Government: September 2008 Archives

The Hound has been living in a recession for most of the past decade. If Republicans in the House want to take you all into one, as their president has warned, let them do it. Hope they and their party are ready to face the consequences in the failure Monday to protect the financial basics of the U.S. economy.

Unless you can't add, the financial markets have been taking a beating the last few months or more because of bad mortages, bad debt and bad management. It's a disaster movie befitting a Hollywood blockbuster. Trust me, feather merchants, this could get ugly. Better yet, don't trust me, trust your president, the Fed chairman and every banker from here to What Cheer, Iowa.

The consequences for Republicans, especially those who voted against the $700 billion bailout package is they get voted out and become the minority party for the next 30 years as they were until the GOP revolution of the 1980s. They can run, but they can't hide.

And, don't give The Hound the baloney about nobody bails out the taxpayers. When the taxpayers hold the power to issue business lines of credit, mortgages, car loans, just to name a few financial uses for lent money, then your opinion counts.

Besides, the government does bail out taxpayers. There's unemployment insurance, food stamps, disaster relief. This wouldn't be the first financial bailout. Remember the Resolution Trust Corp. of the '80s and the savings and loan debacle. The Hound was told several Lake County savings and loans got caught up in that financial nosedive.

Looks like the Republicans are holding pat in their crusade to save Main Street from the ills of Wall Street. Good luck because it's a little late for that. Hold on to your wallets folks, it'll be show time today on the Big Board.

Those Antioch officials sure don't know which way to turn. Faced with a revenue crunch, village trustees are expected to adopt an ordinance next month making homeowners responsible for clearing snow from their sidewalks within 24 hours of a two-inch snowfall. Yea, let's get those senior citizens out there clearing their sidewalks after a heavy snow, the type meterologists dub "heart attack" snow.

Who's advising these yokels? Wait till AARP hears about this law. Some communities recommend clearing sidewalks by residents and even have hold-harmless laws in case anybody slips and breaks a hip. What about those "snowbirds" who take flight to Florida, Arizona or Hawaii at the first sign of freezing precipitation. If you're not home, how can you clean your sidewalk?

Why stop there? Get those shovels and snowblowers out and have residents start sweeping their streets during snowfalls. Won't have to worry about snowplows or salt or snowplow drivers. Just one more way for Antioch to save money.

In the summer, same drill except without the snow. The Hound has been told the Europeans do this all the time. They wash down their sidewalks and streets. And, nobody makes them!

Think about all the tax revenue which will be generated by residents buying all those new shovels, brooms and snowblowers to Antioch's brigade of street sweepers. That's one way to balance the books.

At one time, Chicago was the city Billy Sunday couldn't shut down. It was hog butcher to the world, city of big shoulders as Carl Sandburg said. Right now, it once again is the laughing stock of the National League. For a change, it's not because of the Cubs.

Chicago officials, led by by Mayor Richard M. Daley, want to cap the serving of alcoholic beverages during "clinch" games from the seventh inning at Wrigleyville saloons until the end while the Cubs burn their way to the World Series this October. What are they thinking?

Once again, they're not. These are the same people who have made Chicago a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants. These are the same people who banned foie gras. These are the same people who banned gun ownership. These are the same people who have turned nearly half the city's taxable property into tax-increment districts.

What a bunch of party poopers. What are they afraid of? Chicago has some of the meanest cops --- at least when they're off duty and beating the you-know-what out of barmaids and suburbanites. Put some cops in the area around the ballpark and let them beat up on any drunkards who decide they want to rip off some World Series souvenirs. Let's face it, Chicago cops haven't had a chance for wholesale beatings and the possibility of getting away with it since the 1968 Democratic convention.

Besides, what does this say about the city hosting a world-class event, like the 2016 Olympics? You think Cubs fans can get out of control? City officials obviously haven't met European soccer hooligans.

The Hound needs a bailout to get out from under a car loan and some increasing credit-card debt. Certainly Uncle Sugar can spare a few bucks to help out. What, uncle? You say The Hound isn't a financial institution and isn't covered by the near $1 trillion the Treasury Department is going to be pumping into Wall Street to save a sinking system. Boo-hoo.

Thomas Jefferson warned of this financial debacle under a central banking system when the nation was formed. That was one of the constitutional arguments between John Adams and Jefferson. If you don't remember, catch HBO's "John Adams" again.

But this is what we're left with and one plays 'em as they lay, and that includes devalued
mortgage-related assets, even those held by foreign banks doing business here. So how did we get to this point, within several days of the entire financial house of cards coming down? Oh, there's plenty of blame to pass around.

There was deregulation of the financial industry, which kept on coming up with new casino games to play, as one wag pointed out. Just what is a credit derivative swap? Is it like keno?

A lot of mortgages at variable interest rates were given to borrowers who were not qualified. The Federal Reserve held down interest rates. Consumers with existing mortgages were encouraged to borrow more. Mortgages were consolidated into securities. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

And where's Gordon Gekko when you really need him? Or Charles Keating. We need a villain here and The Hound is waiting for someone to parade one out. The sooner, the better.

Forget that fence the feds are building along the Mexican border from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas. After seeing what Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran had to say about the region's immigration policy, let's build one right here along Lake-Cook Road. Curran, who just spent some time in the Lake County jail, says nearly a quarter of the inmates there are illegal aliens or aliens of questionable status.

And, he blames Chicago and Illinois authorities for letting illegal alien criminals stay in the U.S. even after they do the time for their crimes. Curran says he's had enough --- as have right-thinking people --- and wants to deport any and all illegals who happen to be patrons of the Lake County hoosegow. So far, he's convinced immigration agents to place 75 on a hold status for deportation. The overwhelmng majority --- 105 of the jail's 137 foreign-born inmates --- are from Mexico.

Wonder if Curran has discussed this issue with tough-talking Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.?

At least this may touch off the long-awaited debate over illegal immigration some have been waiting for in this presidential election year. So far, both John McCain, who hails from Arizona, and Barack Obama, who hails from the "sanctuary" city of Chicago, have dance arm's length on the topic. They need to let voters know where they stand.

In the meantime, get the post-hole diggers ready.

Usually, gubernatorial or legislative proclamations are reserved for special occasions. The Hound isn't sure if pitching a no-hitter is one of those times. But Gov. Rod "Cuckoo" Blagojevich thinks so.

That's why on Tuesday he proclaimed Carlos Zambrano Day in Illinois. Those downstaters who are St. Louis Cardinals' fans might recall the Z-Man threw a no-hit game Sunday against the Houston Astros at Milwaukee's Miller Field. That proclamation must grate those folks in Belleville. The Hound believes if you get south of Kankakee the rest of Illinois might be a red state for Cardinal red.

OK, so Zambrano broke a 36-year dry spell of no-hitters for the Cubs. It is a milestone and it was the first neutral-site no-hitter in history. But does it deserve a gubernatorial "atta boy"? Did Milt Pappas get a proclamation from Republican Gov. Richard Ogilvie back in September 1972 when he threw his no-no? No, no. Ogilvie actually was running the state back in the day.

What is it with these pols who will stoop to this kind of pandering? Some Democrats might wish Sen. Barack Obama would have pandered to Cub Nation.

If the Cubs make the post-season, The Hound suggests Obama stay close to Cellular Field. It might be embarassing to get booed in your hometown and find that on the highlight reel of the evening news.