To hear the media tell it, arrogant corporate chiefs failed to foresee the demand for small, fuel-efficient cars and made gas-guzzling road-hog SUVs no one wanted, while the clever, far-sighted Japanese, Germans and Koreans prepared and built for the future.

I dissent. What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack inAs far back as the 1950s, an intellectual elite that produces mostly methane had its knives out for the auto industry of which Ike's treasury secretary, ex-GM chief Charles Wilson, had boasted, "What's good for America is good for General Motors, and vice versa."

"Engine Charlie" was relentlessly mocked, even in Al Capp's L'il Abner cartoon strip, where a bloviating "General Bullmoose" had as his motto, "What's good for Bullmoose is good for America!"

How did Big Government do in the U.S. auto industry?

Washington imposed a minimum wage higher than the average wage in war-devastated Germany and Japan. The Feds ordered that U.S. plants be made the healthiest and safest worksites in the world, creating OSHA to see to it. It enacted civil rights laws to ensure the labor force reflected our diversity. Environmental laws came next, to ensure U.S. factories became the most pollution-free on earth.

It then clamped fuel efficiency standards on the entire U.S. car fleet.

Next, Washington imposed a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, raking off another 15 percent of autoworkers' wages in Social Security payroll taxes

State governments imposed income and sales taxes, and local governments property taxes to subsidize services and schools.

The United Auto Workers struck repeatedly to win the highest wages and most generous benefits on earth -- vacations, holidays, work breaks, health care, pensions -- for workers and their families, and retirees.

Now there is nothing wrong with making U.S. plants the cleanest and safest on earth or having U.S. autoworkers the highest-paid wage earners.

That is the dream, what we all wanted for America.

And under the 14th Amendment, GM, Ford and Chrysler had to obey the same U.S. laws and pay at the same tax rates. Outside the United States, however, there was and is no equality of standards or taxes.

Thus when America was thrust into the Global Economy, GM and Ford had to compete with cars made overseas in factories in postwar Japan and Germany, then Korea, where health and safety standards were much lower, wages were a fraction of those paid U.S. workers, and taxes were and are often forgiven on exports to the United States.

All three nations built "export-driven" economies.

The Beetle and early Japanese imports were made in factories where wages were far beneath U.S. wages and working conditions would have gotten U.S. auto executives sent to prison.

The competition was manifestly unfair, like forcing Secretariat to carry 100 pounds in his saddlebags in the Derby.

Japan, China and South Korea do not believe in free trade as we understand it. To us, they are our "trading partners." To them, the relationship is not like that of Evans & Novak or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is not even like the Redskins and Cowboys. For the Cowboys only want to defeat the Redskins. They do not want to put their franchise out of business and end the competition -- as the Japanese did to our TV industry by dumping Sonys here until they killed it.

While we think the Global Economy is about what is best for the consumer, they think about what is best for the nation.

Like Alexander Hamilton, they understand that manufacturing is the key to national power. And they manipulate currencies, grant tax rebates to their exporters and thieve our technology to win. Last year, as trade expert Bill Hawkins writes, South Korea exported 700,000 cars to us, while importing 5,000 cars from us.

That's Asia's idea of free trade.

How has this Global Economy profited or prospered America?

In the 1950s, we made all our own toys, clothes, shoes, bikes, furniture, motorcycles, cars, cameras, telephones, TVs, etc. You name it. We made it.

Are we better off now that these things are made by foreigners? Are we better off now that we have ceased to be self-sufficient? Are we better off now that the real wages of our workers and median income of our families no longer grow as they once did? Are we better off now that manufacturing, for the first time in U.S. history, employs fewer workers than government?

We no longer build commercial ships. We have but one airplane company, and it outsources. China produces our computers. And if GM goes Chapter 11, America will soon be out of the auto business.

Our politicians and pundits may not understand what is going on. Historians will have no problem explaining the decline and fall of the Americans.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Buchanan is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War": How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, "The Death of the West,", "The Great Betrayal," "A Republic, Not an Empire" and "Where the Right Went Wrong."
dustries that won World War II. http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=29586#continueA

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The only people that are better off are the Globalists who engineered all of this.

I agree and what a mess they made. For nearly 8 years we went along with the master plan, brainwashed into thinking they were right and were looking out for us, they are after all experts. Yet we now find ourselves with disaster at our door and at the precipice of total collapse and they claim the recipe to fix it includes less taxes and more free trade deals. We are sunk unless we can rouse ourselves.

every week brings more (massive) bailouts.


where is this taking us?

well hopefully not here...

