U.S. trade agreements.”

And how very convenient that is now, don’t you think?

But there is no doubt the internal war is about to break loose between the Dems and the different factions, reconciling their ideology of “Buy American” while simultaneously taxing and regulating them out of the country in order to survive.

INRE that Russian ownership… It’s true that in 2003, the purchase of 55% of stock in the US’s largest producer of PGM resources was approved by three federal agencies to Russia’s Norilsk. Within a few years, that majority percentage had fallen to 53%. By 2008, Norilsk was looking to sell.

The Moscow Times identified [Switzerland's] Xstrata and [South Africa's] Impala Platinum as potential buyers of the stake.

Lobanov said, “In a crisis situation, cash is king. And we have to prioritize our projects. He added that Russian projects would take precedence to foreign projects due to differences in production costs.”

“We had been hoping for a synergy with our palladium assets in the Russia and the United States, but it hasn’t worked out, ” Lobanov was quoted as saying by the Moscow Times. “The crisis has aggravated the situation with Stillwater Mining.”

Norilsk bought majority control of Stillwater in 2003 after Stillwater Mining officials said they had to sell stock or go bankrupt. The sale required the approval of three federal agencies because of regulations regarding the sale of companies with national security implications.

However, the Moscow Times calculated Norilsk’s Stillwater stake has fallen from the $270 million it paid four years ago ($4.83/sh) to its current value of $230 million.

During 2008, palladium has fallen from a high of $582/oz to $168/oz, according to Kitco London Fix charts. Over the past 52 weeks, Stillwater Mining stock hit a high of $22.72 as metals prices soared. By Friday, Stillwater stock closed at $3.05/sh.

Original forecasts projected a hoped range between $515K – $525K per PGM ounces. Actually 2008 sales documented $431/oz in the first half of 2008, compared to $382/oz for the same period in 2007.

Speculative investment in 2003 for an anticipated increased demand for PGMs in not only the auto industry, but electronics and dental alloys, fueled Norlisk’s decision to supplement Russia’s already high production sales in the world. (along with sundry criticisms they were attempt to control PGM world pricing, of course.) Add to that, the push for more hydrogen fuel cell technology, also requiring PGMs, and one would have thought purchasing Stillwater was a safe investment.

It is also true that the J-M Reef area is the only known US resource for PGMs, … while the only other resources for the PGMs are largely produced out of Russia and South Africa. Needless to say, Stillwater Mining, and other smaller entities represent the sole US resource of rare metals in the world.

Welcome to Economics 101, Congress and Obama. Both are long overdue in getting some basic common sense business experience and executive management. And perhaps this may make these big spending elitists think twice about the additional regulations on US business they are proposing… now that they are CEOs of government owned enterprises. ah, ahem… can you say “cap and tax”? (Okay… I doubt it….)

Now Stillwater is demanding WH intervention, or they will find themselves filing with many others for relief and appeal against the lawsuits being held by the “old” GM. They’ve already been put on the S&P credit watch list because of this contract cancellation.

If the Obama administration does not intervene and Stillwater fails to get relief through bankruptcy court, the company would have to file a claim for its losses and line up alongside the automaker’s many other creditors.

The stark reality of economics will be a bitter pill for the lofty-ideology types to swallow now. On one hand, we have cascading job loss, unions and incestuous relationships with Obama’s auto czars, and the financial jeopardy of the largest entity responsible for extracting a rare US resource that is in high demand. On the other hand is the US taxpayer, on the hook for Government Motors and the demand for profitability.

Now what remains to be seen is just how will Obama, and his union entrenched auto czars, react to this push-pull between making GM profitable; or continuing to subsidize the heavily regulated and non-conpetitive US mining industry and placate the united steelworkers union…. an entity that Rattner’s auto czar sidekick, Ron Bloom understands well as he was – until February – assistant to the United Steelworkers union president.

Can you say “ rock palladium and a hard spot”?

