Monday, June 8, 2009

Passel of Hogs Rewarded

Obama is using taxpayer money to reward a principal contributor to the bankruptcy of the US-owned auto industry, viz. the UAW.

For fifty years, the UAW was at the trough and was quite successful, obtaining health care, wage and pension benefits for its members far beyond anything common in the workplace. Two of the most idiotic benefits that management capitulated to give were retirement at full pay after 30 years and payments of wages while laid off. The full health care benefits for such early retirees is a close third. Remember, these are not low paid, government clerks or soldiers, but persons whose cash wages made them well up on the pay distribution.

Fine. That was what they negotiated and the companies accepted. I have no problem for that. People should try to obtain the most pay and benefits they can.

BUT ... these contributed to driving GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy. And now who is paying for this ? The US taxpayer. And cheated bondholders.

Some of these very bondholders purchased obligations of GM that were sold to FUND the pension plan. Now they are being given cents on the dollar while the obligations of the pension plan are being transferred in full to the new GM. No write-down for them.

These GM and Chrysler "reorganizations" are wholesale looting of the bondholders AND the US taxpayer. Obama is forgiving billions of debt incurred to the taxpayer. He is trampling on decades of precedence in bankruptcy to favor the UAW and labor.

According to Barron's, the UAW and related entities are receiving between 60 and 70 cents on the dollar for the post-retirement health benefits AND the full pension benefits are being transferred to the surviving new companies. That means they pay for the full retirement pay after 30 years, which can be at age 50.

Bondholders who lent in good faith to GM are getting around 15 cents on the dollar. The UAW recovery is 4-5x that of the bondholders. Even the taxpayer gets less than the UAW, around 50 cents on the dollar for super-senior debtor in possession financing.

Here's what the UAW said about its deal: "For our active members, these tentative changes mean no loss in your hourly base, no reduction in your health care and no reduction in pensions." Quite a deal for one of the guilty parties. Obama protects his supporters.

This whole procedure and outcome is so outrageous. But I don't expect the courts to intervene. They are part of the government and quite political at times. For now, I fear they will bent over for the new golden boy in town.

The unintended consequence: no lender in its sane mind would ever lend to either GM or Chrysler ever in the future. That means these two firms will NEVER cease being wards of the US taxpayer. Obama is curing a short term problem with a long term disaster.

I'm glad I bought an SUV made in Alabama, not by the UAW.

Word of the Day

"Paludal" - adjective [$10] a Mencken word
Paludal means 1. of a marsh; 2. malarial.
Sentence: Obama is leading the taxpayer into the paludal swamps of UAW appeasement, which destroyed two great companies. A bad move.

Le Mot Du Jour

"Amoureux, -euse" - adjective and noun (M.F)
Amoureux means (adjective) 1. in love (de with); 2. love, amorous; 3. amorous; (noun) lover; love; sweatheart.
La Phrase: L'homme du bunker est amoureux du mot.
Sentence: Bunkerman is a word lover.

68 comments:

Bud said...

excellent piece Bman..............and just like your 'hogs at the trough' pieces from early 08......it will take some time for everyone to realize the UAW is destroying american manufacturing

Bud said...

passel of hogs ???


what's that ? a herd of hogs ?

Bud said...

independent judiciary ........lol


obama is the closest thing we have ever had to a king...........no one is goin to oppose him right now........what a bunch of cowards


a long -term disaster for this country.......our government is based on checks and balances.....by the congress....courts ....and the media.......they all in his pocket


USA = monarchy

Bud said...

Bman i'm a bit confused......bloomberg is sayin the yield on the 10-yr goin up is a sign of economic recovery in the future


is that right?

Bunkerman said...

yeah, I looked it up.

Bunkerman said...

re passel of hogs.

Bunkerman said...

yes, that is true re the 10 year.

Bud said...

where's frosty ??

oh wait...........he must be tired...........you know............last night were the tony awards........frosty loves musicals


wide stance indeed

Bud said...

oh forgot


Va' al diavolo bob !!!!!

mfl59 said...

well Bud....how was Renditions?

spin had you at a 97

I took the over...

