With Freedom and Bailout Funding for All
Kevin Broersma asked:
With Liberty And Bailout Funding For All
Author
KWBroersma
Over the past couple of months we have seen a rash of federal programs begin to take shape, for the preservation of huge corporations in desperate need of financial stability. We’ve got the mortgage crisis, as well as the “Big Thee” auto makers of the U.S. “Chrysler, Ford, and GMC”, who romanced the government by flying their corporate jets to DC at the price tag of $20,000 per jet for fuel costs alone. And now Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the RFA. (Renewable Fuels Association) has stated that his Association has been speaking with President Elect Barrack Obamas team and other members of the staff at “Capitol Hill”, and that they are providing “Them” with some ideas on “how to craft the language of an economic recovery package”. A recovery package that would entail a $1 Billion credit facility that would allow producers to continue funding their current production and operations, and a $50 Billion federal loan guarantee program to finance investments in new renewable fuel production capacity, and supporting infrastructure. And a requirement that auto makers that receive federal aid, only produce models that can run on any blend up to 85% Ethanol, beginning with the 2010 model season.
Now, in my opinion there are a couple major problems with the deal that the RFA is putting forth for Obama and his team to consider. Over the past thirty years or so, the development of ethanol has pretty much been proven to be failure across the board and the reason for that is, when you make a gallon of ethanol it takes a whole heap of corn. In an effort to get an idea of how much corn it would take to get a gallon of ethanol, I stopped by healthandenergy.com where I read an article written by David Pimentel a Cornell University Agriculture Expert and I read his studies about the downfalls of producing ethanol. From his studies we know that it takes about 26.1 lbs of corn to produce 1 gallon of ethanol, and we also know that unfortunately ethanol provides fewer BTUs than fossil fuels, ethanol produces 77,000 BTUs and fossil fuels produce 131,000 BTUs. So then we have a huge loss of 54,000 BTUs when you make the switch to ethanol, and since ethanol takes more energy to produce than the energy that it contains, you have to pretty much double your fuel intake to get the same results as you would with fossil fuels.
And producing ethanol is only one failure among many, the mere cost of using the ethanol that we have produced in the united states already, has driven the price of food in Mexico upward considerably. Since we know that America will not allow an ethanol producer to cover 97% of it’s land area with corn fields, just so we wouldn’t have to purchase corn from other areas to have enough to supply the US with fuel. We need to consider the idea that ethanol is not the energy savior that we have been looking for. And now that we have about 30 years of scientific data that tells us that ethanol is not, nor will it ever be a good alternative to current fossil fuels, those producers want the US Government to give them $1Billion to pay their bills now, and a further $50Billion to help them grow later. I think that this “Idea” that the RFA is pitching on capitol hill is nothing more than proof that the “Bailout Package” is just a new and stupid way for the US government, to throw money away. I think that the worst part of the RFA pitch, is that they want the Government to make a rule that says, that any auto manufacturer that receives aid from the Federal Government, can only produce vehicles that run on an 85% ethanol blend or higher. My friends this is a horrible business plan. We are talking about a business that has a 30 year failure rate, and a business that knows it. They already receive a huge portion of their funding through Federal subsidies, and now all they need to do to complete their free ride, is force the American people to purchase their products by making US auto makers produce cars that only run on their products. That’s not “Free market” business, that’s not the American way. When did we become a society that rewards failure? For instance, earlier this week Bush and the capitol hill club decided that the best way to move foreword with the bailout package for the “Big 3” was to allow them to have it, as long as they promise to write a business plan that will turn their profitability around within 90 days.
Now I generally don’t have much faith in the US government running businesses, and forcing practices on large companies, because I believe in freedom. I don’t want big brother government to tell me which TV to purchase, or which light bulb to buy for that matter. But more and more as we move forward, our government is finding new and glorious ways to purchase our freedoms, and take them away from us. If we allow our government to continue this kind of spending, spending on businesses that have nothing more than failure to bring to the table, we will be in more “Horrible standings” than if we had let those companies alone to begin with. People seem to think that these auto makers are just to big to fail, and that if we allow their failure, we allow ourselves to fail as a nation. Friends, we cannot let ourselves believe this nonsense. We cannot nationalize a business just because it is failing, it will continue to fail. I think we all know what needs to happen with these three auto makers… We need to allow them to go bankrupt! From what I have seen in the mass media, there is a huge fear that once these guys go bankrupt, we will never see them again! That is just not true, and we can see the evidence in other companies that have gone bankrupt. For instance, Texaco Oil went bankrupt and bounced back stronger than ever, Pacific Power also, and if you still don’t believe me look at Brown and Coles Stores here in Whatcom county. Brown and Coles went bankrupt not too long ago, they trimmed off the fat, looked at their interests and labor contracts, and hit the reset button. And guess what? We still get to enjoy shopping for good deals at all Cost Cutters, and Food Pavilions all over the county. The simple truth is this. If we really want to do these companies that keep failing some good. We need to allow the market to run it’s course! If these companies go bankrupt, I know exactly what will happen! They will go to bankruptcy hearings, just like everyone else has to, while there they will look over their financial interests and labor contracts. They will cut the fat off of some of their contracts and entitlement programs, liquidate the fat that they trimmed off, and then get right back to work. It has been proven time and time again, all over the free market system. I say that if you want to help these companies, fine! Let the free market and bankruptcy courts deal with them, but don’t let these companies take our nation down with them. If we allow these kinds of things to keep happening, I can guarantee you, that the “Big 3” are not the only businesses, that the government will find in this market to dump all of our resources into. Using the government to pay for our mistakes isn’t being responsible… It’s just passing the bill over to Daddy at the restaurant. And someday, daddy’s going to run out of money.