China has asked rather politely, that the U.S. maintain its creditworthiness. No kidding? That plea was less a wish that the U.S. not skip town on its debt (devalue the dollar dramatically), than it was a declaration of a deep desire for a return to excessive U.S. borrowing. When the U.S. borrowed, it bought. When it bought, China prospered. This is rather basic, however, what is not so evident, or obvious to many pundits and experts, it seems, is the fact that China became inebriated through the glory days of consumerism. China now suffers the consequences of its acquiescence to a surety that the intoxicating euphoria enjoyed around the globe for a generation, would never end.

China understood that to become America’s principal provider of goods, it had to manufacture less expensively than anyone else. China excelled at squeezing productivity out of its labor force. It rapidly implemented a sweeping expansion of the necessary infrastructure to manufacture products faster, better (sometimes), and cheaper (always). New plants sprouted at an unprecedented rate. China’s expansion of its machine was based on an enormous assumption – the rate of growth it was enjoying through exports would continue unabated. It is now shutting down plants faster than it opened them. The capacity that was preparing for demand twenty years out, is now shutting down, and the Chinese are not about to ramp up their own consumption to energize reopening of the plants. While China has become a major manufacturer, the majority of its manufacturing is for, and on behalf of foreigners, selling established brands. China’s authoritarian “system” has made the creation and recognition of its own brands, all but impossible.

American consumers are not returning to the binge behavior of the past twenty years, although their ambivalence on trade with Asia persists. As for China, it focused on creating trade surpluses, and it adroitly squeezed its workers, but it did not prepare them, or its industries for broad based consumption. It has not created a self-sustaining, stable economic environment. China will dip into its coffers to stimulate internal employment, spending on infrastructure, or investing in what it knows best – export industries. Endeavoring to attract foreign investments, China will claim improvements in efficiencies, forensics, accountability and accounting practices of its indigenous infrastructure. The claims are beyond its ability to deliver. Until such critical elements as property rights, or a welfare breadbasket are implemented through appropriate taxation, Chinese consumers will be more prone to save, as they must individually concern themselves with how to pay for tomorrow’s meals.

Any cash China spends outside will go to acquiring natural resource producers for pennies on the dollar in the present climate, and countries, including Canada will be happy to sell out. This will do absolutely nothing for the long-term health of the North American economy.

There are currently foreign reserves of around $7.5 trillion held around the world with particular concentration of dollars held in East Asia, where since the late 1990s there was perceived need to protect against currency speculations, and a tendency, no, make that urgency, to feed (finance) the American engine driving China’s growth. We should note that the size of China’s reserve accumulations have, in the past couple of years, attracted the very speculation they sought to themselves protect from, which has further accelerated the bloating imbalance. The size of China’s dollar reserves forces a tentative, even precarious, equanimity between the U.S. and China, but it is a potent equilibrium nonetheless. It will be a long road traveled before China finds sustainable balance in savings, consumption, exports, and internally stimulated (broad based) investment. It will also be a long wait before we witness demonstrations of international responsibility emerging out of China. Until then, China will continue to flex its new-found influence to push for such things as an independent currency a few degrees removed from the dollar.

The world’s economic history has been fueled by leaps from one bubble to the next, but the current recession may have a long wait for the next bubble of consequence that will yank the world out of the doldrums. Whatever its form, it is not likely to come out of the less than transparent, state owned, and controlled economy of communist China. China has created a massive middle class in a single generation, but it has yet to empower it. China will not soon be supplanting Americans, or Europeans, in the mall line-ups yearning for China-made-American-invented-branded-and-engineered products. American consumers are unconsciously pushing back the clock on that empowerment of the Chinese middle class through their dramatic behavior modification of the past year. Like it or not, global economic stability will for the foreseeable future depend on the West, and very particularly on America.

Crossposted from The Pacific Gate Post

62 million Americans now have absolutely no voice in the way our country is being governed. No say in the quadrupling of our debt or in the onerous taxes being piled on top of record unemployment. They have no say in the pending trillion dollar health care ‘reform’ or the more costly ‘cap and trade’ legislation steadily making its way through Congress.

With Democrats firmly in control of the White House and the House of Representatives, and most likely the Senate, the left has found no need for bipartisanship. After all, ‘Obama won.’ Case closed.

Should any pesky Republican complain, the voice goes unheard – kinda like a tree falling in a forest. Did it really fall if no one heard it? The right is reduced to pondering questions like these as the left continues implementing radical change at breakneck speed. Changes that affect every segment of our society and every single American. Changes that are being implemented without the requisite ‘national conversation’. Why hold a conversation?

