Good story I heard from Newt Gingrich.
In the 1970's gas rationing was done by the last number of your license plate.
Well, every morning this kid's dad would send him out to change the license plate on his car so he could get gas everyday when he needed it.
The difference between a liberal and a conservative is this.
A conservative thinks that if you have a law so dumb that you're teaching 13 year olds to break it, change the law.
A liberal thinks you should have someone at every gas station to monitor the license plates.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A Sea Change In Political Scandals
Anyone else notice that the world of political scandals has reversed course?
It used to be that you could count on the nature of scandals in politics falling along party lines.
For most of my life, if a Republican was caught in a scandal it almost always had to do with corruption and/or money. Watergate, Iran Contra and all of that were about corruption and money.
The flip side was that the Democrats were all caught with their pants down…literally. From John Kennedy to Gary Hart to Bill Clinton, for years sexual affairs were the order of the day for Democrat scandals.
Now things are different. There has been a sea change in political scandals. A Scandal Paradigm Shift going on for a while now.
For Democrats I cannot pinpoint exactly when the shift began, but it may have started with the whole “Webster Hubbell” deal in the mid 90’s.
Then there was the whole “Illegal Campaign Contributions” from China supporting Al Gore and Bill Clinton.
Then there was Jim Trafficant (financial corruption), Robert Toricelli (illegal campaign contributions), Sandy Berger (removing classified documents), and my personal favorite William Jefferson of Louisiana who had $90,000 in bribe money stashed in his freezer.
For Republicans, I think the shift started after the whole “Lewinsky” deal. It’s almost as if there became a drive by the left to catch Republicans doing the kinds of things they had accused “Slick Willie” of doing.
Newt Gingrich was the first to fall. He was caught having an affair with the girl he eventually married (his 3rd wife, Calista).
Then Strom Thurmond (who was dead) was accused of having an illegitimate child with an African American maid.
And we can’t forget about Mark Foley and his hitting on a congressional page boy.
And now the Governor of South Carolina, who disappeared for a week and thought no one would notice, has been caught. He was busy getting his freak on in Argentina.
I have said repeatedly that now it seems like things have been turned upside down in the past 10-15 years. Like maybe the sun got too hot in the early 90’s or something and we lost our minds. This country is weird and getting weirder by the day and sometimes I don’t even recognize it anymore. For Pete’s sake you can’t even count on politicians to have the same scandals anymore!
It used to be that you could count on the nature of scandals in politics falling along party lines.
For most of my life, if a Republican was caught in a scandal it almost always had to do with corruption and/or money. Watergate, Iran Contra and all of that were about corruption and money.
The flip side was that the Democrats were all caught with their pants down…literally. From John Kennedy to Gary Hart to Bill Clinton, for years sexual affairs were the order of the day for Democrat scandals.
Now things are different. There has been a sea change in political scandals. A Scandal Paradigm Shift going on for a while now.
For Democrats I cannot pinpoint exactly when the shift began, but it may have started with the whole “Webster Hubbell” deal in the mid 90’s.
Then there was the whole “Illegal Campaign Contributions” from China supporting Al Gore and Bill Clinton.
Then there was Jim Trafficant (financial corruption), Robert Toricelli (illegal campaign contributions), Sandy Berger (removing classified documents), and my personal favorite William Jefferson of Louisiana who had $90,000 in bribe money stashed in his freezer.
For Republicans, I think the shift started after the whole “Lewinsky” deal. It’s almost as if there became a drive by the left to catch Republicans doing the kinds of things they had accused “Slick Willie” of doing.
Newt Gingrich was the first to fall. He was caught having an affair with the girl he eventually married (his 3rd wife, Calista).
Then Strom Thurmond (who was dead) was accused of having an illegitimate child with an African American maid.
And we can’t forget about Mark Foley and his hitting on a congressional page boy.
And now the Governor of South Carolina, who disappeared for a week and thought no one would notice, has been caught. He was busy getting his freak on in Argentina.
