At the Detroit Economic Club today, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tried to claim the auto bailout is a success.

It certainly doesn’t seem like a success for the taxpayers. GM stock is about $30 today, and unless it gets up to $54, the taxpayers lose money on the deal. Why would it go up? You want to fight high gas prices by buying a Volt? How does $41 grand a pop sound? And still GM loses money on every one it sells even at that price. Not only that but we are seeing that government subsides for electric cars is good tax money wasted in any case.

It doesn’t get any better. Worldwide, U.S. cars aren’t selling worth beans and domestically, GM is lagging because people who hate the bailouts won’t support it with their car-buying dollars any more than they did with their votes last year when they kicked out every incumbent they could find who’d been for it. And GM still has all its old problems, too, like those big fat union pension obligations. Sadly, nothing that caused GM’s financial trouble has been fixed.

But the spin continues.

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David Kreutzer of Heritage has a great item up on The Foundry, on WaPo’s remarkable (it was WaPo!) exposé of the miracle Chinese bullet trains actually leaving a trail of, well, leaving fiscal and other wreckage in their wake. He concludes, “Well, the Chinese finally have a green-energy idea worth stealing: arrest government officials who foist overpriced, underperforming, debt-ballooning, money-losing projects on taxpayers.”

In case you missed the WaPo piece, the man in charge of China’s model train set:

“is ruined, and his high-speed rail project is in trouble. … his ministry has run up $271 billion in debt — roughly five times the level that bankrupted General Motors. But ticket sales can’t cover debt service that will total $27.7 billion in 2011 alone. Safety concerns also are cropping up.

Faced with a financial and public relations disaster, China put the brakes on Liu’s program. On April 13, the government cut bullet-train speeds 30 mph to improve safety, energy efficiency and affordability. The Railway Ministry’s tangled finances are being audited. Construction plans, too, are being reviewed.

Liu’s legacy, in short, is a system that could drain China’s economic resources for years. So much for the grand project that Thomas Friedman of the New York Times likened to a “moon shot” and that President Obama held up as a model for the United States.”

In short, it’s an awful lot like Spain’s wind- and solar program President Obama also longs to impose here.

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I just read something that unleashed my inner teenager, because I want to respond with a combination of OMG, LMAO, and WTF.

Donald Berwick, the person appointed by Obama to be in charge of Medicare, has a column in the Wall Street Journal that makes a very good observation about how relative prices are falling for products bought and sold in the free market. But he then draws exactly the wrong conclusion by asserting that further crippling market forces for healthcare will yield similar cost savings for programs such as Medicare.

Here’s the relevant passage from his Wall Street Journal column.

The right way is to help bring costs down by making care better and improving our health-care system. Improving quality while reducing costs is a strategy that’s had major success in other fields. Computers, cars, TVs and telephones today do more than they ever have, and the cost of these products has consistently dropped. The companies that make computers and microwaves didn’t get there by cutting what they offer: They achieved success by making their products better and more efficient. …Under President Obama’s framework, we will hold down Medicare cost growth, improve the quality of care for seniors, and save an additional $340 billion for taxpayers in the next decade.

I have no idea whether Berwick realizes that he has inverted reality, so I can’t decide whether he is cynically dishonest or hopelessly clueless. All I can say with certainty is that what he wrote is sort of like asserting “gravity causes things to fall, so therefore this rock will rise when I let go of it.”

To explain, let’s start by looking at why relative prices are falling for computers, cars, TVs and telephones. This isn’t because the companies that make these products are motivated by selflessness. Like all producers, they would love to charge high prices and get enormous profits. But because they must compete for consumers who are very careful about getting the most value for their money, the only way companies can earn profits is to be more and more efficient so they can charge low prices.

So why isn’t this happening in health care?

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Who wants the government to tell our kids what they should eat?  Not me.  Regrettably, since The First Lady has no purpose other than pet causes, government is needlessly perpetuating its involvement in an area that lies outside its purview.

