HAPPY NEW YEAR

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s --
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Who's fault? Click here:<

Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in Their Own Words Covering U

Bush Called For Reform of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac 17 Times in 2008 Alone... Dems Ignored Warnings

"I think this is a case where Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News) and Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM - News) are fundamentally sound. They're not in danger of going under I think they are in good shape going forward."
Democrat Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Embattled mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM:
are "fundamentally strong" and questions about their capital are unwarranted, a top U.S. Senate Democrat said Friday afternoon.
"This is not a time to be panicking about this. These are viable, strong institutions," Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said at a Capitol Hill press conference.
"The economics are fine in these institutions and people need to know that," Dodd said. There's no reason "to talk about failure," he added.
"These two institutions are fundamentally, fundamentally strong," Dodd said. "There's no reason for the kind of reaction we're getting."
Democrat Sen. Christopher Dodd, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee. July 11, 2008

Foreign auto makers receive US money

Tax Fairness for U.S. Auto Makers

– The Wall Street Journal
December 16, 2008

Your Dec. 1 editorial "America's Other Auto Industry" questions whether taxpayers
should provide temporary federal loans to American automakers, but conveniently
ignores one fact:
Our taxpayers already give huge sums of financial assistance to
foreign car companies right here in the U.S.
As proposed, the requested bridge loans represent roughly $4 billion in assistance to
U.S. auto makers, that is, the cost of a low-interest loan.
With 240,000 employees
spread among the three U.S. companies, that works out to less than $16,000 in
temporary taxpayer assistance per job.
By contrast, foreign auto makers receive far more from U.S. taxpayers in various forms
of government assistance.
In Tennessee, for example, state and local authorities offered
Volkswagen $577 million in lowered taxes and other benefits in exchange for the plants
it is constructing, at a staggering cost of $288,000 per job created.
Similarly, Toyota is receiving $300 million in support for its plant in Texas, or $150,000
per job created. Alabama provided Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Mercedes an average
of $111,000 in incentives per job. The list goes on.
Unlike the temporary assistance GM,
Ford and Chrysler are seeking, in almost all the cases,
U.S. taxpayer subsidies to
foreign companies never need to be paid back.
Let's make sure to keep the discussion balanced.
Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes,
BMW, Kia and Hyundai already receive far more in permanent financial support from our
own taxpayers than what the U.S. auto industry is seeking.
Our own companies deserve
equal consideration, no more, no less.

Stephen Collins
President
Automotive Trade Policy Council
Washington
ATPC is the trade association which represents
Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and
General Motors Corp.

More Taxes

NY State Taxes
In 1977 the governor, Hugh Carey,
gave Buffalo, NY money because of the
"blizzard of 1977" calling the area
economically depressed.

Eliot Spitzer (remember him) in 2006 called
upstate NY Appalachia.

"If some folks don't like the metaphor, so be it," Spitzer said. "The yawning gap in population loss, a continuing spiral of decline. These are realities."

So in 30 some years things have not changed.
"Welcome to Niagara County. We're Number 1. We pay the highest property taxes in the country."
http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=44611
But no one can figure out that high taxes means people and business don't want to be here.


So guess what? They are going to raise taxes again.

Unbelievable!

Upstate NY has to be the armpit of the country!

Revenue Actions
($ in 000's)

