Awww, the Poor Widdle US Auto Companies

My very first post of this blog was an explanation of why I have no interest in buying an American car.

US Auto Non Buyin Rant

Looks like I was right.

The big three are foundering and now begging the govt for a handout like a stereotypical "welfare queen."
Yet the bastard CEOs fly down to beg in their private freakin' jets! My theory here is that they did not know they were doing anything wrong. In other words, the sense of entitlement is so complete that they did not see the problem with it. Understand, I don't mean they rationalized or hoped no one would notice. I mean they had no comprehension of wrongdoing whatsoever.
These people cannot be left in charge.

Here is the CEO of a company that was in a terrible fix. See what he did (If you don't want to read the whole thing, go to page 2 and read the first paragraph under Pumping Iron, it is extremely enlightening):

A Successful Turnaround

I intend to send that to my Federal reps and suggest they insist on the same damn thing before handing over dime one.

A former presidential candidate wrote a great op ed piece on the auto bailout:

Let em go bankrupt

I also got an email from the Libertarian party that I thought was wonderful. I reprint it here with no permission at all:

This week, the main buzz is sure to be about possibly bailing-out the automotive industries in Detroit, known as the "Big Three." The Big Three consist of the three major automotive manufacturers: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.

Politicians looking to appease their nervous constituency, interest groups (both from the United Auto Workers and those representing Big Automotive) looking for a handout and know-nothing political pundits looking for a juicy story will all tell you this is necessary for the economic well being of the nation.

In this time of economic turmoil, it's easy to suggest government has the answers, especially when it is backed by sweet-sounding rhetoric and promises of better times. For those that don't know the historical failures of government intervention in the market, it just might sound good enough to swallow.

However, like most government programs, the reality is far, far different from the rhetoric.

Bailouts are ALWAYS bad for the taxpayer, for the economy, and for business. Why? Because rewarding the mismanagement of American corporations with a taxpayer-subsidized lifeline does NOTHING to encourage reform or fix the problems that pushed the companies to the brink of failure. As we said in a recent statement, these bailouts do nothing but prolong the inevitable collapse of companies suffering from extreme mismanagement and poor investments.

This is especially true in the case of automotive companies.

Detroit auto manufacturers have failed to keep up with trends in the automotive industry, locked themselves into destructive union contracts and demonstrated a complete lack of initiative in automotive innovations that make their products enticing to consumers.

Why are taxpayers being used to reward this mismanagement?

This is why Daniel J. Mitchell, a senior fellow at The Cato Institute, said the bailouts were like "giving an alcoholic the key to a liquor cabinet." Mitchell went on to list three important reasons why bailouts are bad news:

• A bailout will hurt the overall economy by misallocating resources. When politicians grant special favors to a certain industry or a particular union, such decisions necessarily mean that market forces are being replaced by special-interest deal-making. This type of interference with free markets is why nations such as France, Germany and Japan tend to grow more slowly and enjoy less prosperity.

But if America goes down this same path of government intervention, it is inevitable that we will suffer the same fate of stagnation and higher unemployment.

• A bailout will encourage other industries to seek taxpayer handouts. The Wall Street bailout was a disaster in many ways, most notably as measured by the weak stock market and economic volatility. But another negative aspect of the bailout is that other industries have now decided that it is OK to stick their snouts in the public trough, as well.

First Wall Street's high fliers get a bailout. Now the inefficient management and union at the Big Three want a handout. Who will be next in line to pillage taxpayers? Giving handouts in exchange for political support is akin to getting high. Once politicians decide they like the buzz of campaign contributions, they'll turn into junkies with ordinary Americans footing the bill.

• A bailout is a perverse transfer from poor taxpayers to rich taxpayers. America's Founding Fathers surely never envisaged that the federal government would take money from one group of Americans and give it to another group. Yet much of the federal budget is devoted to redistribution programs.

So, if the government can't bail-out these companies, what should happen to them?

Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is by no means a no-hassle "way-out" for companies that have made bad decisions in the past, but it is by far preferable to taxpayers footing the bill for these companies struggling to stay afloat.

Bankruptcy will allow these companies to restructure to a more cost effective format, and it will allow them to "trim the fat" from their overhead so that they may once again become productive (and profitable) without risking trillions of dollars in taxpayer money. With court-oversight, these automotive factories may also redo expensive and entangling contracts with the Unions—a major reason why these automotive companies have become so costly to operate.

Overall, letting these companies go into restructuring, instead of preserving the status quo with taxpayer funds, is best for the long-term economic stability of both these companies and the nation.

There is no magic bullet for the current economic situation. However, we can learn from our mistakes, and refuse to repeat them—that is, don't run to the government to solve the problems that the marketplace should be taking care of itself.

At the beginning of the financial crisis, before government decided it would bailout these firms (by the way, check out how your money is being spent), other companies were looking to buy up their devalued competitors. Then, government rushed in to do a patch-job, and ended what could have been a very healthy market work-out without the government's help. Instead, government made the problem worse, with your money on the line.

