After Wasting Millions on 'Traffic Calming' County Board Returns to 'Drive 25'

Hello, Yupette,

I live in Chain Bridge Forest. Chris Zimmerman turned this community's residents against each other with his 'traffic calming' (speed tables, etc). Now that he's running for re-election and is being called "Safety Last" Zimmerman he and the County Board are reverting to the "Drive 25" signs and other persuasive methods that were used before they started wasting millions on physical barrier traffic calming. Is this a pre-election politrickster PR stunt or is Zimmerman actually becoming concerned about safety?

Sandi

Zimmerman's Clarendonification of EFC to Start in October

Having largely attained its objectives for Clarendonifying Crystal City, the Zimmerman-dominated County Board is moving on to Clarendonifying East Falls Church. Because the County Board demonstrated its total insensitivity to the upscale neighborhoods near Crystal City regarding massive redevelopment it is unlikely that the County Board will listen at all to the middle class families who live in single family homes around the EFC Metro station.

County Board Set to Approve Zimmerman's Crystal City Redevelopment

Hi Yupette,

The County Board is set to approve Zimmerman's Crystal City "development for the sake of development" sector plan, over the objections of many b3ecause of the size, increase in traffic, and lack of open space. The County Board is likely to award tens of millions in bonus density to pet developers for affordable housing that's not affordable, for green gimmicks, and for open space that's not open.

Meeting starts at 6:30 tonight.

George - Arlington Ridge

Why do Arlington's School Children Lack Access to Computers?

Hello, Yupette,

I am really concerned about Arlington's school children lacking access to computers. Here's where our tax dollars are going:

The New York Times, September 26, 2010, Page 1

U.S. Gift for Students in Iraq Offers a Primer on Corruption

By Stephen Lee Myers

"BAGHDAD -- The shipment of laptop computers that arrived in Iraq's main seaport in February was a small but important part of the American Military's mission here to win hearts and minds. What happened afterward is a tale of good intentions mugged by Iraq's reality.

The computers - 8080 in all, worth $1.8 million - were bought for children in Babil, modern day Babylon, a gift of the American taxpayers. Only they became mired for months in customs at the port, Umm Qasr, stalled by bureaucracy or venality, or some combination of the two. And then they were gone.

The laptops arrived in two shipments on Feb. 20 and Feb. 23. The original shipping documents mistakenly listed the computers' destination as Umm Qsar, not Babil, which caused confusion. By April, though, the American military had tracked them down and repeatedly tried to clear them through customs and truck them to Babil.

Then, in August, Iraqis auctioned off 4,200 of the computers - for $45,700. There whereabouts of the rest are unknown.

Prodded by the Americans and Iraqi officials in Babil, Mr. Maliki ordered an investigation buy the Commission on Integrity, a besieged independent watchdog whose investigations have led to clashed with Mr. Maliki and other senior officials.

In early September the auctioned computers were recovered, according to Iraqi officials who nevertheless declined to discuss how or where.

Still, seven months after the computers arrived< no child has used one.The recovered computers are now in possession of the Americans, awaiting the resolution of the mystery over the missing ones."



Carlin Springs Parent

Parents Tell Zimmerman: Stop Playing Games With Library Funding, Hours

Hi Yupette,

Dozens of parents attended today's County Board meeting and told Chris Zimmerman to stop playing games with library funding and hours.

According to Library Department employees Chris Zimmerman and other County Board members have systematically stripped funds from County library budgets for three years to fund the Artisphere and other County Board vanity projects.

Wakefield Parent

Has the Obama Stimulus Package Failed?

Well, it certainly failed to keep unemployment under 8% as promised. My guess is the administration failed in part to calculate the cutbacks at the state and local level caused by severe cutbacks due to the deterioration of tax revenue. But overall it was constrained by the diversity of analysis at the time (remember, some well-known economists were still predicting a "V"-shaped recovery?) and because parts were turned into tax cuts. (Little consolation if as you as an individual or corporation have no income to be taxed.)

Then there was politics. The stimulus package was passed in late February 2009 with the help of Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both Republicans from Maine. After Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009, the stock market continued the “free fall” that began under George Bush in 2008. Rush Limbaugh, John Boehner, and others touted as spokesmen of the "right," frequently commented that the “stock market must not like the prospect of “Obamanomics.” At the time, I thought this was hypocritical at best as the free fall began as a result of the meltdown of the financial system triggered by Joe Cassano, AIG, Goldman Sachs, etc. due to a lack of proper regulation on the Republican administration’s watch, fueled by years of easy money.

