posted December 11, 2008 12:04 PM            

I've O'Bomber-Proofed my finances
I've O'Bomber-Proofed my business

And, I'm working on O'Bomber-Proofing my energy needs.

As a former Boy Scout, I believe in the old Boy Scout Motto..."Be Prepared".

In keeping with the spirit of the Boy Scouts to "do a good deed every day", let me suggest you "Be Prepared" as well.

In as much as O'Bomber has promised to raise your taxes, steal the proceeds of your pension funds, mutual funds, IRA's and Keogh plans, cut jobs, skyrocket energy prices and monitor, control and regulate private energy usage to fund his Socialist agenda, "Being Prepared" should be considered the minimalist approach. "Be Prepared" to pay a hell of a lot more...for a hell of a lot less.

Others see the same things coming and they're "preparing" too. They're tired of pulling the wagon piled high with the free-loaders, mooches, unmotivated...you know, the "something for nothing crowd" who are too brain dead to realize the government has nothing to give them which the government hasn't first stolen from someone else. So, they're unhitching themselves from the wagon.

Blame me for job losses
By C. Edmund Wright

When the jobs report for November came out last week, many so-called "experts" were shocked at the massive loss of an estimated 533 thousand jobs. Even a Time /CNN organization called "The Curious Capitalists" were at a loss to explain it.

Let me attempt to help out these "curious capitalists" (though I am still skeptical that anyone working for CNN or Time is either curious or a capitalist). I caused part of this job loss and I know precisely why; the election. The results portend big trouble for small business.

The job destruction process has started. We are about 20% of the way through our ramp down process and on schedule to complete the shut down by spring 2009. Watch the financial news and you will see continued job cuts each month. We are not alone in our strategy. Far from it. Atlas has shrugged all over the country.

Like many business owners, we are no longer willing to take all of the financial and legal risks and put up with all of the aggravation of owning and running a business. Not with the prospects of even higher taxes, more regulation, more litigation and more emboldened bureaucrats on the horizon. Like others we know, we are getting out while the getting is, well, tolerable. Many who aren't getting out are scaling back.

We learned just this week that getting out of business is harder than we thought. Take Republic Windows & Doors of Chicago, where being out of money and out of paying customers apparently does not give a business the right to shut down. Nor does it give that business' bank the right to withhold credit. According to the unions, Jesse Jackson and the Governor of Illinois (yes, THAT governor), this company must continue to pay its employees salaries and benefits.

But pay them with WHAT? Liberals seem to be clueless as to where "the money" comes from. They love to tax, regulate and redistribute wealth -- all the while decrying the very profit motive that created it -- something they do not understand. If they did, they would not naively insist that a business that is out of money, out of customers and out of credit stay open so as to pay employees.

And that is but one example of why the lay-offs of November 2008 - which will be part of George W. Bush's statistical record - fall in reality on the Obama election. Business owners understand that the election of 2008 just gave a lot more power to people who think like these liberals in Illinois. For crying out loud, an Illinois liberal is now "President elect" and he chose another one for his Chief of Staff. He chose Michigan liberals for his economic team. Illinois and Michigan are broke!

It is no secret that owners circulated endless emails leading up to election day discussing lay off plans were Obama to win. Entrepreneurs instinctively understand the danger posed by larger liberal majorities in power. The risk-reward equation and fierce independence spirit of start up businesses are anathema to the class warfare, equality of outcome and spread the wealth mentality of the left.

We have very little appetite to have our lives run by elected or un-elected officials like Barney Frank and Jamie Gorelick. We have no appetite to be taxed even more by the likes of Charlie Rangel. These clowns destroyed Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and our entire economy as a result. Congress, by their own admission, cannot even run their own damned dining room with a captive customer base! Some of them refuse to pay their own tax burden. Why in the world would we subject ourselves to their ilk armed with the unchecked powers of the Oval Office and both houses of congress and a massive army of bureaucrats?

We got into business to be independent. We will get out for the same reason.

The fact that Obama is not in office yet is irrelevant. Businesses must see "around the corner" and plan accordingly. Rightly or wrongly, business owners see a huge anti-business shift in motion and they are making preparations NOW. We do not want to have business illiterates like Chris Dodd dictate our decisions from the comfort of his home made possible by a quid pro quo Countrywide mortgage....**or the business illiterate O'Bomber and the business illiterate O'Bomber Socialist crowd**.

