An Open Letter to the President-Elect

November 5th, 2008

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Why McCain Lost

November 4th, 2008

In short, McCain shares a political party with George W Bush. With a weak economy and two wars, the voters were determined to “Throw the bums out.”

Last year, I was talking with Paul Miller who, at the time, was a Rudy Giuliani supporter. I explained to him that, like Bob Dole in 1996, it was McCain’s “turn”. Not that he would necessarily be the best candidate for the GOP, but that he would be what people could settle on as a candidate who “won’t burn the place down” to quote a popular dorm presidency candidate.

Every two years, House Reps and (1/3 of) Senators have to face their constituents. The fact of the matter is that the Republican Party hasn’t earned the voters’ trust. Regardless of the fact that the President and Congress were of different parties, the electorate blames its problems on the President. The coattails work both way. Obama had a good night as Bush had a bad one.

Had the economy continued to hum along as it had since 2003, this election may have been very different. Had the current administration brought Osama bin Laden to justice, this election may have been very different. Had the President not enacted the most sweeping rollback of freedoms in modern history, this election may have been very different. Had Cunningham, Foley and the rest served their constituents without being assholes, this election may have been very different.

John McCain is a good man who served his country honorably in Vietnam, the House and Senate. Short of wearing long hair and white robes, there was virtually no way he could stem the tide of what is being called a “vote revolt” (even though popular votes are still pretty much 50/50 indicating otherwise). This was the time for a Democratic president. Like Dole, McCain ended up being a sacrificial lamb.

The Republican party has much to do in the next two years to regain the trust of the people. I’ll write on that another time.

In the meantime, with this election concluded, I can now formally announce my intention to run for President of the United States in 2012. It will be a tough campaign, but like the voters tonight, I’m tired of business as usual in Washington. And despite Obama’s victory, it will continue to be more of the same.

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Great Article by Andrew Napolitano

October 29th, 2008

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122523872418278233.html

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The Endorsements

October 27th, 2008

Summary: For those who haven’t seen prior endorsements, I only endorse in races of interest to me that are local. I don’t know if your House Rep from Tallahassee is doing their job well (or even their name for that that matter). I don’t have the proper background to tell you who should be on the Cook County Board of Review or which judges should be retained. The races below are races that I care about.

In national races, the endorsements broke out: Democrat 40%, Republican 30.0% and Libertarian 30.0%. Overall endorsements were: Democrat 37.5%, Republican 43.75%, Libertarian 18.75%.
President: Barack Obama (D) v John McCain (R). Readers of previous posts will not be surprised to know that Obama is not endorsed. Instead, I am recommending a split vote. John McCain is endorsed for those living in battleground states (Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, etc). Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate is endorsed in uncontested (aka “given”) states (Illinois, New York, Wyoming, etc). Ballot access is the greatest challenge to third parties and garnering minimum numbers of votes in national and state elections provides automatic ballot access in the next cycle. For the record, there are still a few areas in which I disagree with Libertarians, but the general concept of limited government is a good one.
US Senate: Dick Durbin (D) v Steve Sauerberg (R). Larry Stafford, Libertarian is endorsed. If you can’t stomach voting Libertarian, vote Durbin. Sauerberg hasn’t convinced me that he can do anything other than bash his opponent. Durbin, as a ranking member of the (likely to remain) majority party will continue to help the state even as he helps to destroy the country.
US House 8th District: Melissa Bean (D) v Steve Greenberg (R). Melissa Bean has moderated very quickly since getting elected two years ago and has become a fitting representative of her constituency. She is endorsed.
US House 14th District: Bill Foster (D) v Jim Oberweis (R). Bill Foster won the special election in May by a narrow margin. He has figured out how to take the underground tunnels from his office to the House chamber to vote. Jim Oberweis is beginning to become a joke, running for whatever office is up for election at the time. Jim Oberweis is a fiscal and social conservative. Bill Foster presents as a social and fiscal moderate, but he hasn’t been in office long enough to know how far left he will lean. Given the relative sleaziness of the Oberweis campaign, I’ll take my chances with Bill Foster.
US House 10th District: Dan Seals (D) v Mark Kirk (R). Mark Kirk is of a similar mold to yours truly. Fiscal conservative, social moderate/liberal. Dan Seals has talent but is beholden to the Chicago Machine and hasn’t bothered to move to the district he’s running to represent in the three years he’s been running. Mark Kirk is the only Congressional candidate I’ve ever donated to. Those who know how cheap I am, know that’s a pretty strong endorsement.
IL State Senate 29^th District: Susan Garrett (D) is running unopposed. Sean Diddy Combs is endorsed.
IL State House 58^th District: Karen May (D) v Timothy Stratton (R). Karen May is a known entity who has tried hard to listen to those living in her diverse district even if she doesn’t always vote the way they’d like. I’ve met her on a few occasions and believe her to be sincere and passionate. Karen May is endorsed.
Lake County State’s Attorney: Michael Jacobs (D) v Michael Waller (R). The standard line is to always vote Republican for officials responsible for trying and jailing criminals. Michael Waller has also done a pretty good job to boot and is endorsed.
Cook County State’s Attorney: Anita Alvarez (D) v Tony Peraica (R). Anita Alvarez is part of the Chicago Machine. Anita Alvarez takes $30,000 in campaign contributions from her employees. Anita Alvarez needs to win to sweep the prisoner abuse scandal under the rug for Mayor Daley. Tony Peraica is in danger of becoming another Jim Oberweis if he keeps running for every office in Cook County until he gets elected. Alvarez is crooked – Tony Peraica is endorsed.

