Chrysler continuing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to "thank us"

Chrysler is continuing it's recent PR stunt by purchasing full page ads in both USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, thanking Americans for helping them out. As if we had any say whatsoever in the automaker looting of America. This is the ultimate salt in the wound maneuver; spending hundreds of thousands of our own tax dollars to thank us for doing so.

This has got to be the worst PR strategy ever. The same management that drove Chrysler into the ground must also be at the helm of their marketing department. This speaks volumes about Chrysler's inability to gauge public opinion, and just might be the reason no one wants their cars.

I encourage everyone to respond, as many have done already, to this by posting your opinion on Chrysler's blog.

http://blog.chryslerllc.com/blog.do?id=564&p=entry

Chrysler closes plants for a month; White House scrambles

Chrysler has announced that it will shut down all plants for at least a month, with the last shift ending tomorrow. This comes off the heels of a failed bailout legislation, that was defeated handily by the Senate due to failure of the UAW to budge on a labor compromise. It also follows GM, who announced it will idle over 20 plants in a cost cutting measure.

As a result, the White House has accelerated plans to "rescue" the automakers, hoping to get something done before Christmas. It is expected that the White House will attach certain conditions on any potential bailout, with a pre-packaged bankruptcy reportedly on the table, but it is unclear what exactly the White House will demand from the automakers in exchange for taxpayer Federal Reserve notes. The figure of 14 billion, the original amount debated in Congress, is likely to balloon to somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 billion, a number that is most certainly dreamed up out of thin air.

It's likely that Dictator Hank Paulson will now assume the role of the ridiculous "car czar", since the White House is choosing to sidestep Congress in another unconstitutional stunt to please the elite big wigs in Detroit. However, it will be interesting to see how a potential bailout is funded. Only 15 billion remains in the TARP fund, enough for the original bailout plans, but any additional funds will require Congressional release of the remaining 350 billion, something that Paulson says he will not persue before leaving office.

Clearly, however, Congress has become increasingly irrelevant as the tyrannical White House does whatever it wants, regardless of the opinion of Congress and the people of this country. Any act of Congress is simply a formality and a grand showing of political theater at this point.

Ron Paul on the auto bailout

TARP to the rescue

Just when you thought the bailout was rightfully dead in the water, what a surprise that the White House and Hank Paulson show up with Federal Reserve Notes in hand. This only proves the case that the administration is bought and paid for, considering they were staunchly against this bill just days ago. Oh how things change when you have a UAW gun pointed to your head! After all, the UAW funded many of these guys' campaigns.

This is yet another stark reversal for the Treasury, who has been strongly against giving the taxpayer giveaway to anyone except those in the financial sector (or those who are best friends with Paulson and Bernanke). We can't be that surprised; this isn't the first time that the Treasury has changed it's mind on something, further proving that they A) don't have the slightest clue as to what they are doing or B) are not working for the taxpayers at all, they are merely puppets for the real shot-callers in this country. I tend to believe it's both.

Bailout? More like failout.

Looks like the the Senate finally grew a pair and stood up to the unions. Leading the charge is Bob Corker (R-TN), who seems to be one of a few in Washington that knows the real problem facing the Big 3 and actually has a spine. Everything out of Bob's mouth has made absolute sense, perhaps too much sense for thick-headed House democrats, but I digress.

Now that the current bill is dead in the water, here comes the fear mongering. Harry Reid has stated that he "dreads Wall Street's reaction today." I'm sorry Mr. Reid, but you and your confidants just spent weeks speaking against Wall Street and the bank bailout, yet now you are afraid of the effect on Wall Street? That's strange indeed.

I don't doubt that the Dow will plunge several hundred points today, throwing gas on the fire. We've all seen this picture before; in response, the Dems will run around with their heads cut off, demanding that the Republicans pass a new version of the bill or else the country will descend into a black hole. Does this sound familiar? I believe it does. Lets just hope that somebody, ANYBODY, in Congress is smart enough to stop it this time around.

I'm not holding my breath.

UPDATE: The Dow is open and down less than 100 points. So much for Harry Reid's scare tactics.