GM is doing this because they are hurting from the stigma of being Government Motors and they are looking to whitewash reality rather than take the right steps to change the situation the right way.  We are on to them and it will take a more serious effort than this if they want to turn it around.

Until then, when I buy American, it will be Ford.  They may have debt up to their eyeballs but they are managing on their own without the help of big brother.  Based on the fact that Ford is in the black, I expect I am not alone.

- FOP Vermillion

The people clearly do not like the bill.  If this process drags out to election time, it will become the central theme of the election and based on the current polls, this will not be a good thing for the leadership of the Democrats.  Obama has the luxury of not having a re-election fight for a few more years.  This is not a luxury many in Congress have at their disposal.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the egos in the House rule the day and the bill goes to committee.

For once, I am glad congress is filled with self important fools.

- FOP Vermillion

Now, at last, we’re attempting a “reset.” The CIA has sent a field officer who has strong relations with Karzai to be its Kabul station chief and Hillary Clinton – the Secretary of Reset – tried to charm Karzai at a dinner earlier this week. Meanwhile, Holbrooke is spending more time in Washington and has focused on obtaining international support of reconstruction projects and development programs. This sounds like his highest and best use.

I agree the Administration is trying a reset.  The problem is resets only work in theory.  Relationships between states are not purely about one group’s opinion.  Sure when you have a change of administration, you get an opportunity to make changes, but you still do not get a clean slate.  Regardless of the positions taken by the previous administration, there are reasons the relationships and positions taken exist.  The simplest reason, and the one that Team Obama seem to underestimate, is that the other side has their own agenda and priorities.

So the idea of a complete reset at the beginning is a stretch.  It is even more absurd after they have been ham-handed and decide you need a fresh start.  Think of this in terms of your own life.  You have a business in town that you deal with and has been around for a while.  Now they get bought out and let everyone know they are “under new management”.  So you check them out and decide they you do not like the way you are treated and the customer service is poor so after a few experiences you start going less or not at all.  Well they want your business so they decide to fire the manager and “reset” the business.  They make a big deal about the change to get you in.  Do you go back?  Maybe, but more than likely, you still expect to be treated the way you were before and you may not need them anymore.  You have found someone else who does the job you need done and you like them better.  Just because they canned the old manager doesn’t mean you are running back.

This is the same garbage the Obama Administration is trying to pull.  They are all, “We are new and improved” and then when they blow it, they try to change the faces and say forget what happened before.  The problem is the world is watching and they are figuring out the playbook.  If we can’t get serious about diplomacy and not having to rely on do overs to give us chance after chance to get it right, we are doomed to be a joke in international relations.

- FOP Vermillion

Come next November, the economy and jobs will be the number one issue.  If the Dems have any chance not to repeat 1994, they need to be able to point to things they have done to create jobs.  Without that, they will have to spend their time and war chests to convince the voters that the bills they have passed will not do as much damage as many analysts suspect.  This is not a good position to be in.  “Re-elect me because my it won’t be as bad as my opponent says it will be” is not a strong selling point.  I suppose they will try to pass Stimulus II but there is no chance it will have an impact prior to the election unless it business and tax friendly so that the effects can be felt right away.  Continuing to extend unemployment is not a winner in my book.  It does help ease the pain of being out of work, but it doesn’t get people back to work.

Right now Obama is dividing the party and focusing on the wrong things.  In short order, Obama could take his party from majority to minority status in a short two-year window.  Considering how much I do not like the direction this President and Administration want to take the country in, I am happy to see it happen.  Twelve months ago, I expected the Democrats would be in power for four years for sure and more than likely another four based on Obam’s popularity.  Now with all the missteps and ham-handed manner they have governed, there is a real chance they will blow it all before Obama is even up for re-election.  Amazing.

- FOP Vermillion

The best thing for the death of this bill is time.  As the Dems get colder feet, there will be more time as everyone looks for a face saving option which means more time.  And more time is good.

- FOP Vermillion

I hope she enjoys this payback.  It will likely be the gift that keeps on giving.