The left is in control and there is no need to consult with the people they were elected to govern. The politicians and the experts know best. And should the GOP try to halt this tsunami of ‘change’, a quick change of the filibuster rule to 51 instead of 60 is put in place. That’ll teach em.

Under the guise of fighting the non-crisis of global warming, the EPA has declared the very air we breathe to be dangerous. Not to worry. Uncle Sam will save us. Here comes cap and trade. It will only cost $3,100 extra in energy costs per family.

Under the guise of universal health care, our government is preparing to take over app. 17% of our economy by nationalizing health care. Not to worry, they are consulting with the policymakers in Canada responsible for the sterling healthcare in that country. The very same government health care that forces Canadians to come to the US to get their medical needs taken care of. 

Under the guise of saving the economy, the feds have taken over banks, insurance companies and car companies, prompting even thug dictator Chavez to joke, “Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right.”  

Under the guise of saving us from those nasty capitalists, Obama has appointed a new Pay Czar to make sure no-one is paid more than the politicians deem they are worth. At least those who are unfortunate to work for companies that have received bailout funds. And in one case, the formerly sovereign state of South Carolina has actually been forced to take bailout funds, and accept all the strings that come with it.

Consent of the governed is being ignored as the Obama administration hijacks ever more power to the federal government, in direct contravention of the 10th amendment and the Constitution. And 62 million Americans can do nothing except marvel at the audacity.

The left is rejoicing at finally being able to implement utopia here on earth. A utopian vision that has consistently failed whenever it has been foisted upon a populace, either through charisma or brute force. But never mind. Obama’s utopia will work, experts assure us.

The experts who now hold us hostage are first and foremost, political beings, having been appointed ‘czars’ on the basis of political connections as opposed to merit. They are thoroughly steeped in theory and liberal orthodoxy and severely lacking in real world experience.

These unelected czars (15 at last count) now have control of our tax dollars and the regulatory bureaucracy that enables them to enforce their whims. Whims which are based more on political expediency than the rule of law. They will never be held accountable when their theories are tested and fail. And fail they must, as history has taught the 62 million people who didn’t vote for Obama.

As we speak, the left, with the willing compliance of an adoring media, are kowtowing to our enemies while demonizing and penalizing capitalists, the very wealth creators whose money now allows the government to implement an agenda anti ethical to the American way of life.

The Obama administration, under the guise of tolerance, inclusion, multiculturalism, empathy and concern for the disenfranchised, are destroying jobs though regulation and taxation. A total of 2.19 million jobs have been lost since Obama became President. (The news that Wal-Mart will be adding 22,000 jobs this year is ignored, as they did it without unions or government help.)

The Democrats are enacting legislation that makes it impossible for America to become energy independent, while at the same time, partnering with Arab countries to help them develop nuclear energy.

Our ‘leaders’ are burdening America with an unsustainable level of debt while at the same time, continuing to send our tax dollars ($106 Billion) to the IMF to bail out the world. And sending $200 million more to Pakistan to help out with their refugees.

The Left, with Obama as its messiah, believing that all cultures and countries should be equal, are systematically reducing America to third world status. A level playing field at last. Whew.

Meanwhile, the 62 million people who didn’t vote for Obama wait in vain for their own elected representatives to stand up and say STOP. Alas, aside from a handful of Republicans like Sarah Palin, Mark Sanford, Jim DeMint, Rick Perry and Dick Cheney, the silence from the Republicans is deafening.

62 million Americans are watching America squander its greatness on the altar of catchy, unproven, politically correct notions. And this American is wondering if the destructive policies that are being foisted upon us without our consent and without debate, are being enacted through stupidity or design.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Eager to show action on the ailing economy, President Barack Obama promised Monday to speed federal money into hundreds of public works projects this summer, vowing that 600,000 jobs will be created or saved.

Surrounded by his Cabinet, Obama emphasized what has become a dominant issue of public concern—an economy that keeps bleeding jobs—on the day after returning from a week of diplomacy and sightseeing in the Middle East and Europe.

