A CNN story: "The current plans to restructure General Motors and Chrysler LLC will leave the United Auto Workers union in the driver's seat at both companies. But it appears that the union would rather be in the back seat. The UAW is set to receive a 55% stake in Chrysler through its union trust fund ... [and] The trust fund will also likely get up to 38% of GM's stock as part of its reorganization." All of this I predicted, by the way, last December: that the ultimate aim of Obama was to give these companies to the unions. "Return the nation's wealth to its rightful owners," you see. "But that doesn't mean the union will be calling the shots at either company. "In fact, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said the union hopes to sell its stake in both companies quickly because he is more interested in raising cash to cover retiree health care costs than having an ownership stake in GM and Chrysler." The truth of the matter is that Ron Gettelfinger and anybody at the UAW don't have a clue how to run a sustaining, profitable business. They only know how to leech from it. They only know how to complain. They only know how to whine about how evil management is. And to say they want to sell their stake to fund their health care trust fund is an indication of why they exist in the first place: benefits! Benefits. I'm talking about the union leaders. Benefits. It's about benefits. It's not about making cars. It's not about advancing the business. They don't want any part of that. They just want the business to be around to be able to leech off of it. "[T]he union's reluctance to take an active ownership role in either company is nothing new. When the UAW got a more direct stake Chrysler during a federal bailout of that company in the 1980s, it also sold the stock as soon as possible to compensate members for concessions they had made in labor contracts. ... Experts say union leaders are worried about being in an uncomfortable position of being blamed by membership if management" (laughs) meaning the union management "of the automakers needs to make additional plant closings or layoffs down the road to be competitive." Well, reality would really suck there! Conflict of interest, anybody? Conflict of interest? Reality? How's that hope and change working out for you here? Isn't that absolutely wonderful? I'll tell you what, this is absolutely cool. They don't want to run it! What happens...? I asked this we the first day this was announced. What happens when the UAW has to negotiate a contract with itself? What happens when management tells the rank-and-file, "Uhhh, sorry," and then the rank-and-file says, "Okay, union, we're striking! We're going to strike against ourselves." This is the anatomically impossible. You know the old phrase that's out there all the time: "Go (spit) yourself." The union doesn't want to be put in this position. They want to screw somebody else. You gotta love this, all these unintended consequences! Barack Obama, The One, The Savior.
As much as I love observing entropy from a safe and stable standpoint, I still can't watch these events unfold without invoking that rarely (optimistic) expressed "I told you so" response that unintentionally presents itself and invokes resentment from those narrow-minded enough to not think ahead. Currently, I'm preparing for a number of these instances.
I think the next time I buy a vehicle I am going to make sure it is not a Union made vehicle. I guess if I have to buy a Nissan or Toyota truck that is fine. Its amazing how those non-union companies are prospering and it's employees are taken care of. Of course the guy that squeezes the oil gun that puts the first 5 quarts of oil into every new Ford truck has a golden parachute and banks 30+ an hour is well worth the investment. What a bunch of tools.
Joe I've noticed you have a real distaste for Barack Obama. Now really dude... I'm not fan of the guy myself but he is our president. We really should try to get behind our leader and hope that his decisions help us in some way. You have to realize that whether he or John won the election, things were not going to change overnight. Let's see if this "Union run" thing works out. If it does then great! If not, then let the auto industry fail. A new company will emerge from the ashes, and if they are smart, not allow themselves to repeat the same mistakes as other companies. Really Joe... for things to REALLY get better... its up to people like you and me to change them. By that I mean the common citizen. I understand that dissention is the ultimate form of Patriotism... but lets try it this way first. If it doesn't work, then we have our revolution. Seriously... whether Obama or McCain or even Linden Larouche... we're equally screwed. Why don't you write a manifesto? I'd read it.
"be the change you want to see in the world" or something like that, Ghandi. I am also from the 'he's our president and we should support him as best we can' genre, although at times it's frustrating.
I'll give you this weather Obama or John McCain there would not be a lot of difference. McCain is only slightly less liberal than Obama and it was a huge mistake to run him IMO. For that matter GW was more fiscally liberal then even John Kennedy who also like Bush lowered taxes stimulating the economy but also spent less for a net gain. The problem is that we DO live in an IDIOCRACY and its getting worse not better. I have decided to simply be content that all the idiots who were told by all the Katie Kouric, Matt Liar, and Anderson Cooper's of the world. That the world is ending and its because of deregulation, that better times are ahead if we only succumb to our government god. Will learn from their mistake. The problem is they will not because the truth will be spun so the sheeple will not know what happened what the cause was and what the effect will be.
I read the transcripts from both Cheney and Obama's speeches yesterday and one sounds like a person showing the public how the government has used interrogation to protect innocent lives and the other sounds like 'I am the pres-0-dent and I dont havta'. It pisses me off that Cheney simply said, you have already made the methods public, so why not make the information gained public. Not to mention only 3, yes 3, terrorist were waterboarded. They also fail to mention that the interrogators doing the waterboarding have themselves been waterboarded. I'm so sick of this BS. It will take another incident before these retards pull their head out of the sand and stand up and say 'no' to big government and the jackasses that run it. Pelosi needs to be drawn and quartered. I wish they would just come out and call her an idiot and a liar.