I have said repeatedly that now it seems like things have been turned upside down in the past 10-15 years. Like maybe the sun got too hot in the early 90’s or something and we lost our minds. This country is weird and getting weirder by the day and sometimes I don’t even recognize it anymore. For Pete’s sake you can’t even count on politicians to have the same scandals anymore!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Term Limits.
So… Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) has proposed a repeal of the 22nd amendment limiting a President to 2 terms.
I’m not going to start a spiel about it opening the door to a “leader for life” title for Obama. Repealing the 22nd Amendment has been proposed lots of times over the past 20 years, by both Republocrats and Demicans. Rep. Jose Serrano has done it 7 times since 1997. Steny Hoyer (D-MD ), Barney Frank (D-MA), David Dreier (R-CA) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (and others) have all proposed this very same repeal over the past 10-15years for whatever reason. (All according to snopes.com by the way.)
It never actually gets debated, or makes it to the floor for a vote, much less gets passed.
But I just have to ask anyway. Why? Why have so many of these clowns proposed this? It seems especially goofy when you consider that so many Americans are in favor of “Term LIMITS” across the board. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll 67% of people polled favor term limits, with some states polling as high as 75%. That’s a pretty big chunk of folks to get behind anything.
Personally, I’ve decided that Term Limits is going to be one of my “litmus test” issues for candidates (along with their stances on the 2nd Amendment, Taxation, Education, Regulation and Tort Reform if you want to know what matters to me). I’m sick of the lot of them in Congress. Republican or Democrat, I’m not going to back a congressional candidate, anywhere, anymore, who doesn’t believe in Congressional Term Limits.
And I want to see it proposed, debated and voted on in Congress. If Republicans are beginning to put together another “Contract With America” type of movement, then I’d like to see this be one of the points they put forth. I’d even be okay with a Congress who would enact term limits starting when they end their term of office. Anyone who is currently in Congress could be exempt…that’s okay with me.
But I’m tired of the same group of corrupt idiots being in power all of the time. It’s time for Term Limits and frankly the bastards deserve it.
I’m not going to start a spiel about it opening the door to a “leader for life” title for Obama. Repealing the 22nd Amendment has been proposed lots of times over the past 20 years, by both Republocrats and Demicans. Rep. Jose Serrano has done it 7 times since 1997. Steny Hoyer (D-MD ), Barney Frank (D-MA), David Dreier (R-CA) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (and others) have all proposed this very same repeal over the past 10-15years for whatever reason. (All according to snopes.com by the way.)
It never actually gets debated, or makes it to the floor for a vote, much less gets passed.
But I just have to ask anyway. Why? Why have so many of these clowns proposed this? It seems especially goofy when you consider that so many Americans are in favor of “Term LIMITS” across the board. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll 67% of people polled favor term limits, with some states polling as high as 75%. That’s a pretty big chunk of folks to get behind anything.
Personally, I’ve decided that Term Limits is going to be one of my “litmus test” issues for candidates (along with their stances on the 2nd Amendment, Taxation, Education, Regulation and Tort Reform if you want to know what matters to me). I’m sick of the lot of them in Congress. Republican or Democrat, I’m not going to back a congressional candidate, anywhere, anymore, who doesn’t believe in Congressional Term Limits.
And I want to see it proposed, debated and voted on in Congress. If Republicans are beginning to put together another “Contract With America” type of movement, then I’d like to see this be one of the points they put forth. I’d even be okay with a Congress who would enact term limits starting when they end their term of office. Anyone who is currently in Congress could be exempt…that’s okay with me.
But I’m tired of the same group of corrupt idiots being in power all of the time. It’s time for Term Limits and frankly the bastards deserve it.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Critical Thinking and Accountability.
Critical thinking skills are an important part of understanding the world around us. In a political context, asking “thinking questions” about things we are told or see is the only way to truly assess a situation and deal with it effectively.
I found the following quote in a Reuters article talking about Obama’s numbers beginning to sag.