Did you see that? Since President Obama was elected, the US has lost about 600,000 jobs EACH MONTH, and to counter this President Obama is pledging to speed things up with the fake “stimulus spending” so that over 3 months, 600,000 jobs are created. Those jobs will be created at a cost of [DRUM ROLL...] about $1500000000 EACH!!!!!!!! Forget the fact that he’s only gonna create one month’s worth of jobs to counter 9 months of losses, the jobs he DOES create will be uber spending fiascos. No way-NO WAY are the people doing the new National Mall landscaping gonna get $1.5 BILLION each, but that’s what they’ll cost. So…where’s the rest of the money go? Ask ACORN.

In the meantime, remember 2 things:
1) This is happening on Obama’s watch
2) George W Bush never had us in this much of a mess

But once again – as Mike’s A pointed out with the auto makers – Obama is flexing his muscles on behalf of the unions. And in this case, Arnie, the guvernator, is finding his diminutive stature eyeball to belly button with Obama over a renegotation with the SEIU service employees union. And right now, Arnie’s not got the wind at his back because Obama’s holding the stimulus funds hostage.

The short story? Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers approved cuts in the state’s contribution to SEIU unionized home healthcare workers in February as part of the budget. The Obama admin says “no way…”. Reinstate their wages, or no stimulus money…. Why? It violates provisions in Obama’s simulus program, ARRA.

