define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true); No Runny Eggs

No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

April 8, 2009

Some Shakin’ Goin’ On?

by @ 5:25. Filed under Politics - Minnesota.

Note this press release from today:

Dave Thompson Announces Candidacy to become next State Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party

The Republican Party needs a leader who can clearly communicate the Party vision, champion a Republican majority in the legislature and return the Party to its core principles.

When asked about the current political climate in Minnesota, Thompson replied, “I believe Republican Party principles reflect the values and priorities of most Minnesotans. Unfortunately, the Republican Party principles have not been clearly communicated in a way that allows this majority to see that Republican principles are the same as the principles that guide their own lives. As a result, a large Democratic majority controls the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Senate, thus not having enough Republicans to sustain a gubernatorial veto. We cannot afford more of the same.”

Dave is uniquely qualified to undertake this important leadership role as State Chair. For the last 7 plus years Dave has hosted “The Dave Thompson Show”, a program aired on locally owned, AM1500 KSTP. In addition, he has been part of a debate segment known as “Face Off” on KSTP TV’s Emmy Award winning news program, “At Issue with Tom Hauser”. Both of these high profile positions have afforded Dave the opportunity to cultivate and hone his understanding of the issues necessary to lead the Republican Party.

Dave is a life long Minnesotan. He graduated in 1984 from the University of North Dakota with majors in economics and political science. He received his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1987 and has been a practicing attorney representing businesses in workers’ compensation disputes, contract negotiations and estate planning.

Dave and his wife have been married 23 years, and live with their 2 children in Lakeville.

The two other candidates for party chair are Tony Sutton and Carrie Ruud. 

Tony is a party insider who has served as Treasurer under current Chair Ron Carey, as Republicans have watched their seats drop to a point where they can barely sustain a veto from Pawlenty.  Nuff said! 

Ruud is a former State Senator who has some difficulty figuring out what it means to be a conservative.  Along with voting for both the Twins and Gopher stadiums she also voted to support a sales tax increase that would have the funds dedicated to the environment and cultural programs.

Thompson has held to conservative principles for as long as I’ve heard him.  He’s not afraid to congratulate the folks who take the principled stance or to take down the folks who have strayed.  Perhaps most importantly, Thompson is an outsider to the “insiders club” of Minnesota politics and understands that the Republican party can not be a top down organization but needs to support and enable the local organizations that put their souls and sweat into getting their candidates elected.

Stay tuned, I think some shake up in the Republican Party at all levels, may be the only thing that ultimately save it and avoid a third party split.

April 7, 2009

Where’s the loyalty from the RINOs?

by @ 23:56. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

I have grown tired of demands from the liberal wing of the Republican Party to show loyalty to their candidates when they win primaries, only to see them abandon the conservative candidates when they win primaries. I know the State Superindentent race is a non-partisan one, but actually illustrates my point better than a partisan race can (though I could also point to the 2004 Senate race).

Van Mobley was considered the establishment GOP candidate. He finished third, behind the WEAC Teachers’ Industrial Complex (thanks, Marcus Aurelius) candidate Tony Evers and the more-conservative-than-outstate-“Republicans”-allow candidate Rose Fernandez. Allow me to re-group the numbers from February:

Evers/Todd Alan Price/Lowell E. Holtz – 55.3% of the vote
Fernandez/Mobley – 44.7% of the vote

Now, let’s fast-forward to today. As of 11:28 pm, with 91% of the vote counted, WTMJ-TV had the numbers as follows:

Evers – 56.8%
Fernandez – 43.2%

I do realize there were a lot more voters in April than in February. However, you can’t tell me that the teachers all of a sudden just woke up on April Fool’s Day. Hell, Randy Koschnick didn’t do that much worse against the liberal institution of the state Supreme Court, and Shirley Abrahamson has decades of incumbency on her side.

