01.21.10 07:01 PM
*Bailouts I can believe in. In one short 24-hour period this month, four top Democrats have bailed out of their reelection campaigns. Leading the list was Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, who was running so far behind three likely Republican opponents that he decided surrender was preferable to defeat. North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan has also announced he won’t run again. In Colorado, incumbent Governor Bill Ritter decided not to seek reelection. And in Michigan, Lt. Gov. John Cherry says he won’t be the Democratic nominee for governor.
*Why won’t they tell us? Two media organizations—
Fox News and
Bloomberg News—have filed suit against the Federal Reserve to learn which banks have received discounted loans from the Fed and other measures to beef up their balance sheets. The Fed has refused several requests under the Freedom of Information Act to divulge the information, claiming that releasing it could damage the banks’ reputation.
*China is now the world’s top car market. For the first time in history, citizens of another country purchased more automobiles in the past year than buyers in the United States. Chinese car sales surged 46 percent in 2009, to a total of 13.6 million vehicles. Meanwhile, just 10.4 million light vehicles were sold in the U.S.—the lowest total since 1982.
*Remember the War on Poverty? Every Wednesday I write a short tidbit called “This Week in History” for
Personal Liberty Alerts. If you haven’t seen it before, check out some past issues under the Chip Wood Archives. And look for it next Wednesday at the bottom of the page. It was 46 years ago this month that President Lyndon Johnson declared the War on Poverty. In case you didn’t notice, poverty won.
—Chip Wood http://www.personalliberty.com/chip-...ar-on-poverty/ 