Bud said...

amen corner even par......bogey-birdie-par

and sawgrass17 = bogey.......3putt

you're a loser ace.....shot a 94...... with 2 triples.......yeah...swing coaches don't matter.......what an obnoxious loudmouth punk you are


'disguised as a pga pro'

Bud said...

renditions a good course............played another great course on sunday........PBdye.....also in maryland

spent 200bux in greens fees alone this weekend........how can i afford it.....well....


danke vielmals jim !!!!!!!!

mfl59 said...

"loudmouth obnoxious punk"....

lmaoooooooooooo

Let the record show your friend Spin won a championship this weekend without a swing coach....he won with guts...

Bud said...

ace have you played renditions ?


my brother wants to go to scotland after playing that course...........they had a par5 form carnoustie that was incredible


sheeesh....scotland......gonna cost me a few k if my brother insists


can i afford it?....well.....


merci jim !!!!!

mfl59 said...

no I have not played the course...looks pretty phenomenal though....

maverick said...

from the tips bud?

my boy J Byrd could not putt to victory...Arizona St. pitching too good

Frosty said...

big bucks made on the links this weekend...10 a side, nono ask nono tell...thought about just smashing "my friend" in the face with my driver and running with his purse instead....tough course indeed.

Spin-em said...

real unemployment rate 18%????...SPINNY WINS!!!!!....

Frosty said...

"Right now I don't see anything at all attracting the hot money"...UTA sow, gap and crap, thx jim.

Bunkerman said...

Btw, Krypto got many first place ribbons for her events at the Nationals. Le chien super!

Frosty said...

dog races like kids sports today...everyone earns a trophy... self actualized doggies indeed.

$SPX 918.10 feel a Bunky mush.

Bunkerman said...

not quite, frosty. The dog training and handler work is quite a lot.

Bud said...

dog training ?? huh ??


you mean Bman training don't you

Bud said...

UTA gap n crap ??? huh ???


f'ng prick

Bud said...

MNKD.....nailed it !!



danke vielmals jim !!!!!

Bud said...

yes from the tips......the 'blue tips'


but next time i gonna play from the white tips............if i can't break 85......need to move up


anything over 6500 too much for me......so usually play the tees less than that......mainly white....sometimes blue

Spin-em said...

you say you hit a 6 iron 150 and ur playin the blues??? bullshit sir....bullllll-------shittttttTTTT

Spin-em said...

85...add 20 and we're in the ballpark.....lol

mfl59 said...

uhhh Spin....that was before he hired a personal trainer/swing coach/sports psychologist

Spin-em said...

MULLY ON THE FIRST!!!!!


....3 footer..ahhhh thats good "bro"

Spin-em said...

Ill take a 6.......

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bud said...

you said it ace

my 6 iron goin about 155 now......all my irons i'm hitting further.......transferring my weight......staying on plane......tryin not to come over the top.........yeah swing coaches don't matter


'disguised as a pga pro'

Spin-em said...

yeah...thats your ball....wink

Bud said...

that's good bro



lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

mfl59 said...

"Hey Bud, what ball are you playing?" Biff shouts from the woods...

"Uhhh, what's the one you found?"

"Its a Titelist 2!!"

"Oh yeah, I switched to Titelist on the last hole...that must be mine!"

Spin-em said...

HEY BRO!!!!! ARE WE ROLLING EM OR JUST ON THE FAIRWAY!!!

maverick said...

" the blue tips" and you hittin a 6 "155"...notta junior...rules of golf sir...download adobe and read!!!!!!!!

mern said...

bman u do a great job of showing how stupid obama is being. how come u didnt make these comments while bush broke the world?

fired my real estate agent today. according to him housing wont bottom until 2011....

he wasnt happy, but i broke the contract, and will sell it myself without his 6% rape.

"housing has bottomed...... typical mid cycle slowdown.......the recession is over......"

el wrongo

the USA is going down the same path as cali and GM. may take 50 yrs but BK is invetiable. u cant keep moving money from your right pocket to your left and think your net worth is higher. its like that episode of whats happening when rerun oversold himself to win the dance competition.

ya its ortiz eyes....... not coming down from da juice. lidge was a juicer, but the mets still suck!
its the eagles yr!

mfl59 said...

its the eagles year? they get a new QB?

booyah!!!!!

