Friday, November 21, 2008

Has the Dust Settled Yet?

There has been so much worthy of writing about over the last couple of months, but either someone else said things better than I could, or I was so angry that any post would have devolved into a stream of expletives, or I still hadn't sorted through everything in my mind enough to create a coherent message. But I have a few minutes tonight to write a few blips about a few things.

1. "The Bailout". In my last message I was quite happy than some folks in congress had the stones to stand up and say "This sucks". Not that I thought it would ultimately do any good, but it was nice to see that stinking, steaming pile of legislation known as "The Bailout" sent down to defeat in round one. Of course, subsequently, it was passed, sticking future generations of Americans with staggering national debt and a thoroughly debased currency. Don't believe for a minute that AIG and those financial services companies will ever pay that money back. Hope my kids and yours can find work somewhere in the world so fedgov can confiscate all their money to pay off that debt. Thanks a lot, jerks!

2. The Election. As you might surmise, I was none to pleased (although not terribly surprised) at the results of the election. The United States of America is mostly dead, being replaced by the United Socialist States of America. Hope you like it folks.

3. The Election, part two - a Christian perspective. Bottom line - God was not surprised by this result. He ordained it, in fact. I noticed that the sun still shines, there is still an atmosphere, and all the stars are still in the heavens. God is bigger than this election, and he still cares for his people. So, Christian, ask yourself: "Why did God allow this to happen"? Then ask yourself "What am I supposed to learn from it"? Apply as revealed.

4. Auto Bailout/Bridge Loan. There is a part of me that really wants to let the automakers fail, file for bankruptcy, and have their assets purchased by companies that are better run and will run a car company better. It would be worth it to break the UAW, which has priced American labor out of competitiveness in the world market. It would also get rid of the dinosaurs in the leadership positions of those companies who can't run a modern auto company.

The question of course is how do we deal with the impact on all those who make their living serving the auto industry at every level? Many other businesses will fail, and many thousands of people will be laid off. That is hard to contemplate, and it would also give the new president just the crisis he wants to use to implement his socialist plans for America. So which is worse: socialism or an increasingly uncompetitive auto industry and loss of manufacturing capability in this country? My gut says take the bitter medicine now, as it will be worse later, and we will be on the hook for a whole lot more, financially.