First Shed Your Freedom; Fat Will Follow

Hugo Chavez is urging Venezuelans to lose weight.

President Hugo Chavez said in a televised speech Friday that "there are lots of fat people" in Venezuela and advised his supporters to exercise and eat healthy to trim their waistlines.

"I'm not saying fat women, because they never get fat," he added. "Women sometimes fill out."

Chavez, whose oil rich nation is now experiencing power outages and shortages of various kinds, is pushing his socialist "Bolivarian Revolution" hard.

Don't worry, Hugo. Under socialism, lots of people lose weight. And rights. And lives.

With Congress on Vacation, Let's Survey the Damage So Far

After a busy weekend it's time to assess where we are at the beginning of a new month.

Is Congress on vacation yet?

Some folks bemoan a "do-nothing" Congress; I pray that this becomes one. When Congress is on recess we "only" have to worry about the president and his executive branch commissars, which is plenty.

Before the House left on Friday it managed to pass HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act, an onerous collection of new regulations that will give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration more regulatory power over small farms. Written by and for corporate farming interests, in the wake of scandals involving tainted spinach, Mexican peppers and peanut butter (all, by the way, attributable to Big Ag, not small farmers), it will make it more difficult for America to produce her own food. It passed 283 to 142 after being fought in the Energy & Commerce committee. It now goes to the U.S. Senate.

Here is a brief description of its contents:

This bill proposes greater FDA regulatory powers over the national food supply and food providers, namely granting it the authority to regulate how crops are raised and harvested, to quarantine a geographic area, to make warrantless searches of business records, and to establish a national food tracing system. Concurrently, the bill would impose annual registration fees of $500 on all facilities holding, processing, or manufacturing food and require that such facilities also engaged in the transport or packing of food maintain pedigrees of the origin and previous distribution history of the food.

Note the "warrantless searches of business records" and the "quarantines" of entire geographic areas. Joe Stalin couldn't have written this better. Just another big step on the road to Corporatocracy and Socialism. Of course, it you don't care whether there is adequate food to eat, you may not be interested.

ObamaCare cleared the crucial committees in the House necessary to set up floor debate in September. Meanwhile congresspersons appear to be reluctant to schedule too many town hall meetings with constitutuents after the first round of such sessions took place this weekend. Arlen Specter and Kathleen Sebelius look rather sheepish in THIS VIDEO when riled Pennsylvanians take them to task.

Speaking of video, there is an embarrassing video of The One, first assuring the American Medical Association that he believed in private medical insurance, and then a two-year-old clip of his address before an SEIU forum where he explains that he wants a "single payer system" -- government run, of course -- "by the end of my first term." It continues with a 2003 address in which he admits he is a "proponent of a single-payer health care plan." He admits it may take some time to implement it, but that is his goal.

So the question becomes, Do you believe the Obama of 2003 and 2007, or the one who is trying to eliminate opposition for a massive bill that would include a public option?

Careful, comrade! You are being monitored.

More broken promises may be in the works. Two of the administration's key players told interviewers Sunday that a middle class tax increase is a possibility. Tax Cheat Timmy said that "we will do whatever is necessary" to fund ObamaCare. Lawrence Summers, the chief economic adviser to Obama, had similar remarks.

So much for that "No New Taxes" pledge for 95 percent of Americans, right?

Harry Reid declares that the U.S. Senate is the most productive since the FDR era -- that's Franklin D. Roosevelt for you young whippersnappers who attend government schools. If by productive you mean spent a record amount of cash we don't have, then I guess he's right.

All in all there is plenty of damage to assess even with Congress on the hustings, raising campaign cash every penny of which, I do believe, they are going to need to contend with the rising anger of Americans.

Honduran President Arrested, Exiled -- Obama, Hugo Peeved

The president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, wanted to hold an "unscheduled election" to amend the Constitution to allow him to serve longer. He felt the one four-year term limit wasn't fair "to the people."

Of course.

