http://www.toyotarepublicans.com/

Oh, absolutely. I’m still pissed about never getting that “more humble” foreign policy we were promised in 2000. Still, on this issue, the GOP Senators are more right than wrong. The only hope the automakers and the UAW have is following their recommendations. Otherwise, they’ll go the way of the Austin Princess.

What’s next? Protectionism against German automobiles because Ferdinand Porsche was decorated by the Nazis? Daimler-Benz built aircrafts that bombed American GIs?

I guess der Volkswagen was just way too-o-o-o-o easy, eh?

An argument could be made, up until recently (like 2000), that the GOP was the lesser of evils. This has since ceased to be the case throughout the course of Bush’s regime, and is now completely bogus. At least the Dems are more honest about their intentions and vision for the economy. Repubs have been allowed to pander and bloviate with the free-market rhetoric while completely undermining sound economics in every way imaginable. They’ve been doing their best to discredit paleo conservative and libertarian scholarship every time they promote supply-side interventionism/mercantilism in the name of free enterprise. Republicans talked like they knew that democratic socialism didn’t work. But plutocratic socialism for the rich doesn’t work either. Guess they didn’t know that; they should have asked Adam Smith.

The Establishment Duopoly has the old Cold War coalition relics in a perpetual state of battered wife syndrome, on both sides. I have hope for the future, if the increasing traffic at Mises.org is any indication, but it seems people too oft forget the basic nature of the State. The Scorpion can’t help but sting, even if it means his own demise.

Not if, but when the USA hits a brick wall, we can anticipate what the Powers that Be are going to do. More importantly, what are WE going to do?

Sorry, Pat. I couldn’t make it beyond this statement.

What’s next? Protectionism against German automobiles because Ferdinand Porsche was decorated by the Nazis? Daimler-Benz built aircrafts that bombed American GIs?

When will we start doing the right thing instead of always trying to “do right” by the average American? We’re raising generations of perpetual adolescents.

A lot of us didn’t like the bank bailout either. Even so, one stupid act does not justify yet another. Also, the financial industry has been making a number of job layoffs and cutbacks, and they’ll be facing a lot more regulation coming down the pike.

Second, no one is seriously arguing for allowing the companies to disappear. That was never on the table. What the GOP Senators wanted was serious commitments to improve the companies. We’re not just looking at a few billion here. GM alone owes about $160 billion dollars and counting. Given the fact that GM was losing money hand over fist when it competitors we’re making money, there’s no reason to believe that bill is going away. So we need some assurance that the company is going to pay it off, or the taxpayer will be stuck with the tab.

A few other incidental notes:

Toyota NA and Honda NA support the bailout, as it’ll help their suppliers and keep out other international competitors:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/15/news/companies/overseas_automakers/index.htm?postversion=2008121517

So, really, the term “Toyota Republicans” is a bit misleading.

Also, the UAW assembles a number of Mitsubishi products, and they’ve done so for a while, thus the quip about Pearl Harbor is also misplaced.

In addition, Sen. Corker’s state includes the Saturn facility, which is owned by GM, so his position isn’t based on some bad faith desire to screw over Michigan.

You think you’re so separate from the workers who you would supplant Americans with? Do you not get that things are getting quicker?

Do you remember Buchanan being this direct?

Wake up.

Ah, I get it: the future is a place of extremes. There is no intermediate ground between today’s union automaker salaries (and their policy of paying people not to work) and the conditions that prevail in the slums of Asia.

It’s this kind of all-or-nothing brilliance that exacerbated the “Global War on Terror”, the drug war, and most other government foolishness. Scared people support radical policies based on almost-impossible scenarios of future doom.

Feudalism is on the rise again.