Don Cobb
Bailing out a sinking ship
By Don Cobb
The American Auto industry has been a sinking ship for decades. An inferior product manufactured from inferior materials and the same price as their competitor's far superior product is what is killing GM and Chrysler. It's not the only sinking ship we're about to discuss, but let's start there.
Honda, BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover and now Korean auto manufacturers provide automobiles which commonly last 300,000 miles before they need a new engine. American auto manufacturers have always provided automobiles which rarely last more than 100,000 miles. It's not incidental. It's intentional. It's called "planned obsolescence." American auto manufacturers have intentionally chosen to use inferior steel which wears out faster than their Japanese, European, British and Korean counterparts. Do you understand what that means?
Americans typically pay the same price for decent American cars as they do for decent imports. My sister-in-law recently paid more than $50,000 for a Chevy Tahoe, will all the bells and whistles, of course. She could have purchased a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW, a Land Rover or a Honda with all the same bells and whistles, but instead she paid for a product which is only likely to last around 100,000 miles. The imports she might have chosen instead would have certainly lasted around 300,000 miles. A sound purchase decision, do you think?
LET ME BE PERFECTLY CLEAR: The reason American automobiles wear out in 1/3 the time that imported cars wear out is because (a) American car makers intentionally choose lower grade materials which wear out faster and (b) American car makers also provide shoddy workmanship, when compared to their worldly competitors. The interiors of US cars fall apart far sooner than imports, as well.
So the Marxist government (taking over the auto and banking and healthcare industries is indeed Marxist/Communist actions) in Washington DC today recently gave GM and Chrysler billions of our tax dollars in order to keep those companies afloat. BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars, given to companies who intentionally provide an inferior product yet charge the same price as the superior products manufactured by their competitors. Logic would dictate that there would have been a study required of these American auto makers designed to identify why their ship was sinking. Logic and reason dictate that before a business that is bankrupt like GM and Chrysler received any financial help from our government that they would provide a report clearly identifying the reasons for their failing business (providing an inferior product for unreasonable prices) and what they will do differently in order to turn their business around (use higher quality steel and materials so that their cars lasted 300,000 miles like their competitor's cars).
Logic and reason dictate that no one in their right minds would throw money into a sinking ship while the gaping hole in the hull has not yet been fixed. That, however, is what the US government has done. George W. Bush and Barrack Hussein Obama have both doled out hundreds of billions of dollars into sinking ships and have not required the auto industry or the banking industry to identify and correct the causes for their bankrupt condition.
Logic and reason also dictate, therefore, that the US government did not intend to save these companies from bankruptcy. Continuing to do business like they always have, it's just a matter of time until the money runs out and they are bankrupt once more. No, the reason the US government gave these industries money was for the same reason they give nonprofit's money: Control. The US government wants to control as much as it possibly can.
CASE IN POINT: A perfect example of this is in secular drug treatment. Because non-profit secular drug treatment centers typically get grants from the US government, the US government puts restrictions on how treatment can be rendered. The only treatment program with any substantial success rate is the 12 Steps as presented originally by Alcoholics Anonymous. The original "more than 100 men and women" referred to in the forward to the first edition of AA's Big Book, published in 1939 gave their lives to Jesus Christ or were not allowed to join the program, said the Sinner's Prayer or were not allowed to join the program, and attended weekly Bible Studies. The US government forbids secular treatment centers who utilize government grant money to do any of these things.
That is correct: Those drug treatment centers that get monetary grants from the US government are forbidden from providing the most effective drug treatment available. Again, in order to get money from the government, drug treatment centers must agree to refrain from teaching addicts and alcoholics the truth about how the original members of Alcoholics Anonymous got sober. AA founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith learned how to get free from alcoholism. These men studied the book of James from the New Testament of the Bible, as well as 1 Corinthians 13 and Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount. That's where Bill and Bob found the 12 Steps, and yet the US government forbids any treatment center who receives grant money to teach men and women to do the same things the original AA members learned which set them free.
The US government is not in the drug treatment business, nor does it possess any professional credential which qualifies it as being professional. Yet, the US government holds the purse strings and so makes itself the dictator over life and death for drug addicts seeking treatment in thousands of secular treatment centers. This entire routine is insane.
IN CONCLUSION: So perhaps the US government has restricted US automakers from providing a higher quality product in exchange for the money they've been given, in the same way the US government restricts drug treatment centers from providing the most effective drug treatment program possible. Perhaps we're seeing a trend here.
Perhaps it truly is time to vote out all incumbents and vote in men and women of real character and integrity to serve our nation for a change, to literally clean house of the criminals and fools and opportunists that are pouring money into sinking ships which still have gaping holes in their hulls.
At least, that's what I think.