(As the owners of Republic Windows are finding out, government will nose their way into your business even if you are not thriving.)

Most of the kind of people who start and run businesses are by definition trying to opt out of depending on anyone else -- be it a large corporation or government -- for their welfare. We take on tremendous risks and responsibilities. We do so expecting a better than average return. Since we require nothing from government, most of us deeply resent and resist being pestered by government.

For nearly 30 years, I have been one of these business people. It was an amazing journey and literally involved blood, sweat and tears. But now I am done. This election screams that we are going to see a deterioration of the risk-reward equation and the ability to be left alone. Apparently, any appreciation of our crucial place in the economy is lost on over 50% of the voters as well as those they elected.

So, like many business owners, I will "stay home" so to speak. Others more brave than I are opting to try and stay in business by cutting way back on purchases and payroll. They have already started. They are not waiting for the little sign on Obama's lectern to be updated to the official Presidential seal. ***Office of the President Elect..indeed*** November 2008 job losses belong to "The Office of the President Elect." I know. I caused some of them, and I know why.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/12/blame_me_for_job_losses.html

"Comments"

Edmund:

I have been working on a piece for American Thinker "Killing the goose that lays the golden egg" -- I thought I might call it. But I just threw it in the trash. You have said everything I was wanting and trying to say -- and have said it better than I could have.

Great article. Thanks.

(Except you have put me out of work!)

Posted by: Karin
Dec 11, 06:30 AM Report Abuse
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Mr. Wright's essay and Not_Paying's response are very, very powerful. Please share them with other blogs you participate in. Perhaps send to your elected officials.

Cash and barter, baby.

Posted by: jra
Dec 11, 06:27 AM Report Abuse
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Obama, Blago, Daley and Stroger Jr caused Republic to go out of business when Cook County raised its sales tax to 10.25%. Many people have written into local papers like the Daily Herald and have stated that they are doing their shopping outside of Cook County and saving thousands of dollars on large purchases and purchasing windows and doors is a large purchase! I believe Cook County already posted a 13% drop in monthly revenue and they still don't get it! This is what is coming your way America because the MSM didn't touch the subject of how raising taxes, any taxes hurts individuals with purchasing power, businesses being able to stay in their locations and make a profit, and a steady stream (not falling) of revenue for local governments.

Posted by: John
Dec 11, 06:23 AM Report Abuse
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I'm with you folks. My wife and I are in the restaurant business and had planned to open a new location this year. As the election drew nearer I saw the writing on the wall and severely slowed down the process of development. Nov. 5th I cut the new project completely. Our stores employ about 20-25 people each (for all shifts). So that's about 20 jobs that will never be. That's 5 chefs, 3 bartenders, 2 hoasts, 2 porters and a gaggle of wait and bus staff. That's also the purchase of a $970,000 piece of real estate (yes, you can still get credit if you have a credit worthy score). I have responded to the slowing economy by keeping a handle on staff hours, food prices, advertising costs etc. So far I haven't needed to lay off any employees at our current stores and I may not have to by just going with attrition.

Posted by: Rick Johnson
Dec 11, 06:13 AM Report Abuse
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Excellent article, Mr. Wright. Your statement, 'Liberals seem to be clueless as to where "the money" comes from.', reminds me of a coworker's comments years ago.

My wife started a small (very small) business and all the money went back into the business in the beginning. The coworker's comments when I said she was not yet making any money were, "Why doesn't she just pay herself a salary?" My explanation caused his eyes to glaze over. He hadn't a clue where the money in the business came from.

Posted by: VideoSavant
Dec 11, 06:04 AM Report Abuse
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After reading this article, I wish I had a small business that was big enough to shut down...