The Honduran Supreme Court ruled that he couldn't just order an election by forcing the armed forces of Honduras to pass out ballots. In fact, it ruled against him twice.

The Honduran Congress, representatives elected by the people, also let Zelaya know he was overstepping his authority.

Zelaya ignored both, and ordered the military to pass out the ballots. He even fired the head of the military when he wouldn't go against Congress and the Court.

So what did the military do? Earlier today they surrounded the "presidential palace" and then went inside where they corralled the erstwhile second-termer, took him to the airport and exiled him to Costa Rica.

This is a bit weird for Latin America, as this is a case where the military actually upheld the constitution. The president of the Congress is the new interim president.

By the way, did we tell you that Zelaya is a socialist?

Which explains why Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is howling mad, and is threatening war. Just give me an excuse, he seems to be suggesting.

Guess who else is torqued?

Yes, indeed. The Obamessiah.

"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama said. "Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference."

He was "deeply concerned." That's about where his temperature is on Iran, too, so there probably isn't anything for Honduras to worry about. Our progressive head of diplomacy also weighed in.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement that Sunday's action in Honduras "violates the precepts of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and thus should be condemned by all."

In other words, in their view, Honduras' constitution isn't the controlling document here. It's some sort of regional treaty co-authored by other socialist thugs.

About what we should expect from the socialist leadership in our own government, which looks at our Constitution is a nuisance to be shredded whenever possible.

About the only thing I liked about Manuel Zelaya was his hat. Why don't we wear straw hats anymore in the United States?

Would you like to see his hat?

I'll bet the next president of Honduras will also wear a hat.

Is Gov't Sitting on Ford's Bank Application?

Is Tax Cheat Tim sitting on Ford's bank application?

And why would he do that?

From the Detroit News:

... a senior Ford executive, who spoke to The Detroit News on the condition of anonymity, said the company is being hurt by the government's restructuring of GMAC LLC as a bank holding company. That allowed GMAC, which is now the lending arm of GM and Chrysler, to receive taxpayer money -- money it is already using to give customers no-interest loans.

"They've just got an unlimited spigot," the source said. "The scary part is all will be forgiven and they will have cleared their books better than us."

The Treasury Department has been slow to act on Ford's application to allow Ford Credit to become an industrial bank. That still would not give Ford access to federal money, but it would allow Ford Credit to secure financing at more favorable rates.

Well, the Treasury is the acting agent for the owners of GM and Chrysler, and Ford is a competitor, so ...

... follow the money and figure it out.

Just another reason that getting into bed with the government has repercussions all up and down the line.

Is Prison a Better Deal than College?

College for everyone, right?

That's what President Obama is pushing, even for those of us who have already been there, done that.

But Herman Castillo has his regrets. Who is Herman Castillo? Read this uncomfortable story:

College Grad: 'I wish I'd gone to prison instead'

Hernan Castillo is treading water, trying to survive under the weight of $5,200 in credit card debt and $30,000 in student loans. He’s making payments on time, but the Orange County, Calif., resident sees little hope for getting out of the warehouse job he holds and landing a job as an accountant, the field in which he earned his degree. And forget about saving money for a home or retirement. He now firmly believes the money he spent earning a college degree was a waste.

"Every day I wish I had never gone to college,” Castillo said. “It has been the biggest mistake of my life. Sometimes I wish I had gone to prison instead of college. At least I would have learned a trade or two and started being independent once I got out."

Castillo pays about $600 a month evenly divided between his student loans and his credit card payments. I would imagine that doesn't leave much for housing, transportation, food and clothing, let alone entertainment.

The key nasty in his sad tale is the $30,000 in student loans he no doubt was encouraged to borrow. This tale is repeated by the millions across America.

I hate to say this because I believe in the value of higher education, but college is not for everyone. More importantly, large debts are the albatross around many a neck of young graduates that prevent them from achieving their version of the American dream. Debt is a very bad habit to acquire, and the government does young people no favors by dangling easy money to college students.