© Don Cobb
October 6, 2009
The American Auto industry has been a sinking ship for decades. An inferior product manufactured from inferior materials and the same price as their competitor's far superior product is what is killing GM and Chrysler. It's not the only sinking ship we're about to discuss, but let's start there.
Honda, BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover and now Korean auto manufacturers provide automobiles which commonly last 300,000 miles before they need a new engine. American auto manufacturers have always provided automobiles which rarely last more than 100,000 miles. It's not incidental. It's intentional. It's called "planned obsolescence." American auto manufacturers have intentionally chosen to use inferior steel which wears out faster than their Japanese, European, British and Korean counterparts. Do you understand what that means?
Americans typically pay the same price for decent American cars as they do for decent imports. My sister-in-law recently paid more than $50,000 for a Chevy Tahoe, will all the bells and whistles, of course. She could have purchased a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW, a Land Rover or a Honda with all the same bells and whistles, but instead she paid for a product which is only likely to last around 100,000 miles. The imports she might have chosen instead would have certainly lasted around 300,000 miles. A sound purchase decision, do you think?
LET ME BE PERFECTLY CLEAR: The reason American automobiles wear out in 1/3 the time that imported cars wear out is because (a) American car makers intentionally choose lower grade materials which wear out faster and (b) American car makers also provide shoddy workmanship, when compared to their worldly competitors. The interiors of US cars fall apart far sooner than imports, as well.
So the Marxist government (taking over the auto and banking and healthcare industries is indeed Marxist/Communist actions) in Washington DC today recently gave GM and Chrysler billions of our tax dollars in order to keep those companies afloat. BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars, given to companies who intentionally provide an inferior product yet charge the same price as the superior products manufactured by their competitors. Logic would dictate that there would have been a study required of these American auto makers designed to identify why their ship was sinking. Logic and reason dictate that before a business that is bankrupt like GM and Chrysler received any financial help from our government that they would provide a report clearly identifying the reasons for their failing business (providing an inferior product for unreasonable prices) and what they will do differently in order to turn their business around (use higher quality steel and materials so that their cars lasted 300,000 miles like their competitor's cars).
Logic and reason dictate that no one in their right minds would throw money into a sinking ship while the gaping hole in the hull has not yet been fixed. That, however, is what the US government has done. George W. Bush and Barrack Hussein Obama have both doled out hundreds of billions of dollars into sinking ships and have not required the auto industry or the banking industry to identify and correct the causes for their bankrupt condition.
Logic and reason also dictate, therefore, that the US government did not intend to save these companies from bankruptcy. Continuing to do business like they always have, it's just a matter of time until the money runs out and they are bankrupt once more. No, the reason the US government gave these industries money was for the same reason they give nonprofit's money: Control. The US government wants to control as much as it possibly can.
CASE IN POINT: A perfect example of this is in secular drug treatment. Because non-profit secular drug treatment centers typically get grants from the US government, the US government puts restrictions on how treatment can be rendered. The only treatment program with any substantial success rate is the 12 Steps as presented originally by Alcoholics Anonymous. The original "more than 100 men and women" referred to in the forward to the first edition of AA's Big Book, published in 1939 gave their lives to Jesus Christ or were not allowed to join the program, said the Sinner's Prayer or were not allowed to join the program, and attended weekly Bible Studies. The US government forbids secular treatment centers who utilize government grant money to do any of these things.
That is correct: Those drug treatment centers that get monetary grants from the US government are forbidden from providing the most effective drug treatment available. Again, in order to get money from the government, drug treatment centers must agree to refrain from teaching addicts and alcoholics the truth about how the original members of Alcoholics Anonymous got sober. AA founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith learned how to get free from alcoholism. These men studied the book of James from the New Testament of the Bible, as well as 1 Corinthians 13 and Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount. That's where Bill and Bob found the 12 Steps, and yet the US government forbids any treatment center who receives grant money to teach men and women to do the same things the original AA members learned which set them free.
The US government is not in the drug treatment business, nor does it possess any professional credential which qualifies it as being professional. Yet, the US government holds the purse strings and so makes itself the dictator over life and death for drug addicts seeking treatment in thousands of secular treatment centers. This entire routine is insane.
IN CONCLUSION: So perhaps the US government has restricted US automakers from providing a higher quality product in exchange for the money they've been given, in the same way the US government restricts drug treatment centers from providing the most effective drug treatment program possible. Perhaps we're seeing a trend here.
Perhaps it truly is time to vote out all incumbents and vote in men and women of real character and integrity to serve our nation for a change, to literally clean house of the criminals and fools and opportunists that are pouring money into sinking ships which still have gaping holes in their hulls.
At least, that's what I think.
© Don Cobb
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