Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Firing Wagoner sets the precedent that any boss can be fired for any reason, if the government has its tentacles inserted somewhere in the organization. (As has been the effect of school funding for years.).
Having suddenly felt the need to punish perceived irresponsible leadership in failing organizations, I look forward to the day when our omniscient President decides to roll the skulls of those in charge of the Medicare and Social Security programs. Perhaps the Post Office and AMTRACK need the same treatment. The teachers unions never seem to be able to make ends meet with the largesse extracted from taxpayers, so maybe they need to seek new opportunities.
In fact, I would like to see most Congresscritters thrown into unemployment. Murtha, Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, Reid and Schumer would be exemplary choices for career changes. Specter, Snow & Collins not far behind. Of course, it may be the job for the voters rather than the miracle worker to fire these SOBs, but let him give it a try since he is assuming omnipotent powers to himself.
Obama now owns Government Motors, so let’s see how he does with it. Eventually he will run out of others on whom he can blame the inevitable failure.
Strange…We are headed rapidly towards a multipolar power struggle around the world, with upstart nations demanding the ability it incinerate other nations (and their “type” of people) in the name of something they demand be named a religion, yet…no one dares use the word “CRUSADE!”
But…back on point, we can find the time to diddle the staffing of a private firm from the White House.
We are lost. The really mean people (ironic, isn’t it…ask Michelle) have taken over and “unity” was a mere hopiate for the masses, to grab the votes and then the power to control:
America, “under new management” is now the home of the governmentally beholden and land of the you’ll do as The One says.
Maybe we can name him the “Job Nazi:” “NO JOB FOR YOU!”
For the first time in my life, I’m completely revolted with the Unconstitutional behavior of the Commander-in-Chief, and I fear it will only get worse from here.
I agree with what John mentioned about government’s tentacles. The bottom line is, I feel the government has no right to dictate what and how a company does business, and it cannot influence who gets fired and for what.
However…. I also think that they legally can’t demand Wagoner be dismissed, but when the company comes to the government asking for money, who do you think is sitting in the power position? The government is. Being that as it may, the government is now in the position to stipulate the terms with which the money is dispersed and that is where they can wield the power.
The key is that if you are self sustaining, then you can dictate the terms. GM was not.
$20 million, huh? That’s before the jackals pass some “non-targeted” legislation to magically zap 90% of that into their own pockets. I mean into the US Treasury.
When billions of taxpayers dollars are now suddenly at risk at GM, then indeed the taxpayers are now stakeholders! Thus those majority taxpayers’ elected President becomes the de facto, GM Chairman of the Board – with hire and fire authority!
Questions?
And about time too. Where has the GM Board been in the past few decades? Finally they have someone to tell them to “fish or cut bait!” Or, be gone!
Thankfully, Obama is doing the exact opposite of what Hoover did in similar circumstance.
Only one GM product has been within the top 10 of US auto sales for years, and only 1 in 10 are in the top ten in reliability in years. IOW, 90% of foreign automakers beat the crap out of GM. Union’s fault?
Even if you hate unions, this is not the workers’ or the union’s fault. Our workers are the most productive in the world. It is the fault of those who make millions without oversight or consequence, and yet make incredibly stupid business and marketing decisions, but are still paid millions, year after year, after year!
Hate unions all you want. But the evidence and record surely points elsewhere.
A too cozy relationship with Big Business of past administrations along with the exploding influence of lobbyists in recent years has lead to a plutocracy that pads special interests, has undermined our Democracy, and has significantly contributed to our current, near-depression.
Furthermore, the unions have made concession after concession from their original contract. Funny you don’t see any concessions from the $20 million (that would feed a lot of pink-slipped employees) retirement package from the failed CEO, while many of his men and women are on the street, and are on the dole without health coverage. This union accusation for GM’s troubles is extremely misplaced and repulsive to me.
Ship’s captains used to go down with the ship, while crew and others survived.
Now it is the opposite. The ship’s captain collects $20 million while his crew struggles to survive on the street.
Indeed many Joe-the-auto workers because of poor management are now out of a job; they lose their house, get divorced, maybe even steal bread to eat, even though they previously gave up multiple concessions while maintaining the world’s highest production numbers… over the past few years, while the exec’s still count their millions in reward for their failures.
