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March 12, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: You CAN have Heaven on Earth
JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: The march of the Red-Green brigades
March 11, 2010
Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread
JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Turn leftovers into tasty New England hash
Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing
March 10, 2010
Paul Greenberg: Death Checks In
JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE)
Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded
Richard A. Serrano: 'Jihad Jane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.
March 9, 2010
Wesley Pruden: Joe's Israeli adventure
JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me! with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES)
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral
March 8, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Make a fuss about those who cuss?
JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How! with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion
March 5, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: Golden Calf still with us --- except it has multiplied
JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Biden's lost cause
March 4, 2010
Alan M. Dershowitz: How About A Real Campaign Against Abuses?
JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES)
Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative
March 3, 2010
JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES)
The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta : A cowboy's recipes for really good grub
March 2, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Someone's there
Diane Toroian Keaggy : Have we misunderstood Michelangelo?
March 1, 2010
JWisdom.com Whole in One with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute
Feb. 26, 2010
Rabbi Francis Nataf: The Megilla of Spring
JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: When rhetoric rules the roost
Feb. 25, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: When walking away from your mortgage is both economically sound and makes ethical sense
JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES)
Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives
Feb. 24, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: The gift of the ‘prayer bomber’
Steven Emerson: Why Religious Freedom Commission is under attack
Feb. 23, 2010
Dennis Prager: Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No!
JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES)
Anne Applebaum: Prepare for war with Iran --- in case Israel strikes
Feb. 22, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Is it not refreshing Tiger Woods' career has crashed and burned so dramatically?
JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES)
Kelly Brewington: Going smoke-free may raise diabetes risk
Feb. 19, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: Is the Divine beyond us or within us?
JWisdom.com Olympic Faith with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State
Feb. 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Who is Rashad Hussain?
JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES)
Feb. 17, 2010
JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up? with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES)
Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah
Feb. 16, 2010
Anya Martin : Boy's 'cerebral palsy' fixed with diet
JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES)
Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief
Feb. 15, 2010
Herb Geduld: Lincoln and the Jews
JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours? with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES)
Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience

Jewish World Review April 6, 2009 / 12 Nisan 5769

Obama Motors

By Greg Crosby


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | General Motors is doing rather poorly so President Obama steps in and fires the chief executive of that company. The headline on the Drudge Report says it all, "GM now stands for Government Motors." Since when does the federal government have the authority to call the shots in private business? The fact is, sad to say, it has been happening more or less for quite a while. One could probably cite all kinds of examples in our recent history where government agencies have been sticking their bureaucratic noses into private companies. And then there's the argument to be made that whenever a private concern takes public funding, the government has the right to dictate certain terms.


Okay, but this latest "take over" of the auto industry by the feds has pushed the proverbial envelope further than it's ever been pushed before. And now the latest news is that the Obama administration is proposing a fix for General Motors and Chrysler that would divide their "good" and "bad" assets and send the car companies into bankruptcy to purge their biggest problems. As The Wall Street Journal says, "it would represent one of the biggest-ever government incursions into private enterprise."


Far left liberals go ballistic over separation of church and state, ranting and raving how our founding fathers decreed that religion be kept out of the public forum (which is not true, by the way, but that's another column). What is real and more important for our country's well being, however, is the separation that must exist between the public and private sectors. That's what makes us what we are. To be more precise, that's what separates the capitalists from the socialists.


In the good old days, if a company succeeded, it made money and grew. If a company failed, it went bankrupt. Period. A bankrupt company had to dramatically restructure or simply go out of business entirely. That's called free enterprise and it works fine. Usually there are damn good reasons why a company fails. Either customers weren't buying for one reason or another or the company over extended themselves or some other thing, but a company fails for a reason. For the government to step in and save a company that deserves to fail is wrong. Let the company live or die on its own. This might sound hard, but lots of things in life are hard.


Similarly, no one held a gun to my head and forced me to take out a loan to buy a house. That was my choice. If I can't afford to keep my house, that's my problem. I either make the payments or lose the house. That's the way it has always worked. The government should have no role in that, but thanks to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they now do.


And if I take out a loan to buy a car, and for whatever reason I am unable to make the monthly payment, then the loan company takes the car, right? Not anymore. General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have announced incentive plans designed to get car buyers back into dealer showrooms by offering to cover auto payments in case of job loss. That's right - can't make the car payment? No problem, you don't have to. Through April 30, GM will offer to make as many as nine car payments of as much as $500 for car purchasers in the event they are laid off within the first two years of buying the car. Ford's plan will cover up to 12 months' worth of payments in the event of unemployment. The maximum payment it will cover is $700 per month, and it's valid on all purchases up to June 1, 2009.


The announcements came the day after President Obama unveiled his blueprint for restructuring GM and Chrysler, which have to date received $17.4 billion from the U.S. government. He gave GM 60 days to resolve its structural problems and get on track to viability or face bankruptcy, while Chrysler now has 30 days to come to a deal which would allow Italian automaker Fiat to buy Chrysler. Ford has not taken any federal loans and therefore not being overseen by the administration. Just give 'em time.


So who do you think will pay for all these car payments? The car companies don't have any money, so it won't be them. If you said the US taxpayer, go to the head of the class. You got it right! You and I will be making car payments for other people's cars - cars we don't drive. Nice eh?


Oh, this is only the beginning, folks. Welcome to the start up of United States of America Motors. Welcome to European style socialism. Big government getting bigger. You wanted change? You got it, you got it but good. Or to put it in Marxist terms, bye, bye bourgeoisie.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

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© 2008, Greg Crosby

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