Posted by: Nate
Dec 11, 06:04 AM Report Abuse
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You are correct that you are not the only one.
Two years ago, sold everything I could get my hands on, moved back home, and started my dream business.
Doing ok, but I too can see the writing on the wall. So Monday I started working for someone else again.
I now do not have to worrry about what new products to carry, what stocking levels to have, what advertising we should do this year/month/week, what personal expenses I will sacrifice to avoid hurting the cash flow, and keeping all of the lovely state and federal paperwork I had to deal with up to date.
So my dream job is going back to being my hobby and I will walk away from small-business ownership until the government does not consider me a target. Probably the rest of my life with the ignoramuses the sheep keep electing to get their bread and circuses.

Posted by: New gig
Dec 11, 05:45 AM Report Abuse
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Many of my friends have their own businesses and won't be shutting down because they can't. What do you do sir if you haven't been able to land a job (I'm an advertising guy) and a great opportunity comes my way, out of my field, that has a low barrier of entry? My spouse makes good money and I realized setting up an LLC and taking the risk would lower our tax bill and relieve some expenses, mainly gas, some utilities and the fed tax bill which was well into six-figures three years in a row.

What would you do Mr. Wright?

Posted by: Bok
Dec 11, 05:41 AM Report Abuse
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Well said, but I'm torn. I'm a CFO for a 15 year old automotive services business. We saw the writing last May when gas hit $4 and started cutting costs and paying down our credit line. Through the end of October, we were on track to have our best year ever. November changed all that. A couple weeks ago, I told the owner that now was the time to get out without losing his shirt.

It is troublesome to me that as a "small" business trying to get by independent of big government, that for all our efforts to manage our finances and business responsibly, our government plans to tax us to pay for the rewards they bestow on the failing large scale businesses all in the name of "something MUST be done".

Where I'm torn is this: If we (meaning the business owners & operators of the USA) bail on the future and shut down our enterprises, it will only increase the vacuum that the PEOTUS and his cohorts are so eager to fill with a permenent government solution. I'm sure you're aware of the quote attributed to Sam Walton when he was asked about a recession. His reply was that he that he had heard that there was one going on but he had declined to participate.

Our owner, who is not in it primarily for the money, has decided the same. It's no question that the future of small business is going to be different from here on forward, but preserving it will be critical in fighting back against the collectivists.

Posted by: syn
Dec 11, 05:23 AM Report Abuse
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Bev Gunn

My words cannot express the depth of gratitude I have for you and your family, populist culutre aside I know that there are millions of Americans like me who will be watching out for you while you protect us.

Despite my own personal cut backs and spending reductions I have no intention of reducing my charitable donations to USACares, Soldier's Angels, The Fisher House, Wounded Warriors and Any Soldier; in fact, the only charitable organzations I plan on giving to over the next four years will only go to serving those in the military and their families.

Given that, try as his voting constituents may wish the incoming President will not be afforded any opportunity to cut national defense. HE may offer lip service to his 'peace in our time' message to cut military spending however reality will hit the next administration hard whether the next big attack hits America's homeland or whether an attack hits an ally abroad.

Posted by: cbk
Dec 11, 05:19 AM Report Abuse
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Great article and spot-on ! We have diversified ourselfs right out of freedom and capitalism . We are a third world country! Todays generation was never educated in Capitalism and will surely opt for socialism/marxism --cause they dont have the " old" American " can do " / independant DNA. Their moto is --let the government give me a check while I sit here and whine or play stupid video games !!!

Posted by: Jeff S
Dec 11, 04:58 AM Report Abuse
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I agree with the premise that we will see alot of business close shop because of what is on the horizon. However I think the author needs to research the Republic windows story. The company owner opened a can of worms because he failed to follow the rules of notification to the employees. He was obligated to pay severance and refused to do so. He was not filing bankruptcy but attempting to move his company to a different state to get out from under Illinois business burdens. I agree with the author but I believe he misrepresented this story to make his point. Now it is possible that he may know more than what has been reported in the MSM and if so he should state so. We don't need to twist stories to make our points they stand very well on their own merit.

Posted by: pvandeus
Dec 11, 04:52 AM Report Abuse
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Ronald Reagan said, "If you tax something, you'll get less of it". This article provides proof of that. It seems that PEOTUS Obama knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. He wants less private sector and he will accomplish this with taxes.

