Comes now the bailout. It would seem that the political class in Washington is not happy with the way you are casting your votes. You’re exercising a little too much independence here. Those foreign automakers building wonderful cars in non-union Southern states are doing just fine, thanks to your votes. Those tired automakers building some wonderful cars and trucks – but a lot of junk as well – in the upper Midwest with overpaid union labor are suffering. They’re paying 12,000 former union employees to sit on their cans and do crossword puzzles all day long while being paid $31 per hour. Oh come on, you’ve heard of theJobs Bank program, haven’t you? Do you want to pay for that nonsense? Of course you don’t, and you let them know it when you cast your consumer votes.
Well, what happens when the politicians in Washington aren’t happy with the way you’re casting your economic ballots? It’s very simple, really. They just use the police power of government to take those ballots away and cast them for you; cast them the way they think you should. You might want to vote for BMW or Honda. They know better. Your vote should go to Chevy or a Ford.
Through this wonderful economic process the world’s consumers pick the winners and losers. They base their choices not on political considerations, but on quality and value. When consumers cast their monetary ballots they’re not trying to preserve union jobs or please campaign contributors. They have no political axe to grind. They just want honest value .. and $1600 worth of union health costs, paying people not to work and inflated pay for those who do plowed into the price of every car doesn’t fit the bill.
Now, with the impending $25 billion-plus bailout of these union engorged automakers the choice will be taken away from the consumers. Now the ballots will be cast based on politics. The automakers will be told to build the cars the politicians want, not the cars consumers will buy. Billions of taxpayer money will be poured down what could be one of the most expensive rat holes in history .. only to delay what may be the inevitable.
Just hold on my friends. This may just be the beginning. In about nine weeks we’ll have a president who has shown no love whatsoever for capitalism; a president who truly believes that America is great not because of the dynamic of a free people interacting with one another in a free, market-based economy … but who believes that America is great because of government.
The historians will let future generations know how that worked out for us.