Portland, Tennessee Blog

I totally agree with you Debra. I'm sure there are people however that would say it's much more complicated than that, but in truth it isn't. Something else that my fiance mentioned was how much Christmas has changed. The huge change of how now lots of children receive a Wii, PS3, or Xbox360 for Christmas, when she remembers being thrilled with getting a cabbage patch doll for Christmas. It's not only a generation gap though. Compare that story to shows such as 'Little House on the Prairie', when the little girls were happy to get candy cane sticks and a cup as their only real gifts. Commercialism has gotten to us, however it got to our parents, our grandparents as well. We need to reel ourselves back into remembering that the gift should mean something more than the cost.

Keeping up with the Jones' has really gotten this country into loads of problems.

I think all that is happening is a wake-up call and a good thing. We are a spoiled society. We need to learn how it is to live without that new car every year and that 52in TV. How to live in a house where we can afford the mortgage payments. How to cook a wholesome meal instead of eating out every night. How to say NO to a child that wants a $150 pair of Nike's. How to make that paycheck stretch alittle longer.

Should we bailout the auto industry...NO. They should have managed their companies the right way to start with. I don't see the bailout helping much if they keep the same management team.

I know it's tough right now on everyone but if we tighten our belts and get back to basics we will survive.

One positive of this "mess", alot of the banks dirty laundry is coming to the publics view, other points to ponder is the little secrets the smaller banks use to compete with the big banks, and I believe they have an arsenal of them.

My mother has made car parts for thirty years and she is lucky to make ten dollars an hour. Her plant isn't located in Detroit obviously nor is it located in the south where quite a bit of them have relocated for the lack of union those that haven't gone overseas or over the border. Once upon a time she made fifteen dollars an hour which was a lot less then the guys and she had to deal with sexual harrassment because she was one of a handful of women that worked at the plant. She has seen her wages cut many times, her benefits reduced thanks to the union negotiations trying to keep the plant from closing. The plant has a couple weeks a year that it closes so she saves her vacation time to use during that period so she has a pay check coming in. To put it nicely she works in a hostile environment where they are constantly bullied and pushed to make rate. It's hot, dirty, and dangerous and the workers deserve every penny they make. I grew up watching her come home a aching mess of cuts, bruises etc. smiling at us kids and telling us she was okay and hearing her cry in her bed. I remember my mom coming home to change because she had blood all over her where someone had their wrist cut on the line and blood sprayed everywhere.

I'd really like to buy "American," even though Nissans, Toyotas, and Hondas may be more important to our economies in this part of the country--in my heart, I'm a Chevy girl. But the last car I purchased new (in fact, the only brand new car I've owned) was a 2002 Malibu and it was a huge disappointment. Not the worst car I ever owned, but so not worth the money I paid for it. I finally sold it 2 years ago and got less than $5000 for it. Now I'm content to drive my 15-year-old Nissan with almost 200,000 miles on it (and it still gets better mileage than almost any new gas-powered car out there). I'd buy another Nissan in a second, but a Chevy? Not unless it's a classic from the 60's, back when the big 3 were the big 3 because they produced great cars.

I just spoke w/a relative in TX and he told me that a large manufacturing company that made products for GM, etc. is closing in March. An uncle and cousin of mine have worked there for the past 10-15 years. Thats the end of their jobs and they also lost a lot of $$ in their 401k's. It is definitely going to get much worse for everyone...the only thing taxpayer's bailout dollars will pay for is gold lining in the pockets of the CEO's that jump ship in the near future....I think the days of living on plastic and future income are over and we will all have to see a tightening of the belts...I know I have definitely cut down on my spending, even for Christmas...trying to save what I can for after the first of the year...I'm just not real confident that things will get better quickly..

The employees of American car makers make more than the foreign auto makers for sure, and you get a vehicle worth next to nothing once you drive it off the lot, the last new car I bought was a 2004 Dodge Intrepid at just under $30K. It's value up on KBB a few months ago was $5,200, and that's with just under 50k miles. My daughter drives a 2000 Toyota Camry, lower end model with over 100k miles it's value today is $5,100. Yes American made auto's don't compare to foreign and is why wage concessions need to be made, so the cost of these disposable cars can come down where they should be for what they are.

We the American consumer have been raked over the coals by the American Auto market long enough. It's gonna get worse before it gets better regardless of helping them or not, it is only a bandaid on a very deep wound! Yes congress wanted them to make wage cuts, and wanted them to commit to them within 1 year, they refused stating they would rather address it when their current contracts run out in 2012!! Really sounds like they are willing to negotiate. Ha! As for GM closing their plants for 4-5 weeks, it's my understanding that many UAW's get as much as 7-9 weeks paid vacation a year, plus 17 paid holidays, I wonder how many in the unemployment lines would jump at a job with those benefits and not bat an eye at cutting the salary for these jobs as well.

We are in for a very long and bumpy ride. Our 401K is now an 01K next quarter we'll owe them $$.

It is my understanding, from hearing it on the news, that Congress wanted the UAW to agree to a salary cut for employees as part of the bail out deal. The catch to me is this: Congress wanted American car makers to get more "in line" with Honda and Toyota salaries. Well, that might sound logical, but my problem with that is that I own a Honda and have for years been a Honda and Toyota fan. However, I also know that both of those makes of vehicle cost more than lets say for example, a Ford. Now my question is "where is that money that is the difference in salaries going?" would appear to me that it would be profits for foreign car makers. I am not a fan of the bailouts; but in all fairness, I would just as soon see American auto workers get the salary as I would foreign auto companies getting bigger profits. I'd like someone to come along and bail me out and pay off my mortgage! I have also heard in the news that most of the banks that received money are not "trickling" it down to the consumers -- and like mg62 mentioned, the layoffs are still going to come, bailout or not, which poses another question - why worry about making more vehicles that people can't afford to buy anyway? The whole economy thing is so whacked up, I wonder if anyone will be able to fix it. I know I'm gonna' be buying some veggie seeds for a garden this Spring...it is going to get worse before it gets better!

It is impossible to fix a spending problem with more spending.

This is madness.

And we're giving taxpayer funded bail out $$ to businesses who don't need it!!

IBERIABANK is apparently requesting $90 million in federal bailout money, and they are getting it !! BUT.... this bank is not in trouble. Bank officials say they are having no financial stress, The bank avoided the whole mortgage mess, and, today, is in great financial shape.

They are using the 90 million in bailout money to grow their business by buying other smaller banks.

More on this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/03/campbell.brown.bailout/index.html#cnnSTCText

I think we have set a horrible precedent by giving money to private business with no strings attached. I don't want to see anyone lose their jobs because any of the big 3 fail, but if we give them money so that they can keep operating "business as usual," we are just throwing good money after bad. The big 3 have financial problems that began well before the current economic turndown, but after the financial institution bailouts, the lightbulb came on in their head that they too could receive a free influx of cash (to send to Brazil, it would seem from the referenced article).

Since Bank of American just laid off 35,000 people AFTER receiving their bail-out money, there is no guarantee that the layoffs will not come anyway in the car industry. GM closing the plants until February was not just some instant last-ditch plan that came out after the Senate failed to pass the bailout Thursday night--you know full well they intended to do it anyway. After all, the current news articles all say that the Treasury Dept. plans to bail out the industry whether Congress passes it or not.