After the Stimulus Package was passed, and “markets” could be certain the administration was solidly behind the economy, the stock market began a run that has restored approximately 13.5 trillion dollars of mostly American wealth. Strangely, we haven’t heard anything about this from Limbaugh, Boehner, Beck, etc. It stands to reason that if the stock market is an indicator of how the market likes a President’s economic policies, it should be evident, that at least relatively speaking, the stock market has “liked” Obama since March of 2009 when the stock market advance began.

For my own part, I think this logic is largely overblown, but if the "right" wants to use this logic when they think it benefits them, they should use it when it doesn’t.

When Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, the U. S. economy lost 750,000 jobs in that month. As he had just taken office at the end of the month it would be hard to blame him for this. The job loss wasn’t stemmed the following month. These things usually take a while, 2-3 quarters even after policies change, and a new president can do little without the approval of Congress. (A similar example would be the Reagan administrations struggle with the unemployment situation it inherited from the Carter administration – see below.) In fact, it took about 12 months to stem the monthly job loss, so we went from -740K per month to zero in 12 months. Failure? You be the judge.

The graph below from the Reagan era shows the unemployment results of Reagan’s attempt at economic stimulus, which was largely based on massive tax cuts and then was helped by the Fed's easing of real interest rates by 4 percentage points from record high levels. (The Fed Funds rate briefly broke above 19% in the summer of 1981 with inflation of 10%, falling to under 9% by spring 1983 with inflation of 4%, so from "real" 9% to "real" 5%.) In fact, it was Paul Volcker and the Fed who broke the back of inflation, not Ronald Reagan. No help this time: the Fed lowered interest rates in 2008, and by the time Obama took office they were at historic lows with no further cuts possible.

Most economists agree that in times of economic recession, tax cuts are primarily saved or used to pay off debt by wary consumers (or held onto by the corporate sector for similar reasons). As a consequence, tax cuts are NOT as stimulative as public works spending or (in the opportunity cost sense) by providing help to state and local government so that they wouldn't fire people. In addition, once the economy eventually turns around, tax cuts are difficult, if not impossible, to repeal. This results in institutional deficits year after year. The "right" may claim that this is the way to "starve the beast" but under Bush, when Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress, they showed no ability to actually do so. [MS: They appropriately complain that government is inefficient, it's inevitable because it's asked to do things that the market typically can't do because output can't be measured or a price can't be attached. That's why government reform is even harder than corporate restructuring. But apparently the Republicans under several presidents judged that most of what government was doing was necessary.]

The Reagan tax cuts did not have the same stimulative impact as the Obama stimulus has had so far, as the graph suggests. [Economists insist on complicated models, but this is certainly a good start: MS] It could be argued that the recession Reagan inherited from Jimmy Carter was nowhere near as serious as the one Obama inherited from Bush. The financial system had not melted down and only one automaker was near bankruptcy. Reagan’s voter approval rating was equally as bad as Obama’s at this stage of their administration, as an impatient electorate expected things to rebound faster. Reagan lost 27 seats in the House to the Democrats in his first midterms. His approval rating rose substantially when he was shot by John Hinckley, Jr., and he was rescued by an economy that started to improve, based on pent up demand, fiscal policy and lower interest rates, before his second term election, which he won decisively. Previous to being shot, Reagan's approval ratings were in the range of what Obama's are now.

It is interesting to note that Reagan was nowhere as "right" as people think. He was once President of the Screen Actors Guild, a “union” full of “known leftists,” to borrow a phrase. He established a huge entitlement program in California by proposing and signing a law that provided 2 free years of junior college to California residents. He gave the country a compassionate but inefficient form of universal health care in the form of the Emergency Room Mandate (The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act) that he signed into law in 1986. He granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. He deregulated the airline industry, beginning a chain of losses and unsuccessful restructurings of such magnitude that the industry has from its inception through today now lost money on net. His deficits eventually swamped George HW Bush, and led to the election of Bill Clinton. (Arthur Laffer, Reagan’s favorite economist and author of the Laffer curve, refers to Clinton as the most conservative president, in terms of economics, of the modern era.) Reagan's deregulation led to other problems. The S&L crisis initially cost taxpayers $600 billion, an amount lowered to $250 billion because the government then closed down most of them and did a good job of selling assets at auction. That crisis didn’t do the elder Bush any good either. Nor did the "grass roots" 3rd party candidacy of Ross Perot, the Tea Partier of his era.

