Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Who's Making Money


OK, so there’s this Democratic president who’s really good on spending. Meaning, he does it a lot. Among the most ever, in fact.


For more than 18 months he spent like there was no midterm.


He authorized the government takeover of a car company. When in doubt — or not — get the government involved. Something about saving jobs, union jobs.


But now the government’s getting out by selling stock. And it looks to be making money. Which is an unknown thing in government but in private business usually involves getting back more money than was put it. It’s called a profit. He couldn’t bring himself to say the word. But that’s what it is, a profit for taxpayers.


So do you think that profit will be returned to taxpaying shareholders whose money saved the day?


Here’s how that president put it:


THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. Today, one of the toughest tales of the recession took another big step towards becoming a success story.


General Motors relaunched itself as a public company, cutting the government’s stake in the company by nearly half. What’s more, American taxpayers are now positioned to recover more than my administration invested in GM.


And that’s a very good thing. Last year, we told GM’s management and workers that if they made the tough decisions necessary to make themselves more competitive in the 21st century — decisions requiring real leadership, fresh thinking and also some shared sacrifice –- then we would stand by them.


And because they did, the American auto industry -– an industry that’s been the proud symbol of America’s manufacturing might for a century; an industry that helped to build our middle class -– is once again on the rise.


Our automakers are in the midst of their strongest period of job growth in more than a decade. Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, the industry has created more than 75,000 new jobs. For the first time in six years, Ford, GM and Chrysler are all operating at a profit.


In fact, last week, GM announced its best quarter in over 11 years. And most importantly, American workers are back at the assembly line manufacturing the high-quality, fuel-efficient, American-made cars of tomorrow, capable of going toe to toe with any other manufacturer in the world.


Just two years ago, this seemed impossible. In fact, there were plenty of doubters and naysayers who said it couldn’t be done, who were prepared to throw in the towel and read the American auto industry last rites.


Independent estimates suggested, however, that had we taken that step, had we given up, we would have lost more than 1 million jobs across all 50 states. It would have also resulted in economic chaos, devastating communities across the country and costing governments tens of billions of dollars in additional social safety net benefits and lost revenue. 


That wasn’t an acceptable option –- to throw up our hands and to quit. That’s not what we do. This is a country of optimistic and determined people who don’t give up when times are tough. We do what’s necessary to move forward.


So these last two years haven’t been easy on anybody. They haven’t been without pain or sacrifice, as the tough restructuring of GM reminds us.


And obviously we’ve still got a long road ahead and a lot of work to do -– to rebuild this economy, to put people back to work, to make America more competitive for the future and to secure the American Dream for our children and our grandchildren.


But we are finally beginning to see some of these tough decisions that we made in the midst of crisis pay off. And I’m absolutely confident that we’re going to keep on making progress. I believe we’re going to get through this tougher and stronger than we were before.  Because just as I had faith in the ability of our autoworkers to persevere and succeed, I have faith in the American people’s ability to persevere and succeed. And I have faith that America’s best days and America’s — and American manufacturing’s best days are still ahead of us.


Finally, I just want to embarrass a couple of people. Ron Bloom and Brian Deese are key members of the team that helped to engineer this rescue of GM and Chrysler. So it had not been for these two gentlemen, a whole lot of people might be out of work right now. We are very proud of them and I figured that I’d go ahead — you can see they’re all looking sheepish — point them out to you. So thank you very much, everybody.


(Malcolm is the Top of the Ticket blogger at latimes.com/ticket )


Update (AP): Here’s the clip. The good news? We’ve only lost $4.5 billion on share sales thus far.


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy







I knew you guys hated him, but not until I saw the results of this weekend’s Hot Air mega-poll did I realize how much. Out of 17 presidential candidates named, he finished … 15th, just eight votes ahead of Rick Santorum and 10 votes ahead of, er, Donald Trump. Palin won the poll with 1181 votes and Chris Christie came second with 745. Huckabee’s total take: 32. Dude?


The word on the primaries lately from everyone from Palin to Rove is that competition is wunderbar, that the more candidates we have battling for the nomination, the better served voters are by having more options, etc. Just wondering: Does that logic apply to Huck too? Think carefully before you answer, because if there’s anyone who’s poised to hurt Palin by peeling off social cons, blue-collar voters, and women (yes, really), it’s him.


