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[RJ749]

It's in the way you dress. The way you boogie down. The way you sign your unemployment check. You're a man who likes to do things your own way. And on those special odd-numbered Saturdays when driving is permitted, you want it in your car. It's that special feeling of a zero-emissions wind at your back and a road ahead meandering with possibilities. The kind of feeling you get behind the wheel of the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition from Congressional Motors.

 All new for 2012, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the mandatory American car so advanced it took $100 billion and an entire Congress to design it. We started with same reliable 7-way hybrid ethanol-biodeisel-electric-clean coal-wind-solar-pedal power plant behind the base model Pelosi, but packed it with extra oomph and the sassy styling pizazz that tells the world that 1974 Detroit is back again -- with a vengeance.

We've subsidized the features you want and taxed away the rest. With its advanced Al Gore-designed V-3 under the hood pumping out 22.5 thumping, carbon-neutral ponies of Detroit muscle, you'll never be late for the Disco or the Day Labor Shelter. Engage the pedal drive or strap on the optional jumbo mizzenmast, and the GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition easily exceeds 2016 CAFE mileage standards. At an estimated 268 MPG, that's a savings of nearly $1800 per week in fuel cost over the 2011 Pelosi.

 Even with increased performance we didn't skimp on safety. With 11-point passenger racing harnesses, 15-way airbags, and mandatory hockey helmet, you'll have the security knowing that you could survive a 45 MPH collision even if the GTxi SS/Rt were capable of that kind of illegal speed.

 But the changes don't stop there. Sporty mag-style hubcaps and an all-new aggressive wedge shape designed by CM's Chief Stylist Ted Kennedy slices through the wind like an omnibus spending bill. It even features an airtight undercarriage to keep you and a passenger afloat up to 15 minutes -- even in the choppy waters of a Cape Cod inlet. Available a rainbow of color choices to match any wardrobe, from Harvest Avocado to French Mustard.

Inside, a luxurious all-velour interior designed by Barney Frank features thoughtful appointments like an in-dash condom dispenser. A special high capacity hatchback holds up to 300 aluminum cans, meaning fewer trips to the redemption center. And the standard 3 speaker Fairness ActoPhonic FM low-band sound system means you'll never miss a segment of NPR again.

 Best of all, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt is made right here in the U.S.A. by fully card-checked unionized workers and Detroit 's famous visionary jet-set managers. Even if you don't own one, you can enjoy the patriotic satisfaction that you're supporting the high wages, good benefits, and generous political donations that are once again making the American car industry the envy of the world.

But why not buy one anyway? With an MSRP starting at only $629,999.99, it's affordable too. Don't forget to ask about dealer incentives, rebates, tax credits, and wealth redistribution plans for customers from dozens of qualifying special interest groups. Plus easy-pay financing programs from Fannie Mae.

So take the bus to your local CM dealer today and find out why the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the only car endorsed by President Barack Obama. One test drive will convince you that you'd choose it over the import brands. Even if they were still legal.

[iski]

 

Excellent!

This one is worth spending some of those carbon credits that the politically correct green commuter so desperately hordes in the pocket of their hand woven by the commune hemp shirt.  Of course they expect to get the model with the optional pedal safety clip feature.

[Jock]

But why not buy one anyway? With an MSRP starting at only $629,999.99, it's affordable too. Don't forget to ask about dealer incentives, rebates, tax credits, and wealth redistribution plans for customers from dozens of qualifying special interest groups. Plus easy-pay financing programs from Fannie Mae.

 

 

[Jbbrown73]

 

[SPIDERMAN]

Somewhat on topic I s'pose. Beagle and I stopped at the local Ford dealer this morning. 2009 F-150 Crew Cab models fully loaded with 22" chrome wheels for $22k That's a $10k discount and a couple on the lot were almost $12k off.

B B 

[RJ749]

Somewhat on topic I s'pose. Beagle and I stopped at the local Ford dealer this morning. 2009 F-150 Crew Cab models fully loaded with 22" chrome wheels for $22k That's a $10k discount and a couple on the lot were almost $12k off.

B B 

There you go B B, if more folks would take advatage of the deep discounts that can comfortably afford them, we might get a jump start to the sales.

There's no good answer but now the Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, BMW, MB guiys are all in the dumper along with everyone else, no solution beyond working our colective way out of it.

You guys in California know how hard your State budget has been hit with the lack of car sales to collect sales tax.  If it continues the way it is it will only get much worse.

NADA has figures that show many cities rely on the local auto dealer sales for nearly 40% of the tax revenue generated annually from car sales.  Not sure that could go on too long before the cuts the cities and States will need to make will look insurmountable.

[grc]

Somewhat on topic I s'pose. Beagle and I stopped at the local Ford dealer this morning. 2009 F-150 Crew Cab models fully loaded with 22" chrome wheels for $22k That's a $10k discount and a couple on the lot were almost $12k off.

B B 

This is the best of times for folks who need a new truck.  I can't remember ever seeing discounts as deep as those currently available, even back in the last major recession in the early 80's.  There are plenty of excellent deals on cars as well.

