Israel and Hamas...here we go again

I will not pretend to be an expert on the history or conflict in the Mideast, where it concerns Israel and the surrounding (and, some would say, displaced) Arab peoples. In fact, I won't do a lick of research for this post; I'll go on instinct. Instinct has, of course, more often than I'd like to admit, gotten me into trouble before. But I'm not stubborn enough to fight when I know I don't hold a club or argue when I don't know all the facts. I'd rather learn and shape my opinions further, so that I might come back another day, more informed.

Here is my instinctive reaction to the most recent round of hot conflict between Israel and one of the many Palestinian-rooted organizations hell-bent on destroying it, Hamas. Supporters of Hamas, indeed political heads of the group, and even non-participatory nations and political parties, have spoken out against the Israeli response to Hamas' firing of rockets into the Jewish state. They say that Israel's response has been disproportionately harsh. They point to the hundreds of "Palestinians" (quotes used because there is no formal state of "Palestine") that have been killed or wounded and compare it to the dozens of Israelis. They compare the tempo and fierceness of Israeli airstrikes against targets within the Gaza Strip to the onesy-twosy single rocket lobs of Hamas fighters into Israeli civilian areas. They try to compare apples to apples and argue that Israel is being a big bully and only making the situation worse.

Excuse me, but how did this all get off the ground anyway? Who fired the first shot? Wasn't it Hamas? Who is intentionally targeting civialians? Who is firing from positions within civilian centers? After this latest breach of cease-fire by Hamas, Israel has declared all-out war against the terrorist group. In all-out war, there is no apples-to-apples; there is no tit-for-tat; there is no concept of disproportionality. Each side does their absolute best (or worst, in the case of war) to destroy the other.

I agree that Hamas is to blame for any civilian casualities that the people of the Gaza Strip endure. Those deaths would not have occurred if Hamas did not instigate with their first rocket attack. Arab anger should be levelled at Hamas. The blood is on their hands.

I also believe that this is the first test for incoming American president, Barack Obama. Hamas wants to see where his sympathies lie. Is it with the Jews, whose vote he pandered for during his historic campaign? Or is it with the Arabs, as many speculate, based solely on his middle name (which shall not be uttered here!)?

We will find out in a few months. The Mideast conflict will not be settled soon (if ever, if you believe the Biblical take on it). Hamas is pretty much sticking to their modus operandi of aggression, taking "disproportionate" casualties, drawing sympathy from the international community, bringing Israel back to the treaty table, and buying some time to rebuild and regroup. Hamas and their like will never accept a Jewish state in their midst, no matter what platitudes they speak. And so Israel should never accept a functional Hamaz organization, and should continue to do whatever it takes to destroy them.

Chicago factory sit-in: Ire at Bank of America is misdirected

A settlement has been reached between the workers at Republic Windows and Doors, a smallish manufacturer in Chicago, and the management.

If you're not up on all the details, the story began a little over a week ago when Bank of America, the main creditor for Republic, pulled its client's line of credit as it became clear that business was way down and the prospects that the company would be able to repay its debt became doubtful.

No credit, no money to pay the workers. Layoffs ensued as the factory was shut down.

The workers did not take this unfortunate development in stride; they staged a week-long sit-in at the factory, refusing to leave until they were paid their due severance and accrued time off.

Now I don't know the legality of their sit-in, or their demands. I don't know what Federal laws the workers claim were violated when their lay off came with only 3 days' notice. That's not what this is about.

What I do know is that the bulk of the workers' anger, and that of their surrogates (Jesse Jackson, Governor "Hot" Rod Blagojevich, and President-Elect Barack Obama among them) has been directed at Bank of America for cutting off the credit.

The instinctive sentiment is this: Bank of America is part of the banking community that just received a collective total of $350 billion in "bailout" money as part of the government's TARP program. How dare they freeze the credit on this business. Bad big business. Evil corporation. Greedy bankers.

