Mark from Michigan

A Capitalist's Letter to President Obama

Yeah, the fact that leasing dried up overnight, and banks began requiring 760 ficos for car loans had nothing to do with GM and Chrysler's demise.

Fool.

Minyanville: Subprime Lending Is Back with a Vengeance

The frauds that took the banks down didn't just buy one house - they "bought" 2, 3, 5 at a time.

There isn't anything at all wrong with helping a real first time buyer buy one house.

The repubs have turned this into a "lower class" issue, when the real fraudsters had high incomes and 750+ ficos.

Remember that the next wave of defaults isn't "subprime" , and it's 3 times as big as the first wave was.

Why I Had to Sell Ecolab

Y'all wouldn 't say that if you ever worked there. There are at least 3 pending wage-hour class action lawsuits going on against EL right now. Refusing to rehire veterans.. biz.yahoo.com/ap/09030...

Great "corporate citizens". yeah.

On Feb 17 03:54 PM Mozart wrote:

It has historically been a growth company and has
> received many accolades for it's management and corporate citizenship.

Say No to the Auto Industry Beggars

Ya know, I have a vested interest on this issue - Grandma draws a widows pension from GM, but after reading and hearing all of this vitriol for a month, I've come around to your side of the fence. Let them fail!

If there's anything you could learn from the last 90 days in the stock market, it's "unintended consequences". I really think I'd like to see how you, and the others spewing hate towards your fellow americans (who happen to build cars) react when all of the big 3's suppliers go under.

You were warned, in no uncertain terms that they would fail if any of the 3 falter, but yet you continue to publish articles about jets, and GM's president stopping for lunch at Quiznos.

The esteemed senator from Alabama would truly love to break the UAW once and for all, and since his party is in process of being run out of washington on a rail, now's a great time to strike. A further benefit for him is those lovely "transplant" operations that build cars in his state, and send any profits back to Japan.

The problem is, the big 3 doesn't really "build" cars any more - at the newest GM plant in Lansing Michigan, suppliers build "everything but the squeal", and deliver it to a GM factory "just in time" for a skeleton crew to snap, pop, and take the credit for "building" a car. GM doesn't even get billed for the parts until they are installed on the car - and a few minutes later they bill the dealer for the car and take the profit for a sale on their books.

The unintended consequence, that you might have known if you had done any research on the subject is, that all of the domestic manufacturers, and the transplants, use the SAME suppliers.

That's right, wall-street boy, they are inbred and cross-connected in a way that ought to make that Senator from Alabama truly proud!

What does that mean for the transplants that are SOOOO much "smarter" than the big 3 beggars? It means when those suppliers fail, the transplants can't get service replacement parts. I know, I know, years of automotive journalism have spewed how "perfect" anything with an asian or german nameplate is, but hear me out - don't they have service departments?

We've set thing up nicely for those transplant makers with these great little laws called "lemon laws" - someone who knows nothing about the auto industry could be excused for not knowing this, but I'll let you in on the secret. Nearly every state has a law on the books that allows 30 days or less for a manufacturer to correct a factory defect. This is a real hardship even in great times - there are several law firms that spew out "buyback requests" by the thousands, and they win them alot, even now!. If a supplier goes bankrupt, it isn't possible to source a new part in even 90 days. Some parts are impossible to reproduce, if the now-bankrupt supplier owns the design.

A failure of the big 3, and their suppliers will be a new GOLD RUSH for these lemon law firms - they're already DROOLING! The neat thing about buybacks is that the Manufacturer has to pay back ALL of the customer's money - the customer got a 24% interest loan, and the dealer sold them the kitchen sink? - no problem, the "deep pockets" of the automaker are standing by. Only the big 3 beggars won't have to worry about that, they're "bankrupt". Who will be hurting? Those "transplants" making all that money!

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see GM bankrupt it's USA operations and continue operating in China and Europe - they can come back after the GOP created depression has run it's course and buy some of those "super-smart" japanese competitors when they're weakened by a 5-10 year slump in sales, since we're in for 10%+ unemployment, probably closer to 25% if you use the old math.

Smart. Real Smart.

Ecolab: Public Health Is the Right Business at the Right Time

You've come up with a wonderful knee-jerk reaction, however , the jalapeno-tomato debacle would not be helped by Ecosure or any Ecolab product. The food was grown in sewage - most likely, meaning the nasty stuff is inside the veggies - no matter how clean the restaraunt is, no matter how good the proceedures are - if the food is grown in unsanitay conditions customers are getting sick.