1st Half of 2009 - A Retrospective

We Tax All the Others and Pass the Revenue on to You

This is where I get all wispy and look at my foolishness from the past six months. First off, let's look at what I got wrong


SOOO Wrong


Chrysler will either fail in bankruptcy or succeed by renegotiating or voiding its debt and contracts, including salaries, pensions and health insurance. A judge will decide and s/he won't prefer one group of same-class creditors over another. (April 30)


This is the only one I'm admitting to, but it's a biggie. If you think there are others, comment here and I guarantee I'll post it.




Jury's Still Out

No major health care reform this year or any time soon. DOA, despite CharlieR's "by the end of 2010" promise. Ain't gonna happen, folks. No will, no money. Maybe some window dressing, that's all. (Feb. 5)

Watch For It... The prez to bring on Bill Clinton as some sort of buck-a-year "special advisor" on budget and the economy. (March 12)


GM and Chrysler aren't ever going to repay their bailout "loans" and Fiat will go away -- just like they did in 1984 -- as soon as they have milked the American taxpayer out of his last free dollar. (March 31)


We just call 'em like we see 'em and that's how we see CK, a preening political hack-in-waiting. Waiting for, say, Uncle Teddy's seat to open up. (April 21)


Dems, you don't have a thing to worry about in 2010. The GOP has already been reduced to firing blanks on the sidelines... The GOP has nothing to offer these days. Until that changes, until a leader comes forward with an agenda that resonates with America, we're going to remain a one-party nation, Bob's party... What is troubling is the silence. Where did you go, GOP? What ideas do you have to make things better for all of us, Dems and Repubs alike? Where is your charisma, your leader, your next Contract With America? You'd better find something and someone, and quick, and it better be more than just carping about what the prez is doing. And BTW, Michael Steele ain't it. (May 1)


Just as we're going to get mileage taxes plus gas taxes to make up for better fuel economies, we'll surely hear a push to tax pot, and is it such a leap to then tax all forms of now-illegal products? (May 19)


We have squandered our descendant's fortunes and the money won't be coming back. (June 1)

Got These Right


There are going to be tax increases, no matter how much you make or who you voted for or what you believe about how much government should spend and on what. They're coming because the new administration can't be seen to back off on its promises to tax everyone but you. (Jan. 12) Hello cap and trade.


Big increases are coming for all the traditional sin taxes. If you make your living catering to any of those penchants, think about a career change. (Jan. 12)


We're spending -- call it a trillion and try not to cry -- and it's gonna take a while? How much would it take to start it working today? We're spending a tril and no one is demanding anything to show for it? Are you freakin' kidding me? No wonder some of it is going for dividends and bonuses for failure. No one is saying STOP! (Jan. 12 again. It's worth a re-read.)


TCFR raise tax revenue. Get over it. (Jan. 13)


If there is an economic crisis that requires massive amounts of public money for bailouts and stimuli, then shouldn't there be some oversight about where it's going? There hasn't been so far and no sign of that improving on Mr. Obama's watch. (Jan. 13)


But there is no such thing as a "national version" of freedom. Others may not define your freedom! That's what freedom is all about. There is only... freedom. (Jan. 20)


There is a modern reign of terror in Russia. (Jan. 21)


There's no free Mexican food. Somebody always gets stuck with the check. Can you look your kids in the eye and tell them it's going to be... them? Poor them. (Feb. 8)


We're already being set up for the failure of the stimulus bill. "It's not perfect" says the prez. Here's a thought: If you wanted it to be better, maybe someone should actually have read the freakin' bill before we spent the $800B! (Feb. 17)


One of the problems these days is that there are no responsible plans issuing from the other side of the aisle. There isn't one single viable national alternative to anything that the Obama administration is doing. (March 9)


The second stimulus is already on its way, count on it. (March 10)


Let me say this again. No significant health care reform AND energy policy reform AND economic recovery in the first two years of this administration. Whatever political capital the prez has left is going toward economic recovery. (March 12)


"The plan" calls for 8% unemployment this year. It's going to hit 10% before Christmas. (March 12)


All those new jobs? You can forget them, too. Sham. No money + no incentive to invest = no new jobs. (March 17)


I've seen this movie before. I think the prez goes to China or Russia pretty soon. (March 19... eerie, huh?)


Consumer borrowing shifts the crisis to you (March 19... and read the rest of that column, too)

This just in: There is no upside when you loan someone money to buy a bunch of someone else's bad debt. (March 23)


This just in: TimmyG and the prez don't know how to fix the auto industry. (March 31)


We will fail, all of us. That's another universal. We all will experience sorrow and frustration and pain. We'll all be scared. The measure of us all is "Then what did you do?" (April 9)


Watch for the prez to "force" GM into bankruptcy in a month. (May 1)