Ben Stein Watch: November 8, 2008

Just how much does Ben Stein love his "mighty Cadillac STS-V"? So much, it seems, that he considers its survival a matter of national security. Srsly:

The national security considerations make saving General Motors, Ford and Chrysler a life-or-death matter.

I wish I were making this up. I'm not:

We'll want a G.M. or a Chrysler when it's time to make tanks and Humvees.

I guess we were all kidding ourselves about China being any kind of military force so long as it didn't have "a large automobile and truck industry". And of course Detroit doesn't make tanks:For that kind of thing you'd probably be better off looking to General Dynamics. As for the Humvee, it's built by a company called AM General, which was smart enough to sell the Hummer brand name to GM.

But Ben Stein, of course, never lets facts get in the way of a nice piece of alarmism: if we don't bail out Detroit, we're all going to die!

Stein also casts his entire column as advice for "a new leader of the United States" and "a Democratic president" -- not only can't he bring himself to use the name "Obama", but he can't even use the definite article. Although he has no problem using the word "herewith" -- he's never been lacking in pompousness.

The greatest bit of bensteinery in the column, however, comes when he starts talking about "relocation assistance" as an alternative to job retraining:

I am endlessly amazed that I have to pay about $60 an hour to hang a mirror in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and that there is a shortage of reliable handymen there. This has implications for hard-working machinists being laid off in Detroit. Maybe there is some merit to a fund that would take workers where they want to go and are needed.

Doesn't your heart just bleed? It's so hard to find good staff these days. And there's something to be said for uprooting skilled workers from Detroit and put them to work hanging mirrors for Ben Stein in Palm Springs. After all, a little bit more reflection in his life would surely do Stein a world of good.

Comments

[UH2L:]

I hardly ever agree with Ben Stein because he is way too conservative and I'm liberal, but in the case of the Big 3's survival being important for national security, he's right. You should read your history and find out how much the auto manufacturers contributed to WW2 manufacturing efforts. Car plants and part suppliers' plants provide a foundation to be converted to make tanks, plane parts, weapons. We need to have the infrastructure in place for steel casting, machining, etc... You can't make military vehicles and weapons with circuit board manufacturing expertise, (although that's important too).

I don't get Mr. Stein's relocation assistance for handymen. If we don't manufacture goods in our country for export, we won't have people who can afford to upgrade their homes or get handywork done. Exporting services is not nearly as lucrative as exporting manufactured goods. That applies to the whole economy as well as individual workers, engineers, marketers, etc...

UH2L
www.thingsivenoticed.c...

2008 Nov 09 04:17 PM

[PeteK:]

There must be a reason that people don't buy a certain product. You must talk about that.
There must be many reasons why a business fail, you must find out those reasons.
The workers are not the same as those 60 years ago.
Find out who are destroying the American big business such as the Steel, Auto, Airlines, and many others. Why many industries are fleeing the US. Why medical cost so high. Unions ? Law suits ? Loyalty ? Culture ? Politics ? and so on. Let the truth out. And let the American people decide. To help the banks maybe a one time deal, but helping the automakers maybe a long long and never ending commitment. As Cramer said, the Black Hole. Don't link war into this matter.

2008 Nov 09 05:24 PM

[icandoitdon:]

if you want to argue that the survival of the american car manufacturers is important to national security you must also argue that free trade agreements, which have led to the flight of american manufacturing for years, are generally contrary to our national security interests.

if the u.s. had sound underlying economic policies that include a strong dollar, reduced reliance on foreign oil, balanced budgets and adequate pricing of risk, our economic growth would be real and sustainable and our national security would not depend on the failure of one company or another. o

to "save" an industry as mismanaged as the american automobile industry in the name of national security somehow doesn't make me feel too secure....financially or militarily.

if we let national security issues shape economic policy in this country we can kiss the economic frreedom that underlies capitalism goodbye.

2008 Nov 09 08:43 PM

[joyboy:]

Auto companies fail due to poor decisions period. Build a better auto and they will be sold, period. Let me see now, whatever happened to auto makers such as Pierce Arrow, Studebaker, Hudson, Crosley, Kaiser, Frazier,Desoto, Cord, Packard, Nash, Whippet, Maxwell Terreplane, Plymouth,Tucker etc.? Quality and price sell cars. We finally learned about quality from Japan and have begun to show it in some of our autos. Oh yeah, remember the Pinto and Corvair? Bad decisions. Shape up American manufactures before we start importing and not manufacturing cars here!

2008 Nov 09 09:52 PM

[working at ...:]

The UNITED (that's right a union ) States of America is not a free capitalistic enterprise that many of you libs would want it to be. If it were there would be no health insurance, life insurance, pensions,golden parachutes for corporate idiots, and any other perk that we as americans share that they don't in a free capitalist society.if you would like to live in a disease infested mass of human waste move to the sudan region, preferable Dufar. I here that its a nice place to visit. I may be a spoiled union brat that bleeds ford blue, but I like it here in the midwest. I don't have a problem with investing in America. I spend my union wages every week buying the thing my family needs and wants. I try to support as many business a possible. I try took look at the labels but' must admit it is hard to buy only local made items at walmart. If my job is reduce to nothing nothing is what we will have. My only wish is for everyone of you blogers who are setting in front of your computers. To think about everyone you know who is making a living wage in this great union of ours. If there is no reason for company's to compete for workers with good wages and benny's, then there is no reason to compete for your money.