Michelle Obama’s cause?  Childhood obesity.  It’s a serious issue, to be sure.  So is obesity in general in this country.  Yet against all rules of logic, last year Congress passed the feel-good-sounding Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.  All this bill actually does is extend the federal Child Nutrition standards that have been around for decades – the same standards that may partially be a cause for childhood obesity (as the White House press release reminds us how many children’s meals are taken at school).

The solution, of course, does not lie with government, but with common sense. The government “solution” is to ramble on about food pyramids and dietary guidelines.

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Today, in 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France.

(Happy Birthday Holly!)

Ameren provides energy to millions of citizens in Illinois and Missouri. Given its past dealings with union official and labor activist Don Giljum, the company released an official statement earlier this week in response to videos on BigGovernment.com in which Giljum can be seen and heard telling students about organized labor’s tactics of sabotage, fear and intimidation.

Here’s a typical example, in which Giljum describes how to make labor negotiations “personal”–and note that at several points, his co-lecturer, Judy Ancel, laughs or interjects with approval:

Giljum: …we had to make him [the CEO] feel the concern and the anxiety that he was gonna have to live with. So we, you know, made all kinds of overtones about sabotaging the equipment, OK? We downloaded a lot of articles off of the Internet and laid them around the plant about, [Ancel: laughs] you know, this equipment being sabotaged and that equipment. That’s all they were–nobody was doing anything.

Ancel: You never said anything, did you?

Giljum: No, no. We just downloaded the articles and laid them out there, OK, for people to read. They–”Hey, look at this article I found,” you know. It wasn’t us, it was members that would do that. We had a group of guys that would always end up at the same shopping center, at the same church, as the CEO would on Sundays and that, in the evenings, OK? Wouldn’t say nothing, just kind of bumped into the guy and said, “Hey, how you doing,” that’s it. “How’s negotiations going? Heard they’re not going too well,” and then walk off, OK. [It] got to a point where, you know, the guy became very paranoid, very concerned, when he would walk out into the plant he would wear a flak jacket [Ancel: laughs], OK, and a helmet with a face guard on it, because he was afraid of being shot at…

In the original class footage, Giljum goes on to state that no one had actually threatened the CEO verbally (and doesn’t specify which company was the target), but indicates that he was clearly happy to have gained bargaining power through such methods. He advises students to do likewise, and “get a few guys to do a few things.” Ancel thanks him for his contribution without contesting his advice.

Here is the statement from Ameren.

We are appalled by the comments of the former business manager of a union representing our workers and employees of other companies and by the actions he describes in his lecture. If we ever had any evidence of sabotage at any of our facilities, we would have immediately notified law enforcement officials. We do not know of any such sabotage but would immediately turn over to law enforcement anyone who threatens our operations in any way. We have a policy of protecting anyone reporting information about sabotage or other illegal actions and encourage anyone to come forward with information about this. We have full confidence in our employees and have in place extensive security training programs and procedures aimed at protecting our facilities, our employees and the public.

At issue, how to bring the federal budget into balance, reform Medicare and still provide a medical safety net to America’s seniors. Hovering over the topic: the 2012 election.

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan and President Barack Obama obviously have dramatically opposing views on budgetary matters.

Ryan explains his plan at a town hall meeting this week, and faces a few of his critics who bring OFA, MoveOn and SEIU talking points with them to the meeting.

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Sources have told the Chicago Tribune that Google’s Eric Schmidt was seen dining with Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign manager Jim Messina at Café Spiaggia in Chicago last week providing further evidence of Google incestuous relationship with the Administration.

Democratic sources told the Tribune that the dinner was “part of the Obama team wooing and coordinating with the tech world.”  In the case of Google, we are confident it was more about coordinating than wooing.

