I can't remember where I read this but someone out there says he is so freaking sick of this bailout nonsense. If companies are not allowed to fail in this country, then how are better ideas supposed to succeed? From AIG, to forgiving your mortgage balance, to the Big 3 auto companies…it seems like everyone is getting rewarded for failure. Just to be very clear about one thing. I am not a bailout pro so please don't take me seriously when I blog about bailout. I read about it everyday. It is hard to avoid it or ignore it. It is right in my face. I cannot avoid it. We cannot avoid it. It is hard not to give my opinion about it because it is such a hot topic...So, the next best thing for me is to blog about it...with what is going on, how bad can I be?
With the current talk of the $15B bailout, the media is focusing in large part on the union auto workers. If the auto companies had not gotten this proposed bailout, or if they had to file bankruptcy, thousands of retirees would have lost their health care and pensions, and many more thousands of workers would have lost their health care, benefits and their jobs. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that they were on the brink of total collapse when, thanks to the strongarming of the unions, every worker cost the Big 3 about twice what it cost similarly skilled workers outside of Detroit. The unions negotiated hefty contracts which the auto companies had virtually no choice but to accept. Now, those very contracts that were supposed to guarantee workers are what may cause them all to lose their jobs. After Crysler shut down a plant (that made minivans), yet thanks to union contracts they still are paying the regular salaries and benefits of the workers for the next two years. Two years. Two years to pay workers who are not working? Of course you will fail.
Many people don’t blame the workers. It is the union, an antiquated and unnecessary holdover from the industrial revolution, that has destroyed American manufacturing… and it is the union that will drive the final nails in each of the Big 3. But the lesson to learn here is about more than the perils of collective bargaining and union exclusivity.
If the Big 3 fail (even with the $15b bailout), how many thousands of workers will lose not just their income, but their benefits and health care that they were promised for life? Some people are suggesting that this makes the case for government sponsored universal health care and greater benefits for all. Clearly they aren’t paying attention.
Think about it. Thousands of workers face devastating effects if the automakers can’t afford to continue paying for their health care or pensions. Tens of millions of Americans would face equally devastating effects if the responsibility of health care was left to the federal government. Sure, you can think the Federal government couldn’t fail…but that’s the same thing people thought about Ford and GM. Now look at them. This needs to be a wake up call to Americans. Stop believing in a nanny state and give up your welfare mentality. It is not your employer or your government’s responsibility to take care of you. If you don’t get that, at some point you will be disappointed. Social Security, Universal Health Care, Unemployment Benefits, etc. Stop relying on someone else to do what you need to be doing for yourself. It is hard. The liberal establishment has been moving us into a socialistic mentality for some time…and now everyone relies on the government for much more than was ever originally intended. That reliance gives them and lawmakers power, but it also invariably leads to collapse. Just like the automakers, there is no where to go but down, unless we change our path. Today its the autoworkers. Tomorrow is another union company. Eventually it will be the American public. We will all be one big union, and collectively we will all fail. We really need the right change. But so far, the more thing change in Washington, the more they stay the same.
With the current talk of the $15B bailout, the media is focusing in large part on the union auto workers. If the auto companies had not gotten this proposed bailout, or if they had to file bankruptcy, thousands of retirees would have lost their health care and pensions, and many more thousands of workers would have lost their health care, benefits and their jobs. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that they were on the brink of total collapse when, thanks to the strongarming of the unions, every worker cost the Big 3 about twice what it cost similarly skilled workers outside of Detroit. The unions negotiated hefty contracts which the auto companies had virtually no choice but to accept. Now, those very contracts that were supposed to guarantee workers are what may cause them all to lose their jobs. After Crysler shut down a plant (that made minivans), yet thanks to union contracts they still are paying the regular salaries and benefits of the workers for the next two years. Two years. Two years to pay workers who are not working? Of course you will fail.
Many people don’t blame the workers. It is the union, an antiquated and unnecessary holdover from the industrial revolution, that has destroyed American manufacturing… and it is the union that will drive the final nails in each of the Big 3. But the lesson to learn here is about more than the perils of collective bargaining and union exclusivity.
If the Big 3 fail (even with the $15b bailout), how many thousands of workers will lose not just their income, but their benefits and health care that they were promised for life? Some people are suggesting that this makes the case for government sponsored universal health care and greater benefits for all. Clearly they aren’t paying attention.
Think about it. Thousands of workers face devastating effects if the automakers can’t afford to continue paying for their health care or pensions. Tens of millions of Americans would face equally devastating effects if the responsibility of health care was left to the federal government. Sure, you can think the Federal government couldn’t fail…but that’s the same thing people thought about Ford and GM. Now look at them. This needs to be a wake up call to Americans. Stop believing in a nanny state and give up your welfare mentality. It is not your employer or your government’s responsibility to take care of you. If you don’t get that, at some point you will be disappointed. Social Security, Universal Health Care, Unemployment Benefits, etc. Stop relying on someone else to do what you need to be doing for yourself. It is hard. The liberal establishment has been moving us into a socialistic mentality for some time…and now everyone relies on the government for much more than was ever originally intended. That reliance gives them and lawmakers power, but it also invariably leads to collapse. Just like the automakers, there is no where to go but down, unless we change our path. Today its the autoworkers. Tomorrow is another union company. Eventually it will be the American public. We will all be one big union, and collectively we will all fail. We really need the right change. But so far, the more thing change in Washington, the more they stay the same.
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