		General Fund		All Funds
I. Tax Reforms and Actions		2009-10	2010-11	2009-10	2010-11
1	Restructure Clothing Exemption	462,000	660,000	462,000	660,000
1	Extend NYC Personal and Credit Services Tax Statewide	78,000	104,000	78,000	104,000
1	Extend Sales Tax to Entertainment-Related Spending	53,000	70,000	53,000	70,000
1	Extend Sales Tax to Transportation-Related Spending	45,000	60,000	45,000	60,000
1	Limit Itemized Deduction Limitation for Millionaires	140,000	200,000	140,000	200,000
1	Limit Capital Improvement Exemption	120,000	160,000	120,000	160,000
1	Repeal the Sales Tax Cap on Fuel	90,000	120,000	90,000	120,000
1	Extend Sales Tax to Cable and Satellite Television and Radio	136,000	180,000	136,000	180,000
1	Repeal Bad Debt Provisions	8,000	10,000	8,000	10,000
1	Reform the Cigar Tax	10,000	15,000	10,000	15,000
1	Standardize Tax on Flavored Malt Beverages	15,000	18,000	15,000	18,000
1	Eliminate Underutilized Tax Credits	5,900	9,000	5,900	9,000
1	Restructure the Insurance Tax	62,000	50,000	65,000	58,000
1	Treat Coupons Consistently	3,000	3,000	3,000	3,000
1	Increase Sales Tax on Luxury Goods	12,000	15,000	12,000	15,000
1	Treat Gain from the Sale of Partnerships	-	10,000	-	10,000
1	Amend the Definition of Presence in New York	-	5,000	-	5,000
1	Expand Tax on Nonresident Hedge Fund Income	60,000	60,000	60,000	60,000
1	Address Abusive Tax Avoidance	4,000	6,300	4,000	6,300
1	Expand Definition of Affiliate Nexus for Internet Sales	9,000	12,000	9,000	12,000
1	Close Digital Property Taxation Loophole	15,000	20,000	15,000	20,000
1	Disallow Utility Definition as Manufacturers	17,000	14,000	18,000	16,000
1	Change Filing Requirement for Overcapitalized Captive Insurance Corporations	31,000	25,000	33,000	29,000
1	Eliminate Exemption for Large Cooperative Insurance Companies	19,000	15,000	19,000	15,000
1	Increase Beer and Wine Tax Rates	63,000	63,000	63,000	63,000
1	Increase Auto Rental Tax	-	-	8,000	10,000
26	Total Tax Reform	1,457,900	1,904,300	1,471,900	1,928,300
		General Fund		All Funds
II. New or Increased Fees		2009-10	2010-11	2009-10	2010-11
1	Increase Feed Tonnage Fees	-	-	146	146
3	Increase Food Licensing Fees	-	-	3,180	3,180
1	Establish Seed Dealer Licensing Fees	-	-	500	500
1	Increase and Expand New Statewide Central Register Fees	2,700	2,500	2,700	2,500
3	Increase Civil Service Exam Fees	1,360	1,381	1,360	1,381
1	Establish a Local Fee for Hiring a Public Retiree	60	60	60	60
1	Increase Public Management Intern Placement Fee	-	-	175 175
1	Expand Insurance Fingerprinting Fee	6,250	6,250	6,250	6,250
2	Establish Security Guard Training Fees	446	446	446	446
1	Increase Nuclear Power Plant Fee	1,350	1,350	2,700	2,700
11	Increase Motor Vehicle Registration Fee	-	-	60,500	103,700
3	Increase Motor Vehicle License Fee	-	-	21,900	37,600
1	Reissue License Plates	-	129,000	-	129,000
1	Establish a Fee for MV-278 Certificate	500	500	500	500
3	Increase State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Fees	-	-	5,000	5,000
1	Establish New Marine Fishing License	-	-	3,000	6,000
1	Establish Trout and Salmon Stamp	-	-	3,000	4,000
1	Increase DEC Education Camp Fee	-	-	115	115
1	Increase Physician Fees	-	-	16,400	16,400
1	Establish Early Intervention Parent Fee	-	-	-	27,500
1	Assess Early Intervention Provider Fee	-	-	1,700	3,600
1	Restructure Clinical Lab Fees	-	-	36,500	36,500
1	Increase Certificate of Need Fees	-	-	4,000	4,000
9	Increase Asbestos Fee	9,152	8,448	9,152	8,448
2	Increase Boiler Fee	2,167	2,000	2,167	2,000
1	Establish Explosives Fees and Penalties	294	289	294	289
1	Increase Real Property Transfer Fee	14,250	19,000	14,250	19,000
8	Increase Parks Administrative Fees	-	-	6,500	6,500
