GM, Amtrak and an Increasingly Fascist America by Ron Paul
Submitted by JeffD on Mon, 06/08/2009 - 12:56
http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,tx14_paul,blog,999,...
Last week, General Motors finally declared bankruptcy. Many in government thought $20 billion in taxpayer dollars would save the company, but as predicted, it only postponed the inevitable. The government will dump another $30 billion into GM and take a 60 percent controlling interest for it. Public officials are now involving themselves in tactical business decisions such as where GM’s headquarters should move and what kind of cars it will build.
The promise that this is temporary and will eventually be profitable is supposed to ease the American people into accepting this arrangement, but it is of little comfort to those who remember similar promises when the American taxpayers bought Amtrak. After three years, government was supposed to be out of the passenger rail business. 40 years and billions of dollars later, the government is still operating Amtrak at a loss, despite the fact that they have created a monopoly by making it illegal to compete with Amtrak. Imagine what they can now do to what is left of the great American auto industry!
In a truly free market, GM would get your money one way and one way only – by selling you a car you want, at a price you are willing to pay. Instead, the government is giving public money to a private company in spite of the market signals it has been sending. Throwing money at GM does not stop it from being an engine of wealth destruction; on the contrary, it simply gives it more wealth to destroy.
Had it been allowed to fail naturally, the profitable pieces of GM would have been bought up and put to good use by now. The laid off employees would likely have found new jobs and all that capital would be in private hands, reinvested in companies that produce products demanded by consumers. Instead, we are all poorer now.
Political pressure, rather than the rule of law, is deciding how to divide up the remains of GM. The bondholders had billions in retirement savings invested in the company, and though they were entitled to nearly three times as much as the United Auto Workers, the bondholders were left with just a 10 percent stake compared to the union’s 17.5 percent stake. For their 60 percent stake, taxpayers have a future of constant bailouts to look forward to.
Comingling public control of private business is known as fascism. While today’s politicians may feel emboldened with all their new power, history will only repeat itself as all this collapses on itself. It is the height of hubris for bureaucrats and politicians to attempt to control the market and the freewill of the American people. In the end, the market always wins out. Maybe one day future generations will wise up and allow free markets to function and thrive without the albatross of government around its neck. For now, it looks like those in charge have not learned the lessons of the past, and have doomed us to repeat those mistakes once again.
Posted by Ron Paul (06-08-2009, 12:15 PM)
http://www.house.gov/htbin/blog_inc?BLOG,tx14_paul,blog,999,...
Just another...
Government monopoly.
grant
Various sectors of
Various sectors of government intervene in trying to solve the bankruptcy of one of the most biggest car industry the GM.Hope there is still ways to recoup the losses of the GM.The GM dealer closing list has over 1,000 dealerships on it slated to shut, as General Motors is drastically scaling back to get their house in order. The Chrysler dealerships closing list was also a long one and the company has filed for bankruptcy protection. Both companies received large low interest loans from the government, and began restructuring in order to return the companies to financial health and competitive status in the market. Dealers are lamenting the move, and experts say that nothing, including the GM dealer closing list, will solve GM's problems with needing debt relief. Hope there is still ways to recoup the losses of the GM.
Violation of just compensation
"...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
Indeed it does seem like a violation of just compensation.
"Men are ruled, at this minute, by the clock, by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern."
-G.K. Chesterton
Just a thought
1) seems like the current and past Presidential Administration have been all about destroying rights, human rights, citizen rights, and now bondholders rights, I think that perhaps we as citizens should respond back by taking all our money out of the banks, cash in all our Treasury bills, and then not invest a nickel of that money back into anything American until they restore our rights that they have usurped. Just a thought.
2) I wish we could get a couple Ron Paul type Judges elected to the Supreme Court, that would sure shake up the system and maybe then we would have a voice in the court systems that represents the US Constitution and the rights of the American People!!
We don't vote on Supreme Court Judges
We would need to elect Ron Paul type Presidents for the next 30 years to replace all those phony judges (because the President appoints them).
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freeist
Check out my Freedom Blog! http://www.freeist.wordpress.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/freeist
Check out my Freedom Blog! http://www.freeist.wordpress.com
Who judges the Supreme court? I say we should!!!
