Posted on 08/29/2009 9:38:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
Immediately following Obama's coup at General Motors, and near-takeover of Chrysler as well, there was about two weeks of news coverage of the shocking number of dealerships summarily, and seemingly arbitrarily, put out of business.
The demand for explanation of why and how one dealership was killed, while another was spared execution, was ever so briefly loud, then quieted, and finally silenced. This front page story moved to the back pages and, in short order, to oblivion - and the questions it raised were never answered.
Case in point: Ron Marhofer, the owner of Marhofer Chevrolet in the little burg of Stow, Ohio, got one of those letters informing him that his dealership would be closed. As of October 2010, its doors would be closed, and its 80 employees' jobs killed, although his access to new inventory would stop immediately after the 20 cars already on order.
You might think, well, it's a small town dealership not selling enough cars to make it worth Government Motors' trouble supplying it, but this dealership, in business since 1933, is the county's oldest Chevy dealer, and it has been having a banner year. While the auto market nationwide is down 40 percent, Marhofer's new car sales are up 57 percent for 2009 – that is before the cash for clunkers nonsense. In each of the past two years, this was the top selling Chevy dealership in the entire county. A competing dealership two communities away, in this same county, is not having such a good year, but it was apparently chosen to profit from Marhofer's execution.
When Marhofer pressed GM for explanation of his dealership being selected for slaughter, he was told "We can't tell you." One wonders who has dictated to GM that it can't explain. Since Mr. Marhofer and his 80 employees are tax payers and, thus, actually own GM, it would seem particularly reasonable for them to demand and get a rational explanation for their execution. Even in most communist or dictator-run countries, some charge is brought and at least a mock trial is conducted before sentence passed. The victim is given some reason for his beheading.
Of course the fates of Mr. Marhofer, his paltry 80 employees, and the employees at other small businesses near his dealership, are of no measurable consequence to you or me or, certainly, the Great and Wonderful Ozbama. He has bigger fish to fry, but multiply Marhofer times a hundred and you're talking 8,000 jobs. If you multiply by two hundred, it's 16,000 jobs - good blue collar jobs for mechanics and service techs, and clerical jobs held by working moms. In Congress and the media, much shouting has gone on much longer over much less.
Not to mention the principle at stake here - a family's equity in its business built out of the Great Depression and sustained over generations has been arbitrarily wiped away at the stroke of a pen, and it is refused explanation. The President's Car Czar's grubby fingerprints are most certainly on the pen, should the CSI crew investigate.
Obama has been sending messages. He has told CEO's, I will fire you at will, take your company, impose new and arbitrary capital requirements, rules and governing czars as I please. You serve at my pleasure. With the savaging of the small businesses in the auto industry, he has told all of us who own small businesses that he can with impunity shutter our doors, dismiss our employees and destroy all we have worked for. With the mercifully short-lived "snitch" web site, he threatened critics of his health care takeover. His Democrats in Congress intimidate the insurance companies with threats of dragging CEO's to televised hearings, holding up receipts from some resort sales conference and demanding explanation for the steaks and shrimp cocktails.
Ron Marhofer now knows what everyone else will learn: whatever you think you own, you don't. The only power is Obama's. The only rights you have are those he decides, day to day, to let you have.
To their shame, the media has let this story go, even though there's good chance there's a Watergate buried in it somewhere. Killing the successful auto dealers, while sparing the less successful, is most likely a political rather than equitable or rational decision.
They let the story go, even though it illustrates the dire threat to anyone who thinks they actually own anything, they actually have no control over anything.
I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before one of these victims decides to get even.
I would think that a few of those more established, profitable dealerships that are being forced to close would file suit against GM to PROVE their case for shutdown.
And who is going to oversee Holder, when he decides that these people aren’t allowed their day in court?
If you release half your equity and managing positions of your company to Black people, the diversity CZAR (Mark Lloyd) will approve for you to remain open.
It's part of the Hope & Change that Obama promised.
Just the beginning.
| just a matter of time before one of these victims decides to get even.
What took Toyota and Nissan decades to put together can be scooped up easily by TaTa and Geely. |
Bump
If Holder tries to quash it, that will be a public action, about which the public can be informed, and start to ask questions.
Isn’t this what Rome did when it went from a Republic to an Imperial government?
got my oil changed thursday at my local GM dealer where i bought the car and noticed an empty showroom and very few on the lot. i ask if the cash for clunkers had cleaned them out and was told GM trucked out most of the stock the day before and they had lost the dealership... he said something about not being the right political persuasion
To which I reply: "Tell me know or we will find out in DISCOVERY."
This is tyranny and anarchy pouring from the occupier of the 1/2 white house. It has to stop!
Did you know that you do not have to go to the dealership where you bought your car to get the oil changed?
what does that have to do with them getting screwed by GM??? i get it done there by choice and will continue to do so unless they close completely.
that and they charge the same as the nearest jiffylube/quicklube which is 25-30 miles away
two words...Tata Nano.
I received this in an e-mail today:
http://commonsense10.blog.com/alert-the-crime-of-the-century-perpetrated-by-the-car-czar/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
Didn't we have a thread on here yesterday about some car company from India that wants to open shop here? I can't believe the Chinese wouldn't like to sign some good, successful car dealerships too. At the time the Ozoids did this, I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen... handing the car industries from two up-and-coming developing countries ready-made dealer networks just as they were getting ready to climb on the world stage.