This was the one chance those on the right had to take DPI away from WEAC/TIC, and because of RINO jealousy, that slipped right through our fingers. I suppose the less-liberal moneybags of the state (the few that are left, anyway) would rather play footsie with the same Left that views us as THE MAIN ENEMY and the same Left that dumped $750,000 or so into TV ads despite no real money flowing into their opposition than actually win.

If you want a divorce, by God, you’ve got one. Go ahead and make your alliance with the Democrats and the Left official. Just don’t come crying to me when you fall short of their 110% fealty demand.

I’ve got the green eggs

by @ 18:36. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Forgive the silliness, but doubleplusundead pointed me to this story from Ananova about a Croatian farmer who has a hen that lays green eggs. The accompanying pic is priceless.

I wonder if I could have some ham with that.

New NRE poll – how much fealty will Obama show Iran’s Mad Mullahs?

by @ 13:45. Filed under NRE Polls.

With President Obama prostrating himself to whatever rival demands it, I figure it’s time for a new poll. With Vice President Joe Biden’s 30-year-long love of Iran’s Mad Mullahs, Iran is sure to be on the ObamiNation Kow-Tow Tour. The question is, how deep will the bow be?

How deep will Obama bow to Iran's Mad Mullahs when he meets them?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

  • Let the face hit the floor (61%, 23 Vote(s))
  • As deep as the bow to the Protector of the Two "Holy" Mosques (21%, 8 Vote(s))
  • Some waist bendage (13%, 5 Vote(s))
  • No bow (3%, 1 Vote(s))
  • Head bob (3%, 1 Vote(s))

Total Voters: 38

Loading ... Loading ...

April 6, 2009

What happens when Porkulus ends – schools edition

by @ 18:10. Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

Jo Egelhoff asks the question over at Fox Politics, and she doesn’t like the answers. In short, the expansion of existing programs and creation of new programs essentially mandated by the strings attached to Porkulus will result in a massive tax increase in 2 years when the money for those programs runs out.

Obama assassination plot in Turkey broken up

by @ 13:49. Filed under Politics - National, War on Terror.

(H/T – Gateway Pundit)

Adnkronos International reports that a Syrian man disguised as an Al-Jazeera reporter plotted to assassinate President Obama during his official visit to Turkey:

As United States president Barack Obama began an official visit to Turkey on Monday, reports surfaced that a Syrian man was arrested in Istanbul in connection with a plot to kill him. The man – who sought to disguise himself as a journalist for the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera – managed to obtain press accreditation and allegedly planned to stab the US president with a knife, said Saudi daily al-Watan.

Paleo Pat over at Political Byline sums up my feelings so well, I’ll just borrow them (emphasis in the original):

As an American; I am just glad to see that the plot was exposed, because the LAST THING this Country needs is our President hurt or killed. I may not agree with Obama’s Politics, but I do not want to see the guy murdered. Anyone that would say anything any different is either crazy or just an mean spirited asshole. It is one thing to chide the President because of his politics, but it’s an entire other matter to do something like this.

Revisions/extensions (12:37 pm 4/7/2009) – The News Organization That Cannot Be Quoted™ reports (H/T – Ed Morrissey) that it was a hoax involving a “mentally-disturbed” man. Oddly, the details track quite nicely with the leftist meme that popped up when the original reports came out.

Ed, however, is puzzled why the Turks would quickly release a mentally-disturbed individual connected to an assassination plot. I seem to recall John Hinckley being declared insane.

NRE recommendations, 2009 spring general election edition

by @ 12:48. Filed under Elections, Politics - Milwaukee County, Politics - Oak Creek, Politics - Wisconsin.

