A week ago, I Blogged about Chrysler ending its leasing operations, and suggested that GM and Ford were close to the same decision. All this due in major part to the declining residual value of the trucks on lease.
GM announced a major hit in the last quarter with the loss of over $15 billion. It is very near the precipice, in my opinion, where it will need to actively consider bankruptcy. It has a market value today that is a mere shadow of what it was just a year or two ago.
And now, foreign auto makers are facing similar pressures although certainly not yet to the degree that U.S. auto manufacturers are confronting. BMW announced that it will raise prices and reduce production to stave off the problems faced by others. Nissan has begun to show signs of problems.
Our worldwide vehicle companies are in the throes of a major set of problems that could very likely result in fire sales or outright closures of some old-line companies.
A significant part of these problems can be traced back to fuel prices that have impacted our economy and those of other countries around the world. The costs of fuel have driven down auto and truck sales. This drain on spendable dollars has also taken a huge toll on the rest of our economy.
And, against that backdrop, what has Congress done about these problems? Through the stalling tactics employed by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, NOTHING has been accomplished. They continue to say NO to oil, NO to nuclear, NO to coal. They feel that we need to suffer to the point that we'll roll over and let them take us where they have intended to take us for years.
We are facing some of the most serious economic issues of several generations and our government thinks this is the 'medicine' we need to get our heads more properly attuned to their 'vision' of what the U.S. and the world needs to look like in the coming half-century.
If there is any 'good news' coming from Washington, it is the fact that the law-makers have gone on their August 'vacation'. The bad news is that our government will remain paralyzed until after the new government is sworn in in 2009.
We cannot afford to simply sit back and watch this mess play out. We need to drill here and drill now! That signal will further depress the price of crude oil on the world market and begin the process of our economic recovery in a big, big way! As a pundit said in the last day or two, it is really hard to install a wind generator on your personal vehicle. It is really hard to wean our country from its primary source of vehicle fuel overnight...and it is absolutely a crime to force us into the coming series of bankruptcies to try to prove some point that is unsupported by science.
I cannot fathom what goes on in the minds of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. I cannot believe that normal human beings have the kind of disregard for their brothers and sisters that these two seem to evidence. I know that politics is referred to as a "blood sport", and I don't necessarily mind them spilling their own...
But I really have to draw the line when they metaphorically spill yours and mine and never even blink in the process.