I think you have the right idea. Take your money out of the bank, buy things of value that will either store wealth or produce wealth. Holding Treasury bills maintains the system we are against, why would we back a system with our wealth that is corrupt?
grant
Can't Wait to Buy my spiffy new Fed "GM Yugo!!!"
This is great news! When the govt. starts issuing govt-issue cars, just think how many millions more mechanics will be needed to keep them on the road!
1truegospel.org
This is awsome everyone knows the politiitions are smarter than
everyone else right. They can teach gm how to borrow their way out of debt. They can also show gm new ways to extort money. They can also show gm how to make an inferior product for more, and sell to the government, for extorionary prices. Man this is so awsome, and as a tax payer I am glad I get to pay for it in my taxes and in the market place.
We ALL need to BOYCOT GM and CHRYSLER and buy ONLY FORD!
After all, now the government ownes the majority of GM and who knows what's going on with Chrysler, being sold to foreign investors and GM will also be shipping MORE jobs out of country! WHAT THE HELL, this isn't the "CHANGE" we were promised! And NO, I certainly did NOT vote for Obama, but I think those that did are becoming very concerned or alarmed at his swift actions and the HUGE amounts of $$$ they are borrowing and spending!
I just heard Obama announce on CNN that he will gladly sign the bill for "Pay as You Go" in Congress; meaning they can no longer continue to borrow money, they have to save money in one area in order to spend in another.
I wonder where the Congressional PAY RAISES come into play, after all, why should they continue to receive thousands in raises every year when the people who are paying their salaries are LOSING their jobs, their homes, having their hours or pay cut substantially and having to make difficult choices while the fat cats in DC wallow in their excesses and I frankly don't believe that ANY but ONE even deserve a raise, and we all know who I am referring to, Dr. Ron Paul!
I have not seen ONE other member of Congress refuse a raise or return part of their budgets, he is the Lone Ranger in Congress! How can the rest of them even disagree with him on so many important issues, most of them MUST know that he's 100% RIGHT but they are so BOUGHT that they refuse what is right for our country over their pocketbook! They MUST be removed ASAP, they are leeches!
"If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security."
-Samuel Adams-
Boycott?
I dont think boycott is the right word. You are going to have people not wanting to buy the inferior vehicle that gets made by a bunch of washington buerocrats. Leaving ford pretty much the only option. By the way has ford done anything with all the sales people gm and crystler got rid of? If I was ford I would be so saying, I will sell cars to you.
A connection with China
As Always, Ron Paul is right on here.
Another aspect is the link to China. One of China's companies - a heavy industrial company - has bought Hummer from GM - And the MSM is all happy about it, since they will continue to operate the Hummer plants for a while.
So why would A chinese heavy industrial company want to Finance an unprofitable part of GM ? Maybe, they want to imitate the designs, and manufacturing processes etc. for China. Maybe they want to build Hummers for the Chinese army ? I know, this is just speculation, but it is conceivable that China wants to imitate our "tools of empire" ?
Just cause I love to hear his voice
Ron Paul: GM, Amtrak and an Increasingly Fascist America 6/8/09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvtGaEWqMXM
***
Freedom is not: doing everything you want to.
Freedom is: not having to do what you don't want to do.
~ Joyce Meyer
Freedom is not: doing everything you want to.
Freedom is: not having to do what you don't want to do.
~ Joyce Meyer
Kills me...
It kills me that Ron Paul is so spot on with so many things... and so few are listening!
Chris
cascadiagames.com
Chris
cascadiagames.com
Not so sure ...
More of us are listening and spreading the word. It's catching on here, too. Thanks to Freedom Watch, Dan Hannan's making our politicians take notice, too.
We're further down the road of socialism than you are but it looks as if our tide might be turning.
++
Libertarian from Across the Pond, with best wishes
http://faustiesblog.blogspot.com
++++
With best wishes from across the pond
Bump..
Actually I really prefer train to planes.