Remember that Mr and Mrs Obama during the campaign were encouraging young people to eschew the private sector and work for the Government. Mrs Obama has been making $350K as the diversity coordinator at a hospital, but she wants others to spurn such jobs to be social workers. Its not clear where the money will come from to pay the government workers as the private sector shrinks. Maybe the Fed will just print more money. Thats easier than earning it.

In conclusion, I hope PEOTUS Obama wasn't serious about making this kind of change.

Posted by: Jawbreakeralph1
Dec 11, 04:31 AM Report Abuse
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Thank you for your honesty and candor Sir. We all should e-mail this article to one of our favorite libcrud fellow so-called 50% American types. Let them soak this in for a few moments. Mr. Sorros needs to be brought up on election tampering, fraud, and a host of other demonic items as it would appear that elections can now be claimed to be bought off with money and favors.

Posted by: Ralph Woods
Dec 11, 04:09 AM Report Abuse
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This article rang so true for me. 30 years operating a small business, struggling on a daily basis to overcome the obstacles placed in your way (primarily by governments at all levels). I have always said that I would refuse to take advice from anyone unless they have also ran a business as they simply cannot understand how a business works or how a buiness person thinks.

Posted by: BevGunn
Dec 11, 04:07 AM Report Abuse
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Mr. Wright,

I understand why a private businessman would sell his company and get out while the "getting" is good. But I must wonder this, where do we military families, whose sons and daughters serve, go to "get out"? I am readying to send our son, a Special Forces Captain, married, father of a young 1 year old, to his ninth tour of duty abroad. Yes, sir, ninth "tour". This is his 3rd time this year.

His comments to me the other day were, "Mom, we are screwed." If you think things are bad in the business structure, sir, I beg you to look at the military families of those serving, time and time again, against a very real enemy who wants to destroy us and will keep on with "his" mission, long after America goes to the mall out of boredom. Remember this Christmas, when our son is gone, how his family misses him, and so many others whose families wonder if they will return from war, what I have said.

We hold one thing in our hearts, that God watches over him and his crew members and so many others that serve in our defense. Freedom, it is the one thing we truly failed to value.

Bev Gunn
East Texas Rancher

Posted by: Galen Hoover
Dec 11, 04:04 AM Report Abuse
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I am not a business owner. I am a professional earning a base pay of about $110,000. With "on call" and OT (I make 20% less per hour for OT!!!), I will earn about $130,000 in 2008. I have already notified my boss that I will no longer work any OT for pay. I will take it as comp time. My fiancee, who I own a home with, earns about $45,000 annually. Financially, we are better off "shacked up" than married.

Does anybody know what income "rich" is? The last I heard it was $120k.

So, you see, small business owners, you have allies in the professional world. We shrug as you do.

I have also reduced my 401k contributions to the lowest point for the company match. I cannot invest in this socialist America.

Interestingly, I am directly telling all the Obots I work with exactly what I am doing AND why I am doing it. I will be darned if I will pay more in income tax so they can pay less. Scr*w them. Scr*w Obama. So far, it is the only thing I have said to them that gets the response of crickets chirping.

Posted by: Rmd
Dec 11, 03:19 AM Report Abuse
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Dear Not_Paying:

Your analysis is dead-on the mark! Those who have worked very hard, saved and scraped to do the right thing for their families and business-partners, have systematically been squeezed out of the just rewards of all their labor. So? Why
work so hard for so little yield? Time to "get low" in this economy and "get liquid" (e.g., under the radar of Uncle Sam).
It's quite rational to do so, since no one rewards risk-takers anymore. Do just those things that bring meaning to you,
personally, and that will keep body and soul together. Beyond that - "shrug"!

After all, liberalism **leftism** is always parasitic. It brings no nutrients of its own, and survives only by robbing its host of protien.

Hats off to you "Not_Paying", and keep a few of your wood-wrking tools sharp for when the thaw eventually comes!

Rmd

Posted by: rudy c
Dec 11, 12:03 AM Report Abuse
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like you i own my own business (just me and my partner) for the very reason you state, i don;t want any thing from government or anyone else. i prize the freedom we have in this country it;s our most valuable possesion. the fifty two percenters have handed over the control of our freedom to people who have stated they intend to limit a great deal of it. and these people will not stop until you and i are standing ankle deep in water in a rice field in between working on roads and bridges. i don't know if i can live without my freedom. god help us all because two years from now life in america as we know it now will be unrecognizeable.