With Liberty And Bailout Funding For All
Author
KWBroersma
Over the past couple of months we have seen a rash of federal programs begin to take shape, for the preservation of huge corporations in desperate need of financial stability. We’ve got the mortgage crisis, as well as the “Big Thee” auto makers of the U.S. “Chrysler, Ford, and GMC”, who romanced the government by flying their corporate jets to DC at the price tag of $20,000 per jet for fuel costs alone. And now Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the RFA. (Renewable Fuels Association) has stated that his Association has been speaking with President Elect Barrack Obamas team and other members of the staff at “Capitol Hill”, and that they are providing “Them” with some ideas on “how to craft the language of an economic recovery package”. A recovery package that would entail a $1 Billion credit facility that would allow producers to continue funding their current production and operations, and a $50 Billion federal loan guarantee program to finance investments in new renewable fuel production capacity, and supporting infrastructure. And a requirement that auto makers that receive federal aid, only produce models that can run on any blend up to 85% Ethanol, beginning with the 2010 model season.
Now, in my opinion there are a couple major problems with the deal that the RFA is putting forth for Obama and his team to consider. Over the past thirty years or so, the development of ethanol has pretty much been proven to be failure across the board and the reason for that is, when you make a gallon of ethanol it takes a whole heap of corn. In an effort to get an idea of how much corn it would take to get a gallon of ethanol, I stopped by healthandenergy.com where I read an article written by David Pimentel a Cornell University Agriculture Expert and I read his studies about the downfalls of producing ethanol. From his studies we know that it takes about 26.1 lbs of corn to produce 1 gallon of ethanol, and we also know that unfortunately ethanol provides fewer BTUs than fossil fuels, ethanol produces 77,000 BTUs and fossil fuels produce 131,000 BTUs. So then we have a huge loss of 54,000 BTUs when you make the switch to ethanol, and since ethanol takes more energy to produce than the energy that it contains, you have to pretty much double your fuel intake to get the same results as you would with fossil fuels.
And producing ethanol is only one failure among many, the mere cost of using the ethanol that we have produced in the united states already, has driven the price of food in Mexico upward considerably. Since we know that America will not allow an ethanol producer to cover 97% of it’s land area with corn fields, just so we wouldn’t have to purchase corn from other areas to have enough to supply the US with fuel. We need to consider the idea that ethanol is not the energy savior that we have been looking for. And now that we have about 30 years of scientific data that tells us that ethanol is not, nor will it ever be a good alternative to current fossil fuels, those producers want the US Government to give them $1Billion to pay their bills now, and a further $50Billion to help them grow later. I think that this “Idea” that the RFA is pitching on capitol hill is nothing more than proof that the “Bailout Package” is just a new and stupid way for the US government, to throw money away. I think that the worst part of the RFA pitch, is that they want the Government to make a rule that says, that any auto manufacturer that receives aid from the Federal Government, can only produce vehicles that run on an 85% ethanol blend or higher. My friends this is a horrible business plan. We are talking about a business that has a 30 year failure rate, and a business that knows it. They already receive a huge portion of their funding through Federal subsidies, and now all they need to do to complete their free ride, is force the American people to purchase their products by making US auto makers produce cars that only run on their products. That’s not “Free market” business, that’s not the American way. When did we become a society that rewards failure? For instance, earlier this week Bush and the capitol hill club decided that the best way to move foreword with the bailout package for the “Big 3” was to allow them to have it, as long as they promise to write a business plan that will turn their profitability around within 90 days.
Now I generally don’t have much faith in the US government running businesses, and forcing practices on large companies, because I believe in freedom. I don’t want big brother government to tell me which TV to purchase, or which light bulb to buy for that matter. But more and more as we move forward, our government is finding new and glorious ways to purchase our freedoms, and take them away from us. If we allow our government to continue this kind of spending, spending on businesses that have nothing more than failure to bring to the table, we will be in more “Horrible standings” than if we had let those companies alone to begin with. People seem to think that these auto makers are just to big to fail, and that if we allow their failure, we allow ourselves to fail as a nation. Friends, we cannot let ourselves believe this nonsense. We cannot nationalize a business just because it is failing, it will continue to fail. I think we all know what needs to happen with these three auto makers… We need to allow them to go bankrupt! From what I have seen in the mass media, there is a huge fear that once these guys go bankrupt, we will never see them again! That is just not true, and we can see the evidence in other companies that have gone bankrupt. For instance, Texaco Oil went bankrupt and bounced back stronger than ever, Pacific Power also, and if you still don’t believe me look at Brown and Coles Stores here in Whatcom county. Brown and Coles went bankrupt not too long ago, they trimmed off the fat, looked at their interests and labor contracts, and hit the reset button. And guess what? We still get to enjoy shopping for good deals at all Cost Cutters, and Food Pavilions all over the county. The simple truth is this. If we really want to do these companies that keep failing some good. We need to allow the market to run it’s course! If these companies go bankrupt, I know exactly what will happen! They will go to bankruptcy hearings, just like everyone else has to, while there they will look over their financial interests and labor contracts. They will cut the fat off of some of their contracts and entitlement programs, liquidate the fat that they trimmed off, and then get right back to work. It has been proven time and time again, all over the free market system. I say that if you want to help these companies, fine! Let the free market and bankruptcy courts deal with them, but don’t let these companies take our nation down with them. If we allow these kinds of things to keep happening, I can guarantee you, that the “Big 3” are not the only businesses, that the government will find in this market to dump all of our resources into. Using the government to pay for our mistakes isn’t being responsible… It’s just passing the bill over to Daddy at the restaurant. And someday, daddy’s going to run out of money.