So with all the talk about the recession and how crappy things are I thought I would blab about my thoughts. They’ll be random so take them for what they are.
I am working so that’s a good thing. My “extra” side work has dried up some but that has allowed me to finish up on some of the projects that I’ve neglected at home for so long. Don’t get me wrong the house is no Taj Mahal but it is getting better.
The side work drying up is a good indicator of how things are going though. People are getting really worried and trying to hold on to their money. I don’t blame them; I’m trying to do the same. I’m not buying how the govt is going to fix this either. Anybody looking at what the govt is doing can see that they don’t have a clue. They’ve handed 700B to the head of the treasury to spend it however he chooses. That attitude is so typical of how so many people think today. People just have a just fix it and lets be done with it attitude. That type of thinking or lack thereof has put us here. We as a nation have lived so far beyond our means that we don’t know how to methodically pay down debt, save money, and not live off of credit. I’m not saying credit is a bad thing, I’ve certainly carried it. I’ve gotten in trouble with it too. I’ve also worked my way thru it and paid it off as well. I learned my lesson and now it appears that our country as a whole has to learn the same lesson. Think of it this way, the govt is spending 700 billion bucks to get certain people and organizations out of debt. Since the govt has a deficit, 10 TRILLION DOLLARS WORTH, they just borrowed 700 billion more from us. Think we’ll get that money back?? Now have you ever borrowed your way out of debt? That’s what the govt is doing and we’re letting them!!! I say them knowing full well that since we are Of, By, and For the People it’s our debt but our elected officials are the ones that have been running this tab up. Turns out they have been running the tab up to the tune of 3.9 billion dollars a day since Sept of 2007. Doesn’t sound like they are checking up at all to me.
November 19, 2008 at 3:45 pm
The thing I find most fascinating about our current situation is the reactions of the politicians.
When the House Republicans went against the $850 Billion bailout plan and it stalled out, the Democrats came out swinging about how irresponsible the House Republicans had been in their opposition to the bill.
Chief among Republican concerns was leaving total discretion for spending up to one person, namely Henry Paulson. People like Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and others came out talking about how badly the country needed to put forth a plan “TODAY” because these institutions were “too big to fail”.
Over the next few days a compromise was finally reached, meaning that at least some of the objections of Republican House Members had been overcome. So theoretically, this was the BETTER of the two bills. The $700 Billion plan we wound up with still left total discretion for spending up to Henry Paulson.
All of this was despite a 100 to 1 call from the public to bust the bill.
And NOW, Pelosi, Frank, Dodd, Reid and others are crying “FOUL!” about the way Paulson’s doing it and screaming that he needs to be accountable? It was they who pushed for LESS oversight of Paulson in the first bailout bill and left the spending to his discretion.
GM, FORD and CHRYSLER are lining up now too, trying to get a bailout. And the DEMS are demanding they be given the money and demanding that Paulson use the $700 Billion to do it saying that these companies are “too big to fail”.
Where the hell is the call for sacrifice on the part of the auto industry and the auto workers? If you or I go broke, we make sacrifices until we get back in the black.
Why isn’t anyone asking these companies and their unions to do the same?
I know it will suck, but I’ve said it before and will say it again, GM, Ford and Chrysler NEED TO FAIL. They need to DRASTICALLY RESTRUCTURE and bankruptcy is the best way to do that. The unions need to be forced out of work and to renegotiate their contracts DOWNWARD to ease the burdens of these car companies. Those are the sacrifices REQUIRED for long term sustainability of the auto industry.
And that is the principal difference between people like you and Congress, you see that there ARE EASY ANSWERS. But that those easy answers REQUIRE HARD WORK AND SACRIFICE. So you will do the work and make the sacrifice to solve the problem. Congress doesn’t believe that there are easy answers, especially if all they require is hard work and sacrifice.
Blog On Brother.
November 20, 2008 at 7:59 pm
The bailouts must end. I think we are already seeing that they arent working. If your car has a leak you fix the leak, then fill the fluids back up. Everyone knows if you fill the fluids back up first they just start running out again.
The auto industry cannot be successful again until the labor costs come down. Ive see estimated that GM is paying somewhere between 43 and 72 dollars an hour for labor.Toyota is paying the North American workers $29 (average). First of all, I’d take either one. Second of all, you cant be competitive paying that for labor. Third of all, you got to cut those costs big time before you see a dime in subsidies. I wouldn’t be against giving GM a handout if they cut labor cost by a third and (at the same time) doubled their staff. What they are proposing instead is to cut the number of North American workers (thus reducing costs). How does this help America?
As much as everyone in Congress seems to be against it, dollar to a donut says they do it.