Posted by: Not_Paying
Dec 10, 11:38 PM Report Abuse
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You are far from the only business owner shutting down. We are much smaller with our custom woodworking, wood turning and sculpting business, but we started scaling back months ago when the proverbial writing on the political wall grew clearer and clearer, day by day. Now, we will shutter our small business at noon, December 31st, and our small group of loyal, long-time employees, to whom we gave almost 4 months notice, will be out of work. Several will be able to retire, all are stellar master artists and craftspeople and we have been working with them to advocate on their behalf for gainful employment elsewhere, assuming of course there are any "elsewheres" left to be gainfully employed a few months hence.

I will continue to provide custom orders for turned and sculpted artistic pieces to the galleries to whom I am under contract personally ... although with the flagging economy, I do not expect the usual volume of orders to come rolling in since I produce art, which is purchased with disposable income ... something incoming Prez Obama is going to attempt to relieve us of ASAP in the form of higher taxes.

Here's what I wish for the 52 million azzhats who voted with the new "Americana", the "me and mine" first, Socialistic form of government: I wish you as much misery, in triplicate, as the proud, hard-working Americans who will become jobless because of YOUR vote last November ... not jobless by choice, mind you, but solely because YOU wanted "change", YOU wanted something to which you were never entitled, something which another American earned by hard work and the sweat of his or her brow, something to which I, and my spouse, will do our damndest to deprive you of: another penny off the back of OUR hard-earned dollars.

We will retire to a small plot of land we purchased and paid for years ago. We will grow our own vegetables and have bartered an arrangement with a neighbor for half side of Angus beef annually; we will pasture "X" number of his Angus cattle on our land and he will provide us with our dry aged, butchered to order, freezer wrapped and blast frozen beef annually.

I promise you this, Commandant Obama: we will do everything within our collective power, health permitting, to live off our land, minimize our taxable income and capital gains even as we cut expenses to the bare bone. We will make damn sure there isn't a legal dime more of our bank accounts you can rake in to redistribute to some dead-azz who is a dead-azz precisely because they've spent a lifetime making poor choices. Moreover, I'll give it all away to a worthy charitable enterprise if we have to, before Leviathan big Government gets another cent of it. We spent a lifetime paying our "fair share" and then some of our taxable income, never cheating on our taxes, always trying to do the right thing.

Deadbeats and uber-liberals, you are about to learn a very hard lesson in the most indisputable way. There will be no place for more pie in the sky liberal ideologues and their endless prattling and wittering on vacuously. Sirs and madames, you are about to discover, quite rudely, that the wagon advances neither forward, nor backward ... because we are busily ensuring that with you and all your foolish bleeding heart liberal protegees piled 50 high, wide and deep on the wagon, there will be no one left to pull the damn thing. Enjoy reality! It's our parting gift to you. The cure? Get off your azz and work for your own food, shelter and related necessities.

Goodnight, America, we, the proud, independent small business people of this once proud nation promise to turn off the lights for you as we shutter our businesses, one by one. Land of the politician, home of the moochers, victims, whiners, complainers and various and sundry related deadbeats, miscreants and freeloaders.

May God continue to richly bless and keep our proud, brave military men and women and each of their families. We pray continually for your safety and we will never cease to honor you for your service. You, we will never forget!

Posted by: durga
Dec 10, 11:21 PM Report Abuse
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Never forget. George Soros claimed he wanted this economic crisis so (1) Obama could be elected and (2) he could finally get his way in America. Is it all going to plan, George? Tell us how it is going to end up. How much did it finally cost you to bring this all about, George.

Posted by: durga
Dec 10, 11:18 PM Report Abuse
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So many people work off the books, never pay taxes and never enter the system, but when they lose a job, that is a job lost for them. How do these millions in the underground economy get recorded in these increasingly phony "statistics"?

Posted by: Publius
Dec 10, 10:56 PM Report Abuse
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Though this story is anecdotal, it gets to the root of one of the causes of the economic situation. There are others, such as Obama's promise to raise the capital gains rate to 40%.

