Wednesday - April 26, 2006

Democrats Propose Smoke And Mirrors

It took me a few seconds to figure out this latest attempt by the Donks to sucker us once again. They propose to remove the federal gas tax (18.4 cents per gallon) for sixty days to “relieve our pain at the pump”. They also propose to make up the difference in tax revenue by raising taxes on Exxon and all the other gas suppliers. Now, what’s to stop Exxon from just raising their gas prices by 18.4 cents per gallon to make up for the increased taxes? This is typical Donk bulls**t, all smoke and mirrors. And as usual, we, the people get screwed in the end.

Dems Offer 60-Day Gas Tax Break
_{April 25, 2006}

(CNSNews.com) - On the same day that President Bush announced he would suspend deposits to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Democrats unveiled a plan of their own Tuesday designed to give consumers a break from high gas prices by offering drivers a 60-day holiday from the federal gas tax.

The Menendez Federal Gas Tax Holiday Amendment, an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Bill being considered by the Senate, will remove the 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax on gasoline and the 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax on diesel fuel for 60 days.

“Last year, the big oil companies hiked gas prices and blamed an act of God, but it’s crystal clear that the current spike in gas prices is at least partly due to an act of greed,” said Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) in a statement.

“We must provide American families immediate relief by suspending the federal gas tax for 60 days and making up for the lost revenue by getting rid of some unnecessary tax giveaways to oil and gas companies,” Menendez said.

Menendez’s plan will be paid for by repealing over $6 million in tax breaks to the oil industry. It is estimated to provide $100 million a day in relief directly to consumers.

In addition, the Democrats promise that the Highway Trust Fund will not be affected by their gas relief plan. Money collected by reducing the oil industry’s tax breaks will be transferred to the Highway Trust Fund in an amount equal to the revenues lost through the federal tax holiday, they said. The trust fund will still collect money needed to continue all currently planned and funded projects.

- More on this story at CNS News...

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 04/26/2006 at 08:07 AM   
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Over A Barrel

_{Jimmy Margulies—The Record (NJ)}

- “Gas Prices May Hit $4 Before Falling Back”

- “No Gas Price Relief In Sight”

Posted by Ronald Reagan's Ghost     on 04/26/2006 at 12:20 AM   
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   Thursday - April 20, 2006

Gas Addict

_{Jeff Stahler—The Columbus (OH) Dispatch}

- “Gas Prices To Increase As Oil Crosses $72”

- “Gas Prices Almost Certain To Hit $3 A Gallon”

Posted by The Skipper     on 04/20/2006 at 09:00 AM   
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   Sunday - March 19, 2006

The Taxman

In 1966, George Harrison of the Beatles (R.I.P.) got completely fed up with the high tax rates in Britain and penned a great song, slamming the British tax system. It’s a good thing George has passed away or else the recent tax rates in Jolly Ol’ England would require an entire album from the Fab Four ....

Let me tell you how it will be;
There’s one for you, nineteen for me.
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

(if you drive a car, car;) - I’ll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) - I’ll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) - I’ll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) - I’ll tax your feet.

Taxman!

‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

And you’re working for no one but me. 

Taxes Hit All-Time High
_{March 19, 2006}

(LONDON TIMES)

Gordon Brown is about to raise Britain’s tax burden to its highest-ever level, raking in nearly £1m a minute. An analysis by the accountants Ernst & Young, based on the Treasury’s own figures, shows the chancellor will match the record high for the tax burden this year and rise above it next year. That means it will be higher than in the 1970s under Denis Healey, when the top rate of income tax was 83%, and the early 1980s, when it was 60%.

Brown will unveil his 10th budget on Wednesday, which Treasury sources say will be an exercise in “consolidation”. The Ernst & Young analysis shows that the tax burden excluding North Sea oil revenues, the best measure of the load faced by families and businesses, will be 37.6% of gross domestic product this year, close to the 37.7% peak reached in the early 1980s. Next year it will reach 37.8%, before rising to 38.1%.

“It’s an all-time high and we’re entering uncharted waters,” said Peter Spencer, economic adviser to the Ernst & Young Item Club, a forecasting group. “We know higher taxes help explain what is happening on Britain’s high streets.” Treasury figures show tax revenues will total £490 billion this year, up from £271 billion when Brown took office. The £219 billion rise is equivalent to £9,000 for every household in Britain.