In the last few months, things have stagnated. Job creation has not gained desired traction. We have been stuck at zero – though that sure beats the alternative we'd have absent a stimulus package. The economy has been hit with the double whammy of the European Debt Crisis and the BP oil spill. On top of day after day media coverage of bad news comes economic data that reflected our position at the bottom of a large trough and looked especially bad compared to last year's numbers. Yet last year’s numbers were juiced by an economic stimulus called “Cash for Clunkers”...as anyone who reads this blog has seen discussed in detail.

The fact is, we desperately need Obama’s latest stimulus proposal. Yet, the 
Republicans, who have seen the same graphs I have included here, will obstruct this legislation in any way they can. It remains to be seen if Collins and Snowe will vote with the Democrats on this. The LAST THING the Republicans want is an Obama triumph of any kind going into the midterms, regardless of what might be for the good of the country. Obama was shoved into a ship foundering in deep water when he came into office. He's steered it towards shore, but now partisan electioneering has cut off the engines. Which direction will the boat drift? – we don't know, but if it's not towards port, the Republicans must share the blame.

The closest thing to a Republican plan is the alternative budget they proposed a few months back, a document hopelessly short of detail. Otherwise, they have chosen the “Party of No” approach.

Please note that I am an amateur economist at best, and think of myself as "conservative" (on that dimension, I'm a typical [though now former] car dealer). I have studied Keynes to a degree. I am also familiar with an alternate theory of economics some call the "Austrian School." My understanding of the Austrian School theory is its bottom line of “laissez faire” economics, a kind of “natural selection,” survival-of-the-fittest approach. It makes for an interesting point of view for discussion over a beer. But we haven’t seen it at work since Herbert Hoover. Ron Paul would be a Austrian school advocate, I believe. "Austrians" would have let the banking system and our industrial base collapse in a process they call “creative destruction.” Well, as an auto industry person now consulting on the financial end of the industry, I could see how that would lead to destruction, an unreasonable and unnecessary cost. The Pentagon was fully aware of this and played a part on convincing Bush the second to step in. But there was no discussion among proponents of letting GM and Chrysler liquidate of how long rebuilding would take, of how new institutions could arise from the ashes in my lifetime. Creativity isn't a always matter of inspiration, it's a product of years or decades of hard work.

To be clear, it is NOT my understanding that John Maynard Keynes advocated ongoing deficits; he was a monetary economist and worked hard to keep the financial sector from bringing down the "real" economy where most people worked. In fact, he would have preferred the establishment of a “rainy day” fund before advocating systemic deficits. WW2 represents the ultimate Keynesian stimulus -- FDR was too timid on his own to use Keynesian principles in his public works projects, which combined with restoring a modicum of financial stability only reduced the unemployment rate during the Great Depression from 25% to 17%. None of us are old enough, other than perhaps my father, to remember first hand, but it is sobering to read of the cutbacks because of the political climate surrounding FDR’s campaign for reelection. In addition, the Supreme Court stopped some of FDR’s public works initiatives, while renewed monetary stringency (for reasons that sound chilling given current debates) led to a spike in unemployment in 1937. We really don't want another world war to pull us out of the doldrums.

Even Republicans remember the Great Depression. Tent camps of desperate citizens were called “Hoover Towns.” At one point, 28 states didn't have a single bank open. It took the Republicans a generation to regain the White House, and even then it took a popular war hero like Dwight Eisenhower to accomplish that. The Right Wing and the John Birch Society referred to Ike as a “socialist”, and a “tool of communism.” Ike inherited a wartime tax structure with a top rate of 91%. With hundreds of thousands of young men home from war and needing a job, Ike embarked upon a Keynesian style public works project called the Interstate Highway System, instead of providing tax cuts to bolster the economy. The rest is history and the country was transformed for better or worse.

