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Re: Where is it written that any business deserves a bail out? [fintail]

by grbeck on Mon Sep 15 15:46:36 PDT 2008

fintail: If one has any experience in real business and not in a crony capitalist fiefdom in a backwards SW town, they would know Congress has little impact on the "business world" and that two years would not be enough time to create such an impact. Rules and regulations create a huge impact on businesses. The current Congress hasn't been able to do much of anything because every impartial political observer agrees that the leadership has been ineffective, and some of their actions have actually made things worse. Which might be why their approval rating is below President Bush's rating. (For example, their changes to the student loan program have made banks less willing to make these loans, so the availability of student loans has declined. These changes were supposed to help students by reducing the fees that could be charged by banks. Didn't work out that way.) fintail: If you want to see the true evildoers in the business world, look to the neocon supporting banks and brokerage firms, and the neocon federal reserve and similar treasury etc Then go seek some studies in money and finance. The roots of the present crisis stretch back to the 1990s, when groups such as ACORN began pushing charges of "redlining" against minorities. Among those pushing for a loosening of underwriting standards were former Clinton Administration official Deval Patrick, now governor of Massachusetts. Eventually credit standards were loosened across the industry (for credit cards, car loans, etc.), and the Bush Administration joined in the act (the "ownership society"). This kept the economy going in the wake of the dotcom implosion and 9/11, but it would eventually lead to a credit and housing bubble, which is now bursting. Its roots began before the Bush Administration took power. He continued those policies, and in some cases made them worse, but these aren't "neocon" policies, unless ACORN, Deval Patrick and various liberal interest groups are now neocons. fintail: But on the other hand, a bailout of the big 2.5, while not the soundest investment, couldn't be worse than bailing out a bunch of banks and their worthless overpaid irresponsible executive management. There was no "bailout" as most people understand the term. What happened in the case of Bear Stearns is that the federal government assisted in the takeover of the financial institution and its remaining assets by another insitution. Shareholders still lost everything, and current management was shown the door. This is exactly the role envisioned by the federal government when progressives agitated for the formation of the Federal Reserve Board in the early 1900s. They were concerned that, in the Panic of 1907, J.P. Morgan the MAN (not the institution) stepped forward with his own money to prevent a financial collapse. The Federal Reserve Board was designed to eliminate the reliance on one person for financial stability, and do exactly what it has done in the past few weeks. Whether it will work or not is another matter. For the equivalent to happen in the auto industry, the federal government would basically have to take the assets of GM, fire present management, strip the shareholders of everything, and give what is left to another automobile company to run. Given that Ford is only marginally healthier than GM, and the condition of Chrysler is a mystery (although sales are awful), exactly WHICH domestic company would run GM is a very big question. The government would probably be better off giving GM to Toyota to run, but that would cause a political uproar.

Re: 2009 Jetta TDI [nippononly]

by gregg_vw on Wed Sep 10 06:13:38 PDT 2008

I don't know about that long ago, except my 76 Rabbit was a reliable car, and I had it longer than any of my 28 vehicles over the years. My sister's Rabbit diesel, an 81 I believe, is still going strong (well, ok, diesel-weak, as they were back then). The absolute worst cars I had were GM products, though I recognize they have improved in recent years. VW is not real popular in this country, but they are the third largest auto company in the world, and projected to be bigger than GM. They have not sold here like they do in Europe, China, and South America, due much more to product mix more than reputation. While everyone else was selling trucks and SUVs like hotcakes, VW did not offer much of that product mix until very recently. Consequently, their sales have not deteriorated as much as companies (even Toyota) which developed a reliance on gas hogs. VW was the first to put a high quality interior with great tactile feel and damped operation of handles and hinges on their least expeneive products. A 99 new Golf had way more content and equipment than its competition. Perhaps that emphasis took precedence over simple and reliable, I don't know. As I have said, my VW ownership experience has been good. That said, I have had some very reliable Fords too, and I'd love a shot at the new Fiesta diesel just being introduced in Europe. And the range of Volvo diesels planned as well. I do see why manufacturers are reluctant to bring their wildly successful clean diesels here: most Americans don't want them and this discussion tends to back that up.

US Ethanol mandate trumped by demand

by 62vetteefp on Thu Aug 07 16:10:01 PDT 2008

Looks like supply and demand is working The Environmental Protection Agency rejected on Thursday a request to cut the quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, for the time being, that the goal of reducing the nation’s reliance on oil trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn. The E.P.A. administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, said that the mandate was “strengthening our nation’s energy security and supporting American farming communities,” and that it was not causing “severe harm to the economy or the environment.” The effect of the decision on fuel and food markets is hard to determine. Recently, high energy prices have led to even more ethanol production than the quota required. On the other hand, rising corn prices made some ethanol operations unprofitable, especially as oil prices started to fall. Companies that use corn to fatten livestock and poultry, along with others in the food business, had called for lifting the requirements, saying that their costs were rising as millions of pounds of corn were diverted from feeding livestock to fueling cars. Farmers argued that the jump in corn prices was driven not so much by the demand for ethanol as by growing demand for grain-fed meat around the world, and their own higher costs for diesel fuel.

