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<blockquote data-quote="wkmac" data-source="post: 542329" data-attributes="member: 2189"><p><span style="font-size: 18px">WHACK! </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Now that's using your dipstick Jimmy! <img src="/community/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/FeltTip/happy-very.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":happy-very:" title="Happy Very :happy-very:" data-shortname=":happy-very:" /> If that commercial was real life, that guy would be dead! Beaten with his own dipstick.</span></p><p><img src="/community/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/FeltTip/wink.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":wink2:" title="Wink :wink2:" data-shortname=":wink2:" /></p><p></p><p>Your comment above made me think of an article I read over at Front Porch Republic entitled <a href="http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/06/corporate-capitalism-and-the-loss-of-virtue/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red">Corporate Capitialism and The Loss of Virtue</span> </a>but it was the following from the article that caught my eye in regards to the American carmakes being the possible origins of their own problems.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Even further taken, with all these mega-corp. interests in Washington it only stands to reason that laws are passed (bought and paid for) intended to benefit certain interests. But as everyone buys and sells their votes, passing these interests for ever more money with little time or thought given to their real impact on society, at somepoint like a nuclear reaction, these regulations create conflict and the negative results are mostly felt by the ordinary person as the "corp. elites" if you will are typically insulated having immediate inside information and can adapt faster to changing conditions.</p><p></p><p>The real estate meltdown that is a lynchpin in our economic crisis was as much driven by gov't policy as it was by corporate capitalism and let me say this for the record. Corporate capitialism is not IMO a true hallmark of true free market economics just as the whole idea and concept of a corporation is also not in keeping with true free market economic ideals. Corporations come to life via gov't edict and only by gov't permission and with that also comes some level of limited liability to varying degrees. This in itself fosters potential for fraud and abuse with the consumer and taxpayer most often ultimately bearing the burden.</p><p></p><p>True free markets arise among the actual people themselves as in the above example of the small rancher who butchers his own cattle and the townspeople who trade with him for said beef. As a result, if said rancher commits fraud or wrongs the townfolk, he typically finds himself before a judge charged with a crime and if severe enough, civil actions may even result in judgements that liquidate his assets leaving him penniless. If he incorporates, it's possible to seperate his personal holdings in such a way as they are never at risk and therefore the temptation to stretch the boundaries of what is moral and fraud become a reality more often than not. True free markets don't advantage the seller over the buyer but in fact bring them together as true equals, especially in the eyes of the law. Utopian? Is it any more Utopian to believe that you can create a 3rd party agency (gov't) who is capable of independence, non-bias and free from tempting self interest to do as good a job or better at maintaining this same balance? Looking around our world today, I think it's fair to say that idea has real issues!</p><p><img src="/community/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/FeltTip/happy-very.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":happy-very:" title="Happy Very :happy-very:" data-shortname=":happy-very:" /></p><p></p><p>Now that between the US and Canadian govt's they hold a near 75% stake in GM, it seems only probable that GM would begin producing the kinds of cars that Obama talked of during the campaign but there is another competing self interest here that has emerged and goes to the heart of how varying public policies can in themselves create potential nightmare scenarios. President Obama talked about the need for super efficent cars and he is correct. Having super efficent cars is something the vast majority of people I've talked with want so this idea has very braod appeal IMO. But super efficent cars have one major negative and that is, using less gas means they also pay less highway taxes. A good picture to foretell the true impact can be seen right now as a result of a down economy where people are driving less along with a fleet of cars nationwide that are getting better and better mileage and now we have a highway trust fund that some say will be broke by August barring a influx of money from the gov't. This was no surprise as some saw this coming back last September. Last year it was September and this year it was August and the keenful eye would notice and point out that in both cases the funding ran out just before the fiscal year ended and therefore the cause in not enough funding on the outset of the fiscal year. True but it still points out the glaring problem IMO that even better mileage vehicles including electric will place a huge strain on the highway fund at a time when many say we need major infrastructure improvements and yet as I linked earlier, our democrat controlled gov't is throwing around money to foreign interests at the same lighting speed as the former foxes guarding the peoples hen house.</p><p></p><p>"IF" the gov't uses their new found ownership as a means of advancing public policy ie super efficent cars, then watch the nightmare of unintended consequences begin to come into play as well. I'm all for super efficent cars, electric, what have you but using the present construct of society and public policy, consequences will manifest and it will require an ever larger gov't to overcome those consequences only to create new ones and the cycle continues. As I told the republicans in their own zeal for their own brand of big gov't, all things in America are cyclical and some day the rolls will reverse for the democrats and at some point that powers they lay in gov't hands now will be at some point in republican hands. Just keep that in mind going forward!