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The case for McCain

October 22nd, 2008

Facebook friends have noticed that I have joined the group ‘Supporters of John McCain’ and some are upset. Calling me dirty names like “Republican.” For me there never really was a choice other than the Arizona Senator, although I still have my reservations about what his presidency would be like.

Early this year, I spoke with Paul Miller, who was still under the delusion that Rudy Guliani be the nominee. I explained to him that, similar to Bob Dole in 1996, it was McCain’s turn and events would unfold to guarantee him the nomination. I voted for McCain in the Illinois primary. There was no point pulling a Democratic ballot as I did in 2004, because the race in Illinois was a kissing booth for Obama.

Had Hillary Clinton won the nomination, I would have given the presidential race more consideration after the nominations were assured. I would still have gone with McCain in the end, but I would have slept better with her in office over Obama.

While the McCain campaign has been piss-poor at communicating the message, this election is all about Obama: his ability to lead, to take positions that may be unpopular with his party, to serve as commander in cheif. Much has been said of McCain voting with Bush 90% of the time, but Obama has voted with Pelosi/Reid 95% of the time. The policies be proposes are socialistic in nature and will ultimately do more harm than good.

Socialism. Let’s start with Obama’s ‘tax cuts’ for the middle class. Looking at the details, this is accomplished by the use of refundable tax credits. The government will give you check for $1,000 for you doing something fitting in with their agenda and make you a dependent on the federal teet. It’s taking money from the “wealthy” and giving it to the poor. Income redistribution. Socialist. Ask them again how its really a refund of payroll taxes, but it doesn’t draw down the “trust funds.”

Health care. Small businesses not offering health insurance to their employees will be fined by the government and forced to pay into an insurance pool created by the governmnet. Another entitlement program and a serious hit to small businesses.

Foreign policy. The current environment does not lend itself to on the job training. I’d prefer someone a little more battle-tested. That having been said, the pick of the Alaska Governor for veep doesn’t exactly sit well with me either.

Economy. See prior post on fears of a filibuster-proof Democratic majority.

There are other reasons, but this will do for now. Endorsements coming up soon.

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An Argument for a Split Executive and Congress

September 25th, 2008

Generally, the best that we as taxpayers can hope for in an election cycle is borrowed from medicine, “Do no harm.” Recently, I have been engaged in a Facebook sparring match with an old high school friend. He, apparently a democrat and angry over what’s happened over the past 8 years, and I, a Centrist-Capitalist, who’s also a little upset over what’s happened recently.

Facebook limits your postings to above a 1/4 of a viewable page at a time (using pretty small type). He and I have had to post multiple items to get our points across. In my latest response to him, I pointed out what I consider to be virtues of having control split between the two major parties until such a time as a legitimate third party can muster a strong minority in Congress. My logic was based primarily on what would likely happen with either of the two current candidates having a mandate and a fillibuster-proof majority. Below were my arguments.

The case against full Democratic control:

1) The Democrats (and Obama) support union initiatives to kill the secret ballot provisions of organization voting. Imagine the pressure co-workers who are PRO, would exert on those who were opposed to organizing at that time. A secret ballot should be just as important in unionizing as it is in selecting a president. I don’t want this passed and signed.