Under Brown the number of people paying higher rate tax has risen from just over 2m to 3.5m, according to Office for National Statistics data. By the end of this parliament it will have risen to 4m, experts say. “If he stays at the Treasury, he’ll have doubled the number of higher rate taxpayers,” said Mike Warburton of Grant Thornton, the accountants. The total number of income tax payers has risen by 3.5m to 29.2m since 1997, outstripping the rise in the number of people in jobs. The number of estates subject to inheritance tax has also risen from 15,000 to 35,000 a year.

“After nine years of Gordon Brown and 10 budgets this will be his legacy, the highest tax burden ever,” said George Osborne, shadow chancellor. Calculations by Patrick Minford, of Cardiff Business School, show that — including Vat, excise duties, National Insurance and income tax — a basic rate taxpayer pays £48.50 in tax on every £100 earned. Among higher rate taxpayers the figure is £57.10. “People are starting to wake up to the fact Britain is a high tax country,” said Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

Businesses are also facing higher taxes. Newly released official figures show the corporation tax bill of Britain’s small companies has more than doubled in five years, rising from £4.4 billion to an estimated £9.5 billion. “The thing I hear from all quarters is that it is not just that they’re taking it off you, it’s that when they do they haven’t spent it wisely,” said Sir Digby Jones, CBI director-general.

The poor performance of the National Health Service, despite tens of billions of extra funding, is in the spotlight, with hospitals cutting staff and cancelling operations because of financial deficits. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in its latest survey of Britain’s economy, said improvements in public services were proving “slow to come” despite the big injection of extra spending.

A Tory party analysis suggests government debt, including public sector pension liabilities, is more than £1,500 billion, or 127% of GDP, compared with the £442 billion, or less than 40% of GDP, claimed by ministers.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/19/2006 at 03:46 PM   
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   Tuesday - March 14, 2006

Mission: Implausible

Your Mission

Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to carefully glance through all of the articles below in the ongoing controversy at Ford over homosexuals and consider Ford’s rapid descent into oblivion. After reading the articles, you will examine the advertising logo at your right, briefly consider the cosmic irony of the phrase used and come up with a new slogan for Ford.

Timing is critical in this important mission and all precautions must be taken to avoid any hint of homophobia. Should you be apprehended or have your cover blown during the course of this mission, the Skipper will disavow all knowledge of you and your team. This post will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck .... 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 ....


- February 1, 2005: “Ford Makes Record Donation To Gay Community Center In Michigan”

- June 1, 2005: “Christian Activist Group Goes After Ford Motor Co. Over Gay Ads”

- December 3, 2005: “Jaguar, Land Rover Ads Halted In Gay Media, Ford Confirms”

- December 7, 2005: “Gay Advocates Blast Ford’s Pulling Of Ads”

- December 15, 2005: “Ford Reverses - Ads Will Run In Gay Media After All”

- January 24, 2006: “Ford to Ax Up to 30,000 Jobs, Close Plants”

- January 31, 2006: “Ford - Now It’s Easy Being Green”

- March 13, 2006: “19 Groups to Reinstate Boycott of Ford”

- March 13, 2006: “Ford’s Stock Downgraded Even Deeper Into Junk Status”

- March 14, 2006: “Kia To Build $1.2 billion Auto Plant In West Point, Ga.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/14/2006 at 03:16 AM   
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   Tuesday - March 07, 2006

If You Can’t Beat Us, Buy Us

Let’s examine this cycle of money flow described below. We buy gas in America from the Arabs at nearly $70 per barrel. Our money goes to them. They spend a third of the money stirring up trouble for us, a third on luxurious palaces for the rulers while their population starves and the final third is used on a huge shopping spree as they come over here and buy us up.

Somehow, I don’t think this is the kind of economy that Adam Smith dreamed of. I’m quite sure Alexander Hamilton would not find it amusing either. So what are we going to do? Nothing. What can we do? Nothing. Auto manufacturers keep selling us cars that get 10 miles per gallon, we’ve already destroyed the countries once-massive rail system, the enviro-whackos and caribou-huggers won’t let us drill in Alaska or off Florida’s coast, hydrogen is too expensive - there’s not a thing we can do, is there?

Wait! I have an idea! Let’s sell the Arabs California, Washington (state), Massachusetts and New York - in exchange for 200 years of free oil. This is ingenious. The rational people in the US get all the gas we want and the idjit Liberals in the blue states get to be ruled by homophobic, female-oppressing, drug-and-alcohol-hating ... madmen with swords. Dang! I love it when a plan comes together ....

