cars and bail(buy)outs...

The latest bailout frenzy concerning the American (based) car companies has a lot of detractors and anti union blow-hards frothing at the mouth. The myth that union workers somehow are the root of the big three's problems is ridiculous and based on Reagan-era anti union rhetoric. Yes, the cost of  UAW workers  is significantly higher than non union workers at Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai plants in America. No, this is not the cause of the melt down at GM, Ford, And Chrysler. First, no one put a gun to the big three's heads and made them agree to their current contracts. At the time they saw a benefit from these contracts. Workers agreed to lower wages, and in return received better benefits and security. What did the car companies do with the saved wages? I imagine a good portion went to shareholders and executives who got rich when times were good. The workers lived middle class lives, and now in retirement, they are being asked to sacrifice because the big three were unimaginative, lazy, and uncompetitive in comparison to  the Japanese and Europeans. They lobbied for and enjoyed tariffs and taxes that made foreign cars incredibly expensive. What did they do with all that extra money from their government granted oligopoly? Did they reinvest in their companies? Did they innovate? Did they come up with better cars? No!!! We in America were given the Cadillac Cimmeran. Innovation through re-badging (chevy cavalier costing thousands extra). Or we got great ideas(ev-1) ripped away from us in order to sell high profit SUVs based on thirty year old pickup truck designs. Economists and those who pretend to be (i.e. Warren Brown, George Will, etc...) say there was never a demand for well made, fuel efficient, inexpensive cars in The US. Really? Then where the hell did the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry (best selling car in the US for countless years), Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, the freaking Prius, Any small platform VW, Mini, etc... come from? Chevy gave us the pathetic cavalier, chevette, new nova. Ford made the Pinto (yikes) and then the focus (garbage), Chrysler didn't even make a small car of their own, just bought the neon from Mitsubishi (not even mentioning GM's wonderful idea of buying a corolla, stripping it down and selling it as a GEO!). Mid size cars were also lame. Nothing could compete with a Camry or an Accord (both made in America). This was all okay as long as the big three's lobbying teams were able to keep gas prices low, and tariffs high. Everyone would just buy repackaged trucks. Oops! Now that they must compete, it is the fault of the unions, consumers, anyone but the designers and upper management. Now they want taxpayer money to bail them out, and want to stop paying health care benefits for retired and current UAW workers. Let's take a look at this from a different point of view. Let's say I purchased a brand new Chevy suburban in 2005. I financed it for six years at a very low rate. I thought I could afford it because gas prices were low. Now gas prices are high, the economy is down and I am being paid less. Can I go to GMAC and say,"even though no one put a gun to my head making me buy something extravagant, and I didn't save any of my income for a rainy day, and I really have no one to blame but myself, I think I am not going to pay off the rest of my loan, and I am going to keep the truck. And by the way, I blame you." Would GMAC agree to this? No chance in hell! The biggest kick in the face for the taxpayers in this scenario is the changes in the personal bankruptcy laws (lobbied for credit companies like GMAC) that do not allow normal people to get out of debt, do not apply to corporations like the big three. They can get out of their obligations and pass the bill to the taxpayer. Defined benefits owed to workers will be paid by us, through the pension guarantee corp. 

All of this ranting has tired me, and I will continue on the bailout later. If you have any comments or ideas please post them.

Morning...

This is an amazing time! But to quote Robert Redford from The Candidate, "Now what do we do?" I hope and pray that Obama picks a young, bipartisan, group of washington outsiders for his cabinet (Rahm Emanuel is an interesting choice, but will he bring his fierce partisan outlook, or his brilliant understanding of how to deal with Congress to his new position?). BTW, Robert Novak's assertion that Obama has "no mandate", is completely ridiculous. This is the man that thought that George Bush had a political mandate after losing the popular vote in 2000. I think maybe the tumor has taken too much blood from the rest of his brain (wasn't he supposed to be retired?).  Obama's first task will be to control the Democrats in congress who see the lame duck session as an excuse to go crazy. Obama is the leader of the party now, and the country. Pelosi and Reid need to understand that fact. Hopefully they will not feel the need to flex their muscles in order to put the newbie in his place. Maybe that is why Emanuel was brought on board. Thoughts, comments?

pretty cool...

This is a pretty amazing day, pretty amazing man, pretty amazing speech. Open thread, please leave thoughts.

What if...

