Friday, February 20, 2009

The Santelli Factor may well push Obama to avoid bailout of auto industry, Spring Hill, TN., plant

Call it The Santelli Factor, an already emerging anger among the American people for the Obama administration making things worse than better in encouraging hope among investors.

And investors are people such as you and me on Main Street, not Wall Street, trying to do the right things in running our households and providing for our retirement.

More Americans see Obama pushing the country toward socialism, and the nationalization of banks and possibly now the auto industry. That means more government spending on things other than people doing the right but difficult thing.

CNBC's Rick Santelli unleashed his passion over these factors yesterday, and now his rant is being referred to as "the shot heard around the world". He has a daily, world platform to compete with Obama.

Santelli's rationale is the stuff of revolution, our nation's revolution more than 200 years ago. And I believe Obama will be politically shy at bailing out General Motors and Chrysler for bad decisions and greed with more than $30 billion in taxpayer money.

In trying to read the political tea leaves, FOXNEWS reported yesterday that the president referred to the auto industry as needing "significant restructuring". To analysts, they believe that is a reference to the automakers needing to enter bankruptcy reorganization.

GM says it will not be able to pay employees by the end of next month.

If bankruptcy reorganization happens, GM's future could probably be be one of dissembly, with individual plants sold off to buyers at the direction of creditors. And buyers will either operate the plants with fewer workers and less wages or just take out all the machinery and remove some of the production capacity from the market.

To keep plants open, state and local governments will have to step forward to offer more tax giveaways when they can least afford it.

These are unprecedented economic times, even beyond the Great Depression because of the extent of wealth in this nation.

Expect the unexpected, particularly with GM and its Spring Hill, TN., plant.

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