Mideast Investment Up in U.S.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006

(WASHINGTON POST)

Middle Eastern investment in the United States is once again picking up steam, showing big gains since the tense period following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. And while some takeovers are triggering alarm—most famously, the purchase by a Dubai-owned company of a seaports management firm—others are evoking warm welcomes.

Spearheading the trend is Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktum (popularly known as “Sheik Mo"), ruler of the freewheeling city-state, which is part of the United Arab Emirates. The ports deal is just one of a series of recent purchases by companies he controls.

Other acquisitions include a $1 billion portfolio of 21,000 apartments in U.S. Sun Belt cities; a 2.2 percent stake in the automotive giant DaimlerChrysler AG that cost another $1 billion; and a Manhattan landmark building, 230 Park Ave. The emirate also made major purchases in other countries over the past year, notably a $1.5 billion takeover of Britain’s Tussauds Group, which owns the famous waxworks, along with theme parks, roller coasters and other entertainment-oriented businesses.

Already, the list of U.S. businesses owned by Arab investors—not just from Dubai—includes some well-known names. Among them are Caribou Coffee Co., the fast-growing rival to Starbucks Corp.; Church’s Chicken, a fast-food concern; Loehmann’s, a specialty retailer; TLC Health Care Services Inc., a provider of home nursing and hospice care; and even several financial publications, including the American Banker.

- Read the rest of The Selling Of America here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/07/2006 at 03:32 PM   
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   Thursday - March 02, 2006

Selling Out America?

Help me out here. Exactly what do Americans do nowadays? To listen to the media, we don’t own anything and we’ve managed to outsource everything to foreign companies. Apparently, our government is now outsourcing management of our ports, parts for the military and security software. Exactly what are American companies up to nowadays? Have they all shut down and gone into retirement? Flu vaccines are made in Britain and France. China manages our western ports. The Mexican government guards our southern borders.

I’m somewhat confused by all this. What are American companies doing besides making shoddy cars, managing over-expensive healthcare, producing buggy software or pushing billions of gallons of gasoline so people can get in their cars and go ... where ?

U.S. Reviewing 2nd Dubai Firm
Israeli Deal Also Faces Security Check
Thursday, March 2, 2006

(WASHINGTON POST)

The Bush administration, stung by the public outcry over the Dubai port deal, has launched a national security investigation of another Dubai-owned company set to take over plants in Georgia and Connecticut that make precision components used in engines for military aircraft and tanks. The administration notified congressional committees this week that its secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is investigating the security implications of Dubai International Capital’s $1.2 billion acquisition of London-based Doncasters Group Ltd., which has subsidiaries in the United States. It is also investigating an Israeli company’s plans to buy the Maryland software security firm Sourcefire, which does business with Defense Department agencies.

Administration officials are privately briefing leaders of half a dozen House and Senate committees this week about the two planned transactions, concerned that both deals could stir controversy in a political climate that remains supercharged over the Dubai port deal. Republican and Democratic lawmakers angrily protested after learning late last month that the administration had approved a $6.8 billion deal to allow a maritime company based in the United Arab Emirates to take over significant operations at six U.S. ports without a thorough investigation and without consulting members of Congress. Last weekend, the Dubai maritime company agreed to a 45-day investigation to stem the protest and allay concerns of a possible breach of U.S. port security.

In the past, the foreign investment committee rarely told Congress of such inquiries. Wary of another misstep, administration officials decided to inform lawmakers of the two other pending transactions with national security implications for the United States. There have been suggestions in the trade press that the publicly traded Israeli firm, Check Point Software Technologies, has been subjected to more scrutiny than Dubai Ports World, the state-owned Arab company that was initially cleared to take over operations at the six major U.S. ports with no security investigation. That inquiry was initiated only after an outcry about turning over port security to a country that has been cited for ties to terrorism. Sources familiar with the Israeli investigation said cybersecurity officials at the departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security all raised serious concerns about the purchase before the port controversy erupted.

Dubai International Capital’s acquisition of Doncasters could present some of the same political problems created by Dubai Ports World’s purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. Once again, a state-controlled Dubai company with deep pockets is purchasing a British firm with U.S. holdings. Doncasters has operations in nine U.S. locations and manufactures precision parts for defense contractors such as Boeing, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. A spokesman for Doncasters’ corporate office in Connecticut said the company had no comment on the security investigation.