2) Democrats are heavily supported by teachers unions. These organizations make it harder to remove ineffective teachers from the classroom. These organizations, in charge of educating our children for years have seen a decline in education standards in the US relative to other Western nations. These organizations oppose trying new things to turn it aronud (charter schools, voucher programs) and want your children sentenced to the inferior pulic education systems plagueing many of our inner cities. No Child Left Behind was an interesting idea when first conceived, but like everything else created by government, is a disaster. Democrats want to make fixes to the program and I applaud that, but if the fixes are written by the NEA, they won’t have the children in mind. Again, I don’t want this passed and signed in a kissing-booth environment.

3) Raising the capital gains tax will hurt the economy and have lasting impact on your retirement funds.

4) The refundable tax credits are Welfare and are designed to make people dependent on the government and the Democrats who enact them.

5) Jimmy Carter’s foreign policies do not deserve another chance.

6) Foreign trade agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA and the (currently stalled in negotiation) OAS treaty are good for the US Economy and for the world. It is not the place of the United States to require other nations to agree in a treaty that jobs in that foreign country earn US union wages or meat US union work standards. The US has decreased its trade deficits with Mexico and Canada since NAFTA was passed (meaning we’re exporting more). And sometimes it’s okay to let the other country have a little win as well.

7) Continued expansion of an unwinnable drug war. Prosecution of doctors for prescribing marijuana to cancer patients in a state where it was made legal by referrendum.

The case against full Republican control

1) Continued reliance on trickle-down economics. This current crisis, is a relative blip on that radar. At least with tax and spend, there is money raised to cover the new expenditures. At some point, you have to start paying your borrowings off. With that kind of debt, you’re talking about MASSIVE tax hikes and inflation.

2) Nation-building is not our job. We should not poke sleeping bears. However, we should also not be meet with dictators who are sworn do destroy our allies.

3) Separation of Church and State is in the Constitution for a reason. Make sure your own house in order before interfering in the choices of others with their bodies. Abstinence-only education is a joke. There is no reason to force the teaching of creationism in our public schools.

4) Gays should be allowed to marry and pay as much in taxes as the rest of us do. I don’t care if you give it a different name or not. For that matter, if they are willing to die for their country, sign them up.

5) The party of “Smaller Government” created the largest Federal buerocracy in history to create the illusion of security.

6) No bid contracts. Not just in Iraq.

7) Continued expansion of an unwinnable drug war. Prosecution of doctors for prescribing marijuana to cancer patients in a state where it was made legal by referrendum.

8) Privatizing Social Security. In the short term, it diverts funds from the alleged lock box into the market as opposed to being available for deficit spending (that’s not great either, but serves a purpose for now). In the long term, it serves only to enrich those money managers in the good graces of the administration at the time.

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The Bailout

September 23rd, 2008

There’s been much ink spilled about the Federal bailout of risky bets made by major banks and investment houses. People point to capitalism and say that its failures have led us where we are today.

Capitlism isn’t responsible for this mess. Socialism is. Socialism led the Federal Government to encourage Fannie/Freddie to accept risky mortgages with small down payments so that buyers who were otherwise unqualified for a loan could buy their first home. Socialism is bringing you this bailout of people stretched too thin to buy in the first place and their bankers. Socialism will have the Federal Government as a shareholder in public companies - just like China.

Capitalism would essentially say “Sorry things didn’t work out. Leave your keys in the candy dish by the front door.” Capitalism would let the investment bankers fail and serve as a cautionary tale for others. Capitalism, left without government interference in this matter, would find rational pricing for the distressed debt responsible for this intervention and buyers would emerge.

Capitalism would probably cause a recession, but it would be relatively short lived and the economy’s fundamentals would be stronger afterward. The lingering effects of the Socialist bailout will be more pronounced and longer lived because artificial floors will be created instead of letting things reach their natural equilibrium.

Socialism will have the government buy these bad loans for $700 billion and then have a reverse auction to sell the assets - virtually guaranteeing a loss for the taxpayer in the range of $200+ billion.

Socialism will pay for this folly by raising your taxes (and if you don’t understand how changes in cap gains taxes can still affect your 401k then I can’t halp you) and stifle growth. Socialism will pay for this folly by printing more money and decreasing your purchasing power.

