Big Dogs Weblog

Out Of Touch RINO; It is Not Your Money

Nov 20, 2008 Political

The problem with the Republican party is not that it has too many low brow Christians as claimed by Kathleen Parker . The problem is that the Republican party has too many people in it who are Republicans In Name Only (RINO). These are the people who are registered as Republicans and say they are conservative but then support issues that are not in any way, shape, or form, conservative. This is true especially true for elected Republicans.

The left and its propaganda wing in the media would have us believe that the last election shows that conservatism is dying but this is a mistaken belief based on a false assumption. They say conservatism is dying because McCain lost but McCain is no conservative. If the party had run a true conservative Obama would be in the Senate trying to bail out the auto makers instead of killing business in Chicago.

The problem with RINOs is that they have most of the beliefs of liberals but they are registered and elected as Republicans. Case in point is Republican Representative Joe Knollenberg of Michigan. He has this misguided belief that the money the government has actually belongs to the government. While discussing the bailout of the auto industry with Neil Cavuto this RINO said that the money belongs to Congress and they will do with it what they want.

I have stated this before but it is worth mentioning again. Government does not earn money, it does not have its “own” money and the only way it gets any money is to forcefully take it from the people who actually earn it. The money in question (in fact, all the money) belongs to the US taxpayer and not to the Congress or any other government entity. The people who earn that money expect the people they elect to be good stewards of that money and to spend it wisely and in accordance with the Constitution. Knollenberg is the type of Republican that needs to be removed from office. We need to get rid of all of them who think like liberals. We might suffer in the short term with larger Democratic majorities but in the long run it will be best for the party and the country.

Knollenberg naturally wants to help the auto industry because he is from Michigan and he is entitled to have the opinion that we need to help them. However, he needs to remember that the money he is talking about also belongs to people from the other 49 states and they have a right to say how it is spent.

I believe that the auto makers should file for bankruptcy and let the chips fall where they might. The companies have been poorly run and hijacked by union thugs. They put out inferior products that people do not want and now they want the people to foot the bill for their ineptitude.

If the federal government spends OUR money bailing out the auto industry then it will set a precedent that allows other industries that make bad decisions to run to DC with their hands out. Government does not belong in the private sector.

If the government spends our money on the people who flew corporate jets to DC to beg for cash then I will NEVER buy another product made by any of the recipients of the extortion scheme. I urge all readers to consider this as well. If they get our money then you should consider one of their competitors when it comes time to replace your vehicle. Why reward their incompetence. If they get the money then we can use the power of our purse to put them out of business.

It might seem harsh and it will suck for the employees but the time for playing games is over. Let the market handle things and if they cannot compete then they will be forced to change or they will disappear.

NEW TAX FORM

Line 1: Amount you earned last year ______________
Line 2: Send the amount on line 1 to the government.

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Tags: auto makers, bailout, Congress, constitution, money, RINO

A Little Test For The Big Three

Nov 18, 2008 Political

The Big Three American automobile makers are in dire straights and they are begging for a taxpayer provided bailout to cover their inept business practices. There is no way that taxpayers should be paying to bailout businesses that are not well run and that will never be profitable as long as executives make huge salaries (have to keep those private jets flying) and union thugs extort more from a well that has long run dry.

The news today indicated that the bailout would not take place because of Republican resistance. NOW the Republicans get conservative…

Anyway, the Republicans are on the right side of this issue but that won’t last very long. In a few short months the Democrats will have a president and a majority in the Congress. They will essentially be able to pass what they want because a few spineless Republicans will join them. Barack Obama favors a bailout of the automakers because he is beholden to the unions and that is probably one of the biggest in the country.

It does not matter that these companies make inferior products, they pay inflated salaries for jobs that require little education or skill and they have benefits packages that unions have negotiated through the stratosphere. The fact is, the executives want their big salaries, the strong back weak minded union members want their union jobs and the unions want payback for supporting Democrats. Therefore, the Democrats will kill to get the Big Three some of your money.

Oh, the test. If the companies want us to believe that they provide such a great product then we need to conduct a little test. Someone should go to the parking lots of each of the Big Three and count how many foreign (or non Big Three) cars are on the lot. I am willing to bet that a large number of those vehicles will not be made by the company for whom the driver works.

If the people who make the cars do not trust the company (or their own craftsmanship) enough to buy its products, why should we trust the company or the workers enough to bail them out?

Government does not belong in private business. If we end up bailing these companies out we will only be rewarding them for their failures (and encouraging unions to continue their extortion). We will also only be delaying the inevitable because it is unlikely that a taxpayers bailing them out of the mess they created will suddenly cause them to do things differently.

It will be more of the same but this time it will be with our money…

Related:
My Way

Tags: bailout, big three, extortion, failure, thugs, unions, us automakers

Let The Automakers Fail

Nov 9, 2008 Political

What is it with the American government and businesses? If businesses, such as oil companies, are successful then government wants to punish them with windfall profits taxes and if businesses are unsuccessful government wants to bail them out.

The big three automakers are asking Congress for $50 BILLION to bail them out of their financial messes. The automakers are responsible for their problems and they should have to deal with the consequences of how they are run. If they fail then they can go out of business or be bought up by someone who runs things better.

American automakers are held hostage by their union employees and the company has had to capitulate over and over to union demands for more money and more benefits while the companies have been losing ground to makers of foreign cars. The unions are part of the undoing of the companies and their hard line tactics will keep them from competing with other car makers for some time to come. In all reality, how do they justify demanding that some moron who attaches door frames receive more money than people in jobs that require much more skill?

