Saturday, December 06, 2008

Itellectual Debate: Loans to the Auto Industry?

Back in the mid-1900's manufacturing was the backbone of the American economy. The automobile industry was probably the strongest of these industries, so much so that there was a slogan that expressed it all - "as goes GM, so goes the nation."

Today, as the big three auto makers struggle to stay alive, there still might be truth in that old expression. If the auto industries are allowed to fail, it might be the death knell for the entire American super-structure. Hundreds of thousands of employees of the auto companies out of work - hundreds of thousands more in the auto-parts plants (we have a couple of big plants in the Syracuse area that manufacture components for the auto companies and I have acquaintances who work/worked there) - restaurants and stores who depend on the income from those employees - sales departments that sell cars or auto parts - financial companies that lend money for the purchase of those cars - ad infinitum.

Can we afford to take a chance that these three industries will survive if they go into bankruptcy? Can we allow bankruptcy courts to terminate the retirement benefits of hundreds of thousands of retired employees of all of the auto companies and the related business so that all of these folks are then seeking to go back to work at age 70 or even 80 when the job markets in the US are shutting down? Is it possible that bankruptcy will mean the end of these businesses?

The following video is from Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC and is a little long at nearly 11 minutes, but it is a well-reasoned, intelligent discussion of the problem. If being informed is something that interests you, this might be worth your time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Auto bailout insiders target Section 136 Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program funding in scheme to stop electric cars from reaching the market. URGENT ACTION NEEDED.

Section 136 funding became one of the first conduits to fund mass market electric cars without blockade but when the adversaries of electric cars realized this, they declared war on that fund. Plans to have it "replenished" by Detroit or the Treasury are already known to be impossible to achieve.

The plans to gut Section 136 funding will kill Tesla, Fisker, The entire Florida and Bay area auto industry and dozens of new car companies for the sake of 3 corrupt insider companies. In an agreed partnership with the steel and oil industry, Detroit has lied about the ability to bring 100MPG+ vehicles to market.

There is no other funding for electric cars without this fund. The venture markets have shut down and no investor will be the “first-in” for an automobile effort.

Detroit has worked with the oil and steel industry to keep alternative energy vehicles, which use no oil or steel, from reaching the market. Gas stations have now been proven to be the main cause of Cancer in the U.S. There is a sticker on every gas station in California that proves this and a joint report on DNA mutation by major universities is about to come out linking gasoline to 80% of the cancer in the U.S. To kill off Section 136 funding is to increase U.S. Cancer and lung disease and put America decades behind foreign technology.

The TARP funds have more than enough access and cash but it is preferred, by oil industry resources to put maximum resources into compromising the ATVM Loan Section 136 funding.

Electric cars have been around since the 1800’s.

GM delivered a 100+MPG-equivalent car to the market ages ago. Many companies and individuals have built 150+ MPG electric vehicles for decades. All such projects have been stopped by synthetic impediments.

Legislative, funding, distribution channel lock-off, and access blockades have been deployed for decades to prevent electric cars from reaching the volume market.

The current American Electric Car Companies can replace EVERY job lost to Detroit if supported.

Call Nancy Pelosi (1-202-225-0100) and Harry Reid (1-202-224-3542) today and leave them a message to not take this action.

Please forward this message to every political official and community action group you can.