This scheme will hurt every American: taxpayer or not, homeowner or not, forclosee or not. The Presidential candidates are no help. Neither understands the magnitude of this situation. McCain opposes the bailout, but can’t intelligibly explain why. Obama, will vote for anything making people more dependent on the Federal Government.

You don’t get a vote on this one. Both parties are eager to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING before the November elections. Contact your congressperson and tell them to vote NO! If you kinda like the bailout, then at least encourage them to make a stink over a particular part of the bailout (how about the no court oversight thing for example?). Or that they should include a rider in the bill for pornographic NEA grants — whatever it takes to give people a little more time to think before we commit to this!

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Change of Address

May 1st, 2007

We’ve moved. Not that it’s the reason behind my infrequest postings of late (laziness would be the answer there).

You can get the details at here.

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In Defense of Senator Clinton

February 16th, 2007

Last Saturday, while Barak Obama announced his candidacy for president to a press corp squealing like a bunch of teenage girls at a boy band concert, Hillary Clinton faced some uncomfortable questioning at a town hall meeting in Berlin, New Hampshire.

Roger Titlon drove three hours to deliver his zinger question to the Senator. It was, “I want to know if right here, right now, once and for all and without nuance, you can say that war authorization was a mistake. I, and I think a lot of other primary voters — until we hear you say it, we’re not going to hear all the other great things you are saying.”

Hillary responded thusly: “Well I have said, and I will repeat it, that knowing what I know now, I never would have voted for it. But I also (applause), I mean obviously you have to weigh everything as you make your decision. I have taken responsibility for my vote. The mistakes were made by this president who misled this country and this Congress into a war that should not have been waged.”

The press has been playing this as Hillary’s refusal to accept that she made a mistake in voting for the war and has been skewering her all week. She’s right.

It was not a mistake to vote for the war given the information she had at the time. Several respected government leaders provided a wealth of information and the entire intelligence committee voted in its favor. Hindsight is always 20/20 and she answered the question properly. The MOVEON.ORG extreme left of her party would be wise to shut their yaps and drop these pointless attacks on her or she will have no reason to cowtow to them if she makes it to the general election (which may be in her best interests anyway).

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It’s a Girl!

February 15th, 2007

Congratulations to new parents Joe and Maria Liza. Jasmine Elizabeth Batiller was born at 10:13AM on Valentine’s Day. Woe be it to her future husband if he dares forget…

Jasmine clocked in at 5 lbs 13.5 oz and she and her mother are doing well.

This also breaks the streak at 4 for the number of consecutive boys born to the IU gang (2 Millers and 2 Poulters prior).

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Same crap… different speaker…

January 15th, 2007

House Democrats, in their first 100 hours push have passed a minimum wage increase to $7.25 over the next two years. Of note, is the continued exemption from the act of American Samoa, a US territory, where the current minimum wage of $2.63 remains unchanged.

Now follow me here a bit… American Samoa’s largest private employer is the canned tuna industry. A large portion of the remainder of private employment supplies goods related to the tuna industry.

The two largest producers of tuna in American Samoa are Chicken of the Sea and Starkist. Starkist is a Del Monte Foods product. Del Monte is headquartered in… wait for it… San Fransicso. Home to current House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

So… American Samoans working for Del Monte can be paid two-thirds less than their counterparts in San Fransico!

Rich Galen, a conservative talking head, puts it best. “Exempting Del Monte from the minimum wage is just as much an earmark as anything pushed through by Randy “Duke” Cunningham.”

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Flying while Muslim?

December 6th, 2006

I really can’t put it better than Debra Burlingame of the WTC Memorial Foundation.

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Innagural Moats Award

November 20th, 2006

A friend of mine from college, David Groshoff, used to bestow ”awards” on his blog to examples of stupid behavior demonstrating that the causes he fought against were unjust. The most popular award, ironically “honoring” a politician opposed to gay rights, was frequently given to heterosexual parents caging their children, leaving them at home alone for two weeks with only dog food to eat, etc. The point he was trying to make was that those who think that homosexuals are unfit to raise children weren’t exactly doing a bang-up job either.