Sadly, we seem to have a long ways to go before the public understands the massive dilemma we are in, how and why we got here over time, and the extraordinary and painful measures needed to correct our downward spiral.
The oft-spoken old bromides do not apply (but then they never did, did they?).
Very convenient, Flit. Because the Federal Govenrment has it’s fingers into running the private sector, it’s now a relative “good,” because the tax payers are at risk. Never was the business of the Federal offices in the first place, except they said so. Where in The Constitution does is that power enumerated? It’s not. The document specifically state what the Government can do. Where is it they are authorized to purchase private assets, then to control the human resources?
Oh, I forgot. FDR prolonged the Depression in order to get the “proper” degree of control, so as to set a precedent to be able to do this. My bad.
I guess we should sit down and shut up now, the Unions want more.
Oh, and how ’bout those “concessions” the future taxpayers, who can’t even vote, yet, nor have a union shop to get their wants across in, “gave” so the Unions could keep theirs?
So much for us being in it together. Some are more equal than others, and yes, those decisions are in the future, so we can apply the Fliterman Theory of Relativity to them when the problem is staring us in the face. Yeah, don’t bug me, American Idol is coming on….
“…has undermined our Democracy…”
Flit, ever see the word “democracy” in our Declaration or our Constitution, or any of the state’s Constitutions? No? That’s because our Founders were adamant that we not have a democracy, but a Republic of LAWS. Look it up.
This type of thing happens all the time when private investors come in with new capital for a failing company. It’s perfectly reasonable and commonplace that new creditors (taxpayers via the president’s administration in this case) demand management changes when providing financing to companies in distress.
To put it in simple numbers: GM has received $13.4 billion in gov’t loans just since December, and it currently has a market capitalization of $1.6 billion. There’s no rational business case for making those loans: this is a plain and simple bailout. I don’t think the taxpayers doing the bailing out would be happy keeping Wagoner in place after he and his mentors ran the company into the ground over the last 20 years or so.
To be fair, I think the management of GM acted in a rational (if cynical) way. They knew the gov’t would bail out the company if something like this crisis happened, so they made hugely risky and plainly foolhardy decisions like shifting production to monstrosities like Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, and the like. If oil had stayed at $20/barrel in perpetuity, those decisions would have looked like genius and GM would still be worth $50/share (vice $3 now). Unfortunately it didn’t (duh), and the house of cards came tumbling down.
Being fat and happy is great until you have the massive heart attack. Now the US of A is on the hook for the medical bills and a long, long recovery.
Fliterman
While I agree with many of your arguments re: man on the street, my question/issue is the disparity between GM and AIG/Citi/BOA. Why didn’t Obama fire all the heads of the major banks that have taken us for $500 billion +? Their “plan” surely didn’t pass his muster. Maybe because most bank employees are non-union and thus not beholden to O? One of my employees has several family members in Michigan that are UAW. His lament is where are they gonna find an $80,000 yr job with just a HS degree? Gosh, where indeed. This country has a long memory and disparities like this tend to be sharpened into a very pointy spear to be thrust into the side of the next golden ox.
Wonder what happens when the Board of Directors gives the newbie a vote of “no confidence”? OTOH, Wagoner now has to decide which failing bank will receive his $20 million parachute. I’d take that problem.
Actually the head of AIG was “fired”. Liddy is not the original CEO.
While this action may be objectionable-I’m hard pressed to understand how its unconsitutional. GM could have passed on the federal money.
Creditors get involved in management shakeups-and have done so before. The difference is now, the Federal government is the creditor.
http://detnews.com/article/20090331/OPINION03/903310369/Commentary++President+effectively+becomes+CEO-in-chief
Fliterman,
Link above found after I posted, but goes along the same lines.
The root of the Big Three’s problems = UAW
“One of my employees has several family members in Michigan that are UAW. His lament is where are they gonna find an $80,000 yr job with just a HS degree? Gosh, where indeed.”
They “negotiated” themselves salaries that bankrupted the company. Sometimes you get what you deserve…
Smithsonian magazine has a story about a researcher who thinks that the more safety backups we have, the more risks we take. He claims drivers got more aggressive when seat belts became the norm.