I haven’t been paying nearly enough blog attention to this election. The robo-calls that have just started to come in like the snow that was supposed to be here yesterday have reminded me that the spring general election is tomorrow between 7 am and 8 pm. I may as well fire off my recommendations:

State Superintendent – Rose Fernandez. Education in Wisconsin needs an outside-the-box perspective, and who better than someone heavily involved with “virtual” schools? Fernandez recognizes that no one schooling solution works for every student, and that, outside merit pay, money is not the answer. Her opponent, Tony Evers, does have a lifetime of experience in the publicc-school structure. Sometimes, that can be a good thing; however, it usually, and in this case, is not. Evers is wedded to the idea that more money, especially more money to WEAC, is the answer.

State Supreme Court – Judge Randy Koschnick. This one is quite simple. Judge Koschnick’s opponent, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, is so liberal that even Bill Clinton could not nominate her for the United States Supreme Court. Justice Abrahamson simply went even further to the left since then.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Branch 15 – Daniel Gabler. He and opponent J.D. Watts have engaged in a “spirited” campaign (identifiable by the local deciders’ focus on only one side of said “spirit”). Both have attempted to reach out to local conservatives; however, Watts’ attempt to justify oral sex as not harmful, especially without offering what the judge in the case deemed any real basis belies that effort.

Oak Creek Mayor – I’ve tossed this one around quite a bit. I was quite disappointed when Mark Verhalen didn’t make it out of the primary, and almost as disappointed with his decision to press on in a write-in campaign. I see the two candidates on the ballot, Dick Bolender and Dimity Grabowski, as unsuited for the office; Bolender for his “spend every dime we can get away with” attitude, Grabowski for her general anti-business one. I honestly cannot recommend anybody.

Oak Creek-Franklin School Board – Again, no recommendations. None of the three candidates for the two seats, Thomas Robe, Kathleen Borchardt, or Jim Gilmeister, offer more than empty words on the need to live within the means of those that live in the district.

April 3, 2009

Drip, Drip, Drip – Update 1

by @ 10:50. Filed under Politics - National.

I wrote here about President Obama’s steadily declining approval numbers.  I posted a poll asking when his net positive number, as measured by Rasmussen Reports, would drop below 0.  One of the options in the poll was by today, April 3rd.  If you voted for that option you were close but no cigar!

Rasmussen reports that Obama’s net approval rating has dropped to it’s lowest level thus far +3, just barely above sea level.

Of interest in the poll this week is that for the first time in over a month there was a day, March 31st, where Obama’s net approval number moved back into positive double digit territory at +11.  I’m guessing it was not coincidental that this was the same day that President Obama left the United States.  I suspect many people, myself included, felt safer with him gone.

Also interesting this week is that after a couple of days of higher than recent ratings, Obama’s ratings are right back on the path to go below zero in the not too distant future.  Again, I doubt it is any coincidence that the new low approval rating comes on the day when it is obvious that Obama is not staying in Europe but is planning to come back to the US.

If Obama really does pay attention to polling do you think we could find him a nice, lonely, isolated island far from the shores of the US to live on?  It would help his approval rating!

But, But, But…

by @ 9:04. Filed under Economy, Energy, Politics - National.

From CNNmoney:

America’s oil bust

BRADFORD, Pa. (CNNMoney.com) — Six months ago this oil town in Western Pennsylvania was booming. You couldn’t find a worker to paint a house, let alone man a drill rig. The nearby oil fields buzzed with activity as high prices drove a production frenzy.

Now this boomtown’s bustle is as quiet as the surrounding late-winter forest.

but, but, but I thought we were supposed to be getting all kinds of “Green Jobs!”  I thought we were going to grow jobs!  Is it possible that Obama’s plan to “grow green jobs” might actually cause massive unemployment in industries that are not in favor?  Is it possible that some areas of the country may actually have significantly worse unemployment because of Obama’s plan to “grow jobs?”

Elkhart Indiana, Saaaalute!

If At First You Don’t Succeed

by @ 5:55. Filed under Politics - Minnesota, Politics - National.

