Here is a great reason to keep Midknight Review in your bookmark listing for daily reference. Every once in a while, we are first to report something. Here is a case in point.In the spring of this year (2010), the new head of GM participated in a televised commercial announcing that his company had paid back the Government loan of more than 5 billion dollars and had paid back this loan 5 years early.
This editor (that would be me, J Smithson), immediately went ballistic.
The implication of this televised ad campaign was that GM was financially healthy beyond expectations!! The implication was that GM, itself, had paid the money out of company profits. The implication was that Obama's hostile takeover of GM -- including the destruction of long term retirement investment funding belonging to teacher and police unions -- had been wildly successful. The implication was that the Obama takeover of GM was not for the purpose of rescuing the legacy programs of the auto union(s) related to GM -- as many people in the know had claimed.
We was the first to conclude this ad
campaign to be a lie, drawing that conclusion within seconds -- "seconds" I say -- of the first televised announcement. You see, this editor knew that TARP was a scam. We were the first blog to report the scam in March of 2009 after seeing an inspector general's chart (pictured left and we do mean Left) showing 3 trillion with a "t" having been run click through the $700 billion with a "b" TARP allocation; this was March of 2009. click on chart to enlargeThe latest totals regarding the TARP slush fund reveals nearly 24 trillion with a "t" having been run through the TARP - a circumstance reported by CBS News, among other media sources. While it is not clear that this activity was illegal, it is certainly obvious this was not the purpose of TARP - to allow for trillions and trillions to pass through a legislative path without any accounting, without any reporting. In March of 2009, the chart above, from the Special Inspector General (SIG) over TARP , was published in Midknight Review. The chart documents both the intended use of TARP and the 3 trillion (at that time) that had passed through the program.
Understand that when you have a program of this size, 24 trillion and counting, the opportunity for fraud is huge, the accounting of such funds , impossible. Taking 5.4 billion out of a 24 trillion dollar slush fund pencil out to such a minor percentage (a fraction of one percent) as to be impossible to discover -- unless, of course, you create a televised announcement of the fraudulent transaction !!
And I believe that this is exactly what happened with the GM announcement. Understand that GM had not made a dime of profit for the three years prior to the 1st quarter 2010 GM announcement. Understand that just weeks before the announced 5.4 billion dollar payback, GM reported more than 4 billion in lost revenues the last quarter of 2009.
Soooooo, where did the 5.4 billion dollars come from? Two sources came to mind: one, from Fannie/Freddie or, two, from TARP. There is no accounting of funds with regard to the two federalized mortgage companies; there is no accounting of TARP funds. On Christmas eve of 2009, the Democrat Congress gave Obama unfettered access to Fannie/Freddie funds, making huge sums of money available to Obama without any reporting or accounting. Ditto for the TARP funds. By law, only one man was put in charge of TARP. By law he (Henry Paulson - another Democrat ) did not have to report to anyone in Congress nor was there any demand for full transparency or accounting. . . . . . . and absolutely no accounting has occurred. In fact, Michele Bachmann complained (back in early 2009) of the lack of reporting and the potential for fraud with regard to TARP.
Point of post: weeks ago, Darrell Issa told Rush Limbaugh that this Administration was one of the more corrupt of all time. That is our opinion, as well and it has been our opinion for nearly two years. That is the implication of this post. Our " end notes" give the reader the information necessarily for drawing her own conclusions.
Understand that Obama has more re-election concerns than his popularity, he has Darrell Issa.
Midknight Review does not believe that Obama is a crook for personal gain. Not at all. In fact, we believe that he is a morally upright fellow when it comes to the management of his personal affairs. But this business of the "ends justify the means" is a problem. Perhaps Obama believed he was doing the right thing in rescuing the auto unions (make note of our graciousness on this point) . Whether or not that is the case, it is clear to this editor that fraud has taken place.
Come election day, 2012, we may see these forces working against Obama:
1. Out of control fuel costs, setting the recovery back two years. We all know what happens when crude prices get to $140 a barrel or $4.30 per gallon at the pump.
2. A High Court decision finding the mandate requirement of ObamaCare unconstitutional -- proving the critics correct.
3. A Congressional investigation concluding a fraud of historic proportions within the Obama/Democrat administration of federal funds.
Any one of the three considerations listed above have the potential of taking down Obama's hopes for a second term.
End Notes:
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/559843/201101131842/Taxpayers-Get-Bill-For-GM-Bailout.htm
we have been lied to straight up. . . . . . about GM.
http://www.karldirect.com/blog/general-motors-announces-repayment-government-loans
https://mikevontz.com/GM_IPO_Securities_Fraud_.html
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/24/report-gop-argues-gm-loan-payoff-just-a-tarp-money-shuffle/
Excerpts:
While General Motors is busy making marketing hay from its early payoff of $5.8 billion in loans, Senator Chuck Grassley and House Representative Darrell Issa aren't buying it. "It looks like GM merely used one source of TARP funds to repay another," said Grassley of General Motors financial moves. Grassley has asked for justification of the creative money-shuffling from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Meanwhile, Representative Issa is looking at the new fuel economy standards that went into effect last month. Documents about the negotiations leading up to the 35.5 mpg standard have been requested from GM, Ford and Chrysler, as well as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, Volkswagen and BMW. Issa contends that the standard only passed because GM and Chrysler were put in a hammerlock and forced to agree in exchange for bailouts.
