Bakersfield Company A Reflection Of America’s Economy

From 223 Jobs To Zero

                                                               
By Dell Hill

The Lortz Manufacturing Company in Bakersfield, California closed its doors this week.  And like hundreds of similar employers, the reason was “we just ran out of money”.  The cost of doing business in America has reached the point where the doors are closing and dedicated employees become instantly unemployed faster than any government program could possibly keep up.

The next time you hear a politician tell you that “we turned the corner on this recession”, or “we’re creating jobs in America”, just remember this story from Courtenay Edelhart at Bakersfield.com.

“Metal fabricator Lortz Manufacturing Co. closed this week after 64 years in business,, putting 46 people out of work.

Most of the employees who were let go when the company shut down Monday were still owed back pay.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the California Department of Industrial Relations had received 32 unpaid wage claims, and more claims were pending, said agency spokeswoman Erika Monterroza.

In a statement issued Tuesday, president and chief operating officer Nathan Lortz said, "there is no way to explain how badly we feel about the negative impact we have thrust on extremely loyal and talented employees and vendors.

"The fact is quite simple. We ran out of funds, culminating with a freeze on our bank accounts on Friday."

The company's woes started when $2.5 million in fabrication orders were canceled with no notice, Lortz said.  The then $24 million a year company didn't have a line of credit, he said.

From a peak of 223 employees, Lortz reduced its payroll to 146 in 2008; 95 in 2009, and 84 last year before shrinking to 46 as of its closing, according to the statement.
It also cut pay across the board for remaining employees.

It wasn't enough.

In addition to failing to make payroll, the company has a delinquent tax bill, according to the Kern County Assessor's Office. It owes $48,598.89 in back taxes and $4,859.88 in penalties on supplies, office furniture, machinery and equipment.

Charles Lortz Sr. founded the company in 1947, initially calling it Lortz & Son Manufacturing. Located in northwest Bakersfield at 4042 Patton Way, the company did metal fabrication work for the energy, aerospace, agriculture and food processing industries, among others.”

Read the entire report by clicking here.

The Lortz closing only adds salt to another recent wound to Bakersfield’s economy.

Bakersfield got called out again Tuesday, this time for being the city with the nation's seventh lowest average credit score.

Credit rating agency Experian announced that Bakersfield's average credit score of 709 made it the 137th across the country.  No other California city made the bottom 10.

Wausau, Wis., topped the list with its average score of 789.  San Francisco was the only California city in the top 10, ranking fifth with an average score of 781.  Harlingen, Texas, had the lowest score in the country, with 686.

The rankings, based on average scores between January and June, reflect factors such as personal debt-to-credit ratios, employment status and foreclosure activity.

It’s not a question of “will” California’s long slide for the economic dumper and default
take place, but “when”.

L.A. Protester Declares Violence Is "Necessary"

Violence Is NOT The Answer



By Dell Hill

I honestly don’t believe that the vast majority of people involved in the Occupy Wall Street protest have any idea of just how dangerously close they are to advancing from civil disobedience to the early stages of attempting to overthrow the government.  As soon as this movement escalates from what we all know to be Constitutionally allowed public protest to outright violence, so too the level of illegality jumps proportionately.

The Occupy Wall Street protest is seriously ham-strung by the fact that it has little or no leadership to prevent that escalation.  Should it continue on its present course, the end result will be chaos.

While many are preaching peaceful marches and peaceful protests, some - like this speaker in L.A. - are preaching a totally different tune.  The video and transcript, courtesy of Pajamas Media Tatler.



The amateur sound system makes it difficult to clearly understand the man’s speech.  Here’s a brief transcript that accurately reflects his words starting 32 seconds in:

Occupy L.A. Speaker: “One of the speakers said the solution is nonviolent movement. No, my friend. I’ll give you two examples: French Revolution, and Indian so-called Revolution.

Gandhi, Gandhi today is, with respect to all of you, Gandhi today is a tumor that the ruling class is using constantly to mislead us. French Revolution made fundamental transformation. But it was bloody.

India, the result of Gandhi, is 600 million people living in maximum poverty.
So, ultimately, the bourgeoisie won’t go without violent means.
Revolution!  Yes, revolution that is led by the working class.

Long live revolution!