Before you go vote tomorrow, ask yourself if you would vote for Obama if he had said exactly what McCain has said during this election cycle. Not knowing the difference between Shiites and Sunnis, the difference between russia and germany, "my fellow prisoners"(americans), "the fundamentals of the economy are strong", "I have supported George Bush over ninety percent of the time", "Bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb , bomb Iran.", Sarah Palin (insert anything)... and countless others. Even if the democratic candidate said these things, I would never vote for someone this clueless in any type of election. McCain voters should ask themselves if they would vote for candidate McCain if he were independent. 

Eight long years, I mean frickin' loooooonnnngggg!!!!

Remember how you felt eight years ago? You were totally confused about who won in Florida. Either you felt that Gore was stealing the election or having it stolen from him (fck you James Baker, how do you feel about your decision now. You should literally, I mean literally fall on your sword) and that you were powerless to do anything about it. Except of course argue with your friends, co-workers, family, etc... Now, all of you that supported Al Gore, I want you to find one of the people you argued with eight years ago, sit down with him/her, and have a conversation. Ask this person how they feel about their decision eight years ago, ask them if they still feel George Bush is a good leader. Ask if W. was still a good decision. Ask if a great deal of thought and analysis went into their voting decision in 2000. Of course they will say that they thought deep and hard about Bush, that's why they argued so fervently for him during the month long dispute. After asking these questions, ask him/her if they are voting for John  McCain this time. Most will say yes (congratulate  those who say Obama or a third party and move on), and after you listen to their idiotic conservative reasoning for McCain, calmly ask them if they can truly trust their own judgement. Remind them of your now minutes old conversation and your eight year enlightenment period. Ask them if he/she remembers how Einstein  defined insanity, "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".  

P.S. I have personally talked multiple times with my guy. Eight years ago he and his buddy told me I just didn't understand politics and economics well enough to appreciate how much better W. was than Bill Clinton. Wow, good call guys. My guy now admits that W. is basically the worst president ever, but plans on voting for McCain. I know they are not the same person, but policy wise they aren't that much different (not to mention robo-super-moron vp), I doubt much would improve. My guy always accused liberals of only voting for someone because he/she was a democrat, of being ideologues. After eight ridiculous years, I hope he takes a long look in the mirror, and finally gets it. Stay home tomorrow instead of casting that stupid of a vote. Eventually you will regret it. 

I love the canadians!

How uncomfortable were the two dee-jays prank calling Sarah Palin (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10080713-36.html) actually kept her going for five minutes. What started out as a joke quickly turned into a sobering thought, "this woman could possibly allowed to know the launch codes for the U.S. nuclear arsenal!"

Please vote on the fourth, and if you find yourself leaning towards McCain, just listen to the audio from this joke. If you still want to vote for McCain/ Palin, see a psychologist. You don't have to vote for Obama, vote for the constitution party or Bob (borat) Barr. Even a vote for wing nut, former congresswoman, and capital police basher, Cynthia Mckinney is a positive . There are other choices on the ballot, and you can send a message to the Republican party. By not voting for McCain/ Palin, you can show your disdain for their cynical pick of a moron as VP, and picking a doddering old fool in a democratic wave election year (payback for his supposed "maverick" ways). I do not apologize for referring to McCain this way, the honorable John McCain died in South Carolina in 2000. So did any respect he deserved. New blood reenergized the democratic party (Axelrod/ Plouffe) after a defeat, Republicans need a similar ass whuppin. Show the Karl Rove/ Steve Schmidt types the door. Usher in a new era of intellectual conservatives (read: non religious right, sarah palin types) and let an actual debate of ideas and ideals take place. Also, you will strengthen alternative parties that can actually stand up to the Dems and Republicans, keeping them honest (just keep Nader out of it). Do the right thing voters! No Palin/ McCain!    

No need for comment just read...

"I believe Muslims are our enemies... I believe war is a fact of life and we should always win... I believe there is a moderate and a socialist in this election. I agree with the two party system, but Obama isn't a messiah or a democrat. He is a muslim socialist." -Marcia Stirman, Otero county women's chair for the REPUBLICAN party in New Mexico in her letter to the New Mexico Independent describing why she is a Republican.

Okay... I have to comment.  Is this an example of the "real" Americans Palin and McCain are talking about. If so, I am going to have to come with some other name for myself. I guess I can just say I am southern canadian. They can have these people. Take them up to Alaska and live your life in comfort knowing that you are the chosen ones and in the afterlife you will inherit paradise (or some other dumb ass delusion that you are right). Just leave us unreal americans out of your ridiculous world.