This was posted at thedailyduke.com and it was so good I had to share it here.
A plan for saving the American automotive industry, and the millions of Americans they employ!
First, a little modern history recap. Trickle down economics doesn’t work. It’s time you just go ahead and admit that. We’ve been messing around with this concept for about 20 years, and with the exception of the reprieve we had from Slick Willie for eight years or so, it has become crystal-clear that while Ronnie may have been a wonderful motivator, he and his team sucked from an economic perspective. Handing the Big 3 billions and billions of dollars is nothing more than a pure, unadulterated trickle down depth charge that will implode our economy and sink our country once and for all.
What has been proven to work, time and time again, is to free up the economic stranglehold by letting the people spend their money. Giving the Big 3 auto makers billions and billions of dollars to make more cars won’t work. You can’t build a pyramid from the top down. It’s simple physics! If you give the car companies billions of dollars, all they’re going to do is build more cars! The problem is, no one can buy those shiny new cars because we don’t have any money and the banks won’t lend us any because they’re just about as messed up as the car companies!
If you want to save the car companies, the jobs that go with them, and the economy at large, do the following.
1. Send every tax-paying U.S. Citizen a survey and in that survey ask two simple questions: Are you a licensed driver in the state in which you live? And, What is your favorite make and model of American automobile, Ford, Chrysler, or GM?
2. Once you get the surveys back, send everyone who responded a check large enough to cover a substantial down-payment on the automobile of their choice. And, this is important, make the check payable to both the survey participant AND the auto maker they chose on the survey. For example, if I said I liked Ford, then you would send me a check made payable to me and Ford Motor Company.
That’s it. The Big 3 and the economy are saved all at the same time. Don’t believe me? Here’s what would happen:
1. Upon receiving their checks, the American people would immediately begin shopping for a new car. This keeps the car dealers open and the sales, service, and administrative people employed. Unemployment rates drop.
2. Because the checks you’ve sent only cover the down-payment, the American people would go to their local lending institutions to borrow the balance of the purchase price. This keeps the banks solvent, and keeps the bankers, tellers, accountants, and loan officers employed. Unemployment rates drop some more.
3. Because the banks are solvent, they are now more comfortable about lending money for home loans. More people are able to stay in their homes and/or purchase a new one. The housing crisis is solved.
4. The car dealers would send the checks to the auto makers and the banks would send the balance of the loan amount as well. The car dealers become profitable, invest in green technology for the future and more people remain employed. New jobs are created as well. Unemployment rates drop even further.
5. New cars have to be insured. Upon purchase of their new cars, the American people would call their insurance companies and purchase more insurance. This keeps the insurance agents, underwriters, actuaries, and claims processors employed. AIG is saved. Unemployment rates drop to an all time low.
6. Because unemployment rates are now lower than ever before, there is a fundamental shift in the overall perception that the economy is bad. Things start to look better to everyone because things are better. Not great, but getting better everyday instead of worse. More and more people are able to find jobs.
7. Since more people are gainfully employed, more taxes are being fed to the beast paid to Federal, State, and Local governments. This not only eventually funds the initial Big 3 bail out, but also helps to fund the much needed improvements to our infrastructure.
And all because we decided that the only way to rebuild our house is from the bottom up, not the top down. By recognizing that it is the American people who are the foundation of our economic house. That it is the American people who must be addressed first. You don’t build your house by first putting on the roof, for goodness sake. It. Can’t. Be. Done.
Or, we could do it this way:
1. Give billions and billions of dollars to the Big 3. They build a bunch of cars for a while until the money runs out. Again. No one can buy them because we’re all broke. Still.
2. There is no # 2. THERE IS NO #2 - We’re just out of luck!
