comMITTed to Romney!

In one of the worst financial crises of our lifetime, the venerable Lehman Bros. investment bank has been told by Treasury officials that no public funds will be used to bail out the firm. Merrill Lynch has agreed to be purchased by Bank of America for $50 billion. The fate of insurance giant AIG is not known at this writing.

There are several stories about the situation in this morning’s Wall St. Journal and I have no doubt that the story will be widely covered, but IMHO, one thing must be kept in mind. Lehman has suffered the same fate that anyone of us as private citizens would suffer if we bet the farm on one roll of the dice. Lehman will now either be liquidated or will file for bankruptcy.

The only satisfaction that comes out of this situation is that the Treasury finally said no to a firm looking to tap taxpayer funds. The amount of risk these firms took and the hubris of their CEO’s is nothing short of stunning. After the colossal bailouts of the shamelessly mismanaged Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, if the Secretary of the Treasury has showed up this weekend with our checkbook in hand to cut another check to the pirates that have been running these companies the last few years, I believe that the next order of business would have been a tax payer revolt.

~~John Cronin~~

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I don’t claim to be knowledgeable about farm economics. I came across this article by the Editorial Board at IBD and I thought it was worth discussing. If the figures quoted in the article are accurate, then this truly is a Harvest of Shame.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=295659764109246

By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Agriculture: The subsidy-stuffed farm bill just passed by Congress is a monster that will leave us with less food at higher prices. The president should veto it right away and force this foolish Congress to override him.

Today’s farmer has an average income of just under $90,000, compared with income of about $50,000 for other Americans. Here we’re in an unprecedented farm boom, yet we’ve been led to think we’re bailing out farm families suffering from Depression-era economic conditions.
In fact, the average farm subsidy recipient has $200,000 in income and a net worth of about $2 million. The top 10% of farm earners take in 75% of the subsidies. Put bluntly, Congress’ farm bill subsidizes millionaires and lets you pick up the tab.

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By: Herman Cain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008

“The dynamics of political party connections, the political process itself and public perceptions have once again yielded the top two contenders of each major party in the 2008 presidential race. And once again, the public can only hope that the ultimate winner of the White House will be a candidate with the most leadership substance.

“My vote is for Mitt Romney.”

…

“Our success will not be based on pandering to uninformed voters, promising emotional quick fixes over common sense or nitpicking of opponents’ past records. Success will come from focusing on the right problems and solving them. That will mean making tough decisions about some problems that have been with us for decades. It will also mean taking a tough stand on new problems and challenges.

“That’s what leaders do.

“Mitt Romney has done that as a chief executive officer in business, as a governor and as head of the U.S. Olympics. He has done so while balancing political consequences but not compromising fundamental principles of the founding of this country or free-market economics. We have prospered as a nation by strengthening those principles; we will not remain strong if we allow those principles to become diluted with a lack of leadership.”

…

“He has successfully managed a real business with other people’s money and some of his own. He has balanced budgets. He successfully led a turnaround situation with the Olympics. And he has spent more of his career outside government than inside.

“On the other hand, John McCain has spent more of his career inside government than outside, and the reasons not to vote for him as the Republican nominee are very compelling.”

…

“Mitt Romney’s history is more indicative of the substance needed to make major progress on critical issues, and not just to make more politically palatable incremental changes in Washington.” …

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