While these emotions are certainly understandable (we are all human, after all), they are not justified. If all those railing against BoA stopped being driven by base instinct and gave some logical thought to the problem, they would understand that it is Republic, the employer, who is at fault here, not BoA.

So let's think this through:

(1) Why did BoA pull the credit? Because in its own business analysis of risk versus return, it determined that keeping the line of credit open did not make good business sense. Weren't banks just reamed by Congress for making thousands of bad loans over the past several years?

(2) If business at Republic was so bad that BoA felt compelled to close off the credit, the management at Republic must have had some sense of impending doom. Why did they not plan for paying the workers? Why did they not use the remaining cash on hand to fulfill any obligations for severance pay or other due compensation? It seems that it was a mismanagement of available cash that is the real culprit here.

(3) As of several hours ago, a settlement was reached and a collective loan of $1.75 million will be made by BoA and JP Morgan chase to pay the severance costs of the unemployed workers. Hello! The factory is shut down. No product is being manufactured; no sales are being made. What is the chance that this loan will be repaid?

Once again, government has stepped in and pressured banks to make loans with very little chance of being honored. Sound familiar? Congratulations. You, the taxpayer, have just paid the severance for these unfortunate workers. Another step closer...

Road trip! GM CEO drives himself to Washington

A couple weeks ago, America was in a twitter over the gall the Big 3 automaker executives had in taking private jets from Detroit to Washington D.C. to ask for funds to save their faltering companies.

Yesterday, they were back in D.C. to re-state their cases for taxpayer loans. This time, though, they didn't risk more patronizing at the hands of the media or Congress; this time, they drove.

The fracas raised by the media and Congress was aimed at the populist trends in today's America; the same populist trends that helped make Obama the president-elect. These trends pattern themselves in the vogue disdain for big and successful corporations, resentment of successful individuals, or pretty much any entity that has raised itself to a position of financial prominence.

One columnist talks about "plain, hard-working Americans who will never even see the inside of a private jet" as she lambasts the three CEOs for their crime of flying in such a reliable...er, I mean...private manner.

But, really, let's ignore all the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth for a moment and look at this from a logical perspective. (Can we? Is that possible?)

I think Time scribe Bill Saporito brings such a healthy view to this matter in his article "Why the Big Three Should Fly Corporate Jets."

Consider just what a pain in the ass it is for you to go to fly home to see your relatives. If you are flying commercial nowadays, most airports will advise you to arrive at the airport 60-90 minutes ahead of your scheduled departure time. That's not beam-me-up-Scotty-then-plop-down-and-do-some-work time. That's driving there, mastering airport traffic, finding parking or getting dropped off, checking in, standing in the security line, standing in the security line, more standing in the security line, taking off your shoes, removing your laptop from your bag, taking off your jacket, putting your loose change and/or metallic items in the little composite bowl, getting the random pat-down, gathering your phone/keys/change, putting the laptop back in the bag, putting your shoes back on, leaving security, checking the departures list only to see your flight is 25 minutes late because there was a storm 1500 miles away in Texas, walking the mile-plus to your gate, boarding, boarding, boarding, (did I mention boarding?), taxiing, waiting in the long line of other poor souls for the blessing of the control tower so that you can finally take off and be on your way to your destination.

Time is money. I heard a successful businessman say that he doesn't mow his own lawn anymore. Why? Because then he'd become a $15/hour laborer for the time that he's mowing his lawn.

Are the Big Three CEOs successful businessmen? Well, some would argue no, but they are at least successful to the point that they have worked their ways up to become the heads of multi-billion-dollar companies that have managed, somehow, to stay afloat over the past decades even while being consumed from within by their own labor force and working against uneven trade policies. They have managed to work themselves into these positions where they are paid millions each year for their wisdom, experience and business acumen.

How much is their time worth? How much does it cost GM while Wagoner is taking off his shoes for the TSA to inspect for explosives?