Eve of Destruction...

The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy]

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

We no longer build commercial ships. We have but one airplane company, and it outsources. China produces our computers. And if GM goes Chapter 11, America will soon be out of the auto business.


Do you see any thing happening here that is also happening Now?

Before Obama takes office.

NAFTA was initially promoted by politicians in the United States and Canada supportive of free trade, led by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The agreement was pursued by business interests in all three countries[7] and opposed by labor, environmental, and other business interests, in all three countries.[8][9][10][11][12] An agreement in principle was reached in August 1992 and the agreement was signed by the chief negotiators of each country in October 1992.[13] The heads of government of all three countries signed NAFTA in December 1992, subject to ratification by the legislatures of the three countries. The supplemental agreements on labour and the environment were signed in September 1993. NAFTA and the supplemental agreement came into effect on January 1, 1994.[1]

I guess no one noticed it was our Presidents father who was the main participant in NAFTA.

Did he do a "late night signing before leaving office"?

Same ole Song and Dance

Wow I thought that small article about NAFTA.. and as the topic one spoke of the downfall of the big 3.. Might open some eyes but I guess not

The Causes of the Auto Crisis

Corporate-government created the three major causes of the auto industry crisis: health care, the credit crunch and low efficiency cars.

Health care is an out of control cost where double digit annual price increases are more common than rare. While other industrialized nations have controlled the cost of health care, the United States has not. President Truman called for a single payer national health insurance plan many decades ago, but the Congress has been unable to show the will to face-up to the issue because of the power of the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. While health insurance is on the Obama-Kennedy agenda, they are still not challenging those industries as they should and not confronting the real problems.

Every business small and large has struggled with paying the health insurance costs of their employees. It has held back hiring and holds back wages. A mega-corporation like General Motors sees those problems amplified. It would not be unfair to describe General Motors as a health insurance provider who happens to make cars. GM spends $5 billion annually on health care for 1.2 million people – only 150,000 of whom work for the company. GM, Ford and Chrysler have a combined unfunded retiree health care obligation of more than $90 billion. Health care adds $1,500 to the cost of each vehicle. This reality alone makes it virtually impossible for GM to have a successful economic model and it is not something GM can fix. Health care is a major problem not only for the auto industry, but the airline and steel industry as well as businesses of all size. The failure of Congress to face up to single payer health care is becoming a threat to the American economy.

The second major cause of the current auto industry crisis is the crash of the credit markets. This has made getting loans to purchase cars more difficult and has resulted in a massive drop in automobile purchases. The U.S. auto market fell 14.8% through the first 10 months of 2008 and sales in October plunged 31.9%. Why? The lack of available credit for potential car buyers. And, on the other end, the industry cannot get loans to cover the dramatic loss in car sales.

The credit crisis is also not the fault of the automobilie industry. The cause of the credit crisis falls back on bad government that allowed the stock market to be turned into an unregulated casino. The Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Congress and regulators failure to apply basic regulation to the financial markets and money supply are to blame (even free marketer Alan Greenspan now admits this mistake) – but now Congress wants to put the blame on the auto industry rather than accept responsibility for their failure and clean up the mess.

The third cause, inefficient 20th Century automobiles rather than forward looking efficient 21st Century green cars is a shared error of government and the auto industry. The Congress did not have the political will to demand energy efficiency, indeed they provided a tax credit for SUV purchases, and the auto industry lobbied to prevent such standards.

All there of these causes have the same source: corporate controlled government. The health insurance industry did not want the more efficient single payer national health insurance. The finance industry wanted to be free to treat the stock market like a casino, liked the Fed’s easy money and did not want to be regulated. And, the auto industry did not want to be told to build more efficient cars. Corporate-government is the root of the problems we face today.

While the CEO’s who flew in on private jets to beg for money will pay a price if their businesses fail, a bigger price will be paid by their workers, their families and retirees. The Congress has no problem giving $700 billion to white collar Wall Street, but when it comes to blue collar Main Street, the coffers are closed, or more difficult to pry open, even with the risk of a deepening recession and even a depression before them.

http://www.counterpunch.org/zeese11242008.html

25 billion to hopefully keep 2 millions employed.

This is a major problem for congress.