-FOP Vermillion

There is a lot of money on the sidelines at the moment and the public is not behind the takeover.  If the industry decides to push back hard, it will cause a significant problem for Congress.  The web, combined with large industry advertising spend, could cause the Democrats to pause and that would be a good thing.

Right now the inertia is on the side of “reform”.  We need some luck if we are to going to see this bill die.

- FOP Vermillion

The liberal theme of “the opposition has no ideas” because they refuse to listen is getting old to say the least. In this column by Jacob Weisberg, he laments that there are no conservative intellectuals now that Irving Kristol has passed away.  We conservatives are now “cranky” and have become the “brain-dead home of tea parties, pro-life amendments, and climate-change denial.”  Well excuse me for not falling in lock step with the left wing.  The tea party, pro-life, climate change denial crowd are out here debating because we believe in our ideas.  Jacob continues the denial when he get to the discussion about health care reform.  He is frustrated that the entire congressional wing of the GOP refuses to collaborate with the President as he tries to work out a compromise.  The fact is the Democrats are not reaching out and are not compromising.  Story after story in the news tells the tale of the President not meeting with the opposition.  The GOP is being excluded from the meetings and not even being allowed to read the legislation prior to voting.  I cannot see how you can compromise when these are the tactics being employed against you.  The GOP has offered alternatives but no one including Mr. Weisberg is listening.

To say the movement is bankrupt because you do not like the opposition suggests intellectual bankruptcy on your end, not ours.  I am SICK of the elites, which Mr. Weisberg reflects in his column, not liking what they hear and then pretending they did not hear it and saying the opposition is just saying NO or has no alternatives.  If you do not like the alternative say so, but do not pretend it does not exist.

They say if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth.  Well to those liberals out there I say to you, stop lying.

- FOP Vermillion

Tim Ellis over at the Huffington Post asks, “Why Do Conservatives Hate America?”.  At the end of his column, he asks the reader to “lay it on me straight”.  Considering his point of view is so biased about Conservatives, I doubt he really wants an answer.  Let’s face it – when you can compare your opposition to wife beaters, you do not have much respect for the other side’s point of view.  However, he did inspire me so I am going to use the blog here to “answer” Tim.

First and foremost I love America.  The difference is I see America as being, We the People, and not the government.  This is a clear break from Tim, who sees government success as American success.  Let’s start with the Olympics.  It was not a failure of America when New York lost the bid for 2012 and it isn’t now.  Yes, this will look bad for the President since he put his prestige on the line and decided it was worth the trip at the last minute.  But I don’t see Obama being associated with the losing bid as being down on the country.

Now on taxes Tim states the following:

This is the same attitude that drives the conservative zeal for cutting taxes. The United States, they claim, is the best country in the world, and apparently the best way to show that is by not giving it the means to do anything. Taxes are the method by which civilization is paid for; they are an investment in our nation, an investment that conservatives are simply not interested in making. What kind of “patriot” won’t invest in America? That must be love.

This is where I think it is the most clear that Tim sees America as the government.  When I invest in America, I don’t write an extra check to the IRS so they can build civilization.  I invest in the people ideas and institutions.  The more money left over after taxes, the more I can invest in America.

I won’t get into the secessionist stuff as I am not an expert other than to say the bottom line for most of it is to say to the federal government, ENOUGH.  Do what you are supposed to do by the Constitution and by the law and no more.

The bottom line is the American people are amazing and creative and there is much to be admired and loved about them.  Individuals doing what they can and making the most of it is what made this country great.  The government is a framework to help enable the free flow of ideas and commerce and playing umpire to ensure fairness.  It is NOT America.  When we confuse the two, we start making assumptions and decisions that undermine liberty and freedom and place too much power in the hands of the state, all in the name of patriotism.

Tim, I don’t hate America, I just don’t see it the same way you do.

- FOP Vermillion

Let’s hope for continued cold showers and cold feet on the the major legislative initiatives for this year.  Remember, when it comes to Congress, gridlock is our friend.

- FOP Vermillion