Jounalism has truly died.

With the passing of the great journalist Walter Cronkite we can now officially pronounce the death of American Journalism.

How many Americans knew Mr. Cronkite was a left-leaning card carrying Democrat? Very few if any! Walter understood the role of the press and the power of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Walter Cronkite left his political leanings at home so he could provide America with the truth regardless of the outcome or political fallout.

Today ABC, NBC and CBS have chosen to side politically with the far-left. Fair and Balanced reporting have been cast aside in favor of a Socialist agenda!

We know why Benedict Arnold committed treason. What is more difficult is why Charles Gibson of ABC, Brian Williams of NBC, and Katie Couric of CBS have chosen to follow in Benedict Arnold's footsteps? All are receiving $Millions to host their respective newscasts which could explain their refusal to provide fair reporting. Perhaps all three and the stations they represent have socialist beliefs.

What Americans do understand is that ABC, NBC and CBS have abandoned their responsibility to the public and have violated the true purpose of the First Amendment. In my opinion, a majority of the press has sided with the political left for financial gain and power. All are willing to throw this great country under the bus for their personal benefit.

Rest in peace and God Bless Mr. Cronkite; journalism is going to be missed.

"The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood." --Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Seymour, 1807.

Another Government Failure

The below story is another great example of what happens when our government gets into the business of business. Government's role is not to provide financial services, health care, or any other consumer services.

Here is a list of failed government run enterprises. Social Security; will be financially insolvent in a few more years. Medicare and Medicaid; both will be financially insolvent in a few years. The U.S. Post Office is slowly bleeding itself dry and I am sure will collapse within a few more years. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are both in financial trouble due to mismanagement and government regulations. The School System; show me a school district that isn't crawling on its knees begging to raise taxes while providing poor quality results.

Now our government is going into the auto business following the socialization of the banking system. Do you really believe the government will be able to produce quality automobiles and compete with the foreign car makers? All the while keeping the FAT CAT UNION BOSSES happy.

How about the government takeover of your health care? This should scare you to death!

People; PLEASE wake-up and smell the coffee! Your government is not your friend.

"When the people fear their government there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. " Thomas Jefferson

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer Deb Riechmann, Associated Press Writer – Wed May 20, 3:12 am ET

WASHINGTON – In an ominous setback, the government agency that insures the pensions of 44 million Americans has amassed a record $33.5 billion deficit — triple what it was just six months ago.

The bleak financial snapshot, in a report obtained by The Associated Press, raises new fears that a federal bailout eventually will be needed for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. The beleaguered agency is being saddled with the underfunded pension plans of companies going bankrupt in the worst economic slump since the Great Depression.

A rare midyear financial update requested by Congress shows the $11.1 billion deficit the agency posted at the end of its fiscal year on Sept. 30 has swelled by $22.5 billion to its highest level in the agency's 35-year history.

The agency's acting director says, however, that the more than 640,000 people who currently receive PBGC checks need not worry about the deficit.

"We have plenty of money to make those monthly payments promised to them for the near future," Vince Snowbarger said Tuesday. "We're comfortable that for the time being we've got a way to make sure those payments are going to be there. Long term there is going to have to be some resolution of that deficit. I think at some point in time it's going to require congressional attention."

The agency does not insure 401(k) plans, but its fate is important not only to the workers covered by more than 29,000 employer-sponsored benefit pension plans but to all taxpayers who could be asked to foot the bill on a bailout if the agency ever becomes insolvent.

Its balance sheet has taken heavy hits in recent years. Nine of the 10 largest pension plan terminations in its history, including United Airlines, Bethlehem Steel and Kaiser Aluminum, have occurred since 2001. On Tuesday, the PBGC announced that it has assumed responsibility for two pension plans covering about 4,300 workers and retirees of Lenox Group Inc., a bankrupt maker of tableware, giftware and collectibles based in Eden Prairie, Minn.

Created by Congress in 1974, the agency quietly operates in a brick office building a few blocks from the White House. When a company's pension plan is terminated, the agency takes over and pays benefits to the retired workers covered by the plan — although retirees don't always get 100 percent of what their employer promised. The maximum guaranteed amount currently is $54,000 a year for a person retiring at age 65.

Compounding the agency's fiscal problem are investigations into allegations that its former director, Charles E.F. Millard, had inappropriate contacts with three Wall Street firms that recently won multimillion-dollar contracts to advise the agency on a new strategy to invest its assets more heavily in stocks, real estate and private equity rather than more conservative fixed-income treasury securities.

A PBGC inspector general report released last week said that Millard's office had hundreds of phone conversations and e-mails with Wall Street firms bidding for the work at the same time that he was actively evaluating their proposals. In October 2008, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and JP Morgan won awards to invest up to $2.5 billion of PBGC assets in real estate and private equity in return for up to $100 million more in fees over 10 years.

So far, no agency assets have been transferred to the three firms. Snowbarger said the staff was working with the agency's board of directors to decide whether the contracts being questioned should be terminated.