Jerry

PS, the Pelosimobile is funny stuff on the surface, but the pending demise of the American auto companies is no laughing matter.  If GM is allowed to fail, you will see a rapid snowball effect that will sweep up the other companies as well as the suppliers and dealers.  We are talking millions of jobs and billions in tax revenues disappearing in a very short period of time.  Government at all levels will lose major amounts of revenue while having to provide services for those thrown out on the street. Welcome to the Great Depression, Part Deux.  In the meantime, the crooked bastards on Wall Street and Capital Hill who brought this economy to it's knee's keep tossing around hundreds of billions of our money among themselves, with no accountability whatsoever.  Does anyone else see something rotten here, or am I totally out of touch?

[RJ749]

This is the best of times for folks who need a new truck.  I can't remember ever seeing discounts as deep as those currently available, even back in the last major recession in the early 80's.  There are plenty of excellent deals on cars as well.

Jerry

PS, the Pelosimobile is funny stuff on the surface, but the pending demise of the American auto companies is no laughing matter.  If GM is allowed to fail, you will see a rapid snowball effect that will sweep up the other companies as well as the suppliers and dealers.  We are talking millions of jobs and billions in tax revenues disappearing in a very short period of time.  Government at all levels will lose major amounts of revenue while having to provide services for those thrown out on the street. Welcome to the Great Depression, Part Deux.  In the meantime, the crooked bastards on Wall Street and Capital Hill who brought this economy to it's knee's keep tossing around hundreds of billions of our money among themselves, with no accountability whatsoever.  Does anyone else see something rotten here, or am I totally out of touch?

You got it Jerry, not to mention the fact that I was at $4.00 a gallon for regular less than two months ago and now it's $1.80, how the hell is that possible if the high end wasn't being manipulated?

[RJ749]

Since the thread has morphed a bit  (thanks B B)

Today from the Detroit Free Press:

 Editorial: Invest in America
A Special Free Press Editorial

We have chronicled the U.S. auto industry since its birth, as Detroit became the world's Motor City, as cars and trucks changed the American culture and landscape, as assembly line jobs gave rise to the American middle class. Our journalists have reported the automakers' triumphs and exposed their troubles. We know this industry better than anyone. We also know that while a newspaper needs to inform, there are times when a newspaper needs to speak up for what's right. We know what automakers and autoworkers mean to this nation. We know what will happen if one of the auto companies is allowed to collapse. We know because this industry has been our story since it started. And we know that America needs this story to continue.

The loss of jobs, the devastated retirements, the massive loss of health care coverage, the sharp drop in local tax revenues, the closings of supplier and ancillary businesses — all would be calamitous in the best of times. More than 3 million jobs are at stake in the industry. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are threaded in the fabric of businesses in every state across America. A failure of one or more of the automakers would deepen the country's worst recession in 27 years, and it could take decades to rebuild the nation's industrial base, which will atrophy like an unused limb without the muscle-flexing of Detroit's automakers. Remember, too, that Detroit helped rescue America as the Arsenal of Democracy in World War II and, through GM's no-interest loans, helped jump-start the battered economy after 9/11. Now, when our automakers and autoworkers need a hand up, will America really turn its back? The Detroit automakers are hemorrhaging cash to stay in business. Two of them are nearly drained, and the third is getting by on a transfusion. They can get well. They have shown how. But first they have to survive. And their survival is in America's best interests. You can help them. And if you don't, make no mistake: There will be bleeding throughout the land.
Source:  Detroit Free Press

 

[RJ749]

With a follow up regarding Wall Street:

Help the Detroit 3 for the Sake of Banks

WASHINGTON -- A new and potentially powerful argument for rescuing America's automakers emerged Thursday on Capitol Hill: Let them fail, and the financial markets bailed out to the tune of $700 billion could be severely wounded. Why? Detroit's automakers -- General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC -- and their suppliers have about $1 trillion worth of exposure in the financial markets by some estimates, and their collapse would send shock waves through the investment community. Investment firm J.P. Morgan said this month that GM, Ford and their financing arms account for up to 10% of the junk bond market -- investments that could be worth nothing should the companies fail. GM reported that the Detroit Three automakers account for about $700 billion of outstanding debt.
Source:  Detroit Free Press

[SPIDERMAN]

There you go B B, if more folks would take advatage of the deep discounts that can comfortably afford them, we might get a jump start to the sales.

There's no good answer but now the Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, BMW, MB guiys are all in the dumper along with everyone else, no solution beyond working our colective way out of it.

You guys in California know how hard your State budget has been hit with the lack of car sales to collect sales tax.  If it continues the way it is it will only get much worse.

NADA has figures that show many cities rely on the local auto dealer sales for nearly 40% of the tax revenue generated annually from car sales.  Not sure that could go on too long before the cuts the cities and States will need to make will look insurmountable.

