Ramses II

The Truth About Bailouts

RL,

Don't take someone's passion as fact.

Your comments are pretentious and you are missing the point by a mile+


On Nov 23 12:25 PM Ray Lopez wrote:

> Oh I get it. You didn't get yours, and you want the taxpayers to
> give it to you.
>
> We'll see about the revolution you ask for. Don't be surprised if
> you end up in jail.
>
> RL

The Truth About Bailouts

The flippant description of the "depleted coffers" of our national automotive industry is something to which we should all take exception.

Our government so easily hands out hundreds of billions of USD to banks, insurance companies and others who basically push money around with a few keystrokes and skim a percentage - without a written "business plan" or any other apparent accountability or transparency.

Meanwhile, the backbone of our nation's ability to manufacture real products of our own is maligned and attacked for requesting assistance during a crisis that the banking and commodities (oil) sector CREATED!

I'll agree that the automotive industry has it's weaknesses and management issues. However, if you paid attention to the presentation and hard facts that the CEOs provided you would see that the Big 3 were on the path to turning their industry around prior to the economic (almost now) collapse. They are slow-moving and slow to react, however it is difficult to lay all blame in their laps given the incredibly manipulated prices of oil / gasoline (supply-and-demand, my ass!) along with unaccounted for military and reconstruction spending paid for by borrowing against our currency..do I really need to go on?

Millions of middle class people depend upon their employment - and PAY TAXES ON - their earnings through the auto industry. Not to mention small, medium and large business in all 50 states. These people buy products, homes, etc - think this might be a problem if this were removed from the economy? How much in taxes do you think this might add up to? Less or more than $25 billion??

But all of this is really not the most important point: the automotive industry is the backbone of our ability to manufacture our own goods domestically. We have already been "exporting" our manufacturing knowledge at an alarming rate; it is difficult to find qualified tool and die makers or skilled machinists in the US anymore - at least, not in the way you could 20 years ago. The loss of the domestic auto industry would put the final touches on the death of mfg in our country. How's that for a national security issue? Perhaps the Chinese could help supply us if ever we do end up in another major war; they already make our soldiers' uniforms for us, so why not?

So let's see: loss of ability to make actual products (as opposed to the "imaginary" money created in the financial sector that we are so keen to bail out - not loans as the Big 3 are asking for, but hand-outs), loss of middle class salary, which is the primary class for spending and buying in America.

Even if it were justified to let these companies fall into bankruptcy, this IS NOT the time for it. Haven't we set ourselves up well enough for economic depression??

Sure. Great idea. Just let the American auto industry tank. Then sit back and watch the world laugh...

The Truth About Bailouts

Very articulate but unbalanced view of the serious situation that our country is in at this time.

Letting the auto industry go at ANY given time is debatable, but with our economy in the state it is now it would foolhardy - at best!

Over the long term, we will continue to lose our ability as a nation to engineer and manufacture our own goods. It is already happening at a alarming rate. The Big 3 need some oversight - this may be true, and if so, this is the time to do it. However to let them go..... This is unspeakable foolishness on many levels.

Respectfully..


On Nov 23 12:01 PM HowDan wrote:

> Once again, a fascinating, well-articulated and insightful article
> which extrapolates many key points about why these ridiculous,endless
> bailouts do not work.
> Like Peter, I have also been trying to explain to people that GM
> and the automakers should not be bailed out, partially due to the
> fact that if they are handed $50bn on a plate, they will just burn
> through it in a matter of weeks and then be back begging for more
> - why on earth should we (the taxpayers) pay for the sickening greed
> and utter incompetence of the automakers CEOs?
> Additionally a question which raises serious concerns is :-
> What happens if, due to the massive increase in US debt levels and
> rapid detirioration of the US economy, the major purchasers of US
> Goverment debt (i.e China, Japan and the MIddle East) decide to stop
> buying and even sell their $900 TRILLION worth? Then what?

Boeing Drags Its Heels on Air Force Bid

There is one important point that is missed in this discussion. We, as a country, cannot expect to remain an independent and secure nation if we continue to farm out our manufacturing, train competing countries all we know, and allow the skills to disappear from the American labor force.

If we were to go to war with China at this point we would would be obliged to humbly ask them for a good price on supplying our military's uniforms to us. We are no longer able to produce our own clothing, military or otherwise. Only a couple of decades ago, textile manufacturers from around the globe were traveling to the southeastern United States to take tours of our then state-of-the-art facilities. Not any more.

Skilled workers such as machinists and tool and die makers will soon be a thing of the past in the US. How is this good policy? We are systematically dismantling and selling the greatest manufacturing industry in the history of humankind.

This will clearly impact national security, but not enough Americans seem to get terribly upset about it. I believe the author of this "piece" (I won't say of what) referred to this as "whining."

This trend is foolish and perhaps even traitorous.

Now there is actually a debate as to whether we will begin to farm out our ability to produce military equipment and airplanes. Dumb, dumb, dumb...