Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Obama Shoots Crony Capitalism Craps

The FCC’s bungling of the Lightsquared fiasco is exhibit A of what can happen when government is so fat and sloppy and braindead that one flabby arm doesn’t know what the other one is doing. They can't even get the crony crapitalist corruption right.

For those who haven’t been following it, the FCC greenlighted Lightsquared’s wireless broadband plan, which ended up stepping on the GPS signals that are fundamental to orderly operation of our society, to include airline navigation.

How did this happen?
How one U.S. government agency could approve a business plan that jeopardizes a public utility other government entities consider vital to safety and security, not to mention the economy, is the key question that has lurked behind the battle between LightSquared and the GPS industry since it ignited in earnest a year ago. (Aviation Week)
Here’s how!
The answer emerging from countless legal filings and Congressional hearings is that the government itself is the villain of the piece, the absence of collaboration between agencies allowing one to act without consulting the others. In bypassing its normal processes to expedite approval of LightSquared’s plan to use its mobile satellite service frequencies for a terrestrial broadband wireless network, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) left its fellow Defense and Transportation Departments, Homeland Security and others, scrambling to protect GPS signals on which they now depend. (Aviation Week)
And why did the FCC move so quickly and stupidly?
Critics were quick to point out close personal and political links between President Barack Obama, FCC chairman Julian Genachowski and hedge-fund manager Philip Falcone, LightSquared’s majority owner. (Aviation Week)


As another Obama scandal unfolds, the FCC is running from Lightsquared like a scalded dog and the company's CEO has resigned in disgrace.  Meanwhile, another Obama-Approved Solar company is going under, and GM's sales of Obama's Chevy Dolt are flatter than a pancake, causing layoffs:
General Motors Co. announced the temporary suspension of Chevrolet Volt production and the layoffs of 1300 employees, as the company is cutting Volt manufacturing to meet lower-than-expected demand for the electric cars.

The car company had hoped to sell 45,000 Chevy Volts in America this year, according to the Detrot News, but has only sold about 1,626 over the first two months of 2012. (Examiner)
Government Motors expected to sell 45,000 battery-powered crapboxes?  What are they smoking?

This on top of Obama shutting down drilling, closing over 100 coal-fired power plants, harassing the fossil fuels industry while flushing taxpayer money down the green energy toilet...  Add in devaluation of the dollar, and we have an energy crisis brewing, as the price for driving our cars and powering our homes keep climbing.  All thanks to government-induced scarcity.

Had enough of Obama's venture socialism yet?

US Government Moves to Protect GPS
No Practical Way to Fix Lightsquared GPS Problem

36 comments:

Ducky's here said...

Obmmer kissed himself some hedge fund butt? Color me shocked.

Luckily President Romney would never do that.

We ae so far down the rabbit hole.

Anonymous said...

"Had enough of Obama's venture socialism yet?"

Not yet. I was hoping to come up with a "green business" plan and submit it to his administration, thereby garnering for myself a good couple hundred million.

I mean, no, this green business plan is destined to fail, (and anyone with common sense will see that), but it's all about intention and not results, isn't it?

So I myself am gunning for some of that "Obama Cash", since he likes to throw it away so quickly.

I'd finally be able to afford that Journey Into Mystery #83 I've been coveting.

Unknown said...

The damage done to this nation by government trying to play capitalist will take years, if not decades to undo.
Govern, Feds, let us take care of capitalism.

Always On Watch said...

Obama's Chevy Dolt

Good one, Silverfiddle!

Always On Watch said...

Duck
We ae [sic] so far down the rabbit hole.

No doubt, but you and I differ as to the reason.

Always On Watch said...

The Obama administration has rushed into support greenie products that aren't worth a crap. You can't polish a turd, and consumers and investors are rejecting Obama's greenie crap.

Jim at Conservatives on Fire said...