Although many foreign companies manufacture parts used in U.S. military equipment, in this instance CFIUS members decided to look more carefully at the Doncasters transaction. The CFIUS met last week and tentatively decided to subject that proposal to a 45-day investigation, and it finalized that decision in a conference call late Monday. The decision came on the final day of the regular 30-day review period. Aides on the Senate banking committee said the panel was notified late Monday that the CFIUS had initiated both national security inquiries.

“The CFIUS process is charged with determining if there are national security concerns in any transaction, and it takes that role very seriously,” said Tony Fratto, spokesman for the Treasury Department, which leads the interagency committee. “It looks at each transaction on a case-by-case basis, and if security concerns are raised by any member of the committee at the end of an initial 30-day review, the case goes into investigation.” The 45-day investigation of the Israeli deal began in early February, several weeks before the controversy erupted over the Dubai port deal, administration officials said. The investigation of the Dubai-Doncasters deal began this week, at the height of the political turmoil over the port issue. Yet Fratto said that neither of the new investigations were started “because of public reaction to some other transaction.”

Of the 1,500 acquisitions that have been referred to the CFIUS, one has been rejected. But deals with security implications tend to fall through before the 45-day investigation. In 1989, 204 deals involving the purchase of a company with significant U.S. operations triggered a security investigation. Last year, only 65 went that far. In the case of Check Point, the security questions were apparently raised early on, according to people familiar with the review. Check Point’s proposed $225 million purchase of Laurel-based Sourcefire raised red flags with government cybersecurity officials.

Check Point was built by Gil Shwed, whom Forbes magazine has described as an Israeli billionaire who served in the electronic intelligence arm of the Israeli Defense Forces. Sourcefire makes network defense and intrusion detection software for an array of customers, including the Defense Department. The company has deep roots in the National Security Agency. Its founder and chief technology officer, Martin Roesch, has served as an NSA contractor. Its vice president of engineering, Tom Ashoff, developed software for the secretive spy agency.

Last August, the Israeli government signed an agreement with the Pentagon to alert the United States before selling other countries technology related to national security. The United States asked for the agreement after learning that Israel had sold unmanned aerial vehicles to China in late 2004. The CFIUS investigation is to be completed in mid-March. Check Point officials declined to comment yesterday on the security investigation. In announcing that its deal would be investigated, the company released a statement pledging that “Check Point and Sourcefire are both committed to working cooperatively with the committee during the investigative period.”

In the case of Dubai International Capital and Doncasters, an acquisition that ordinarily may have been whisked through the process without objection is now under security investigation, administration sources said. Dubai International Capital is the financial arm of Dubai Holding, an investment conglomerate that is the third-largest shareholder of DaimlerChrysler Corp. and is a major investor in Holiday Inn Express in the Middle East.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/02/2006 at 10:05 AM   
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   Friday - February 24, 2006

Gas Wars

Quick! How many of you can remember “gas wars”? If you’re under forty you probably don’t know what I’m talking about.  For the benefit of those youngsters, let me explain: back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, service stations (yeah, they did full-service way back then) would get into competitions with each other and start dropping their prices to pull in more customers to their place. It was fun. It was also legal. Fast forward to 2006. Gas prices are no longer fun and gas wars are illegal. On the Suckage Scale™ this ranks as a 9.3 ....

Midwest Oil Fined For Selling Gas Too Cheaply
February 24, 2006 – 1:05 AM

(MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE)

The Minnesota Commerce Department on Thursday announced plans to fine a gas station chain $140,000 for repeatedly selling gas below the state’s legal minimum price. The fine against Midwest Oil of Minnesota is twice as large as any imposed on a company since 2001, when the state established a formula based on wholesale prices, fees and taxes to determine a daily floor for gas prices.

The price law was intended to prevent large oil companies from driving smaller competitors out of business, but some critics argue it fails to protect consumers. According to the Commerce Department, the Midwest-owned stations in Anoka, Oakdale and Albert Lea sold gas below the minimum price on 293 days in 2005. Kevin Murphy, deputy commissioner of the department, called the violations “willful, continuing, and egregious and warrant a substantial penalty.”

The company has 30 days to contest the fine by requesting a hearing. In previous cases, companies were fined anywhere from $500 to $70,000 for selling gas too cheaply. And in those cases, the companies and the department generally had agreed on the amount of the penalty. Midwest had not cooperated with the department on a penalty, and was accused by the department of using several delaying tactics before the matter could be resolved.

Midwest officials couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. Midwest is a subsidiary of the Wisconsin-based Science and Technology Institute, led by Dr. R.C. Samanta Roy. Gov. Tim Pawlenty and several Minnesota legislators have urged a repeal of the state’s minimum price rules. Critics have argued that it ends up costing most customers an extra dollar or more to fill up, without adding to tax revenues.

