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December 11, 2008
UAW Kills Auto Bailout
The latest incarnation of the auto bailout died in the senate today (thankfully). Apparently, it was killed by the UAW over wage cuts to union workers. I don't really care about the Big 3. I personally think that they need to file bankruptcy and move on for a variety of reasons.
First of all, keep in mind that bankruptcy isn't the end of the world. Almost all of the airlines flying today have filed for bankruptcy at some point. And they're still operating. So, filing for bankruptcy doesn't mean that the plants go away. Or the jobs go away, necessarily. They may, but the only thing that would cause the jobs to leave Detroit would be the excessive regulations that make it impossible for a car manufacturer to compete in that region in a global market.
If they would repeal all of the excessively burdensome laws and regulations in that region, then there is no reason that cars couldn't be produced competitively on the shores of the Great Lakes. Granted, it might be by Toyota or Honda or Nissan, but who cares? The Big 3 shunned Dr. Deming and now the rooster is finally coming home to rest. So the Japanese take over the plants in Detroit. Big deal.
The funny thing to me is how much ado is being made in the Senate and House as they try to move forward with an auto bailout. Some of the Republicans are threatening a filibuster in the Senate. This is a farce, as the Dimocrats can kill the filibuster for once and ever more with the Nuclear Option.
But all of this is a tempest in a teapot. The reality is that Obama can do whatever he wants without Congressional approval. Bill Clinton loaned the Mexicans $20 billion when congress refused to appropriate the funds.
We've fought many wars since WWII - in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Panama, Grenada...the list goes on and on. Congress didn't declare war in any of these cases.
Today, congress is a vestigial remnant our founding fathers' vision. Where responsibility is shunned and Senate seats are offered for sale to the highest bidder.
Not one branch of government seems to be functioning remotely as they were intended. The Supreme Court has basically abdicated on their sworn duty to uphold the constitution. The congress has abdicated on their sworn duty to declare war.
As a result, the president today has powers that are much broader than our founding fathers ever intended. We are about to have a man in power that's not even legally eligible to be president of the United States, facing a serious economic crisis, and he's going to have a free hand.
He can bail out the Big Three. He can appoint an "Auto Tsar". He can bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. He can bail out AIG and buy up surplus houses on the market. He can do whatever he wants and he doesn't need the approval of Congress any more than he needs my permission.
I think we've got front-row seats to watch a socialist dictator grab the reigns and steer Amerika into an unprecedented economic morass.
Posted by Rob Kiser on December 11, 2008 at 10:34 PM
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