Katy McKenna Raymond  
Personal blog of christian writer Katy McKenna Raymond in Kansas City, Missouri

Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri


Katy is represented by
Greg Johnson at
WordServe Literary

Read more Katy at
LateBoomer.net

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Don’t Know Much About The Big Three

I’ve gone on record here at fallible in expressing my utter disdain for bailouts.

Trust me when I say I know enough personal bailouts to stay away from them (both on the giving and receiving end). It’s not that I don’t believe in giving second chances because, honestly, I do. It’s more that I’ve noticed that second chances usually lead to more crimes of the same type and further requests for easy answers.

My own dear grandfather once extended a personal bailout to a member of my family who was in serious trouble with some members of another “family” you really don’t want to mess with. Grandpa specified when he handed over the big bucks that this was a one time deal and not to come crying to him again.

Did the offending party ever ask Grandpa for another bailout? Amazingly, no. But only because Grandpa was known for being a strong man of his word.

Did the family member avoid the kinds of activities that might get him in trouble down the line? No way! His bad habits never changed. He just got lucky enough to avoid having to beg for mercy from those few who still might be willing to save his behind.

And that’s the point. Unless behaviors change—-and now I’m talking about all the poor business models that have the car manufacturers lining up for the goody bags—-the bailouts will never stop. In fact, they will never even slow down. Each sector of the economy will line up, as if on cue, demanding “theirs.”

There’s one thing I’ve yet to hear in all the rhetoric about how the Big Three must be saved at all costs to the American taxpayer. For all the talk about the jobs that will be lost (and of course that would be truly painful for all involved, and it’s hard not to feel bad about it….) and the communities that will be affected because of it, I still haven’t heard that car BUYERS will be deprived of automobiles to purchase.

Shouldn’t EVERY business exist to serve the needs of the customer? I know quite a number of self-employed people whose businesses would go down the tubes this second if they stopped having goods and services that their customers desperately needed. And while that would be regrettable, it would make perfect sense, wouldn’t it? If the customer has completely viable options elsewhere in the marketplace, WHY should a specific company automatically continue to exist?

If it’s ONLY for the employees, and for the healthcare and pensions of the former employees, that seems wrong to me.

When the debate about keeping the Big Three afloat begins to incorporate their own solid business plans for making sure this request for a bailout never happens again, I might start thinking they deserve some assistance.

And if I ever feel that a company actually exists to serve the needs of the customer, I’ll do my part to support their business.

I’d even consider buying an American car, if my money weren’t currently tied up in bailouts.

Posted by Katy on 11/23/08 at 05:13 PM
Fallible Comments...
  1. Your common sense approach to economics continues to warm my heart! Hmm. Maybe you consider doing a book . . .
    Posted by D'Ann Mateer  on  11/25/08  at  03:06 AM
  2. Yes, it seems that you know a little bit about car manufacturing too. I would like to invite you to join Freelancer.com to do more projects on manufacturing or even write a book. Use this code BUILDIT4ME to get more advantages from the site. Good luck.
    Posted by Milka Giordano  on  11/13/09  at  03:57 PM
    3. Page 1 of 1 pages
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