Freedom of Speech Under Fire?

(hat-tip Instapundit) An Oklahoma City man gets pulled over for having sign on his vehicle reading "Abort Obama, not the unborn". The policeman confiscated the sign and informed the man he was now part of an investigation. Internal Investigations later returned the man's sign. But next the Secret Service show up at the man's house and ask to walk through the house to make sure the man wasn't part of any hate groups.

Somehow I don't think anyone would have looked twice if it had said "Abort Bush". The double-standard here is quite sad, and disturbing as well.

Motivation, Efficiency, and Corruption

Ben Stein raises some good points about the "excesses" displayed by leaders of various companies in America:

We all want efficiency and frugality. But banning highly productive means of travel such as private planes is simply misguided. We all want people to work. But keeping them from having face time at large gatherings with their colleagues -- in essence, keeping them from being well-informed -- is a step away from productivity. And kicking the towns that accommodate these meetings is just plain cruel.

I hadn't thought about it from that angle where the automakers were concerned, but making Wells Fargo cancel its Vegas retreat for its top loan officers struck me as heavy-handed--and clueless about how business works. Did anyone stop to consider how much money those being rewarded made for the company in proportion to how much was being spent on rewarding them?

While I'm sure that level of productivity has its own rewards, I'll bet the yearly Vegas trip was at least part of the movitation for a lot of them. Take that away, and chances are they're not going to work as hard next year. How does that help the bank? How does that help its investors? How does that help its depositors?

I'm willing to bet that the amount of money they would have spent on the retreat is less than 10% of the value of the loans these people wrote. And yet if they're 5% less motivated to perform next year? In a year when people are less motivated to take out loans? It could spell the difference between survival and bankruptcy.

Let's not forget that these people are the TOP money-makers. Not only do these people make money for the company, their example (and the subsequent rewards) also serve as a motivation for the other loan writers who didn't make the cut this year--but could next year if properly motivated. Cutting the rewards for the top loan-writers doesn't just demotivate them, but the entire company.

I'm against wasting taxpayer money as much as anyone. But micromanagement of bailed-out companies--by some of the most notoriously bad money-handlers in history--is not the way to economic recovery.

Such political witch-hunts are counterproductive. It also keeps attention away from the real perpetrators of this mess: the government. Every time we start figuring out who the real enemy is they simply point at Wall Street and yell "There's your enemy! Not me! They're wasting millions of dollars!"

And then they sit down to add billions more pork into the Stimulus Bill to help stimulate their next campaigns. And take retreats to Virginia and the Caribbean.

This Much Is True

From President Barak Obama:

“All of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis,” Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at a ceremony announcing the program at a Phoenix area high school.

...and for the banking crisis, and for the automakers crisis, and for the Democratic Wish-List Funding Deficiency crisis, and for the supporter payback crisis...

At least it's coming from money that's already been wrung from our dissicated corpses.

Obama Delays Signing "Emergency" Bill

From the DC Examiner:

“Sunlight Before Signing” faded into darkness with the first bill that came across Obama’s desk. The new president signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act two days after it was passed by Congress — and without posting it on the White House Web site.

Then he signed the second bill of his administration, an update of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, within hours after Congress passed it.
.....
As Gibbs spoke, the massive economic stimulus bill was racing through Congress, and the spokesman stressed that Obama’s campaign pledge specifically exempted “emergency” legislation. “If we get this [stimulus] bill, this would certainly meet the president’s test of emergency legislation,” Gibbs explained. “And if we’re lucky enough to have it pass, we’ll sign it rather quickly.”

Then, late Friday, after House and Senate Democratic leaders moved heaven and earth to pass it, the bill was ready for the president’s signature. And did President Obama sign it rather quickly? Not at all.

He also chose not to sign it on Saturday. And not to sign it on Sunday. And he chose not to sign it on Monday. Only on Tuesday, with a big campaign-style event in Denver, would the president finally be ready to put his signature on the bill.

He signs nonemergency legislation in the blink of an eye. And he lets emergency legislation sit for days before lifting his pen.

I don't see the sense in this, either. Either it was an emergency or it wasn't. Weren't we facing the end of civilization as we know it if the bill wasn't passed quickly?

If he didn't plan to pass it for four days, why not let us all have those four days to look it over? I think we know the answer to that one. "Sunlight" was not something this vampiric bill could tolerate for long.

I think he was expecting to see a massive Wall Street rally today. Had he signed it on Friday the markets would have been closed and we would have missed seeing the seas receding and the blossoms blooming. Except today there was no rally. The Dow fell nearly 300 points today. Wall Street, it seems...is not impressed.

I think this "emergency for thee, but not for me" moment will come back to bite him.

Bailout Banks, Not Hobble Them

The Chicago Tribune criticizes language in the Stun-ulus Bill to cap executive compensation:

But keep something in mind: Taxpayers are now deeply invested in the companies that receive a federal bailout. We want these companies to succeed.

Compensation caps would hurt the ability of these firms to attract and retain top talent. If salaries are higher at robust firms that aren't taking federal help, that's where talented people would go. Taxpayers are not going to be better off if the best business minds in the land avoid working at firms that receive federal help. The comp rules may also persuade execs at troubled firms to leave the federal assistance program before those firms are on sound footing.

I think that is right. If you're going to tinker in businesses, why not just insist that the boards fire the bad eggs, but don't hamper their ability to replace them with good ones. These banks are still struggling. They're going to need all the help they can get to survive. Just throwing money at the problem is not going to help. They need better management.

Tell How You Really Feel!

MSNBC.com's Politics section sports the following headline today:
"Obama urges Americans to follow Lincoln"
The snide cynic in can't leave that one alone, of course! Just how would he like us to follow Lincoln? Based on the rubbish he's been pushing lately I think he means:

Drop dead, America!

Or is he admitting that he's a lousy president? "Don't follow me anymore! Follow Lincoln! A dead guy would be better than any of our so-called leaders right now!"

Read My Lips, Chuck

Charles Schumer of New York has declared that when it comes to the pork in the Stimulus bill, the American People don't care.

To that I can only say Chuck, pull your head out of your butt so you can hear better. We care. Remember, both McCain and Obama campaigned on cutting pork. It wasn't that long ago that Obama promised to veto any bill that crossed his desk with pork in it. It was a part of what got him elected.

We care. We're sick of it. STOP IT! You are wasting my money, you're wasting my children's future. Just stop, you frickin' idiot.