The Kannon team loves nothing more than being three coffees to the wind on a Sunday morning, with the bonus of noticing that the New York Times is finally bringing to light yet another dynamic that this site pointed out long before the traditional press or public sentiment caught on to it.

From today’s post-Valentine edition comes this piece: In Gingrich Mold, a New Voice for G.O.P. Resistance

From the article:

The fact that House Republicans have stood firm against Mr. Obama suggests just how unified the caucus is, though Mr. Gingrich, in an interview, said Democratic leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, did more to unify Republicans than anything Republicans did.

“I’d like to tell you Cantor did a brilliant job, but the truth is that Pelosi and Obey pushed the members into his arms,” Mr. Gingrich said. But, he added, “They have been good at developing alternatives so they don’t leave their guys out there chanting no.”

And, from days and months earlier, LooseKannon’s precient posts on the “Pelosi Effect”:

Pelosi-Obama’s Biggest Impediment
Posted by LK on February 8th 2009

Pelosi’s Panic
Posted by LK on September 29th 2008

Gotta get the crystal ball back under lock and key.

                          

The Kannon Team can’t wait for the big guy to weigh in on this Op-Ed piece in the U.S.A. Today by Robert Kuttner, author of Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency

He writes:

“Geithner’s plan basically tries to paper over the fact that several of America’s biggest banks are insolvent in the absence of taxpayer bailouts. It attempts to restart the same system of excessive loan securitization that caused the crash — this time with guarantees or loans by the Treasury or Federal Reserve. Many details have not been released, because the Treasury has not figured out how this can work.

The taxpayers have already effectively bought much of the banking system. It would be far cleaner and more efficient for government to acknowledge that, take over the large banks, clean out their balance sheets, and then sell healthy banks back to private industry.”

Read More

                          

Last week the Fodder team pointed out Mark Ramsey’s great radio blog – he just recently weighed into the Fairness Doctrine debate by pointing out this item from the Daily Digest of Talk radio:

“U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) told Dial-Global syndicated talker Bill Press during an interview on this morning’s (2/5) show that she and Senate colleagues plan to hold investigative hearings into what she termed the “structural imbalance” of political Talk radio…”

Of course, this all relates to Loose Kannon’s original piece concerning the Fairness Doctrine. Read his post here.

P.S. The Fodder team wants to mention the passing of one of the great talk radio hosts of all time. Radio giant and family friend “Chicago” Eddie Schwartz signed off this past week.

                          

No surprise here – “The Congressional Oversight Panel says the government overpaid”

Elizabeth Warren, the head of the oversight panel called the process “… an opaque process at best.”

(Warning! Incoming Sarcasm) Who could have seen this coming?

The Kannon did – read his October post:

White Collar Looting: Redistribution Republican Style.

Read the full stories on the BBC site, or here at Newsday.

                          

Radio is selling for pennies on the dollars, and only those thinking forward will survive…

We’re often reminded of the great quote accredited to Warren Buffet: “Picking up pennies in front of a steam roller is a lousy business plan.”

The Kannon Team has a great passion for Radio, and keeps it’s ear to the ground for trends in the industry. Here’s Mark Ramsey –- one heck of a smart radio guy’s — take on the current state of the industry:

“The world has changed. Overnight. If the problem is that over-the-air dollars translate to digital pennies, fix that problem. Don’t avoid it… That change will continue to roll over the radio industry and the “good old days” of exclusive ownership of the airwaves and exclusive ownership of radio channels and exclusive ownership of audio advertising and exclusive ownership of audience attention will never return.”

Read more from Mark Ramsey.

                          

The following was in response to the Kannon Fodder post “Superbowl Advertising – GM, Chrysler and Ford are missing the point”

We here at the Kannon Team would like to thank you for responding to our post – Ford is doing the right thing by monitoring influential blogs – kudos to you!

Yes, we will concede the point that Ford has yet to take bailout money – but the point about transparency in advertising is still valid – now is not the time for the same old hyperbole. Really, does anyone really believe this is my “last chance to save?”

And, yes your dealers are independent. The US has a broken system of dealerships – the US car manufacturers do not sell cars to people – they sell to dealers. And given the convoluted system of dealer hold-backs, incentives and behind the scenes bonuses – and the tradition of dealers mixing negotiations to extract the highest profit margin possible, it’s no wonder that people don’t trust the industry.

How about Ford be the first manufacturer to say enough is enough. Tell the world what you sold the car to the dealer for, and make transparent all the rest.

The dealers who embrace honesty will survive – those who continue to play games will fail.

                          

“…what America is living through now is a drastic and high-speed wave of Darwinism that reaches every corner of the economy and financial system. We’re on failure overload – which is why this all feels so frightening and why markets remain in disarray.  … more failure that the economy must digest, when it’s already choking on the first huge lot of it in this recession.”

Tom Petruno points this out in an op-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun.

                          

It’s been noted in virtually every newspaper and online resource that the American car companies are not advertising in the Super Bowl, for example, this article in the Baltimore Sun.

The argument is that it would appear tacky to spend $3 million for one thirty second ad when they just got a sweet handout from Uncle Sam.

The Kannon Fodder team thinks it is what you advertise that is tacky – not where you advertise it. Just the other night, one ot the team saw a Ford as that shouted “THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO BUY AT EMPLOYEE PRICES. PRICES WILL NEVER BE THIS LOW.”

Bull Crap. We don’t believe that, you don’t believe it, the dealers don’t believe it. No one does.

What we need now is some honesty – and some transparency. Step forward and be the first manufacturer to say:

“Please go to Consumer Reports or our own website to download the dealer invoice. You’ll see exactly the price our dealers are paying for these cars. We pledge to you that this is the lowest we can sell them for to still be able to pay back the money we borrowed from you, the tax payer.

We’ve instructed our dealers to charge you no more than $500 more than this price. If they try to play games, find a dealer who will treat you fairly.

We’re all in this together. “

That Ad would sell cars. If that ad was on the Super Bowl, and the manufacturers really followed through and stopped playing games, and the dealerships stopped doing business as usual, people might start trusting again.

Not running an ad in the most viewed event this year is just playing more games.

                          

The news media is a buzz with the word bipartisan – lots of finger pointing and pledges, but the same old Washington.

Example: here’s a post in the USA Today – excerpt:

“It was just one vote in the early days of a new Congress and a new presidency, but it was hard not to see Wednesday’s big zero — not one of 177 House Republicans supported the economic stimulus bill — as an ominous sign that Washington is still stuck in the bitterly polarized politics that has blocked progress on big issues for years.”

                          

This one from the Miami Herald – quote:

“”Troubling” is the kindest word we can think of to describe the greed and irresponsibility displayed by Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain as his brokerage was going down the drain. Forced to sell the company to Bank of America, Mr. Thain lavished billions of dollars in secret, last-minute bonuses to his staff last month, just before the takeover and just before the government had to fork over a second bailout to cover Merrill’s $15 billion fourth-quarter loss.”