Unfortunately, both Republicans and Democrats were behind it, leaving the taxpayers with no representation while your money was at stake.

Only the Libertarian Party is the true friend of the taxpayer, and we want you to know we are working night and day to maximize your economic freedom by limiting the power of the government to get involved in the economy. You've heard of the separation of Church and State, well, we'd like a separation of economy and State.

Live free,

Andrew Davis
Director of Communications
Libertarian Party

And a Business Week article from almost a year ago on executive pay. Read the responses, the one from Kimmer parallels my first blog post:

GM Execs: No Pay Cuts for Me

Here is an excellent article on why we shouldn't bail the bastards out:

Ten Reasons Why the Auto Bailout Is a Bad Idea

Well said, all of you.

How's about we put Romney in charge of GM as a requirement for a handout? Yeah, I know, govt money is a obviously bad idea, that's the gist of this whole post, but I think it's a forgone conclusion that they'll get the money.

By the way, consider Chrysler. Remember back in the 80's when the govt bailed them out and Lee Iaccoca took over? That seemed to work well right? OK, so later on they are hurting again and Daimler Benz devours them. That didn't work, so Daimler dumps them on Cerberus and now Chrysler is dying again. For crying out loud that's 3 times in a little over 20 years that they've needed saving and now their dying again?
As much as I love some Chrysler products, such as the new Challenger, I really think it's time to take the patient off life support for the last time. Then again, who'd buy Jeep?
Oh well.

Global Warming is Crap II

No further comment needed.

The world has never seen such freezing heat

Will The One Still Get As Much Support?

So The One made a rather mild but snide comment about a former president's wife, who was hospitalized last month with a fractured pelvis.

One class act.

And factually wrong, as it was not Nancy who did the seances, it was Hillary Clinton. Nancy did Astrologists, which perhaps isn't any better intellectually but certainly less creepy and morbid.

A good laugh from the press and no more.

Ah, but right wing bloggers caught it and reported it. It also wound up on YouTube pretty quick. Well, next thing you know MSLSD, CNN and so on are reporting that The One called Nancy and apologized.

So again, The One would have gotten away with the kind of remark that a Republican would have been slammed on. Also, note that by leading with the apology story, they show what a great guy he is, apologizing for a remark that a nasty ol' Republican would probably never have apologized for.

Now, this sort of thing is not new nor news, and really isn't important by itself. But it made me think about whether or not The One will continue to be worshiped by the MSM (Main Stream Media) or if they will turn on him soon, as predatory creatures often do.

Now that they have succeeded in helping The One win the presidency, will they expect him to actually fulfill his promises? Or did they believe all along that he was just lying in order to get elected? I don't know, I can't even guess.

Now that the Dems are in complete control, there's very little that the MSM can attack Republicans on except what was done in the past. I think they'll get a lot of mileage out of that, years in fact. But I had never considered them turning on The One within the first year of his presidency, which I guess may be possible if my second scenario pans out.

I doubt it, but boy would it be fun!

Caught Myself

On a quick, unrelated note, I did NOT expect the stock market to keep falling after the election. I guess folks are bailing out before the tax hikes?

I read this article, and decided to make a half joking post that this must be one of the ways the Obamessiah (I think I might just call him The One from now on,less typing) plans on reducing govt spending

unpaid campaign workers

Easy huh? Just don't pay your workers! And you thought CEO's were bad!

But then I thought, "hey, Hillary did the same crap, and even worse." That got me to thinking that perhaps this was a pretty typical Democrat thing. Wouldn't surprise me.
I Googled around and found this

Deadbeat Democrats

Yep, looks to be natural behavior for those wonderful folks who care so much about the poor and the working men and women of this racist, exploitative country of ours.

But I happened to catch this Snopes page too and found that owing a bunch of money for long after an election is perfectly normal

Joe Biden's Debts

So, good thing I didn't go on about deadbeat Dems.

I did Google search for Republican deadbeats, cuz I noticed that most of the Snopes article was Democrat, but I found little. I didn't try real hard, as it was an afterthought and I'm leaving in a minute. I'll bet there will be lotsa deadbeat Republicans after this election though!

And So It Begins

Well the easy part of my prolix prognostication post has come to pass. Oooh, I feel like a veritable Nostradamus I do.

Not that it matters, but I wrote in Bob Barr for president, selected the Libertarian (crap I can't even remember his name) for Congress, and Republicans for all else, since there weren't any Libertarians running that I was aware of.
I voted NO on both referendums, or ballot initiatives or whatever they're called.

Now, I'm anxious to see how the economic policies play out.

In a way, I'm relieved. Little boring bastards like me won't get beat up much for a year or two and might even get some kind of socialist type handouts, so my family and I should be OK for now. That is of course if my first possible scenario plays out.

Predicting the Future

Always an idiot's game.

Here I go.

