WHEN WILL THE CONGRESS BAIL OUTS END?

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” —Ronald Reagan

First there was the bail out of Bear Stearns, the American Insurance Group, Lehman Brothers,and CitiCorp, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and now Congress is considering a multi=billion dollar tax payer bail out for the Big Three automakers.

To sweeten the scam the Media is trumpeting that the UAW has agreed to open their contract to talks! There is an implied concession of benefits and salary by the union to help keep the Big Three afloat. But based upon past expedience, and we have only that to go on, do not count on any reduction in benefits or salary.

This is a small portion that once upon a time was the main player in the Auto industry. Today we have many American citizens making Mercedes, Toyota's, and Honda's that do not have the absurdly bloated benefit packages that have dragged the Big 3 down.

If the market place is any indication of the American public attitude toward the quality of cars made by foreign car makers versus those made by the Big 3. The foreign cars win hands down. Just spend a few minutes during the morning commute and you will see the preponderance of foreign cars made here in the USA by foreign manufactures. They just make a better car!

The Democrats like Carl Levin and Christopher Dodd have appeared on the nightly news to decry not bailing out the Big 3. They repeatedly state that no one would buy a car if the automakers go bankrupt, as if this would halt production and nullify all warranty's!

The only thing to do with a bloated company that is running out of money is to force them into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The 34 billion the Big 3 are asking for will give them temporary relief, but the main problem of the Union benefits and retirement bloated structure will still drag them down, and they will come back for more after Obama is in the Oval office.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy law allows the company to reorganize while still carrying out business.It is used mostly by businesses. In chapter 11, you may continue to operate your business, but your creditors and the court must approve a plan to repay your debts. There is no trustee unless the judge decides that one is necessary; if a trustee is appointed, the trustee takes control of your business and property. Blogger note: In this case the Big 3 need a trustee to arbitrate the fight that the UAW will present to any reduction of their salary and benefits agreements.

Lot of talk has been bantered around about the UAW concessions that have been made. So far he only concession is to allow a provision that pays laid off employees 95% of their salary, to expire. It was scheduled to end next year!

The next applicant for a taxpayer bail out if the Big 3 get theirs, is the steel workers. Thanks to a lawsuit filed by leftist Congressman Dennis Kucinich, on behalf of the steel workers union, Judge Randolph Baxter granted a temporary restraining order against LTV Steel. The Stipulation and Agreed Standstill Order reached this Thursday puts a halt to any shutdown at LTV Steel pending the bankruptcy hearing in Judge William Bodoh's courtroom in Youngstown, Ohio on Tuesday, Dec. 4th.

This action successfully stopped the immediate shut down of the East Side works and protected the jobs of Cleveland steelworkers. This agreement stops LTV from proceeding with a plan to shut down the entire East Side Works prior to the Youngstown hearing. Why were they shutting down? Because the union contracts cost more than the profit LTV Steel could make!

And if that was not enough to get your attention. Then consider this. The Home builders Association is waiting in the background to petition Congress for their own version of a bail out due to he Housing slow down.After them comes the legislation to support lower mortgage rates for minorities and people who cannot afford the present rates. This too will be heaped on the taxpayer and further devalue our dollar!

It has to stop some where, unless you want to take a bushel basket of money to the grocery store to buy a bag of groceries!