Ghosted!

Despite it being Halloween and all, I thought it would be a good time to get the cobwebs off of this blog and get at it again.  I am using NaBloPoMo to hopefully assist in kicking my rear into gear.  

Yes, I realize that it doesn’t start until tomorrow, but nothing wrong with getting a head start is there?  Besides I was tagged with a Meme by Liz at This Full House.  Actually I’m not sure if I got “tagged” so much as I was given a “Lighten Up Francis” kick in the head.  And it is true I guess, with elections, a promotion at work with new responsibilities, and such I have been way too serious lately.  So Liz took it upon herself to lighten me up with a puking pumkin in her You’ve Been Ghosted Meme.

So, it has been a while since I have annoyed anybody with a Meme (granted Liz is one of those peope I am usually annoying), so I thought it was time to step up and do this one. 

The rules are easy:

(1)  It’s your turn to “ghost” three other bloggers.

(2)  Stop by their blogs and leave a comment on their latest post saying, “You’ve Just Been Ghosted — Come Over and Grab A Puking Pumpkin!”

(3)  Copy and paste the puking pumpkin somewhere on your blog (either in a post or on your sidebar, perhaps) so that everyone can see that you have been “ghosted” and will NOT “ghost” you again.  This will also let you know who you can “ghost.”

(4)  Feel free to link to this post (or a post of your own) for directions, grab the puking pumpkin and go “ghost” 3 bloggers on your sidebar (preferably, somewhere you haven’t commented in a while, or a blog you’ve NEVER commented on before and/or new to the blogosphere) and dont’ be afraid to share some linky love.
 

And it is that linkly love that makes me like to do these themes.  I read some really awesome blogs, and it is only right (I think) that I acknowledge just how cool you people are (though I also try and figure just who might also participate since I know some of you won’t).

Anyway, three blogers that I bestow my “ghosting” and linky love upon this time would be:

Mitch McDad – Because I still owe him a meme (which I promise I will get to soon), and because he can be honest and cool, and make it look easy.

BusyMom – Because she is my partner on the new Parentography Podcast, and because I swear if I tag her enough times, she will actually do one… someday.

CynicalDad - Because like me, he is starting in on NaMoPoMo, and this will give him one day’s easy post, so I think he just might.  Also he is the only other Panthers fan I know, so I have to give him a due shout out.

Well, now back to your regular Halloween activities… oh, and Happy Halloween (or Blessed Sahmain for those of that persuasion).

Pumpkin Pancakes

Since somebody chastised me on Twitter (Hi Sara) for mentioning these without giving the recipe, and I been stalling on posting because I really wanted to move away from political posting, I figured I would share what is our typical Sunday Morning breakfast in the Autumn, Pumpkin Pancakes.  

Ingredients.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp butter (melted)
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1/3 cup pure pumpkin

The good (and important) parts of the bailout

Look, I am not any big fan of bailing out a bunch of Investment Bankers and banks.  Fine, I am not a fan of the idea at all.  And I am not going to spend too much time on the negatives, the golden parachutes, idiotic CEO pay scales, and the like.  These have all been well documented and hammered home on virtually every blog and Tweet on the subject.

However, in all the negativity on the subject, something has gotten lost, and I don’t think (well I know, but I didn’t want to overstate it) many quite understand the gravity of the situation, and why it wasn’t just an “easy” decision for lawmakers to just tell these companies to, “go ahead and fail,” or  ”you made your your own bed.”  It just isn’t, as much as we would like to think it is, to untie these situations from the rest of the economy because of the scale of it all.

A car dealer not far from my home, Bigelow Motors, had been in business for 66 years.  It had weathered upturns and downturns many times over the years, but they were basically forced to close their doors this past week.  The reason?  They lost their line of credit.

In my own business, there are times that I need credit to cover the time between when I secure the supplies I need and the time my client pays me.  Without that line of credit, I am seriously hampered in what I can do and what orders I can complete.  

This is a common way of doing business for companies big and small (only the size of the line of credit changes).  From small corner delis that need to cover stock to mega corporation deals, there is very little that is done “in cash” because income and outlay do not always line up nice and neatly.

Obviously, the impact on business also affects employment as well.  Everybody at that car dealership I mentioned earlier is out looking for a job now.  Unemployment is up all over the place, and would only get worse as businesses need to either cut back or shut down because they are not able to conduct business as usual.

So, just understand, it was not a “no-brainer” to just vote this bill down. (Well, it was in that crazy first draft sent over from President Bush, but that was pretty much obvious to everybody except I guess President Bush and Treasury Secretary Pauson).  Is it ideal?  No.  Did it have to be as quickly as it was?  Unfortunately, Yes.

While people joke around now about how it hasn’t fixed everything already, this plan it going to take time to actually start having an effect, so even now we are still in crisis, but everyday that it waited is more time until implementation takes effect, and the more business that are apt to fail if this wasn’t passed in some form.

