The State of Tennessee could buy GM with 25% of its stimulus check

A few numbers and comparisons that might help folks adjust to the new realities.

Tennessee, with 6 million people, is now projected to receive $4.5 BILLION as its share of the Stimulus Package. Rep. Stacey Campfield has posted the latest details online. That’s $750 for every man woman and child in Tennessee. Personally, since I’m married with six children still living at home, I’d rather have a check for $6,000!

As of noon today, General Motors shares are off 17% and trading at $1.82 per share. The total market capitalization for GM stands today at $1.1 billion.

The state of Tennessee could take 25% of its Stimulus package and BUY General Motors.

The Saturn Plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee cost $3.5 billion to build. It opened in 1990.

Wrap your heads around those numbers.

Maybe the State of Tennessee SHOULD buy GM. We could then either lease or sell the facility to Volkswagen and keep the workforce in Spring Hill on the job. The state might even make a dime or two on the transaction.

Don’t Undertake Then Abandon Me

The stimulus bill, for all its unworthiness, is set to pass today.

Congratulations, President Obama. You now own this economy. This is not because the current mess is your fault. It certainly is not. Like Bush, you inherited a weakening economy. Your responsibility stems from the basic tort principle of undertaking rescue. Once you begin to rescue an individual in distress, you must continue with your efforts because the presence of your rescue efforts would dissuade otherwise potential rescuers.  You can’t swim half way out to the drowning boy, get tired, and return to shore.

This is the way Obama has chosen to go about it. There were many other ways to address our economic problems, but they have all been dismissed.

The American economy was the Bush economy, just like the economic slow down prior to 9/11 was the Clinton economy. But now we have been sold, through our republican form of government, on a plan that will stimulate the economy and “create or save 3 or 4 million jobs”.  The rescue has begun. It was designed, planned and prioritized by Obama and his party. Let there be no mistake about that. The buck has stopped and is no dancing gleefully on the president’s desk.

Now that we are here, let’s discuss what we have got.

New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg had this to say about the final bill

“No, I don’t think anyone will have the chance to [read the entire bill],” Lautenberg told CNSNews.com.

His colleagues agreed.  The reason no one will have a chance to read it? Well, they’re in a rush. Keep in mind the “rush to war” in 2002, which had Democrats tied up in an unseemly array of knots, ended up taking about 13 months. It seems instead the imminent need to vote at 9:00 a.m. stems from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has a date in Rome.

Ah, priorities and the people’s business. At least I can use them in the same sentence without fear of spontaneous combustion.

In addition to the transparency embarrasment that is transparency.gov recovery.gov, the Democrats have broken a previous promise to allow 48 hours for legislators and the public to review the final bill before the vote

Actually — as of 5:15 pm (yesterday), the Democrats had broken their word. The stimulus bill — which we still haven’t seen — will be released late tonight and will be brought up on the House floor at 9 am tomorrow.

The following statement was released by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer at 4:57 p.m.:

“The House is scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow and is expected to proceed directly to consideration of the American Recovery and Reinvestment conference report. The conference report text will be filed this evening, giving members enough time to review the conference report before voting on it tomorrow afternoon.”

It’s only 1,071 pages. What is some light reading overnight before a vote on the largest social spending bill in the history of the Republic?  And while I’m thinking about it, can I register transparency.gov? It seems clear by now that the administration and Democrat representatives won’t be needing it.

Besides, the worst of it is that the bill won’t really be doing anything, anyway.  Therein lies the rub – not only is it as liberal and porkish as anything we have seen in a long, long time, it is also going to be ineffectual, even by Keynesian standards.

Mr. Obama this is now your economy. Enjoy it, tremendously.

Nathan Moore is a criminal defense attorney practicing in Nashville, Tennessee, and is co-author of the political and current events blog MooreThoughts.com.