Long live socialism!”

Crowd: [Cheers.]

Not only does the man suggest bloodshed and violence, he openly suggests that such is necessary to achieve the protesters goals.  That tactic works in Europe, as well as other parts of the world, but it’s destined to complete failure and very serious consequences in the United States.  When it becomes an attempt to overthrow the government, those responsible instantly become liable for criminal charges of sedition, which - along with treason - is one of the most serious law violations on the books.

Governments are overthrown by violence in many parts of the world by simply taking to the streets and destroying everything in sight.  Governments sit on their hands and take little or no serious action to prevent their cities from ruin.  Considering that our present government supports the “Occupy” protest, that same reaction might well be expected.

However, there’s another factor in this equation to consider and it’s “we, the people”.

Despite their claims, the Occupy movement actually represents a very small percentage of the 310 million American citizens, and even those who support non-violent protests will instantly withdraw that support if it turns to violence and insurrection.  And that withdrawal of support will start at the top.  An angry reaction to violence from the overwhelming majority will force our nation’s leaders to step in and put the entire movement down.  If, for some unknown reason, they refuse to do that, the result will be rioting and bloodshed at every turn.  Violence begets violence and to even suggest it as a means to an end will sound the death knell for those who make such a choice.  

If the United States is to be converted to a totally socialist state, that transformation will come peacefully, via the ballot box and with the blessing of the people.  It won’t come as the result of a few thousand malcontents who happen to think that socialism is a better idea.

At this moment in time, the vast majority of Americans are quietly biding their time; allowing the legal protest to run its course.  If the events in this scenario change, so too will the reaction from many millions.  Right now the caution flag is raised.  The Occupy folks had better make certain the red flag doesn’t go up.

I very strongly deplore violence and suggest that those who have any influence what-so-ever steer clear of the words uttered by that fool in L.A.

There are no winners in this debate....But there are millions of losers.

There are no winners in this debate....But there are millions of losers.

Posted in memory of two wonderful ladies - the one who gave me life and the one who adopted me and gave me life again!

DRH

Solyndra Scandal Swept Under The Network’s Rug

Enron Scandal Dominated Their “News”


By Dell Hill

Do you think that ANY of us has an incling as to how biased our news reporting is these days?

The folks at the Media Research Center do...and here’s just one example of how the alphabet networks - controlled by liberals - protects and defends its pet politicos by NOT reporting unfavorable news.

Today’s enlightening report is from Rich Noyes at MRC:


A study by the Media Research Center finds that the three broadcast networks are providing virtually no coverage of the Solyndra scandal, a solar energy firm that went bankrupt after getting more than $500 million in taxpayer money from the Obama administration. This is not the approach the networks took after the collapse of Enron, an energy company with Republican ties. In just the first two months of 2002, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts cranked out 198 stories on the Enron debacle, compared to just eight so far on Solyndra, a 24-to-1 disparity.

Friday night — in a classic and cynical news management strategy — the administration disgorged e-mails showing a top Obama fund-raiser and Energy Department official, Steven Spinner — who had supposedly recused himself from Solyndra’s loan application because his wife worked at a law firm representing the solar energy company — had badgered his colleagues to approve the deal.

One e-mail exchange published by The Politico demanded to know: “Any word on OMB? [the Office of Management and Budget] I have the O.V.P. [Office of the Vice President] and W.H. [White House] breathing down my neck on this....How hard is this? What is he waiting for?”

Even though these e-mails were sensational enough to make it onto the front-page of Saturday’s New York Times, ABC, CBS and NBC never found a moment over the long Columbus Day weekend to mention any of this, just as they skipped news earlier in the week that Jonathan Silver, who ran the Department of Energy loan program that handed more than $500 million in taxpayer money to Solyndra, had resigned. When two Solyndra executives took the Fifth Amendment before a congressional committee in late September, ABC and NBC skipped that news, too, while CBS offered a whopping 25 seconds of coverage.

A review of the ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows by the Media Research Center found just fifteen stories mentioning the Solyndra scandal since its August 31 bankruptcy filing — eight on the evening newscasts (four full reports plus another four brief anchor-read items) and seven on the morning news shows (five full reports and two brief items). The network total coverage over nearly six weeks: just 25 minutes, 30 seconds, or less than 0.2% of the available network news airtime.