I don't have much time, leaving to vote soon. Meant to do this post weeks ago and really investigate and footnote it, but of course I didn't. Maybe I'll update it or just run follow up posts on how I did.

First, the easy part. The Obamessiah will win and the Dems will gain complete control of Congress and Senate.

Initially, the economy will rebound smartly. Again, this is common after a presidential election. But this time it will be greater because
A. The libs will be so ecstatic that they'll go into a state of permanent celebration. Tongue in cheek, I suspect Volvo sales will spike.
B. Our lib journalists (basically everyone in the business outside Fox and talk radio), will be so filled with joy (see reason A) that they will bombard us with good news. We will be made to believe that we are now entering an American Utopia and all will be well now that the evil Republicans have been defeated.


Barring extreme events such as a terrorist attack or huge natural disaster, I can see only two ways things will go from there.

One, the Obamessiah and his minions will go through with his economic plans as he promised. In this case, I predict that most if not all of 2009 will appear to be pretty much as 2008 is now for the middle class and better for the poor, with the govt buying up companies, going on a hiring binge, jacking up social spending, and bailing out pretty much everyone who isn't "rich."
This will not affect me directly. The rich will see tax increases and the poor will get their $500 welfare checks. The stock market will start crunching again, maybe as soon as second quarter, but it will be explained away as a lingering effect of the failed Bush policies.
By 20011, the economy will be going down worse and faster, unemployment up except in government which will continue to expand. Then the Bush tax cuts will expire and plebeians like me will see tax increases. So much for the Obamessiah not taxing the middle class.
Still, we will have our govt welfare checks and perhaps cheaper health insurance, so we won't complain. After all, any problems we are experiencing are still due to the evil Bush. Make no mistake, "journalists" will put forth every effort to convince us of that.
2012 we are in the worst recession in history. Not quite a depression, but damn near. We will be crying over how the rich and their allies the Republicans screwed us and we will vote the Obamessiah and the Dems back in to save us from the sinking economy. It will do no good.
2013, Hell maybe before the end of 2012, we are in a depression, worse than the first one. There will be double digit unemployment and inflation. The majority of jobs remaining in this country, probably something on the order of 70% will be in government. We will be at best second, likely third or lower, in world economies. Other countries, seeing our fall, will have already cut loose from our economy, forming ties with others such as China and Russia. Our military will be in shambles. The Dems answer will be still more taxes and government growth.
It will probably be another 2 years or more before we finally catch on to what's going on and there will then be a huge political reversal. I think we'll be able to climb back from the depths, but it will be tough. If you thought we were a conservative nation before, just wait till then. The pendulum will swing too far to the right and it's gonna suck socially, but the economy will get back on track.
I do fear however, that the Dems will have successfully silenced all opposition voices. There will be no talk radio other than what they permit and Fox will be unrecognizable. Still, I'm sure a voice or two will be heard somehow.

Crap I ran out of time, I'll have to finish at work.
Voted, cut my workout short, back to this before starting time.

The other possible scenario is just as likely. The Dems know damn well that the Obamessiah's Robin Hoodwink promises, if carried out, would result in the utter destruction of the economy as I have described. The Obamessiah will try unsuccessfully to carry out his economic and social plans as Congress and the Senate find new and ever more clever ways to say "no." The media will not know whether to shit or wind their watches as they watch their savior, the Messiah, The One, rendered ineffectual by his own party. What's running down your leg now Chris Matthews?
Short term, the economy and po' folk like me will be hurting and the rich will get a bit of a pass as usual. And that short term won't be so short, lasting right through to 2012 if nothing extreme changes.
During this time, the media will likely have decided to punish anyone that has not gone along with the Obamessiah and will be roundly criticizing the Dem party for not cooperating with The One. Shortly after the 2008 Presidential election, there will be a "throw the bums out" mentality among the Dem constituents. But it won't be a turn to more conservative ways and it certainly won't be a turn to Republicans. Rather, the bums will be replaced by even more liberal pols who will agree with the Obamessiah's policies. He will be reelected by the way.
Now the first scenario is carried out, but it will be even worse because the economy will be weaker. This one will really crush us.

If I'm wrong and McSame wins? Still screwed. The Dems will not cooperate with him, they'll make sure the economy dies and then they and their volunteer public relations consultants, aka the "news" media, will convince us that it's all the fault of McSame and the remaining handful of Republicans, and of course the failed Bush policies. The economy will crash and then the Obamessiah will win in 2012, and we will be so completely destroyed that I fear we would NOT be able to recover.

The best scenario is that the Obemessiah wins now, he gets what he wants, we crash hard and fast, and then recover.

I have kids, and really life for schmucks like me would be so much easier in a full blown socialist country, so I think it would be cool if I was wrong and the Obamessiah's policies actually helped, or at least did not hurt, the economy.
But just because something is good for me doesn't mean it's good for the country as a whole. That's something many of us don't seem to realize or care about.

Quick Edit, just found this. Here is what I consider a typical Obamessiah fan

In Obama We Trust