The Era Of Special Interests is Over - Part 429

Arlen Specter Goes to Bat for the Trial Bar - WSJ.com: "To show what a loyal tort-lobby servant he is, Mr. Specter has also introduced a bill to let attorneys claim an up-front tax deduction on expenses they incur while building contingency fee cases. Amazing but true: Mr. Specter wants to give a tax cut to sustain the likes of Mel Weiss or Dickie Scruggs in the yachts to which they have become accustomed while they await jackpot jury verdicts. Even Democrats are too embarrassed by this giveaway (estimated cost: $1.6 billion) to pass it as a stand-alone bill, so tort lobbyist Linda Lipsen recently said “we have to tuck it into something” else, such as another “tax vehicle.”"

The Post-Special Interest Era - Part XXIV

George F. Will - UPS-FedEx Dispute Shows Labor's Control Over the White House - washingtonpost.com: "It has given the United Auto Workers majority ownership of Chrysler. It has sent $135 billion of supposed stimulus money to state governments to protect unionized public-sector employees from layoffs and other sacrifices that private-sector workers are making. It has sedated the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards, which protects workers against misbehavior by union leaders. Cap-and-trade legislation might please unions with protectionism -- tariffs on imports from countries not foolish enough to similarly burden their manufacturers. If Congress, seeking money for more socialized medicine, decides that some employer-paid health insurance should be taxed as employees' compensation -- which it obviously is -- generous union-negotiated benefits might be exempted.

Now it is the Teamsters' turn at the trough. Congress might change labor law to assist UPS, a Teamsters stronghold, by hindering its principal competitor, FedEx."

Yet another installment in the chronicle of union pay-offs from this president and his party. I have been tracking it in this blog (search on the tags at the bottom of this post). Have you seen this covered by the MSM?

Here's a quiz: what do the state of California, Delphi, and the Detroit school system have in common?

a) They are all essentially bankrupt
b) They are all heavily unionized

Now the Dems want to cripple another national treausre, FedEx.

That Giant Sucking Sound - Another $6B of YOUR Money Sucked Into the Black Hole of Detroit

Delphi Gets $6.2 Billion Bailout of Pensions - WSJ.com: "The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. agreed to take on $6.2 billion in pension liabilities from bankrupt auto supplier Delphi Corp., putting in place a key piece in the bailout of the car industry but renewing pressure on a government agency facing huge burdens as more companies fail.

The pension rescue is the PBGC's second-largest ever, ranked by dollars, after that of United Airlines in 2005, which totaled $7.5 billion. As a result, the government will take over payments for 70,000 workers and retirees that Delphi says it can't afford under its restructuring plan."

Another payoff to the UAW, and Obama digs the US auto industry bailout hole another $6B deeper.

Chrysler lenders give in on restructuring - Washington Times

Chrysler lenders give in on restructuring - Washington Times:

"'After a great deal of soul-searching and quite frankly agony, they concluded they just don't have critical mass to withstand the enormous pressure and machinery of the U.S. government,' said Thomas Lauria, the group's lead attorney.

The White House's auto task force asked the lenders to accept about 33 cents on the dollar for $6.9 billion of loans and offered them no equity in the company, while unions were given a 55 percent majority stake in exchange for expunging $4.6 billion of debt to a retirement fund."

If this doesn't scare you, it should. The abusive treatment of law abiding citizens (both those who ran these funds and those who invested in them), the demagoguery, and the disdain for two of the sacred pillars of our civil society- personal property and contracts - certainly cause me to question whether this administration recognizes any constraints on its power.

Chrysler Bankruptcy - This Deal Stinks to High Heaven

Property Rights Trumped By UAW In First Episode Of Gangster Gov't:

"Think carefully about what's happening here. The White House, presumably car czar Steven Rattner and deputy Ron Bloom, is seeking to transfer the property of one group of people to another group that is politically favored."

Politically connected junior creditors (UAW) being given precedence over more senior creditors
Politically disadvantaged creditors being strong-armed into settling for pennies on the dollar while the UAW gets 100%
TARP-funded creditors having no choice but to play ball
The President himself participating in the demonization of creditors who dare to demand their contractually-guaranteed rights
Taxpayer billions tossed around to buy time and sweeten the pot for a deal
A forced marriage with a weakling foreign car company

Is your stomach turning yet?

Need MORE Proof the Left Doesn't Care About Educating Poor Kids?