LOUISSTONE.COM whipping boy, Bob Moats, is legendary for the things he has done under the influence of alcohol. A 10-year period of his life can be written up as a cautionary tale on the ills of drinking that could cause mass conversions to Mormonism. Bob is not an alcoholic. He is a good guy, who at his peak, had a little too much fun when the scotch was poured. Bob’s legend reached cult status some 11 (?) years ago when he brought home a lady after a night of drinking -that was a pig in shoes - to be kind. To this day (and he’s married!) he receives the occasional teasing over his evening with the “Bush League B*tch”.

Activist types like to blame alcohol for a littany problems in society. I have always said that it’s not the booze but the drinker that’s the problem. The Moats Award, will therefore be given to great examples of purity and intellect that occcur clean and sober. Perhaps demonstrating that you don’t have to have tied one on to be a complete idiot.

And the first recipient…

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What we can take away from 11/7

November 8th, 2006

1. Negative Ads Work
I don’t care what the pundits say or what wishful people think. Reducing an election choice to the lesser of two evils seems to work beautifully. Primaty evidence being the Illinois Governor’s race. Secondary is Cook County President.

Blagojevich went negative almost immediately after the primaries making Topinka seem like a piece of scum, when in reality, she was a respected public servant - she just doesn’t have a drop of charisma. Stroger’s camp successfully pinned a host of allegations on Peraica - that even if true (they weren’t) - had nothing to do with the office he was seeking. Stroger’s campaign manager even admitted to “filling in the blanks” with the accusation that Peraica wanted to cut county health funding (actually Peraica wanted a mild expansion by hiring more primary care providers). Stroger campaign manager’s words: “He’d have to…”

2. It was all about President Bush
A few individual races were run on their own merit but this election was overwhelmingly a rebuke of Bush policies in Iraq and at home.

Had we pulled out of Iraq when he declared “Mission Accomplished”, this would have been a very different election. If the typical voter could feel the effects of our “improving” economy, this would have been a very different election.

The president’s coattails actually tripped up several moderate Republicans who should have won easily if not for the electorate’s feelings about the President. And those that survived are the ones that best distanced themselves from him.

3. It had nothing to do with Democratic Strategy
Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi will be quick to trumpet their great strategy to win the election and re-connect with the people. That wasn’t what happened. The Republican party (Abramof, Foley, etc) and the President handed it to them.

The Republicans ran scared and had no message this time around. Nothing to motivate people other than “they’ll cut and run” and “they’ll raise your taxes”.

It is unfortunate that the Greens and Libs aren’t a little more entrenched. In a real three (or four) party race this would have been a lot more interesting.

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Where are the Libertarians?

November 7th, 2006

Not a single Libertarian on my ballot. This allegedly most organized third party can’t come up with a couple sacrificial lambs to run for Governor or US House Representative? The Green party is the only way I can register a protest vote?

Hey Libs! Give me a call. If you get me the signatures, I’ll run for Governor next time.

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Do your civic duty

November 7th, 2006

Educate yourself on the issues and vote today. Just get there early. I waited 30 minutes to vote because the electronic machines weren’t working at my polling place.

It figures. You’ve got a bunch of senior citizens manning the polling places (they don’t work and have all the time in the world) and you want them to handle technical computer problems?

We should have 18 year-old kids volunteering instead. They’d have the machines up and running and surfing for internet porn in no time.

In Illinois, you can take this blog posting to the voting booth to remind you to cast your votes for:
Topinka (R) - Governor
Madigan (D) - Atty General
Hines (D) - Comptroller
Periaca (R) - Cook County Board President
Kirk (R) - US House - 10th
Bean (D) - US House - 8th

.. and Cheryl Axley (R) - IL State Senate 33rd

Referrendums don’t matter. All non-binding.

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Idiots

November 2nd, 2006

I recently counseled a married couple with twin teenagers who were asking about college financing.

They are proud owners of a modest house, two lower-end luxury cars, and both kids in private school.

If you stop there, you’d think they’re living the American Dream. But, when we look a little further, this couple in their late 40s don’t appear as rosy.

The house - mortgaged to the tune of $2,800 per month. The BMW’s still cost another $900 and the kids are costing $20k per year for private school. Throw in property taxes, food, utilities, etc. and they are spending $6,500 a mont for their “basic” expenses as they call it.

As a couple, they pull in about $100k, which after taxes, leaves them about $700 short every month to meet the “basics.” Guess where that comes from?