Roger
        Beagle took his wife's 97 Explorer to his mechanic and told him to go over it with a fine tooth comb and an eye toward getting a couple more years out of it. Aprx $500 later, he's got the Explorer back in the driveway with a solid recommendation from his mechanic that it's got two years and then some of use left in it. I've been driving a 93 Explorer with 155,000 miles on it myself lately. The girls have the new cars and Daddy (who pays the bills) has the oldest one in our fleet of 5. Of course the Caddy Deville (my personal favorite) is sitting in a garage in Maine. OK, I'm meandering here, but my point is and Beagle and I have dicsussed this at great length. Right now with the economy the way it is, he and I and a lot of other people are basing buying decisions not on WANT, but on NEED. Sure Beags would love to have one of those deeply discounted 09 F-150 Crewcabs. Does he need it ? Obviously not, no more than I do. In a falling economy, a wise consumer bases buying decisions purely on need. Nothing a retailer can do will entice folks to spend money when they have zero confidence in the economy. Also, worth a mention is what happened with the big banks this week. After you and me and Beags and every taxpayer in the USA foot the bill to the tune of $250,000,000,000 to shore up the banking system, rather than put that money out on the street to revive the economy as Congress intended, the banks not only failed to loan it out, but actually cut 50% of their credit lines. In case anybody missed it, beginning on Monday of this week, something like 3.5 TRILLION dollars in credit was either cancelled outright or reduced. The very thing the government was trying to avert happened. So what I have to say to the Big Three is this FILE FOR CHAPTER 11, renegotiate your contracts with the UAW, stop paying high school grads $80-100K a year to turn nuts and bolts, stop providing insane pensions to these same workers, start collecting some co-pay on insurance premoums for these workers, get rid of the ivory towers (have you see GM's world headquarters ?) chitcan the corporate jets, executive dining rooms, golden parachutes. In short, Go Lean or Die, but don't ask me the taxpayer for a penny because you (Corporate America) have proven that you will lie, lie, lie and cheat the taxpayer and the public every chance you get to line your own pockets.

B B

[RJ749]

I hear you, but unfortunately, the US economy isn't built of saving it is built on buying and selling.

Since most all of us agree to tighten our belts and not buy, we have no where to go but down deeper before the "true" bottom is reached and we work our way out of it.

This is going to get ugly.

I canx my SERG and within the week will most likely cut personnel and more of our budget to avoid going down.  We'll be contributing much less to the community and its commerce which will simply add to the spiral. 

As to the cutting of credit, I hosed those guys and pulled out my entire credit line about a month ago just beating the shrikage of credit lines.  Damn glad I did too as it most likely will be needed to hang on.

[RJ749]

Study: Autos Bankruptcy would be 'Catastrophic' to U.S.
A bankruptcy filing by two of the Detroit Three would cost taxpayers more than four times what they would pay if Congress was to give them a $30 billion bridge loan, according to a report released by Anderson Economic Group and BBK, an international business advisory firm. The study found the job loss would reverberate through the national economy, causing damage that would be "unequivocally much higher than the losses from company restructuring with the help of federal bridge loans," the study concluded. The number crunching calculated that the bankruptcy of two automakers (assuming they would go into Chapter 11 and then be liquidated in Chapter 7) would cost taxpayers $65.9 billion over two years. That includes: $19.8 billion in lost federal income tax; $20.5 billion in lost social security tax; $5.1 billion in lost state income tax; $2.4 billion in lost state sales tax; $3.6 billion in lost property tax; $800 million in state unemployment tax; $8.3 billion in benefits paid out from the unemployment insurance fund; and $5.4 billion in underfunded pensions. That total compares with a $16.4 billion cost to taxpayers if the government provides a $30 billion loan, with half of that amount paid back. According to a Detroit News story, if General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC were to go bankrupt, as they have claimed is likely without an emergency loan, the study estimated more than 1.8 million jobs would be eliminated, as well as corresponding losses in tax revenue.

[iski]

One reason the public is against the auto bailout is discrimination.

A business with a few employees, or a few hundred employees, or even a few thousand employees also pays taxes on all these same levels of course in a lesser amount.  But that lesser amount is not considered vs a potential cost of government bailout & they are allowed to go into Chapter 7.

The public sees the unfairness of this since big businesses get special privileges (even considering this bail out is not done for business going under with 250 employees for example) & also the big businesses & unions pay BIG campaign $$ contributions. Not exactly a coincidence......

[RJ749]

One reason the public is against the auto bailout is discrimination.

A business with a few employees, or a few hundred employees, or even a few thousand employees also pays taxes on all these same levels of course in a lesser amount.  But that lesser amount is not considered vs a potential cost of government bailout & they are allowed to go into Chapter 7.

The public sees the unfairness of this since big businesses get special privileges (even considering this bail out is not done for business going under with 250 employees for example) & also the big businesses & unions pay BIG campaign $$ contributions. Not exactly a coincidence......

If in fact there is any validaty to the fact this is a "loan" and not simply giving them money, I as a small businessman do have the ability to receive a loan through the SBA which may be pointed out is still in the business of supporting small business that presents a viable business plan to them.  My banker in fact is promoting these loans currently as the SBA is on a mini campaign to remind businesses they are still here even in these trying times.

No question about the Unions, big business and political contributions etc. however and no I am sure it isn't coinkadink