</p><p></p><p><img src="/community/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/FeltTip/peaceful.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":peaceful:" title="Peaceful :peaceful:" data-shortname=":peaceful:" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="wkmac, post: 542329, member: 2189"] [SIZE=5]WHACK! [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Now that's using your dipstick Jimmy! :happy-very: If that commercial was real life, that guy would be dead! Beaten with his own dipstick.[/SIZE] :wink2: Your comment above made me think of an article I read over at Front Porch Republic entitled [URL='http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/06/corporate-capitalism-and-the-loss-of-virtue/'][COLOR=red]Corporate Capitialism and The Loss of Virtue[/COLOR] [/URL]but it was the following from the article that caught my eye in regards to the American carmakes being the possible origins of their own problems. Even further taken, with all these mega-corp. interests in Washington it only stands to reason that laws are passed (bought and paid for) intended to benefit certain interests. But as everyone buys and sells their votes, passing these interests for ever more money with little time or thought given to their real impact on society, at somepoint like a nuclear reaction, these regulations create conflict and the negative results are mostly felt by the ordinary person as the "corp. elites" if you will are typically insulated having immediate inside information and can adapt faster to changing conditions. The real estate meltdown that is a lynchpin in our economic crisis was as much driven by gov't policy as it was by corporate capitalism and let me say this for the record. Corporate capitialism is not IMO a true hallmark of true free market economics just as the whole idea and concept of a corporation is also not in keeping with true free market economic ideals. Corporations come to life via gov't edict and only by gov't permission and with that also comes some level of limited liability to varying degrees. This in itself fosters potential for fraud and abuse with the consumer and taxpayer most often ultimately bearing the burden. True free markets arise among the actual people themselves as in the above example of the small rancher who butchers his own cattle and the townspeople who trade with him for said beef. As a result, if said rancher commits fraud or wrongs the townfolk, he typically finds himself before a judge charged with a crime and if severe enough, civil actions may even result in judgements that liquidate his assets leaving him penniless. If he incorporates, it's possible to seperate his personal holdings in such a way as they are never at risk and therefore the temptation to stretch the boundaries of what is moral and fraud become a reality more often than not. True free markets don't advantage the seller over the buyer but in fact bring them together as true equals, especially in the eyes of the law. Utopian? Is it any more Utopian to believe that you can create a 3rd party agency (gov't) who is capable of independence, non-bias and free from tempting self interest to do as good a job or better at maintaining this same balance? Looking around our world today, I think it's fair to say that idea has real issues! :happy-very: Now that between the US and Canadian govt's they hold a near 75% stake in GM, it seems only probable that GM would begin producing the kinds of cars that Obama talked of during the campaign but there is another competing self interest here that has emerged and goes to the heart of how varying public policies can in themselves create potential nightmare scenarios. President Obama talked about the need for super efficent cars and he is correct. Having super efficent cars is something the vast majority of people I've talked with want so this idea has very braod appeal IMO. But super efficent cars have one major negative and that is, using less gas means they also pay less highway taxes. A good picture to foretell the true impact can be seen right now as a result of a down economy where people are driving less along with a fleet of cars nationwide that are getting better and better mileage and now we have a highway trust fund that some say will be broke by August barring a influx of money from the gov't. This was no surprise as some saw this coming back last September. Last year it was September and this year it was August and the keenful eye would notice and point out that in both cases the funding ran out just before the fiscal year ended and therefore the cause in not enough funding on the outset of the fiscal year. True but it still points out the glaring problem IMO that even better mileage vehicles including electric will place a huge strain on the highway fund at a time when many say we need major infrastructure improvements and yet as I linked earlier, our democrat controlled gov't is throwing around money to foreign interests at the same lighting speed as the former foxes guarding the peoples hen house. "IF" the gov't uses their new found ownership as a means of advancing public policy ie super efficent cars, then watch the nightmare of unintended consequences begin to come into play as well. I'm all for super efficent cars, electric, what have you but using the present construct of society and public policy, consequences will manifest and it will require an ever larger gov't to overcome those consequences only to create new ones and the cycle continues. As I told the republicans in their own zeal for their own brand of big gov't, all things in America are cyclical and some day the rolls will reverse for the democrats and at some point that powers they lay in gov't hands now will be at some point in republican hands. Just keep that in mind going forward! :peaceful: [/QUOTE]
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