Earlier this week, the three judge panel reviewing the Coleman/Franken contested case, issued a ruling that appears to have negative implications for Coleman, at least in this phase:

 

As a result, Harry Reid is looking again to seat Al Franken as Senator for Minnesota:

Upping the ante in his crusade to anoint Democrat Al Franken the next senator from Minnesota, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is blaming Senate Republican leader John Cornyn for the impasse that has left Minnesotans minus one senator for five months now.

Harry, via his spokesman, goes on to explain that his desire has nothing to do with him personally.  You see, Harry is just looking out for us poor Minnesotans who are short a Senator:

Reid spokesman Jim Manley told Politico.com on Thursday: “It’s not fair to the people of Minnesota to be represented by only one senator, and it’s about time a senator from Texas stop telling the people of Minnesota what’s best for them. Enough is enough.”

Hey, Harry, I know you read our blog.  I just want you to know as one Minnesotan who doesn’t think it really matters whether you have anywhere from 57 to 60 Democrat votes, I’m in no hurry to get a second Senator.  The one we have now is horrible at her job, why would I want to double down on that?  I’m sure with as quickly as you’re expanding the Federal Government payroll you could put the office space of our second Senator to some good use!

 

Call Me Puzzled

by @ 5:07. Filed under International relations, Politics - National.

One week ago, the President of Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, blamed the world financial crisis on “whitey”:

“this was a crisis that was fostered and boosted by irrational behavior of people that are white, blue-eyed, that before the crisis looked like they knew everything about economics.”

He further removed any misunderstanding about the nature of his comments when he added:

“I’m not acquainted with any black banker,” Lula said. “The part of humanity that’s responsible should pay for the crisis.”

Today, President Obama praised President Lula:

“That’s my man, right here, love this guy. He’s the most popular politician on Earth. It’s because of his good looks,” Obama said.

I saw Obama greet the Queen of England, I didn’t hear him make a comment about how well she looked.  Obama met Sarkozy and didn’t mention his looks.  Obama met Brown last month and didn’t mention his looks. 

Why would Obama mention Lula’s looks? 

I’m left with two possibilities.  With his comment, either Obama was saying:

Lula, you’re speaking truth to power, brother.  The man is just trying to keep us down!

or he was saying:

You can tell by looking at me that I didn’t cause this problem.  But, that guy I inherited this all from?  He was sure enough a honky cracker!

The problem is that I’m not really fluent in victimese so I’m puzzled on the exact translation.

April 2, 2009

Roll bloat – guest-blogging edition

by @ 19:18. Filed under The Blog.

I’ve had Anthony on my overstuffed feed reader for a while, but until Sister Toldjah tapped both him and me (along with Brian) to guest-blog over at her place, I didn’t realize that I never put Public Secrets on that bloated roll to your right. It’s past time to correct that oversight.

Open Thread Thur…er, Week – guest-blogging edition – 4/2/2009

by @ 19:16. Filed under Open Thread Thursday, The Blog.

Starting tomorrow and for the next week, I’ll be minding the store over at Sister Toldjah along with Brian of Liberty Pundit and Anthony of Public Secrets (which reminds me; I’ve got some roll bloating to do). Most of my stuff will be over there the next week, so I’m calling in the clans to help fill the void.

The bigger void will hit next Friday, when Shoebox hits the road. Hopefully I can remember how to put up more than a post a day :-)

Two words…Serial Liar!

by @ 15:52. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

I can add a second word to Shoebox’s one-word description of President Obama and apply it to Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. There are so many taxes that have gone up under Doyle’s tenure, but I will focus on just one: the cigarette tax. Doyle wants to jack that up another $0.75 per pack just over a year after he raised it $1.00 per pack, and in the same year that the federal government increased their taxes by $0.616 per pack (or a 58% increase).

First, let’s review what Doyle said as part of his 2003 State of the State address: “Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution — except one. We should not — we must not — and I will not — raise taxes.” (emphasis in the original). Oh really?