A New Film On Collectivism
This new film confronts the Political and Psychological implications of Collectivism and Fascism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTAA5CIl2Ho
Meh. After watching Part 1,
Meh. After watching Part 1, I can say it has it has the same flaw of Zeitgeist. It basically ignores any dissenting information and acts as if the *sole* source of valid information is being presented in the video. It's shady by both shows. Plus, the instant any show says something along the lines of "Science is wrong... here's some science to prove my perspective... science cannot prove everything" then you pretty much get what has become the war-cry of anyone who doesn't have a sound point.
I appreciate efforts toward combating the culture of collectivism that's seeping into society, but mixed messages with sloppy science is a poor way to go.
Chris
cascadiagames.com
I think you missed the point..................
First off, you need to watch the whole video before commenting. Second, what "sloppy science" are you referring too? Where does it say that "science is wrong"? The film points out that SOME science is incorrect and used by collectivists to manipulate the masses, such as blank slate theory, which the film proves is entirely false. Chomsky's study of generative linguistics is widely accepted in the scientific community, and Jung's work on archetypes was one of the greatest discoveries of the past 2 centuries.
Also, science is used to prove other scientific theories wrong ALL THE TIME. That's what scientists do. Again, please watch the whole film before commenting.
W h a t ?
What are you talking about?
I watched the whole thing, seemed pretty spot on to me......
What color is the sky on your planet?
One flaw most folks have is
One flaw most folks have is turning off their objectivity when they hear what they want to hear. Their explanation of how the human mind works is a combination of naive, misleading, and outright wrong. They then take these explanations and make unscientific implications out of it.... I'm not suggesting it's obvious to see what they're doing. But once you learn the tricks of those who have mastered the smooth obfuscation of information, it becomes a lot easier...
Chris
cascadiagames.com
empty criticism
What SPECIFICALLY is naive or misleading? What is unscientific? Why bother to even criticize the film if you can't give a specific reason for your criticism? Making generalized statement like "misleading" or "unscientific" seems like a cop-out to me. Lets hear some real down to earth criticism instead of this broad intellectually bankrupt commentary with no specifics.
.
.
Check out this video series on...
Collectivism vs. Individualism
Did someone here post this link
over at WhatReallyHappened.com?
If you did, my sincere thanks!
Hmm,
I couldn't find part two, very interesting.
Sounds like grounds for a GIANT 5th Amendment "takings" suit.
That sounds to me like grounds for a massive suit by the bondholders under the "takings" clause of the 5th amendment.
They changes the rules for this company after the bondholders' investment decisions were made, giving the government control of the company's assets (thus reducing their value further) and giving the unions a bigger share at the bondholders' expense.
Can you think of anything that is more "private property be[ing] taken for public use, without just compensation"?
= = = =
"Wunnerful, Wunnerful! Turn off the bubble machine!"
-Lawrence Welk (as satirized by Stan Freeberg.)
Great speech...
fallen on the deaf ears of Congress and a bewildered, uninformed public. The Karl Marx quote of the day sums it up completely describing the last 50 years in one sentence.
This one is getting sent out
Ron really said it well here. I'll send this to every knuckle headed friend, relative or acquaintance.
Register as Republican and Vote for Ron Paul
No one puts it better
I read a lot of posts: some nonsense, some silly, some articulate, some with good points, but no one puts it better and explains things with more clarity than our own Ron Paul. I love reading his thoughts.
so true
"never keynes a running system"
"Doing nothing is almost always an option and is very often the best option." Daniel Hannan
bump
.
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Was it a speech made on the House floor ?
Is there a video of it ?
bump
***
Freedom is not: doing everything you want to.
Freedom is: not having to do what you don't want to do.
~ Joyce Meyer
Freedom is not: doing everything you want to.
Freedom is: not having to do what you don't want to do.
~ Joyce Meyer
Having to bump Dr. Paul words up & over the tin foil crowd sucks
Love bump.
i agree!
so end the hypocrisy and stop spilling your prejudice against open minded thinking into other threads.
bump for dr. paul!
bump for freedom*)
another great one from the good doctor.
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests."
-- Patrick Henry
___________________
Jake Towne "Fire Cake" Money Bomb February 15
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/122445
Donate = Freedom*))