“While Republican criticism of the Democratic president's policies may be scoring points with voters, the strategy does not appear to be benefiting the party.”
What exactly was the author trying to say? If Republicans are “scoring points with voters” doesn’t that mean, by default, that the strategy is benefitting the party?
You may rightly say that most people would have ignored this statement since it was buried in an article about half way down, and I agree, which is precisely why I’m bringing it up.
Critical thinking requires paying attention.
We seem to have a national obsession with distraction. Our collective attention span grows shorter every year as we text each other about last night’s American idol while driving 65 miles per hour hurrying to get to our next destination because we’re bored.
All of history’s greatest swindles, con jobs and power grabs have come as a result of people not paying attention. The mortgage meltdown, Bernie Madoff, the TRILLION dollar deficit all happened because people weren’t paying attention.
It was a failure on the part of the American public to pay attention and to think that lead us to where we are today. It was the blind eye we turned toward our leaders that has gotten us into this mess. We didn’t pay attention to our mortgage contracts. We didn’t pay attention to the warning signs that accompany every “get rich quick” scheme. We didn’t pay attention to what our government representatives did behind closed doors and in the middle of the night.
The pain this country is in right now could all have been avoided if we had paid closer attention.
Critical thinking requires paying attention to the words being used.
Words matter. Word choice matters. Word order matters. Finding the right word, to convey the right thought, does matter.
How can we ever hope to hold accountable the press, the politicians or anyone else if we allow them to get away with making nonsensical statements (like the one above)? How can we possibly begin to think critically about an issue if it is unclearly described to us? Or worse, how can we possibly begin to think critically about an issue if those who describe it purposely use unclear language?
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity”- George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946
The only reason to use purposely vague language is to separate your words from your actual beliefs.
I would like to point out that an unthinking public is easier to dupe and control than those who can think critically and are able to express those thoughts in a clear and concise manner. In fact, that’s the whole issue addressed by the “free speech” and “petition the government for redress of grievances” parts of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. The founders knew that a well informed public that could articulate its concerns would help to avert the disasters of an out of control government by holding their elected representatives accountable for the gap between their words and deeds.
Critical thinking must re-enter our national consciousness before we can begin to have accountability. And accountability is becoming ever more necessary as we watch an out of control government run this country, its economy and its future into oblivion.
I found the following quote in a Reuters article talking about Obama’s numbers beginning to sag.
“While Republican criticism of the Democratic president's policies may be scoring points with voters, the strategy does not appear to be benefiting the party.”
What exactly was the author trying to say? If Republicans are “scoring points with voters” doesn’t that mean, by default, that the strategy is benefitting the party?
You may rightly say that most people would have ignored this statement since it was buried in an article about half way down, and I agree, which is precisely why I’m bringing it up.
Critical thinking requires paying attention.
We seem to have a national obsession with distraction. Our collective attention span grows shorter every year as we text each other about last night’s American idol while driving 65 miles per hour hurrying to get to our next destination because we’re bored.
All of history’s greatest swindles, con jobs and power grabs have come as a result of people not paying attention. The mortgage meltdown, Bernie Madoff, the TRILLION dollar deficit all happened because people weren’t paying attention.
It was a failure on the part of the American public to pay attention and to think that lead us to where we are today. It was the blind eye we turned toward our leaders that has gotten us into this mess. We didn’t pay attention to our mortgage contracts. We didn’t pay attention to the warning signs that accompany every “get rich quick” scheme. We didn’t pay attention to what our government representatives did behind closed doors and in the middle of the night.
The pain this country is in right now could all have been avoided if we had paid closer attention.
Critical thinking requires paying attention to the words being used.
Words matter. Word choice matters. Word order matters. Finding the right word, to convey the right thought, does matter.
How can we ever hope to hold accountable the press, the politicians or anyone else if we allow them to get away with making nonsensical statements (like the one above)? How can we possibly begin to think critically about an issue if it is unclearly described to us? Or worse, how can we possibly begin to think critically about an issue if those who describe it purposely use unclear language?
