Imnotfeelingit.com

Let me get this straight. An industry that is as old as damn near the Industrial Revolution is now asking for a bailout. And the CEO’s of General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford came to ask Congress for the money on THREE SEPARATE PRIVATE JETS no less! Does anyone see something wrong with this picture? Because I’m still walking!

 

I remember a time when “Buying American” essentially meant you were buying an American made car. And Ford and General Motors were the car makers to buy from. Cadillacs, Impalas, Mustangs, and a litany of Ford trucks cruised our highways and byways. Since there was no competition from foreign cars, these car manufacturers had a captive audience. You either bought one of their cars or you walked or used public transportation. And the bigger the car the better!

 

Slowly but surely, foreign cars began to come onto our shores. With Toyota, Datsun/Nissan, and Honda manufacturing cars that were economical, better made, and not as expensive, the American car began to slip in the minds of the very people Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors needed to keep … Americans! How many people remember when Ford meant “Found on Road Daily?” Or remember the Pinto and the memo that allegedly came from the higher ups at Ford who said that paying out money in lawsuits would be cheaper than fixing an obvious and fatal design flaw?  By the mid 80’s, the American people stopped thinking, and rightfully so, that supporting an industry that didn’t care about them or that produced whatever they wanted whether we liked it or not, should end. Why would I pay for a car that is poorly made, guzzles gas, breaks down every other day, and costs more than a better produced foreign car? I wouldn’t and didn’t!

 

By the time the American manufactures realized we weren’t going to buy “just anything”, it was too late. Our pocketbooks and wallets dictated what kind of a car we would purchase. While owning a Cadillac is still a “status thing” owning a Lexus, built by Toyota no less, succeeded in putting a major dent in the definition of “status.” Most people don’t even know that the Lexus is made by Toyota because the name “Toyota” is not on the car. We see “Lexus” and that is all we need to know. They were given billions of dollars in subsidies, local, state, and federal tax relief, and were able to lobby the government when they wanted or needed something.

 

In 1989, documentary maker Michael Moore foretold this current auto industry meltdown in his movie “Roger and Me.” In the movie, Moore showed just how cold and callous the deeds of General Motors and his attempts to get an interview with CEO Roger Smith. The loss of more than 30,000 jobs and the ensuing housing crash dealt a death kneel to the city of Flint, Michigan, from which it still hasn’t recovered.

 

 

The CEO’s of these companies made obscene amounts of money and stock options and will walk away with millions more in Golden Parachutes. That industries who made BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars over the last 30 years or more are now asking to be  bailed out by the government is appalling at best and atrocious at worse. Yet the only people who seem to be suffering are the average American. We are losing our jobs, our houses, and our way of life while these “fat cats” keep getting fatter at our expense. Where is the bailout for all those people taken in by the mortgage industry? Where is the forgiveness of our consumer debt? And the only jobs that are hiring are debt collectors!

 

But the government has to bail them out. What would happen to the millions and millions of Ford, GM, and Chrysler cars currently on the road? Would you buy a car from a company that is “going out of business?”  It looks like the American government has now gotten into the Insurance business, the Mortgage business, Wall Street, the Banking business, and will now get into the Auto business.

 

Can you say SOCIALISM? I know you can!

 

But wait a minute. I’m still walking?