Replies

“I think the collapse of GM could be the last straw”

Free Republic is a bastion of freedom. The demise of the American car companies is a direct result of a government that has run amok. A policy of restrictions on corporations, private enterprise in general and an elitist, socialist mindset that has driven our jobs overseas, opened our doors to foreign companies while seeking approval of Europe, Asia and the third world. Our trade deficit spirals out of control and we are at the mercy of those who hate us. We cannot allow our car manufacturers to fail because of government mismanagment of our economy. Think about it. We are told that the American manufacturers are in trouble because they relied on SUVs and pickup sales, when they ought to have been making small fuel efficient cars. Really? What they were doing is providing the vehicles THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANTED. It is the green environmental whackos that HAVE CREATED THE SENARIO THAT WE SEE TODAY. With the free fall of oil that may change!! Our Government has prohibited the exploration of oil, the development of coal, oil shale, natural gas and nuclear power plants. THEY ARE CO-CONSPIRATORS WITH AL GORE AND THE IDIOTS THAT FOLLOW HIM. In the name of free trade we have sold our soul to those that would destroy us. We should support our AMERICAN OWNED CORPORATIONS AND TELL THE WORLD TO GO TO HELL. Pass legislation that helps bring our jobs home and at all costs preserve our AMERICAN COMPANIES PROVIDING JOBS IN AMERICA TO AMERICANS.

The demise of the American car companies is a direct result of a government that has run amok. I disagree. The economic realities in the early 80s that allowed asset-stripping and offshoring within a low regulation, low taxation framework to work in America's interest, have shifted. If done properly, government interference can help the problem. If done badly, it will make things worse. The price of telling the US Government to stay out of the marketplace altogether, is that the city slickers who got the USA into this present financial debacle in the first place (and are all walking away with their pockets full), will get even richer than they already are - while everyone else suffers the consequences. We know what sort of things they'll do: close down as many factories on American soil as they can, and get big kickbacks for doing it. Foreclose on loans, and pocket the difference. Talk down share values, and buy them at below market value. We know that's the sort of things they'll do because that's how most of them made their fortunes to start with. And in the current global marketplace, that strategy is even more lucrative now, than it was back then. Now EVERYTHING IN WALMART IS MADE IN CHINA. What happened? Stripping assets, laying off American workers, and moving production abroad. Big profits for the shareholders and market traders, cheaper costs to the consumer. Everyone wins. Well, that was the theory. Allowing market forces on their own to dictate whether businesses survive or not, is a much more risky approach today than it was twenty five years ago. We are told that the American manufacturers are in trouble because they relied on SUVs and pickup sales, when they ought to have been making small fuel efficient cars. Really? Yes, really. But not for the reasons you think. America's interest clearly won't be served if it ends up having to pay huge sums of money to potentially unfriendly nations in order to service its own supply needs. Mainland Europe has already seen its oil pipelines turned off on Putin's orders, simply because he wanted to win an argument with a former Soviet state that's now joined the European Union. So, even if global warming is a fallacy, security of supply is of major concern to Europe. We don't have to worry about that happening to America now, but as the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. How long will it take for new wells to be drilled on American soil? For new refineries and pipelines to be built? To get them up to full production? Can America supply ALL its own fuel needs while it waits for the new sources to be at full production? If it can't, where's the oil going to come from? The Arab states? Chavez? Putin? It might cost a few million dollars more, to build cars that do 50mpg, instead of building them with engines that achieve 10mpg. But if it buys America a bit of breathing space to ensure that alternative supply routes ARE in place and ARE secure before you have to rely on foreign supplies, then it's money well spent. It is the green environmental whackos that HAVE CREATED THE SENARIO THAT WE SEE TODAY Green environmental whackos don't run Russia or Venezuela. They don't control Middle East oil supplies. They aren't responsible for taking Iraq and Afghanistan out of the supply chain. They don't tell OPEC how much to charge for a barrel of oil. And they aren't responsible for China's exponential rise in demand for oil. And, they certainly haven't set fire to any of Iraq's oil wells. So on what basis do you think they're responsible for the problem?! Green environmental whackos have misdiagnosed the problem,I have no doubt of that. But even so, they are absolutely right to warn that security of supply could be a really big problem for the United States in a couple of decades' time. Drilling more oil wells is a medium term solution. Making better use of the oil that's already available by improving engine efficiency and making use of renewable energy sources wherever possible, as the Green lobby suggest, is an alternative solution. There's no reason, other than blind dogmatism, to rule out either solution. In fact, the best strategy in my opinion is to do both.