Small Business - GM and Economic Recovery

The Obama Administration continues to say that they have saved the nation and the world from another Great Depression. They also contend that we are in the midst of an economic recovery. Oh really? Perhaps, President Obama should tell the 17% of Americans who are unemployed that happy days are here again. And, the President can also assure all the Small Business owners that have filed for bankruptcy that his SwindleUS Plan is a huge success. The reality is that there is no economic recovery as long as we have high unemployment and Small Businesses continue to go out of business. Small businesses have lost access to financing which many need to operate their businesses. And, there is little money available for expansion. Without Small Businesses thriving, which employ 70% of Americans, there can be no wide spread consumer driven, economic recovery. It really is that simple.

In Reno where we live, half the stores are closed down and it is similar all over the country. The commercial real estate shoe is falling as vacancy rates are making it impossible to refinance commercial buildings. This will lead to the foreclosure of many office and retail buildings as bad as any home foreclosure rates. Yet Obama fiddles on the world stage while the US burns.

Many liberal economists contend that we will have a jobless recovery. These Keynesian economists and Obama supporters accept that high unemployment will be here for years to come. It is true that if President Obama and the Democrat Socialists that control Congress continue to enact their Socialist schemes into law, the United States will continue to experience high unemployment and slow growth for many years; but it is happening because of their policies not in spite of them. If instead, Obama pushed for a pro-growth agenda of low taxes, less regulation and stimulus that created jobs instead of destroyed them, we would see unemployment fall rather than rise. This is the only route to economic recovery that is real. But, that is not going to happen any time soon as long as Democrat Socialists control the federal government; hence the reason the 2010 and 2012 elections are so critical.

General Motors received $50 billion of US bail out money. As a result, the federal government or really the Obama Administration now owns 60.8% of GM. Obama, who has never managed any private or public enterprise, appointed 10 of the 13 members of GM's Board. Another Board member came from the governments of Canada and Ontario, which together own 11.7% of GM. The 12th Board member came from the United Auto Workers. So, in essence GM has been nationalized. It is now Government Motors. At least they don't have to change the signs. And, like all things the federal government touches, GM had to file for bankruptcy despite the $50 billion of tax payer money that was given to them. This was money throw down a rat hole to repay the UAW for the support they gave Obama during the election. However, no jobs were saved as a result. GM will have 34 assembly plants in 2010 down from 47 in 2008. And, GM will have 68,500 employees and falling in 2009 down from 91,650 in 2008. Clearly, this is another case where government is the problem and rarely the solution. GM should have been allowed to file bankruptcy without any government intervention or bail out money. The outcome would have been the same only faster.

More important, this $50 Billion should have been committed to the growth and development of Small Business in America because it is the foundation of our economy. This money should have gone into tax cuts, low interests loans and other incentives to encourage job growth in Small Businesses. President Obama has no business experience of any kind. Obama has no clue what is takes to make payroll. President Obama and the Democrat Socialist that control Congress do not live in the real world. Unless and until, we get Small Business back on a firm footing, we will not have a solid economic recovery in the United States. It is about Joe the Plumber and Pizza Man, Mr. President, not the Nobel Prize in Norway.

President Obama needs to come back to America and start minding the store. Oh, wait a minute, I forgot Obama has never minded a store. It is time for the Democrat Socialists in office to realize that profit is not a dirty word. Without profit there is no growth or government revenues and certainly no American dream. And, without thriving Small Businesses, we will continue to see high unemployment, slow grow and a lower standard of living in the United States. James Carville the Clinton political strategist coined the phrase, "It is about the economy stupid". The phrase really should have been, "It is about Small Business Stupid". Mr. President, are you listening?