“I just don’t understand how it is that a person can read these polls day after day and the narrative is constantly everybody but me,” he told POLITICO. “Whether I do it or not, the fact is that if one looks at the overall body of information that’s available, nobody would be in a better position to take it all the way to November.”…


“For me, later is better,” he said, suggesting that he’d ruled out making a decision in the first quarter of next year. Advisers differ on how late he could jump in, but Vander Plaats said he’d advise Huckabee to wait until extremely late — after the August Iowa GOP straw poll — to survey the lay of the land and make up his mind…


Yet he gets only a fraction of the attention Palin enjoys — something that plainly chafes him.


“She’s brought an enormous amount of energy to the party. As to why she seemingly draws ten times the attention, I don’t know,” he said, touting recent book signings of his that had drawn up to 1,400 people, with no note in the media.


“You’re never going to read that. I’m never going to be breaking news because I made a comment on Twitter and Facebook. Why is that? I don’t know,” he said.


It’s not a done deal that he’s running. He had to scrounge for funds to keep his campaign going two years ago and he just took out a huge mortgage to build his new home in Florida, so unless he’s got evangelical leaders ready to help him pass the collection plate around, money is a major issue. Even so, if Palin decides not to run and Mitt looks like a prohibitive frontrunner early, does anyone seriously think he won’t jump in? Social conservative votes will be there for the taking, and you know he’s just itching to vanquish that pointy-headed white-collar Romney who went to all the right schools ‘n stuff. If Palin does run then his decision is tougher, since the longer he waits, the more time she’ll have to solidify her support among the same constituencies he’s targeting. Of course, jumping in early might not help against her either. Huck acknowledged a few weeks ago that she could run away with the whole thing, and I’m guessing he wouldn’t be thrilled with an outcome whereby he and she enable a Romney victory by splitting base voters.


Here’s a fascinating possibility, though. What if Palin jumps out to a big early lead in the polls and Mitt is struggling to gain traction? In that case, establishment Republicans will quickly turn desperate looking for someone who can stop her in the primary and stand a chance of beating Obama in the general. I mentioned Mike Pence as a guy who might fit that bill in a post last week, but Pence is potentially a tough sell because his name recognition is low even among Republicans. Huckabee’s is much higher so he could bounce into contention right away even after a Thompson-esque late entry. Which raises the question: Would Beltway insiders grit their teeth and back Huck if it looked like he was the only candidate available who could beat Sarahcuda? Imagine the magic that a Rove/Huckabee partnership would make, my friends. Imagine it.


Just as I’m writing this, PPP is out with a new poll of the crucial swing state of Missouri. Huckabee 27, Palin 25, Gingrich 15, Romney 14. How can Huck say no? Exit question: Seriously, guys, 32 votes?







bench craft company rip off secrets

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



free bench craft company rip off pills

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



www.ddfghhdfxd.com/

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



dobench craft company rip off pills work

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



home bench craft company rip off

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



allbench craft company rip off


OK, so there’s this Democratic president who’s really good on spending. Meaning, he does it a lot. Among the most ever, in fact.


For more than 18 months he spent like there was no midterm.


He authorized the government takeover of a car company. When in doubt — or not — get the government involved. Something about saving jobs, union jobs.


But now the government’s getting out by selling stock. And it looks to be making money. Which is an unknown thing in government but in private business usually involves getting back more money than was put it. It’s called a profit. He couldn’t bring himself to say the word. But that’s what it is, a profit for taxpayers.


So do you think that profit will be returned to taxpaying shareholders whose money saved the day?


Here’s how that president put it:


THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. Today, one of the toughest tales of the recession took another big step towards becoming a success story.


General Motors relaunched itself as a public company, cutting the government’s stake in the company by nearly half. What’s more, American taxpayers are now positioned to recover more than my administration invested in GM.


And that’s a very good thing. Last year, we told GM’s management and workers that if they made the tough decisions necessary to make themselves more competitive in the 21st century — decisions requiring real leadership, fresh thinking and also some shared sacrifice –- then we would stand by them.


And because they did, the American auto industry -– an industry that’s been the proud symbol of America’s manufacturing might for a century; an industry that helped to build our middle class -– is once again on the rise.


Our automakers are in the midst of their strongest period of job growth in more than a decade. Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, the industry has created more than 75,000 new jobs. For the first time in six years, Ford, GM and Chrysler are all operating at a profit.


In fact, last week, GM announced its best quarter in over 11 years. And most importantly, American workers are back at the assembly line manufacturing the high-quality, fuel-efficient, American-made cars of tomorrow, capable of going toe to toe with any other manufacturer in the world.


