I think there is a lot of C.E.O,s that needs to be ran off, Mainly there is a thing called Greed that is the down fall of it all ( Did you just see where some guy that worked for Merrel Lynch just worked for 1 month and quite and got a 25 million dollar severance pay of our Bailout money ) its going on everywhere, its not the blue collar worker, its the upper class and and really higher ups that are destroying everything, i was trying to invest some money into something a few weeks ago and finally just gave up, Between the guy who took the 50 billion and the way everything is i will keep it in a jar. You can,t trust no one when it comes to trying to making a investment, I could go on and on, I just hope things get going the right way before long

Amen to that! And thanks Paul, hope you have a happy new year yourself.

Hey Paul,I heard about this letter on the radio, WLW out of Cincinnati, and I copied and pasted the whole thing from their website. The first one is from the president of GM to all their suppliers, asking them to support the bailout. The next is the reply of one of their suppliers, and he pretty much hits the nail on the head.

AN ANSWER TO THE BAILOUT...

Friday 12-19-2008 9:15am ET

Dear Employees & Suppliers,

Congress and the current Administration will soon determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis......................As an employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard. Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.

Troy Clarke President General Motors North America

Response from:

Gregory Knox, Pres.

Knox Machinery Company

Franklin, Ohio

Gentlemen:

In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America.

Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new "messiah", Pres-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream"… Believe me folks, The dream is over!

This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the price for these atrocities…this dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products for ever and ever.

Don't even think about telling me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM's throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I've seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.

Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states: "There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly is not."

You're right Mr. Clarke, it's not JUST management…how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass…so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time…for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour work week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics…for putting out too many parts on a shift…and for being too productive

(We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?)

Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea: "over the last few years …we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors." What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them? The K car vs. the Accord? The Pinto vs. the Civic?!? Do I need to go on? What a joke!< /span>

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades. It's time to pay for your sins, Detroit.

I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research, surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of "bailout money". "Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems," but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day… and the following very important thing would happen…where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up…that is how a free market system works…it does work…if we would only let it work…"

But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need the government to step in and "save us"…Save us my ass, Hell - we're nationalizing…and unfortunately too many of our once fine nation's citizens don't even have a clue that this is what is really happening…But, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams…yeah - THAT'S really important, isn't it…

Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country?... How can that be??? Let's see… Fuel efficient… Listening to customers… Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul…

Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously=2 0reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning… Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy"… Efficient front and back offices… Non union environment…

Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know down deep in their hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh… Am I there for them in the wings? Of course - but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.

I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news people - it's coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away." I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied…"we really might not do it in a year…or in four…" Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office.

Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks … That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000… People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care benefits… That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year… We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe…

That couple whose combined inc ome is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home… Let the market correct itself folks - it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna' be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has…and doesn't live beyond its means…and gets back to basics…and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world…and probably turns back to God.

Sorry - don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with you the "bad news". I hope you take it to heart.

Gregory J. Knox, President

Knox Machinery, Inc.

Franklin, Ohio 45005

This is spot on. The only thing he left out is that our founding Fathers did not give us a Democracy, or Mob Rule, but a Constitutional Republic. Which is in essence, a system of Laws and absolutes, which apply to every citizen. We need to get back to it.

you said it, we are so far from what this county started out to be it,s unreal

Now, if we could get this letter on the front page of the newspapers,

and read completely on the news channels, we probably could make

some significant progress.

I am also in awe of the genuine ignorance and pompous attitude of

our elected officials. The same ones who are giving out the hundreds of

billions of dollars to poorly run businesses. Why?

In a matter of months, there will be other car makers, and other banks

and probably better ones at that.

The stop-gap "bailouts" probably will not last a year before the same companies

are in the same trouble again.

Think about welfare and other government hand-outs. We now have four or five

generations of people who have never worked, and don't ever intend to because

the system is geared to work for them.

Handing out money simply does not work on several levels.

No good will come from this.

So, for 2009, I propose that each of us reading this resolve to be a little more vigilant,

and a little more aware of what's happening around us. And resolve to find out who your

elected officials are - and send them at least one letter or e-mail voicing your concern.

I think it's the least we can do to safeguard our lifestyle and protect our country.

Paul Van Scott

I myself has gotten more involved in politics than ever, right down to the township trustees, are county commissioners,s are about the most crooked, payed off bunch of lairs you have ever seen, if they get voted out they will make a job for them at the water or sewer dept. for more money than they were making, If you know the right person you have it made, your right we need to get people voted, fired and replaced

I myself has gotten more involved in politics than ever, right down to the township trustees, are county commissioners,s are about the most crooked, payed off bunch of lairs you have ever seen, if they get voted out they will make a job for them at the water or sewer dept. for more money than they were making, If you know the right person you have it made, your right we need to get people voted, fired and replaced

That's how it always is, Except they are strung out to the electric department around here. Put it this way my electric went from around 120.00 to 250.00 or so, when someone goes on vacation or there's raise we get a raise in our bill...