700 Billion to bail out the Banks who get thier money from the Federal Reserve.

How does the Federal Reserve Operate?


[edit] Central bank
Further information: Central bank
In its role as the central bank of the United States, the Fed serves as a banker's bank and as the government's bank. As the banker's bank, it helps to assure the safety and efficiency of the payments system. As the government's bank, or fiscal agent, the Fed processes a variety of financial transactions involving trillions of dollars. Just as an individual might keep an account at a bank, the U.S. Treasury keeps a checking account with the Federal Reserve through which incoming federal tax deposits and outgoing government payments are handled. As part of this service relationship, the Fed sells and redeems U.S. government securities such as savings bonds and Treasury bills, notes and bonds. It also issues the nation's coin and paper currency. The U.S. Treasury, through its Bureau of the Mint and Bureau of Engraving and Printing, actually produces the nation's cash supply; the Federal Reserve Banks then distribute it to financial institutions.[19]


Not FEDERAL. Privately issues Money.

Now what was the BIG DEABATE about when the act was formed?


Remember the Last sentence of the paragraph below.





The chief of the bipartisan National Monetary Commission was financial expert and Senate Republican leader Nelson Aldrich. Aldrich set up two commissions — one to study the American monetary system in depth and the other, headed by Aldrich himself, to study the European central-banking systems and report on them.[4] Aldrich went to Europe opposed to centralized banking, but after viewing Germany's banking system came away believing that a centralized bank was better than the government-issued bond system that he had previously supported. Centralized banking was met with much opposition from politicians, who were suspicious of a central bank and who charged that Aldrich was biased due to his close ties to wealthy bankers such as J.P. Morgan and his daughter's marriage to John D. Rockefeller, Jr.


Now Insurance companies do not have a problem being bailed out either.. Why?


In making these loans, the Fed serves as a buffer against unexpected day-to-day fluctuations in reserve demand and supply. This contributes to the effective functioning of the banking system, alleviates pressure in the reserves market and reduces the extent of unexpected movements in the interest rates.[16]

For example, on September 16, 2008, the Federal Reserve Board authorized an 85 billion dollar loan to stave off the bankruptcy of international insurance giant American International Group (AIG).[17][18]



SEPT. 16TH 2008 85 Billion.

Who would of got hurt the most if they went under?

Did you even hear about this bailout?


A lot to think about why 25 Billion and 2 million jobs are a problem helping for our Government.

Well there you go thinking again MILES. LOL

Some here are too blind to see that both parties are corrupt or DEMS would not be pushing for natl. healthcare (a sellout to the American workforce.) They just like to bash REPS. So irrational.

We won't see much better from the OBAMA admin. either. It looks like the clinton machine all over again. Same old phoney phoney business as usual politics. He campaigned on change but I'm not seeing it.

Its unfortunate he is burdened with a national debt that limits what he can do. Its a tragedy he is burdened with ending two wars that cant be won. He is being pragmatic in his choices and going with experience. It will be difficult to dig out of the hole left after 8 years of republican plunder. I remain optimistic that he is the right man for the job and so glad we didnt call "Joe the plumber" to fix the border to border disaster we still call america.

obama is going to do nothing for the debt but increase it. just like Clinton did. just like Bush, Sr. did. just like Reagan, Carter, etc.

nobody this century has ever paid down a dime of the national debt. there's never been a surplus and there never will be until greed and corruption leaves BOTH (yes, BOTH) parties.

people are in for a rude awakening because Obama is just like everyone else. he's just fooled 53% of the american people into thinking otherwise. otherwise, change wouldn't inlude mostly former Clinton staffers and there'd be alot more new blood from the bottom of the chain, not a throwback to 8 years ago.

and I'm going to lay a lot of the blame on the downfall of detroit on the UAW. when you pay that much more on average for each vehicle, you're fighting a war with only one leg.

the UAW and the Legacy costs of the retired workers is what's killing detroit plane and simple no big government bug a boo going on .. detroit biuild what America wants to drive..there is no shortage of oil .. just eaiser to get froeign oil than develop domestic fields .
Ford can't make money here in the US so they ship jobs overseas..Honda makes a profit here ..Why .. no UAW.. same government for both factories not the union though..BMW..makes a profit building in South Carolina 4000 employed ..making a profit ..no UAW.. there is what killed Detroit..not big government .. nor bush nor clinton.. get real ..