U.S. Manufacturing and Competitiveness

In the 1950s General Motors sales exceeded 50% of total auto sales in the United States. Imported cars amounted to only small percentage of that total. By 1992 the Ford Taurus was the best selling car and Honda was on its tail. In 1995 all the American car companies were feeling quite successful despite the growing size of Japanese imports. Today the “Big Three” is on the verge of becoming the “Little Two” as more and more Americans buy cars from foreign manufacturers.

At the same time as cars are coming from foreign manufacturers we have seen appliances, clothing, and almost everything else we buy come from other nations. The manufacturing base of our nation has deteriorated to such an extent that the population of our Midwestern industrial complex has no place to work. This has been the result of big corporations moving their manufacturing to other nations that have lower labor costs. Unfortunately American car manufacturers are not in that category. They are failing due to the second rate quality of their cars. Quality of products has been a big issue for American manufacturers. We used to laugh at the inferior quality of Japanese goods and they have more than overcome that stigma. China is now going through a similar phase and it’s likely they too will overcome their quality issues. Many United States manufacturers have not yet address the issue of quality.

I know. I worked for American manufacturers for 45 years. There were always new quality programs being installed. Most of them really did not work. The reason is that the workers themselves were not devoted to producing quality products. This is not a government issue. A free society does not enable government interference in private enterprise. Government can encourage job development though tax incentives but cannot involve itself in the operation of any company.

Michael E. Porter, a Harvard Business School authority on American competitiveness suggests in a Business Week article that the United States needs a long term strategy to resusitate our manufacturing prowess. I believe he is correct. The problem is that our government lacks the will to develop this plan. The reason is that lobbyists and special interests have more influence on Congress than the real needs of our nation.

I intend to write about U.S. manufacturing and competitiveness in many of my future blog entries.

Scare the Jews and Everyone Else Too!

The population of Jews in America totals about 6.5 million people. The greatest majority of them are Democrats. Jews are very politically active. It’s not just California that has a high Jewish representation in Congress. If John McCain could scare the Jewish populations in every state there is a possibility that he could win the electoral vote in California, New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

That is exactly what he is trying to do when he brings up a story about Barack Obama “attending a 2003 party with a Palestinian-American professor and critic of Israel.” The AP report indicates that The Los Angeles Times reported on the event more than six months ago. The Los Angeles Times has reported on the controversy. There have been other columnists that have discussed Obama’s connection to Louis Farrakhan. Richard Cohen has written at least two columns on this issue. Mr. Cohen is a strong supporter of Israel and found the connection between Obama and Farrakhan to be a non-issue.

Reasonable people have discounted Obama’s connection to anti-Israel groups and people. So what asks the McCain campaign. “We need to spread all the scare language we can to win this election” has got to be a tactic of the McCain people.

A Reason to Vote For John McCain

Oh yes there are reasons to elect John McCain. I, of course, have an Obama-Biden lawn sign. I am the only one on this block to plant a sign in the lawn. Removing today’s mail I found a magazine that was not placed there by the mailman. The address had been neatly cut out. The magazine is titled America’s 1^st Freedom. It is a publication of the NRA.

The NRA supports John McCain because of Barack Obama’s positions on gun control. The following contentions are made in the November edition of America’s 1^st Freedom.

“Fact: Obama has supported banning hundreds of rifles and shotguns commonly used for hunting and sport shooting.

Fact: Obama voted to allow reckless lawsuits designed to put the firearms industry out of business.

Fact: Obama voted to ban almost all ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting.

Fact: Obama voted to allow the prosecution pf citizens who use a firearm for self-defense in the home.

Fact: Obama voted supported increasing taxes on firearms and ammunition by 500%.”

The message is that Barack Obama wants more controls on firearms and ammunition. I agree with that view. If you don’t and this is the over riding issue perhaps you should vote for John McCain.

SOCIALISM

I thought I might be a socialist until I read these definitions.

Webster’s New World Dictionary offers this definition:

1 any of various theories or systems of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society or the community rather than by private individuals, with all members of society or the community sharing in the work and the products

2 [often S3] a) a political movement for establishing such a system b) the doctrines, methods, etc. of the Socialist parties

3 the stage of society, in Marxist doctrine, coming between the capitalist stage and the communist stage, in which private ownership of the means of production and distribution has been eliminated: see COMMUNISM (sense 2)

I listened to all the commentators and have read a few other explanations of our economy and concluded that I am a student of Adam Smith with two exceptions. Totally uncontrolled markets can lead to greed and monopolies. Greed has led this nation to its current situation. Senior executives of large corporations are earning an average of $4,000 per hour. These high earnings are reported to be common among Wall Street managers too.

One need to go no further than the preamble to our constitution “… to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity…” In order to ensure domestic tranquility and promote general welfare our nation needs to pass laws that limit the power of a few that would work against our general welfare.

