In this post, I unapologetically rip off a “spaghetti western” infamous title to present what is possibly the most moronic and unethical economic handling of the US auto market, and the jobs it affects.

It was only last year when Obama admin publicly wrung their hands in anguish, then lamented it had no choice but for the government to intercede in dictating corporate leadership, production models and future, payscales, shareholder control, plus divving up award of bankruptcy assets for two of the US’s big three automakers – GM and Chrysler.

Only the third US giant – Ford – a long time #1 winner decade after decade for their trucks – studiously steered clear and continued down the road as an privately controlled industry. I’m very comfortable in believing that Henry Ford, founder of the company as well as the father of the modern mass production assembly line, has no reason to be turning over in his grave whenit comes to his corporation’s legacy.

In addition to Ford, the US had the Toyoto Motor Company… a Japanese owned giant who, in October 2007, marked their 50th year in the US. At that time they had “..11 assembly, engine, transmission and parts plants in North America, with a 12th planned in Mississippi.” The factories alone employed over 30,000 Americans… a number that didn’t include the support industries including dealership networks, and their 21 US suppliers – the latter of which together employ 2,000 people. Companies that, I might add, are now wondering about their fiscal survival in the wake of Toyota’s fall under the pressure of both the WH bully pulpit and media assault.

One has to wonder daily… just who’s side is the POTUS and his appointees on?

How has Ford been faring? They are not only set to hire 1,200 in their Chicago/Torrence factory to finish work on their new Explorer SUV debuting later this year, but they ended 2009 up a “cool” $3 billion, paying $450 each profit sharing to their 43,000 eligible U.S. hourly workers.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s something inherently sleazy and suspicious about an WH administration mouthpiece that unequivocally states that Toyota owners should simply “stop driving” their cars until they’ve taken them to a dealership. In the wake of such an unprecedented fear mongering campaign, the mud slinging began, and within days, Transportation Sec’y Ray LaHood, was softening his harsh blow.

But “just words” matter, and one of the nation’s most popular vehicle manufacturers saw their shares fall as much as 8% on the heels of LaHood’s explosive remarks. Obama’s pet, Goldman Sachs, downgraded Toyota from a “buy” to “neutral”. If you use AutoBlog’s figures, it’s 16.7 % over the past five days.

But the Chicago thuggery style of this WH is abundantly clear when LaHood also revealed that the reason Toyota halted manufacturing and commenced the massive recall was at the insistence of the Obama administration.

Much seems to be overblown considering that the gas pedal sticking has occurred in fewer than 300 vehicles. Or, per an IBD op-ed, “Out of 1.8 million cars manufactured each year in the U.S., Toyota has 100 complaints, a handful of injuries, and in two cases deaths are alleged.”

In fact, the sudden acceleration events in both Toyota and Lexus models in the past decade resulted in 815 crashes since 1999… eleven years, averaged out at 74 annual events. Two resulted in fatalities. Of the 2000 complaints received in the same time, only five percent – or 100 of them – were attributed to gas pedals potentially sticking.

What’s more, NHTSA has conducted eight investigations into Toyota accelerator problems in the last seven years. None have been found to be a faulty sticking pedal as the cause.

“The way the sudden-acceleration problems are occurring in reported incidents doesn’t comport with how this sticky pedal is described,” said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a Rehoboth, Mass., auto safety consulting firm. “We know this recall is a red herring.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Obama is still slow with his Cash for Clunkers reimbursements, but as soon as the vouchers are paid off, the 700,000 mostly top-quality used cars that were turned in will be destroyed, decimating America’s once best-in-the-world used car market.

Do people know that most 2009 models qualified for vouchers? Democrats define “clunkers” the way Islam defines those in need of subjugation. If it is not a “green” vehicle then it is by definition a “clunker” whose demise is not to be mourned, but is to be paid for and celebrated. (Check here whether Democrats would pay for the destruction of your prized possession.)

You see a one year old crew cab Tundra, capable of hauling your business and your family and think, “what wouldn’t I do to keep that $40,000 workhorse from destruction.” Democrats see the same vehicle and think, “I would gladly pay $4,500 of other people’s money to drop that affront to my eco-religion into the crusher.”

