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No Bailout
Ron Paul
Lew Rockwell.com
Friday, Dec 12, 2008
Providing for Consideration of H.R. 7321, Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act, before the House of Representatives, December 10, 2008.
I rise in opposition to the rule and the underlying legislation. It doesn’t take a whole lot to convince me that we are on the wrong track with this type of legislation. And at great risk of being marginalized, I want to bring up a couple of issues. One is that if one were to look for guidance in the Constitution, there’s no evidence that we have the authority to take funds from one group of Americans and transfer it to another group who happen to need something.
And the moral argument is it’s not right to do so. Why should successful Americans be obligated to take care of those who have made mistakes?
But those two arguments in this Chamber are rather weak arguments, so I will try to talk a little bit about economics. I think what we’re doing here today and what we’ve done here for the last week has been, essentially, a distraction. We’re talking about transferring funds around, $15 billion that’s been authorized. It’s been designated to do some other interventions that were unnecessary in the car industry. And in a way, this legislation probably could have been done by unanimous consent, but there’s been a lot of talk and a lot of publicity and a lot of arguments going back and forth about the bailout for the car companies; and it is, of course, very important.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
But in the scheme of things, you know, what’s $15 billion mean anymore, especially since it’s been authorized?
The big thing is the big bailout, the $8 trillion, the unlimited amount the Federal Reserve has invested and what we’ve been doing for the past 6 months. We are on the road to nationalization. In many ways, we’re in the midst of nationalization without a whimper.
There is no real talk about it. I mean, we’ve essentially nationalized the insurance companies, the mortgage companies, the banks, and medical care is moving in that direction, and now the car companies are going to be run by a car czar from this Congress. I mean, it is such an embarrassment. It is such an insult to us who believe in freedom, who believe in sound money and who believe in limited government. It is such an insult to the whole idea of what made America great, and this is what it has come to – bailout after bailout after bailout – and nobody even calls it what it really is. It is the nationalization of our industries.
You know, in many ways, Harry Truman was a much more honest person. He said we should nationalize the steel industry, and he did. Fortunately, we still had a little bit of common sense in our courts, and they said “Hey, you’re going too far.” That’s what we’re doing here. We’re nationalizing. It happens always for good purposes, and we are always going to do good for this group, or that, but you never ask the question “How much harm have you done to the other group?” and that’s what we ought to be talking about. We ought to really find out what this is costing.
As much as I strongly believe in the free society – and I can defend it from the economic viewpoint – I also know where we are and where we ought to go.
I do believe in the transition. That is, if we need a bailout for the car companies, even though I don’t like the idea, if you could pay for it, take it out of these hundreds of billions of dollars running the American empire around the world. Cut it; bring it home and spend it here, but running up these deficits is going to do us in, and we are working on the collapse of the dollar. That is what you’d better pay attention to. So pay attention. This is a lot more important than this little $15 billion. To me, it has been a gross distraction from the great harm we’ve done in the past 6 months.
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27 Responses to “No Bailout”
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December 12th, 2008 at 5:28 am
Ron Paul is correct. GM should not be bailed out, because it will be just one step towards nationalisation and that’s wrong, wrong, wrong!
If you give the current clueless bunch at GM $10 billion dollars, they will burn through it very quickly and be back asking for more; and what will eventually happen is that GM will be nationalised, it will turn into a bloated Government Sponsored Entity (GSE) manufacturing cars for which people have to be begged or even paid to buy them.
Much better for GM to go bankrupt, for new owners who know what they’re doing to come in and restructure the business, save as many jobs as possible and actually operate GM as a viable business with the ability to make reliable, efficient cars that not only American will buy, but can also be exported to foreign markets in order to generate valuable foreign income for the company, which they’ll need as the dollar goes to zero.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:56 am
good call mike. Did you see what happened to those “poor” Guidestones. I bet Satan is pissed.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:03 am
The no vote shows a contradiction between stated policy against deflation (Fed’s policy) and the policy (NWO) of lower wages and debt slavery.
I’m thinking this means we’ll get deflation first, before hyperinflation.
With the big banks propped up with bailout money, they won’t fail during the deflation.