Google and the president are well beyond the wooing stage of a relationship. Schmidt has been named a potential nominee to fill the vacated Secretary of Commerce position.  Such a nomination would cement Google’s influence over the Administration – a relationship that has put the company in a position to steer policy and taxpayer funded contracts back into the pockets of Google executives who have funded the president since his initial foray into the presidential arena in 2007.

In 2008, Politico detailed the relationship between the newly elected president and the company.  “’ From the staff attorney all the way up the line, everybody now knows that Google is close to Obama,’” Politico reported. “And that could subtly affect the policy playing field in Google’s favor.”  Subtly was an understatement.

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The reason for this week’s video is simple; President Obama seems more concerned with endearing himself to the people of all countries, except for his own. Most recently, we’ve seen the stuffed suit pandering to the people of Brazil. The truth is that we don’t need Brazil’s oil and we should be drilling at home, creating jobs in the process. Since the president seems so intent on pandering to them however, I really think that he should consider running for president of Brazil. Many celebrities agree (as you’ll see in the video)… so you know I’m right.

Note: Yes www.BarackforBrazil.com is an actual website and yes, you should officially submit your own endorsement there. Let’im know you love’im!

Since late 2006, when Barack Obama put people “on notice” about making fun of his big ears, the majority of Republicans in Congress and the Senate have become conditioned to jump when the President says, “boo”! And when, by chance, one of them works up the courage to ask a question about something like Obama’s religion – either because of the affinity he shows to Muslims or because he claims to be Christian but doesn’t go to church – they quickly fall to silence when an Obama spokesman (or a member of the MSM) reminds them that Obama is a very spiritual man who believes faith is a private matter.

To put it plainly, Republicans on Capital Hill have succumbed to an inside-the-beltway political correctness that neuters serious opposition to Obama’s person or his politics. Although they could be turning the tables on Obama and forcing him play defense once in a while, they satisfy themselves with appearing genteel and when Obama says, “jump”, they just ask “how high”?

Of course it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, it shouldn’t be this way. And we know this is so because Donald Trump, an outside-the-beltway television celebrity and real estate mogul, laughed when Obama said, “boo”, and afterwards we all saw the President jump for a change.

Perhaps the biggest lesson to be gleaned from the release of Obama’s birth records is that if you dig in and don’t back down, you just might beat the President at his own game.

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The National Right To Work Committee and many other liberty based organizations, BigGovernment.com, legislators like Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Jim DeMint; and an increasing number of news organizations and commentators are exposing and even demanding that Obama Administration pullback its usurpation of state and individual rights.

One example of fighting back: Employees at the Boeing plant in South Carolina who are or will be injured by the Obama Administration’s recent actions have even been offered free legal help by the National Right To Work Legal Defense Fund to fight the NLRB actions. NRTW President Mark Mix, “All current or prospective Boeing employees who could lose their jobs may request free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys by calling 1-800-336-3600.”

In his “‘Change’ via executive power grab” NY Post article, Michael A. Walsh gives a quick rundown of Obama’s overreach:

Having lost the House of Representatives in the last election, the Obama administration is now imposing “fundamental change” via executive order, regulatory fiat and political pressure. Talk about the unitary executive.

The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against a private employer, Boeing, for having the capitalist gall to want to move 30 percent of its Dreamliner jumbo-jet production from highly unionized Washington State to right-to-work South Carolina.

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Retail giant Walmart is planning to open its first stores in New York City and Washington, D.C.

That’s got local politicians and activists up in arms.

“Walmart, keep your plantation because there are no more slaves,” says New York City Councilman Charles Barron.

Walmart will make criminals of our children, argues Washington D.C. commissioner Brenda Speaks, because “kids are kids” so they’ll shoplift and then “security will grab them.”

If we’re tricked into welcoming Walmart through our city gates ”wrapped up in a shiny package,” explains New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, it will take over and destroy us.

So what’s getting anti-Walmart activists so riled up?

The answer: cheap groceries.

