I know that I should be talking about education here, but I find myself consumed with thoughts of the bailout for the U.S. auto industry. My dad works for GM and has been there for over 30 years. Just as he is about ready to retire in a few years, this whirlwind of a disaster sweeps in. It makes me crazy that a bunch of politicians hold his fate in their hands. I am infuriated by the fact that people who cannot balance a budget are deciding on the viability of an industry's business plan.
In the New York Times, Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell was quoted, "We have had before us this whole question of the viability of the American automobile manufacturers. None of us want to see them go down, but very few of us had anything to do with the dilemma that they have created for themselves." Okay, you may think that. But if they are allowed to fail, we will all feel it. You don't want your tax dollars to go towards a bailout. Fine. So we lose millions of American jobs. The economy sinks lower into a recession. Are you still going to have those tax dollars you saved by blocking the bailout? No, you won't, because you will have given even more towards unemployment, welfare, and health insurance. The auto industry is asking for less than $20 billion. How much would it cost if we lost all of those jobs? Over $150 billion in the first year. Way to save those tax dollars, Senator.
After the bailout was blocked, I came to a sad realization. If our government can't work together to save millions of American jobs at Christmastime, I no longer have any faith in them. It's all one big political game for them. My brother said something yesterday that was both sad and true. In the movie, "The Truman Show," everyone wears a button saying, "How's it going to end?" Yesterday, I put that button on. I think many, many people had that button on yesterday.
Hopefully, George W. will do something to stop it from ending. But, sadly, I'm not hoping for much.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It is a sad situation that people feel like the status of the Big 3 bailout has nothing to do with them. It will have and effect (affect? darn, I always get those mixed up) on the whole country, one way or another.
Plus, those same people bailed out the banks without any stipulations, right? And they have many fewer workers....
Thanks for sharing this post, Shannon. This story is obviously very real for you and your family (and for SO many others).
Just as an aside...I wonder if the notion of biological systems could help people (our students? others?) to understand the interwoven nature of the questions you discuss in this post. The way that the fate of workers in MI and Indiana is connected with our larger economy seems to elude a lot of people, and perhaps an alternative frame of reference/way of understanding things might help??
Post a Comment