Round two…

Still not sure why we should even be considering an auto bailout.  Everyone seems to think that if we don’t bail them out that the country is asking for trouble.  I would contend that if they fell into bankruptcy and had an opportunity to reorganize like any other industry that they would either figure it out or die.  In a freemarket we would adjust, find different sources and suppliers… heck we might even create a new industry to deal with the fallout.

As a consumer it is absolutely a true statement that I would hesitate to buy a car from a company that was in bankruptcy.  But the fact still remains that I am going to need to buy a car.  So maybe I buy one that was built in the Toyota factory down in the south.  Why does their have to be a Ford, Chrysler or GM that I buy from?  If it is just because they are an American Icon then forget it… times are a changing.

I’ve also heard the argument that parts would be a problem.   Come on people you don’t think there would be another company that would step up and provide parts for your Ford or GM car?  The parts aftermarket would adjust and who knows it might end up being better in the long run anyway.  Maybe they could get some parts that are better engineered so you don’t have to replace them every 50,000 miles.

I still contend that this bailout is a bad idea.  If we do it for one, the next thing you know everyone is going to be wanting a handout.   Hmm… who can we think of next… Maybe Home Depot and Lowes should get in line or Dupont or Dow lets just see how much money we can give away all in the name of stabilizing an economy.  Oh, here’s a good one -  eBay.  They are an American icon… granted a young one but an icon none the less… Maybe they could go to Congress and ask for a billion or so to figure out how they can get buyers and sellers to come back to their site.

Again I say STOP THE INSANITY!

The questions that we ultimately have is what if anything can be done and how can all of this be fixed?  I must say that I am probably on the side that a government induced attempt at a solution is probably NOT the way to go.  Wasn’t it government and pseudo government (think Fannie May, Freddie Mac, the Federal Reserve) entities that created the problem in the first place?  Government policies that caused unusual lending practices carried out by the pseudo government entities? 

And where are we now when all of the dominoes start to fall?  We’ve created nearly a Trillion dollars worth of debt for a bailout of Wall Street and public banking. [NPR said that a Trillion dollars is enough money to “buy about 1000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies for every person in the United States…(about 303 million of us)”.  They go on to say that “a trillion barrels of oil would – at current consumption levels – fuel the world for about 33 years”.   Suffice it to say that it is A LOT and it has to come from somewhere. I can only think of three places… we either de-value our dollar and just print more (our Federal Reserve is good at this), we borrow it from other countries, or we increase taxes.  Since taxes are never a popular thing we ultimately end up placing the value of our country at risk.

To further complicate this matter we are allowing the government to pick and choose who to help… AIG, Citibank, GM, Chrysler, Ford… huge entities that have mismanaged their businesses.  If I were a business owner and chose to make risky decisions or were simply inept in my ability to manage a company I don’t think good ‘ol Uncle Sam is going to be writing me a check to save my business and to keep all of my employees working.  

The whole thing seems to reek of socialism to me (choose your own definition).  We’ve already taken some major steps… our government now owns portions of banks and insurance companies.  The concept of redistributing the wealth of this country is not a pleasant one to me. And as we saw from the whole AIG executive retreat after the first round of government funding they just don’t seem to care where the money comes from they still spend it with wild abandon.  I predict the same will be true of any entity that we give money to.

Stop the insanity… stop the “entitlement” attitude that seems to be so prevalent in this country.  Let’s get back to hard work and innovation and become the great country that we are.  Throwing money at a problem is never a long lasting solution.

Schoolpop is a company that has come up with a solution.  As America’s #1 tuition crediting and school fundraising program, Schoolpop has built a program designed around what you already do…shop!  If you happen to shop at any of their merchants those merchants will give a percentage or a dollar amount back to the school of your choosing.   In just a few minutes of looking through their merchant list I found 3 merchants that I had purchased from just this week.  Merchants that would have sent almost $18.00 back to our local school.