"Clown Prince" Weekly Blather; March 3rd

A Patriotic Response To The "Clown Prince;" 03/03/2012
barackingham Palace,
District of Corruption
March 3, 2012
    Earlier this week, I spent some time with the hardworking men and women of the American auto industry, who are busy writing a new chapter in America’s story.  Just a few years ago, their industry was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs. Two of the Big Three – GM and Chrysler – were on the brink of failure. If we had let this great American industry collapse – if we had let Detroit go bankrupt – more than one million Americans would have lost their jobs in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression.  I refused to let that happen. These jobs are worth more than just a paycheck – they’re a source of pride and a ticket to the middle class. These companies are worth more than just the cars they build – they’re a symbol of American innovation and a source of our manufacturing might.  So in exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got the companies to retool and restructure. Everyone sacrificed. And three years later, the American auto industry is back.  Today, GM is the number one automaker in the world. Chrysler is growing faster in America than any other car company. Ford is investing billions in American plants and factories, and plans to bring thousands of jobs back home. All told, the entire industry has added more than 200,000 new jobs over the past two and a half years.  And they’re not just building cars again – they’re building better cars. Thanks to new fuel efficiency standards we put in place, they’re building cars that will average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade. That’s almost double what they get today. That means folks will be able to fill up every two weeks instead of every week, saving the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time. That’s a big deal, especially as families are yet again feeling the pinch from rising gas prices.  So what’s happening in Detroit will make a difference. But it won’t solve everything. There’s no silver bullet for avoiding spikes in gas prices every year. There’s no shortcut to taking control of our energy future. We have to pursue an all-of-the-above strategy that helps develop every source of American energy. And we have to do it now.
[What I'm not telling you:  No one seems to question why I never visit auto manufacturing plants in Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas.  I'll tell'ya why:  Because I don't own them, they're primarily foreign-badged manufacturers!!  If I didn't own General--or 'Government'--Motors and Chrysler, it's doubtful I'd visit Michigan either, with the exception of the on-going union rewards built into the bailout PORKulus bill.    
   It's very easy to hypothesize about "cudda; wudda; shudda!"  We can 'manufacture' various numbers of jobs that would have 'disappeared' had we not bailed out GM and Chrysler.  And, what did the American taxpayer, the American investor get for their investment?!?  They got the shaft.... that's what they got!!   The American investor watched as George Soros and the Regime rewarded the United Auto Workers union with a 37% ownership stake in General Motors while--simultaneously--the federal government underwrote the UAW--underwater--Health and Retirement program.  The American investor was rewarded for their confidence in the viability of GM prior to the federal takeover with a reasonable return on investment (ROI).  As a result of the federal takeover, those investors--primarily the bond investors--were rewarded with the loss of 96-98 cents on every dollar invested!!  The screwing the American taxpayer took on the Chrysler bailout was of collosal proportions!  They essentially bailed out a foreign company--Fiat which owns 58% of Chrysler--and negotiated with the UAW to give the remainder to that union's Health Care Trust.  
    Had the owe-bama Regime let both auto companies proceed into bankruptcy as it should have, it's doubtful that 'a million jobs' would have been lost.  While there may have been extensive lay-offs, a vast majority of those would have been recalled to work, post-bankruptcy.  The end result of the bankruptcy procedures would have been leaner, meaner far more efficient manufacturing facilities, nationwide!    Both companies' product quality would have improved--to compete with the likes of Honda, Toyota, Kia, Land Rover, et al--which would have generated greater sales, worldwide.  We can--and will--brag that General Motors--as a conglomerate--is the largest car maker in the world.  But how does the top Buick model's sales compare with those of the Honda Accord, for example?!?  
      As a sidebar, have you seen the affects of Regime--and by 'Regime,' I mean George Soros' orders--support for alternative energy sources?!?  Every one I've touched has collapsed "in a pile of rubble," financially!!  First, we proped up Solyndra and their 'sister' companies with billions-of-TAXPAYER-dollars, only to have them enter into bankruptcy shortly thereafter.  Now we come to the Chevy Volt.  The only way Chevy could sell them is to have the federal taxpayer underwrite about 20% of the purchase price, with the $7,500-$10,000 rebate per vehicle!!  That wasn't enough to forestall a five-week plant shutdown. 
(Note: Add $8,000 to the Volt's retail price of $41,000 and you could drive away in a new '12 CORVETTE!!) 