Re: Board still backs Wagoner [cooterbfd]

by dtownfb on Wed Aug 06 09:45:25 PDT 2008

Good move. I don't think he is the blame for GM troubles and they do have a solid plan to right the ship. GM got caught like everyone else. It's had a major impact on them because of the size of the company and their reliance on pickups and SUVs. As long as the cash lasts; investors can deal with another year of bad news; and they can continue to make the changes to operate at 18-20% market share, GM will be fine. They still have some tough decisions to be made.

Re: Someone needs to let the North Pole know [gagrice]

by vchiu on Thu Jul 10 08:36:27 PDT 2008

>This is a very speculative statement I understand from you position that you are convinced GW/CC is either not a big deal or not man induced. It seems there is a consensus though that human activities do have a strong influence on climate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change#Human_influences_on_climate_change It could be an endless debate because maybe you will require even more drastic climate changes for you to be convinced. (the disappearance of North pole ice cap is the phenomenon who got me understand) Time will tell anyway. > None of the countries that signed onto the original Kyoto have reached the goals set out in that treaty. If they signed, it means they recognized the issue and the need to tackle it. I heard that recently G.W Bush was open to the idea of measured GHG emissions objectives. >The countries that will be contributing the most in the near future, China and India are not going to be tied to any restraints that slow economic growth. Clean / oil less technologies are a factor of growth. China have understand that and is building Photovoltaics production facilities at brisk pace. China has already a wide offer on electric cars. Reliance on oil is restraining economic growth. Clean technologies are an incredible opportunity for the US. All now is in the will to grab it. >The USA is buried in debt trying to be the World policeman and cannot afford to finance these wild programs of cutting GHG. 1) it is all about priorities. Most of the money burnt is in Iraq. Financing of this should have been given to private venture only and not the taxpayer's money. What will be left of all the money flared ? 2) All the programmes I proposed are 100% investment and no spending. As a result, we should get measurable assets under the form of infrastructures or key technical advance. We will get measurable improvements in life quality and transport speeds while saving money. > Most alternatives to our energy problems, that may cut GHG, will add to our trade deficit. Isn't oil one of the largest source of trade deficit ? how lowering oil consumption (hence imports) is going to increase trade deficit? Heavily investing in clean technologies in the US means developing domestic clean technologies. These are tomorrow's jobs. You prefer to abandon such jobs to China ? >Can high speed trains compete with air travel for distances up to 500 miles or more? it is considered that below 2 hours of train journey, air travel will disappear (this happened when Paris to Lyon TGV was opened in 1981 in just 2 hours. Up to 3 hours, train remain competitive and will grab up to 75% marketshare depending on tarrifs (Paris to Strasbourg, Paris to Marseille) Over 3 hours, plane is increasingly taking advantage, taking the majority above 4 or 5 hours journey. the 3 hour -journey time is a reference, because when taking the plane and unless departure and destination being close to airports, we generally add 2-3 hours for check-in, security, luggage pick-up, waiting, transit from and to airport on top of actual flying duration. with new generation high speed trains with a cruise speed of 225mph (360 km/h) I see a real case for an atlantic line from Portland to Miami http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:High-Speed_Rail_Corridor_Designations.png While we would not expect many people going end to end, there is enough population to keep this line busy. A link between the NY area and the great lakes would make sense too. A california high speed train has been in discussion for so long to the point it is ridiculous. There are enough key cities and population to grant a heavy load on this line. High speed train (HST) are all electrics so no emission (unless factoring the power plants producing electricity) Steel on steel rolling means very little friction thus little lost power in comparison to any ground transport HST success rely on the ability to offer competitive journey times in regard to air travel, but much more comfort and practical aspects. a Railway station is easy to integrate in a built-up environment. such can't be said for an airport. In relation to cars, HST boast much much higher average speeds and much more safety against accidents. We can do other activities while on the train (reading, eating, playing). Many people do the same behind the wheel and no wonder there are so many deaths on the roads.

Re: 2009 Toyota Corolla: Does TPMS system self-reprogram? [jrct9454]

by busiris on Wed Jul 09 18:42:07 PDT 2008

I don't know the answer, but I have two thoughts: -It's highly unlikely that the system will "reprogram itself" Well, that's exactly what it does when you depress the reset button. The answer to your question is pretty easy. If you want the sensor feature to work, have them installed on the 2nd set of wheels with the snow tires. On more expensive cars, the TPS sensors have multi feature capability are are mounded in the center of the wheel and secured by a metal (steel) band. On less expensive cars, the sensors are part of the valve stem assembly, and much less expensive, simply because they are cheaper to manufacture. Once the 2nd wheel set is installed on the car, you should be able to hit the reset button, drive a few miles, and the wheel sensors should synch-up with the monitoring system. Remember, these systems are required by law, and since all the manufacturers want to keep cost as low as possible, its highly unlikely that they would install "serialized" sensors that were unique to each individual. But, just to be on the safe side, call your local Goodyear tire dealer and ask them...If its a reputable dealership, they should have the definitive answer. One last thought...I can tell you from personal experience that total reliance on a TPS warning system is foolish...periodically check pressures with a quality tire guage, at a minimum each time the seasons change. Let us know what you decide...Good Luck!