Defenders of the law say it’s critical to protect small and medium-sized stations. They note that unlike large chains, those stations often can’t cushion below-cost gasoline with sales of other merchandise.

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/24/2006 at 09:10 AM   
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   Thursday - February 16, 2006

A Good Man

So much bad news lately that I thought it would be good to highlight someone doing it right for a change.

Via the fellas at Wizbang, we hear the story of Alex Ray.  I’ll let Jay Tea tell the story.

The Common Man is a small group of semi-upscale restaurants in New Hampshire, and the owner, Alex Ray is a pretty civic-minded fellow. Last summer, he started a program for youths—he basically turned one room of his restaurant over to a bunch of them to run as a standalone business, helping them out as needed but letting them do all the hands-on work themselves. The kids did everything—scheduling, working, making deposits, etc.—and Ray just mainly kept an eye on things.

It was a great success, and the kids learned a hell of a lot about running a business—as well as making a bit of money for themselves. All in all, a great story.

Until the federal government got involved.

They looked very carefully at the breakfast room operation, which Ray had set up through the Communities for Alcohol- and Drug-Free Youth (CADY) program and which was supervised by an Americorps volunteer, and noted that the kids had really thrown themselves into the project. They came in early, on their own time, to get the place ready, and often stayed late to make sure everything was done.

That kind of enthusiasm and dedication cannot be tolerated, however. Ray was fined almost $4,000 for child labor violations by the US Department of Labor. He negotiated it down to about half that, and paid it.

What lesson has Ray learned from this experience?

He says he’ll do it again next summer, and in two locations next time.

Makes you want to go eat some food at this man’s place.  If there are any BMEWS’rs in the Granite State, go pay Alex a visit.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/16/2006 at 11:14 AM   
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   Saturday - February 04, 2006

Paycheck

If you’re looking for this story in the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times or on CNN, ABC, CBS or NBC .... good luck. If they even mention it all, it’s on the back pages or in a 10-second summary at the end of a broadcast. No, my little ones. They must not publish anything that makes the evil Chimp Bushitler look good, must they?

Well, let the Skipper sum it up for you: the recession that Clinton/Gore dumped on us when the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 and the horrible hit the economy took on 9/11 has been pretty much erased. We’re out of the recession the Democrats and terrorists (what’s the difference?) left us in, unemployment is at five-year lows, hourly wages are at the highest ever and inflation is not a factor since the consumer price index has stayed level with wage increases. Got all that? The economy is good and America is chugging along.

Thanks to who? Ahem .... I can’t hear you! Try again .... Thanks to who? Did I hear you mumble “Bush and the Republicans”? Yep. I thought so. Guess what? You’re right. The President’s tax cuts and other incentive plans to small businesses has paid off. All of which, I might add, the Dummycraps opposed with every breathe in their whiney lungs. Remember that when you go to the polls to vote ....

Unemployment Rate Declines in January
Feb 3, 12:53 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP)

Employers stepped up hiring in January, boosting payrolls by 193,000 and lowering the nation’s unemployment rate to 4.7 percent, the lowest since July 2001. The fresh snapshot of the jobs climate, released by the Labor Department on Friday, suggested that the economy started the new year on fairly good footing.

Although the 193,000 gain in payroll jobs in January fell short of the 250,000 new jobs that economists said to anticipate before the release of the report, it still marked a sturdy showing and was the biggest increase in jobs since November.

“There’s no question we’re getting back to better days for job creation,” said Ken Mayland, economist at ClearView Economics. “There’s been a sense of unease in the American workplace and this should help relieve that. The economy is getting on off to excellent start in 2006.” Moreover, job growth in December turned out to be stronger than previously thought. Revised figures showed payrolls expanded by 140,000 - an improvement over the 108,000 new jobs first estimated a month ago. Employment was revised up for some previous months as well.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in January, from 4.9 percent in December. On Wall Street, stocks fell as investors worried the Federal Reserve might raise rates this year more than they had previously thought. The Dow Jones industrials were off 46 points and the Nasdaq was down 19 points in morning trading. President Bush welcomed the new jobs figures.

“We’ve overcome a lot,” Bush said. “I really ascribe that to that, mainly, the entrepreneurial spirit of American is strong. The small business sector is strong. I do happen to think good tax policy helps. I think keeping taxes low is an important way to make sure this economy continues to grow.” In another report, the Commerce Department said that factory orders rose by 1.1 in December, a good sign that manufacturing was off to a strong start in the new year.