1	Establish Horse Entrance Fee	-	-	1,000	1,000
16	Increase State Licensing Fees	-	-	3,500	3,500
1	Increase in Surcharge on Auto Insurance	-	-	48,375	64,500
1	Establish Processing Fee for Paper Tax Returns	6,800	6,800	6,800	6,800
1	Establish Bad Check Fee	1,500	1,500	1,500	1,500
1	Establish Installment Payment Fee	4,500	4,500	4,500	4,500
1	Establish Tax Preparer Fee	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000
1	Increase Highway Use Tax Renewal Fee	-	-	4,600	-
1	Increase Cigarette and Tobacco Retail Registration Fee	(1,800)	(7,400)	16,700	6,200
1	Establish Non-LLC Partnership Fee	50,000	50,000	50,000	50,000
88	Total New or Increased Fees	105,529	232,624	345,470	571,490
		General Fund		All Funds
III. Charges and Assessments for Specific Sectors		2009-10	2010-11	2009-10	2010-11
1	Increase Utility Assessment	651,600	651,600	651,600	651,600
1	Reinstitute Hospital Assessment	-	-	316,400	271,200
1	Reinstitute Home Care Assessment	-	-	19,100	21,800
1	Increase Hospital Surcharges	-	-	126,000	108,000
1	Increase Covered Lives Assessment	-	-	240,000	120,000
1	Extend the Covered Lives Assessment	-	-	5,000	5,000
1	Establish Physical Procedure Surcharge	-	-	49,800	98,500
1	Increase Insurance Assessment for Public Health Programs	-	-	99,800	49,900
1	Establish Timothy’s Law Insurance Assessment	-	-	179,000	91,000
1	Increase Insurance Assessment for Tobacco Control and Early Intervention	-	-	92,600	93,700
1	Extend Insurance Assessment	-	-	-	134,800
1	Third Party Administrator Fee	-	-	63,100	126,200
1	Additional Sales Tax on Soft Drinks for Health Care Programs	-	-	404,000	539,000
13	Total Charges and Assessments for Specific Sectors	651,600	651,600	2,246,400	2,310,700
		General Fund		All Funds
IV. New or Increased Fines		2009-10	2010-11	2009-10	2010-11
1	Allow Civil Penalties for Non-Housing Cases	125	156	125	156
1	Remove Cap on Surcharges	9,900	9,900	9,900	9,900
2	Increase Vehicle Safety Fines	721	721	721	721
1	Establish Uncertified Crane Operation Penalty	436	436	436	436
3	Increase License Suspension Fees	16,069	16,069	16,069	16,069
1	Increase Food Safety Violation Penalties	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200
1	Automated Speed Enforcement Cameras	50,000	100,000	50,000	100,000
10	Total New or Increased Fines	78,451	128,482	78,451	128,482
		General Fund		All Funds
V. Other Revenue Actions		2009-10	2010-11	2009-10	2010-11
1	Expand the Bottle Bill	-	-	118,000	118,000
1	Reform the Empire Zones Program	272,000	292,000	272,000	292,000
1	Allow the Sale of Wine in Grocery Stores	105,000	54,000	105,000	54,000
1	Expand Tax Collections	85,000	85,000	85,000	85,000
1	Reciprocal Vendor Offset	5,000	30,000	5,000	30,000
1	Increase Prepaid Sales Tax Rates on Cigarettes	14,000	-	14,000	-
1	Allow Decals for TMT Carriers	-	-	-	-
1	Increase Prepayment to 40%	333,000	-	351,000	-
1	Pari-Mutuel Tax Extender	-	-	-	-
1	Eliminate Quick Draw Restrictions	-	-	40,000	59,000
1	Extend VLT Hours of Operation	-	-	45,000	45,000
1	Allow for Additional Multi-Jurisdictional Lottery Games	-	-	11,000	21,000
1	Lottery Prize Fund Investment	-	-	37,000	50,000
1	Authorize VLT's at Belmont Park	-	-	-	370,000
14	Total Other Revenue Actions	814,000	461,000	1,083,000	1,124,000
		General Fund		All Funds
VI. New or Expanded Tax Credits		2009-10	2010-11	2009-10	2010-11
1	Expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program	(4,000)	(4,000)	(4,000)	(4,000)
1	Create an Enhanced Research and Development Credit	-	(20,000)	-	(20,000)
1	Expand the Qualified Emerging Technology Company Credit	-	-	-	-
3	Total New or Expanded Tax Credits	(4,000)	(24,000)	(4,000)	(24,000)