They will own all the real property when the hyperinflation hits, when financial assets become worthless.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Hell yeah!
December 12th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Why is Ron Paul the ONLY guy that makes any sense? What the hell is wrong with that room full of idiots?
December 12th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Let em fail. These unions and greedy managment need to go.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I’m FROM Texas and have lived in Michigan for nearly 20 years working in the auto business. The problem is NOT what the employees and retirees get paid – it’s what the costs are associated with employee and retiree health benefits. Nobody should be getting FREE HEALTHCARE from their employer while they are working and they damned sure shouldn’t be getting it when they are eligible for Medicare! My 77 year old aunt gets her deceased husband’s GM pension which is the right thing to do. BUT, she also gets social security. So, she shouldn’t be getting GM’s health care benefits – she should be forced to get a supplement policy like most all other Americans her age.
Toyota pays their factory workers about $30 an hour. The Big Three pays $28 and new hires only get $14 – yes – $14 an hour.
Wake up people –
I believe they should be forced into bankruptcy.
The Wall Street Bailout/Giveaway was a complete and utter joke and an anally-induced rape of the taxpayers. The banks aren’t loaning the money – they’re keeping it.
Where in the hell is MY BAILOUT?
Why in the hell can’t I be rewarded with money from the government for the stupid decisions I’ve made?
Michigan has been in a recession for nearly 8 years and might already be in a depression.
If one of the car companies fail, this state is going to cease to exist as we know it.
I live in Oakland County – about 30 miles west of Pontiac. My wife and I have friends who work for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department. They issued all department personnel a memo last month that ORDERED them not to go into/drive thru Pontiac without wearing their bulletproof vests!
Things are scary here and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. My wife and I are disabled and we never drive thru Pontiac any more.
The State of Michigan has a new slogan, “Will the last one to leave please remember to turn out the lights????”
It’s a sad day here for all my friends who work in dealerships and all other facets of the auto industry in Southeast Michigan.
As Bluto so eloquently stated in the movie ‘Animal House’, “My advice to you is to start drinking heavily………….”
p.s. America screwed up by not electing Ron Paul
December 12th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Dudes, I worked as a contractor with Ford and GM on some suspension projects. They are the biggest bunch of slackers I have ever seen, we could build something in weeks that would take them YEARS!! TOO much red tape, TOO many UNION pricks telling you what you can do!
They are getting what they deserve, they have built out dated JUNK for too long!
LET THEM FALL!
Some one with motivation and honor will pick up the pieces some day and be driven to compete in the world markets.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:45 am
The elite seem to be getting ready to up the anti in this game. A “GAME” it is and are we now saying that these ridiculous SUVs were stupid and just for fools to show off in!
December 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Now, why is it, Ron Paul didn’t get the republican nomination! He is the only person who makes any sense! I still have my Ron Paul bumper sticker and my car and I wear it in great pride!
December 12th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Ok Blackie and Leviathon and all you guys who think that the motor industry is badly run, top heavy with lazy management and over unionized. By and large i agree with you wholeheartedly but remember this, those guys who will almost certainly lose their jobs in the not too distant future are ordinary men with families who depend on them so spare a thought for them because there are a lot of people facing a very uncertain future right now.
as for the unions let me say this. I’m from the UK. and we live in a police state now, trust me i do not exagerate this point. we used to have very strong unions in this country – some would say that they became too strong and in retrospect maybe those people are right but they were the only real representation that the working class had and it wasn’t just the working class who benefited from that representation. the only real power that a working man has is the power to withdraw his labour. Fact. When that power is removed the state is free to treat that man any way it choses and in Britrain that is exactly what is happening.
Huge sums of money are being borrowed by the one-eyed moron Brown to prop up a massively bloated public sector so that one half of the population is policing the other and for generations to come this country will be over taxed to pay for this man’s crimes. To be fair to Brown i guess he’s only a puppet doing what he’s been told to do by his masters at the IMF and World bank.
Whether the unions in the Uk actually became too radical or wether they were hyjacked by those who would wish to demonize and discredit them in the eyes of the public i do not know, i was too young to be involved back then but i know this and that is that since the demise of union power in this country the state has shredded just about every liberty and right that we once took for granted.