Another example of deficit spending and Keynesian economic stimulus would be the expansion of railroads after the Civil War. Tax revenues were at low ebb and the country was deeply in debt. We "spent" by giving away land, something that didn't show up in the budget. That and 30 year government bonds financed the transcontinental railroad. Most people would say the investment paid off; even folks who maintain, “The government is the problem, not the solution” might agree. There is an ideal balance to be achieved between “socialism” and “laissez faire” to achieve the desired results. Government is the price we pay for civilization.

To return to the opening topic. If only Obama had inherited a situation that didn’t already included accelerating deficts, burgeoning unemployment, and diminishing tax revenues. But he inherited what he inherited. Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman calculated that the stimulus should have been twice its size. Obama agreed, but recognized that a larger stimulus was politically impossible. As a consequence he chose to let the original, bloated Bush 2009 budget go through without "pork scrutiny" and associated cuts. This represented the breaking of a campaign promise. But cutting government spending in the face of recession leads to Depression. Isn’t this the lesson of the Great Depression and the Hoover era? Does anyone really think the Republicans want to go there again with them in charge? At the moment they are trying to have their cake -- decrying stimulus and money already spent to avoid a crisis -- and eat it to, since as the party of "no" there will be no policy bearing their name.

Sometime in the next few years the government needs to take steps to get rid of systemic deficits. The Republicans across several administrations showed that cutting "their way out" won't work. (Indeed, if you look at the size and composition of the budget, every non-defense Federal bureaucrat could be fired and we'd still have a budget deficit.) Growth will help, a rebound in incomes and employment would improve the revenue side, the "cyclical" part of the deficit. I don't like it, but basic arithmetic still shows the bottom line has to include ... let me phrase this carefully, tax enhancements.

So you be the judge. Did the Obama stimulus package fail? How does the Obama rebound compare with the Reagan era? Does anyone have a suggestion on what Obama could have done to turn things around more quickly, especially in light of Republican opposition?

Marketminder post with additional graphs

David Ruggles [with editorial asides by Michael Smitka]

Drought is Killing Hundreds of Arlington's 'Street Trees"

Hi Yupette,

While the County Board debates preserving a few 'monument trees' this Saturday hundreds of street trees are dying across the County because of lack of a comprehensive drought watering program by County Government. This has been occurring every drought for over a decade, and is costing us millions to remove and replace trees killed by drought.

Terri,

22205

Latest County Board Vanity Projects - Another Huge Waste of Tax Dollars

Hi Yupette,

Has anyone seen the County Board's agenda for this Saturday's meeting. It's loaded with extravagant and unnecessary vanity projects, like $500,000 per year for the County's take over of the Pike from VDOT to expedite Zimmerman's trolley / Clarendonification of the Pike. Like $471,642 for design services to "fix" a beaver pond? Like Christmas in September for at least a dozen of the County Board's pet special interests? When will it ever end?

Joan 22207

Caution - Zimmerman and Baird May Be Hazardous to Your Child's Safety

Hi Yupette,

I am really becoming concerned about the traffic from the huge Bailey's Crossing apartment complex (across Dinwiddie Street from Wakefield HS and just inside Fairfax County). So I tried to determine what happened to the funds for traffic mitigation that were supposed to be spent before the project was completed. Well the project is completed and it turns out (from a source close to Fairfax County Supervisor Penny Gross) that VDOT is sitting on the bond funds to start the project and neither the Arlington County Board nor the School Board have done anything about it, although they have been repeatedly contacted.

How's that for taking responsibility for our kids' safety? I am sure that if a child is hit and killed by a speeding vehicle driven by a 20-something who lives in Bailey's Crossing Baird and Zimmerman will finally do something after Zimmerman tells us everything is O.K. because his kid attends Wakefield.

S. Dinwiddie

County Board to Host Community Charade Helicopter Noise Forum September 22nd

Hi Yupette,

The County Board is hosting another 'We talk, You listen' Helicopter Noise Charade on September 22nd between 7 PM and 9 PM in the County Board Room.

Susan 22206

Dominion Making Millions from Inefficient Street Lighting

Hi Yupette,

Know why we have such poor street lighting in Arlington? Because Dominion Resources is making millions from keeping the old energy-inefficient mercury vapor streets burning as long as possible. Longer mercury vapor streets burn the more energy they use the less light they produce. County Board has squandered millions of tax dollars on this and other energy wasting scams that benefit the utility companies.