2008 Nov 09 11:17 PM

[Did U Think...:]

Ben has been behind the curve the entire time. At some point he will just give up on the stock market completely and that will be my signal to by. He and Cramer are in the same league. They both know the score and they use their media positions to mislead the sheeple so that they can profit. If either Ben or Cramer followed their own advice both would be in the poor house.

2008 Nov 10 03:39 AM

[Partly Sunny:]

If any, or all of US automakers fail, they will re-emerge leaner, better, and ready to take on the world. The industry, its infrastructure and its employee know-how aren't going away.

2008 Nov 10 08:17 AM

[working at ...:]

If anyone still thinks that the foreign based companies are our future think again. DHL is cutting its losses and running away from it US operations. All of those good paying jobs are gone. There is no loyalty to anyone. Toyo and Honda are no different. The auto industry is tanking worldwide and to think that they will keep US operation at a loss you are living in a dream.

2008 Nov 10 08:38 AM

[charles18:]

A vapid article about a vapid article doesn't make for compelling reading. Just because your political bent is opposite Ben's isn't reason enough to pen such a snarky piece.

2008 Nov 10 08:55 AM

[Bibble:]

It makes more sense to tie auto and manufacturing to fighting climate change and energy independence than it does tanks, war, and the military industrial complex. That's what these digital/knowledge economy hipsters fail to recognize. They seem to think that if they blog enough, somehow cars will get greener, wind turbines will be manufactured, electric trains will sprout out of the ground, and solar panels will build and install themselves. If let the Big Three die, this manufacturing equipment will be auctioned off, the factories will close, be demolished, and brownfields will spread throughout the country. GM will never sell the property because environmental liability laws hold the polluter responsible even if the property were sold. So GM, Ford, & Chrysler simply don't sell brownfield property. Why don't we recycle these factories? Why don't we make contingent on any money to the Big Three that they must sell brownfield property to anyone (private or public) willing use it as wind or solar farms? If GE can make everything from lightbulbs to warheads, why can't GM make trains & turbines in addition to caddys? These are the kinds of demands and conditions that should come with any gov. assistance. Talk about that and stop bitching about what these companies AGREED to pay their workers. Prior to the 2007 UAW contract, labor costs per vehicle (including pension & health care benefits) amounted to 10% of total production costs. Where did that other 90% go? Now, new hirers earn LESS THAN NON-UNION PLANTS in the South and receive no pension, no health care. And how is it that GM can afford to cut 30+% of their whitecollar jobs and still function? Hint: that's where the 90% of production costs were being squandered. Blame management all you want. But stop arrogantly demeaning the work of those on the factory floor. I doubt many here have spent 8 hours a day for 30 years bending and twisting and breaking their bodies, keeping up with a line, only to have the health care their job will make them need taken away by accountants and managers whose very existence within the company has proven itself utterly expendable – unlike the bolt on your steering column.

2008 Nov 10 11:06 AM

[dr.doolittle:]

I think buddy Ben was employing that greatest of English imports, SARCASM. Lighten up, Felix. Everyone knows how this story turns out. As Karl Marx said, history repeats itself, the first as tragedy the second as farce. Is there anything comical about the democrats "in charge?" Not if I'm living in Detroit. The Dem's "getting things done in Washington," now that, when not being truly hilarious, is ultimately quite sad, and perhaps worthy of your many insights. And for the rest of you, remember your Shakespeare: "the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."

2008 Nov 10 01:46 PM

[Charles A...:]

I am awed by people like Ben Stein with such clarity of vision that only they can see things in true color and perspective. I disagree with his choice of cars. As does Consumer Reports. No matter. Its the symbol that counts. I even know Cadillac employees who refuse to buy the junk they are building these days. Those insider facts are unnoticed by Ben.
Truth is, as far as I can research, GM & Ford will essentially be Chinese companies by 2015 whether we bail them out or not. Shanghai will be the largest concentration of design and production in GM and Ford's history. Seems that both are enjoying record profits overseas; Domestic markets are their downfall. Especially now that truck sales, their lifeline, are way down. Ford has, though, opened one shift to make the F150, sales are up again now that gasoline is so cheap. They have no domestic market left. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, KIA,
even VW, will insure that. Since the Arabs turned off the spigot in 1973, seems like Detroit could not adapt. In 35 years, they could not abide the "Japs" ever overtaking them and kept putting out "Detroit Iron". We gave them NAFTA and that didn't save them. I will buy a Japanese TV made in China and not think twice about it. When I think back, funny how the Japanese have contributed more positive benefits to my consumer life than any American company. Does Ben care? No bail out for Ford or GM! Help retrain their workers, even help them relocate. We need nurses and doctors in rural areas. We need so many things they could be retrained to do. In WWII, surgical technicians were trained because doctors were in short supply. We can do the same kind of thing this time around.

2008 Nov 10 07:08 PM