Did you hear about TLSA the luxury electric car maker that Obama invested $500 billion in so they could build a factory in Finland. It turns out that if the $40,000 battery isn't charged all the time it will turn into an electric brick. It will never function again.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/02/22/teslas-electric-brick-problem/

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

The Democrat's INVENTED crony capitalism. They were/are called " minority set-asides.

Anonymous said...

It's funny, really.

You would think that since the Democrats and the liberals and progressives all fancy themselves as such intellectual and intelligent giants, that they would realize their hair-brained ideas are nonsense, and simply save our money.

I thought they were supposed to be so educated as to intellectually dwarf the rest of us, meaning, those of us who cling to our religion and our guns.

Like I said, funny.

Bunkerville said...

Another 4 years of Obama and there will be no cars, no gas, after all, we are all suppose to walk. They have not yet figured out that there is a vast middle america located between two Oceans.

Anonymous said...

Bunker,

The leftists try to ignore that 'middle America' because those people usually are red states. The only America they care about are: educated and enlightened New England, most of California, the granola-eaters of the Northwest, and of course, all urban areas with high populations of minorities.

Middle America? Poo-poo on those rednecks.

Anonymous said...

Well, I've been thinking about tis all day, so here goes:

Are they any other folks who want to put together a "green business plan" that we know will fail, but will still get us some of that Obama Cash?

I was thinking maybe we could come up with a plan to recycle Starbuck's coffee cups into clean energy. It's all about protecting Mother Earth, right?

Shoot me a response if interested. Let's go get us some Obama Cash!

*Results not needed. Intention is all that matters. Hail Gaia!

Silverfiddle said...

The scary thing is, Twoguys, you're not far from the truth.

The one part you're forgetting is generous campaign contributions to the reelection of the messiah in chief.

Anonymous said...

Wait. You mean I have to give him money, first?

Isn't he taking enough of that already?

Maybe if I become a leftist, that would make him like me, and he'll cut me in on a good deal.

I'll officially join the "African-Americans for Obama" organization, that's what I'll do! Aces!

Once I do that, his money, I mean YOUR money, is as good as mine.

KP said...

twoguys 2012,

I have been working on clean fuel source for automobile engines. All I need is $435 million to being this engine to market. I already know how to make the fuel.

It is simple and elegant; and we have an endless supply as long as we have water and food. The fuel is sterile and has less smell than fossil fuels. We already have the materials for mass production. They are kidneys, ureters, a bladder and urethra. Here it is:

H2N—C==O—NH2

That’s right, it’s urine. Urine’s chemical analyses shows that it provides inorganic and organic constituents, chemical and physical properties that make an efficient fuel source and its behavior during the concentrative combustion processes and other physiochemical operations make it exceedingly safe to humans and mother earth.

All I need is $435 million and a population eager to drink fluids. A drop in the Obama bucket!

OD357 said...

Silverfiddle said...
The one part you're forgetting is generous campaign contributions to the reelection of the messiah in chief.


Can't I just kick back some swag, uh, I mean Incentives, err, I mean stimulus?

Anonymous said...

KP,

Brilliant!

I'm happy to contribute, provided I get a slice of the action. I gotta feed my family, after all.

Where should I send my bucket of pee? Do I need to put it in a special container? :)

Always On Watch said...

Bunkerville said: Another 4 years of Obama and there will be no cars, no gas, after all, we are all suppose to walk.

I say: Welcome to Third World America.

Ducky's here said...

@Twoguy21012 -- The only America they care about are: educated and enlightened New England, most of California, the granola-eaters of the Northwest, and of course, all urban areas with high populations of minorities.

----------

Works for me. Whats the alternative, freaking Disneyworld?

Enjoy life in your little intellectual Sargasso sea.

My middle niece in in Florida. Dying to get out, "Nothing in this crap hole is more than twenty years old." Just a waste land. You sound rabid enough to be panhandle.

Silverfiddle said...

"Enjoy life in your little intellectual Sargasso sea."

Great line. I can't remember the last time I heard someone utter "Sargasso Sea."

But sticking to your analogy, the little lefty enclaves are the islands among a vast American sea.

MathewK said...

