Comments on: The Advantages and Pitfalls of Auto Bailouts http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:07:08 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Esperanza http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159802 Esperanza Wed, 20 May 2009 11:01:53 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159802 <p>With the economy that we have today some people chose to ride on their bicycle or walk on the way to their work. It is very economical if we are going to do so and this could help us to be physically fit. Because of the crisis that we are facing more and more people today are thinking of ways in where they could save their money. There are also some people who find it hard to meet their ends that’s why some of them would often rely for financial aids like credit card. Unfortunately some lending companies are luring their consumers to debt trap. At last, the CRL takes a stance with what resembles a common sense approach; a call to action regarding something to do with the problem. (Now we have to deal with the horsemen, the rain of fire, and the end of days.) The CRL, or Center for Responsible Lending, has taken aim at credit cards by sponsoring HR 627, or the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. The Credit CARD Act, as it’s called, could ensure more fairness in how card companies deal with customers, and limit things like hidden fees and retroactive interest rate increases. President Obama is on board. The CRL not going after <a href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/05/13/crl-credit-cards-legislation/" rel="nofollow">installment loans</a> and targeting an actual predatory lender – it’s about time.</p> With the economy that we have today some people chose to ride on their bicycle or walk on the way to their work. It is very economical if we are going to do so and this could help us to be physically fit. Because of the crisis that we are facing more and more people today are thinking of ways in where they could save their money. There are also some people who find it hard to meet their ends that’s why some of them would often rely for financial aids like credit card. Unfortunately some lending companies are luring their consumers to debt trap. At last, the CRL takes a stance with what resembles a common sense approach; a call to action regarding something to do with the problem. (Now we have to deal with the horsemen, the rain of fire, and the end of days.) The CRL, or Center for Responsible Lending, has taken aim at credit cards by sponsoring HR 627, or the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. The Credit CARD Act, as it’s called, could ensure more fairness in how card companies deal with customers, and limit things like hidden fees and retroactive interest rate increases. President Obama is on board. The CRL not going after installment loans and targeting an actual predatory lender – it’s about time.

]]> By: bmaz http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159323 bmaz Tue, 19 May 2009 04:35:59 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159323 <p><a href="http://wheresmyjetpack.com/" rel="nofollow">Where’s My Jetpack?</a></p> Where’s My Jetpack?

]]> By: marksb http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159322 marksb Tue, 19 May 2009 04:20:56 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159322 <p>Damn. Good point. “Highly efficient” means less people.<br /> Which may mean higher-level jobs with retraining. Maybe not as many, but still a lot of good jobs that support the community far better than the situation in many towns and cities that are losing or have lost most of the local manufacturing plants to Chinese factories. </p> <p>On a side note, I believe our high school grads are lost in the weeds due to structured undereducation. Some how we’ve built a system that needs–and provides–underperformers with lower level of knowledge to allow the upper middle and ruling classes to keep their positions in our society. Nothing new, but still…it’s friggin 2009! We’re supposed to have rocket cars by now and a condo on Mars!</p> Damn. Good point. “Highly efficient” means less people.
Which may mean higher-level jobs with retraining. Maybe not as many, but still a lot of good jobs that support the community far better than the situation in many towns and cities that are losing or have lost most of the local manufacturing plants to Chinese factories.

On a side note, I believe our high school grads are lost in the weeds due to structured undereducation. Some how we’ve built a system that needs–and provides–underperformers with lower level of knowledge to allow the upper middle and ruling classes to keep their positions in our society. Nothing new, but still…it’s friggin 2009! We’re supposed to have rocket cars by now and a condo on Mars!

]]> By: fatster http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159318 fatster Tue, 19 May 2009 03:23:01 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159318 <p>Perhaps he should have known better about My Lai, too. Just sayin’.</p> Perhaps he should have known better about My Lai, too. Just sayin’.

]]> By: fatster http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159317 fatster Tue, 19 May 2009 03:19:55 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159317 <p>See # 71.</p> See # 71.

]]> By: fatster http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159316 fatster Tue, 19 May 2009 03:18:26 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159316 <p>Well, hey, we get a report. You think we should get million dollar bonuses? Or maybe, even, just a break? </p> <p>It’s really disgusting, isn’t it?</p> Well, hey, we get a report. You think we should get million dollar bonuses? Or maybe, even, just a break?