That’s remarkably paltry compared to what one imagines the coverage would have been if a Republican administration had funneled that much government cash to a company dominated by political allies (the company’s biggest investor, George Kaiser, bundled more than $50,000 in contributions for the President’s 2008 campaign, and visited the White House four times. before the loan from the Department of Energy was finalized).

Read the entire report from MRC by clicking here.

Distraction’s The Game - Holder’s The Name

Distract The Media; Distract The People


By Dell Hill

With Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) breathing down his neck with subpoenas, Attorney General Eric Holder decided “what this country needs is another immediate distraction”.  And so we have it.  Today’s announcement by Holder that federal officials have thwarted a terrorist threat is nothing more than a distraction from the impending doom of the “Fast and Furious” congressional investigation.

We catch up with the REAL story with this timely piece from Michelle Malkin.
 
                                                        

“Oh, the cynicism of it all.
It reeks.
But I’m not fooled.

Are you?”

Via ABC News:

FBI and DEA agents have disrupted a plot to commit a “significant terrorist act in the United States” tied to Iran, federal officials told ABC News today.

The officials said the plot included the assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir, with a bomb and subsequent bomb attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C. Bombings of the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were also discussed, according to the U.S. officials.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an announcement today that the plan was “conceived, sponsored and was directed from Iran” by a faction of the government and called it a “flagrant” violation of U.S. and international law.

“The U.S. is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions,” Holder said.  He said the White House will be meeting with federal agencies before announcing “further action” in regards to Iran.

Here’s the DOJ press release.”

Continue reading Michelle Malkin’s report by clicking here.

And it’s certainly worth your time to read the DOJ press release because of the information that’s conspicuously absent.

You will read detailed information about the alleged plot, but nowhere in that press release will you read about when this attack was to have taken place.  The plot, thankfully, was constantly being monitored by federal agents, but the timing of today’s press release would suggest that the attack was imminent, when, in fact it was still in the planning stages.

I strongly suspect that I’m not the only person on the planet who would ask the Attorney General “when was this attack supposed to take place?”

It almost seems as though this was just one more of the distractions the Obama administration has on its pantry shelf, ready to be trotted out at a moments notice, and purposely designed to deflect media and public attention away from what some are calling Obama’s Watergate.

O’Keefe X-rays Protester’s Minds - Finds Nothing

O’Keefe X-rays Protester’s Minds - Finds Nothing


By Dell Hill

Wish you could get “inside” the minds of the Occupy Wall Street crowd and learn what they’re all about?  Want to know how they’d resolve the economic issues of the day?  Well, independent film maker, James O’keefe of Breitbart TV takes to Wall Street for these revealing interviews with some of America’s great economic minds.  Pay close attention to the capitalist proposals to end capitalism.



And this, my friends, is the intelligence level we’re up against.  The intelligence quotient here is not particularly high...but many of the protesters are.

President Goes Golfing

No, Not That President


By Dell Hill

The George W. Bush Presidential Center is the primary sponsor of the Warrior Open golf tournament at the beautiful Las Colinas Country Club just outside of Dallas, Texas.

    “Golf is an important part of the rehabilitation process for many of those seriously injured on the front lines. The sport provides an opportunity to leave the hospital environment and get some fresh air.  It requires focus and concentration, which can help take the mind off the recovery process and the pain.  It provides a way to hone movement and motor skills.

    The Warrior Open will bring many of these brave members of our military together for a 36-hole competition. This year’s tournament will take place near Dallas, Texas, on October 10 and 11, 2011.

    We will crown a champion.  More importantly, we will honor all those who serve and sacrifice to defend our freedom.  And we will herald the many organizations who are giving their time, talents, and resources to support our men in uniform and their families.” - President George W. Bush

Former President George W. Bush On The Practice Tee

But this tournament isn’t about the dignitaries; not even the former president.  It’s about heroes.


I invite you to enjoy all of the photos of this marvelous event by visiting the Warrior Open official web site by clicking here, and the George W. Bush Facebook page by clicking here. 


UPDATE:  Cpl. Chad Pfeifer bested the field at Las Collinas to win the 1st Annual Warrior O;pen.


Here's a look at the presentation ceremony.