The cigarette tax in Wisconsin was $0.77 per pack when Doyle assumed control in 2003. In 2007, he signed into law an increase to $1.77 per pack, which took effect on January 1, 2008, which represents a 130% increase. By comparison, inflation was only 17.01% between 2003 and 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Back in February, before Doyle released his Necrobudget (© Kevin Binversie), he pushed for the other quarter per pack increase that he sought two years ago. Quoting the Wisconsin State Journal story’s paraphrase of Doyle’s rationale at that time, “Since December, Doyle has been pointing out that two years ago he sought a $1.25 increase in the cigarette tax and had to compromise with Republican lawmakers for the $1 increase that became law — in effect leaving a quarter on the table.”

Allow me to translate for those of you who don’t quite get Doyle’s mindset – “The money’s mine, ALL MINE!”

Of course, it’s not going to go up a quarter; it’s going to go up three quarters. The explanation that it is to get people to quit doesn’t hold water; the Feburary Wisconsin State Journal story also noted that advocates say that a 10% increase in the total price is enough to create a significant cut in smoking. If memory serves (and it must; I don’t smoke), the price of cigarettes was somewhere around $4.50 per pack last month. At last check, $1.37 per pack in new taxes between Uncle Sam Hussein and Uncle Craps was well north of 10%.

Barack HUSSEIN Obama bows to his master

by @ 13:39. Filed under Politics - National, War on Terror.

No, that is NOT a delayed April Fool’s joke. Clarice Feldman spotted this photograph from AFP’s John Stilwell (working as the pool photographer; The News Organization That Cannot Be Quoted™ didn’t mention which part of the pool Stilwell works for) showing President Barack HUSSEIN Obama bowing to Saudi King Abdullah at the G-20 summit…

Wait; it gets better. Curt points out that Barack HUSSEIN Obama did not bow to British Queen Elizabeth II, much less from the waist, choosing instead to shake her hand. Clarice further points out that Miss Manners frowns upon Americans bowing to any foreign royalty because that act recognizes that monarch’s power over his or her subjects.

Meanwhile, Jim Hoft found video of Barack HUSSEIN Obama displaying fealty to the Custodian of the Two “Holy” Mosques in British Satellite News’ coverage of the G-20 Summit (fast-forward to the 1:37 mark).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgDsXbThvv8[/youtube]

In case you missed the effect of that, Michelle Malkin dug up the full bow courtesy Canal 24h (at the 0:54 mark)…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S60U-hl35Gw[/youtube]

I believe Michelle said it best: “I will not submit!”

Revisions/extensions (12:23 pm 4/3/2009) – Just in case you missed the import of the last video, Ed Morrissey highlights it for you, and explodes the liberal meme that Obama was just picking something up off the floor. Unless he was using The Force, there’s no way he did that. Bonus item – it didn’t buy him any love from the House of Saud’s English-language mouthpiece.

Tax Day Tea Party – multiplier effect

by @ 12:25. Tags:
Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

I previously mentioned the Tax Day Tea Parties scheduled for Madison (Capitol Steps, King St entrance, 11 am-1 pm) and Appleton (Fox Banquets, 111 E Kimball, 5:30 pm-7 pm). There’s a few more items for Wisconsin, courtesy Brad V, the gang at Tax Day Tea Party, and the Google map put together by FreedomWorks (H/T – Michelle Malkin):

(Do click both maps; there’s too many to be contained in one Google Maps page)

The additions to the above:

– Milwaukee – Federal Building, 517 E Wisconsin Ave, noon
– Superior – David Obey’s office, 14th St and Tower Ave, noon-1 pm
– Fort Atkinson – Municipal Building, 101 N Main St, 4 pm-5:30 pm

Also, the fine folks in Racine will be taking care of those that thanks to work and stress from paying Uncles Sam and Craps, cannot make a mid-week tea time. They’re holding a Tea’d Off Party at Racine’s City Hall (where 6th St, 7th St, and Washington Ave all meet) Saturday, April 18, at noon.