This improvement followed an even higher 3.3 percent gain in November and marked the third straight month where new bookings to factories went up. December’s performance was in line with the 1 percent increase in factory orders that economists were forecasting before the release of the report. For all of 2005, factory orders rose 8.1 percent. That followed a gain of 9.7 percent in 2004. Job gains were fairly broad based, with employment growing in construction, manufacturing, professional and business services and education and health care. Those employment gains blunted job losses in retailing and government.

For all of 2005, the economy created nearly 2 million jobs - close to the number posted for 2004, according to annual revisions. In New York, the Institute for Supply Management reported that the service sector grew in January but at a slower pace than the previous month. Its index dipped to 56.8 from 61.0 in December. The new figure was lower than the 60 reading forecast by analysts. A reading of 50 and above points to a growing service sector, while a figure below that signals contraction. January marked the 34th consecutive month of growth for the service sector, ISM said.

Despite good news on some economic matters, Americans still feel anxious about the economy, polls indicate. Bush, coping with relatively low job-approval ratings, is seeking to ease those fears. In his State of the Union address as well as subsequent speeches Bush has been talking about ways to make the country more competitive and is pushing plans to deal with pocketbooks issues, such as high energy prices and rising health care costs.

Bush also is calling on Congress to make his tax cuts permanent. Democrats, however, contend the tax cuts mostly helped the wealthy and are a big reason why the government’s balance sheets are bleeding red ink. Employees’ average hourly earnings climbed to $16.41 in January, up 0.4 percent from December. That increase was slightly larger than the 0.3 percent rise that economists were expecting.

_{Graph: Bureau Of Labor Statistics, HIstorical Unemplyment Rate}

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/04/2006 at 09:04 AM   
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   Friday - November 25, 2005

Black Friday

In my youth (back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth), I was fortunate to be able to work in retail a number of years. That experience taught me to always be courteous to the help behind the counter. I remember being screamed at, yelled at and even punched on one occasion. It seems to me that nowadays people are even more rude to each other in the stores than they were back then.

I probably couldn’t work retail now as I would be sorely tempted to haul off and smack the crap out of some of the specimens I see on shopping expeditions. Yelling at their children, dragging them through the stores as the kids scream, demanding this or that, using abusive language if they don’t see exactly what they want - too much for me.

When I go shopping nowadays, I tend to rush in quietly, grab what I want (or a suitable substitute if the #1 choice is unavailable) and quickly go through checkout with a smile and a kind word or two to the cashier. Not so the majority of the shoppers I see. Pity them. They have no idea the grief they cause over something as petty as a pair of socks.

Anyway, today is what is referred to as “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving when the Chirstmas shopping season opens. During the next four weeks, a majority of retailers will make 80% of their annual profit for the year as Americans swarm into the stores and buy up everything in sight during the season of giving. This year will be a little tight after the hurricanes and high gas prices gouged our pocketbooks a few months ago so retailers are worried. I have faith in the American people though. The plastic cash will be stretched to the limit ... as usual.

Good luck to you all. I started years ago just giving gift certificates to my family and friends. It’s so much easier that way. They can then go choose what they want and I can avoid the stampede of unruly cattle in aisle seven. Use this thread to tell us of your horror stories if you’ve ever worked in retail or have been run over by shoppers during this season of gimme, gimme, gimme ....

Retailers Usher in Holidays With Discounts
NEW YORK (AP)

The nation’s retailers are set to usher in the 2005 holiday shopping season with the usual come-ons - deep discounts and expanded hours - along with a slew of stores offering early bird specials for the first time. In an improving but still challenging economy, merchants are hoping for big crowds to set a positive tone for the entire holiday season.

After slipping up last year by not offering enough deep discounts, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, is making sure that won’t happen again. It’s offering enticing deals including $98 20-inch flat-screen TVs with DVD players. Its supercenters will open 5 a.m., an hour earlier than last year. For the first time, it’s also matching any price featured on an identical product in a local rival’s print ad that day.

Meanwhile, at the company’s Sam’s Clubs, members and nonmembers can pick up 1,200-thread count sheets, priced at $97.88, while being treated to a continental breakfast. “We are seeing quite a bit of interested in this already,” said Jolanda Stewart, a Sam’s Club spokeswoman. “Home improvement is a huge fight now and the 1,200 thread count sheets have sparked a lot of interest.”

