Automakers and Their Crocodile Tears

The American Dream - remember we were suppose to have a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. This was the mantra of the nation and it was a good thought. It came with its share of problems but none to compare with the night-mare that is hovering over American soil.
The carmakers - Chrysler, GM and Ford - are working hard and burning that midnight oil. They have come up with a solution and it involves asking for about $20 billion more in bail-out money, but there is a string attached that they are hoping the American public doesn't see, or doesn't care about.
That bail-out money program still involves laying off thousands of workers. The money part is fine with them but what they don't want you to consider is that - you the taxpayer - will be handing over more money from your own unemployment checks to their unemployed workers through taxes. If the truth be known, while the nation "supports" the layed off auto workers, gives them food stamps and government assistance for their children, the car makers are taking that "pot of gold" in the form of billions of dollars and riding off in that "just off the assembly line" vehicle right into the sunset. This makes for quite a fairy tale - unless you read between the lines and realize that once again the American people are the "knights in shining armor" - only the armor is green and the metal for the armor is rusting quickly.
The auto makers had time to work up a "plan." If this is all they can come up with - we will take the billions in dollars, lay off thousands of workers and put them on the mercy of unemployment and taxpayer dollars, shut down a few plants and sell off some "models." This sounds like a plan right out of a mentally dysfunctional mind-set.
How nice of Detroit to "agree" to take your money, give you a whole bunch of people to take care of with more dollars, and then they feel that they have written up a very successful, workable program for future growth. President Obama has put into law the stimulus package to "create" jobs, Detroit, not add to the rolls of the unemployed. Maybe the American taxpayer just speaks a different language than GM or Chrysler. If you take a bail-out, exactly who and what are you "saving." It can't be the hard-earned money of the American tax-payer and it can't be lowering those tear-jerking unemployment numbers because you have just agreed to raise that number - oops, we were not suppose to figure this out.
If we want to live in fairy-lands and make-believe, then collectively the American tax-payers should allow the auto makers to file bankruptcy, get some restructuring guidelines and tutoring, and keep their workers working, and their bottom line exactly where it should be - at the bottom of the golden bowl that holds billions of dollars of wasted money on CEO's who don't have a clue, but know where the best resorts are, and the finest restaurants. After all, you have to spend that money wisely and how better to spend it then on yourselves and your families.
It should not be allowed to let the car makers do a literal double-take on the citizens of this country. You cannot, Detroit, have your cake and eat it too. If you take the money, then the workers stay. If you can't handle that scenario then obviously you are in dire straits, and need government overseers to go behind your fancy desks and into those file cabinets that hold your resumes. Polish them up and begin to wear comfortable shoes - you will need then when you stand in the unemployment lines and feel the "heat" of your bad leadership. However, why do I get the feeling that your lifestyles won't change and while you may not come flying in a corporate jet, you are leaving on a "gravy" train right back to the status quo.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur February 20, 2009

The Lucrative Business of Fiscal Responsibility

Sarah Palin ran for Vice President on the premise that she was "fiscally responsible" This in light of the fact that she charged for staying at her home in Wasilla instead of in the capital of Juneau. Her children's hotel rooms and meals were charged as well as other "incidentals" that are now amounting to tax due bills of $18,000 plus. This is just one example of how the fiscally responsible get their nest eggs, while the "ordinary Plumber Joe's" are losing their jobs, shopping with food stamps, and foregoing health in-surance so they have gas in their cars to look for work.
Several of Obama's nominees for office conveniently "forgot" or simply "did not understand" the rules of filing taxes both for personal and business profits. This makes a person wonder why they never forget to pick up their paychecks or flaunt their wealth with vacations, limos, and other "perks" that the system offers only to those who are "fiscallyresponsible".
Tom Daschle should have known better because he tried to be "fiscally responsible" for the health care of millions of senior citizens. He simply told them that they should "understand they are not as young as they used to be." While this truism is one that no one really wants to hear, maybe his memory was slipping a bit as well, because he "forgot" that the limo and driver were no longer his to use as he wished, but then that was simply an "error" and never intended to hurt anyone.
If you work for GM or one of the other car companies, you just may lose your job, pay more for health coverage, or have unpaid leave. This all in light of the fact that Oops - the first "beggars" came to Washington in private jets where they sat in luxury while they wined and dined until they appeared before Congress contrite and "fiscally responsible". They tried and isn't that all that is asked of CEO's of Wall Street and banking insitutions. Remember that if you work hard at being "fiscally wealthy" you deserve vacations, now labeled "awards" in Mexico, Greece, etc. How conveniently they "forget" about those who buy their cars and support their luxury lifestyles while foregoing the basics for themselves and their families.
In today's government halls of justice, being "fiscally responsible" is just a very polite word for trying to beat the system and lining your pockets with taxpayer money so that if push comes to shove, you can ride off into the sunset on that white horse with boots blazing and that air-conditioned limo waiting at the end of your ride.
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur February, 2009