The Pragmatist

So he fired the CEO of GM. Don't look for him to cry over that one. Obama grew up the same time I did--in the heat of the sixties. We grade schoolers had only one question--what was everyone so upset about? We thought all that demonstrating and carrying on was ridiculous. For my part I wore a Nixon T shirt. You couldn't get more practical than that and I came from a family of privilege in Virginia. Imagine the pragmatist in a black man who bulls his way into Harvard then to the top of the law review.

Smart. You bet. You got to be smart to overcome those odds. You can't look to the main for anything. So don't look for him to cry over the Unions when he busts them in bankruptcy because GM is going bankrupt. Shareholders and workers be dammed there is a new sheriff in town and he will bring the new economy with him. What do you want him to do? Give the fat white guys another chance? They had many and blew it and one thing a pragmatist knows is no one really changes and no one gives up power. You really think GM is going to come up with great fuel efficient cars on their own? I don't think so. Why pay for the milk when you can get it for free? And they have been getting the milk for free for so long we are talking generations who were on the tit.

Political Pundits call it suicide. Hang the unions around the Democrats neck. The party that busted up GM. So what. Somebody has to do it. GM couldn't make the changes without concessions and the pragmatist knows nobody gives up power and money unless they have to. And the Unions will have to in a bankruptcy. So its bye bye Obama according to the talking heads. Maybe so. But if you are a black man running the free world you can't bet on the status quo. The only chance you have is to actually do the right thing. You have to bring in the new economy because it is the only chance you really have. In case you haven't heard, the old economy is DOA. Aint no one buying overpriced cars that eat gas anymore. So really, what's a smart man to do?

You get rid of the old wood. Start with the car companies and work your way down. Auto workers will be upset. Welcome to the displacement party. We have all been displaced. Publishing, real estate, brokering, banking...we are just warming up. If you think you are slipping through this transition doing business as usual then guess again. That would presuppose there is still some gas in the old economy tank and there really isn't. Even the quick fill ups by the government don't last because that world is gone. There are no buyers. So even if Obama was a different man and went along with all the goofy old white guys and gave GM ten more restructuring band aid the result would be the same. A desert of economic demand. There is none. Not for the old models anyway.

So here we are. Canned the CEO of GM and he is just warming up. Listen up bankers. You are next. Welcome to the new economy. Dreamers need not apply.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com

Earth Wind and Fire

I dig Earth Wind and Fire. I dig disco. I discoed. Good times. Party on dude. Cheryl Crow not so much. Something about that California singing about the mellow party times...been there done that. I am not a golfer. Nope. Chasing the white ball with little carts forget about it. Besides a woman who used to live across the street from me died when her cart veered into a retention pond and she drowned. Ignominious. So I steer clear. It seems so...I don't know so mainstream. Golf, Sheryl Crow, Earth Wind and Fire, Pinacolodas, the nice Pacific breeze blowing in from the ocean. Shrimp anyone? I'll take two please and another drink for my friend there and how about a bottle of champagne? I wonder what all the poor people are doing? What is all the rancor about anyway? We are doing just fine thank you. We made money last year and then the government just kicked us a cool billion. A round for the house! Hey, you know what, screw it, have Earth Wind and Fire play all night, and Wan...money is no object. Oh, and if you have one of those fine Cuban cigars. So where was I...right...all this talk of nationalization. Rubbish. Look around you. What do you see? Prosperous people. People with tans and margarita smiles. C'mon, the losers are broke now...the suckers George. Take you and me. We saw the train coming and played it cool. Now we are a billion to the good and we are sitting our ass down here by seashore. Right...oh sure, lobster? Fine, bring us four. So...you know it's survival of the fittest baby. Darwinism. Let the bad banks go man. Let the auto companies go. It's the way capitalism works. All that stuff about goverment for the people and by the people...please. There will always be poor people and there will always be the middle class who will never get a clue. Ha! That's a drink. What did F. Scott Fitzgerald say? The rich are very different from you and me...you bet your ass we are! Oh...Hemingway said that...well, someone said it and it doesn't' really matter because you are either in or you are out and you know who you are. Ah yes...life doesn't' get much better than this...really it doesn't. What did you say your name was...George...you know you look familiar...were you ever in government?