I don't really believe the government is to blame for the situation we're in now. When you take a dog off his leash ... you expect it to behave. If it bites someone, then it goes back on the leash and possibly to take the big sleep. Our problem was we let the Wall Street, banks, drug companies and Big Oil take their greed to a whole new level. When we saw them getting out of control we should have put the leash back on.
law The good lawyer is not the man who has an eye to every side and angle of contingency, and qualifies all his qualifications, but who throws himself on your part so heartily, that he can get you out of a scrape. ....... nova Divorce Lawyer
Absolutely Phat: good links to the duel of terrorism speeches here. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22831_Page2.html And Pelosi DEMANDED briefings on the interrogation techniques. http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/cheney_pelosi_CIA/2009/05/21/216877.html Meanwhile Obama says "were out of money" hold on to your pocket book. Seems he has doled out all the yet to be paid for stimulus money to the unions and government programs and wants more of your paycheck. Cheese you have been duped Wall Street, banks, drug companies and Big Oil are regulated more then ever. It was regulation that caused the real mess and that was forcing banks to make stupid loans. CRA was a regulation.
Ayn Rand 1975 "[O]ne of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making [the industry] unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary." Barney Frany 2003 NY Times: "[...]'These two entities - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - are not facing any kind of financial crisis,' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. 'The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.'..." Melvin L. Watt agreeing with Frank said: 'I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,' Mr. Watt said..." The Democrats are still using the same playbook Ayn Rand talked about in 1975. It was their regulation in the form of the CRA that caused the mortgage crisis and their proposal? More regulation of EVERYTHING. Read up on the Community Re-Investment Act (CRA) - passed by a Democrat House and Senate, signed into law by Jimmy Carter in 1977. In short, CRA requires lenders to make bad business decisions on the basis of political correctness. Bill Clinton's administration expanded CRA via regulation to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bundle sub prime loans for re-sale to investors. The loans went bad, the institutions tanked, capital markets followed (are following) suit. And here we are. Barack Obama and his congressional backers have protected Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from heightened scrutiny and enhanced regulatory oversight for years. Democrat appointees to the boards of these institutions - in their greed (how's that for irony?) - took advantage of their political connections to engage in the shoddy lending practices that planted the seeds of the economic mess we're in. And they did it, ultimately, with your money. It's criminal. Washington Democrats are flat-out lying about the origin and causes of the housing crunch. They know it; you should too.
Whats Obama been up to while we give him a chance? 1. One of Obama's very first acts was to set free the terrorist responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole. Seventeen United States Navy sailors were killed in the bombing. The man was already being prosecuted and in the middle of the trial Obama set him free. SHAME ON YOU OBAMA! 2. The constitution calls for the House of Representatives to hold a census every ten years to determine the population of the country and to determine how many representatives each state should have. In February Obama illegally moved the census from the legislative branch to the administrative branch (White House) so he could control the conduction of the census. 3. To show his disdain for England and for the Queen of England, Obama presented her with the insulting gift of an ipod that contained several of Obama's speeches. To further insult them, obama gave the Prime Minister of England a box of DVD movies that won't even work in England. A third insult was his return of a bust of Sir Winston Churchill that England had given as a gift to America. 4. While snubbing his nose at England, Obama has heaped praise and adoration on those who have nothing but hate for America. He has happily met with such as Hogo Chavez and accepted a vile anti-American book from Chavez with a huge grin on his face and with a grateful handshake. 5. Obama pushed and pressed Congress very hard to pass his massive $800 billion stimulus package saying that it must be passed immediately or the country was in grave danger of economic collapse. But, once the bill was passed, Obama went on a three day vacation before signing the bill. 6. During his campaign Obama promised a bi-partisan administration. As soon as he was elected he forgot all about any bi-partisanship. Not even one recommendation of the Republicans in Congress was included in the stimulus bill. 7. During his campaign Obama had a slogan of "hope over fear". Ever since the day of his inauguration he has used nothing but fear tactics to get his ultra liberal policies passed. 8. Within his first week in office Obama announced that all of the terrorist prisoners being held at the prison in Guantanamo, Cuba would be released and the prison shut down. 9. In an unbelievable move, even to most Democrats, Obama has released memos from the CIA concerning the techniques used to interrogate terrorist prisoners. Now the United Nations says that the United States is obligated to prosecute the lawyers who wrote the memos. The UN says that not to do so will violate the Geneva Conventions. 10. To show his complete naivety Obama has agreed to negotiate with Iran while they continue to develop a nuclear weapon. 11. During his campaign Obama said that he wouldn't have any lobbyists in his administration. So far he has seventeen of them and the number is growing. 12. Obama has proposed to force military veterans to pay for their medical treatment for service related injuries instead of the government. 13. Obama has made it clear to the Democrats in Congress that they had better not disagree with him. When Representative Peter DeFazio voted against the stimulus bill, Obama said to him, "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother." 14. Obama has lifted almost all restrictions concerning Cuba. This virtually assures the continuation of a communist government there and guarantees punishment of dissidents in Cuba. 15. In a clear sign of weakness the President of the United States of America bowed down to the king of Saudi Arabia. 16. During the G-20 summit, Obama signed an agreement that allows the G-20 members to set the salaries and bonuses of any and all company executives and employees in America. 17. Obama respectfully sat and listened to an almost hour long anti-American speech by Daniel Ortega. His only comment following the speech was "I thought it was 50 minutes long.", not even defending America at all. 18. Obama has proposed and gotten the largest annual budget in history. His $3.7 trillion dollar budget will put the United States in the red for decades to come. On top of that, his long term spending proposals will put the country over $10 trillion dollars in debt. 19. The Obama administration has labeled any conservatives who do not agree with his policies as "right-wing extremists" and has warned law enforcement to be on the watch for such people. 20. As a slap-in-the-face to the Pope, Obama has proposed three candidates as ambassador to the Vatican, all of whom support abortion.
