John Turner

I caught this blog entry today and thought it was a great read. I wish more people down on the auto industry, Detroit and Michigan could tour an assembly plant and see things with their own eyes. Maybe then they’d understand what it means and what it takes to make a machine as complicated as a modern automobile that is customized to the buyer’s preferences, safe, fuel efficient, stylish, powerful, capable, compatible with all federal regulations and cost effective. And essentially do it on demand. Most folks like to dismiss us as “flyover country” but they don’t have a clue.

For more about Ford, check out The Ford Story. Hint: if you think you’ve got us figured out, you don’t. You owe it to yourself to see what Ford is about, to see our products, and to be on the lookout for some absolutely amazing product coming down the pipe. Soon. And it only gets better.

So Obama wants to spend $1 trillion or more on an “economic stimulus”. Which makes no sense at all, since the government would have to BORROW the money to even issue it in the first place. HELLO…anyone in DC listening? All you folks who voted for Obama, why did you vote for someone who doesn’t understand where money comes from?

Here’s a better idea: the US gets about $1 trillion in revenue from the IRS every year. Not to mention the $250 billion that people and corporations spend every year in the US just trying to comply with the tax code and complete a return that isn’t going to get them audited.

How about just not having an income tax for a year? Or two? Just straight up give everyone their money back. Everyone gets a full refund, no questions asked. BOOM! There’s $1.25 trillion into the economy automatically, and the government doesn’t have to take on $1.25 trillion in debt.

It boggles my mind that people who are allegedly smart (Obama, any other politicians) would think going into ever more debt is the right way to fix things.

According to an article in today’s Detroit News, there are so many people in Michigan filing for unemployment or already on unemployment that the state has to hire more workers to handle the load.

Oh, the irony.

Pacific Research has released their annual economic freedom report in conjunction with Forbes magazine. I’m surprised Michigan was ranked #43 out of 50, I expected it to be lower.

The top 3, in other words the top 3 states where citizens have the most economic freedom, are: South Dakota (#1), Idaho (#2), and Colorado (#3).

2008 Economic Freedom report.

The Detroit News is reporting that the La Shish chain of restaurants is closing for good. While it is bad news to the hundreds of workers that worked in the restaurants and commissary (especially in this economy), I am very happy that this chain is gone.

I have refused to eat there for the last several years Read the rest of this entry »

Fortune magazine has a commentary on how US taxpayers will ultimately be funding Bank of America’s planned acquisition of junk mortgage king Countrywide. This kind of thing is irritating to no end.

On a similar note, here’s an analysis of why banks can offer such high interest rates for CDs and some savings accounts. Basically, the banks are in trouble, so they need to get capital, which is another way of saying they need you to deposit your money. So they offer high rates as an incentive, but the risk behind it keeps going up. The banks are willing to take the risk, because it really is YOU that is taking the risk, not the bank, thanks to the FDIC. So, when you put your money in the bank to get that 5% CD, and the bank fails, you’ll get your money, but the money you get won’t be your original money, it will be money you previously paid in income taxes. So you (and every other taxpayer) ends up screwed. Nice!