Monday, December 08, 2008

The Car Czar...

So it looks like there is finally going to be a bailout of the auto industry. Thank god. It took long enough. I don't see why so many people needed to be laid off and how they let the situation get so bad, but at least it's happening now. You can read through the entire proposal here. It's pretty good though I would have liked it if there was more mention of new energy research or something along those lines in there. I think this was the perfect opportunity for the government to get involved and tell the auto industry that the time for bull sh*t is over; invent a car that runs clean. Give them money to do this and this will no only create jobs in the auto industry but a whole new infrastructure for a greener world and countless new jobs because of that.

I'm sure it's much simpler said than done, but I know the technology is there, all the government has to do is change it. Change. Let's hope it's coming. Some people are against the bailout but honestly, I can't in my wildest imagination figure out why. If any of the Big Three file for bankruptcy that's it. Game over. Sure you can restructure after that but the amount of time it would take and the amount of revenue lost, jobs lost and capital lost would not only effect GM or whomever, but it would also effect the other 2. This bailout is necessary. If you don't believe me, the bailout proposes that it, "preserves and promotes the jobs of 355,000 workers in the United States directly employed by the automobile industry and an additional 4,500,000 workers in the United States employed in related industries"

That's close to 5 million jobs. You think that isn't a big deal? Michigan would never recover. We would be forced to sell water from the Great Lakes to states out west like Arizona and Nevada who want the water so they can build man made lakes around high end real estate so rich people can go out on their boats during their lunch break. No lie.

My only thought is that since we, the taxpayer, are paying for it now, and the "bailout" is actually a loan, do we get the money back? Say for example my share of the tax ends up being a hundred dollars or whatever it may be over the next however many years, do I get that money back with the same interest the government does? My guess is no, but I think that it's something that's worth finding out. I'll look into it, but doesn't that make sense. Not only does it get our money back but it would be like a refund with which we could put it back into the economy. I'm realizing the more I learn about government and the possibilities that go along with it, the more I want to get into it. Also I've been watching a lot of West Wing lately and if that doesn't make you want to get into politics and change the world, you aren't an American, you're an American't.

As always, go big or go home...

-M, p, z & shredder

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