What I think a lot of people are shocked with, it that they got a good look at how Washington works.  The sort of wheeling and dealing (and pork additions) that happened here goes on constantly.  It is “how things work” and while this is no secret, it was clearly (and expensively) on display here.

I guess what I am trying to say here is, that I am not saying you shouldn’t be angry about what is going on.  I sure am.  But be angry at the right people, for the right reasons.  Look to former Texas Senator Phil Gramm and his slipping in of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) that enabled things like the Enron collapse, and the bundling of “derivatives” that helped make this mortgage crisis possible.  Be angry that this same Phill Gramm is on John McCain’s short list to be Treasurer of the United States.  Be angry at those that politicized this process and demanded pork for their vote.  But don’t take a “yes” vote in and of itself to be the whole reason.  This really wasn’t an easy situation for anyone to swallow, and there are valid reasons to have voted for the bailout.  The damage has long since been done, and now it needed to be fixed to keep the situation from getting worse.

Now this is corporate welfare

Much has been said about the $700 billion dollar bailout package (I don’t need to link to that right? I mean everybody knows about it who is paying attention), but in the midst of this, a little backstory is developing over Wachovia.  It is said that Wachovia faced a “silent run” on the bank, and with Wachovia in the news, and the failure of Washington Mutual, I guess it makes sense that the FDIC moved to act quickly to resolve the situation, and thus brokered the deal that the banking operations would be sold to Citibank.

In that deal however was some agreements that were for the most part overlooked, or at least not highly scrutinized, such as (emphasis added):

In agreeing to purchase Wachovia’s bread-and-butter banking business, including its infamous $120 billion in troubled and so-called option-ARM mortgages, Citigroup will also in essence give the FDIC $12 billion in preferred shares to guarantee that Citi will not face more than $42 billion in losses related to Wachovia’s troubled businesses.

So, the FDIC in what it seems to me is a conflict of interest (I am of course not a lawyer), would become shareholders in Citibank, and would pay off losses from the loan portfolio for anything over $42 billion.  This means the FDIC is potentially on the hook for a boatload of money.  So, when Wells Fargo came along and came up with a deal for the entire operation of Wachovia that put zero FDIC money at risk, the FDIC should have been thrilled (on would think), but this was not the case.

I don’t know if it is the allure of getting a $12 billion stock “payment” to insure the portfolio, but suprisingly instead of being happy that a deal was done that didn’t require the FDIC to bail out any money, instead the FDIC announces that it still is backing the Citi-Wachovia deal.  Citi of course is livid, and is taking their case to court.  This doesn’t surprise me, and it all but solidifies in my mind what a deal Citi believes it is getting here.

The FDIC should not be involved in this any longer, to this extent.  If Citi wants to take over Wachovia, it should now step up to the plate on its own, and make an offer that is better than the one Wells Fargo has put on the table, and without any guarantees from the government.  There is obviously no reason for the government to help Citi make this acquisition if there is another institution out there willing to do it without FDIC help.  Period.  Anything else really is corporate welfare on behalf of Citi.

PinkSploitation?

Yesterday began National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Certainly a worthwhile endevour, make no mistake about it.  But I have a question.  Where is the line between “raising awareness” and “exploiting for corporate gain”?

Go, to any supermarket, clothing store, just about anywhere now and you see things draped out in pink.  Canon is offering a special awareness pink camera and printer.  Sales are not tied to a donation, but at least they have commited a donation of $150,000 to cancer research.  Yoplait, makes you collect yogurt tops to get them to make a donation, of ten cents per lid.  Campbell’s soup is changing its label to pink and will donate up to $250,000 (or about 3.5 cents per can sold).  While some of these seem laudable on the surface, it surely is a boom to the companies in increased sales as well.  As a matter of fact in a ABC News story almost two years ago, they pointed out that, the increase in sales and windfall profits dwarved the nominal contributions these companies make.

Some of the programs, as pointed out by Think Before You Pink, are outright hypocritical.  Companies like Yoplait and Hershey’s both refuse to ensure their milk is rBGH free, yet there are concerns that the bovine hormone can cause a myriad of health problems including breast cancer.  Estee Lauder is selling its Pink Ribbon cosmetics, but refuses to sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, to ensure their products don’t contain chemicals that are known or suspected to be linked to breast cancer.

Then of course there is the plain outright exploitation.  Go to Target.com and search for Breast Cancer Awareness, and you will find over 60 products available meant to “raise awareness.”  With these products, you have no way of knowing how much (if anything) is being given to cancer awareness, or is just a profit center for these companies.

It seems to me that many of these companies are playing on the fear of breast cancer for their own profits.  If you want to make a difference and help fund research.  Don’t buy yogurt and eat it 3 times a day for a month, only to raise $9.30.  Just write a check to your favorite charity or organization.  You’ll save some money, and still be doing something to help the cause.

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