J's Cafe Nette

Archive for November 12th, 2008

As Detroit’s Big Three auto makers continue to clamor for more aid from Washington and Congressional leadership works to make it happen, the plan appears to be facing significant resistance.

The auto makers — General Motors (GM: 3.16, +0.24, +8.22%), Ford Motor (F: 1.90, +0.10, +5.55%) and Chrysler — have been meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D, Calif.) and others in Washington to ask for additional help on top of $25 billion in low-interest loans they’ve already received, including billions of dollars in loans already granted. They’ve also been speaking in dire terms about their ability to survive without additional help.

General Motors, in particular, seems to be in difficulty. The company is burning through cash so quickly that it might not be able to fund its operations past the end of the year. Ford is in trouble as well, though it said last week that it should be able to survive in the near term. Link

How many more of our dollars is Congress going to spend to bail out every industry that hasn’t kept up with the times? First the financial institutions and now the auto industry.

AIG is taking extravagant trips everywhere for their big shots and we are footing the bill.

Now Detroit wants us to pony up more money for an industry that can’t stay afloat on its own for more than a few weeks at best.

It’s time to lay the blame where it belongs. Detroit has not designed products that are desirable or even great quality. I haven’t bought an American car since I bought a 1974 Plymouth Scamp. We have bought Nissans and then switched to Toyota many years ago because we got more quality and a bigger bang for our buck.

The UAW has finally priced themselves out of a job and should join in with the managers of the auto companies in accepting the blame. Let them cut wages and benefits. Who gets laid off with almost full pay these days except this union that dominates the city of Detroit?

Congress calls for more environmentally safe cars and gives the auto industry $25 billion to re-tool, and yet they have the nerve to come back with their hand out and Pelosi and soon the Obama administration will give them what they want.

When my office closed no one offered a big package to save the company, which ultimately was bought by a French company.

We helped our landscaper start his business. If he went out of business he wouldn’t have the government bail him out from his foolish mistakes.

It’s time to put the brakes on these greedy companies and let congress stand up to their special interest unions. Make them renegotiate their contracts downward to save the company. It’s better to take a pay cut than to have no job.

And, yes, we are talking about a lot of jobs. My husband and I lost 2 1/2 years of income just in the month of October. This is the money we planned to live on for the rest of our lives. We retired thinking we had enough money to last us and leave something to our children and grandchildren.

We were responsible. We paid our bills on time, we didn’t go in over our heads, we paid off our house and now we have to sacrifice our future to bail out companies that didn’t act as responsibly as we and most people on a budget act.

We need to write to congress and make phone calls, send emails or whatever it takes to show we are no longer willing to mortgage our future with dollars that are worth less and less, all so the elite can keep up their lifestyle.

Hopefully, these high paid employees of the auto industry have saved money and will get good benefits and pay from their union to tide them over until they can be trained for a different job. It may not pay what they are used to, but that’s life anymore.

Maybe I’m too jaded, but I have no sympathy for any industry so stupid as to be behind the times for the past thirty or so years.

Watch the Obama administration and the democrat Congress give them your hard-earned dollars and raise your taxes. Otherwise, they would lose a big bloc of voters.

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When the presidency of George W. Bush draws to its end in January there is one thing which is a safe bet. His successor will have been offered every opportunity for a smooth, seamless transition.

While many have disagreed with his policies from time to time (yes, even Conservatives), President Bush proves once again that what he wants now and has always wanted is what’s best for the country
in its governance:

Bush expressed minimal regret that his chosen successor John McCain lost to Obama, saying “my choice didn’t win,” and saying that the Democrat’s victory was “good for the country” — and that his success was in America’s interest.

“It is good for our country that people have hope in the system and feel vested in the future and president-elect Obama has a great opportunity. I really do wish him all the best,” said Bush.

“It is good for our country that the president succeeds. The transition that we are working with him on is a genuine effort to help him be able to deal with the pressures and the complicated issues of the presidency,” he said.

Bush detailed how Obama, after their policy discussion, had raised “his little girls, how would they like the White House” and that during a tour of the residence section of the mansion “he wanted to see where his little girls were going to sleep.”

As President-Elect Obama draws closer to the most cumbersome job he will ever face he is a fortunate man. He has majorities in both Houses to assist him with his agenda. There are factions of the press who may very well allow him a permanent “honeymoon” period.

He also has something else in his corner which President Bush never had. He will have the good wishes and quiet departure of our sitting President.

Mr. Bush will relinquish the reins of power to his duly elected successor with the same dignity and humility with which he assumed the office and like his Dad I sense a silent future with regards to criticism of any current or past president. Anything less given the nature of the man, would be a huge disappointment.

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