This is another reason why Mr. Obama's posturing on college loans AND credit cards rankles me. One minute he's talking about making the federal government the sole source of college assistance, and the next he is castigating the private credit card companies for promoting their wares to the same young people.

It's just another form of financial poison, people! One kills your bank account and future a bit quicker, perhaps, but they are both well worth avoiding.

The answer could well be to encourage young people to work harder, save money, attend community colleges on a pay-as-you-go basis, or to put more emphasis on vocational-technical education so that we actually have people in our society who can, you know, DO things. It's quite possible that we have enough accountants and stockbrokers for the moment.

We damn sure have enough lawyers.

The presence of public money -- even if it is filtered through private lending -- both corrupts and mutates the higher education system. The cost of going to college has risen far faster than the rate of inflation over the past couple of decades, forcing larger loan amounts by students.

This should surprise no one who has studied economics and history. When government enters an area once solely the province of the private sector, costs go up and efficiencies go down. Personal and private incentives to economize are reduced.

This used to be common knowledge, part of what we used to call common sense.

Unfortunately there will be more Herman Castillos in America's future since there are too many people who mistakenly believe that public compassion should include Obama's recasting of the student loan program into a universal college education that, in turn, morphs into some sort of mandatory civil service requirement.

Beware The Dark Side of Socialism

Beware the dark side of socialism.

Citigroup, which has suckled from the teat of federal rescue, is losing its better people to hedge funds and foreign banks. Managers are putting their best remaining minds to noodle up new ways to compensate the employees who have yet to flee.

NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - Citigroup may put more employees on commission or offer them larger base salaries as it tries to retain key staffers without running afoul of laws limiting executive pay at banks that receive government funds.

Three people familiar with the matter said the bank has examined a series of possible moves, including special stock-based bonuses, or offering employees a percentage of their group's revenue.

[SNIP]

Citigroup, which has received $45 billion of TARP capital and is not believed to have much hope of paying the government back anytime soon, is having discussions with the government about measures that might be appropriate for retaining revenue producing employees.

A number of possibilities are under discussion, and generally are geared toward ensuring that employees are motivated to perform well. The No. 3 U.S. bank will have a better sense of how to proceed once the Treasury Department crafts more specific guidelines on pay, one person said.

Who knows how long it will take the undermanned Treasury to get around to writing guidelines, and then who knows whether the Obama Administration will live up to the terms of those guidelines even when they are drafted?

I truly do feel for the folks at Citigroup. I know that what has happened is a far cry from where Sandy Weill planned the company to be, back when he was putting all the pieces together of the world's first "one shop for everything" financial supermarket. But the seeds of its destruction were being sown even as Citigroup was celebrating its explosive growth starting, I believe, with the hiring of John Snow and Robert Rubin. These Clinton administration refugees accelerated the change of the culture at the top of Citigroup. They pushed the company into getting into the riskier game of investing in mortgage backed securities, among other things.

In retrospect, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, a Depression-era law which prevented banks, insurance companies and investment firms from common ownership, was a colossal mistake. Citigroup was one of the big lobbyists for this. (For the record, I was all gung-ho for its repeal as well.)

We were wrong. Perhaps the financial world had changed but human nature had not. There are always dirtbags, in government and out, who will take full advantage of every opportunity to cheat people of their wealth. The repeal of Glass-Steagall created financial synergies of great magnitude, and these were manipulated by an ethics-challenged few to shift huge sums from investors to offshore accounts unknown. They had inside help from people like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.

Well, as Jeremiah Wright once said, America's chickens have come home to roost. The socialist opportunists who run Washington have their fingers clamped around the private parts of our nation's biggest banks, and when they squeeze, people in Citigroup have no choice but to pay attention. It is but one part of the price this company and others will continue to pay in the years ahead. One cost is that government control forces out the people who are innovative, ambitious and self-motivated, to be replaced with those who are happy to comply with directives, wait for someone else to take responsibility, and pass the buck when things go wrong.

Poor Citigroup. Once America's financial supermarket, now America's financial basket case.