Just two years ago, this seemed impossible. In fact, there were plenty of doubters and naysayers who said it couldn’t be done, who were prepared to throw in the towel and read the American auto industry last rites.


Independent estimates suggested, however, that had we taken that step, had we given up, we would have lost more than 1 million jobs across all 50 states. It would have also resulted in economic chaos, devastating communities across the country and costing governments tens of billions of dollars in additional social safety net benefits and lost revenue. 


That wasn’t an acceptable option –- to throw up our hands and to quit. That’s not what we do. This is a country of optimistic and determined people who don’t give up when times are tough. We do what’s necessary to move forward.


So these last two years haven’t been easy on anybody. They haven’t been without pain or sacrifice, as the tough restructuring of GM reminds us.


And obviously we’ve still got a long road ahead and a lot of work to do -– to rebuild this economy, to put people back to work, to make America more competitive for the future and to secure the American Dream for our children and our grandchildren.


But we are finally beginning to see some of these tough decisions that we made in the midst of crisis pay off. And I’m absolutely confident that we’re going to keep on making progress. I believe we’re going to get through this tougher and stronger than we were before.  Because just as I had faith in the ability of our autoworkers to persevere and succeed, I have faith in the American people’s ability to persevere and succeed. And I have faith that America’s best days and America’s — and American manufacturing’s best days are still ahead of us.


Finally, I just want to embarrass a couple of people. Ron Bloom and Brian Deese are key members of the team that helped to engineer this rescue of GM and Chrysler. So it had not been for these two gentlemen, a whole lot of people might be out of work right now. We are very proud of them and I figured that I’d go ahead — you can see they’re all looking sheepish — point them out to you. So thank you very much, everybody.


(Malcolm is the Top of the Ticket blogger at latimes.com/ticket )


Update (AP): Here’s the clip. The good news? We’ve only lost $4.5 billion on share sales thus far.


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy







I knew you guys hated him, but not until I saw the results of this weekend’s Hot Air mega-poll did I realize how much. Out of 17 presidential candidates named, he finished … 15th, just eight votes ahead of Rick Santorum and 10 votes ahead of, er, Donald Trump. Palin won the poll with 1181 votes and Chris Christie came second with 745. Huckabee’s total take: 32. Dude?


The word on the primaries lately from everyone from Palin to Rove is that competition is wunderbar, that the more candidates we have battling for the nomination, the better served voters are by having more options, etc. Just wondering: Does that logic apply to Huck too? Think carefully before you answer, because if there’s anyone who’s poised to hurt Palin by peeling off social cons, blue-collar voters, and women (yes, really), it’s him.


“I just don’t understand how it is that a person can read these polls day after day and the narrative is constantly everybody but me,” he told POLITICO. “Whether I do it or not, the fact is that if one looks at the overall body of information that’s available, nobody would be in a better position to take it all the way to November.”…


“For me, later is better,” he said, suggesting that he’d ruled out making a decision in the first quarter of next year. Advisers differ on how late he could jump in, but Vander Plaats said he’d advise Huckabee to wait until extremely late — after the August Iowa GOP straw poll — to survey the lay of the land and make up his mind…


Yet he gets only a fraction of the attention Palin enjoys — something that plainly chafes him.


“She’s brought an enormous amount of energy to the party. As to why she seemingly draws ten times the attention, I don’t know,” he said, touting recent book signings of his that had drawn up to 1,400 people, with no note in the media.


“You’re never going to read that. I’m never going to be breaking news because I made a comment on Twitter and Facebook. Why is that? I don’t know,” he said.


It’s not a done deal that he’s running. He had to scrounge for funds to keep his campaign going two years ago and he just took out a huge mortgage to build his new home in Florida, so unless he’s got evangelical leaders ready to help him pass the collection plate around, money is a major issue. Even so, if Palin decides not to run and Mitt looks like a prohibitive frontrunner early, does anyone seriously think he won’t jump in? Social conservative votes will be there for the taking, and you know he’s just itching to vanquish that pointy-headed white-collar Romney who went to all the right schools ‘n stuff. If Palin does run then his decision is tougher, since the longer he waits, the more time she’ll have to solidify her support among the same constituencies he’s targeting. Of course, jumping in early might not help against her either. Huck acknowledged a few weeks ago that she could run away with the whole thing, and I’m guessing he wouldn’t be thrilled with an outcome whereby he and she enable a Romney victory by splitting base voters.