Along those lines, he claims the Chrysler bailout was the root of the current bailout fiasco. CEOs in Detroit and Wall Street learned there is no risk in failure. They can do what they want and they’ll still walk away in great shape. Failure IS an option, with no consequences for those in charge.
Don’t you gentlemen understand? In the United Socialist States of America, the head of the politburo CAN fire a CEO.
Very roughly this is what happened: Gm and Chrysler said ” the government is giving away money, lets get some!” and immediately leveraged their whole operations for the biggest bailout possible. Obama has just called their bluff. I wonder how long it is going to take for the UAW to realise that he just threw them under the bus.
The proof for me that this is symbolic posturing is that the replacement was not, some outside change agent brought in to shake the tree from top to bottom, but the number two guy already in place. You guys tell me – how much change would come to a poorly commanded unit if the CO was just replaced by the XO?
I agree the Administration has a right to exert a ton of influence on entities taking bailout funds but the method chosen to do so (publicly rather than behind the scenes) would tend to drive down the value of the government’s (ours by the way) investment and remove leverage in critical negotiations.
How much better deal will FIAT be able to drive with Chrysler, for example, knowing that the government has mandated a 30 day timeline or they go under. Seems like a Ace was just handed under the table to the other side of the negotiation by the guy’s who are supposed to be on our side.
The comment that “the Chevy Volt was too expensive” raised my eyebrows as well. The thinking seems to be by the administration that GM is keeping the price of the Volt artificially high. Or that we can look forward to subsidies for Volt producers ala Ethanol Producers – as if that kind of thing works. Oh yeah it did work so well in the USSR…..
The biggest benefit from this is that bankruptcy with its cleansing effect on ill-conceived contracts seems a realistic outcome. And we didn’t do this Billions ago because?
What exactly does the Government standing behind your warranty mean anyway? Is TACOM or DLA going to start managing the Supply Chain in they go under?
Skippy,
The bailout itself is unconstitutional. “Firing” the CEO is just part of the package. Obama is simply digging the hole deeper.
How is it unconstitutional? Show me the Article it falls under. As far as I can tell its perfectly constitutional. It may not be wise ( although there is little alternative), its not unconstitutional-that’s just a right wing meme. Kind of like saying the country is now Socialist in that it would like someone to succeed besides the preferred customers.
Point out the article in the Constitution that gives the Executive Branch this authority, Skippy. If you can’t do that, then there’s no article it falls under and the executive doesn’t have that authority.
That hasn’t stopped the executive or Congress in the past 60 years, but you were the one who asked.
These are the same folks who’ve use Federal law to tell you what light bulbs you can install in your own home. Show me where in the Constitution they are granted that authority.
The same folks who’ve decreed how many gallons that toilet you have may flush. I don’t recall anything in the US Constitution mentioning toilets in particular, let alone how a morning dump affects interstate commerce.
Maybe you can enlighten us as you which article that (heh!) falls under.
– Max
There are even larger implications for society than the rather more “immediate”problems we are commenting on/arguing about here (the “tactical” problem, if you will.) One of the main things that brought peace and stability to our society
was the union contract and the fact that everyone was paid the same –from the most intelligent & motivated to the very least motivated and intelligent via the Union Contract and resultant work rules. People often forget that one of the biggest bones of contention in union work rules is the speed of the assembly/production line which is usually geared to the least capable members if unions get their way–which they usually do in this matter historically, as aceding to Union demands in this matter is management’s way of buying peace and no work stoppages. One of the first things a union newbie finds that is absolutely verbotten on the factory floor is to work faster than the agreed upon production-line pace–and will be severely chastised by his fellow workers if he does so.
This fact resulted in tens of thousands of individuals (read: voters)
being brought up into middle class status (financially-wise, even if “blue-collar”) via the union contract in a way that they never could have achieved on their own depending on their own performance based upon their own intelligence, schooling and motivation/drive. It also made them a comparatively contented, non-revolutionary lot more or less immune to the blandishments of socialism/communism, and provided the basis for societal stability.