At Target Corp., the nation’s No. 2 discounter, stores open at 6 a.m. It’s also reprising one of last year’s marketing gimmicks, a wake-up call that shoppers can arrange in advance. This year, it’s also adding tuck-in calls, which customers receive the night before the big shopping day. With a wide range of retailers, from department stores to specialty boutiques, now offering early bird specials, some analysts are concerned that it will hurt the overall industry, as more retailers compete for shoppers’ attention.

“If everyone does it, it is a no-win situation for everybody,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers. While he noted that it gives some stores a “competitive edge,” it’s not a good strategy “industrywide.” Retailers’ spirits have improved in recent weeks amid falling gasoline prices. In fact, the Washington-based National Retail Federation upgraded its holiday growth forecast to 6 percent, from 5 percent, announced back in September. Still, many shoppers are cautious. While gasoline prices have fallen, they are still high, and this winter, shoppers will face higher heating bills.

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/25/2005 at 06:26 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
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   Monday - November 21, 2005

Automakers: Counterpoint

In an earlier post below ("GM: Shut ‘Em Down"), we looked at GM’s decision to layoff 30,000 workers and shutdown nine plants. We discussed the reasons why GM is in this bind. Now we turn to the other side of the equation (we always try to be fair and mentally unbalanced here at BMEWS) as we examine GM’s largest parts supplier, Delphi, and what’s going on there. For starters, Delphi plans to layoff 24,000 over the next three years and reduce average wages from $27 per hour to $9 per hour .... while giving CEO Steve Miller a $3.7 million signing bonus a few months ago and paying out $90 million to 486 senior managers as a reward for “steering the company through bankruptcy”. It’s starting to look like there’s a lot of greed on both sides of this equation. Lucky for us it’s not a quadratic ....

GM parts supplier Delphi plans to axe 24,000 jobs:
Reduce hourly wage from $27 to $9;
Pay managers bonuses worth $90m
(FINFACTS)

Former General Motors parts unit Delphi, which is in bankruptcy protection, has said that it will close all its US plants unless trade unions agree to wage cuts to rescue America’s largest auto parts-maker. Delphi CEO Steve Miller, who received a signing-on hello bonus of $3.7 million last summer, said that he hasn’t received union counteroffers to his proposal, which includes reducing wage levels from an average $27 per hour to as low as $9 and slashing up to 24,000 jobs over a three-year period. Motor union UAW President Ron Gettelfinger called Delphi’s offer an “insult.”

“We are going to try and save as many jobs as we can, but at the current wage rates, we would have to close down all of our US plants,” Miller said. Delphi will pay an average US wage of $26.97 an hour in 2005. Delphi was spun off from General Motors in 1999 and a strike could cripple both the parts maker and its largest customer GM.

Last Wednesday, loss-making General Motors’ stock fell to a 14-year low - it fell 6 percent to $21.29, its lowest level since 1991 and embattled chief executive Rick Wagoner was compelled to issue a statement to employees that the company has “absolutely no plan, strategy or intention” to file for bankruptcy. Despite the firmness of the intentions, there is a Custer’s Last Stand feeling about the strugggle of the onetime icon of industrial America, to pull the fat from the fire.

Delphi filed for court protection in October after Miller failed to win concessions from unions and financial help from former parent General Motors. Miller has said he will ask the bankruptcy court to let the company impose terms if unions don’t agree to pay and benefit reductions by December 16th. The UAW, along with Delphi’s other trade unions, said its primary focus in coming weeks will be to expose and challenge generous executive compensation packages Delphi is proposing for senior management.

Delphi plans to pay almost $90 million in bonuses for 486 top managers as a fair reward if the company emerges from bankruptcy. It also said a recently improved severance program is necessary to keep 21 key officers from leaving.

Money, get away. 
Get a good job with good pay and you’re okay.
Money, it’s a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I’ll buy me a football team.

Money, get back. 
I’m all right jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it’s a hit.
Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit.
I’m in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a lear jet.

Money, it’s a crime. 
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
Giving none away.

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/21/2005 at 01:56 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Unions-Labor •  
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GM: Shut ‘Em Down!

Just in case you haven’t been keeping track of current events, GM is bleeding money all over the place because of a ridiculous retirement plan and health care benefits that the UAW squeezed out of the automaker over the last twenty years. So, in order to keep paying retirement and healthcare for workers who are no longer making cars, GM is being forced to close plants and layoff workers who currently are making cars.

