Everybody Brace Yourself, Economic Turbulence Ahead

[Joanne98]

By Dozer | December 12, 2008


Last night the rescue of the U.S. auto industry collapsed. This morning GM is already talking about closing 21 plants across North America. Looks like even more workers will be getting some form of a pink slip for the holiday.

I am no fan of how U.S automakers have done business over the years, nor am I a fan of their environmental negligence. In fact I know Henry Ford was a fascist fond of the Nazis and GM had its tendencies as well. If you have seen Roger and Me you are not likely to be too fond of General Motors’ business practices. However, I am aware that the U.S. auto industry is one of the few manufacturing bases in left in the United States.

The failure of providing U.S. auto companies a heavily conditioned bridge loan of $14 billion dollars by a Senate that eagerly provided Wall Street with $700 billion no strings attached dollars I find rather sickening. Not to mention, some of the same people voting against this rescue package voted for huge incentives and tax breaks to bring foreign auto-makers into the United States.

I understand there are many people out there who are upset about the idea of “tax payer” money going to “bail out” private business. I say I’d rather have the money I pay in taxes go to keep good jobs in the U.S. than line the pockets of military contractors in Iraq. There is a lot of misinformation being spread around that this economic situation is because of the workers’ wages. Please don’t believe it. If we start to believe that someone receiving good wages and benefits is causing the downfall of an industry, we put ourselves on a slippery slop. The wages and benefits unions auto workers receive were the result of many years of struggle, strikes, and negotiation. They’ve earned it. You can read more of the specifics about the wages and such here.

In fact the shutdown of one or more of the U.S. automakers could eliminate up to 3.3 million jobs here in the U.S.

Earlier this fall we saw politicians scramble to bail out the white collar bankers on Wall Street. There was no discussion of how the people from that sector traveled to Capitol Hill, not too many questions asked, no talk about having to reorganize the management of their companies. They said the sky was falling and after some deliberation $700 billion dollars was made available to them. Shortly after some of it was used to pay for CEOs to go to resorts.

Continued>>>
http://www.amorylucha.org/?p=11

[tridim]

1. Brace ourselves against what?

There is no brace in this country any more. We're all on our own.

[ben_meyers]

2. Ahead?? Is this guy a joke?

If it had been written 2 years ago maybe it would qualify as a warning, however now it is merely jumping on the bandwagon..