They asked me about setting up a S.529 plan for college costs!!! With nothing in the bank, $22k in credit card debt, nothing saved for retirement, zero equity in the home and a shortfall in cash every month they were worried about tax breaks on college tuition savings plans.

Idiots.

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2006 Elections Endorsements

October 15th, 2006

Illinois Governor: Blagojevich (D) v. Topinka (R)

The endorsement goes to Topinka. She’s run a clean(ish) campaign in spite of the smears by future Public Official #1. Blago was elected as a reformer. He has done nothing but continue to sell the penion system down the river and his only answer is to sell public assets like the tollways and Thompson Center to meet current budgetary needs. Topinka has a more realistic plan that includes spending cuts.

Attorney General: Madigan (D) v. Umhotz (R)

Lisa’s done much better than I expected of her four years ago and gets the nod.

Comptroller: Hines (D) v. Pankau

Nobody cares about this race. Hines in a cake walk.

US House - 10th District: Kirk (R) v. Seals (D)

Kirk is a good man, moderate on most issues and should be sent back for another term.

US House - 8th District: Bean (D) v McSweeny (R)

Bean has been responsive to the residents of her district and has done a fair job. McSweeny comes off to me as a bit weasely.

Cook County Board President: Stroger (D) v. Peraica (R)

Peraica will be a breath of fresh air in county government. The corruption and nepotism that has reigned in Cook county must come to an end. Daddy’s son will win this one handily because the establishment isn’t ready to give up power. Pity.

Cook County Treasurer/Clerk/Assessor: These are non policy-making positions, and the current folks haven’t “let the place burn down”, so while wholesale change in county government would be nice, realistically, these folks won’t hurt us too much.

Referrendums:

Ban manufacture, sale, delivery and possesion of .50 caliber rifles? These guns aren’t whats responsible for killing people on the streets. Posession of any gun without a permit is a crime, so this seems like a waste of time to me. Vote yes. You’ll feel better.

Increase Illinois Minimum Wage to $7.50 from $6.50? Despite what economists will tell you, this won’t spell doomsday for small employers. Most are already paying $7-8 per hour anyway. Vote yes. Pimply faced teenagers will thank you for it.

US Government rapid withdrawal from Iraq? No. Vote your conscience. It has absolutely no impact on anything.

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Mayor Blumberg vs. Mayor McCheese

September 27th, 2006

Health officials for New York city unveiled the stupidest intiative since Chicago’s ban on foi gras.
Targeting McDonalds, donut chains and thousands of restaurants, Big Brother has decided that we’re not smart enough to pick foods for ourselves. Is there a person alive that doesn’t think that fries are fattening?

It’s called moderation people. I think we’re all smart enough to not down a box of Krispy Kreme’s in one seating.

Crime is on the rise again in New York Mayor Bloomberg. Your schools aren’t exactly a model for the modern world. Don’t you have anything better to do?

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It sucks to be home…

September 20th, 2006

We recently came back from a cruise to the Western Carribean on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. For childless couples (or those who want to escape their children for a week or so) I high recommend crusing.

The staff on the cruise ship did their best to spoil us every minute we were onboard. I can honestly say that I only thought about work once while we were away (and that’s because I put a post-it in my wallet to remind me to check my email).

Cecilia has made a Snapfish album of the pictures we took. When she tells me where to find it, I’ll put a link on the site. Travelogue to be posted much later (hey, I’m a realist).

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Remember… they get lower insurance rates…

September 17th, 2006

Running an errand the other day, an old lady (maybe 4 and 1/2 feet tall and EASILY 80+) parked next to me. These are un-retouched photos.

What a Park JoB!

What a park job!

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Can Ford be salvaged?

August 24th, 2006

Today, reports surfaced that Ford Motor Company is considering taking itself private to continue its restructuring without the scrutiny of the public markets. There are also reports that Ford is trying to convince Renault-Nissan to abandon its conderation of an alliance with GM in and ally itself with Ford instead.

IMHO, Ford would make a better partner with Renalt-Nissan than GM but I just can’t see how anything French can be of benefit. Remember: These are the people that created the Twingo.

I believe its better to clean up your own house first before you bring in a partner and cause even more upheaval. Going private doesn’t help either. An employer with that many jobs at stake, even private, couldn’t avoid the limelight associated with the reorganization that’s needed.

