Yeah, those corporate awards handed out in big companies amount to just about so much.

The Cash for Clunkers program is apparently helping Ford the most. Among the top 6 carmakers, Ford had the largest year-over-year increase in sales at 2.3%.

Other US carmakers did not fare quite as well with sales drops for both GM and Chrysler. Hyundai and VW, however, posted increases of 12% and 1% respectively. Others reported drops.

It seems that buyers are purchasing mid-size and compact vehicles but not necessarily hybrids, as evidenced by rise in sales of the Ford Focus. Hyundai and VW also mostly manufacture smaller vehicles.

Numbers for hybrid sales are not available, but any significant increase would have helped Toyota. But, Toyota is reporting a decrease in sales.

Ford’s increase cannot be explained merely by the quality of its offerings or its advertising programs. It seems that Americans are rewarding the company for not taking bail-out money.

Ford continues to function as an independent, American-owned, privately-owned company that is not yet under union control. Alan Mulally should be rewarded for his smart management practices.

The total number of bank closures in 2009 is now up to 69, with an additional 5 shut down over the past few days:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named the receiver of the five banks, the regulator said yesterday in e-mailed statements. The seized banks, with total assets of $2.69 billion and deposits of $2.56 billion, will cost the FDIC’s insurance fund about $911.7 million.

Mutual Bank of Harvey, Illinois, was the biggest of yesterday’s failures, with $1.6 billion in assets and the same amount in deposits. Peoples Community Bank in West Chester, Ohio, was second, with $705.8 million in assets and $598.2 million in deposits. Also shuttered were New Jersey’s First BankAmericano, Integrity Bank in Florida and First State Bank of Altus, Oklahoma.

Apparently:

Regulators are closing lenders at the fastest pace in 17 years, depleting the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund by more than $14.4 billion since January. The FDIC is offering to share losses with buyers of assets from failed banks, reviving a practice followed during the collapse of the savings-and-loan industry in the late 1980s.

Alan Greenspan’s extended period of artificially low interest rates during our last recession is continuing to cause more pain for local economies and the national economy in general. And the man is still defiant about his policies.

According to Rasmussen:

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 25% of U.S. voters now say the stimulus plan has helped the economy. That’s a six-point drop from a month ago.

Thirty-one percent (31%) say the stimulus actually hurt the economy, little changed from a month ago. However, this is the first poll showing that more voters believe the plan hurt rather than helped.

While Rasmussen’s numbers are generally critical of Democrats, the stimulus isn’t really having any effect on the economy. Where are the new jobs and the saved jobs?

Wants Freebies

Anne Milgram, NJ’s Attorney General, plans to introduce a program for unemployed attorneys to volunteer for her department…

This is a great opportunity for qualified candidates to learn how state government works, to gain experience in areas of the law that may be unfamiliar to them, and to make a genuine difference by working on legal matters that impact on New Jersey citizens Read on »