Heckonomics: The Bailouts

Congress, the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve have offered up trillions of dollars in bailouts in recent months. Not one dime was included in an appropriations bill. My Heckonomics column this week asks, "Where the heck is this money coming from? Read the answer here.

2008, The Year of the Bailout

My Examiner column this week provides a sobering look back at 2008.

Not too long ago, in fact, at the beginning of 2008, the U.S. had a reputation as a free-market economy in which businesses rose and fell of their own strengths or flaws and to their own profit or loss. But 2008 changed all that. Too be more precise, the administration of President George W. Bush changed all that in 2008.

Americans used to get exorcised any time the federal government considered bailing out private interests. When Chrysler got a $1.5 billion loan in 1979 (about $4.25 billion in today’s dollars), there was an outcry. When the Clinton administration bailed out Wall Street bankers in 1994 with a bailout of the Mexican peso, it was scandalous.

But as 2008 wound down, we got bailouts so large and in such rapid succession that we never had time to catch our breath.

Read the whole thing here.

ENPR: Blagojevich Causes Headaches for Democrats

This week's Evans-Novak Political Report discusses the trouble caused for Democrats by arrested Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Also: the recount in Minnesota and more. Read it here.

Ghosts of Auto Bailouts Past

My Christmas column in the Washington Examiner discusses the long history of Uncle Sam playing Father Christmas to General Motors.

So, as consumers and taxpayers, we start another year serving as Santa’s slave-elves involuntarily working to load up GM’s stocking. Let’s face Detroit and say, “bah humbug.”

Read the whole thing here, and Merry Christmas.

Who the Heck is Keynes, and Why Is he Being Resurrected Now?

One trillion dollars in stimulus spending. Bailout after bailout. Democrats and Republicans alike tout government spending as the solution to our economic woes. The old lament or cheer goes "we are all Keynesians now."

Who the heck was Keynes? What did he prescribe. That's what I address in this week's Heck-o-nomics?

So, this is the sort of man Keynes was. He was very bright and very confident that smart enough people of good will could solve the world’s problems as long as they were able to dismantle the prejudices of culture and control the behavior of the unwashed. And today we’re told that he is making a comeback, and that we are all Keynesians now. What the heck could that mean?

Read the whole thing here, at Culture11.

Obama Taps Another Corporate Welfare King in Vilsack

My Examiner column today discusses Obama Agriculture Department pick Tom Vilsack, he and Obama's long affair with ethanol, prospects for ethanol reform, and the general theme of corporate welfare in the growing Obama administration.

Big Elmo Loves Big Government

Culture11 today carries a great piece on the toy industry's lobbying in the light of last year's lead-in-toys upheaval.

Not surprisingly, lobbying disclosure reports indicate that Mattel and Hasbro massively increased their lobbying budgets in the months after the scandal broke, with Mattel’s lobbying expenditures (to be distinguished from campaign contributions) increasing from $60,000 in the first half of 2007 to $480,000 in the second half. This pace continued through at least the first three quarters of 2008.

Much more surprising, at least at first glance, is the position these companies took with respect to this legislation. For instance, in hearing testimony on November 6, 2007, Kathrin Belliveau of Hasbro and Joseph McGuire of the big-business dominated National Association of Manufacturers testified before Congress that they supported this legislation, with only minor modifications requested. Importantly, both testified that they supported the testing requirements that will likely be particularly devastating to small and medium-sized businesses and domestic manufacturers.

Let's just say I'm not surprised.

ENPR: Illinois, Colorado, and New York Senate Vacancies Kick off 2010 Race

This week's Evans-Novak Political Report is up, with analyses of the Illinois mess, the Minnesota mess, the open Senate seat in Colorado, and the Detroit bailout. Read it here.

Will Senators Recall Richardson's Scandalous Cabinet Record?

Today, Human Events runs my article on some of Bill Richardson's failures as Energy secretary. The highlight:

After skipping the June 14 hearing, Richardson did appear before the Intelligence Committee, at which point Byrd castigated him: “You will never again receive the support of the Senate of the United States for any office to which you might be appointed,” said Byrd. “It’s gone. You’ve squandered your treasure, and I’m sorry.”

Read the whole thing here.

Blagojevich Shakedown Is Standard Government Practice

As I read the indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich this week, my first thought was, isn't this what government does? My Examiner column today discusses this point, and asks, "Does the FBI have enough wiretaps to go around?"

Blagojevich offered a bailout to the Tribune Company, which owns both the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Tribune. Allegedly, he made it clear that the company would only get the bailout cash if it would fire deputy editorial page editor John McCormick, a leading Blagojevich critic.

Only in Chicago? Don’t speak too soon. General Electric, the company that spends more than any other lobbying, is getting special access to credit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which used to be available only to banks. The insurance is $139 billion in GE debt.

GE also owns NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC (which aggressively supported the Wall Street bailout). So, the U.S. government is in the business of bailing out a major media corporation.

Read the whole thing here.