The Blame Game

One of the most egregious (there are so few opportunities to use that word, I just had to get it in here) pieces of foolishness I encountered in the public schools was "Let's not cast blame" when things went poorly. How stupid! I suppose it goes along with no accountability, no shame, everybody goes to college, etc. And, at the very least, if nobody gets blamed, what is to prevent letting the same fools make future stupid decisions????

Now the auto bailout has taken on finger-pointing. No doubt there is enough blame to go around for the current mess. (BTW, if the recent spike in gasoline prices was due to world-wide demand increases, how can there be a world-wide crisis in car purchasing???) Yep, the execs at the Big Three have made mistakes. The UAW acted irresponsibly (namely with work rules, jobs bank, etc.). The government (which can't get much, if anything, right) tried to dictate to the auto
industry. (Of course, the arrogant, hypocritical imbeciles will never admit that. See, "no blame" isn't just in the schools.) Yes, fingers should be pointed. People should be held accountable (no, not with multi-million dollar golden parachutes!).

But several things have irked me more than anything. One, it is the arrogance, hypocrisy, and stupidity of our elected and appointed officials. I've ragged on this before, but it needs to be repeated again and again. You see, nobody listens--the same arrogant, hypocritical, stupid people (or others just like them) keep getting elected and re-elected.

Two, I hear and read about the UAW and the money its members earned in wages. (This doesn't excuse the jobs bank and work rules.) "Oh, they make so much, too much...." Blah, Blah, Blah. Well, first, what makes some pencil pusher worth any more than a guy on the line? Filling out forms instead of welding a joint? Second, and more important, I'll bet these critics of UAW wages weren't complaining when UAW members were buying their goods, purchasing their services, were they? I didn't hear any of them say, "Hey, you UAW guys make too much money. Stop frequenting my business/industry?" What do these critics think became of the money? And, those not in the union--do they think their high wages weren't influenced by what the UAW was receiving?

Three, I've learned a lot (but not enough!) about economics. One thing to remember is that it's an inexact science. Bernacke and Paulson are only making reasonable guesses (and, I think, bad ones) as to what to do. How, then, to explain economics scientifically in light of the profitability of, say, "pet rocks?" Think about this when considering the current situation.

Four, where are Sens Levin and Stabenow? Hey, where were they when the likes of Gore (what a hypocritical blowhard; the Nobel committee should be drawn and quartered for giving him--and Yassir, that's my baby, Arafat, Peace Prizes!), Boxer, etc. were dumping, often ignorantly, but with the self-righteous pompousness of zealots (wasn't Hitler a zealot?) all over the auto industry? Why weren't Levin and Stabenow standing up to the zealots? For that matter, where were the Porta-Johns, Conyers and Dingell? Oh, all of our Sens and Cong were working behind the scenes--yeah, right. Oh, Cong McCotter is an exception and look how he's been ostracized. Isn't that odd--stand up for what's right and get ostracized? Is that what we've become? Shame on us.