Paying Off the Corporate Freak Show

Readers of this blog might recall my general disgust for corporate senior management particularly the freak show one generally sees in the pharma industry. However, when it comes to compensation and bonus packages (not counting some of the more outrageous golden parachute deals), these people generally earn their money. Think about it for a minute, would you really want one of those jobs? Sure, it might be fun for the first week or so but I doubt any sane person with any kind of life outside of work would actually want one for the long haul. Most people realize this and that is why the candidate pool is so small and why corporate boards and share holders alike generally endorse these seemingly outrageous compensation packages.

And then there is the current situation with AIG bonuses. If I were one of those AIG employees, I would be polishing the glutes in anticipation of asking certain members of Congress just exactly which cheek they would like to kiss first.

As an ultimate irony, yesterday we were treated to the headline that the MIC fired the chairman of GM. That certainly is interesting. The last I heard, such actions were normally reserved for Boards of Directors. I guess there must have been a line authorizing this in one of the bail-out packages that no one at GM bothered to read before taking the money. How embarrassing, to be fired by a community organizer who never actually held down a real job in the public sector.

But here is the scary part; ".......Because starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warranty." Wow, that sure is comforting. I can see where that will save the American auto industry.

We've tried to be a "buy-American" family over the years and we currently own two Dodge vehicles, both nearly ten years old and each having over 150K miles. They were paid off early by the way. We are about to start shopping for one of their replacements. Needless to say I plan to go out of my way to look at Fords (assuming they continue not to accept bail out money) or better yet, a Toyota.

The Smartest Woman in the World

Who could help but think back to the early days of the Clinton adminsitration; remember all the buzz about Hillary, how we were getting two for the price of one, how she was the smartest woman in the world?

Read this and think twice. Of course it is being attributed to her being tired. The poor old fatass. Better this to the European Parliament than to be getting that 4am call on the hotline.

The fun we would be having if she were in the Whitehouse.

Charlie's Got it Right

"Forget the pork. Forget the waste. Forget the 8,570 earmarks in a bill supported by a president who poses as the scourge of earmarks. Forget the "$2 trillion dollars in savings" that "we have already identified," $1.6 trillion of which President Obama's budget director later admits is the "savings" of not continuing the surge in Iraq until 2019 -- 11 years after George Bush ended it, and eight years after even Bush would have had us out of Iraq completely." Charles Krauthamer, March 6, 2009.

Priceless...................

"to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

....."to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic"........ Strong words indeed and to those of us who have taken this oath either through service in the military or when becoming a federal employee it is easily spoken but rarely thought about at the time. much like this line:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed "

Do you really think this is about deer hunting or the National Guard? There is a lot of uncertainly in this country right now and I am seeing the level of discussions about stupid government and one's personal safety reaching levels unheard of even during the early days of the Clinton administration or those dark weeks right after 9/11. Even well balanced commentary such as that from the Patriot Post in their latest edition is mentioning the possibility of some level of civil violence in our near future. I can only hope and pray that this will not be the case.

Call me crazy or paranoid but just in case, the kids will be getting a bit more time on the range, a little more background on the constitution, and GATC will be making time to prepare both physically and mentally hopefully without arousing too much suspicion or fear with the wife and kids.

Another timely quote from the Patriot Post:

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." Thomas Paine, 1776.