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity”- George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946
The only reason to use purposely vague language is to separate your words from your actual beliefs.
I would like to point out that an unthinking public is easier to dupe and control than those who can think critically and are able to express those thoughts in a clear and concise manner. In fact, that’s the whole issue addressed by the “free speech” and “petition the government for redress of grievances” parts of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. The founders knew that a well informed public that could articulate its concerns would help to avert the disasters of an out of control government by holding their elected representatives accountable for the gap between their words and deeds.
Critical thinking must re-enter our national consciousness before we can begin to have accountability. And accountability is becoming ever more necessary as we watch an out of control government run this country, its economy and its future into oblivion.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
FDA to Control Big Tobacco
This is like something out of a nightmarish dystopian novel.
The federal government is giving sweeping control to the FDA over tobacco companies. The FDA now is able to control production and marketing for the tobacco industry. Not just cigarettes but everything tobacco related is coming under the control of the federal government.
I don’t want people using tobacco. It’s not good for them. It’s not good for anyone. I say this because the straw man argument used to distract us from the erosion of our rights will be…”yeah…but don’t you think tobacco is bad for people?”
Slowly but surely, team Obama is dismantling capitalism, property rights and individual liberties while we the sheeple sit idly by and do nothing. I hate to sound like Howard Beale here but we cannot just continue to sit and watch this begging our government “Please…Please….Just let me have my toaster and my tv and my steel belted radials and I won’t say anything.” Because soon it won’t matter. Soon they will be inside our homes. Soon they won’t leave us alone and then where will we be?
Where are the damned watchdogs? Where is the media? Where is big business lobbies, once thought too powerful, to stop this downward slide? Where is accountability for anyone at any level of government? And finally where the HELL are the American people?
We are standing on the tracks and the lights are flashing and we can hear the horn…WHY WON’T WE MOVE?
The federal government is giving sweeping control to the FDA over tobacco companies. The FDA now is able to control production and marketing for the tobacco industry. Not just cigarettes but everything tobacco related is coming under the control of the federal government.
I don’t want people using tobacco. It’s not good for them. It’s not good for anyone. I say this because the straw man argument used to distract us from the erosion of our rights will be…”yeah…but don’t you think tobacco is bad for people?”
Slowly but surely, team Obama is dismantling capitalism, property rights and individual liberties while we the sheeple sit idly by and do nothing. I hate to sound like Howard Beale here but we cannot just continue to sit and watch this begging our government “Please…Please….Just let me have my toaster and my tv and my steel belted radials and I won’t say anything.” Because soon it won’t matter. Soon they will be inside our homes. Soon they won’t leave us alone and then where will we be?
Where are the damned watchdogs? Where is the media? Where is big business lobbies, once thought too powerful, to stop this downward slide? Where is accountability for anyone at any level of government? And finally where the HELL are the American people?
We are standing on the tracks and the lights are flashing and we can hear the horn…WHY WON’T WE MOVE?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wake Up America!
I’ve been watching a lot of things lately.
I’ve been watching the Republicans scramble around after their November ass-kicking. The Republican leadership is in a sorry state of dissolution searching in vain for any remnants of the Reagan revolution it can find. They all echo the refrain of “Reagan this” and “Reagan that”…sounding like wounded children whose big brother is no longer around to protect them.
I’ve been watching a president with whom I cannot tell whether he is grossly inept or downright out to tank this country on purpose. I’ve watched him and his party pushing forward policy after policy that is antithetical to my country’s beliefs and that are quickly and surely marching my country towards Marxism. And now, even some of the most ardent supporters of Barack Obama from 2008 avoid answering questions about him or his policies.
And I’ve been watching my country, my poor, poor country. Dear God…we are lost. There is little political discourse around the water cooler. No one wants to think about it or to see it anymore…they just want things to get better but when you ask them how their faces become blank and they mutter something about the problems being too big for one person then change the subject. It’s frightening the amount of disengagement present in the American mind.
After having watched this for the past few sobering months I have some things to say.