Here’s a fascinating possibility, though. What if Palin jumps out to a big early lead in the polls and Mitt is struggling to gain traction? In that case, establishment Republicans will quickly turn desperate looking for someone who can stop her in the primary and stand a chance of beating Obama in the general. I mentioned Mike Pence as a guy who might fit that bill in a post last week, but Pence is potentially a tough sell because his name recognition is low even among Republicans. Huckabee’s is much higher so he could bounce into contention right away even after a Thompson-esque late entry. Which raises the question: Would Beltway insiders grit their teeth and back Huck if it looked like he was the only candidate available who could beat Sarahcuda? Imagine the magic that a Rove/Huckabee partnership would make, my friends. Imagine it.


Just as I’m writing this, PPP is out with a new poll of the crucial swing state of Missouri. Huckabee 27, Palin 25, Gingrich 15, Romney 14. How can Huck say no? Exit question: Seriously, guys, 32 votes?







bench craft company rip off pumps

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...




Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



bench craft company rip off

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



bench craft company rip off blog

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



bench craft company rip off methods

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



advertising enlargement secrets

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



photos of advertising enlargement


OK, so there’s this Democratic president who’s really good on spending. Meaning, he does it a lot. Among the most ever, in fact.


For more than 18 months he spent like there was no midterm.


He authorized the government takeover of a car company. When in doubt — or not — get the government involved. Something about saving jobs, union jobs.


But now the government’s getting out by selling stock. And it looks to be making money. Which is an unknown thing in government but in private business usually involves getting back more money than was put it. It’s called a profit. He couldn’t bring himself to say the word. But that’s what it is, a profit for taxpayers.


So do you think that profit will be returned to taxpaying shareholders whose money saved the day?


Here’s how that president put it:


THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. Today, one of the toughest tales of the recession took another big step towards becoming a success story.


General Motors relaunched itself as a public company, cutting the government’s stake in the company by nearly half. What’s more, American taxpayers are now positioned to recover more than my administration invested in GM.


And that’s a very good thing. Last year, we told GM’s management and workers that if they made the tough decisions necessary to make themselves more competitive in the 21st century — decisions requiring real leadership, fresh thinking and also some shared sacrifice –- then we would stand by them.


And because they did, the American auto industry -– an industry that’s been the proud symbol of America’s manufacturing might for a century; an industry that helped to build our middle class -– is once again on the rise.


Our automakers are in the midst of their strongest period of job growth in more than a decade. Since GM and Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy, the industry has created more than 75,000 new jobs. For the first time in six years, Ford, GM and Chrysler are all operating at a profit.


In fact, last week, GM announced its best quarter in over 11 years. And most importantly, American workers are back at the assembly line manufacturing the high-quality, fuel-efficient, American-made cars of tomorrow, capable of going toe to toe with any other manufacturer in the world.


Just two years ago, this seemed impossible. In fact, there were plenty of doubters and naysayers who said it couldn’t be done, who were prepared to throw in the towel and read the American auto industry last rites.


Independent estimates suggested, however, that had we taken that step, had we given up, we would have lost more than 1 million jobs across all 50 states. It would have also resulted in economic chaos, devastating communities across the country and costing governments tens of billions of dollars in additional social safety net benefits and lost revenue. 


That wasn’t an acceptable option –- to throw up our hands and to quit. That’s not what we do. This is a country of optimistic and determined people who don’t give up when times are tough. We do what’s necessary to move forward.


So these last two years haven’t been easy on anybody. They haven’t been without pain or sacrifice, as the tough restructuring of GM reminds us.


And obviously we’ve still got a long road ahead and a lot of work to do -– to rebuild this economy, to put people back to work, to make America more competitive for the future and to secure the American Dream for our children and our grandchildren.


But we are finally beginning to see some of these tough decisions that we made in the midst of crisis pay off. And I’m absolutely confident that we’re going to keep on making progress. I believe we’re going to get through this tougher and stronger than we were before.  Because just as I had faith in the ability of our autoworkers to persevere and succeed, I have faith in the American people’s ability to persevere and succeed. And I have faith that America’s best days and America’s — and American manufacturing’s best days are still ahead of us.


Finally, I just want to embarrass a couple of people. Ron Bloom and Brian Deese are key members of the team that helped to engineer this rescue of GM and Chrysler. So it had not been for these two gentlemen, a whole lot of people might be out of work right now. We are very proud of them and I figured that I’d go ahead — you can see they’re all looking sheepish — point them out to you. So thank you very much, everybody.