Well enough of my commie ranting – ah but that’s the distraction isn’t it? Left versus Right, Muslim versus Christian, Black versus White Those imaginary divisions that serve only those who wish to divide us and gain profit and control from the ensuing chaos. and the cycle continues endlessly. Balance is the key to everthing in life and the sooner people start to see through the bullshit the better. Wake Up America believe me the rest of the world is waiting on your lead. For the sake of us all don’t let your country end up like the UK!
December 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I see a News report on Yahoo where GM is closing down plants: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....ge/gm_cuts
The majority of the plants are in North America. So why do they kill the NA jobs, when there are plants all over the world?
Cheap labor …..
Remember this is GM’s choice.
December 12th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
It was some years ago but I did some work in a Ford plant. We were putting in a automated system to install windshields. before we started we toured the plant and there were these two clowns who were supposed to use this clamp device on a track to pick up the glass and set it in place while the other guy squirted the sealing material.
Here we were, plant visitors and these two moron did more horsing around than work. The guy with the glass would push the track and windshield at the other guy, then the second guy would squirt the glue at the first. I saw at least a dozen busted windshields on the side of the station and globs of black glue all over the place. Even when they put in the windshields you could see them only squirting half the glue around the glass before sending the car down the line.
This is how the behaved when people were around!
Our system replaced them with a machine. I’ll bet they cried all the way to the job bank.
Management did nothing to stop this until they just replaced them with a machine. Why did they have to spend all that money if the two idiots would have just done their job.
As stupid as these two idiots were I still blame management for putting up with it. Both of their asses should have been fired and the should have taken the union all the way to court to press it. But it was easier to ignore it and automate the station.
The union is their own worst enemy.
One question I have, is what is the state of Michigan willing to do? Nothing from what I can see. They could pass a moratorium on taxes for the Big 3, or allow an exemption from state income tax for manufacturing workers or all workers for that matter.
The state would have to downsize and economize but if they want to save the sector they should come across with their own rescue plan instead of asking the rest of the country to pay for it.
If the union is unwilling to make concessions to save their jobs, screw them.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
EXACTLEEEEEE….Mr. Paul!
This has done NOTHING but take the focus off the fucking banks. They should be going after those bastards with towels and buckets of water followed by knotted fucking ropes. Torture those cock suckers and hang their pompous asses.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Without some sort of DEMOCRATIC RULE OF LAW and WORKERS RIGHTS, Capitalism is 21st Century slavery, just without the Castles on top of the hill. Just ask the 10 year olds who used to work 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Break the ropes out people.
December 12th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
zadocthepriest – all good points but often the unions end up working against their own membership. They become just as corrupt as the government or management for that matter.
Unions were necessary for self defense against corrupt officials in the pockets of the corporations, but they don’t really do their job here anymore. Union officials are often as highly paid as corporate management and the two groups largely worked with each other against the best interests of the memberships.
What to do? I just know that de-facto nationalization of the auto industry will be the death of it, helping no one least of all the union rank and file.
December 13th, 2008 at 12:05 am
After years of mismanagement the Big 3 automotive manufactures received a rejection of their request for help.
I cannot help but notice that this request was for only two of the three so I have to assume that Ford has been able to find some alternative solution.
The fact is that the automotives that have been made and sold to the American public have been over priced, impractical junk for many years. There has not really been a good vehicle manufactured since the end of World War 2.
Just look at the history of the car industry. In the 50’and 60’s there was the flamboyant designs that must have been a design and repair nightmare. The suspension was so soft that at speeds in excess of 80 mph the car was in real danger of becoming airborne. On a trip longer than a few hundred miles the occupants became seasick as the car floated along the roads. Also the size was so large that these cars could not be driven on most roads within Europe. This restricted the possibility of an export market.
When the Japanese and European manufactures began to export to the American market how did the Big 3 respond? They had quotas introduced. They did nothing to meet this new threat to they market share. It was business as usual. The Japanese and European makers simply got around the quotas by building there own assembly plants.