It’s really disgusting, isn’t it?

]]> By: ferrarimanf355 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159313 ferrarimanf355 Tue, 19 May 2009 02:53:41 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159313 <p>I better get my hands on a Mustang before the new standards make them unworkable.</p> <p>Bill Hicks was onto something, California should fall into the ocean…</p> I better get my hands on a Mustang before the new standards make them unworkable.

Bill Hicks was onto something, California should fall into the ocean…

]]> By: emptywheel http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159296 emptywheel Tue, 19 May 2009 02:01:59 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159296 <p>So you’ve built small cars efficiently. But you’ve also put our last and biggest manufacturing industry out of work (see bullet #2).</p> <p>So now what do you do with those high school grads who just lost their middle class jobs?</p> So you’ve built small cars efficiently. But you’ve also put our last and biggest manufacturing industry out of work (see bullet #2).

So now what do you do with those high school grads who just lost their middle class jobs?

]]> By: marksb http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159285 marksb Tue, 19 May 2009 01:45:28 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159285 <p>I dunno how to solve the problem of designing a good, solid, efficient, well-built car made in the US with competitive pricing to the imports.<br /> This is exactly our problem, same as socks: I can have socks made in China that will sell in Walmart for $2 less than if I make ‘em in North Carolina. What to do? </p> <p>1) Tariff everything until it’s priced to meet the cost of manufacturing in a union plant in the States. That’s protectionism and is absolutely forbidden to even talk about these days. Still…do radically challenging times call for radical steps?</p> <p>2) Create new technologies that allow for manufacturing so efficient that it brings us to a new price point that meets the challenges of cheap overseas labor. This is a huge challenge–Chinese manufacturing engineers are at least as good as ours. And their labor is cheap.</p> <p>3) Create innovative solutions through the active use of government that reduce the effective cost of domestic employment in manufacturing: single-payer health care, government support for bringing manufacturing back on-shore (sort of a reverse tariff), and…here’s where we have to get creative.</p> <p>4) All of the above. If we had a fully-engaged government-private sector partnership to solve the well-defined challenge of producing a superior product at a competitive price–to rebuild our manufacturing industries as our primary goal–could we do it? I don’t see why not. It’s worth a try.</p> <p>Idealism. Isn’t it great? But why not? Why couldn’t we throw our assumptions out the window and start fresh?</p> I dunno how to solve the problem of designing a good, solid, efficient, well-built car made in the US with competitive pricing to the imports.
This is exactly our problem, same as socks: I can have socks made in China that will sell in Walmart for $2 less than if I make ‘em in North Carolina. What to do?

1) Tariff everything until it’s priced to meet the cost of manufacturing in a union plant in the States. That’s protectionism and is absolutely forbidden to even talk about these days. Still…do radically challenging times call for radical steps?

2) Create new technologies that allow for manufacturing so efficient that it brings us to a new price point that meets the challenges of cheap overseas labor. This is a huge challenge–Chinese manufacturing engineers are at least as good as ours. And their labor is cheap.

3) Create innovative solutions through the active use of government that reduce the effective cost of domestic employment in manufacturing: single-payer health care, government support for bringing manufacturing back on-shore (sort of a reverse tariff), and…here’s where we have to get creative.

4) All of the above. If we had a fully-engaged government-private sector partnership to solve the well-defined challenge of producing a superior product at a competitive price–to rebuild our manufacturing industries as our primary goal–could we do it? I don’t see why not. It’s worth a try.

Idealism. Isn’t it great? But why not? Why couldn’t we throw our assumptions out the window and start fresh?

]]> By: MadDog http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/comment-page-1/#comment-159280 MadDog Tue, 19 May 2009 01:28:14 +0000 http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/18/the-advantages-and-pitfalls-of-auto-bailouts/#comment-159280 <p>Given Powell’s own Vietnam War experiences as a junior officer, one would think he’d personally know the likely falsity of coercive wartime “interrogations” of prisoners.</p> <p>Should’ve known better than to buy that bs.</p> Given Powell’s own Vietnam War experiences as a junior officer, one would think he’d personally know the likely falsity of coercive wartime “interrogations” of prisoners.

Should’ve known better than to buy that bs.

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