Posted by: Jason
Dec 10, 10:54 PM Report Abuse
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posted December 11, 2008 03:01 PM            

quote:

---

he chose another one for his Chief of Staff. He chose Michigan liberals for his economic team. Illinois and Michigan are broke!

---

quote:

---

MI Dem. Governor Granholm's budget director unveiled her Executive Order to cut 134-million dollars from the state budget Wednesday afternoon. The bulk from Corrections: 42-million dollars and Human Services: than 50-million dollars

---

Yep, MI is broke.. flat busted broke and they just cut Human Services, the safty net for the already broke and hungry.

But good news is there will be less prisons space for a Michigander if they get caught stealing food to feed their hungry family!!

Merry Christmas Dem. Gov. Jennifer Granholm & crew

juni

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted December 11, 2008 08:19 PM            

For my part, I'm sad to see that people are having to take such drastic measures to save what they've worked for. And still, I can be glad that the pie so many fingers are just waiting to dip into is going to be gone.

People go on and on about the evils of business and capitalism and yet they whine when the economy is down and jobs are cut. Imagine that. How completely unrelated those things must be. Businesses not only make alot of the money, they keep a great majority of our working citizens employed ... and insured. The "rich" already support a tax burden that would make the average American cry fascism if it were applied to their income ... but as long as it's someone else they don't care. Capital gains taxes? Forget the rich. If they absolutely needed residual income of any sort, well, they aren't quite the "rich" we imagine. But the rest of us suckers pinning our hopes of retirement on IRAS and the like? Good luck and remember that The Government is surely going to tax all the non-existant businesses and all the suddenly-not-so-rich anymore people and provide you with your own retirement plan, to include housing, food, basic needs and certainly medical care. Where is the money going to come from? Who cares! The Government surely has all those minor money issues worked out and they will take care of you. Don't worry. Don't think. Don't stress. Just believe in change.

posted December 12, 2008 05:36 AM              

thanks republicans...who cares about the working class? not them.

posted December 12, 2008 07:10 PM            

Now, there are people really upset that Republicans aren't down with handing the auto makers 15 Billion or more to bail them out. Congressional meddling in the auto industry is part of the problem with the car companies in the first place. Now, these congressional meddlers want to install a "Car Czar"...no doubt to tell Ford, GM and Chrysler what kind of cars to build. Congress has been meddling for years with their CAFE standards, union contract pressure, the EPA and a blizzard of regulatory nonsense.

The only way for Ford, GM and Chrysler to get out of this fix is to tell Congress to take the money and shove it. Until they file bankruptcy and restructure their debt, union contracts, leases and other obligations there's no sense in spending a penny of taxpayer money because that only kicks the can down the road a few months. It costs American auto manufacturers $2000 to $3,000 more to produce comparable cars to foreign cars also manufactured right here in the United States.

posted December 12, 2008 08:01 PM            

They wouldn't miss a day of production and wouldn't have to shut down any part of their operations that are viable. In fact, it's the loser parts of their operations they need to shut down.

Bankruptcy gives them the opportunity to restructure and breathing room to do so while they renegotiate leases, shed..sell off unprofitable bits and pieces of their businesses and renegotiate contracts.

Their suppliers wouldn't be losing the auto makers business so they wouldn't be forced into shutdown either.

Companies which do this reemerge in a year or so slimmer, more focused on their main business and generally...profitable.

posted December 13, 2008 09:02 AM              

in a non socialist non mushroom non ******** eating real world.

I do agree with a lot of what you say.

posted December 13, 2008 11:01 AM            

You seemed to be upset at Republicans for what you see as their failure to advance money to Ford, GM and Chrysler...to bail them out of the mess caused by Ford, GM, Chrysler, Congress, Presidents and of course....the labor unions.

Now, you say labor unions would never agree to making concessions to the auto makers in a restructuring under bankruptcy. That restructuring must meet lots of tests. The main test being that the restructured corporation must have an excellent probability of being successful. The test of success being that the restructured corporation would be profitable in the near term and capable of carrying that profitability and stability forward into the future. Now, that would seem to me to be what all parties involved in a failing business should be pulling for.