Written and produced by Jim Epstein, with help from Joshua Swain. Narrated by Nick Gillespie.

Approximately 7.30 minutes.

Click here for past Reason coverage of Walmart and its enemies.

Public schools continue to be a battleground in the culture war, as the education establishment – composed primarily of leftists bent on political correctness – gains more ground.

This strain treats Christianity and its holidays as a pariah, while embracing Muslim holidays.

The Hillsboro, Oregon school board just held a vote on what to call the time off school around Christmas and New Years.  It had traditionally been called “Christmas Break.”  But new calendars, produced by school staff, changed it to “Winter Break.”  The school board voted 4-3 to call it “Christmas Break.”  From OregonLive.com:

“[School board member] Janeen Sollman said winter break ‘respects everyone in the community. This isn’t about religion, it boils down to respect.’

“Later, Hillsboro Education Association president Kathy Newman sided with Sollman and reminded the school board that equity is among its goals and ‘the district calendar should reflect that.’”

Further up the Pacific coast, a high school sophomore explained to a local radio station that the term “Easter eggs” could no longer be used because the administration preferred “spring spheres.”

Is this a joke?  Is America being Punk’d?

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the royal wedding, the disappointing GDP numbers, higher unemployment and Ben Bernanke.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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The Fed Will Make Sure Obama Wins in 2012: Strategist
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There was a time when Communism was anathema to the U.S. labor movement. However, that ship has long since sailed. In fact, the tide shifted significantly in 1995 when John Sweeney, Richard Trumka and Linda Chavez-Thompson ousted Lane Kirkland and took over the AFL-CIO.

Following their ascension to the leadership of America’s only (until 2005) federation of unions, the AFL-CIO dropped its ban of Communist Party members in 1997. Since that time, Marxism has regained a strong foothold in the American labor movement that really hadn’t been seen since the 1930s. And, as every year passes, the Marxist (and Communist) influence on the labor movement becomes more and more evident.

For example, according to the Texas Communist Party USA’s website:

Real Marxists emphasize the tremendous importance of the union movement, even if some so-called ‘radicals’ seek to discredit it. The CPUSA requires its members to join the union in their workplace, if there is one. Interested activists who cannot join a union can still become part of the union movement through the AFL-CIO’s Working America. No communist ever scabs. In the most recent great union upsurge in America (1935-1947) Communists played an outstanding role.

While many rank and file union members would not view themselves as Socialists, Communists, or even Marxists, the fact is, many of the unions’ leaders throughout the country have wholly embraced Marxist ideology and have taken unions, as a whole, in that direction. (more…)

The man accused of initiating the drug buy that led to the 2010 death of a Chandler, Ariz., police officer made a plea bargain with federal prosecutors four months earlier to avoid a long prison term, and worked as an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration at some time prior to the deal erupting in gunfire.

But Chandler police did not know John H. Webber had been working with federal officials when they ran a “reverse sting” targeting a quarter-million dollars that Webber and his cohorts agreed to pay for 500 pounds of marijuana supplied by undercover officers. Had the deal gone down as planned, the police would have kept the money under Arizona’s forfeiture law.

After the marijuana was delivered, one of the suspects opened fire with an AK-74 rifle, mortally wounding Detective Carlos Ledesma, according to police reports. Two other undercover detectives were shot, and two suspects were killed during the shootout on West Maldonado Drive in south Phoenix, about 16 miles from the Chandler border.

Maricopa County prosecutors said in court motions related to the ongoing murder case that Webber had worked as an informant for the DEA. However, the agency had stopped using him by the time of the shootout, and he had no authority to initiate the drug deal that led to Ledesma’s death, prosecutors argue.

The Goldwater Institute detailed the events that led to the shooting, and the extensive use of reverse stings by Chandler police, in a report published in March. The agency raised about $3.2 million through forfeitures in the year prior to Ledesma’s death, more than $2.7 million of that from reverse stings, according to city and court records.

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