Millard has denied any wrongdoing, saying his actions were legal and ethical. He has been subpoenaed to testify Wednesday at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on the agency's ability to take over a rising number of underfunded pension plans from companies going bankrupt.

Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Max Baucus of Montana and Republican Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Michael Enzi of Wyoming have asked the inspector general to further investigate phone calls and e-mails that suggest Millard sought help getting a job in the weeks after the contracts were awarded to the Wall Street firms. The House Education and Labor Committee also has opened an investigation into the allegations against Millard.

A flurry of pension plans that have either been terminated or probably will end up being taken over by the PBGC is the largest reason for the agency's rising deficit. Declining interest rates was listed as the second-largest reason for the shortfall. Investment losses from the stock market were only the third contributing factor.

"Despite ongoing deficits, the PBGC has sufficient funds to meet its benefit obligations for many years because benefits are paid monthly — spread over the lifetimes of participants and beneficiaries, not as lump sums," Snowbarger said. "Nevertheless, over the long term, the deficit must be addressed. How soon depends on what happens in the next several years."

The agency is closely monitoring the auto, retail, financial services and health care industries, all in financial distress. The PBGC estimates that pension underfunding in the auto sector alone is $77 billion. "Participants in auto sector pension plans and the other stakeholders of the pension insurance program are at substantial risk of loss if these plans are terminated," Snowbarger said.

Obama's GE Bailout

Obama’s hidden bailout of General Electric

By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
03/03/09 8:12 PM

While many companies hire lobbyists to win earmarks, General Electric’s unmatched lobbying force has secured a tax increase — or its equivalent — in President Barack Obama’s budget.

Labeled “climate revenues” and totaling $646 billion over eight years, this line item in Obama’s budget has inspired confidence in GE Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt. As Immelt put it in a letter this week, he believes that the Obama administration will be a profitable “financier” and “key partner.”

On page 115 of Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget is Table S-2, titled “Effect of Budget Proposals on Projected Deficits.” The chart forecasts the costs of Obama’s spending proposals and the added revenue of his proposed tax increases. It also forecasts, beginning in 2012, billions of dollars a year in “climate revenues.” This budget line, which has struck fear into some lawmakers from coal-dependent states, could spell salvation for GE in these times of uncertainty.

How can Obama generate “climate revenues”? By forcing companies to pay for the right to emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

A tax on greenhouse gas emissions could accomplish this, but Obama’s preferred policy — and the approach embraced by a few congressional bills in recent years — is called “cap and trade.” In short, cap and trade requires businesses to spend “credits” to pay for their emissions. Businesses can buy or sell these credits, and the market — not the government — would directly set the price of a credit. Government would initially auction them off, generating revenue.

GE — a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, which advocates cap and trade — leads the push for greenhouse gas restrictions.

In the fourth quarter of 2008 as the company’s stock fell 30 percent, GE spent $4.26 million on lobbying — that’s $46,304 each day, including weekends, Thanksgiving and Christmas. In 2008, the company spent a grand total of $18.66 million on lobbying.

Reviewing their lobbying filings, you might think you were looking at Al Gore’s agenda. GE’s specific lobbying issues included the “Climate Stewardship Act,” “Electric Utility Cap and Trade Act,” “Global Warming Reduction Act,” “Federal Government Greenhouse Gas Registry Act,” “Low Carbon Economy Act,” and “Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act.”

This isn’t altruism or public relations. GE has started a joint venture called Greenhouse Gas Services, which invests in — and hopes to manage the trade in — greenhouse gas credits. But these investments and this trading floor are of basically no use and nearly no value without government restrictions on greenhouse gases.

Hence the lobbying, buttressed by generous campaign contributions: Employees and executives gave $1.35 million to politicians in the past election while GE’s political action committee shelled out $1.55 million. About 64 percent of this $2.9 million went to Democrats, with Obama easily the top recipient of GE money.

Obama’s budget includes the payoff, promising to start a multibillion-dollar greenhouse gas industry by 2012. In a letter this week, GE’S Immelt told shareholders that current events present an “opportunity of a lifetime,” because “capitalism will be ‘reset.’ ”

Immelt wrote: “The interaction between government and business will change forever. In a reset economy, the government will be a regulator; and also an industry policy champion, a financier, and a key partner.”

In short, GE plans to get rich by being one of the government’s closest partners — which it has always been, thanks to its unmatched lobbying efforts.

The environmentalist at this point might respond, “Well, good for GE. if they can get rich while helping the planet, more power to them.” But this ignores important issues. First, restraining greenhouse gas emissions will cost Americans dearly. Gas, electricity and heating prices will all go up. The prices of manufactured and shipped goods will go up. A Clemson University report on similar cap-and-trade proposals forecast a 1 percent decline in he U.S. gross domestic product by 2015 if they were implemented.

