Oops...

We tax all the others and pass the revenue on to you

Oops #1: Remember how the administration was going to repatriate all those companies that are hiding income in tax havens and get them on US tax rolls? Well, um... turns out that the list includes bailed-out companies like GM and GMAC and the big banks like BofA. According to Elizabeth Macdonald at Fox Business News, BofA (bailout sum = $142 bil) has 101 off-shore tax havens, Citigroup 411. Read it, it's a good article. So, repatriate them and make them pay higher taxes or leave them alone to help them regain some semblance of profitability and maaaybe someday get some of our money back? Hey, it's only money, but it's your money. Don't bet on getting your money back any time soon.

Oops #2: According to WebCPA. The IRS invested two years of effort and $19.5 mil of your bucks - half of it on new hardware and upgrades - on a new internet portal with all the bells and whistles. It had lots of cool stuff, too, like "My IRS Account" and the like. Didn't work, though. No one had first asked what they needed or tried to make it compatible with current or projected equipment. Don't believe me, read the article and then get mad. It's only money.

Oops #3: We're up to eyebrows in GM but we're told we're saving jobs, right? After filing Ch. 11 today GM announced the closing of 17 plants and parts centers with the loss of 20,000 more jobs. Will someone PLEEEASE tell me again why we're bailing out anyone, much less GM and BofA?

The prez said that the we are "reluctant shareholders" of GM. And I'm really reluctant. Note: Assets = $82 bil, liabilities = $172 bil, our investment = $49.4 bil and going up. Want to bet on which of the first two numbers is over-stated and which under-stated? Look for the correction somewhere in the back pages. Why bother telling us the truth now?

Would YOU buy a GM product? Chrysler? How about a Ford? Not likely. The Japanese and Korean cars (and just forget Europe) may not be perfect but they are known quantities. You can compare the brands at Consumer Reports and places like that. With American brands, you simply don't know where the bottom is and how bad they're going to get before that blessed day when things turn around. Yeah, that day.

Me? I just bought a 9-year-old Acura with 57k on the odometer. Bought it from a friend who bought it new. He has a newer one. One of the best favors anyone ever did for me.