Part 2 – Seriously are we just this stupid? Auto bailout on hold because of lawsuit that reduces emissions

December 10, 2008 · Posted in Financial Crisis, Government, Politics, Social Change, Social Issues, Society, Things to think about · Comment 
Welcome to the jungle

Welcome to the jungle

The proof is in the pudding….

Here is the latest information about the auto industry bailout, and you will see the hurdle is still the California emissions. UNBELIEVABLE… Get over it already.  We should not let the auto industry regulate air quality.  If they need citizens money, then they should put citizens health and air quality higher on their list of priorities.

Here is a snippet of the current conversations on the hill.

—-Efforts by the Bush administration and congressional Democrats to fashion a government rescue of the foundering American auto industry hit other snags on Wednesday, including a dispute over the precise wording of the bill. That led the House and Senate to put forward competing versions of the legislation.

The last-minute disagreement centered on a SINGLE WORD — with the Senate bill requiring the automakers “to comply with all applicable FEDERAL fuel efficiency and emissions requirements” and the House bill referring to “all applicable fuel efficiency requirements,” which would include state emissions rules that the automakers oppose.

Nuff said, it is a scam and we are putting up with it.  Way to go lobbyists, and Andy Card…..

Car and smoke

Car and smoke

Tags: <, , , , , , , , >

Seriously are we just this stupid? Auto bailout on hold because of lawsuit that reduces emissions

December 10, 2008 · Posted in Big Business Ripoffs, Financial Crisis, Government, Politics, Social Change, Social Issues, Society, Things to think about · 1 Comment 
Welcome to the jungle

Welcome to the jungle

I will try to keep this post from becoming another rant, but it will be difficult. My frustration over the corruption and inbreeding in Washington is reaching an epic level. There is no way I can give this topic its due, but I will provide you with an overview, and then encourage you to do you own research on the specific topics.

Here we go. The auto bailout is a small amount of money, in fact, $15,000,000,000 looks like a large number, but in reality it is less than one months interest on the National Debt and it equates to 0.0008% of the nations GDP and less than 1 month worth of revenue for Toyota, so all-in-all it is a relatively small number from a national perspective.  If, you further take into account that the U.S. government and tax payers have a better than 50/50 chance of getting their money back on this transaction it really becomes a no-brainer that we should keep the industry afloat.

Now I am not saying the current plan is good or bad, what I am saying is something needs to be done, and the U.S. has the resources to assist if it so chooses, and letting the automakers fail entirely is not a viable option.

Ok, now on to the real point of this piece.  CORRUPTION, INBREEDING and SELF-INTEREST are running a muck in Washington this week, and in typical fashion the press is glossing over the real juice, because it will bore the average reader, so here is the boring juice for you to consume.

The primary stumbling block on the latest bailout proposal is not about the dollar amounts or really even a car czar, the real stumbling block at this point surrounds a little known lawsuit (little known to the average joe) between the auto manufactures and the State of California. The Auto industry wants California to overturn its agenda to force auto manufactures to produce zero emissions vehicles, if they want to sell vehicles in California.  The auto industry sees this agenda as a direct threat to their industry, and to the ancillary businesses that service automobiles in the aftermarket.

Here is a little history for review – The California Air Resources Board (CARB) was founded in 1967, in response to California’s air being worse than that of the other 49 states combined [Shnayerson, p. 50].  After the federal government enacted the Clean Air Act in 1970, California was the only state allowed to regulate its own emissions.  In 1990, impressed by the GM Impact, CARB ruled that each of the seven biggest carmakers — the largest of which was GM — would need to make 2% of its fleet emission-free by 1998, 5% by 2001, and 10% by 2003. In response to this rule GM produced the EV1, GM believed the EV1 would be a total failure, and therefore California would voluntarily remove this emissions free cap requirement.  Unfortunately for GM and other manufactures the EV1 was a huge success and it scared the crap out of them.

Luckily though the auto manufactures had an ace up their sleeve in the name of Andrew Card. You see George W. Bush’s original Chief of Staff Andrew Card was the chief lobbyist for the auto industry in Washington, and his primary responsibility was to overturn the California initiative. So when Andy was appointed to man the right ear of the most powerful man on earth he convinced him to use his new muscle to push for a repeal of this mandate and it worked, sorda.  You see California caved in on the emissions free mandate, but it then passed a law requiring a 25% reduction in emissions instead of emissions free.  This seems like a cave-in and a rational person would think everyone would call this a win, but no.  The auto industry was not happy, so they sued the State of California to overturn the law, and this lawsuit is the basis for the stumbling block we see today.

The Democrats have stipulated that in order to receive the $15 billion bailout the auto industry has to drop the lawsuit against California and any other states that are trying to curb emissions. One could take the point of view that forcing them to drop the lawsuit is fair, because none of the bailout money should be spent suing the citizens that provided them with the funds, but no, the Republicans do not see this as a reasonable request.  In fact, one might say they see the lawsuit as a good thing, and several key members of the Republican party have stated flat-out that forcing an end to the lawsuits is a “deal killer”.

Now I ask you, do the Republicans who view this as a “deal killer” have your best interest at heart, or do they have the best interest of their lobbyist friends at heart?

Emissions control is a good thing.  Forget the environmental effects and just think of it as a way to help people breath in the future.  Whether you believe in global warming or not you must believe in an individuals right to breath clean air, and cars pollute the atmosphere, so making them pollute less is a good idea.

In closing, it does not matter to me whether you are for the bailout or against it, but please keep an eye on the corruption taking place in Washington, and please let your Senators and Congress Person know how you feel about them keeping a lawsuit moving forward with your money.

Car and smoke

Car and smoke

Tags: <, , , , , , , , >