There are environmental costs, also, to such a focus on greenhouse gases: Ethanol’s damage to water supplies, soil health and air quality are the fruit of government pushing the product as a climate-friendly fuel.

When the lobbying fingerprints of GE and other well-connected firms are considered, it’s not hard to conclude that the policy that will finally emerge won’t be the one that is best for the planet and least bad for the economy, but the one that is best for General Electric

Obama's Math Skills

Robert Gibbs, President Obama's Press Secretary, just a couple of weeks ago said that $8,000,000,000 (8 billion) in earmarks is a miniscule amount. He made this statement defending President Obama's Earmark spending!

Now... Gibbs is trying to convince Americans that $100,000,000 (100 million) is a huge amount of money! This statement being made to defend his boss, (President Obama) and the $100 million Obama is cutting from the federal budget!

For Politicians, let me make this simple... 8,000,000,000 divided by 100,000,000 equals 80! So, lets see, $8 billion is 80 times more than $100 million!

Hummmm... Obama, if in your opinion $8 Billion is minuscule. What term should we apply to $100 Million?

Obama cutting $100 Million from a $4,000,000,000,000 ($4 Trillion) budget compares to a person making $80,000 dollars a year not buying a $2 coke and trying to convince the world he has preformed the biggest cost savings event in history!

AIG Bonuses

Once again Congress screws-up and attempts to cover their tracks by crying wolf!

Congress, the President, and Timothy Geithner all knew about the Bonuses at AIG! AIG contributed millions of dollars to Senator Dodd, President Obama, and many other members of congress during their respective campaigns for office.

The Congress (under Senator Dodds lead) puts a law into the spending bill that would protect the bonuses Pay-back for AIG's campaign support) Signed by the President!

Somehow... the word gets out about the bonuses and they all run for cover! Congress called in the CEO of AIG and treated him like a dog! Both President Obama and Timothy Geithner lie about when they actually knew about the bonuses. Obama, jumps on his plane and runs for cover in California! (His favorite trick; just cut and run; or throw someone under the bus)

Meanwhile... the public is mad as heck, they want blood and threaten AIG employees and their families!

If someone gets hurt... I hope someone brings charges against the members of Congress and the President! THEY CAUSED THIS PROBLEM!

The GOOD! Perhaps in the future, corporations will think twice before running to the Government for help.

Too Big to Fail... Is IAG?

"Too Big To Fail"

What a ironic idea that a company is to big to fail.

If that is really true... how big is too BIG?

If a company can actually become to big to fail should we not as tax-payers limit the size of a business? If in the long run we must use tax-dollars to bail out a failing company because it has become to large to fail; then should we limit the size of business?

NO! I believe in capitalism... if a company makes poor decisions and can not make a profit it should go into Bankruptcy for restructuring. Government Bailouts should never be an option!

So... should we require Ford to split into separate companies (Ford Cars, Ford Trucks, Lincoln, Mercury, and Volvo), General Motors into (Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Saturn, GMC, Hummer, Cadillac, and Saab)?

I say NO! Government needs to keep its hands out of the PEOPLES business! If a company gets to big to fail then investors need to take this into consideration when investing!

So far we have pumped $170 Billion (taxpayer dollars) into IAG. So tell me what we have avoided... if the company would have been allowed to file Chapter 11 last fall the company would have been split up into profitable sections and failing sections and sold off or allowed to resume business! It would have cost investors some money; but hasn't it cost us all $170 Billion ($1500 per U.S. household not including the interest payments to come).

I believe our Government is playing Politics with our money! The politicians are totally in the pockets of BIG Business and the politicians are repaying BIG Business for their political support! IGA donating millions of dollars to political campaigns is like buying Insurance! (Now that is Ironic).

Until our Politicians and Business Leaders adopt the nine principles and 12 values that WE AMERICANS live by they will continue to make unethical decisions!

Hamas and our Tax Dollars...

Again, Obama and the Dems have no idea how the real world works. Obama gives hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild the Gaza Strip following its destruction by Israel. Which Israel had every right to do in its defense.

So, Hamas will get millions of dollars.. (they are the ruling party) and they are going to rebuild homes and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip... right!

Obama, why not cut out the middle-men (Iran, Syria, North Korea and Russia) and just purchase AK-47's, rockets, bullets, mines, and heck why not throw in a couple of F-22's as well.

To think Hamas will use Americans Tax Dollars for rebuilding is just plain STUPID!

Obama... are you for real? Or, are you really an undercover Muslim trying to bring down Israel and the United States?

Looking at your actions to date... it seems you are not on our side! You have put the final spear into the heart of out economy, you have grown government at a pace never dreamed of, you have added millions to the welfare roles, you attack big business and the rich daily, your staff are all tax cheats, everything you said during your campaign have turned out to be lies(raising taxes, no earmarks, security, support for Israel, transparency, bi-partisanship), you have put us in so much debt that our children and grand-children will suffer... shall I go on?

Tell me where I am wrong!