To the Republicans:
Wake UP! Quit quoting Reagan and start doing the things that need doing. For 2 election cycles in a row you’ve had your ass handed to you by the clowns currently in power and it will be a 3rd if you don’t get yourselves together and start moving forward. The mainstream media is correct in their assumption that you lost because you’re ideas were wrong and wrong-headed. But they’re wrong about why your ideas stunk…it’s not because you don’t think enough like them, it’s because you think like them too much. For God’s sake it’s not about image, it’s about ideas and principles. Arm yourselves with sound ideas and truth and then fight the bastards tooth and nail. Margaret Thatcher said “First you win the argument then you win the war.” It’s time to man up, admit to the stupidities of the past and START MOVING FORWARD.
To the President and his party:
Wake UP! Take a look and see what’s going on around you. Do you really believe in the things you are doing? Do you really believe that the government should care for all the people all the time? Do you really believe that the American Constitution was a failure?
To my Country:
Wake UP! Wake UP! Wake UP! This is the greatest nation on earth and the last stand for the hope of millions. If democracy and capitalism fail here, there is nowhere left to go! Get your minds in gear, engage…engage before it is too late! Pay attention to your rights begin stripped away from you! Pay attention to a government that is running rampant with YOUR MONEY and the POWER YOU LOANED IT! Get up! Get Mad! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT and let the whole world know how mad you are!Wake UP America! Before it's too late...WAKE UP!
I’ve been watching the Republicans scramble around after their November ass-kicking. The Republican leadership is in a sorry state of dissolution searching in vain for any remnants of the Reagan revolution it can find. They all echo the refrain of “Reagan this” and “Reagan that”…sounding like wounded children whose big brother is no longer around to protect them.
I’ve been watching a president with whom I cannot tell whether he is grossly inept or downright out to tank this country on purpose. I’ve watched him and his party pushing forward policy after policy that is antithetical to my country’s beliefs and that are quickly and surely marching my country towards Marxism. And now, even some of the most ardent supporters of Barack Obama from 2008 avoid answering questions about him or his policies.
And I’ve been watching my country, my poor, poor country. Dear God…we are lost. There is little political discourse around the water cooler. No one wants to think about it or to see it anymore…they just want things to get better but when you ask them how their faces become blank and they mutter something about the problems being too big for one person then change the subject. It’s frightening the amount of disengagement present in the American mind.
After having watched this for the past few sobering months I have some things to say.
To the Republicans:
Wake UP! Quit quoting Reagan and start doing the things that need doing. For 2 election cycles in a row you’ve had your ass handed to you by the clowns currently in power and it will be a 3rd if you don’t get yourselves together and start moving forward. The mainstream media is correct in their assumption that you lost because you’re ideas were wrong and wrong-headed. But they’re wrong about why your ideas stunk…it’s not because you don’t think enough like them, it’s because you think like them too much. For God’s sake it’s not about image, it’s about ideas and principles. Arm yourselves with sound ideas and truth and then fight the bastards tooth and nail. Margaret Thatcher said “First you win the argument then you win the war.” It’s time to man up, admit to the stupidities of the past and START MOVING FORWARD.
To the President and his party:
Wake UP! Take a look and see what’s going on around you. Do you really believe in the things you are doing? Do you really believe that the government should care for all the people all the time? Do you really believe that the American Constitution was a failure?
To my Country:
Wake UP! Wake UP! Wake UP! This is the greatest nation on earth and the last stand for the hope of millions. If democracy and capitalism fail here, there is nowhere left to go! Get your minds in gear, engage…engage before it is too late! Pay attention to your rights begin stripped away from you! Pay attention to a government that is running rampant with YOUR MONEY and the POWER YOU LOANED IT! Get up! Get Mad! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT and let the whole world know how mad you are!Wake UP America! Before it's too late...WAKE UP!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Sunshine Dodge
SUNSHINE DODGE
I just received a letter from a guy down in Melbourne, FL who is losing his Dodge dealership as of June 9th. The dealership’s franchise rights will be transferred to another family AT NO COST to them as of that date. The letter claimed the current dealership was sitting on a few million dollars in debt from financing inventory (like all car dealers) and a recent re-vamp of their location because Dodge insisted since it was a 5-STAR dealer, and the only one in the Melbourne area. The letter claimed they would lose all this money, and transfer rights with no compensation.
