Posted by
TrueBlueAmerican on Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:00:00 AM
The other day, while driving into work, I noticed the car in front of me had all kinds of bumper stickers. One said "Obama 08" and another said, "Lost your job yet? Keep buying Foreign." It took a minute for it to sink in, and then I realized this person unknowingly voted for the man who will ultimately be responsible for the demise of the United States as we know it. The two stickers don't go together because of Obama's lack of understanding for the free-market economy. How sad.
Crisis situations like the one we are facing now, don't happen over night. That is painfully obvious. Questions to ask now is any corporation safe from failure? The answer, none. A corporation of any size can fail due to any number of things, like poor management, poor product, government regulations and the list can go on and on. If too many corporations fail at the same time, then we got trouble. Big trouble. The main focus these days is on the Automakers and Detroit. The last industry to be bailed out. Or is it? Some critics of the auto industry say that all of their problems can be traced back to the Detroit and the CEOs. That's an easy assumption to make, but it is not entirely true.
Did the Big Three practice poor management? That's debatable. It can not be said that they didn't try to cut costs. GM cut part of their product line roughly about five years ago. Anyone remember the Oldsmobile? This was an attempt to streamline the product line, in the process the guys on the line putting the Olds together, lost their jobs. Ford once owned Jaguar and Land Rover. Great car lines with brand name recognition that spelt out "affluence". Ford sold both Jaguar and Land Rover to become more solvent. Chrysler tried merging with Mercedes Benz, that worked out well. The German automaker did nothing to improve the financial stability of the company, in fact it can be argued they made it worse. All the moves, were made to help the companies become focused, stable and viable. Unfortunately, it didn't produce the results that were needed. More had to be done.
Back in the day, there were public service commercials that would urge Americans to buy products made in the USA. Products would have a nice little tag on it with the American Flag and "Made in the USA" printed beneath it. Those days are over. If you find anything today that says "made in the USA" it is a rarity. When auto companies began taking their business to other countries, the American worker got the shaft. Unions became more fierce at trying to keep jobs here that they began to demand too much. Job security. Health Care. Benefits if a worker was laid off. Benefits if a worker was sick. Paid vacations and sick days, not to mention the personal holidays. Government regulations didn't help either and let's face it, taxes are another form of punishment. Why stick around? In come the foreign car factories building in our country. It's okay to buy from them, the money is going back to the local economy, it brought in jobs and the economy is going global. Gotta move with the tide. Sorry, that doesn't wash well when the foreign automakers don't have to play by the same rules as the American companies. Not to mention, that most of the financial gains do not stay in America, it goes back to the foreign automakers homeland.
If the Big Three and Detroit do not deserve to be bailed out, is there any recourse for them? For what is is worth, here are some ideas. Get rid of the Union once and for all. They have done more to reduce productivity, abused their power and corrupted the minds of the factory worker that they deserve the same pay, benefits that a CEO makes. Really? In what corporation has this ever made the company stronger and better? It's called the bottom up theory and it doesn't work anywhere. If the UAW really wants to help the auto industry, let them pay up. For all the times they told their members to go on strike, pay back the money for lost time and productivity. For every time that a member calls in sick, pay back the company for lost hours. For every retired worker who does not produce anything for the company, pay the retirees pension back. If the Union think that these members are so valuable, let the Union pay for all the "security" that the members need for a comfortable life. In other words, instead of taking dues and spending it on politician's votes, try giving back to the Big Three.
What a wonderful world this would be if Czars would be appointed for every industry in America. Wrong! The government has way too much on their plates to be worrying about running an industry. They are suppose to run a country not do corporate takeovers, and yet that is exactly what members of congress want to do. They have been trying to do this for years. Now, with gleam in their eyes, they see the opportunity of a lifetime. If anyone has ever noticed government efficiency, please write to me and tell me where it exists. In all my years, never has the government ever done anything efficiently except taxes. Even then they goof up, because some citizens fall through the cracks and never pay a dime in taxes. So much for efficiency. What is the government's roll in this mess? Get out of the way, lift taxes off of the corporation and fight for fair trade agreements which would allow our companies to be fighting on the same playing field as their foreign competitors. That should be the government's only involvement. Think that will happen with a Democrat congress?
As much as this hurts to say, the American people have got to wake up. We have been asleep for so long, that accountability for good government, good companies and good workforce has slipped away. If the majority of Americans are against the bailout, then they should do their part. Buy American. Invest in America. Demand that your congress person do their job and vote in a manner that is going to save the economy not put it further in the hole. Buy American made products and if that product is inferior, let the company know and demand good services. Trust me, if companies want nothing more than repeat business, so they will bend over backwards to make you the consumer happy. American workers have got to stop relying on the Unions, who have done more harm then good for their future. If American workers want a secure future, they have to fight for it themselves. In short, the American people have to take back their country and not rely on someone else to do the job for them. We have become far too lazy and it is time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work. America's future is in our hands.