Now all of this was only possible because America was operating within a “closed” economic universe–comparatively speaking. From the dawn of the industrial age until the say, late sixties, our only major competitors were the industrial nations of the Western “Civilized” world. For all intents and purposes, everywhere else resided totally outside
this bounded economic/financial universe and might as well have been living in the stone-age insofar as their influence on our economic system was concerned. This fact allowed the unions to set “pattern wage” agreements via collective bargaining across entire industries in the US without affecting the competitive advantage of the industries involved, as most of our main competitors had living standards and economies similar to our own.
Early Post WWII years saw an acceleration of our economy due to the obvious fact our major competitors in the industrialized world–allies and enemies alike–were flat on their backs.
But by the mid-sixties this all began to change. Not shackled by “legacy” systems, many of our competitors modernized entire industries and leap-frogged America in a whole range of areas.
(A classic little-known example is in the wood-veneer industry where German-developed cutting tools that could cut to thicknesses twice as fine as their American competitors have seen almost the entire American industry sell out to their foreign competition as it was too expensive to play catch-up and compete)
Post WWII the “third-world”, invested heavily in education, bringing their populations up to US educational standards–if not surpassing them. This fact, when combined with their traditional low wages and lack of–indeed hostility towards-unions meant that America was now whip-sawed on two fronts by it’s competitors–by the more technologically advanced newly built infrastructure of it’s industrial “Western” competitors and by the low-wage but highly educated third-world work force in all the other nations formerly (from a functional aspect) excluded from the world economic system. And this third-world force was also not saddled with industry-borne health-care costs either, making them even MORE competitive than their low wages alone. Combined with advances in technology which made world-wide instantaneous communication possible classic theories of “comparative advantage” no longer apply (your work force is cheaper than mine, but less well trained, etc.) Instead, the rest of the world now has an ABSOLUTE advantage. Which means that no American worker’s job is safe as long as their is a Bolivian tin-miner left alive willing to double his daily wages assembling Whirlpool washers and dryers for a tenth of the cost of an American worker.
The upshot of all this, is that the very thing that brought/bought social peace and stability in our society–the fact that a great many American’s were paid far more than they were worth via the Union contract–and thus made “middle-class” wages with resultant middle class values and attitudes–is no longer possible.
Now, “multi-tasking” and the modern equivalent of “piece-work” (long abhorred by “progressives” as being exploitative of workers–especially in the garment industry) is the wave of the future, in which the individual is paid for what he, as an individual, brings to the productive table. Sadly, given the state of our educational system and modern work ethics, this is not much. As a result we are seeing the “hour-glass effect” emerge in which the middle class slowly disappears (and societal peace with it) as the upper two thirds of the “middle-class” competes and drifts upwards, while the lower third sinks into the nether regions of the “under-class” as a virtually un-trainable mass unable to compete or be taught new tricks–but who can still vote and agitate.
Brave New World, indeed.
Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or egalitarian method of compensation.
Welcome to the new USSA, United Socialist States of America.
Quartermaster – I agree. The bailout itself was bad, and GM was silly enough to take the bait. I promise you Obama won’t make the unions make much in the way of concessions.
Obama IS simply digging the hole deeper…hopefully states like South Carolina will continue to refuse bailout money. I’m hoping Sanford doesn’t cave when Obama is trying to shove bailout funds down our throat (as we all know, EVERYTHING comes with a price).
Fliterman,
Where to begin? First some background. I have worked in Detroit for the last eighteen years either directly for an auto company or tier 1 suppliers. Luckily for me I am in the IT side of things with a fairly unique skill set and a masters degree. I have work in plants as well as headquarters.
Take your blinders off. This whole fiasco is a result of both management and the unions. It has been building for the last thirty years. The unions ability to coerce ever larger salaries and benefit is one of the many direct causes of this situation. Eighty thousand a year with only a HS diploma. That is not a realistic salary in any other industry. (FYI – it took me 2 degrees and ~10+ years experience to reach that mark.) In the late 1950s Walter Reuther (hardly an anti-union type) made a comment to the president of American Motors which can be paraphrased – “ever increasing wages and benefits is not a sustainable model”. I would look up the quote but don’t have the time currently. The American worker is the most productive in the world. The expectation of ever higher compensation for the same job (or no job – 90% wages and full benefits while laid off) just doesn’t work. The concessions given over the last few years (contributing to health benes, wage tiers for new workers, etc.) are decades to late. The fact that is costs GM, Ford and Chrysler on average $2000 more to build a car than their competitors due to the cost of retiree benefits and higher benes to the actual workers goes a long way to explain the loss of market share over the last number of years.
