the rix mix

Democracy, to me, is liberty plus economic security.
-Maury Maverick, attorney and congressman (1895-1954)

Interesting quote in Wordsmith e mail today. A New Dealer's sentiment rather than a definition. Worth mulling over. Insecurity endangers democracy, but it also provides impetus for change. I don't entirely disagree with Maury Maverick, being something of a New Dealer myself,

NEW YORK -November U.S. vehicle sales at General Motors and Chrysler plunged more than 40 percent, while Ford's sales dropped 31 percent, crushing hopes that the industrywide drop in vehicle demand might be easing as the U.S. automakers prepare to state their second case for a federal bailout.

GM's sales fell 41 percent, while Chrysler's dropped 47 percent. Their overseas rivals posted abysmal results Tuesday as well. Toyota's November U.S. sales tumbled 34 percent, and Honda's fell 32 percent.

Like retailers of other big ticket items, automakers have taken a beating in recent months as worries about the economy and unemployment have prompted consumers to slash spending. At the same time, some people afraid that they won't qualify for credit or that it will be too costly have put purchases on hold.

On Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research said the U.S. entered a recession in December 2007, much earlier than most predictions.

Ford's F truck series declined the least. Credit NFL TV ads, NASCAR truck racing series, & American manliness. Ford now says it might survive without a bailout. A heavy decline in fleet sales hurt, purchases from rental car companies, government agencies, any company requiring a lot of cars or small vans & trucks.

The auto company execs got the private jets before us, & now they'll drive hybrids to show us they're as hip to their carbon footprints as rich Californians & Bonny Prince Charlie.

Americans smelled recession a year ago while Wall Street was still bouncing along. The Democratic win two years ago was due in large part to general queasiness about the economy, the Repugs weren't delivering on anything.

The American consumer/voter is hardly blameless. We can point the finger at auto companies, credit cards, banks, deregulation, CEO bonuses & parachutes; at $4 gas & the home mortgage collapse. Had we been paying attention, we wouldn't have been so blindsided. Little of this was as hidden as we believe it was. We believed in Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, too. Hell, after awhile we even believed Bush won the 2000 & 2004 elections.

Years of listening to politicians yapping about what Big Guvmint spends on the poor, on environmental protection, after we let Cheney/Bush wreck myriad federal agencies with hackery & indifference (e coli, anyone?) & "privatization" - remember, guvmint IS the problem - now it's o.k. to go into debt for trillions of dollars. We spun 180 degrees so fast we haven't even realized we're facing the opposite direction, if we are. Depends on who benefits from the trillions. Be swell if the people did for a change.

How much is that wireless contract costing you each month? Tap, text, twitter, & talk.

Ironic. P.T. Barnum bragged he'd never go broke underestimating the American public. Now America's gone broke by underestimating itself. We've been doing that for 40 years, when we began concluding the New Deal sucked & it was fine if the rich got exponentially richer than everyone else & we'd all quickly float upward underneath them, rafting on their beneficent trickle down. They pissed on us, we called it golden showers. (Unions? We don't need no stinkin' unions.) Turning that attitude around will be very difficult.

Labels: bully pulpit