So SL, it seems to me that your anger is somewhat misplaced. Perhaps the target for your anger should be the labor unions...who you say will not make the necessary "concessions" to protect their own jobs base.

"thanks republicans...who cares about the working class? not them."

"great theory jwop, but I doubt it will go like that, too many concessions that union won't give on"

BTW, some would consider calling me jwop...instead of jwhop to be an attempt at subtle or not so subtle insult. Not me though since I'm not Italian and have no doubts about my WASP ancestry.

posted December 13, 2008 11:41 AM            

That might sound strange from a Michigander but MI economists have said for decades the Union`s greed would collapse on it`s self.

The sooner they get the bankruptcy going and restructure, the sooner a new improved auto industry will emerge and MI can get back to work again.

Auto Workers Union Rules Out Concessions To Help Detroit Bailout

The US United Auto Workers (UAW) union has ruled out concessions - at least for the time being - to help rescue the ailing Detroit-based car industry.

Ron Gettelfinger, the union president, said at the weekend that "the focus has to be on the economy as a whole as opposed to a UAW contract"...

..."We're here not because of what the auto industry has done", Mr Gettelfinger said during a rare press conference. "We're here because of what has happened to the economy." The union represents blue-collar workers at assembly plants, as well as several parts suppliers.

High labour costs are seen by many outside the UAW as part of the reason for the carmakers' distress. UAW members' generous pay and benefits have gained them a reputation as the aristocracy of the US labour movement. Much of GM's debt was taken on in the early part of the decade to finance its blue-collar pension plan.

juni

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted December 13, 2008 01:35 PM            

Jobs Bank...a provision of the UAW contract which permits UAW members to sit at home with their feet up on the coffee table watching Oprah while they collect 95% of their pay...as though they were actually working in a plant...along with full employee benefits...except for gaining senority on the job.

Such a deal!!!!

Don't get me wrong here. I'm all for employess getting what they're worth to the companies for which they work...based on their level of skill, ability and produced work output...individually.

posted December 14, 2008 02:36 AM            

quote:

---

Yes juni, I've seen statistics stating auto workers hourly cost of employment to the Big 3 Automakers runs about $78 per hour. That includes wages, health care, pensions, employment taxes and other perks including layoff provisions and of course, the UAW Jobs Bank Program paid for by the automakers.

---

quote:

---

High labour costs are seen by many outside the UAW as part of the reason for the carmakers' distress. UAW members' generous pay and benefits have gained them a reputation as the aristocracy of the US labour movement. Much of GM's debt was taken on in the early part of the decade to finance its blue-collar pension plan.

---

How can anyone understand that or at least recognize that and yet fail to see how that would translate in terms of government dependency? People ask for more and more and more but who is to pay for all that they want? Obviously themselves is out of the question. As ugly and distasteful as it may seem to some, all these things, from wages to healthcare to retirement, cost $$$. For an entire population, you're talking lots and lots of $$$. But no one is supposed to earn that money ... because if they do they're the evil rich and greedy, remember? Businesses can't be profitable ... because if they are then they're also the evil rich and greedy, right?

"Earn it yourself and pay for everyone else's share while you're at it, jerk." <--- the truly "compassionate" motto.

It's not just backwards thinking, it's plain stupid.

quote:

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Don't get me wrong here. I'm all for employess getting what they're worth to the companies for which they work...baised on their level of skill, ability and produced work output...individually.

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posted December 15, 2008 10:56 AM            

Eleanore, I cop to being an inhuman, evil, greedy Capitalist bast@rd with my jack booted heel on the neck of humanity ....because I believe in making the pie bigger so everyone can have a bigger piece...instead of periodically slicing ever smaller pieces of the same small pie for everyone as the population rises.

I believe in starting new businesses where none existed before...to hire people and make a profit, believe in taking raw land and building homes, businesses or growing food crops to make a profit, believe in invention of new products which never existed before to make a profit...and also puts people to work. All this adds value to the society and to the economy...which makes the pie larger for everyone.

I also believe...when I work for others...that we have a contract that's "something for something". They pay/paid me for my best effort on their behalf and anything less from me is a form of theft. After all, no one put a gun to my head and forced me to work for $......

People's lives have infinite value to themselves, their families and their friends. On the job, that value is regulated by economic realities.

