15 December 2008

Americans Watch the Auto Industry in Disgust

Like most Americans, I'm disgusted by what's going on with our Government and Big Business. First we give a massive bailout to those fat cats on wall street as they bitch and moan about not getting their Multi Million dollar bonuses. Like a Cancer that's been given a new lifeline, these companies are out there fleecing consumers, corporations and government alike, because they've been deemed "Too Big to Fail". Stupidity and short sightedness are now being actively rewarded by our federal government and by proxy by all of us. I remember several years ago when a friend of mine in the Mortgage business told me that there were new products available to where he could give an investor, mind you not a person who was going to live in the home, but an investor a loan for 100% financing, and to top it off, they only needed a 580 credit score! Who's the Rocket scientist that allowed that program to come to the market? It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that maybe, just maybe these were very, very bad investments of company money. They didn't care though, the corrupt Sallie Mae and Freddie Mac, with their Government cohorts were buying, and they were buying everything and anything.

Now we have the Big Three. Keep in mind that your average Joe line worker in GM gets 3X what the average Joe everywhere else makes in Salaries and Benefits. They claim that hey, they've made concessions, the new guys being hired today are hired at just 14 bucks an hour, AS IF THEY'RE HIRING!!! Those are not concessions, it's passing the buck to the next generation. Let's put this all in perspective. What if your neighbor down the street made 3X your salary and to top it off his boss made 1000X your salary. All of a sudden his boss finds that he can't pay him anymore so his boss comes to your house and asks you (who makes 1000X less than him and 3X less than his employees) to bail them out. How would you feel.

That my friends is exactly what is happening now with the Automakers. The big bosses are flying around in Corporate jets, which in case you didn't know, cost around $1400 to $8,000.00 per hour. The line workers are pulling down twice what most of us are and get about as much in benefits as most of us make. But WE are the ones who have to bail THEM out? Why?

I spent last night discussing with my wife that we're going to have to cut back on my son's ABA therapy for autism, because we simply can't afford the $800.00 a month cost anymore and we're supposed to help them out? Most of us are having hard times right now and most of us are doing what we can to mitigate those circumstances, without resorting to some sort of government bailout so why should we give them one? Let them do what Sears, K-Mart, Delta Air lines and so many other companies have done. File for bankruptcy, re-work your contracts to more favorable terms, cut out the waste and get back to business.




STOP THE SCARE TACTICS!

Do they think we're a bunch of Morons, that they're simply going to liquidate all the auto companies and fire 3 Million employees? GIVE ME A BREAK. You know and I know that will never happen. There's WAY too much money to be made in the Auto industry for them to simply give up. Consider this, GM and Toyota both sold about the same number of cars last year, and yet while GM lost over 38 Billion Dollars, Toyota's PROFIT was around 17 Billion. Maybe the government should give them some tickets to Japan to find out how to run their business.

7 comments:

  1. "Why are politicians pointing their fatty, greasy, fingers at the United Auto Workers when the UAW is not responsible for steering this nation into it's destructive path. Why should money come out of workers pockets to pay for the "solution" to a problem they did not create? Turn your heads toward those who "lead" us if you feel the urge to put the blame on someone. How much money is coming out of the pockets of George W. Bush, his administration, the executives at the Federal Reserve, and all other public officials doing a pathetic job at keeping the branches of government in check and balanced."

    http://www.theartdeptchronicles.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Of course... This is ALL GEORGE BUSH's fault. Please, I'm tired of this. The fact that these guys are making 3X what the average Joe makes, no, that's not the problem ... it's ALL George Bush's fault.
    The fact that the UAW let's workers who've been laid off due to a plant shutdown get a paycheck for 2 years, why that's all George Bush's fault. The fact that those SAME employees could turn down another job in the company and continue to get paid, why, that's ALL George Bush's fault. The fact that the UAW let's workers retire at 50 and get a check for the rest of their lives, why, that's ALL George Bush's fault.
    The fact that Hundai, BMW, VW, Toyota, Nissan and practically every other car company in the world can build cars efficiently and profitably in the U.S. Why that's ALL George Bush's fault.
    Do me a favor Aaron, go and get yourself a REAL education, find out what REALLY happened and then post. In the mean time you your mouth shut and sit down!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah, I do come across as someone who blames Bush for everything wrong in the country. However, the fact that UAW makes more money than many of us is between UAW and the employers; I think that the government has no business trying to regulate how much pay and benefits they receive. Lowering workers pay is not the proper way to make our auto industry more profitable or competitive; that is just a way of keeping more of us poor. If you don't like to have competition at home then don't invite the neighbors in. Work on developing a better product and make it harder for the competition to come in. It is our country, isn't it?

    And as for your comment:

    "Do me a favor Aaron, go and get yourself a REAL education, find out what REALLY happened and then post. In the mean time you your mouth shut and sit down! "

    I do have an education, and I am not so conceited to think that I know the truth about everything. I do have better manners than you though. I share your furstration with the government but your last comment sucked.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aaron, you said it yourself:
    "However, the fact that UAW makes more money than many of us is between UAW and the employers; I think that the government has no business trying to regulate how much pay and benefits they receive."
    EXACTLY, it's between the UAW and Their employers, the government should NOT get involved. If they've priced themselves out of the market they deserve to lose their jobs.
    As part of my IT business, I design websites for a living and 10 years ago, I could easily charge $10K-$20K even $30K or more for a top notch site. These days though I have to be more realistic and charge what the market bears, and so most sites I have to settle for less than 5K and as little as a few hundred dollars for a template modification.
    Should i call in the government and ask them to subsidize my business because I can't handle the competition? Or should you as my customer be FORCED to pay more? Which one is better? I say neither, let the free market determine what is the best price. Centrally planned markets never work out in the long run, just ask the USSR, the Japanese and everyone else who's tried it. If you think that it worked for China, just wait... you'll see.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is so true. I am sure most of Americans share your view. We should now ask ourselves why our government is making such stupid mistakes. The only thing I can think of is that these are not mistakes, and it is all being done incrementally to reach a certain goal that would be unpopular with the public.

    ReplyDelete
  6. If you would have made that comment a year ago I would say that you're one of those crazy conspiracy theorist, but after seeing everything that has happened, and especially after Bush's Comments:
    http://www.nosocialism.com/2008/12/bush-says-sacrificed-free-market.html
    I no longer doubt that may be true. Bush obviously had decided to put the nail in the coffin of Capitalism in the U.S. I don't even know who the hell this guy is anymore.

    ReplyDelete
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