Revisions/extensions (9:22 pm 4/2/2009) – There’s a couple more parties sprouting:

– La Crosse – Post office, 425 State St, noon
– Eau Claire (still a bit tentative; thanks Jo) – City Hall, 203 S Farwell St, noon

Help Me, Help Me!

by @ 12:05. Filed under Obama worship.

Audio of another Obama supporter incapable of living without the aid and assistance of the government. Sorry I can’t embed but you HAVE to listen to this!

19064669

One Word…..Liar!

by @ 5:41. Filed under Economy, Politics - National, Taxes.

During the campaign:

“Not any of your taxes!”

Today:

The cigarette excise tax that tobacco companies must pay the federal government rose Wednesday by 61.6 cents per pack, or $6.16 per carton. The tax now comes to about $10.10 per carton, or $1.01 per pack.

According to Gallup:

gallup

Looks like a pretty substantial tax increase, especially for those with the lowest incomes.

I’m beginning to wonder if when the Keynesians talk about the “multiplier effect,” they are referring to the number of times that people will need to spend the $12 per week that they got just to pay for the “No tax increases” that Obama promised.

April 1, 2009

Bonus madness – Congressional edition

by @ 16:26. Filed under Politics - National.

I only wish The Wall Street Journal were pulling an April Fool’s prank with this story on Congressional bonuses. However, they’re not. The highlowlights:

  • Congressional bonuses increased House aide pay by an average of 17% in the 4th quarter of 2008.
  • Rather than return $9.1 million in budgeted-but-not-spent taxpayer-funded office budgets, which vary between $1.3 million and $1.9 million per member, 200 House members, both Democrats and Republicans, showered that on their staffs.
  • Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the Financial Services Committee, gave bonuses to dozens of committee members who worked on criminalizing bonuses for employees who took TARP money.
  • Loretta Sanches (D-CA) holds the record for the largest individual bonuses, dishing out $14,000 apiece to 3 aides.
  • Tom Udall (D-UT) rewarded the members of his staff who took time off to work on his successful Senate campaign with those bonuses, increasing the net pay of 19 of his 22 aides to an annualized salary of $163,795 (including a part-time employee).
  • Heather Wilson (R-NM) gave 13 aides up to $3,000 apiece in bonuses after her Senate bid fell short.
  • Thelma Drake (R-VA) divvied up $40,000 among a dozen aides as a going-away gift after she lost her re-election bid.

The story does not mention how much in excess office funds was returned this year, but notes that in a typical year, between $1 million and $2 million gets returned, and that in 2006 (the previous election year), just $36,549 was returned.

A Novel Idea

by @ 5:32. Filed under Politics - National.

I wonder if President Obama has considered nominating a Democrat who hasn’t been caught making “errors” on their tax returns?

Sebelius Failed to Pay Taxes

President Obama’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, failed to pay $7,918 in taxes and interest, she writes in a letter sent today to Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley.

OK, to be fair, it does appear that her issues may have been a bit less straight forward than Geithner’s:

According to Sebelius, an accountant who was hired to review tax returns for 2005, 2006, and 2007 discovered a number of errors. “In July of 2006, my husband and I sold our home for an amount less than the outstanding balance on our mortgage,” Sebelius writes. “We continued paying off the loan, including interest we mistakenly believed continued to be deductible mortgage interest.”

In addition to this error, there were three charitable contributions for which they “could not locate our acknowledgement letter.” She adds she had “insufficient documentation” for some tax deductions for business expenses, though these adjustments did not affect the amount of tax owed because she paid the Alternative Minimum Tax.

