12.11.2008

Boycott the Bailout Babies

The sleazy Detroit automakers are trying to blackmail Congress into preventing a bankruptcy, claiming that the public would not buy cars from a bankrupt company (which is nonsense. The Feds would guarantee people's warranties, and the automakers would continue making and servicing cars. Do you know people who refuse to fly United because they've been through bankruptcy?). The real reason is that in bankruptcy, stock and bondholders lose money, management loses pay packages and/or their jobs, and workers lose their overly generous benefits. So this isn't about keeping the automakers alive; it's about taxpayers bailing out investors, management, and unions. When you invest in a bad company, you're supposed to lose money. That's the way capitalism works. You're not supposed to go crying to the government that your industry is special so you deserve a handout. Bankruptcy is ideal for this situation. They shed the crushing debt, the unmanageable pension and health care costs, and they become leaner, more efficient companies.

I drive a new Ford and and old Buick. I am happy with them. But if these bloated companies manage to steal my tax dollars for their stupid and greedy investors and overpaid unions, I will never buy another one of their cars. Toyota and Honda and Kia hire American workers to make American cars in American factories, and they don't leech off the taxpayers.

Please join me in this pledge to boycott bailout beggars, and call/fax/e-mail your Senators today to let them know.

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