Let the companies deal with their own problems and keep our government and our tax dollars out of the issue.

This appears, to me, to be nothing more than Democrats repaying the unions for their undying support. Nancy Pelosi is opposed to drilling for more oil and believes we need to take more public transportation and yet she wants to spend taxpayer money to bailout an industry that is based upon the use of fossil fuels.

These unions backed the Democrats and their messiah and now they expect a return on their investment. We need to band together and tell Congress that it is not their job to interfere in private business and they are not authorized to spend taxpayer money on such endeavors.

If the automakers want to start making money again then they need to get a handle on the union thugs bankrupting them and they need to start building cars that Americans want.

Until then let them sink or survive on their own, without government intervention. If it means they go out of business and their workers are unemployed then so be it.

Of course, I guess it won’t be long before the Democrats require us to buy cars from these businesses.

Hell, they impose their will on us in plenty of other ways, why not that?

Sources:
Washington Post | Breitbart | Bloomberg

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Tags: automakers, bailout, Democrats, unions

The Bailout Pork Bill And Responsibility

Oct 4, 2008 Political

The bailout bill just passed by the Congress and signed into law contained billions of dollars in Christmas Tree ornaments that had nothing to do with bailing anyone out. These items, including provisions for tax cuts, were added to entice politicians to vote for it. We have no business bailing out Wall Street and we have effectively taken 700 billion steps in the direction of Communism*.

I heard Jesse Jackson on Neil Cavuto’s show and Jackson said the bill did not go far enough (surprise) and that if we can give low interest loans to auto makers (we should not be doing that) we should be able to do the same for homeowners. Jackson contended that people should get low interest rate loans from the government in order to restructure their debt and continue to pay for their homes. He insisted that the predatory lending practices led to their problems. Cavuto told him that while some predatory lending took place people were the ones who signed the dotted line. He said they needed to take responsibility for their actions and if they wanted to renegotiate it was up to them to do it with the people from whom they obtained their loans.

This is absolutely correct. Homeowners need to renegotiate with their lenders to get a better deal. It is not up to taxpayers to lend money to them regardless of whether they will pay it back or not. If they default then taxpayers will be left holding the bag (much as we are with Freddie and Fannie loans). Jackson wants to take personal responsibility away from people and have big government come in and take care of them. We no more belong doing that than we belong taking care of bankers or auto makers.

The market should be allowed to react in whatever direction the crisis leads it. People and businesses with money can come in and buy up failing businesses or they can go away. Allow the market to handle the crisis and leave the politicians who caused the problems out of it.

If Jackson thinks people have no responsibility in the contracts that they make and that government should bail them out then we should have some provisions which include a loss of voting rights if you become a ward of the government. If you are not able to understand a contract to buy a home and can be easily swayed then you are unable to understand the voting system and can be just as easily manipulated.

The bottom 50% of wage earners pay only about 4% of the taxes in this country so they will not be affected by the bailout as much as those who will see tax increases in order to pay for this mess. The voting system needs to be changed so that people are afforded more votes if they pay more in taxes. Perhaps each person gets one vote and then people get an additional vote for every $5000 in taxes that they pay. The people who pay for this country should have a greater say in how it is governed much like stockholders in a company who have more votes if they have more stock.

Whether Wall Street executives or distressed homeowners, the philosophy is the same; live with your decisions. If they cause you problems then you can work your way out and be all that much stronger for it.

If government steps in and fixes your bad decisions you will continue to make them. We get more of what we subsidize.

*I heard this phrase on TV but do not know who said it.

Tags: bailout, communism, jesse jackson, pork, taxes

Taxpayers Write Economic Stimulus Checks

Oct 3, 2008 Political

The House passed the Senate version of the 700 billion dollar economic stimulus bill that requires taxpayers, their children and grandchildren to write checks to the government in order to pay the tab. The final vote was 263-171 in favor of raping taxpayers in order to pay for the failed policies of the Democratic party and their refusal to listen to warnings from people in the Bush administration.

Nancy Pelosi was smiling as she praised Barney Frank for his leadership and masterful skill in negotiating this bill. Barny Frank is the dim bulb who said that there was no problem with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the entities widely recognized as the root of the problem. Bill O’Reilly beat Frank to death last night over this issue but Frank was too dense to acknowledge his complicity in the process.

The amount of money that the taxpayer is forced to cough up for this bailout is staggering and anyone who thinks that 700 billion is the end of it is nuts. This number was a guess and there is no guarantee that it will do what everyone hopes it will. It is possible that the money will be infused into the market and it will still tank and we will be back where we started but much poorer. The Congressional answer will be more money.

Barack Obama will add trillions of dollars of spending if he becomes president, especially if he has a big enough majority in both chambers. These people are writing checks that future generations will be working to cash. To top it off they are promising more regulation coming from the same people who ignored the problem or failed to see it coming despite repeated warning.

America, it is time to take control of government. We must vote every member of the House out of office. Show them your displeasure. Do not let them fool you by saying they voted no because they were politically protected from the vote in order to secure your vote and their jobs. Get rid of all of them and the one thrid of the Senate that is up for reelection.

We must take control of our country. They do not listen to us. They just do what they want despite overwhelming objection from the public. They are spending our money like drunken sailors on shore leave [apologies to sailors] and it has to stop. The only way we can do that is to make them pay for their failures.

Just say no to incumbents.

Tags: bailout, screwed, taxpayer, wall street