Unions and Lobbies and Bailouts Oh My!

Fox News reported last night that GM paid lobbyists $2.8 million since the first of 2009.



This is the same General Motors that has received BILLONS of bailout dollars. Those dollars were supposed to help the automaker stay in business. Help them make payrolls and pay the light bills. Instead, it seems a fairly good chunk of it went to ensure there would be more coming their way.



It leaves no wonder that they got into this shape in the first place.



This is just me, personally, but using "free money" in this manner doesn't seem like the basis for sound business decisions. And on the surface, publicly, they want to fuss about all the strings attached to government aid. But they had no problem spending it.



There are lots of factors involved in this story, as there are in any story. One facet of all of this is the United Auto Workers Union. I feel certain that when unions were first being formed decades ago they did serve a very valid purpose. They kept business owners from taking advantage of immigrant work forces and ensured the workers had safe, fair working conditions.



I'm not entirely convinced they serve the same purpose now. Seems to me they are intent on almost the opposite now. Several industries closed up around here just before we moved into town. The impetus, from what I heard, was that the unions were just making so many unreasonable demands that the corporate offices just shut down the plants.



Maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't having a less than perfect job beat having no job?



So, we've got the UAW making demands on GM to ensure the workers futures (although just having a job does not seem to be adequate) and GM paying lobbyists to make sure they get more money but preferably without a lot of strings - especially since those strings won't cover what the UAW wants. And the lobbyist I'm guessing are having a heyday at spending the government's money to get more of government's money.



Meanwhile, the rest of the country is trying to figure out how they are going to eat next week without a job since they don't have a car that runs or money to put gas in it. $2.8 million dollars in those people's pockets might actually go somewhere productive. I think I could make better business decisions than some of the current "experts" running that show.



No, Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore, and you should definitely ignore the man behind the curtain (no, that was not a slap at the President - I mean all the people behind this current fiasco in the auto industry).



I know that the power of the people is in the hands of the purchaser. I can choose to not buy a GM car. I can choose to not buy American. I have the power to determine where my money is spent. And it is through that power that I can make my voice heard.



Hey Detroit - Can you hear me now?