Absolutely crazy isn't it, but that's what glorious socialism from a leftwing extremist president gets you. Change you can suck on anyone!

"I was hoping to come up with a "green business" plan and submit it to his administration, thereby garnering for myself a good couple hundred million."

You might as well, it's a a bunch of freaking idiots running the place, might as well clean them out.

Shaw Kenawe said...

"Enjoy life in your little intellectual Sargasso sea."

Great line. I can't remember the last time I heard someone utter "Sargasso Sea."


"The Wide Sargasso Sea," one of my favorite novels by the troubled writer Jean Rhys.

It is the prequel to Jane Eyre and imagines the story of Mr. Rochester's first wife, Bertha Mason.

Also, as a side note, the Sargasso Sea is where American and European eels migrate and where their larvae hatch.

Good one, Ducky.

Anonymous said...

The only America they care about are: educated and enlightened New England, most of California, the granola-eaters of the Northwest, and of course, all urban areas with high populations of minorities.

Case in point. After the redistricting following the 2000 census I wound up in the 13th District in PA. Since the district spans two counties Rep. Schwartz has two offices. One in Philadelphia, barely a mile from the state line, the other 6 miles away in the extreme southeastern corner of my county, two miles from the city limits. The nearer of the two is 29 miles from me and an hour's travel on a good day. Suggestions from many that she should centrally locate the Montgomery county office have fallen on deaf ears. Apparently the convenience of her 'base' takes precedence over that of her constituents in general.

viburnum

Silverfiddle said...

Shaw: I googled it, because I couldn't remember much about it. This is what I think Ducky was implying:

"A gyre. All the currents deposit the marine plants and garbage they carry into this sea."

It stings, but I can appreciate the wit behind it.

Anonymous said...

Ducky,

Okay, I'll play along.

Check this out:
"The ocean water in the Sargasso Sea is distinctive for its deep blue color and exceptional clarity, with underwater visibility of up to 200 feet (61 m)."

So it seems that my little intellectual Sargasso Sea shows I have exceptionally clear thought.

What kind of subtle euphemism can I come up with for leftist thought? Hmmm....

I would use the word "smegma", but Kurt has spoken to me privately about being polite.

I'l have to dip into my intellectual Sargasso Sea to come up with something more...appropriate.

Cheers!

Finntann said...

Such was the region the Nautilus was now visiting, a perfect meadow, a close carpet of seaweed, fucus, and tropical berries, so thick and so compact that the stem of a vessel could hardly tear its way through it. And Captain Nemo, not wishing to entangle his screw in this herbaceous mass, kept some yards beneath the surface of the waves.

Good Advice.

Never, never, ever, entangle your screw in a herbaceous mass.




Hey! Does this have something to do with yesterday's post on free contraceptives?

Silverfiddle said...

"Never, never, ever, entangle your screw in a herbaceous mass.

Hey! Does this have something to do with yesterday's post on free contraceptives?"


:0

That was a good one!

Anonymous said...

You boys say herbaceous mass like it's a bad thing.

I personally know her, and aside from the fact she is a leftist slu- I mean- sexually friendly, she's a nice chick.

She has lost a lot of weight being on The Pill, bless her heart.

Anonymous said...

Its high time we opened our real eyes and started realize that whatever anal eruptions the left emits are real lies -- isn't it? §;-D

[Thank you, Two Guys, for the elegant play on words. Look for limericks to be forthcoming in the not-too-distant future.]

~ FreeThinke

Anonymous said...

FOR THE RECORD:

I don't support the Scoffers and Luddites who, apparently, don't think it's worthwhile investing large sums of money on the research and experiment that will be necessary to free us from the tyranny of fossil fuels.

In order to create a magnificent marble statue the sculptor has to leave a tremendous amount of "waste" in the form of marble chips and marble dust on the floor of his atelier.

Those who would decry the waste of good marble in such an instance deserve nothung but derision for their opacity and short-sightedness.

~ FreeThinke

jez said...