Bud said...

ortiz no longer on the juice...no doubt

unlike that other f'ng scumbag faggot - Afraud

and the douchebag yankee fans that cheer each of his home runs...................f'ng child molesters all of them



F the yankees and their f'ng fans !!!!!!

mern said...

"george the ocean called. they r run out of shrimp!"

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/06/08/danson.oceans/index.html

please explain how this planet can handle almost 7 billion people? it cant! we need to make some glass. ive have the perfect spot. it where about 28 mesiahs were supposedly born from 3bc to when that magician jesus christ was born. cramer must idolize jesus. jesus shoveled more steaming piles of crap than cramer ever dreamed about.

if david copperfield was alive back then he was have exposed him for the fraud he was. water into wine my ass!

Bud said...

UTA a beast

gap n crap ?? huh ?? what do you have to say now ?? nuthin ? i didn't think so


sturgeon....sturgis.....whatever........shove it up your ass



PS.....still wanna be friends ???

Frosty said...

UTA...toss enough darts one finds the board...what monkey picking these stocks...jsweck is very impressed.

Bunkerman said...

oh mern, sheesh, have you lost your memory?

I hammered Bush for years, calling him Lyndon, etc.

Bunkerman said...

That FL sun does strange things to people.

Start wearing a hat. (mern)

mern said...

jsweck is very impressed


lol!

Bunkerman said...

it was going to be OK like 1983-4, but then the Vikings started the raids. Thanks SEC, etc.

mern said...

ya that sun made me believe that last yr wasnt a your typical mid cycle slowdown.

:-)

so it sounds like u r suggesting obama is worse than bush, as a president. thats not gud. bush broke the world, texas style. "get america rolling, buy a new car and house with a 120% mortgage" "mission accomplished" " i use the google all the time" "fool me once....... fool me twice..... we cant get fooled again" "god told me to invade iraq"

forgive me if i prefer the spear chucker and his telestraighter.

mern said...

it was going to be OK like 1983-4,

rofl!

there was 200 trillion worth of worthless derivatives in 83?

i guess if it werent for meredith none of this wud have happened.........but minyanville and those beefers were predicting this for yrs.

mfl59 said...

jsweck...lmaoooooo

MVP MVP MVP

mern said...

dollar up, stocks down.

send your 6 grand to the human fund, care of george costanza.

its another festivus miracle! the dead cat bounce of 2009, economically speaking.

we threw a trillion at this problem, and it bought us some time. thanks mister paulson. didnt he goto hardvard as well?

i heard jimmy made an appearance at the class of 94 reunion. booyahing everyone, and hitting on 40 yr old women. i thought karen took him back?

(i think its a trillion becuase the dollar is down 15% since TARP was created. so 800 billion is actually more like a trillion.)

fed to the markets: "we r selling tons of the 30 yr, want some?"

"we r loading up on the 30 yr, got any to sell us?"

yes sir a fine idea, indeed.

Spin-em said...

(spiny raising arms in the Bunker)

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from Heaven above
With wisdom power and love
Our God is an awesome God

And when the sky was starless
In the void of the night

Our God is an awesome God

He spoke into the darkness
And created the light

Our God is an awesome God

Judgment and wrath
He poured out on the Sodom
Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross
I hope that you have not
Too quickly forgotten that
Our God is an awesome God

mfl59 said...

is that Michael W Smith spin?

Bunkerman said...

exciting ping pong today. Glad I was learning Italian.

mern said...

in 1979-82 was your bank calling u and suggesting to refinance and telling u that whatever u want to value your property at is okey dokey?

wasnt communism dying putting a huge cycle of disninflation into play?

werent the baby boomers entering their peak spending yrs?

83 head structual tail winds.

please name 1 structual tail wind the USA has right now.

Bunkerman said...

In 1983-4 era and a couple years earlier every S&L in the US was broke & insolvent; and every amjor bank [like C] was insolvent due to thrid world loans.