Grossly mismanaged and 2 billion over budget, the results of the Cash for Clunkers has been released by the Dept of Transportation. The top 10 new vehicles purchased:

1. Toyota Corolla
2. Honda Civic
3. Toyota Camry
4. Ford Focus FWD
5. Hyundai Elantra
6. Nissan Versa
7. Toyota Prius
8. Honda Accord
9. Honda Fit
10. Ford Escape FWD

Note: Government Motors (GM) did not make the cut. We spent billions to bail out the company and we can’t pay people to buy the car? This is the same government asking Americans to trust them with their health care.

AOL Auto notes that in the same period charities that provide a tax rebate for used cars saw a dramatic decrease in donated cars. This downturn made it more difficult for families that could have benefited from an inexpensive car.

Crime 1: Another multi-billion dollar subsidy for Government Motors.

When Obama stole Chrysler from its stockholders and gave it to his union cronies, we knew he would take every opportunity to waste taxpayer dollars trying to keep this lead balloon afloat. The Cash for Clunkers subsidy is just particularly egregious, since it works by subsidizing the last people in the world who need a subsidy: those who are well off enough to buy new cars in the midst of a deep recession. Talk about a middle class welfare program!

Crime 2: Eliminating Government Motors’ competition by gratuitously slagging an expected 750,000 perfectly good used cars in the sub-$4500 price range.

The Obamacrats aren’t just subsidizing cars for the well-to-do. They are destroying the cars that the less well-off are in the market for, driving up used car prices as part of their effort to make new cars more attractive:

Some parts may be kept but the engine and drive-train must be destroyed. Specifically the engine will be injected with a liquid glass solution to permanently disable the engine and it will be the responsibility of the dealer to make sure this is done to the engine.

Injected with liquid glass? Sounds like a Quentin Tarentino murder fantasy, and the reality isn’t any prettier. Witness Obama’s procedure for destroying the would-be cars of the non-wealthy:

Here is another one, a spiffy-looking Volvo that holds out for 4-plus minutes. Some clunker, and check out the row of semi-new cars lined up to go next: Read the rest of this entry »

I thought I’d have some fun with the DNC Rabid Attack Ad:

Amazing that the DNC believes their ad to be a winning strategy: Let’s characterize and flippantly dismiss concerned Americans on both sides of the political aisle as nothing more than torches-and-pitchforks-style rabble-rousers. Brilliant.

Thanks to skye for use of her photos and apologizes to Dana Loesch for pillaging her photos like the uncouth, ill-mannered mobster, that I am.

Read the rest of this entry »

Millions of Americans watch with horror as the Obama administration continues to implement its own version of ‘change.’ Change that involves an unprecedented and systematic devolution of power to the federal government, in direct contravention of the Constitution.

From the pending takeover of 17% of  economy under the auspices of health care reform, to the government takeover and subsequent ownership of automobile companies, to the unconstitutional interference in the formerly private market under the rubric of stimulating the economy. Not to mention the proposed cap and trade legislation which would give the federal government unlimited powers of taxation and regulation under the guise of saving the planet.

Totally ignored by elected officials of both parties is the tenth amendment of the Constitution, which states very clearly, “The power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Many Americans don’t agree with the left’s idea of a ‘living constitution’, arguing that the intent of the founders should govern the interpretation and application of the Constitution, not the whimsical and politically motivated present day politicians. And, largely unreported by the media, they are starting to stand up to the federal government. Read the rest of this entry »

It was just yesterday I posted on the liberal economic policies coming to a head in Montana. Democrats have historically been big on lavishing heavy regulations and taxes on the mining and steel industries, rendering them ineffective as competitors in the world market place. Dems have also enjoyed unmitigated union support, who also played a more than sufficient role in bankrupting two of the big three US auto manufacturers.

Now, with the unrealistic financial demands on industries, combined with risking the taxpayers’ cash on the future of GM, the Dems find themselves between a “palladium” and a hard place with their economic policies.

They can opt to protect the US taxpayers investment in GM (aka Government Motors) by continuing to refuse to honor a GM contract with Stillwater to purchase their metals for catalytic converters at (oft times) higher than market prices.