Free Thinke, there's a world of difference between R&D (which is vital and woefully undervalued) and rolling out to market prematurely.

Anonymous said...

"Free Thinke, there's a world of difference between Research & Development (which is vital and woefully undervalued) and rolling out to market prematurely."

I could never disagree with that, Jez. Part of what "conservatism" means to me is that great care must be put into studying the all aspects and possible ramifications of political "change," and new commercial products before unleashing them on the public.

I think ALL of us -- liberals and conservatives alike -- ASSUME too much and THINK too little. We're ll madly in love with our pet prejudices and find it all-but impossible to benefit from honest, dialogue.

~ FreeThinke

jez said...

I thought conservatism was a
disposition towards tradition. I think there exist conservatives who begrudge any expenditure towards investigating political change at all.

I love honest dialog, I really can't in good conscience include myself in your last para.

Lest you think I didn't notice your agreement with me, please know that as I type this out I'm wearing a conical paper hat and blowing through one of those party blowers that unfurls and makes a hooter noise. It's like Mardi Gras over here.

Anonymous said...

Jez said, "I really can't in good conscience include myself in your last paragraph."

Well, here it is again. Let us examine it further:

"I think ALL of us -- liberals and conservatives alike -- ASSUME too much and THINK too little. We're ll madly in love with our pet prejudices and find it all-but impossible to benefit from honest, dialogue."


I believe "Reason is but the slave of Passion." What that means to me is that we tend to be blind to other points of view -- see them only in such a way as to bolster and defend our own cherished beliefs.


We may enjoy "spirited debate," but the object is rarely to learn from our opponents, but rather to make every attempt to defeat and discredit them.

"The partisan, when he is engaged in a dispute, cares nothing about the rights of the question, but is anxious only to convince his hearers of his own assertions."

~ Socrates (470-399 B. C. )

Few-if-any-of-us are capable of seeing ourselves as others see us -- or honest and courageous enough to admit it if we do. I'm not sure that ought to be defined as a human failing. It's simply one of our less fortunate characteristics.

Glad to learn our agreement put you in celebratory mode. I'm much more "liberal" than you might think -- just virulently opposed to authoritarianism, statism, or dictatorial power by any of a dozen other names.

I truly believe that Freedom for the Individual is more important than safety -- OR -- "Justice."

Cheerio!

~ FreeThinke

Anonymous said...

Marc Steyn's brilliant article cited in a previous post made these (among many other) sage observations:

When it comes to human rights, I go back to 1215 and Magna Carta — or, to give it its full name, Magna Carta Libertatum. ... back then ... they understood that “libertatum” is the word that matters.

Back then, “human rights” were rights of human individuals — and restraints upon the king: They’re the rights that matter: limitations upon kingly power.

Eight centuries later, we have entirely inverted the principle: “Rights” are now gifts that a benign king graciously showers upon his subjects — the right to “free” health care, to affordable housing ...

The Democratic National Committee understands the new school of rights very well: In its recent video, Obama’s bureaucratic edict is upgraded into the “right to contraception coverage at no additional cost.” And, up against a “human right” as basic as that, how can such peripheral rights as freedom of conscience possibly compete?

"The transformation of “human rights” from restraints upon state power into a pretext for state power is nicely encapsulated in the language of Article 14 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which states that everyone has the right “to receive free compulsory education.” Got that?

You have the human right to be forced to do something by the government.

I share Steyn's contempt for the micro-management of our personal needs by State Power.

"A government powerful enough to give you everything you need is powerful enough to deprive you of everything you have."

Yes, indeed, and why should we, as a disorderly concatenation of disparate individuals even want to let anyone,other than our individuals selves define our needs for us -- and by natural extension even our basic desires?

~ FreeThinke

jez said...

Freethinke, I understood your paragraph before counting myself out of it. I admit that this makes me a rare and beautiful thing, thanks for noticing.

NB: being open to debate and holding all views subject to fresh argument or information does not oblige me to agree with you the whole time.

You come across as very authoritarian.