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Treasury Loses $2.3 Billion on CIT Group.

February 12, 2010 By Godfadr Leave a Comment

I just knew we should have invested in Franklin Mint Plates – no one ever listens to me. The government could have made a killing buying limited edition Who’s the Boss commemorative plates*  – but nooooo, the government had to “invest” TARP funds in the CIT Group.

In the treasury report released a couple days ago the government indicated the loss [on the loan to CIT] at $2.3 Billion. The loan was an effort to save the failing company which ended up declaring bankruptcy in December 2008.

However all is not lost…

So far Treasury has recovered two-thirds of TARP investments in banks and earned $17 billion in income from those investments. – oh, and one plate sent in by Mrs. Gladice Milson of Wells, NV.

*SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: I made up Gladice Milson. As far as I know, Who’s the Boss commemorative plates do not exist. Please do not try and buy them or send me hate mail if they actually do exist. Any investment in Franklin Mint plates is not recommended by the Godfather. Investment has risk. So do plates (they fall on the ground and break).

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With CIT Group Loss, TARP Loss, Treasury Loses $2.3 Billion CIT

Recession Has Ended, Now Get Back to Work!

February 10, 2010 By Godfadr 2 Comments

Yea! The recession is over. What? There are no jobs available? But the recession is over! Oh, we have to innovate first? But no one is hiring people that will then innovate? It ended in the summer of 2009?! WTF, clearly a bunch of us didn’t get THAT memo in time for Christmas!

I am so confused. Can I buy the new Apple iPad or should I be buying rice and beans to store in my cellar?

This is from Mr. Greenspan on Meet the Press this week. (read the whole transcript here).

MR. GREENSPAN: The recession is over. It bottomed back in the middle of last year. And while it doesn’t have the strong momentum I had hoped it would have, strangely, because of the fact that we had such a strong fourth quarter, which was essentially using up a lot of the latent power of events, which was the gradual reduction in the rate of decline in inventories. We did it all in the fourth quarter, and we since–we shot our ammunition. So it’s going to be a slow, trudging thing, but I do think we’re going to be moving forward. And, as Hank says, the issue here is basically innovation. Innovation by definition is not forecastable, so we don’t know where the jobs are coming from. We don’t know how this market is exactly in terms of dynamics going to move forward. But we know that this process is under way, and there’s every reason to believe that it will continue to do so.

Click your heals and just believe Dorothy. There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With Greenspan, Greenspan Reccession, Meet the Press, Reccession has ended, Reccession is over

Got Debt? (Part II)

November 28, 2009 By Godfadr Leave a Comment

DebtClock285Well we have not checked in with the debt clock lately so here you go….(click here for the debt clock “live”)

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With debt clock, How much does the US owe?, National Debt, US debt, us national debt clock

Fifty Years of Math 1959 – 2009 (in the USA )

November 10, 2009 By Godfadr 4 Comments
MathNot sure where this came from, but it cracks me up for some, sad, reason…

Fifty Years of Math 1959 – 2009 (in the USA )

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her.. She stood there , holding the nickel and 3 pennies , while looking at the screen on her register.

I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters , but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her , she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this? Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:

1. Teaching Math In 1950s [Read more...]

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With Fifty Years of Math, Humor, Math in the US, The decline of Math

Cash for Other Countries

October 11, 2009 By Godfadr 2 Comments

Car285Now that the Cash for Clunkers programs is winding down, car dealers are in line to start complaining about poor sales. There is one thing I never understood…

Why did we not make it a requirement that you had to purchase a US made car to qualify for the program?

Toyota, Mazda, etc all cleaned up as “clunkers” rolled in as the owners purchased new cars. Money was spent, and then sent overseas to their respective company owner.

When Lincoln was building the railroad, he had the choice importing the steel from other countries or getting the steel locally. The steel, even at that time, was cheaper to import. Nonetheless, Lincoln figured even if we spend more money tapping our own steel, people would have jobs, and the money would stay here.

What happened to that type of thinking?

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With cash for cars, cash for clunkers, trade in old car

Do I Have to Spell it Out? No Deficit Spending!

June 23, 2009 By Godfadr 3 Comments

deficit285Depending on which side you are on, Republicans are seen as radical proponents of separating the classes and Democrats are seen as left-wing nut jobs focused only on helping those that won’t help themselves. Of course the reality is far more intricate.

Both parties are now measured by their “pet projects.” Depending on which side of the fence you are on everything on the other side is just plain stupid. Alas, although the debates at your local Starbucks may be heated and entertaining, all of that conversational “noise” keeps us from addressing the real solution;

Fix the deficit and you have enough money for whatever you want to focus on. [Read more...]

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With Deficit Spending, US Deficit, US economy, Why can't we print more money?

Arnold Will Have To Come Back

June 22, 2009 By Godfadr 1 Comment

ArnoldSeems hard to believe anyone going to Washington these days is not walking out with some sort of nice “bailout” package. So much money has been handed out that I suspect when Arnold Schwarzenegger waltzed into DC he thought it would be his easiest mission.

Yet, it was not meant to be.

Obama’s administration turned the scariest cyborg back to the west coast without a dime saying, “California needs to work on its budget first.”

What?! Come up with a budget? Account for where money will go or how you will spend it? That is crazy talk!

Don’t worry…

California is the eighth largest economy in the world (sorry Canada) and supposedly the government will consider helping if matters get worse…

Any bets on what will happen next?

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Filed Under Economy Tagged With Arnold Schwarzenegger turned down, No Bailout for California, Obama
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