The Volt--with it's on-going battery problems, coupled with it's 25-mile electric range--seems destined to go the way of Solyndra!!  Apparently the GM hierarchy feels the same way.  They're preparing to manufacture both the Chevy Chevelle and Impala in the Volt's  Hamtramck, Mi., plant next year.  
    Sure fuel price spikes do happen every Spring    The 2012 price-spike is very early in the season, exacerbated by the Regime's complete lack of a viable energy policy.  Oh, don't get me wrong:  We do have an energy policy.  Castigate fossil fuels in favor of those currently unsustainable--without government financial intervention--'green' energy sources.  Some reliable studies--that Soros and I, even with our investments in Brazilian oil, do not subscribe to--have concluded that fossil fuels are a RENEWABLE RESOURCE!! As is the norm, I continue the bold-faced lie that the United States only has 2% of the earth's energy supplies!!  If I were the least-bit concerned with the truth, I'd have to repeat the new slogan: "The United States is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas!!"  Seemingly--much to my chagrin--we almost daily discover new and larger gas fields.... all over the country, from the oil fields of the Dakotas to the Marcellus Shale gas fields of the Northeast!!   If George Soros, the Regime and me, personally, are not successful--soon--in vilifying fossil fuels in favor of those unsustainable 'green' sources, I fear we will have lost our chance!  Said vilification is essential in 'the spread of socialism of America!!']
    The good news is, we’ve been making progress. Take a look at this chart. Six years ago, 60% of the oil we used was imported. Since I took office, America’s dependence on foreign oil has decreased every single year. In fact, in 2010, for the first time in thirteen years, less than half the petroleum we consumed was imported. Part of that is because we’re producing more oil here at home than at any time in the last eight years.  But we can’t just drill our way out of this problem. While we consume 20 percent of the world’s oil, we only have 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves. We’ve got to develop new technology that will help us use new forms of energy. That’s been a priority of mine as President. And because of the investments we’ve made, our use of clean, renewable energy has nearly doubled – and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.  Now we need to keep at it. And to do that, we need to make the right choices.  Here’s one we can make right now. Every year, $4 billion of your tax dollars go to subsidizing the oil industry. These are the same companies making record profits – tens of billions of dollars a year. I don’t think oil companies need more corporate welfare. Congress should end this taxpayer giveaway. If you agree with me, I’m asking you to e-mail, call, or Tweet your representative. Tell them to stop fighting for oil companies. Tell them to start fighting for working families. Tell them to fight for the clean energy future that’s within our reach. Because the sooner we all get started, the sooner we’ll get there together.
[What I'm not telling you:  It's fairly easy to slant the numbers in my favor; I only tell you part of the story!!  That line:
"....America's dependence on foreign oil has decreased every year...." 
is as phony as my most recent birth certificate!!  The 'dependency' numbers are decreasing primarily due to fuel prices climbing ONE-HUNDRED PERCENT since my immaculation, three LONG years ago!!  Don't forget too, unemployed workers drive far less than those employed; given the true unemployment rate (U-6) nearing 15%, that means alot'ta folks!  With my extensions, unemployment payments have become a personal revenue stream, in-turn creating a whole-new dependency class in America.  And by extension, a whole new class of owe-bama supporters!!  
    To continue--and to re-double--my efforts at fossil fuel vilification, it's necessary to 'go after' the oil companies incessantly.  That $4 billion in subsidies is a mere 'drop-in-the-bucket' when considered against the total of my wasteful spending!!   That would be .00259 OF ONE PERCENT of the total 15.42 TRILLION in national debt!!  Seems kinda' silly to bitch about that doesn't it?!?  Well, the KoolAid drinkers among my subjects believe everything I say, and "four-billion" sounds like a huge number when left to stand alone!   Even if the Congress were to reduce the oil subsidies by 50%, not only would the savings be comparatively infintesimal, it would cause another substantial increase in the retail pump-price of both major highway fuels.  That "....more corporate welfare...." statement:  More oil industry vilification.  The federal payments to the oil companies are nothing more, nothing less than pass-thru retail price subsidies; very much akin to the $7,500-$10,000 I pay each-and-every sucker who buys a Volt instead of a Corvette!! 
    If you really want to have an effect on your personal 'bottom line' contact your Senators and Respresentatives to express your support of the subsidies which will continue to insure a reduced pump price of fuel you need every day!!  True, that reduced price will not have a great affect so long as the Regime's non-existant energy policy continues to push fuel prices ever upward!!]