Comments on: AIP column: The whim of a madman!

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: Obama auto team called shareholder lawyer a “terrorist”

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:59:06 +0000

[...] bondholders and Barack Obama’s auto task force, Thomas Lauria and his clients alleged that the government used intimidation tactics and threatened to sic the White House press corps on individuals if they didn’t give up their [...]

By: Ed Driscoll » Sopranonomics

Ed Driscoll » Sopranonomics — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:00:22 +0000

[...] “I don’t know. To believe this is true, you’d have to believe Obama applied some awfully heavy-handed pressure to get his way. And really, what are the odds of [...]

By: Hot Air » Blog Archive » Hmmm: Chrysler dealers shut down in Obama bankruptcy are mostly Republican?

Wed, 27 May 2009 01:46:40 +0000

[...] don’t know. To believe this is true, you’d have to believe Obama applied some awfully heavy-handed pressure to get his way. And really, what are the odds of [...]

By: herself

herself — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:43:32 +0000

The next question seems to be, “What will this do to Obama’s campaign contributions for the 2012 campaign?”

By: Ed Driscoll » President Obama Hosts A Dinner For Chrysler’s Creditors

Ed Driscoll » President Obama Hosts A Dinner For Chrysler’s Creditors — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:02:28 +0000

[...] I know Ed Morrissey has been referring to the new CEO of Chrysler and General Motors as a “madman”, but, who knew he’d do something like this? Filed under: Bobos In Paradise, Capitalism, the [...]

By: The whim of a madman! - Curiosity Blog

The whim of a madman! - Curiosity Blog — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:10:05 +0000

[...] http://hotair.com/archives/2009/05/07/aip-column-the-whim-of-a-madman/ [...]

By: Christian Conservative

Christian Conservative — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:38:41 +0000

Someone is the Al Capone in this Chicagoland morality play.

Greg Toombs on May 7, 2009 at 10:16 AM

Al Q’aipon

By: The Greenroom » Forum Archive » Speaking of Hot Air bloggers who also write at AIP,

Thu, 07 May 2009 17:10:43 +0000

[...] at the link. And a big welcome to Ed on his new column at AIP. HA’s [...]

By: The Stress Test: Did It Accomplish Anything? | NEOAVATARA

The Stress Test: Did It Accomplish Anything? | NEOAVATARA — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:03:55 +0000

[...] is all well and good. And I agree with the Obama Administration that something of this sort had to happen, because there was no trust of the banking sector by the [...]

By: msmveritas

msmveritas — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:52:39 +0000

I saw a letter from Cliff Asness linked at Keith Hennessey's post on Chrysler This same letter was also linked on Greg Mankiw's Blog yesterday. Asness writes:

I run an approximately twenty billion dollar money management firm that offers hedge funds as well as public mutual funds and unhedged traditional investments. My company is not involved in the Chrysler situation, but I am still aghast at the President's comments (of course these are my own views not those of my company). Furthermore, for some reason I was not born with the common sense to keep it to myself, though my title should more accurately be called "Not Afraid Enough" as I am indeed fearful writing this... It’s really a bad idea to speak out. Angering the President is a mistake and, my views will annoy half my clients. I hope my clients will understand that I’m entitled to my voice and to speak it loudly, just as they are in this great country. I hope they will also like that I do not think I have the right to intentionally “sacrifice” their money without their permission.

Of course we have seen through Joe the Plumber, Rick Santelli, Jim Cramer and assorted other pitchfork attacks on private citizens, speaking out against this administration is a really bad idea sad and scary as that may be. Ultimately the shakedown tactics work to use taxpayer funds to buy auto companies for the benefit of UAW and as Asness notes:

The President's attempted diktat takes money from bondholders and gives it to a labor union that delivers money and votes for him. Why is he not calling on his party to "sacrifice" some campaign contributions, and votes, for the greater good? Shaking down lenders for the benefit of political donors is recycled corruption and abuse of power.

By: Happy Fun Headline Game for Rainy Days! | The Anchoress

Happy Fun Headline Game for Rainy Days! | The Anchoress — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:32:12 +0000

[...] Senators get secret ballots” Lorie Byrd on the real deal on Jobs Now Ed Morrissey: The Whims of Madmen Lileks: Big Drop in Piano Prices! Afghan Civilian Deaths: General says Don’t jump to [...]