Carole - 22207

Time for VA State Board of Education to Take Over Wakefield

Yupette, Wakefield H.S. is a mess and things will be worse when the new Wakefield H.S. is completed. The new Wakefield H.S. was designed by Sally Baird, Libby Garvey, Jay Fisette, Chris Zimmerman, etc., to be a recreation-entertainment 'party zone' for not only South Arlington but for adjacent neighborhoods of Alexandria and Fairfax County.

This is a school that has underperformed for decades. Typical response of the School Board and County Board was to bring President Obama to Wakefield to lecture students about taking responsibility for their education. As if 16-year olds have any control over their curriculum and learning environment We don't need any more PR from the Yuppiecrats. We need and want a school that educates our children.

Linda - 22206

SAT Scores Indicate Arlington School Board is Failing to Educate

Hello Yupette:

Thanks for the information about the unacceptable disparity between Wakefield and Yorktown SAT scores.

But even more unacceptable is the disparity between Yorktown and McLean and Yorktown and Langley high schools.

Mclean H.S. - Reading, Math Writing: 590 608 581 = 1778

Langley H.S. - Reading, Math, Writing: 602 618 592 = 1812

Yorktown H.S. - Reading, Math, Writing: 581 595 565 = 1741

Given the money Arlington spends and the similar demographics the total SAT scores for Yorktown students should be well above 1800.

Carole 22207

Wakefield - Yorktown SAT Score Spread Completely Unacceptable

Hello,

Anyone else see the 257 point SAT score spread between Wakefield and Yorktown students? This is unacceptable to me and should be unacceptable to you.

Arlington will spend almost 50% of the $1.1 billion County FY 11 revenue on our schools. It's time for a major change in the School Board, not more excuses for more of the same.

Susan

Boss Zimmerman is the Master of Metro Disaster

Hello, Yupette;


Anyone else read Friday's Post? Metro buses blowing up and more Metro Access passengers being molested by Metro Access drivers? Who to blame? Surely not Boss Zimmerman, who's been on the WMATA Board for 12 years.

Judy - 22201

Greens and Independents Force Dems to Move on Infrastructure

Great News, Yupette, Green candidate for School Board Miriam Gennari forced the Arlington School Board to save the Planetarium. And the Greens and Independents in Fairlington forced Boss Zimmerman to start tree maintenance in Fairlington before someone is killed by a falling tree or tree limb during the next big storm. Susan

Bob Lutz – “The Triumph of “Gut” over Number Crunching”

Bob Lutz, auto industry icon, recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Automotive Fleet and Leasing Association (AFLA) at their annual conference in Las Vegas. As part of the ceremony Mr. Lutz was asked for his opinions on recent events in the automotive industry, as well his perspective on his career in the auto industry. Not only has Lutz had a brilliant career in the auto industry, his ability to articulate is what sets him apart.

Lutz has written another book, to be released next year. His previous book, “Guts: 8 Laws of Business from One of the Most Innovative Business Leaders of Our Time” is well known and widely read. While I like my own title for his book, he prefers “The Car Guy Versus the Bean Counters.” I’m sure it will be an instant best seller.
Lutz’s long adversarial relationship with the numbers people goes way back. In my own view, bean counters live by the mantra, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” They have no understanding for the fact that, “What you could have had, but didn’t get” is just as real, despite the fact it can’t be easily quantified. For years, Lutz has had to deal with those who thought designing and building vehicles should be based on study group data. The previous generation Malibu was an example. According to Lutz, GM’s numbers people maintained that that Malibu scored the highest in study groups of any vehicle they had ever developed. We know how that car worked out. Thanks to Lutz, GM now takes a different view in the development of their vehicles. By investing an additional $500. to $800. per vehicle in content, with a focus on interior quality, transaction prices are higher as fewer and lower incentives are required to maintain volume. The current Buick LaCrosse is an example.

Lutz points out that GM is not in the transportation business, but in the business of emotions. Consumers buy vehicles mostly based on how they view themselves driving it, and how they are perceived by others.