In separate news, Sebelius testified today for her potential appointment to HHS Secretary.  She claims that she will attack fraud in the medical industry:

“Having a few strike operations may be the most effective way to send the signal that there’s a new sheriff in town, and I intend to take this very, very seriously,” Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

I don’t know about you but, anyone who “could not locate our acknowledgement letter,” for charitable deductions and has to back out business deductions because of “insufficient documentation,”  sounds pretty close to having committed fraud.  Perhaps we voters should consider

“Having a few strike operations may be the most effective way to send the signal that there’s a new sheriff in town, and we intend to take this very, very seriously!”

The End Of The Beginning?

by @ 5:20. Filed under Economy, Politics - National.

I’ve written several times about the idiocy of not modifying or eliminating the current interpretation of an accounting procedure known as Mark to Market.

In short, “mark to market” means that financial institutions need to recognize the market value of their investments as they change rather than waiting until they dispose of the asset and recognizing a gain or loss.   The purpose for “mark to market” is to reflect the estimated “value” change of the asset, real time, rather than having shareholders or mutual fund holders get surprised (up or down)  in one fell swoop. 

In a “normal” world, mark to market is a good tool.  However, for mark to market to work properly there needs to be a fairly active market for the asset being marked.  If the market for the asset has few trades (thinly traded), it has the possibility of causing “fire sale” pricing for assets that have actual, recoverable value that is much higher.  This latter situation is what is happening to various financial instruments that many of the banks and other financial institutions (Citicorp) hold.  Today, there are many reports that assets like the mortgage backed securities have been written down to as low as 30% of their face value.  This while the actual cash flow performance of those same assets are performing at a level that is close to 90% of face value.

Various government entities, including the FDIC, require that banks have capital of a certain ratio to the loans they have outstanding.  Part of the capital that a bank has is the value of assets that they invest in.  When the assets, like CDOs get written down in a dramatic fashion, the bank or financial institution’s capital is also reduced.  This is part of the reason that financial institutions have been chasing after capital infusions during this meltdown.  Part of the reason that the TARP plan exists is to infuse capital into financial institutions to replace the eroded capital from written down assets.  You can see from the previous paragraph that because of mark to market, it is possible that TARP is having to infuse 50% + more capital than they need to for the capital they are providing to support the CDOs.

Finally, FINALLY, after having first written about this nearly a year ago, it looks like the FASB is going to address and likely modify mark to market.  About dang time!

You may ask, “Shoebox, if this was so obvious, why did it take a whole year to address?”  Good question!  This is yet another example where government’s “good intentions” led to unintended consequences. 

Mark to market as we know it, was created by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) with FASB 157.  FASB 157 was a direct result of the Enron scandal.  Congress was so incensed by what happened at Enron that they basically told FASB and others that either they fixed the problem or Congress would.  FASB 157 is the result. 

The other result of Enron was that auditing firms became extremely conservative in interpreting FASB rules.  All you have to know is that Arthur Andersen, then one of the largest auditing firms in the world, ceased to exist as a result of Enron and you can see why auditing firms quit “interpreting” and merely “implemented” anything that FASB promulgates.

Let me make one caveat to my advocacy for a change in mark to market.  Many of complained that by eliminating M to M we will not have financial statements that fairly reflect the company’s status.  In some respects that’s accurate.  What I propose is going back to a mark to model for financial purposes but providing information in the financial statement notes that reflect the difference between mark to market and mark to model.  This will give both sides of the argument the information they want/need and will allow knowledgable investors the information they need to make assessments.

The sad part of all of this is that FASB, the FDIC or Congress could have acted on this long ago.  Had they done so, even if only doing so on the capital requirement calculations, some portion of the hullabaloo in the financial industry could have been avoided.  Additionally, some of the financial bailouts could have been avoided or at least mitigated and maybe, just maybe, President Obama would not have had the door thrown wide open to waltz into any company he now chooses and dictate how they should do business.

I hope that FASB does act on Thursday.  If they don’t, expect a nasty reaction from the stock market.  If they do act, as I expect them to, this could provide a significant boost to the viability of several financial institutions.  If that happens, we could see the end of the beginning of this financial downturn.