By: econavenger

econavenger — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:18:25 +0000

Speaking of this concept, how can we forget Barack’s bizarre attempt at psychological projection here?

President Obama Compares Big Banks, AIG, to Suicide Bombers

“Here’s the problem,” Mr. Obama said, “It’s almost like they’ve got — they’ve got a bomb strapped to them and they’ve got their hand on the trigger. You don’t want them to blow up. But you’ve got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger.”

By: Paul-Cincy

Paul-Cincy — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:00:34 +0000

Once you let the govt foot in the door, then they stay for dinner, and pretty soon they’ve moved in. When the federal income tax was debated in the early 20th century, one lawmaker said on the floor of the House, with what was then obvious hyperbole, “If we let this 1% foot in the door, who’s to say it won’t increase one day to 5%?”. Our social security numbers were NEVER to be a personal identification number. Of course, that’s what they are now. It was meant to be a small supplement to retirement. Now for many it’s their whole retirement. Food stamps are given to fully 10% of our population. Medicare is ballooning out of control. And they still haven’t rescinded the federal “death tax” which was “temporarily” instituted in 1916 to help fund WWI.

By: Dr Evil

Dr Evil — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:59:06 +0000

Treasury down ahead of 30 year auction

By: Dr Evil

Dr Evil — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:58:06 +0000

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/treasurys-down-ahead-30-year-auction/story.aspx?guid={2B3F04AA-6A92-4343-B25A-174396FF4DE7}&siteid=yahoomy

By: blish

blish — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:53:47 +0000

Not to go all comic-geek on you, but this keeps coming to mind…

The madman theory of the presidency, as it played out in Elektra: Assassin: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2007/01/21/comics-you-should-own-elektra-assassin/

By: cthulhu

cthulhu — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:48:59 +0000

Drudge is saying $11,300 for every American. Since only half pay taxes, that’s $22,600 per taxpayer.

This isn’t governance, it’s identity theft. If someone unelected had charged $22,600 to my credit, I’d be using every recourse to shut it down and claw it back…..but since it’s in Washington, what recourse?

By: dogsoldier

dogsoldier — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:43:04 +0000

Rational people want to avoid punks and thugs. What a shock!

By: Badger40

Badger40 — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:42:37 +0000

Anyone who takes govt whore $$ will pay a price, eventually.
Me included.
Govt $$ can be attractive when it’s either that, or lose everything.
But you will lose everything eventually in most cases. Taking the $$ only prolongs the agony I think.

By: Dr Evil

Dr Evil — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:41:38 +0000

Money has gone Galt

By: Dr. Charles G. Waugh

Dr. Charles G. Waugh — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:21:24 +0000

To heck with global warming. Frostiness seem to be the climate change I’m sensing.

By: Paul-Cincy

Paul-Cincy — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:13:03 +0000

It reminds *me* of a line from the 1990s sitcom “NewsRadio”:

“first day in prison, you should act crazy and beat someone with a chair so nobody will mess with you”

This truly does happen in prisons. One documentary shows a sex offender telling of his first week in prison. He asked who the badest guy there was, and went up to him and punched him, who quickly smashed him in the mouth. The sex offender proudly showed his new dental plate caused by the return punch. And no one messed with him after that.

If this is the “Obama style of governing” … make people think he’s crazy … that shows Obama is out of his depth. This is not a proper way for the most powerful man in the world to govern the world’s greatest democracy. This is someone acting scared, asserting their power in an unhealthy way. Maybe it’s the Chicago way. But it shouldn’t be the US way.

By: Limerick

Limerick — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:07:01 +0000

This isn’t politics, this is war. Nobody wants to say it. Nobody wants to believe it. Last November Ft Sumter was fired on by Uncle Sugar and not Johnny Reb.

By: drunyan8315

drunyan8315 — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:02:10 +0000

And yet the average American who gets his or her news from the MSM knows nothing of these issues. During the Bush administration, the media refused to allow the White House to control the news cycle. In the current adminstration, they have simply handed Obama the keys to it.

By: MarkTheGreat

MarkTheGreat — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:00:05 +0000

Another report has the WH threatening audits from the IRS and SEC for anyone who fails to go along.

As others have pointed out, the tax law is so complex that it is impossible to be completely sure that you are following all of the laws. Regardless of how many tax lawyers you have working for you.

All you need is one auditor with an axe to grind, who decides to interpret some obscure section of the tax code slightly differently than your team did, and you are looking at years of costly litigation.