Now to the management side. GM specifically. Wagner should have been fired years ago. The GM board of directors is a bunch of slappies. GM was late getting into the hybrid market, all but gave up on small to medium cars until very recently and was way too late on making serious efforts to improve design and quality. GM’s stubborn refusal to eliminate some of its car brands has also hurt. It takes roughly 1.5 billion $ to design a car from the ground up. Maintaining so many different brands and models is just as short sighted as paying the guy pushing the broom on the factory floor well over $100k per year.
The quality of the cars GM and Ford now produce equal or surpass (in Fords case) the competition from Toyota etc. You don’t hear about that sort of thing outside of the Detroit metro area because the press doesn’t give it much coverage.
Also, lets not forget the governments role in this. The auto industry is the most over regulated and litigated industry in this country (IMHO). The cafe mpg standards have made vehicles more expensive, reduced consumer choices and cost lives on the highway.
The blame can and should be laid on all sides. GM and Chrysler should have been forced into Chapter 11. Unfortunately, the only entity less qualified than the GM board of directors, to run an auto business is a government made of closet socialists.
Even worse was the plans for GM that the White House released today. Kill the Volt, reduce truck and SUV sales. Hello, how do you increase the profit by decreasing production of the most profitable vehicles, and increasing production of vehicles that people won’t buy? Communist dolts!
Same deal with sinking mega$ into inefficient, non-economically competitive energy sources.
Back to the future. USSR of 1935 here we come!!
(complete with enforcement mechanisms)
Kill the Volt? That’s a shock.
I hate to say it, but that makes sense. According to the car mags, the Volt was to sell for over 30 Grand, and GM was going to take a loss on that. The idea was to get the technology out to see how it actually performed in the real world. Problem is, they had the batteries all stuck in a tunnel where they weren’t going to get much cooling air, so fans were added to cool the batteries…
My prediction was going to be that the Volt was going to drown GM in warranty issues. Dang, there goes my chance to be proven correct.
Not that I am a huge fan of sinking government funding into keeping the Big 3 alive, however I do think the President’s decisions are suspect when it comes to which lines to cut. . . he and his Administration are out selling the anthropomorphic Global Warming propoganda, and the final 648 page draft Global Warming Bill is about to be passed around the hallowed halls in D.C., but he wants to cut an alternative powered vehicle from production? By that rationale the Fed needs to cut its spending on Tesla Motors, and let it sink or swim!
But I suppose it is better to grow more corn, waste more diesel fuel in doing so, and continue growing the fertilizer-fed ‘dead zone’ in the GOMEX, than allow any form of electric vehicle enter the marketplace!
The left’s push on AGW was never about saving the planet. It was what a lot more people are coming to call “Watermelon environmentalism,” as a way of grabbing ever more power over the rest of us. We can leave whenever we want (and take our families and worldly goods) thanks to SUVs – so they ban ‘em as harmful to the nebulous “environment.” We come up with a supposedly clean solution, they trot out safety regs that make it expensive and unprofitable to make them (the heavy metals in batteries and fuel cells, for example). It’s going to get to the point where it’s impossible to get a new vehicle – unless you lick a lot of boot with your liege lord in Washington. At that point though, even the willfully blind tend to notice what’s going on.
No matter what the problem is, the solution is always socialism!
And it’ll work this time because the right people will be in charge!
/sarc
He who pays the piper calls the tune.
I don’t know why we don’t just let GM go bankrupt. That would permit voiding all the union contracts … oh … wait … I see ….
A small car can’t be made profitably in the US by the big 3 because of regulation and union contracts. Toyota and Nissan cars have been growing in size for years because of the first, the big 3 have been losing money on them for both reasons.
I think it was Jefferson who said a population can’t exist in a state of civilization in ignorance. We are running that experiment now, alas. So far, it looks like he was on the button.
I’m still wondering how Obama got to fire the head of GM and there’s not been a hint of disparaging remark outside of the blogosphere. Bush fires a few Attorney’s who, you know, work for him, and it’s a scandal eating up the press for 8 years.