This does not mean we need socialism. It means we enforce what are known as antitrust law in the United States. From Wkipedia

Competition law, known in the United States as antitrust law, has three main elements:

prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trading and competition between business entities. This includes in particular the repression of cartels.
banning abusive behaviour by a firm dominating a market, or anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant position. Practices controlled in this way may include predatory pricing, tying, price gouging, refusal to deal, and many others.
supervising the mergers and acquisitions of large corporations, including some joint ventures. Transactions that are considered to threaten the competitive process can be prohibited altogether, or approved subject to “remedies” such as an obligation to divest part of the merged business or to offer licences or access to facilities to enable other businesses to continue competing.

The banking industry has been given free reign in its management. I and my wife were offered opportunities for new credit cards daily over the past few years. We accepted two of those offers increasing the number of cards from two to four. I have read that the average person has 13 credit cards. Fareed Zakaria pointed out in the October 20, 2008 issue of Newsweek that household debt was $680 billion in 1974 and now amounts to $14 trillion. Type in the words “there is a silver lining” into Google and you will see that his column has struck a significant cord.

John McCain is an adherent of the free markets philosophy that has brought our nation to this economic meltdown. Barack Obama has avoided taking a position. Given the philosophies of the Democrats and Republicans I have to anticipate that Barack Obama’s election will bring the needed regulations that will promote our general welfare. It won’t be socialism.

Stupid Campaign Words

Both the Democrats and Republicans have done their share of utterally dumb if not down right stupid mistakes. Each person involved said something that did not come out as intended. The errors are used by the opponents and could result in losing.

John Kerry tried to present what he claimed was a joke on November 1, 2006. His apologies were fruitless. He had intended to run for president in 2008. Mercifully he decided not to run. If he had become the Democratic nominee the runaway leader of the current campaign would be John McCain. Here is what he said. Where is the joke?

You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.

Barack Obama said “they cling to their guns and religion.” He has been fighting ever since to gain a lead in western Pennsylvania and other rural areas. He also recently said that taxing was a method of “sharing the wealth.” This has brought on the accusations that he is a socialist and perhaps a communist.

Joe Biden has had one gaff that I know of. He recently said that if elected President Obama would be tested by a foreign enemy.

Sarah Palin has suggested that there are parts of the country that are anti-American. She did not specify the exact places. Her words did provoke congresswoman Michelle Bachmann to say that some members of congress are anti-American and evoked the behavior of Joe McCarthy. The congresswoman has lost her support from the RNC.

John McCain has suggested that Barack Obama is a terrorist and not one of us. These are words that suggest Obama is may be a Muslim and he is to be feared because he is Black.

Between the gaffs and the accusations the next two weeks are going to be brutal.

Living in the Past

It is not 1789 anymore. If ever there was a major difference in the views of John McCain and Barack Obama it is judicial philosophy. Perhaps that is the result of Barack Obama’s education at Harvard Law School. Barack Obama is a lawyer.

Just go to the John McCain web site and you can read his entire view. I did have a Constitution class and I really enjoyed it. One thing I learned is the words “living Constitution.” That means that interpretation of the constitution is part of the function of the Supreme Court and that this document should be interpreted in light of the world we live in, not the world as it existed in 1789. John McCain needs to read the case Marbury v. Madison. It’s on-line in Encarta. Oh, I forgot, John McCain is not familiar with on-line research. Is it true that he does not know how to use a computer?

John McCain has a “Strict Constructionist Philosophy” according to his web site. Furthermore his site has this statement on his Judicial Philosophy page.

John McCain believes that one of the greatest threats to our liberty and the Constitutional framework that safeguards our freedoms are willful judges who usurp the role of the people and their representatives and legislate from the bench. As President, John McCain will nominate judges who understand that their role is to faithfully apply the law as written, not impose their opinions through judicial fiat. … he strongly supported John Roberts and Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court and that is why he would seek men and women like them as his judicial appointees.

Current questions for John McCain are:

1. How will you deal with torture issues?

2. What are your views about equal pay for women (Ledbetter v. Goodyear)?

3. Under what conditions would you consider a late term abortion legal?

4. What is your intentions regarding Roe vs. Wade?

5. What are the legal rights of unmarried partners no matter their sex?

If Enough of This Mud Sticks

According to the major polls Barack Obama continues to hold a strong, consistent lead over John McCain. Of course you have to believe that the polling results really are an indicator of how people will vote on November 4. It’s fun to read the online data even though I question the validity. I look at the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, Real Clear Politics, and CNN Electoral Map Calculator. John McCain’s campaign clearly is watching those reports and so McCain and Palin are throwing every accusation they can invent against Obama.

First he was a celebrity, then a terrorist, anti-American, socialist, and perhaps a communist. Barack Obama isn’t a liar because that is too harsh but he not telling you the truth. He will raise your taxes and he will destroy America. Of course he is not like us, which is clearly a racist remark. Oh yes there is also Obama’s varying World Series support. Have I covered all the objections?

If enough of this mud sticks John McCain will be the next president of the United States.