Posted on 11/21/2008 7:21:09 AM PST by onlylewis
The auto industry sees other industries getting government bailouts, and wonders why not? Others hear the pleas of the Big Three carmakers and wonder, why?
Democratic leaders in Congress crafted a plan to fork over $25 billion to Detroit, above and beyond the $25 billion in loans the government already committed to help the Big Three make more fuel-efficient cars.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
A caller to Rush yesterday had worked as UAW — for Ford, I think. They said they have a “pool” where guys just sit around all day waiting to be called to do a job. While sitting around, they’re on full pay. If someone gets called for a job, which could be full-time permanent, he has the option of turning it down and return to the pool to sit around and collect full pay.
The caller was called from pool for a job in another city, so he accepted the job, picked up his family, and moved to where he could work. Most people prefer the “sitting around” at full pay.
These kinds of “perks” need to GO AWAY before any taxpayers’ money is ever given or loaned to the industry. If they want our money, then the stipulation should be that every item in the unions’ agreements is subject to be revised or deleted.
Reason #1 in my book. The big 3 aren’t domestic automakers anymore. They may be headquartered here, but a majority, if not all, of the parts come from foreign suppliers.
The government wants to give the automakers $25 billion so they can comply with government imposed regulations???
What a farce!!
And that money isn’t even the additional bailout money they are asking for.
The taxpayers are getting scammed. This whole crisis is government induced. And who will be held hostage to pay for the scam?? US!! the people!!
This is one more example of government trying to fix problems of it’s making. they can’t fix illegal immigration. They can’t fix social security. They can’t fix the energy crisis. And they sure as hell can’t fix the economy! We can’t even vote out the morons who effed everything up.
But the people have the ability to shut them down. Don’t spend. Reduce income, reduce income taxes. Take away the government play money by taking a tax protest holiday.
I think the process is already underway. The government wants us to spend, spend spend. And we have reached our limit of what we can afford. Government don’t understand why we should live on a budget when they don’t have a clue how to make a budget that works. I am sick. this is sickening. this is enraging.
My favorite anecdote (because I saw it with my own eyes) was on a trip to the Lordstown facility here in Ohio. I went with a bunch of Purchasing Managers on tour, pulled around the plant in a group.
We passed workers sitting in lawnchairs, reading newspapers, who, when they saw our little train go by, waved to us. There in front of these workers who were sitting in chairs were other people who happened to be working on the line. We also passed a few weight rooms where there were people working out. They, too, waved when we went by.
After the tour, when we were asked for comments and questions, I asked about how they staggered the break times so some can read newspapers or workout with weights, and I was told, “OH NO. THOSE PEOPLE IN LAWNCHAIRS AND IN THE WEIGHT ROOM ARE ON THE CLOCK . . . THEY HAVE SENIORITY . . . IF THE GUYS (WITH LESS SENIORITY) SCREW UP, THOSE PEOPLE IN THE CHAIRS OR IN THE WEIGHT ROOM ARE EXPECTED TO COME FORWARD TO HELP THEM.
In other words, there were TWO people getting paid at the same time, one of whom had seniority and the other of whom did not . . . two checks . . . one person working.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. I am still disgusted at what I saw.
It’s called a Job Bank and has been highlighted in a number of posts on FR. Originally featured in a WSJ article a couple of years ago.
It seems that it would make sense for the banks that we bailed out to be giving the car makers loans, not the federal government. Lending money is one of the things that the banks are supposed to be doing with their bailout money. I have heard from several small bankers that they are not giving money to small banks and it seems their reasoning is for them to go under and then to be supplanted with the big guys who got the bailouts.
The mandates that the Federal government imposes should be one of the first things to go in this crisis. Are the foreign auto makers restricted by the same mandates?
“We passed workers sitting in lawnchairs, reading newspapers,...”
Amazing similarity to Tony Soprano’s crew on construction sites — their as$es glued to lawn chairs while getting paid.
nancy and Harry wants to give the automakers $25 billion so they can comply with government imposed regulations???
Control = power
When the people are poor you have control.
“When the people are poor you have control.”
Maybe this is why Obama won’t intervene with “words of wisdom” in the economic collapse. He is punishing big, greedy corporations. When they get beat down, he can impose controls over them because their capacity to fight government greed is severely diminished. The people losing their jobs are already in his grasp.
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