AUTO

PJB: The Toyota Republicans

By Patrick J. Buchanan

“GOP to Detroit: Drop Dead!”

So may have read the headline Friday, had not President Bush stepped in to save GM, Ford and Chrysler, which Senate Republicans had just voted to send to the knacker’s yard.

What are Republicans thinking of, pulling the plug, at Christmas, on GM, risking swift death for the greatest manufacturing company in American history, a strategic asset and pillar of the U.S. economy.

The $14 billion loan to the Big Three that Republican senators filibustered to death is just 2 percent of the $700 billion the Senate voted to bail out Wall Street. Having gone along with bailouts of Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie, Freddie and CitiGroup, why refuse a reprieve to an industry upon which millions of the best blue-collar jobs in America depend?

In a good year, Americans buy 17 million cars. A more populous EU probably buys as many. Three billion people in India, Southeast Asia and China, four times as many people as there are in the EU and United States, are moving toward the middle class. They, too, will be wanting cars. And millions of them love American cars.

Is the Republican Party so fanatic in its ideology that, rather than sin against a commandment of Milton Friedman, it is willing to see America written forever out of this fantastic market, let millions of jobs vanish and write off the industrial Midwest?

So it would seem. “Companies fail every day, and others take their place,” said Sen. Richard Shelby on “Face the Nation.”

Presumably, the companies that will “take their place,” when GM, Ford and Chrysler die, are German, Japanese or Korean, like the ones lured into Shelby’s state of Alabama, with the bait of subsidies free-market Republicans are supposed to abhor.

In 1993, Alabama put together a $258 million package to bring a Mercedes plant in. In 1999, Honda was offered $158 million to build a plant there. In 2002, Alabama won a Hyundai plant by offering a $252 million subsidy.

“We have a number of profitable automakers in America, and they should not be disadvantaged for making wise business decisions while failure is rewarded,” says Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

DeMint is referring to “profitable automakers” like BMW, which sited a plant in Spartanburg, after South Carolina offered the Germans a $150 million subsidy and $80 million to expand.

Be it BMW, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi or Hyundai, the South has become a sanctuary for foreign assembly plants, for which Southern states have been paying subsidies.

Fine. But why this “Let-them-eat-cake!” coldness toward U.S. auto companies? General Motors employs more workers than all these foreign plants combined. And, unlike Mitsubishi, General Motors didn’t bomb Pearl Harbor.

Do these Southern senators understand why the foreign automakers suddenly up and decided to build plants in the United States?

It was the economic nationalism of Ronald Reagan.

When an icon of American industry, Harley-Davidson, was being run out of business by cutthroat Japanese dumping of big bikes to kill the “Harley Hog,” Reagan slapped 50 percent tariffs on their motorcycles and imposed quotas on imported Japanese cars. Message to Tokyo. If you folks want to keep selling cars here, start building them here.

Fear of Reaganism brought those foreign automakers, lickety-split, to America’s shores, not any love of Southern cooking.

Do the Republicans not yet understand how they lost the New Majority coalition that gave them three landslides and five victories in six presidential races from 1968 to 1988? Do they not know why the Reagan Democrats in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan are going home?

The Republican Party gave their jobs away!

How? By telling U.S. manufacturers they could shut plants here, get rid of their U.S. workers, build factories in Mexico, Asia or China, and ship their products back, free of charge.

Republican globalists gave U.S. manufacturers every incentive to go abroad and take their jobs with them, the jobs of Middle America.

And, for 30 years, that is what U.S. manufacturers have done, have been forced to do, as their competitors closed down and moved their plants abroad in search of low-wage Third World labor.

It’s Herbert Hoover time in here, Vice President Cheney is said to have told the Senate Republicans — as they prepared to march out onto the floor and turn thumbs down on any reprieve for General Motors.

In today’s world, America faces nationalistic trade rivals who manipulate currencies, employ nontariff barriers, subsidize their manufacturers, rebate value-added taxes on exports to us and impose value-added taxes on imports from us, all to capture our markets and kill our great companies. And we have a Republican Party blissfully ignorant that we live in a world of us or them. It doesn’t even know who “us” is.

We need a new team on the field and a new coach who believes with Vince Lombardi that “winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”

American Auto

Just a letter to the editor of a West Virginia newspaper....

it's good to be armed with these facts.

Written by Elkins Fordland (a Ford dealership owner).

Editor: As I watch the coverage of the fate of the U.S. auto industry, one alarming and frustrating fact hits me right between the eyes. The fate of our nation's economic survival is in the hands of some congressmen who are completely out of touch and act without knowledge of an industry that affects almost every person in our nation. The same lack of knowledge is shared with many journalists whom are irresponsible when influencing the opinion of millions of viewers.

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama has doomed the industry, calling it a dinosaur. No Mr. Shelby, you are the dinosaur, with ideas stuck in the '70s, '80s and '90s. You and the uninformed journalist and senators that hold onto myths that are not relevant in today's world.

When you say that the Big Three build vehicles nobody wants to buy, you must have overlooked that GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Ford outsold Honda by 850,000 and Nissan by 1.2 million in the U.S. GM was the world's No. 1 automaker beating Toyota by 3,000 units.

When you claim inferior quality comes from the Big Three, did you realize that Chevy makes the Malibu and Ford makes the Fusion that were both rated over the Camry and Accord by J.D. Power independent survey on initial quality? Did you bother to read the Consumer Report that rated Ford on par with good Japanese automakers.

Did you realize Big Three's gas guzzlers include the 33 mpg Malibu that beats the Accord. And for '09 Ford introduces the Hybrid Fusion whose 39 mpg is the best midsize, beating the Camry Hybrid. Ford's Focus beats the Corolla and Chevy's Cobalt beats the Civic.

