Responsible bail out
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| Wed, 11-19-2008 - 9:05pm |
I am for the bail out. I've supported the overall idea since it was first proposed. What is distressing is how we are apparently totally bungling the power granted to this administration.
My bad. I should have known they could not even get this right.
On the way home tonight, NPR's Marketplace ran a story on how executives are being paid bonuses, and that companies are paying dividends - out of this funding. Few are doing anything remotely close to lending.
Barney Frank was right to be outraged at the lack of assistance for homeowners, and the continued reluctance of the administration to assist homeowners.
And today comes word of deflation, a huge, huge red flag that screams the 'd' word. Folks, we are on the cusp of 1930, and our leaders, given latitude they did not have in 1930, are f'ing it up.
I am no expert on this, but the way they explained this tonight, deflation can spiral downward, last occuring way back in the 1930s.
There is 450 billion left. How do we use this intelligently? First thing that has to happen is mandate no bonuses and no dividends to any company receiving funds. Mandate they must lend, and we will gurantee mortgages they renegotiate to better terms for the homeowner, allowing them to stay, with a certain acceptable parameters. Set quotas on how many mortgages they must underwrite a day, how many auto loans, etc. Publicise acceptability criteria, so people know before going in whether they qualify.
If there are one too many automakers in Detroit, don't close one, set it to a different task - any ideas out there on how we could divert them to something that helps us face other issues? America has to build things again... what can we get them to build? Financing isn't the problem, the money will be there - any ideas?

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>>> Not good enough. I really don’t need to look at “surveys”. Clearly, consumers disagree. After buying American cars over 20 yrs, I now drive Toyota and that’s where I’ll stay. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. OTOH, if you want to buy GM, Ford, Chrysler be my guest.
You can drive what you like, it really doesn't matter to me, but buying because of an "image" makes about as much sense as voting for a neophyte for President because he speaks well (when he reads)...oops...
I've driven a Ford SUV for the past 10 years with no problems at all...I drove a lexus for 4 years before that with no problems...I drove a Toyota SUV for 6 years prior to that and had to change the brake pads every year because they sucked...before that I had an American sportscar for 3 years with no trouble (except speeding tickets). I have friends who will only buy American and have obviously had great experiences and also friends who buy only BMWs...the point being that every one has their biases but they aren't necessarily based in fact. The FACT is that American auto makers turn out a quality product...YOU may not want to buy it, but choosing a foreign model isn't a guarantee that you've got a better car.
I posted the entire article earlier, but I'll post this snipet from it here
Sopal
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>>> They still have a long way to go to earn back the reputation they need.
I agree, they need to ramp up their image and the image of the product.
>>> Did you listen to the Ford commercials this summer? "Ford quality is now equal to Toyota" Pretty sad isn't it that they have to pay for a commercial telling people their product has finally caught up with quality.
Besides trucks, where Ford has always been a winner, it's reputation with cars was in the toilet for a long time. But now, they've got some quality product and need to let the consumer know it. Personally, I think the "Big Three" could really benefit from a change of management...and even a change in the design teams.
>>> The downside is they are still being short-sighted. They could have done anything, found anything, any small detail to improve Ford's quality in one small area so they could then claim their quality surpassed Toyota's. For the life of me I can't understand why they didn't do that. It would've sounded so much better on their commercial to be able to say: "Ford quality now surpasses toyota" IMO they missed a big opportunity.
Ford did win a lot of awards in 2007.
"Car companies should make their prices competitive with the marketplace...and then adjust costs to operate at a reasonable profit. "
>>> That is good reasoning, but when politics is involved it gets more deeply involved quickly. Japan for example has protectionistic policies. They charge a 20% tax on all US cars entering their market and give the money collected from that tax to their auto industry. With that style of double-dipping to their auto industry that gives Japan auto companies a 40% cost advantage. Thee's no way an American company can compete in that environment. European countries... They do the same thing.
I'm all for reciprocal tariffs.
>>> Such a policy in the US is illegal though so thouse countries enjoy the comfort of knowing we will not do the same to them. There are numberous other examples. Japan autoworkers for example make about $40K/year in salary and benefits, that's $20/hr or 1/3 the amount our Union-demanded salaries of US autoworkers. For some reason I've apparently missed the stories of how Japanese autoworkers are living in slums and squalor.
But many of those companies are operating plants in the US, hiring US workers, etc. and operating at a profit. That should be the model for the "Big Three."
>>> It costs about the same to live in Japan as it does in the US, certainly much more than 1/3 of what it costs here. Does anyone have stories about how these poor Japanese make it on only an itty bitty income of $20/hr? Can someone send me those links? I feel so bad for those poor people working for 'slave' wages and all.
The comparison of COL in Japan to COL in the US varies from city to country and what you consider "lifestyle." There are many places in Japan where property is so expensive that they have 100 year mortgages, and where a shoebox is considered luxury living. I think the concern should be less with the lifestyle of foreign workers, and more with how we can make our products competitive in the marketplace. It looks like a wage adjustment and new laws might be in order to level the playing field.
My last response was lost, so here's the quick version:
"In any case, I'm bowing out, my points are made, and I wish to concentrate on writing fiction for my book. "
I don't know why, but for some reason I thought you had already started.
Full length fiction: http://llhaesa.org/ (pronounced la.hay.ess.sa)
Full length fiction: worlds undone
"You have no power over my body..." ~ Anne Hutchinson
"Is your ultimately measure going to prove to be average world income, because if it is, you are advocating a serious decline in American wage earning. "
It has already started regardless of what I advocate.
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