Bit by bit

Good thing I like Chinese food. Item number one -- from the UK Financial Times:

Chinese bid wins auction for A123
A Chinese car parts maker has won the auction for bankrupt US battery maker A123 Systems, in a further success in international dealmaking for Chinese groups.

Wanxiang Group bid about $257m to win the auction for the battery maker, which supplies electric cars. The sale still requires the approval of the Delaware court where A123 filed for bankruptcy.

The US group will formally submit the bid to the court for approval on Tuesday. The sale will also require the approval of the US Committee on Foreign Investment.

Emphasis mine -- talk about rubberstamp. Those mokes are bought and paid for by the lobbyists. Drop trou, lube up and bend over... Item number two -- from Bloomberg:

Chinese Group Buys 80% of AIG Plane Unit for $4.2 Billion
A Chinese group agreed to buy 80.1 percent of American International Group Inc. (AIG)�s plane-leasing unit for $4.23 billion in the nation�s largest acquisition of a U.S. company.

The International Lease Finance Corp. acquirers, led by New China Trust Co. Chairman Weng Xianding, have an option to buy another 9.9 percent, New York-based AIG said today in a statement. The transaction, which values ILFC at $5.3 billion, passes China Investment Corp.�s $3 billion purchase of a stake in Blackstone Group LP (BX) in 2007 as the biggest Chinese-U.S. deal.

The acquisition gives the group control of the world�s second-largest aircraft lessor as rising travel in China and Asia spurs demand for planes. AIG, which counts the U.S. government as its largest investor, is selling the Los Angeles- based unit as Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche focuses on insurance operations and works to reduce debt.

Right now I could give a rats ass about the "fiscal cliff" -- this is just the latest 'talking point' coined to keep the proles chattering to themselves. We are seriously inflating our currency to pay the interest on our loans all the while China is coming in and either outright buying our businesses or enticing them to move to China (GE Medical Imaging comes to mind -- yeah Immelt, lookin' at you buddy). Looking from now out to twenty years ahead, there is a 60 to 90 Trillion Dollar unfunded liability for government union pensions and health care funding. The Medicare and Social Security problems are just a bump on the road. We are in serious crap and nobody is addressing it. We need some adults in the room now please...