On the subject of Buick, Lutz addressed the issue of why GM chose to maintain the Buick brand instead of others they let go. Buick is a hot brand in China. Over time, Chinese became impressed with the Buick brand because it was the chauffeur driven vehicle of choice of the wealthy and high ranking officials going back decades. In fact, Chinese preferred Buick to Cadillac. This preference made the Buick brand the obvious choice when the decision had to be made.

Lutz is highly critical of the U.S. government’s CAFE approach to fuel economy, preferring the European model of fuel taxes. His comment, “CAFE is like trying to control American obesity by only producing standard sized clothing,” brought down the house. In his view, phased in fuel taxes would influence consumers in what they buy and drive, making it easier for manufacturers to predict consumer preferences. The fact that this is not politically viable is another story. Lutz believes that U.S. consumers will not pay a premium for high fuel economy vehicles without a dramatic rise in fuel prices, despite the fact he raves about the new GM VOLT. At some point Americans will tire of fighting the war against radical Islam and paying for both sides of the war.

When questioned about any possible political ambitions Lutz replied, “First of all, I’m too old. Secondly, I wasn’t born in the U.S., and we know how that plays in this country. But should those things be waived, I might agree to be Emperor for a couple of years.” Extreme laughter followed this “tongue in cheek” comment.
When the subject of the auto industry bailout came up, “Lutz first responded by saying, “I really don’t have anything in common with the average Democratic voter.” Again laughter. But he went on to say, “The administration’s team did an admirable job. There is no doubt they had to trample on some due process issues, but the end result was magnificent.” While I would have loved to have been able to ask questions about SIGTARP, the dealer terminations, the executive shuffling at GM, the impending IPO, etc., there wasn’t an opportunity.

Lutz kept his audience spellbound and there was a discernible wave of disappointment when it was time for his segment to conclude.
Going into his version of retirement he has left a lasting legacy on the auto business. Bob Lutz is at the top of my list of those I would most like to have a beer with.

David Ruggles
WARDS Dealer Business
Sept 2010

The Pentagon’s Role in the Auto Industry Bailout.....

and other interesting tidbits


Recently I was privileged to listen to an address given by John McElroy at the American Fleet and Leasing Association conference in Las Vegas. Mr. McElroy is President of Blue Sky productions, the company that brings us Auto Line Daily TV, chronicling auto industry events and news. He addressed an audience of fleet and leasing professionals and I was fortunate to be present. A student of the industry for over 30 years living in the Detroit area, McElroy is accomplished in the art of gleaning inside auto industry information and applying his own particular insight, especially as it regards the Detroit 3. While I share many opinions with him, he told me some things I either did not know or hadn’t thought of. Of course, that is why I attended in the first place.

According to Mr. McElroy:

First: “International exchange rates and dramatically lowered costs have put the Detroit 3 in a position they haven’t been in for years. They can export to other countries profitable. In fact, the White House goal is to double U.S. automotive exports in 5 years.” And we know the White House is “driving this bus.” Export business would mean adding shifts and reopening plants. All of this spells “JOBS!” Let’s hope they are successful.

Second: “Ford is way out in front of everyone in the area of in cabin electronics. Ford’s SYNC system, developed in conjunction with Microsoft, is 3 years ahead of anyone else. Ford will introduce their next generation before other automakers offer their first. In addition, Ford is poised to be wildly profitable in the coming years, especially if the economy rebounds. It is a given that they will be the UAW’s next target for union contract negotiations.”

Ford has recently repaid 7 billion in debt while making a 2.6 billion dollar profit in the last quarter. It boosted market share to 16.9% from 16.4% and seems to have a lot of positive momentum going for it. It’s credit rating is on the rise. Ford recently raised 1.4 billion dollars through a public stock offering, using part to fund their Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association with cash instead of stock, and to pay down debt.

I have been convinced, with no actual confirmation, that the Ford family, who largely live off the dividends of their preferred shares, were well aware of what would happen to their position if the company was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I suspect that was the motivating factor behind Ford’s “mortgaging the farm” in advance of an impending crisis as a means of “insurance.” Or perhaps they were merely clairvoyant. McElroy agrees. Perhaps someone will write a book that will bear out this theory, or not.

In the interest of full disclosure I do have a substantial portion of the Ruggles family fortune, meager that it is, invested in Ford stock.