Editor's notes: four days after the televised announcement of the payback, this article is telling us that Issa and Grassley did not buy the claim. Just how stupid does Obama/Whitacer think those close to the facts are? Do they actually think the disbelieving mind cannot see through this ridiculous story. Look, if I, the editor of this blog, can figure this out. Darrell Issa can.
http://cei.org/sites/default/files/FTC%20Complaint%20about%20GM%20Bailout%20Ads.pdf
Excerpts from the complaint:
May 4, 2010 This formal complaint was filed by Darrell Issa
Dear Sir/Madam:
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) hereby requests that the FTC investigate a television advertising campaign by General Motors Company (GM) entitled "GM Repaid Government Loan Ahead of Schedule.” In its ad, GM’s Chairman and CEO, Ed Whitacre, declares that “we have repaid our government loan in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule.”
That claim gives the false impression that GM has used its own funds to pay back all the bailout money that it received from the federal government. In fact, GM has only repaid a fraction of those funds—barely ten percent. Moreover, GM apparently repaid its loan by using other federal funds.
GM’s television ad states, in full, the following:
“I’m Ed Whitacre from General Motors. A lot of Americans didn’t agree with giving GM a second chance. Quite frankly, I can respect that. We want to make this a company all Americans can be proud of again. That’s why I’m here to announce we have repaid our government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. But there’s still more to do. Our goal is to exceed every expectation you’ve set for us. We’re putting people back to work: designing, building and selling the best cars and trucks in the world, with our 100,000 mile, 5-year Powertrain Warranty to guarantee the quality and the unmatched live-saving technology of OnStar, to help keep you safe. From new energy solutions to the designs of tomorrow, we invite you to take a look at the new GM.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/general-motors-commercial-complaint-bailout-ad-filed-ftc/story?id=10554206 Midknight Review notes that ABC confirms the complaint [re:fraudulent but fails to do its own investigation into the accusation. In fact, no news agency investigated this story including Fox News.
The Left leaning Politico reviews pending GOP investigations: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41506.html
CBS reports the possibility of 23 trillion being run through TARP. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/20/cbsnews_investigates/main5175781.shtml
http://www.impeachobamacampaign.com/gop-will-investigate-obama-crimes-after-midterms/
Exerpts:
Politico has a revealing new story that, if Republicans retake Congress after the midterm elections, they intend to investigate a wide variety of Obama’s misdeeds, some of them grounds for impeachment. The story lists a few of the cases under investigation:
Jobgate. The most serious allegations on the list were raised by two Democrats: Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff. Both have said the Obama administration offered them jobs or other incentives to drop out of hotly contested U.S. Senate races in Pennsylvania and Colorado, respectively. The White House believed their primary opponents stood a better chance of winning, so they attempted to bribe these two, according to the candidates. If the allegations are true, they likely meet the definition of “impeachable offenses.” Former President Bill Clinton has contradicted the Obama administration’s story on the Sestak offer already. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, has responded to the denials with calls for further investigation.
Bailouts. Republicans want to look into Obama’s endless bailouts. Investigators should pay close attention to the administration’s tactics in taking over General Motors on behalf of Big Labor, a move certainly unconstitutional, as his Chicago-style, backdoor arm-twisting could easily have crossed the line. Despite his promises to have the most transparent administration in history, much of Obama’s dealings remain hidden. As Obama said on the campaign trail, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
The New Black Panthers Case. Politico calls this scandal “microscopic”; readers outside the Beltway know it is anything but. It is perhaps the most explosive issue facing the Obama administration. In addition to letting off a pair of radical activists who threatened Republican voters with clubs, there is the broader allegation raised by J. Christian Adams that Barack Obama and Eric Holder have decided to drop all cases against minorities. That kind of blanket discrimination makes a mockery of the idea of “blind justice” and undermines one of the key pillars of our government.
ACORN. Despite its defunding, ACORN continues its dubious voter registration schemes under another name. In addition to presidential funding, the committee should investigate ACORN’s role in the Obama ’08 campaign to determine the extent of coordination the president had with this often-indicted organization.
The article lists a few other, in some cases local scandals. May I suggest a few more to Rep. Issa, et. al.?
Government Propaganda. Darrell Issa has led the way on the Obama administration’s funding of covert propaganda. His committee drafted a 36-page report of Obama’s potential crimes, many of which your tax dollars finance. He made a compelling case at least some of these cross the line into illegality. Now, let him prosecute it.
Invasion of Privacy. The Fourth Amendment forbids the government from searching Americans without a warrant. However, a recent court case has found the government does not need a warrant to attach a GPS to your car while it is parked in your driveway. Forbes has reported full-body-scanning vans now prowl the streets, as well. Does the administration obtain a warrant to scan (and thus see naked) everyone monitored? If not, does it retain the images of people not covered by warrant? Does it act on information it finds without a warrant?
http://bailoutsleuth.com/news/2010/10/sigtarp-report-questions-transparency-of-treasury-department/
Excerpts:
The latest report from the Special Inspector General for TARP questions the level of transparency the Treasury Department has offered in the bailout program and says the department may have used misleading figures when it released details about Amercian International Group Inc.'s repayment plan.
The estimate of a $5 billion loss to TARP on the AIG investment, contained in Treasury's recent two-year retrospective on the program, is a "dramatic shift" from an estimate just six months ago that taxpayers would take a $45 million hit on the deal, wrote Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general.
"Without correction, this may render Treasury vulnerable to the charge that it is changing its methodology without adequate disclosure in order to create a more favorable impression of AIG's and TARP's projected losses," Barofsky wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner dated Oct. 13.
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