My plan to save U.S. industry

[LuckyTheDog]

One of the key problems for the auto industry and other industries is the burden of their legacy healthcare costs. I have a simple, win-win idea to address that, plus another idea.

First, legacy health costs.

I say we tell the auto companies, steel companies and others that the federal government will put all of their early retirees, regardless of age, into Medicare. In fact, for vital industries, we might even want to offer that to their active employees as well. But there will be a cost.

In exchange, those companies that participate would issue a special class of non-voting stock, which would be held by the Social Security Trust Fund. The stock would have full dividend rights and would be convertible to regular common stock if sold to a private buyer.

This would do two things: First, it would free major manufacturers of a big chunk of legacy costs without digging into cash flow. Second, it would give the Social Security Trust Fund real assets for the first time in its history.

Such a plan would dilute the ownership of current shareholders in the affected companies. But, in the long run, it would be good for them if the companies were shored up. Money would be freed up for operations and developing better products. And the stocks would (if everything goes well after that) go up.

My second idea:

Bring back the deductibility of car loan interest … but ONLY for cars assembled here that have 51% or more U.S. content.

Your thoughts?

[ret5hd]

1. Mine: 1) Universal Health Care...for everyone.

2) If U.S. Treaury Notes aren't REAL assets, then neither are other pieces of paper like "a special class of non-voting stock". Why not? Because those other pieces of paper are backed, ultimately, in a very real sense, by U.S. Treaury Notes.

[LuckyTheDog]

3. Sure, universal health care would be ideal

And I think my plan would lead to that.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Good idea!

Kicked and nominated.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. HC costs are a problem. BUT so are the cars we build.

GM is planning to build more SUVs next year. They dropped all efficiency research, including hybrids, etc. Their corporate planners have not yet realized their many of their products suck.

Ford at least tries to build smaller, better, more efficient stuff. BUt, they too suffer from poor planning. I would not want to subsidize the purchase of crap products.

as for universal health care, that should be our goal.

[LuckyTheDog]

5. And, oh, by the way...

...we raise CAFE standards.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. Ahhhhhhh. About time, doncha think?

christ. even clinton allowed a lowering of the #s.