Of course, all these radical beliefs make me an inhuman, evil, greedy Capitalist pig bast@rd.

posted December 16, 2008 04:12 PM            

quote:

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Reorganizing under US Bankruptcy laws is not a theory sunshine_lion. It's a fact and it happens all the time.
-jwhop

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This bailout mentality is only going make matters worse.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122939117718809261.html

Bankruptcy Is the Perfect Remedy for Detroit
Washington hates the idea because it would lose leverage.

By TODD J. ZYWICKI

While Washington tries to arrange a bailout, the Detroit Three auto makers and their union, the United Auto Workers, keep insisting that bankruptcy would be the kiss of death. Not so: a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will likely result in a stronger domestic industry.

To understand why, consider that the fundamental question to ask of any firm facing bankruptcy is whether it is "economically failed" or simply "financially failed."

If a typewriter manufacturer were to file for bankruptcy today it likely would be considered an economically failed enterprise. The market for typewriters is small and shrinking, and the manufacturer's financial, physical and human capital would probably be better redeployed elsewhere, such as making computers.

A financially failed enterprise, on the other hand, is worth more alive than dead. Chapter 11 exists to allow it to continue in business while reorganizing. Reorganization arose in the late 19th century when creditors of railroads unable to meet their debt obligations threatened to tear up their tracks, melt them down, and sell the steel as scrap. But innovative judges, lawyers and businessmen recognized that creditors would collect more if they all agreed to reduce their claims and keep the railroads running and producing revenues to pay them off. The same logic animates Chapter 11 today.

General Motors looks like a financially failed rather than an economically failed enterprise -- in need of reorganization not liquidation. It needs to shed labor contracts, retirement contracts, and modernize its distribution systems by closing many dealerships. This will give rise to many current and future liabilities that may be worked out in bankruptcy. It may need new management as well. Bankruptcy provides an opportunity to do all that. Consumers have little to fear. Reorganization will pare the weakest dealers while strengthening those who remain.

So why do the Detroit Three managements and the UAW insist that "bankruptcy is not an option"? Perhaps because of the pain that would be inflicted upon both.

The bankruptcy code places severe limitations on the compensation that can be paid to a manager unless there is a "bona fide job offer from another business at the same or greater rate of compensation." Given the dismal performance of the Detroit Three in recent years, it seems unlikely that their senior management will be highly coveted on the open market. Incumbent management is also likely to find its prospects for continued employment less-secure.

Chapter 11 also provides a mechanism for forcing UAW workers to take further pay cuts, reduce their gold-plated health and retirement benefits, and overcome their cumbersome union work rules. The process for adjusting a collective bargaining agreement is somewhat complicated and begins with a sort of compulsory mediation process. But if this fails a company can (with court permission) nullify the agreement. This doomsday scenario is rarely triggered, however, as its threat casts a large shadow over negotiations, providing a stick to force concessions.

Those Washington politicians who repeat the mantra that "bankruptcy is not an option" probably do so because they want to use free taxpayer money to bribe Detroit into manufacturing the green cars favored by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, rather than those cars American consumers want to buy. A Chapter 11 filing would remove these politicians' leverage, thus explaining their desperation to avoid a bankruptcy.

In short, Detroit and the public have little to fear from a bankruptcy filing, but much to fear from the corrupt bargain that is emerging among incumbent management, the UAW and Capitol Hill to spend our money to avoid their reality check.

posted December 18, 2008 10:18 AM              

here;s a joke for JWhOP - (didn't mean to spell your name wrong the other day)

After numerous rounds of 'We don't even know if Osama is still alive',

President- Elect Barrack Obama has now been telling everyone he will

capture Osama Bin Laden.

So, Osama himself decided to send Obama a letter in his own

handwriting to let him know he was still in the game.

Obama opened the letter and it contained a single line of coded message:

370H-SSV-0773H

Obama was baffled, so he sent it to Howard Dean. Dean and the DNC and his aides had no clue either, so they sent it to Joe Biden. Joe Biden could not solve so it was sent to the FBI and the CIA.

Eventually they asked John McCain and his Staff to look at it.

And within a few minutes, McCain had his staff email Obama and tell him,