Third: “The Pentagon was a strong influence in the decision to bail out the auto industry.” Their lobbying for an auto industry bailout began during the Bush administration, who finally bridged GM and Chrysler over to the Obama administration with 16 billion dollars in unused TARP funds. This after Congress had turned them down in a request for a bailout package. I have written for months about the interconnection between the automotive suppliers, the auto manufacturers both foreign and domestic, and aerospace and defense. My opinion has been based on research done by fellow Auto Finance News contributor Dr. Michael Smitka, Phd., Professor of Economics at Washington and Lee University, who is an expert in these matters. According to Professor Smitka, the supplier base employs 5 times as many workers as the auto manufacturers.

Without naming sources, Mr. McElroy comfirmed what we have suspected all along. Losing only Chrysler would have triggered a chain reaction collapse through the supplier base. These same suppliers also supply military procurement. Many of the major suppliers were already in Chapter 11 bankruptcy or on “death row.” Just Chrysler alone going into liquidation would have shut down all North American auto production, sending a ripple effect across both oceans. Considering the condition of the banks, long on paper assets and short on cash, it could have taken years to put things back together in some semblance of order. Try building a car OR HUMVEE without an ignition switch, a steering column, or a single suspension component. Banks were more interested in returning TARP money, to keep the Feds out of their executive compensation, transportation, and entertainment habits, than in loaning money for perceived risky endeavors. This situation also had a lot to do with why the government had to be the debtor in possession financier of the two automaker’s Chapter 11 bankruptcies.

Shutting down North American auto production is one thing. Shutting down military procurement is another.

A hot topic among attendees of this fleet and leasing conference was the issue of extending fleet intervals and it’s impact on resale values. Chrysler seems to be overly relying on fleet sales but the good news is that it can actually make profit at fleet prices.

Mr. McElroy predicts that transaction prices on new vehicles will rise as incentives decrease. On the surface, this will be good news for the OEMs and bad news for consumers. But if lower incentives mean higher pre-owned prices, residuals and resale values, it should somewhat offset the higher transactions prices on new vehicles.

It could also mean we are in for a new wave of leasing!

Zimmerman's "Dirty Tricks" Squad Abusing Dogs

Hello Yupette:

I am totally outraged by what a fellow dog owner in Fairlington told me at the Utah Park dog exercise area. Chris Zimmerman's campaign is encouraging Democratic dog owners to bring their dogs in front of the homes of Zimmerman's "enemies" and either set the dogs against each other or kick or choke a dog until it starts barking. This happens like at 7 AM on weekends and is supposed to wake up and harass the person on Zimmerman's "enemies list" and his or her family.

Zimmerman is obviously a sicko and an abuser and should be receiving psychiatric therapy instead of being on the County Board. By the way, I am an independent voter and I do love dogs, a lot.

Muffy

Minority Groups Absent from Civfed Candidates' Forum

Hello Yupette,

I attended the CivFed candidates' forum last night and although the event was standing room only I didn't see any African Americans, Asians, or Latinos at all. Did I miss someone?

Bethany

We Endorse: The End Of Endorsements by Local Newspapers and Media

Having reviewed the Ethical Guidelines of the Society of Professional Journalists, A.Y. DEMANDS that the Sun Gazette Newspapers, Washington Post, Falls Church News-Press, and Journal Newspapers IMMEDIATELY STOP ENDORSING candidates for public office.

A.Y.

Another Campaign Season...Usual Media Shenanigans

Hello Yupette:

Another Fall campaign season is beginning. With the usual "Re-Elect All Incumbents" shenanigans by the region's media. The Post is really outrageous this year, supporting Mayor Adrian "Gentrification" Fenty to an extent that is embarrassing to honest journalists. The other local newspapers are not much better.

Kathy

Time to Sue 'Nanny Nancy' Federal Employees And Their Agencies?

Hi Yupette:

So the RePigs are all upset because a career federal employee got sued by the County Board for carrying out the Bush Administration's HOT Lanes $teal on I-395? Too bad.

I would love to see the Nanny Nancy Republicans, who micro-manage our lives from their federal offices, and their agencies sued for defamation and slander, which is what many of them do at "work" when they aren't in employee counseling sessions. And if it's not Federal employees, it's people who work for the NGOs.

Enough. Time is long overdue for federal and NGO employees to be held accountable for actions and activities performed while they are supposed to be "working".

Susan