Schwarzenegger’s office was advised this week by federal health officials that the wage reduction, which will save California $74 million, violates provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Failure to revoke the scheduled wage cut before it takes effect July 1 could cost California $6.8 billion in stimulus money, according to state officials.

~~~

The wages at issue involve workers who care for some 440,000 low-income disabled and elderly Californians. The workers, who collectively contribute millions of dollars in dues each month to the influential Service Employees International Union and the United Domestic Workers, will see the state’s contribution to their wages cut from a maximum of $12.10 per hour to a maximum of $10.10.

The SEIU said in a statement that it had asked the Obama administration for the ruling.

Naturally it was a bitterly partisan battle last winter – with compromises finally achieved – centered around cutting back the rapidly expanding and costly In Home Supportive Services program.

…the average IHSS recipient will go from having 37 hours of domestic and related services to 30.4 hours per month, and their total services will be reduced from 86.6 hours to 80 hours per month.

The link above gives the arguments pro and con as to whether the cuts actually achieve the desired savings. Then again, as we see with today’s news that the WH is again wrong with their budget math, it’s hardly surprising that proponents and opposition would want to debate their figures… eventually showing that probably none of them are correct. But California, in a severe cash crisis and said to be out of money by July, desperately needs to find workable cuts.

Obama, along with Pelosi and Reid, have taken California’s ability to make cuts with this union off the table with their simulus legislation. In addition, it’s forcing California Republicans, who championed the reductions, to cooperate with the Obama admin’s demand the wages be reinstated. To do otherwise puts a GOP face on the loss of stimulus funds. In other words, political blackmail is still alive and well… regardless of the logic of state budget reductions.

Reversing the wage cut would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, meaning Republican support would be needed.

Schwarzenegger on Wednesday sent U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius a letter urging the federal government to reconsider.

“Neither the Legislature nor I make decisions to reduce wages or benefits lightly, but only as a last resort in response to an unprecedented fiscal crisis,” Schwarzenegger wrote.

Now that you have some background, today’s news from the LA Times is that some officials in Arnie’s office are saying the SEIU may have had “inappropriate influence” over the Obama administration’s decision to hold the stimulus hostage.

The officials say they are particularly troubled that the Service Employees International Union, which lobbied the federal government to step in, was included in a conference call in which state and federal officials reviewed the wage cut and the terms of the stimulus package.

California Secretary of Health and Human Services Kim Belshe said she could not recall another instance in which the federal government invited a significant stakeholder group into such government-to-government negotiations.

“The involvement of a stakeholder in this kind of state-federal deliberative process is unusual at best,” she said. “This was really atypical and outside any norm I am familiar with.”

In addition to several state and federal officials, participants in the April 15 conference call included an SEIU associate general counsel in Washington, a lobbyist for SEIU in California and a representative from SEIU’s policy staff in California, according to a list provided by the Schwarzenegger administration.

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to hear that SEIU spokeswoman, Michelle Ringuette, calls these accusations “absurd” and that, in fact, they were merely pointing out that the California legislature was not in compliance with law.

“We lobbied the Obama administration to get the stimulus money to California as quickly as possible, and we pointed out when the state considered action in violation” of the terms for receiving those funds, she said. “We make no apology . . . for expecting the Schwarzenegger administration to obey the law.”

So far, the Obama admin is mum on the issue… another surprise, eh?

It should be noted that the SEIU contributed $33 mil to the Obama campaign. Not beholding there… nah.

This will, no doubt, fuel heated emotions and misstatements about those who will be victims as a result of the cuts. But in days when everyone is tightening their belt, can in-house care still be achieved with a few less hours a week, and with those providing the service accepting less state contributions to their wages?

Well… the auto workers agreed to it. But perhaps that was because Obama orchestrated that wage reduction. Apparently, when his union buds call for help, he’s not so inclined to allow the California government officials that same power.

According to an outline the company has been sharing privately with Washington legislators, the number of cars that GM sells in the United States and builds in Mexico, China and South Korea will roughly double.

The proportion of GM cars sold domestically and manufactured in those low-wage countries will rise from 15 percent to 23 percent over the next five years, according to the figures contained in a 12-page presentation offered to lawmakers in response to their questions about overseas production.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy shrank at a worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace at the start of this year as sharp cutbacks by businesses and the biggest drop in U.S. exports in 40 years overwhelmed a rebound in consumer spending.

The Commerce Department’s report, released Wednesday, dashed hopes that the recession’s grip on the country loosened in the first quarter. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 5 percent annualized decline.

The Labor Department on Wednesday said that all 372 metropolitan areas tracked saw their jobless rates rise in March from a year earlier. The rate in Indiana’s Elkhart-Goshen region soared to 18.8 percent, a 13 percentage-point increase that was the most in the country.

The national jobless rate is now at a quarter-century high of 8.5 percent and is expected to hit 10 percent by the end of this year. It will probably rise a bit higher in early 2010 before starting to slowly drift downward. Still, the Fed predicts unemployment will stay elevated into 2011, and economists don’t think it will return to normal — around a 5 percent jobless rate — until 2013.

Help me out here….
6-7million Americans out of work
Obama and Democrats’ pseudo-”stimulus” plan is sold as a way to “save or create” 2-3 million jobs.

Now, my math might not be as good as theirs, but that seems to leave juuuuust a little shortfall. No?

Also, how does killing the F-22 program (thereby killing another 100000 Lockheed jobs) and allowing GM & Chrysler to sink HELP the economy?

By now, everyone knows the Old Gray Lady is in deep financial trouble and may not survive much longer as the Democrat Party’s chief media ally. Boo hoo! Mark Bowden, writing at Vanity Fair has a thorough, historical review of the paper if you are interested.

But the real story here is the squeeze the NY Times is putting on workers at it’s Boston newspaper: The Boston Globe. Threatening to close the paper in 30 days if the unions which represent workers at the facility do not agree to draconian cuts in wages, health benefits and 401k retirement accounts. Hundreds of jobs are at stake.

Interesting that in the three recent editorials the NY Times published regarding the auto manufacturers bailout (1,2,3) the emphasis was almost entirely focused on management, with the Times Editorial Board in full support of forcing General Motor’s CEO Rick Wagoner to resign. Boston workers have wondered when NYTimes executives will face similar accountability?

NY Times Hypocrisy on the Benefits of Organized Labor

Let’s not forget that the Times has been a huge backer of Card Check legislation which would make it much easier for union organizers to intimidate workers and eliminate the secret ballot to decide whether workplaces should be unionized.

In the December 2008 editorial the Times praised unions for protecting wages and benefits and decreasing the “unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay.” They went on to warn that “In the Clinton era, financial issues routinely trumped labor concerns. If Mr. Obama’s campaign promises are to be kept, that mindset cannot prevail again.”

That was then, this is now. And don’t hold your breathe waiting for New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. to resign. Like everything else in liberal land, what’s good for others like the CEO at GM will never be applied to an icon of the left.