A Few New Thoughts

I haven't had much to say in a while, but don't think I haven't been pay attention to the recent hearings with the Detroit 3.

A few things are on my mind:
1. Merrill Lynch's CEO says he thinks he should be paid $10 Million in bonuses. Why? Your company barely survived bankruptcy this year. Since when should you be compensated unGodly amounts of money for failure to do your job?

2. I'm on the fence with this Auto Loan to the Detroit 3. They need a lot of help and they need a lot of restructuring to become competitive against the likes of Honda, Toyota and the other players. It's the fault of the Detroit 3 that they're in this position. They are top-heavy and by being top-heavy their exposure to financial troubles is so much higher than companies that are run efficiently. Sales of Toyota and Honda are down substantially as well. However, they aren't run poorly and are set up to weather a storm like the one we currently face. It's simple Capitalism and in a Capitalist economy only the strong survive. Nevertheless, that doesn't change the catostrophic impact failure of any of the Detroit 3 might have on the country and all of the businesses countrywide that depend on these organizations for their own survival.

3. It's extremely irriating to watch the Detroit 3, while presenting their case to Congress, try to put the blame of potential organizational failure on Congress in the event that Congress does not come to the aid of these failing companies. I'm amazed at the arrogance of these organizations trying to tell Congress that if they didn't act, the loss of jobs and industry would be the fault of the Government. Not sure I agree with that.

4. Here's what I see regarding this whole auto deal.
a) The Detroit 3 are a victim of their own greed, cluelessness and arrogance.
b) Unions are a problem. However, the current Union agreement has to fall on the leaders of the Detroit 3 for agreeing to such an insane deal.
c) Some blame should be placed on the Government. The Government has made it cheaper for businesses to close their U.S. facilities, move to a foreign country and import the goods back into the U.S. all a price that is far cheaper than if it had been built in the U.S.. Our country should reward businesses that build and produce in the U.S. with a competitive advantage over businesses that import their goods. A great example of this is the beer industry. Budweiser is cheap because it's domestic and doesn't ship from overseas. Newcastle is more expensive because it ships from England. To me, this makes sense and seems like a logical trade scenario.

5. The BCS and "Logic" don't go hand in hand. Texas Tech should be pissed that it was left out of a BCS game and what exactly did Ohio State do to deserve a BCS birth? I hope I live to see the day that College Football's National Championship is decided on the field. Logic would tell us that a playoff is the only way to truly know who the best football team in the country is. Now, having said that, both Florida and Oklahoma are extremely deserving programs and are playing better football than any other teams in the country. However, Texas beat Oklahoma so any Longhorn gripe seems legit.