Or they can shop on the free market, purchasing their metals cheaper from Russia or South Africa, and let the US PGM’s mining business cascade into the financial hole, and leave thousands of American workers jobless.

Democrat Governor Brian Schweitzer has picked which liberal economic approach he’s on… the side of his Montana miners. It is a vote for subsidies…. none of which would have to exist if the government didn’t create an environment for the lopsided playing field with their legislation.

The Montana citizens themselves get screwed either way. If they lose their mining jobs, the repercussions echo not only thru the Big Sky State, but potentially rumble all the way to NJ and CA where the metals are refined. But even if their jobs are saved, they… along with the nation’s taxpayers… lose because the new government owned GM cannot purchase the metals from foreign nations… not burdened with the US regulations, taxes and union contracts… at a better price.

What was that about chickens and roosting again?

As I pointed out, Gov. Schweitzer was demanding intervention from the O’admin. Schweitzer is looking for a bud in the WH for his miners, and today he’s just been handed a huge gift….Steve Rattner has resigned as the Obama top dog of auto czars, and passed the blow torch to Ron Bloom. And Bloom is fresh off his last gig of 13 years as the assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers union…. coincidently the same union who represents the Stillwater Mining Company’s workers.

Read the rest of this entry »

As part of the GM (Government Motors) bankruptcy fallout, Democrats and Obama admin are now on a collision course between conflicting ideals. One would be their devotion to unions, combined with their love of regulation for US industries, driving many to the point of non-competitive status. The second is their now, first hand reality check that “outsourcing” and the ensuing US job loss may be an ugly necessity for business survival.

Unlike community organizing, there’s nothing like owning a car manufacturer that drives home basic business common sense, eh?

One of the darlings of the Dems, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, is calling upon Obama to force his new, majority government owned GM, to honor it’s contract with Stillwater Mining for PGMs- i.e. platinum, palladium and other metals – that are used in catalytic converters to control car pollution.

With platinum and palladium mined in just two other countries, Russia and South Africa, Schweitzer said GM’s cancellation would put the U.S. at a strategic risk and hurt the mining industry.

A White House spokesman declined comment.

Read the rest of this entry »

Is it still called debate when only one side controls the conversation? That’s the question the 62 million Americans who didn’t vote for Obama are asking themselves.

62 million Americans now have absolutely no voice in the way our country is being governed. No say in the quadrupling of our debt or in the onerous taxes being piled on top of record unemployment. They have no say in the pending trillion dollar health care ‘reform’ or the more costly ‘cap and trade’ legislation steadily making its way through Congress.

With Democrats firmly in control of the White House and the House of Representatives, and most likely the Senate, the left has found no need for bipartisanship. After all, ‘Obama won.’ Case closed.

Should any pesky Republican complain, the voice goes unheard – kinda like a tree falling in a forest. Did it really fall if no one heard it? The right is reduced to pondering questions like these as the left continues implementing radical change at breakneck speed. Changes that affect every segment of our society and every single American. Changes that are being implemented without the requisite ‘national conversation’. Why hold a conversation?

The left is in control and there is no need to consult with the people they were elected to govern. The politicians and the experts know best. And should the GOP try to halt this tsunami of ‘change’, a quick change of the filibuster rule to 51 instead of 60 is put in place. That’ll teach em. Read the rest of this entry »

The Obama administration has been racing to complete a deal with Fiat SpA purchasing Chrysler, and blowing thru bankruptcy court at breakneck speeds.

On May 2nd, I posted the Chicago style strong arm tactics used on some of the secured investors, represented by Bankruptcy Attorney, Tom Lauria of White & Case. Two days later, I was pondering the possibility of political blackmail… and then, 24 hours later, the client being strong armed silenced Lauria in the press.

All seemed to flow along without major headlines until, late last week, Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved the sale of most of Chrysler’s assets to Italian automaker Fiat SpA, leaving 789 Chrysler dealerships with the “Old Chrysler” in bankruptcy, along with unwanted factories. According to the NY judge, a bankrupt manufacturer didn’t need a dealership network.

