Congress to US AutoMakers: Drop Dead!
After days of fussing, fighting and fretting, the Senate has failed to pass the BailOut for at least GM and Chrysler (Ford says it is fine for now) and, echoing the famous headline when President Gerald Ford told NYC it would get no BailOut ("Ford to NYC: Drop Dead"), they may have condemned us to an even worse economy – right in time for Christmas.
As I write, the stock market is about to open – bang – down 213 points on opening on lousy futures and bad Asian results last night. The Bush Administration is making noises about finding some TARP money for the AutoMakers, but, that may not save this Friday’s market, which may be headed for even more trouble.
Did the Senators who opposed this do so to favor their foreign AutoMakers resident in their Southern states, who are not exactly CarpetBaggers, having been there already some 20 years. When does a foreign AutoMaker become a US AutoMaker? Can they apply for a Green Card?
And now the dire bankruptcy talk begins – what will happen to all those GM car, SUV and truck warranties? What will be the ripple effect on job losses throughout the economy?
Another Tax Commission–And Just Maybe a Different Result
Another state tax commission has been launched. Will it burn up on re-entry like so many commissions before it? I know something about tax and fiscal commissions. I have served on three and I was an informal consultant to another. All of them turned out to be merely academic exercises.
Reports were delivered and ended up on the shelf or as doorstops. The legislature often didn’t hold hearings, or perhaps, had a courtesy hearing before filing the report away. The commission I worked with as informal consultant was appointed by Governor Davis and delivered its findings on the day Governor Schwarzenegger was sworn in after the Recall. Timing is everything. The others suffered only slightly better fates, but in the end all recommendations were ignored.
President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg promised at the press conference announcing the names of the 12 commissioners that there would be “no dusty shelf reports.” I hope he’s right. The California tax system can use some updating. If the commissioners are true to their mandate to smooth out the boom and bust cycles generated by the current state tax structure without looking for ways to raise taxes, they can perform a great service to the taxpayers.
County Pension Drove Assessor Smith from Office
There’s been much speculation in the press about the sudden resignation of San Diego County Assessor Greg Smith. Theories abound.
But there’s no mystery why Assessor Smith is leaving and taking another job. The county pension plan drove Greg Smith out.
But not the way you’d think. Financially, he’d be a fool to stay. And Assessor Smith is no fool.
Greg is one of the sharpest, most responsive elected officials in the county. I’ve written a complimentary op-ed about him earlier this year, touting his efforts to ease the process of adjusting down one’s property taxes in a recession. I talked with Greg about his retirement, and he was quite open about his story.