Like most things I receive in my inbox, I thought it was suspicious so I checked SNOPES first. It did not have anything, so I decided to “leg it out” myself. I called the dealership. Unfortunately, the letter is real, this IS going to happen.
This scares the CRAP out of me. We are now taking away property rights from established businesses to transfer them to other people. This is NOT the way it’s supposed to work. This guy’s family bought the franchise in 1974. He is 2nd Generation Dodge Dealer and one of their best considering his 5-STAR rating. So let’s toss him overboard?
The complete idiocy of what is happening with government interference and influence in business is astounding.
Chrysler is being sold part and parcel to FIAT and is apparently shutting down dealers of 30 years to give licenses to someone new. All of this while keeping the unions in place…the unions BTW which cause most companies to be 10-15% less profitable than their non-union competitors.
Today GM announced it would close 9 plants and idle 3 more in the United States. It also announced it would close parts warehouses across the country. It is being asked to decrease production of Cadillac Escalades and Chevy Silverado pickups (their 2 best sellers) in favor of the “VOLT” electric car. The Volt costs $40,000 on the market while the Toyota Prius sells for $25,000. Gee…which one will people buy more of in the beginning?
And FTR, I said “in the beginning” because I can’t imagine it will be long before the government says you MUST by US cars and US cars only. And if you don’t believe it can happen, then you should read the letter below that I just did.
Letter to the Editor
My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.
We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed ove r 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.
I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.
On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.
Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler’s insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.
HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?
THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY.
This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong.
This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Sincerely,
George C. Joseph President & Owner Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu
I just received a letter from a guy down in Melbourne, FL who is losing his Dodge dealership as of June 9th. The dealership’s franchise rights will be transferred to another family AT NO COST to them as of that date. The letter claimed the current dealership was sitting on a few million dollars in debt from financing inventory (like all car dealers) and a recent re-vamp of their location because Dodge insisted since it was a 5-STAR dealer, and the only one in the Melbourne area. The letter claimed they would lose all this money, and transfer rights with no compensation.
Like most things I receive in my inbox, I thought it was suspicious so I checked SNOPES first. It did not have anything, so I decided to “leg it out” myself. I called the dealership. Unfortunately, the letter is real, this IS going to happen.
This scares the CRAP out of me. We are now taking away property rights from established businesses to transfer them to other people. This is NOT the way it’s supposed to work. This guy’s family bought the franchise in 1974. He is 2nd Generation Dodge Dealer and one of their best considering his 5-STAR rating. So let’s toss him overboard?
The complete idiocy of what is happening with government interference and influence in business is astounding.
Chrysler is being sold part and parcel to FIAT and is apparently shutting down dealers of 30 years to give licenses to someone new. All of this while keeping the unions in place…the unions BTW which cause most companies to be 10-15% less profitable than their non-union competitors.
Today GM announced it would close 9 plants and idle 3 more in the United States. It also announced it would close parts warehouses across the country. It is being asked to decrease production of Cadillac Escalades and Chevy Silverado pickups (their 2 best sellers) in favor of the “VOLT” electric car. The Volt costs $40,000 on the market while the Toyota Prius sells for $25,000. Gee…which one will people buy more of in the beginning?
And FTR, I said “in the beginning” because I can’t imagine it will be long before the government says you MUST by US cars and US cars only. And if you don’t believe it can happen, then you should read the letter below that I just did.
Letter to the Editor
My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.
We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed ove r 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.
I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.
On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.
Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler’s insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.
HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?
THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY.
This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong.
This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Sincerely,
George C. Joseph President & Owner Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu
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