“Absent a car manufacturing business, the dealerships would not seem to serve any purpose for the debtor,” Gonzalez said, but added there may be a case for the dealers to pursue damages.

huh? Absent “.. a car manufacturing business..”?? Just what is it Fiat is buying, if not a car manufacturing business?

Read the rest of this entry »

Andy McCarthy demolished White House Official Austin Goolsbee’s interview this morning:

I caught a panel on which Obama economic advisor Austin Goolsbee conceded that the administration had previously predicted unemployment would top out at around 8%, that it was now up to 9.4%, and that double-digit unemployment was a distinct possibility in the near future. Goolsbee didn’t resort to the administrations’s blather about “saving or creating jobs,” but he did repeat its fustian about how last month’s loss of 345,000 jobs (resulting in a half percentage point jump in the jobless rate) is somehow good news because it beat predictions (I don’t recall him saying whose) of even more dire loss numbers. It made me wonder why, if those predictions either existed or were serious, the Obama administration would have previously predicted that unemployment would top out at 8%?

Goolsbee then laughably intimated that the steep jump in the jobless rate could be attributable to hopeful signs that the economy is improving. Huh? See if you can follow this: he says flashes of hope that we are on the verge of a revival have purportedly caused previously uncounted jobless people to seek (but not find) work — that is, they waited out prosperous times, deciding to leap into the job hunt only when hundreds of thousands of heretofore gainfully employed people got pink-slipped and began competing for a declining pool of jobs.

Goolsbee wasn’t done with his idiocy. He does the typical Obama move….blame Bush:

We are only in this situation because somebody else kicked the can down the road, and that’s really an understatement. They shook up the can, they opened the can, and handed to us in our laps. Senator Shelby knows that to be true. When George Bush put money in to General Motors, almost explicitly with the purpose, how many dollars do they need to stay alive until January 20th, 2009? There was no commitment to restructuring, to making these viable enterprises of any kind.

The Senior White House economic advisor to President George W. Bush, Keith Hennessey, lays out the facts and shows that not only was Goolsbee’s accusations wrong but inflammatory. It’s a long and detailed post and I would recommend you go read it but here’s the summary: Read the rest of this entry »

One thing is for sure: Obama is forcing Chrysler and General Motors to fire dealers who employ tens of thousands of workers!

Now that Obama owns General Motors and Chrysler a very odd thing is occurring. Of the thousands of auto dealerships being forced to close it turns out that most of them have contributed to Republican candidates. Dealerships which have contributed to Democrats seem immune. Doug Ross and Joey Smith have the story.

More work needs to be done before I would say there is anything but a strong and suspicious coincidence here between closed dealerships and support for the GOP but those of us who are acquainted with the Chicago pay for play way of punishing opponents wouldn’t be at all surprised.

But one thing we do know for sure is that Obama is causing tens of thousands of people who work at the closed dealerships to lose their jobs. To put that in human terms, I present this letter from a Dodge dealer whose franchise has been taken away:

Letter from a Dodge dealer
American Thinker
May 19, 2009

My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.

We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.
Read the rest of this entry »

Ya know…you’d think professional, career lawyer/lawmakers would know how to right a contract or at least an invoice that says, “If you take our money, you keep the jobs here.” Nope. Now those same Democrats in Congress who pushed so hard to bailout GM-to keep it from going bankrupt, are wondering why GM plans to move manufacturing out of the U.S. after it gets out of bankruptcy. Did anyone REALLY think that throwing money at a problem without putting conditions on getting paid back was a good idea? Apparently the Democrat-controlled Congress did, and President Obama’s “Auto Task Force” seems to be putting a rubber stamp on the idea of moving American jobs overseas (something he specifically campaigned against before and after becoming President).

According to an outline the company has been sharing privately with Washington legislators, the number of cars that GM sells in the United States and builds in Mexico, China and South Korea will roughly double.

The proportion of GM cars sold domestically and manufactured in those low-wage countries will rise from 15 percent to 23 percent over the next five years, according to the figures contained in a 12-page presentation offered to lawmakers in response to their questions about overseas production.