Congress, The Media, The Automakers
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Stop drinking the kool-aide people. The congress and the media have it all wrong. How can anyone believe that we can become a consumptive society and sustain ourselves strictly through Intellectual or technological properties? It cannot and will not happen. We must produce, we must create, and we must compete to survive.
With all the news on the auto industry this week I thought I would add my two cents. Like most everyday Americans I believe the automotive industry is broken and has been for a very long time. However I also believe we cannot have it both ways. The automotive industry particularly Ford Motor Co. is almost single handedly responsible for the industrial revolution, creating a need for transportation and an infrastructure to support cities, raising the earnings of all Americans, helping to win two world wars, technological advances, just to name a few. The Big Three are responsible for one out of every ten jobs in the United States not for just a few years either! Try for over a century. They are practically a national treasure. How about the incredible amounts of philanprothy they have been involved in? Granted they are also partly to blame for global warming, and they have not always been environmentally responsible to say the least. But there is plenty of blame to go around!
First lets talk about competition and get some of the blame where it belongs. The media always covers the Domestic Automotive Industry with disdain while heaping praises on foreign automakers. Don’t take my word for it research the coverage yourself. How much has been said about Ford quality being equal to Honda and Toyota. Talk about turn around, which in itself is something to really celebrate. So I ask you how can the Domestic Manufacturers compete when the overwhelming message from corporate sponsored media is about their love affair with foreign manufacturing?
Do foreign manufacturers have a competitive labor advantage? Yes they do but you could get rid of the union tomorrow and minimum wage, health care cost, litigation issues, Insurance cost, and other mindless regulations, would still keep Domestic Manufacturers from being competitive. Like I said the Big Three have not always managed their business properly but there is still enough blame to go around. So I ask you is it poor management or government regulation, and threat of litigation that is the issue?
How about the hypocrisy of congress, how dare they encourage the Big three to renege on promises made, to former workers? Have the unions put the Big Three in Bankruptcy? Absolutely! That’s obvious! I have news for you though our government is bankrupt too and know one is telling them to take a pay cut or renege on government benefits like health care to former employees. So I ask you, what kind of message do we send when we tell companies to break promises to former workers? What message do we send when we say “go into bankruptcy so that you don’t have to honor obligations to suppliers”?
The big three are not the only ones trying to deal with legacy benefits. Why in New Jersey the legacy cost are so high the government is trying to sell the roads to a foreign entity just to cover cost, and toll ways that were supposed to be removed after road construction remain to pay for maintenance in addition to tax dollars collected for the very same thing. So I ask you is it poor management or the structure of our Health Care System that is the problem?
Those corporate jets, ludicrous no doubt, but how about congress, absolutely none of them are riding around in private planes? Nancy? Come on? Lets get real! New rule no one living in a glass house gets to throw stones! Sure the Big Three can put those fancy corporate jets up for sale but none of the buyers will be able to get financing. That’s right the only thing the banks did with their bailout money was pay bonuses. The same people that said yes to the 700 Billion for the Banks said no to the Big Three. So I ask you why pay to bailout Banks who created the credit crisis that makes it impossible for the Big Three to borrow money to run their companies?
Exorbitant pay for CEO’s absolutely, No CEO deserves to make so much more than its employees but how about the pay for members of congress? I think they can use a pay cut too! How about these professional athletes, and actors and actresses, they certainly are not responsible for millions of jobs yet they are making ridiculous amounts of money. Way more than some of these CEO’s. If you want compensation to come in line let common shareholders vote. So I ask you why is it that common shareholders don’t get to vote on executive compensation?
Speaking of shareholders have you watched the stock market closely? How about the last half hour of trading? Hedge funds are having their way daily with the stock market and there is nothing that main street can do about it. As a matter of fact it is all an illusion and Wall Street is really ones in charge! Oh yeah and insider trading (Mark Cuban) how many Senators manipulated their portfolios prior to the first bailout vote? You know the one that they were all so convicted about until the extra bribes went into the Bailout Bill! Isn’t that insider trading? But I digress, So I ask you why is there no uptick rule?
Like I said there is plenty of blame to go around and the Big Three better step up and take their fair share, but its not and never has been just their fault. I have only scratched the surface of the many issues that face our manufacturing base and plague our national psyche. There is so much more like; self-interest, trade tariffs, civic responsibility, tax code, but this is supposed to just be a friendly lite blog. I will leave you with this. We should protect our manufacturing base! We should demand “Fair Trade” or “No Trade”! We should never let the 24/7 media circus dumb down the issues for us. So I ask you stop drinking the Kool-Aide People!
Until next time!
Mr. Expert Online