March 31, 2009

Have You Ever Noticed

by @ 9:11. Filed under Politics - National.

In defending his proposal for new, broader regulations that would allow the Treasury to step in and control any company that they deemed “too big to fail,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said:

the markets have become “too unstable and fragile.” He said, “To address this will require comprehensive reform. Not modest repairs at the margin, but new rules of the game.”

Hmmmm, new rules…. 

Have you noticed how every time something happens that wasn’t anticipated by this administration, their response is to provide “new rules?” 

Have you noticed how the phrase “new rules” does not mean more flexibility but always means more government control and involvement with the industry or company the “new rules” are promulgated on?

Have you noticed that “new rules” by the government never make the industry or company more competitive or run more efficiently?

Has anyone noticed that the industries that led us to this economic difficulty are among those that already have the highest number of rules to follow?  Banking, Insurance, Mortgage, Securities; all industries that have government telling them more about how they must operate their businesses than nearly all other industries.

In defending his demand for the termination of GM’s CEO, President Barack Obama said he

has “no intention” of running General Motors.

hmmmm, not running the company……

Have you known anybody able to fire an employee of a company that was not running at least that part of the company?

Have you known anyone able to retroactively dress down individuals and companies for how they use the company’s assets who wasn’t “running the company?”

Have you known anyone able to determine acceptable compensation levels for employees that wasn’t “running the company?”

Have you known anyone able to make a determination to unilaterally terminate company contracts and accept the risk of that termination on behalf of the company, without being someone who runs the company?

Did you notice how just a couple of weeks ago, President Obama was too tired to meet with the Prime Minister of Britain but yesterday, he took on another full time job to run GM?

Read some blogs, drink some grogs

by @ 7:14. Tags:
Filed under Miscellaneous.

That’s right; it’s the last Tuesday of the month. Alexander has returned Blog ‘n Grog to its original home at Neighbor’s, 260 W Main in Waukesha. Grogging shall commence at 7 pm.

BE THERE!

March 30, 2009

Live-blogging “24” over at B.4B

by @ 18:56. Tags:
Filed under Miscellaneous.

I missed the last couple weeks live because of prior family-related committments, but other than next week, I’ll be around for the rest of Season 7. Naturally, the party will be at Blogs.4Bauer.

Don’t forget to get in on the B.4B Kill Counter. I’m going low-positive tonight as Jack begins the process of beating unbeatable viruses – 3.

4-Blocking U-Haul “one-way” rates

by @ 8:51. Filed under Politics - Milwaukee.

Tom McMahon does it again…

Normally, I would close comments when I borrow Tom’s stuff; however, there is something to add this time. In addition to, and indeed, related to the supply-and-demand note from Eugene, there is another reason why it costs so much more money to get a U-Haul truck outbound than inbound. U-Haul sees it likely that trucks inbound to Milwaukee will return to their points of origin full and paid for by somebody using that truck, while it sees it likeky that trucks outbound from Milwaukee will need to have somebody paid by U-Haul to return that truck to Milwaukee.

I believe former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson said it best: “When the last company leaves Wisconsin, please turn off the lights.” Of course, with the Doyle/Spendocrat “energy” plan, it is likely that the lights will be off before that happens.

Revisions/extensions (12:10 pm 3/30/2009) – In the comments, HeatherRadish suggested looking up one-way rates between Milwaukee and places like Detroit, Buffalo, Philadelphia and LA. These are all for pickup of a 26′ U-Haul truck on 4/4/2009:

Milwaukee-to-Detroit – $542
Detroit-to-Milwaukee – $735

Milwaukee-to-Buffalo – $997
Buffalo-to-Milwaukee – $720

Milwaukee-to-Philadelphia – $956
Philadelphia-to-Milwaukee – $1,072

Milwaukee-to-Los Angeles – $1,788
Los Angeles-to-Milwaukee – $2,026

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