Teach for (Some of) America - WSJ.com:

"This is a tragic lost opportunity. Teach for America picks up the $20,000 tab for the recruitment and training of each teacher, which saves public money. More important, the program feeds high-energy, high-IQ talent into a teaching profession that desperately needs it. Unions claim the recent grads lack the proper experience and commitment to a teaching career. But the Urban Institute has studied the program and found that 'TFA status more than offsets any experience effects. Disadvantaged secondary students would be better off with TFA teachers, especially in math and science, than with fully licensed in-field teachers with three or more years of experience.'"

The big government folks love to demagogue on education and pass bills to shovel more money into existing failed school systems. Ask them, however, to cross their big contributors, the teacher unions, by supporting successful voucher programs, and they run for cover. This story is even more breathtaking however. Their cynicism extends so far as to be willing to impede the flow of idealistic Ivy League-trained recruits into underperforming public school systems. They can't bear the prospect of having to compete with young teachers with energy, brains, and a desire to put students first.

Celebrate, and Continue to Resist

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Labor Reached Too Far With Card-Check Act:

"The unions' lever was strong, but not strong enough to move the world as far as they wanted. And now that it's splintering in their hands, the question is what position they'll be in when they land on the ground."

We need to figure out how to break up the unholy alliance of government employees and unions. There is no end to the damage unions can do in the public sector as government will never be allowed to go bankrupt.

I Wonder How The NYT Would React If Pres Obama Said This to the UAW

For Boston Globe, an Ultimatum - WSJ.com:

"New York Times Co. has told employees at the Boston Globe it is prepared to shut down the newspaper within a month unless it gets labor concessions -- a move that reflects both the financial pressure the Times Co. is under and the depths to which its once-prized property has sunk."

The Same Attutide That Brought Down Detroit

AT&T, Union Face Off on Contract - WSJ.com:

The company says current health-care benefits are comparable to those at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which face a government-mandated restructuring and potential bankruptcy filings...
"'It's clear what those types of unsustainable costs have done to America's auto industry,' said Walt Sharp, an AT&T spokesman. 'What's needed here is fundamental change to match the changes in the industry and the marketplace.'

The union rejects the comparison to the auto industry. 'Our economy may be in a downturn, but AT&T is not,' said Candice Johnson, a spokeswoman for the CWA. 'We're not the auto industry.'"

So until AT&T is on the ropes, don't ask the unions to be reasonable in their demands. AT&T workers pay NOTHING currently for their health benefits, and they are unwilling to begin paying their share, as virtually all other American workers (except in Detroit) do. Imagine this scenario played out all across the economy if the Democrat pro-union policies inflicted unionization on ever more, and ever-smaller business in our economy.

Hubris

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- Meet The New Boss:

"President Obama said Monday, 'my team will be working closely with GM to produce a better business plan.'

To that confident assertion he added these stern sentiments:

'They must ask themselves: Have they consolidated enough unprofitable brands? Have they cleaned up their balance sheets, or are they still saddled with so much debt that they can't make future investments? Above all, have they created a credible model for how not only to survive, but to succeed in this competitive global market?'"

It's frightening to contemplate the fact that the President can make a statement like this with a straight face. The work audacity was not in one of his book titles for naught. What does the President's team know about running an auto company? It's too bad Barack Obama couldn't have taken a few days off the campaign trail two years ago to visit the executives in Detroit and set them straight. If he had confronted them with these inciteful questions two years ago, perhaps they could have course-corrected and spared themselves this whole crisis.

The best thing "his team" could do is get out of the way and let these companies reorganize under the bankruptcy laws. It is clear that the unions aren't willing to do what is necessary to save these companies. And the bondholders, who who know the proposed reforms are half measures, aren't willing to be paid off in equity. We are just throwing more good taxpayer money after bad. We'll be bailing them out again in a couple of months. The FIAT merger is just a way to kick the can down the road for a while. The last thing an ailing car company needs is to merge with another ailing car company. Too bad the anti-special interests President is too beholden to organized labor to act in the best interest of all the American people.

The Obama Administration Isn't Serious - Part XXXVIII

Congress Doesn't Respect Nafta - WSJ.com:

"Nobody can argue that Mexico hasn't worked tirelessly for more than a decade to avoid a dispute with the United States over Mexican long-haul trucks traveling through this country. But free and fair trade hit another red light this past week. The U.S. Congress, which has now killed a modest and highly successful U.S.-Mexico trucking demonstration program, has sadly left my government no choice but to impose countermeasures after years of restraint and goodwill."

Despite the current bear rally on Wall Street, the world economic situation continues to unravel. Nations around the world are already worried about resurgent protectionism in the Democrat controlled US government. Now, in a silly dispute over 98 trucks (!) the Democrats have violated NAFTA and picked a protectionist fight with Mexico. Their position is unethical, illogical, illegal and dangerous. It's just another pay-off to the unions, in this "post-special-interest era."