While the overseas makers were moving to more economical motors the Big 3 continued to install their traditional V8 motors. Vastly over-powered for most situations. Who needs a motor that is capable of towing a load of 10 ton just for the daily commute and uses half a gallon of fuel before you have left the garage? The average V8 motor installed in the family sedan is only marginally smaller than that used in 10 ton truck. In some cases these are the same size.
Enter the SUV. Designed as a family sedan but with a very restricted carrying capacity and with four wheel drive and a two speed differential. Although some are only two wheel drive. These were promoted as the must have vehicle. Safety of the occupants was the catch cry even after one model had a bad habit of falling over because of the fitting with the wrong sort of tires. The really crazy thing was that even after the bad publicity of that design feature sales went through the roof the next years.
All attempts to mandate improved fuel economy has been met with stiff opposition. This resulted in some strange concepts. One was that the motor turns off half the cylinders when cruising.
The only real attempt at innovation was Ford making an all electric car, but this was scrapped for some reason and all the cars recalled to be crushed.
About 25 years ago Chrysler were in the same situation as it is today and begged for Government help. That year it paid its CEO a bonus equal to twice that loss if I remember it correctly. That time they did get help and have paid it back.
I have read that last year, out of 16 million cars sold within the USA, GM sold about 5 million cars but made over 100 million.
My final question is how can a corporation that has a income of over $108billion not make a profit?
December 13th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Our Government has killed our economy, not the automakers.
December 14th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Think not that the rich elites don’t know what they are doing. They just had to put on a show to make it look good.
The BIG three is making a way for future slavery. They are breaking it down now. It will take 10 years or better to get a raise from the minumal wage. They will cap that wage off to a person not making any more then 17.00 per hour. This way when workers retire with a pension, their pension will not be in the ranks of the pensions that retirees are now currently getting.
Afterall, to the average worker, a hotdog is better then dogfood.
December 17th, 2008 at 6:27 am
buy gold, dump the dollar before it is crashed to bring in the Amero. see whatdoesitmean.com for intl news and ronald weinlands site. blessings and until the day elite biters. annie
December 17th, 2008 at 9:38 am
buy gold?? realy??
THAT’S ALL WE’RE HEARING, but
Gold is CONTROLED just like GAS or EXCHANGE RATES,
the
December 17th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I TELL YOU I AM MAD AS HELL AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!! I have been saying this for months. There are so many people i know including family that still are in denial. They are just now starting to realise something is going on. I believe all it is going to take is for things to get so bad that we will most of us FIGHT BACK!! I am not going down without a FIGHT.!! Stupid little b$#@%ards!! I am sick of all of this & i am sick of people laying down and acting like everything is fine! Its not fine!! WAKE UP EVERYONE & FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES…!! THERE ARE MORE OF US THAN THERE ARE OF THEM. WE CAN WIN THIS FIGHT!!
December 18th, 2008 at 3:00 am
This is the end of the USA. We need to stand up and wake the fuck up and revolt when our tax bills go through the rooves supporting these perverted politicians and there pablum spewing statements. We no longer have faith in their words. As for you, the gov’t. snoops on this forum, we will prevail. We outnumber you and we will drag you out and string you up like the cattle that you are and gut you like pigs! Be afraid you scum! We will defend ourselves. We know that you are stripping us of our wealth through NAFTA and other treaties behind our backs. You think you are American but you are only brainwashed robots doing what you are told by the golalist New World Ordrer quisilings that command you, but you will be crushed by our fury. We are many and are awakening slowly but steadily. Be very afraid!
December 18th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
My idea of nationalization is not giving more unconstitutional money and control to the private Federal Reserve. This is just an even more screwed up version of no-cost privatization, shifting public funds over to another group of organized criminals. There is no legitimate excuse for this theft that does nothing to improve the situation for citizens or the country.
It looks like there is nothing left of justice or common sense in America, and organized criminal gangsters have taken over the federal government. Maybe if all the scum go into their underground bunkers we can seal them up permanently, and start over.
December 18th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
WHY ISN’T THIS GUY PRESEDENT?!? HOW THE HELL DID WE END UP WITH ANOTHER SOCK PUPPET?
December 19th, 2008 at 12:22 am
UNCLE MEAT FOR PREIDENT 2012