(Malcolm is the Top of the Ticket blogger at latimes.com/ticket )


Update (AP): Here’s the clip. The good news? We’ve only lost $4.5 billion on share sales thus far.


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy







I knew you guys hated him, but not until I saw the results of this weekend’s Hot Air mega-poll did I realize how much. Out of 17 presidential candidates named, he finished … 15th, just eight votes ahead of Rick Santorum and 10 votes ahead of, er, Donald Trump. Palin won the poll with 1181 votes and Chris Christie came second with 745. Huckabee’s total take: 32. Dude?


The word on the primaries lately from everyone from Palin to Rove is that competition is wunderbar, that the more candidates we have battling for the nomination, the better served voters are by having more options, etc. Just wondering: Does that logic apply to Huck too? Think carefully before you answer, because if there’s anyone who’s poised to hurt Palin by peeling off social cons, blue-collar voters, and women (yes, really), it’s him.


“I just don’t understand how it is that a person can read these polls day after day and the narrative is constantly everybody but me,” he told POLITICO. “Whether I do it or not, the fact is that if one looks at the overall body of information that’s available, nobody would be in a better position to take it all the way to November.”…


“For me, later is better,” he said, suggesting that he’d ruled out making a decision in the first quarter of next year. Advisers differ on how late he could jump in, but Vander Plaats said he’d advise Huckabee to wait until extremely late — after the August Iowa GOP straw poll — to survey the lay of the land and make up his mind…


Yet he gets only a fraction of the attention Palin enjoys — something that plainly chafes him.


“She’s brought an enormous amount of energy to the party. As to why she seemingly draws ten times the attention, I don’t know,” he said, touting recent book signings of his that had drawn up to 1,400 people, with no note in the media.


“You’re never going to read that. I’m never going to be breaking news because I made a comment on Twitter and Facebook. Why is that? I don’t know,” he said.


It’s not a done deal that he’s running. He had to scrounge for funds to keep his campaign going two years ago and he just took out a huge mortgage to build his new home in Florida, so unless he’s got evangelical leaders ready to help him pass the collection plate around, money is a major issue. Even so, if Palin decides not to run and Mitt looks like a prohibitive frontrunner early, does anyone seriously think he won’t jump in? Social conservative votes will be there for the taking, and you know he’s just itching to vanquish that pointy-headed white-collar Romney who went to all the right schools ‘n stuff. If Palin does run then his decision is tougher, since the longer he waits, the more time she’ll have to solidify her support among the same constituencies he’s targeting. Of course, jumping in early might not help against her either. Huck acknowledged a few weeks ago that she could run away with the whole thing, and I’m guessing he wouldn’t be thrilled with an outcome whereby he and she enable a Romney victory by splitting base voters.


Here’s a fascinating possibility, though. What if Palin jumps out to a big early lead in the polls and Mitt is struggling to gain traction? In that case, establishment Republicans will quickly turn desperate looking for someone who can stop her in the primary and stand a chance of beating Obama in the general. I mentioned Mike Pence as a guy who might fit that bill in a post last week, but Pence is potentially a tough sell because his name recognition is low even among Republicans. Huckabee’s is much higher so he could bounce into contention right away even after a Thompson-esque late entry. Which raises the question: Would Beltway insiders grit their teeth and back Huck if it looked like he was the only candidate available who could beat Sarahcuda? Imagine the magic that a Rove/Huckabee partnership would make, my friends. Imagine it.


Just as I’m writing this, PPP is out with a new poll of the crucial swing state of Missouri. Huckabee 27, Palin 25, Gingrich 15, Romney 14. How can Huck say no? Exit question: Seriously, guys, 32 votes?







free advertising enlargement exercise

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



free advertising enlargement

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



safe bench craft company rip off

Movie <b>News</b> Quick Hits: Emma Stone&#39;s &#39;Spider-Man&#39; Look, Annie Nods <b>...</b>

Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical. Email This. -- Emma Stone debuted her Spider-Man look for the first time at Trevor Live in Hollywood over the weekend. Stone, who's usually in films as a ...

Facebook Profile Changes: More Media Play Than <b>News</b>?

Facebook sure has arrived when it comes to the traditional media set as it used 60 Minutes (in more ways ...

Source: Nationals to offer Lee seven-year deal - NY Daily <b>News</b>

The Washington Nationals are prepared to make Cliff Lee a seven-year offer, one that could drastically alter the Yankees' offseason plans. According to a major-league source, the Nationals - who already blew the market open with their ...



truebench craft company rip off

No comments:

Post a Comment