When you ask how many times are we going to bail them out you must be referring to 1980.
The only Big Three bailout was Chrysler, who paid back $1 billion, plus interest. GM and Ford have never received government aid.

When you criticize the Big Three for building so many pickups, surely you've noticed the attempts Toyota and Nissan have made spending billions to try to get a piece of that pie.
Perhaps it bothers you that for 31 straight years Ford's F-Series has been the best selling vehicle. Ford and GM have dominated this market and when you see the new '09 F-150 you'll agree this won't change soon.

Did you realize that both GM and Ford offer more hybrid models than Nissan or Honda. Between 2005 and 2007, Ford alone has invested more than $22 billion in research and development of technologies such as Eco Boost, flex fuel, clean diesel, hybrids, plug in hybrids and hydrogen cars.

It's 2008 and the quality of the vehicles coming out of Detroit are once again the best in the world. Perhaps Sen. Shelby isn't really that blind. Maybe he realizes the quality shift to American. Maybe it's the fact that his state of Alabama has given so much to land factories from Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes Benz that he is more concerned about their continued growth than he is about the people of our country.

Sen. Shelby's disdain for "government subsidies" is very hypocritical. In the early '90s he was the driving force behind a $253 million incentive package to Mercedes.
Plus, Alabama agreed to purchase 2,500 vehicles from Mercedes. While the bridge loan the Big Three is requesting will be paid back, Alabama's $180,000-plus per job was pure incentive. Sen. Shelby, not only are you out of touch, you are a self-serving hypocrite, who is prepared to ruin our nation because of lack of knowledge and lack of due diligence in making your opinions and decisions.

After 9/11, the Detroit Three and Harley Davidson gave $40 million-plus emergency vehicles to the recovery efforts. What was given to the 9/11 relief effort by the Asian and European Auto Manufactures? $0 Nada. Zip!

We live in a world of free trade, world economy and we have not been able to produce products as cost efficiently. While the governments of other auto producing nations subsidize their automakers, our government may be ready to force its demise. While our automakers have paid union wages, benefits and legacy debt, our Asian competitors employ cheap labor. We are at an extreme disadvantage in production cost.

Although many UAW concessions begin in 2010, many lawmakers think it's not enough. Some point the blame to corporate management. I would like to speak of Ford Motor Co. The company has streamlined by reducing our workforce by 51,000 since 2005, closing 17 plants and cutting expenses. Product and future product is excellent and the company is focused on one Ford. This is a company poised for success. Ford product quality and corporate management have improved light years since the nightmare of Jacques Nasser.
Thank you Alan Mulally and the best auto company management team in the business. The financial collapse caused by the secondary mortgage fiasco and the greed of Wall Street has led to a $700 billion bailout of the industry that created the problem.
AIG spent nearly $1 million on three company excursions to lavish resorts and hunting destinations. Paulson is saying no to $250 billion foreclosure relief and the whole thing is a mess.

So when the Big Three ask for 4 percent of that of the $700 billion, $25 billion to save the country's largest industry, there is obviously oppositions. But does it make sense to reward the culprits of the problem with $700 billion unconditionally, and ignore the victims? As a Ford dealer, I feel our portion of the $25 billion will never be touched and is not necessary. Ford currently has $29 billion of liquidity.

However, the effect of a bankruptcy by GM will hurt the suppliers we all do business with. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy by any manufacture would cost retirees their health care and retirements. Chances are GM would recover from Chapter 11 with a better business plan with much less expense. So who foots the bill if GM or all three go Chapter 11?

All that extra health care, unemployment, loss of tax base and some forgiven debt goes back to the taxpayer, us. With no chance of repayment, this would be much worse than a loan with the intent of repayment. So while it is debatable whether a loan or Chapter 11 is better for the Big Three, a $25 billion loan is definitely better for the taxpayers and the economy of our country. So I'll end where I began on the quality of the products of Detroit.

Before you, Mr. or Ms. Journalist continue to misinform the American public and turn them against one of the great industries that helped build this nation, I must ask you one question.
Before you, Mr. or Madam Congressman vote to end health care and retirement benefits for 1 million retirees, eliminate 2.5 million of our nation's jobs, lose the technology that will lead us in the future and create an economic disaster including hundreds of billions of tax dollars lost,
I ask this question not in the rhetorical sense.
I ask it in the sincere, literal way.

Can you tell me, have you driven a Ford lately? Jim Jackson Elkins

Great times ahead****NOT

India gun control enabled Mumbai massacre