This precedent is not without some use, however. Think about it. Obama’s main goal is universal health care. He now has the leverage to dictate compensation terms. If you receive Federal (ie: taxpayer) funds the Gov’mint can now decide your compensation, if you stay employed, even set specific tax rates in the US tax code for you individually.
Name a single hospital or clinic that doesn’t receive compensation via medicare or medicade?
Starting to see a pattern here?
If this move on GM survives in court forget the auto companies, we’ve just nationalized health care, 16% of the GDP, with one swift stroke. The best way to control costs in health care is to decree compensation levels. It’s also the single best way to eliminate access by reducing supply.
I’m betting they haven’t thought that far ahead.
– Max
Guess again. Nurses salaries are the single biggest hosp. cost. Think they’re not thinking about that? And the savage irony is that the foolish nurses are Obama’s biggest supporters thinking he “cares” about “patient care.” My wife, the conservative Republican Nurse, just shakes her head…she doesn’t even bother to argue the point anymore…”Live and Learn” will unfortunately for the nurses soon apply with a vehgence…
I’m not guessing, I’m making a prediction — they have not thought far enough ahead that slashing salaries and compensation in health care will lead to a reduction in supply.
Right now in South Dakota if you want an abortion you have to travel to Sioux Falls, and one day a week two doctors from Minnesota fly in to do it. No matter your stakes in the abortion argument, this is a case of little supply, and cutting their wages for it isn’t going to help anybody looking for that specific part of “health care.”
Let’s ove on to the other side of this debate:
(Move on! Get it! I crack myself up…)
Los Vegas, it’s been widely reported that OB-GYN’s are turning away customers due to insurance costs. I do not think pre-natal visits are going to suddenly get cheaper or more available (supply side) with government dictating wages.
Then there’s the heart surgeons, brain surgeons, the X-ray techs, folks with very specific training and skills who demand a high price because there are few of them.
When you get an X-ray of your lungs it’s not read by the doctor, it’s sent to a lab where a very well-trained tech looks at it. If it were simply looking for a shadow your own doctor could do that on-site. Instead you get your doctor, a tech, and an X-ray processing business into the mix and three bills to pay.
If you have lung cancer in the early stages, it’s worth it. If not, well, why even have the X-ray?
But instead of you, the patient, deciding this cost-benefit, somebody else gets to. Somebody appointed, not elected. Probably protected by law from mistaken decisions. And you’ll never meet him because he works in a government building in a nameless cubicle.
I’ve long held a fantasy, as I’ve dealt with insurance companies, that one day I could walk into the claims manager office, lock the door behind me, and state neither of us is leaving until this argument is settled.
I may have had a shot with an agent at State Farm. Try it with an agent from TSA. Or the DMV. Heck, try the Post Office.
It’s not about money, really. It’s about accountability.
If you give up personal rights and responsibilities to the government, the only way you’re getting them back later is if you’re willing to fight that government.
It’s a fight we’ll lose if done as individuals
— Max
Don’t worry Max, your main health-care costs for people living where you are are going to be the cost of plane tickets if Obama care is pushed through. That’s because every specialist east of the Mississippi is going to re-locate to the Carrib. and the ones west of the river just over the Mexican border within an hours drive of the check-point. What I want to be is the guy that’s got a strangle-hold on the flood ins franchise for the Carrib., as every island in the region is going to sink from the weight of all the Docs relocating there. Or be the real-estate agent to handle all the sales of parcels for Docs relocating just over the border in a fifty mile deep strip in Mexico from the Gulf to the Pacific. Then after I collect those commissions it’s Bora Bora for me..
Of course my third option is to be the only authorized travel agent selling tickets to India or Thailand for elective surgery. It’s a trickle now, but if Obama’s people have their way? Katy, bar. the.door.
So get on friendly terms with your local travel agent for discount rates and start keeping track of the freq. flier miles…the airline industry is going to be the most important health-care tool in your future…
Max, I’ve got a reply to you on the health-care cost thing, but it’s in moderation hell, just come back later, I guess (sigh)
MAX/ It’s right here under “NO NOTION’ 30 Mar @21.1.1.1.1 Just click on my name here and you’ll go right to it.