Ford has three major problems:

Too much dead weight in the creative department: Laziness. Fire them all! Volvo S80=Lincon Zephyr=Mercury Milan=Ford Five Hundred. Innovative styling and unique products are what pull people into the showrooms. Pontiac Solstice ring a bell?

Too much dead weight in product lines: The company has 8 product lines and does only two of them well. To compete more effectively, Ford needs to sell or close three product lines. I’d start with Land Rover and its bottom rung intial quality rankings. Mazda and Mercury would be my next two.

Too much dead weight in Union payroll: It’s time for a major overhaul of the automotive compensation system. Paying union members $30/hr plus benefits just isn’t going to work in the new economy. The Big 3 US automakers need to address this issue together if they are to have a chance at long term success. It may also be the only way to break the union stranglehold.

And finally, have a little faith in your product. Toyota/Honda are known to easily pass 100k miles without any major expense and can afford to have short warranty periods. US automakers don’t have that luxury. Take a page out of the Hyundai playbook and kick up your warranties to AT LEAST 5 years, 50000 miles - bumper to bumper.

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And they wonder why movie theaters aren’t doing so well…

August 20th, 2006

I went to see World Trade Center and had a rude awakening at The Streets of Woodfield (an AMC-owned heater).

Apparently they have changed the rules again. It used to be that they early bird rate was good until 6PM. Then they pulled it back to 5PM. Now it’s 4PM. I went to the 4:15… so for a movie I intended to pay $6.00 for, I ended up paying $9.50!

These folks already take an obscene markup on everything at the concession stand. That not being enough, advertising is splashed on the popcorn bags and you’re forced to watch 10 minutes of commercials before the previews even start. I understand why people are so in love with Netflix.

The movie was pretty good. For an Oliver Stone film, there was no conspiracy or ulterior motive. On a $9.50 scale, it earns a $6.50 - well worth a 2PM matinee price. I find Maggie Gyllenhaal guilty of overacting. Maria Bello, however, made up for her apperance in Coyote Ugly turning in a fine effort that may be worthy of Oscar buzz.

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A redneck once again…

August 15th, 2006

I went North to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Milwaukee on Sunday and we headed to the Wisconsin State Fair. Now, I’ve been to three state’s fairs. Kentucky, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Now, I’m a little far removed from my time at the Kentucky State Fair, but I remember what seemed like miles and miles of animals, and before I developed allergies - they ROCKED. Illinois had a bazillion animals and the fair was so huge it couldn’t be seen in one day.

Then there’s Wisonsin… the highlight is something they call the Wisconsin State air Cream puff which is a pastry sandich loaded with whipped cream. I was unimpressed. And then given that Wisconsin is Dairy Central - I really expected to see a huge selection of cheeses. There were some fried cheese curds and a few sculptures - that was it. To top it off, my neck is now bright red and I have no idea where Cecilia stashed the after sun lotion.

I stayed the night at their place on Saturday night. It seems nice enough to me except for the lack of a stove. I’m no interior designer, but I don’t think this is the proper place for a toilet brush…

They moved in recently… probably had arms full of stuff and dropped it there. Still funny though.

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If Connecticut’s Senatorial Primary Were Today…

August 10th, 2006

… I’d bet Joe Lieberman would have won.

Kudos to Scotland Yard (with an assist from Pakistan) on foiling a Facist Islamic plot to blow up ten planes over the Atlantic Ocean.

I’ll net, that somewhere down the line we’ll learn that the plot was discovered using not-so-kosher interrogation methods by the Pakistanis. France will decry this blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and the UN General Assembly will pass a resolution calling us the “Greatest Evil of All Time.”

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Stone for President in 2012!

An Open Letter to the President-Elect

Why McCain Lost

Great Article by Andrew Napolitano

The Endorsements

The case for McCain

An Argument for a Split Executive and Congress

The Bailout

Change of Address

In Defense of Senator Clinton

It’s a Girl!

Same crap… different speaker…

Flying while Muslim?

Innagural Moats Award

What we can take away from 11/7

Where are the Libertarians?

Do your civic duty

Idiots

2006 Elections Endorsements

Mayor Blumberg vs. Mayor McCheese

It sucks to be home…

Remember… they get lower insurance rates…

Can Ford be salvaged?

And they wonder why movie theaters aren’t doing so well…

A redneck once again…

If Connecticut’s Senatorial Primary Were Today…

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