Bailout rantings.........

Time for a political/economic post. Those of you who don't enjoy the truth, Limelicker-style, need not apply.

I'm honestly had just about enough of all the loan/bailout talk coming out of our government. A business, simply put, is run with the intent to make a profit. The more profit that is made, the more the company expands. Workers and executives are rewarded accordingly. If the business doesn't do well, the company borrows money. Alternative sources of supplies may be sought to cut costs. If it gets really bad, they have to reduce their workforce or close up the business.

Similarly, if a void is left in that industry, a new competitor sees the available demand left by the closed company and finds ways to run their business, using the previously failed business as a mode of how not to do things. It should be noted that my parents paid thousands of dollars for me to learn these kinds of things in my business administration and accounting majors in college. Thankfully, they now have this post to show to anyone who asks what all that money bought.

Then, we have the fabulous business model perfected by the auto industry. Instead of maximizing profit, they have a wonderful model where their executives scrape large sums of money off the top both directly and indirectly. They pay out large salaries and bonuses to keep that money from being reported as profit. In addition, they indirectly pay themselves through the business expenses of private jets and business trips.

The executives also allow the union workers to reap further benefits. Auto workers and their management get paid ridiculous salaries and benefits that factory workers in similar jobs could only hope to achieve. It's reached the point now where an American automaker now pays $2,000 more than a foreign automaker to make basically the same car. The only difference is the ridiculous labor contracts that have been signed over the past few decades where the unions have continued to get better contracts deals each time.

There was a recent interview on ABC News where they were discussing the call by Obama and others for the General Motors CEO to resign. The ABC reporter asked a female union auto worker what she thought about that. Her response:

"Well, I think he should take a pay cut..........maybe not take a bonus. I don't think he should be fired. I think that everybody should be able to keep their job."

Of course you think everyone should keep their job. It's the auto industry way! Everyone gets to keep their job and see increased take-home pay while the bills continue to pile up due to horrible mismanagement by both the union and the company executives. And when the company reaches the point where bankruptcy is a real possibility, you cut your expenses by restructuring your labor contracts and reducing unneeded expences, right? Hell no, you don't. You offer a small reduction in the contract as an olive branch which doesn't help the situation at all. The executives continue their wasteful spending until the public outcry reaches extreme levels, then they drive a hybrid to the meeting in Washington D.C. as a way to show they've "changed".

To the executives, your chance to change came long ago. Don't use my tax dollars to bail you out of the self-created mess you're in. To the auto workers union, you had a great ride while it lasted. Welcome to the real world, where sacrifices have to be made and not everyone has a guaranteed job and pension until they retire. Consider yourselves lucky that you had the good setup for this long. Many of you will lose your job initially, but there will be plenty of jobs when new or existing competitors suck up the void left by a failed automaker. You'll still have a job. It just won't be guaranteed for life. You'll actually have to earn your keep and make a market-driven salary rather than a union-inflated salary. But if you work hard, you're pay will increase and you'll be just fine.

And to the Democrat-led Congress who pretends that the failure of an automaker will somehow cripple the economy, feel free to continue to hand out the money. I noticed that some of the provisions of the loans to the automakers would be to stop big bonuses and stop using private aircraft. Have we reached the point where that has to be mandated to management of a failing company? I really don't think we need government to tell a CEO how to make sound economic decisions in a failing company. If the executives can't do that for themselves, they should be fired. Their leadership is obviously sorely lacking. Congress should realized that people will remember your incorrect decisions and have the opportunity to vote again in 2 years for or against you. You can throw bad money after bad decisions, but you'll eventually have to justify that decision when the automakers are asking for more money down the road.

I'm off my soapbox.