Sheesh, remember the "all-savers" subisidy to put money in the S&Ls?

And ditto the major utililies for rotten nuclear power plants

Sheesh ... no memory at all.

But then we didn't have hedge funds ... or derivatives ... or program trading ... or ultrashort ETFs;

and we had an uptick rule.

Bunkerman said...

communism dying in 1979-1982 lololololololololololol

sheesh.

Bud said...

Bman!!!!!!

lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo



'hedge funds .....inverse etf's......uptick rule'


yes.............they were the root cause of the crash of 2008........or.......as u call it


rich man's panic 2008

pffffffffffffffffffffffffffft

mern said...

your right it was already dead, we just didnt know it yet.

reagan accelerated the process, like bush accelerated killing the united states.

the path was inevitable, they just floored the pedal and made it play out faster.

im just wondering if u can find all these faults with the dark meat, where was the criticism of the coke addict that ruined the world?

Bunkerman said...

they caused the panic & drop from July to October

mern said...

i cant wait to her some positive spin on palin as she seems to be a lock for the ticket in 2012.

what do i know though, only bet obama to win it all, before super tuesday. if i remember that bet, spear chucker wasnt even favored to beat whats her name? i think she works for him now or something.

hillary works for a spear chucker. if u told her that a yr ago she wud have keeled over from laughter.

Bunkerman said...

sheesh, mern, like I already said, I hammered Bush for years as Lyndon, long before this crash.

Bud said...

reagen ?? bush1 ?? clinton ?? bush2??


who cares who criticised whom in the past.............the only thing that matters now is what we do in the future

f'ng dark meat lover

Spin-em said...

dont worry guys.....

This is no time for fear
This is a time for faith and determination
Don't lose the vision here
Carried away by emotion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true
It holds the world together

God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him, we know
God is in control, oh God is in control

History marches on
There is a bottom line drawn across the ages
Culture can make its plan
Oh, but the line never changes
No matter how the deception may fly
There is one thing that has always been true
It will be true forever

He has never let you down
Why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see
And He is still the loving Father
Watching over you and me

watching over you...watching over me..
watching over every things..
watching over you..watching over me..
every little sparrow..every little things...

Bunkerman said...

no mark-to-market accounting either, so the problems could be solved slowly with some thought.

mern said...

"they" also created a huge bubble.

"they" did many things.

"they" r great in gud times and the devil when it blows up.

the game has evolved and "they" will always be part of that game, going forward.

like brooks wud say of today. " i saw a computer, once, before they locked me up. today, everyone has 3 of em. the world went and got itself all in a hurry."

even if they didnt get rid of the uptick rule, it still would have been ugly.

the root of all of this was repealling glass steagal. i thought it was a bad idea when i 24 and i know it was when im 38.

funny how fast history repeats itself. no problems after the acts of 33 and 34 (well nothing of that nature). within 10 yrs of getting rid of glass steagal we went down the exact same path, just 21st century, texas style.

no way this recession is over. even the govt admits the recession started late 2007. hedge fund panic from late 2008 didnt start an obvious recession that was already almost a yr old.

mern said...

my bad u trashed bush about that from time to time. just not daily.

all jokes aside he is doing much better than bush, except in the middle east and specifically israel.

he is just as fiscally irresponsible but he can talk, even without a telestraighter, he can speak english, not "bible thumper" where civil rights is an antiquated nothion.

spin u r killing me!

Spin-em said...

(sometimes when im down for the day..a lil lost..or...hungry for a sandwich)

The wind is moving
But I am standing still
A life of pages
Waiting to be filled

A heart that's hopeful
A head that's full of dreams
But this becoming
Is harder than it seems

Feels like I'm
Looking for a reason
Roamin' through the night to find
My place in this world
My place in this world
Not a lot to lean on
I need your light to help me find
My place in this world
My place in this world

If there are millions
Down on their knees
Among the many
Can you still hear me

Hear me asking
Where do I belong?
Is there a vision
That I can call my own?

Show me, I'm
Looking for a reason
Roamin' through the night to find
My place in this world
My place in this world
Not a lot to lean on
I need your light to help me find
My place in this world
My place in this world