Bail out
Don't get me started!....
Why is it that when an industry is in trouble, non-union management types rally to the defense of their short sighted, over-paid, and incompetent brethren? "Sure, let the working man take it in the shorts, as long as I don't lose that golden parachute!" The size of your unpaid college loans should not bestow a "right" to an oversized income. Pay for performance doesn't seem to apply, while we who turn wrenches for a living are considered to be ignorant slaves to those who have the benefit of higher education. Where is the "We" in "We the people" these days? Solidarity... There are so many who cannot continue on to college for many reasons that are self evident. Our work is what generates the bottom line buck. Please show me the money generated by paper...or not. Unions are here to keep things in balance. Sure, there are excesses on both sides of this coin. But without the ability to negotiate, the men with the benefit of power, will abuse that power, to their own benefit, every time. (Read history, any book.) Have we all been asleep for the last eight years? Last go around was Reaganism, voter Alzheimer's? The unionist, Lech Walesa ("Solidarity"), heralded as a hero, while air traffic controllers and other union workers in our own country were vilified. Hypocrisy on a national level. Many died in this country (unionists) for work rules that most of us now take for granted. The next time you hear someone complaining about the excesses of unions, ask them if they would like to live without that which the unions made possible -- a 40 hour work week, paid over-time, paid holidays and vacations and medical insurance( being imbattled, as it were.) If you choose the 60- to 80 hour week, and work for yourself, than so be it. Just don't expect your employees to feel your pain. Unless you kick in on their e9 repairs.
The problems with the economy today, in my opinion, are the direct result of the price of energy, plain and simple. The current drop in the price of the barrel will not undo the rape of the last two to three years. In addition, can anyone say "SUV?" All manufacturers jumped on this band wagon. CAFE restraints you say? Can't sell your Escalade ? Wow, I feel for you. The SUV craze is dead and there is a void, nationally, in the ability to produce sensible, efficient, and cost effective transportation for the masses. My daily driver sedan looks like a golf ball due to all the soccer moms who switched from mini-vans to over-sized behemoths to keep up with the Jones'. Who needs a massive 4X4 in the sunshine states? Did the guys who paint the parking lot space stripes change their size dimensions to accommodate this switch in "consumer preference?" I get pretty ragged to see the new dents that appear on my daily driver, almost weekly, that line up to high ground clearance vehicle door levels. But, I rail and ramble...
The economy will take time to recover from the money that is "missing" due to Big Oil, Wallstreet, and the "war on terror." Where is the money? Not in your 401K, this much is for sure!
Please forward the e9 stimulus package petition for my signature. Hit up Halliburton and Exxon-Mobil for the cost of the bail out(s). (Plus contributions to my D.O.A. 401K.)
Realistically, my vote goes with the "No Bail Out " crowd. That applies to Wallstreet as well. Leave AIG et al, to their own devices. We boomers have been truly screwed... by ourselves. Let the suffering begin...