I just typed that and I had to re-read it three times before I realized just how ridiculous it sounds. Isn’t this the same kind of plan that caused Fwance to become the useless entity that it currently is? Help me out here, folks! How does this help our economy and more importantly, how do we get out of this mess? Do we kill off the UAW or just let GM outsource more jobs overseas? What happens then? How can we afford to buy cars if we’re all unemployed? Help me make sense of this. It’s starting to look like John Galt needs to go ahead and turn off the motor of the world** ....

GM to Cut 30,000 Jobs, Close 9 Plants
DETROIT (AP)

General Motors Corp. (GM) will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world’s biggest automaker to start making money again after absorbing nearly $4 billion in losses so far this year.

The announcement Monday by Rick Wagoner, GM’s chairman and CEO, represents 5,000 more job cuts than the 25,000 that the automaker had previously indicated it planned to cut. The 30,000 job cuts represents about 9 percent of GM’s global work force of about 325,000 people.

“The decisions we are announcing today were very difficult to reach because of their impact on our employees and the communities where we live and work,” Wagoner told employees. “But these actions are necessary for GM to get its costs in line with our major global competitors. In short, they are an essential part of our plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as possible.”

The plan will cut the number of vehicles GM is able to build in North America by about 1 million a year by the end of 2008. GM said the assembly plants that will close are in Oklahoma City, Lansing, Mich., Spring Hill, Tenn., Doraville, Ga., and Ontario, Canada. A shift also will be removed at a plant in Moraine, Ohio.

An engine facility in Flint, Mich., will close, along with a separate powertrain facility in Ontario and metal centers in Lansing and Pittsburgh. Wagoner said GM also will close three service and parts operations facilities. They are in Ypsilanti, Mich., and Portland, Ore. One other site will to be announced later.

GM said the plan is to achieve $7 billion in cost reductions on a running rate basis by the end of 2006 - $1 billion above its previously indicated target.

- Read more on this moto-madness here

** - “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand.

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/21/2005 at 11:12 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics • Unions-Labor •  
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   Sunday - November 13, 2005

Running On Empty

Sshhhhhhhhhh .... Keep this under your hat. If word of this leaks out, the oil futures market will go berserk and before you know it, Exxon will be charging $20 for a gallon of gas and the US Senate will go into a coma worrying about how they’ll spend all of that extra gasoline tax revenue ...

Kuwait’s Biggest Field Starts To Run Out Of Oil
KUWAIT CITY (AME INFO)

The peak output of the Burgan oil field will now be around 1.7 million barrels per day, and not the two million barrels per day forecast for the rest of the field’s 30 to 40 years of life, Chairman Farouk Al Zanki told Bloomberg. He said that engineers had tried to maintain 1.9 million barrels per day but that 1.7 million is the optimum rate. Kuwait will now spend some $3 million a year for the next year to boost output and exports from other fields.

However, it is surely a landmark moment when the world’s second largest oil field begins to run dry. For Burgan has been pumping oil for almost 60 years and accounts for more than half of Kuwait’s proven oil reserves. This is also not what forecasters are currently assuming. Last week the International Energy Agency’s report said output from the Greater Burgan area will be 1.64 million barrels a day in 2020 and 1.53 million barrels per day in 2030. Is this now a realistic scenario?

The news about the Burgan oil field also lends credence to the controversial opinions of investment banker and geologist Matthew Simmons. His book ‘Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy’ claims that the ageing Saudi oil filed also face serious production falls. The implications for the global economy are indeed serious. If the world oil supply begins to run dry then the upward pressure on oil prices will be inexorable. For the oil producers this will come as a compensation for declining output, and cushion them against an economic collapse.

However, the oil consumers then face a major energy crisis. Industrialized economies are still far too dependent on oil. And the pricing mechanism of declining oil reserves will press them into further diversification of energy supplies, particularly nuclear, wind and solar power. All this was foreshadowed in the energy crisis of the late 1970s when a serious inflection in oil supply by the year 2000 was clearly forecast. How ironic that those earlier forecasts now look correct, while more modern and recent forecasts begin to look over optimistic and out-of-date with geological reality.

Nobody can change the geology, and forces of nature that laid down reserves of oil and gas over millions and millions of years. Could it be that we have been blinded by technological advances into thinking that there is some way to beat nature? The natural world has an uncanny ability to hit back at the arrogance of man, and perhaps a reassessment of reality at this point is called for, rather than a reliance on oil statistics that may owe more to political maneuvering than geological facts.

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/13/2005 at 08:20 AM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
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