The Bankers and the Peanut Man

Did you see the bankers and the peanut man in front of the Senate? What is wrong here. First you have the bankers trying to explain that bonuses and retention awards come out of their profits and not the bailout money. Um...hello...without the bailout money there is NO BANK. So...where is that money coming from again. It's coming from our profits. Let's see, the big seven banks are insolvent, so, wait a minute, oh I know, you must mean the profits on the TARP money. Yes. Oh. You mean the TARP money you used to buy other banks. Yes. I see. Well, that's very clear. And when asked why they couldn't' lend any of the money the banks all explained very slowly how they have to keep a certain amount of money in the bank even though it's not their money it's TARP money given to lend but they can't do that. But they can buy a two hundred thousand dollar ad in The New York Times explaining why they have to still give their employees trips and bonuses. Fine. Makes perfect sense. Then the peanut man (you know the guy who killed everyone with peanut butter) got up there. He took the fifth. He decided he didn't' want to say a word after he knowingly shipped all that tainted peanut butter. The congressman asked him if he wanted to eat some of his own peanut butter. He took the fifth.

My question is, what kind of a society would produce men like this? So here is the lesson. Go start a bank and lose all your investors money and then go to the government to get more to pay yourself. (Total compensation for the bank presidents this year was over 100 million) Then go ship a bunch of salmonella tainted peanut butter and don't say a word. Oh, and go have sixteen babies and become a celebrity. So...I ask again, what kind of society produces people like this? Oh yeah, note to self, no more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com

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The Coal

The problem with the stimulus bill is there is nothing in there for coal. Steam engines need coal. Big sleek ships and trains and even cars once upon a time ran on steam. You didn't really care about the men in the bowels of the ship shoveling all that coal into the boilers because you couldn't see them. You were far above eating your dinner or enjoying a cigar in the bar or lounging topside while the men sweated down below. So when the ship pulled into dock they loaded it up with food, champagne, caviar, fruit, cigars, wine, all the necessities for life and then tons and tons of coal. Because the ship's captain and everyone else knew that without coal the rest of the food, booze and cigars didn't matter much. Seems like there is one thing missing on the good ship's Obama's manifest for the stimulus plan--COAL. Middle class people are the coal of the economy lest you forget this go into Home Depot or Menards of Best Buy. There are no people. The employees outnumber the customers two to one. There are mountains of inventory and one cannot help wonder who is carrying the cost of all that inventory. So the steam engine has stopped. We know from our oligarchy who has taken all the coal. They are still in Washington and on Wall Street laughing their asses off that the American public bought into Tarp. See the one page article in the New York Times by Wells Fargo explaining why employee junkets are still necessary for the great work their employees do. The masters of the ship are tweaked someone would mess with their cigars and fine champagne. But even as the gilded glide far above us top deck, they too our a little worried that maybe the reluctance to order in coal might bring the good ship Lollipop to a halt. So how do we get our coal bins replenished? Bite the bullet and bypass the banks and make a national bank and start lending. Or...shock..shock...give money directly to the people. Not six hundred dollars, thousands. Prime the pump directly. It is interesting that the great populist nation is quite willing to take thousands of dollars in tax money, but recoils at the thought of giving it back. If income tax was never intended to be a permanent institution, let's make good now and give back some of the money. Nebulous promises of jobs will not replace the directness of giving credit to the middle class. Infrastructure jobs will put people back to work, but how many, how soon, remains to be seen. Our bins have been empty a while now and a bold President needs to take bold steps. Throw out the play book. Don't even look for precedent. Do the bold thing and put coal into the boiler now. The hard fact is you cannot operate a ship without coal, providing only for first class passengers. You really need some fuel.

http://www.billhazelgrove.com