Basically, the Democratic Congress snuck in more pork. An allocation for high-speed trains grew from $300 million in the House version to $8 billion after the midnight session -- cash that will go towards a high-speed train from LA-to-Las Vegas supported by, coincidentally, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. The late-night session also made sure that the bill includes $2 billion for community organizing activities; much of which could go to, yes, ACORN; the controversial, wildly partisan get-out-the-vote group we all recall from the campaign.
Okay. Fine. It's the ancient spoils system with a modern gloss. But the "stimulus" even reverses some of the most popular democratic legislation in American history; Bill Clinton's 1996 Welfare Reform Act. This new bill gives states funds to increase welfare caseloads while lowering the requirement that recipients seek work. That's just a depressing idea.
We can't tell if this bill is what Obama wanted, if he was played by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, or a combination of both. Whatever it is, we sincerely hope the American people are as pissed off about it as we are. This surely doesn't feel like the "change" most people voted for, and it's as far from transparency as you can get.
At least there is a little bit of good news. Three Atlantic City casinos once run by Donald Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. Trump Entertainment Resorts made the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court four days after the real estate mogul (and his hot daughter) resigned from the board.Why do we care? Anything that makes Trump looks bad, even a little, makes us happy. But the story also shows why so much of the current economic doom-and-gloom is uncalled for and why, in most cases, capitalism should be allowed to work it's magic. Trump Entertainment Resorts, you see, has filed for bankruptcy three, count 'em three times. Yet, somehow, the slots still run and the cards keep falling.
Look, for instance, at the recent "crises" over Sirius XM. The satellite radio provider was going broke and under attack by rival EchoStar-- endangering our beloved Playboy station on XChannel 99. Now Sirius XM has been "saved" by a secured loan from Liberty Media. What does this mean to the average citizen? Almost nothing, unless you have stock in one of these companies. Problem solved. No bailouts required. Radio keeps coming.
That's how it's supposed to work. Satellite radio is a good product with a strong future, and if the people running XM Sirius can't figure out how to make money from it, they should get out of the money-making business. Let someone with the capital and skills to get things done take over.
These are the lessons we need to remember this tomorrow when the leaders of car companies present their big restructuring plans to Congress. Human beings like automobiles. A whole lot. If the people running GM and Chrysler can't make money selling them, common sense says that they should sell their assets to someone who can.