Worse, how much does it cost GM when their head honcho takes 10 hours to drive a car instead of flying (just being in the car, let alone driving himself)?

And all this flak coming from the same Congressmen and women who have been operating their own business at a net loss for the past several decades.

Talk about disgraceful.

(Tax) Holiday anyone?

Consider these statistics:

• If you are an average American, you will work roughly 4 months in 2009 just to meet your federal, state and local taxation obligations for this next year. If you work a 9-to-5 job, it will be noonish before you start putting money in your pocket for today's work.
• The federal government has already guaranteed $8.4 trillion in support to prevent major American companies and institutions (and the economy) from collapsing. That's $8,400,000,000,000. That's over $27,000 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.
• The $8.4 trillion already guaranteed does not include the stimulus package that Obama is rumored to be concocting, along with (now-)fellow Congressmen and women. Estimates put this stimulus package in the neighborhood of $500-700 billion.
• It is likely that the federal deficit will approach $1 trillion in fiscal 2009, nearly doubling its current levels.

Add that all together, and that's a lot of outlay in the next 12-16 months from the government. Prior to this current crisis, the federal debt stood at about $10.4 trillion. Add the current guarantees, the stimulus plan, and 2009's deficit to that, and $20 trillion flies by as if it were standing still. Compare that with the roughly $5.5 trillion mark that the debt stood at when Bush took office. A quadrupling in ten years.

So what does any of this have to do with holidays? Beside making one feel like taking a long and sunny one, free from the cares of the world, it refers to a unique idea put forth by Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX). Mr. Gohmert has proposed a two-month income tax holiday for American families.

Gohmert has noticed, as have many others that, while $350 billion of the original $700 billion economic stimulus package (Troubled Asset Relief Program--TARP) has already been doled out to ailing financial institutions, the original problem is still present.

The TARP legislation was supposed to free up credit and get the stuck wheels of our debt-based economy moving again by taking bad loans off the books of large banks. With no more bad debt weighing down their balance sheets, these banks could feel better about making loans to needy businesses again.

Unfortunately, that has not happened. Credit is not flowing. Banks that have received support have either held onto it to mend their own fiscal situations, or used it to purchase other banks either to position themselves to benefit in an upturn or to hedge against their ailing portfolios.

So here we are with $350 billion left, having already spent the same with little to show for it in terms of an economic quickening. Should we stay the course and send the remaining billions to the financial institutions? It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again, expecting a different result.

Why not try something new? We've pumped $350 billion into these private, for-profit institutions. Why not pump the rest directly back into the economy, via the American taxpayer?

Would you not welcome a two month holiday from paying income taxes? For the average taxpayer, that would equate to about $2000 in their pockets over the January-February timeframe. Could you use $2000, tax free?

What would it cost the government? $350 billion is a drop in the bucket compared with what they've spent already. Plus, it's already been appropriated.

What would the gains be? Legion. Two months without having to pay income taxes would, among other things:

• Alleviate much of the paycheck-to-paycheck burden for those families that are feeling a pinch right now.
• Convince people to open up their wallets for this holiday spending season (if the promise of such a move is communicated quickly enough).
  
• Allow people who are on the borderline to catch up on a few of those delinquent bills and get the collectors off their backs.
• Allow people that are on more solid ground to commit to that big-ticket purchase, or return to dining out, or continue whatever spending habits they have put on hold.
• Allow people to put some money into savings, which will help to steady the teetering banks who desperately need something in the asset column.
• Allow people to put money into the stock market and position themselves for a long-term gain (despite what anti-free marketeers are trying to scare you with, the stock market will return to higher ground, as it always has).

Private business and banks have received well enough of their due when it comes to handouts from the federal government. It's high time Congress put this recovery in the hands of the people.

If you like the idea of a tax holiday for yourself, I encourage you to contact your Congressman or Congresswoman and ask them to take a considerate look at Mr. Gohmert's idea.