Bailing Out The Big Three

Okay, so basically, we left off at November...which is now. As for everything else, its only deteriorated and no sign of relief is coming anytime soon. Fortunately however, or should i say unfortunately, a new crisis has developed. After the bank bailout crisis (to which i forgot to add AIG which has also recieved about $50-100 Billion), it seems now that the Auto Industry wants a handout too! The American Big Three: General Motors, Chrysler and Ford have been around now for decades but it seems that the current turn of events has put them on the precipace of failure. Especially GM, who claims that it might not have enough cash on hand to last through the year and certainly not enough to last past Q1 of 2009. Chrysler too is worried and it aswell has stated that by mid 2009, without help it may very well be long gone too. Ford is still surviving, but its downward spiral is only intensifying and it too doubts that it'll be able to make it to 2010 if it doesn't get some help.

Economic Meltdown - American Style!

Should we bail out the big 3? GM is obviously about dead. Chrysler's on life support and Ford is like the old man awaiting the inevitable. But before we answer that, here's a recap: after blowing huge chunks of money in the late 90s and early 2000s and structuring its production around gas guzzling SUV and other gas-nightmares, GM hit a snag in 2006 when people started feeling the gas pinch. Soon thereafter, people stopped buying GM monster-trucks and began to pursue more lucrative foreign cars such as Toyota (which recently became the world's number 1 automaker) and Honda. Meanwhile, gas guzzlers in the American Big Three (Ford, Chrysler and GM) soon found themselves without an impressive sales report and knew that they would all soon be running into the red. Flash-forward to 2007. Amid the impending doom of the bursting of the Housing bubble and the ever increasing number of home foreclosures (oh! lets not forget the credit crunch- yeah, that piece of plastic people actually forgot represented money) the economy began to slump. This, along with the actual rising rates from adjustable rate mortgages and the lack of cash on hand, sparked a fear in people - a fear associated with making any purchases over fifty dollars or anything long term. Anything say, like a car. Perhaps things would have smoothed out, but life had a different plan and as the markets tumbled into 2008, unemployment rose (now by 6.5%), foreclosure's skyrocketed (into the millions) and more and more people were now going on unemployment benefits (over 500,000 in Oct.). *sigh, well now we can move onto September 2008. Basically at this point the country was on the verge of a breakdown. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were about to go under and needed to be saved. Jobs were being slashed from major companies left and right, there was no relief from the housing crisis and it was obvious to everyone that the country was in a bad recession. GM, Ford and Chrysler had all posted sharp losses and continued to scale back production among other things to free up some capitol. Soon we reached October, where we witnessed the fall of American giants when it came to financial institutions. Since virtually all of them were facing severe crises and threatening to drain the FDIC of its funds, the Treasury department decided to ask some companies to merge in order to save itself. Bank of America, still reeling from the acquisition of Countrywide financial now was asked to purchase Merrill Lynch for nothing. Washington Mutual was seized by the government OIC and went through the FDIC, causing the largest bank failure in US history. What was left of it was sold to JP Morgan. Finally, Wachovia about to go under was bought out by Wells Fargo. That left the unfortunate Lehman Brothers which closed since no one wanted to acquire it (and most of the workers were subsequently laid off). Congress then passed (alebit not without failed attempts and drama) the Emergency Economic Stabilization act (1o/3) was passed loaning the Treasury department $700 Billion for their Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to loan out to Banks in hopes that they would lend money out...something which has yet to happen. Okay this is too long so im splitting it up, part II coming up!

BTW......

BTW... i just wanted to clarify that this isn't one of those cheesy "The Patty Family Blog" things where I post pictures of people you DON'T know and DON'T really care about. Nor is this a blog with some existential (but not) title like "The Rambling of Lonely Boy from New Zealand" where I write about the plant my cousin just planted or how my aunt's coming over, again. See thats also IRRELEVANT to you and that's why it wont be here! So in case your wondering what this blog is about, well, its about a 20 year old college scruff who i just (a little) angry and happens to be the only sane one in a city populated with FOOLS! And yes, i will wallow in my sorrow thank you very much. But im also humorous and zany with a dash of witty....kinda like V from V for Vendetta (thats a lot of Vs...now its even more).

So all in all, my blog is awesome, about as awesome as the rightous moss growing above my lips that is a gift from god (im talking about my stash man!) and with thats!
FJKSDDSKFHNSDKFHKA!
there, how's that for goodbye!

lolz,
ishi

Don't Know Who Won??? Been Living Under a Rock?

DEMOCRATA!

The 2008 Presidential Election IS OVER!
(about damn time!)

So I just recently returned from the polls after having voted (I have my "I Voted!" sticker to prove it) for Barack Obama and now I'm on my way to get my free Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. I could also get a free coffee and a free donuts from Krispy Kreme but I'm not as into those. In my opinion, this is the best part of the election, that you get free stuff just for doing your civic duty, something you should already be doing anyways. So I arose at 8 am this morning, which for an American college student is unheard of, and thankfully my floor RA provided Dunkin Donuts and juice so it made the early morning wakeup bareable. As I made my way downstairs to vote I was expecting enormous lines full of passionate students however all i saw was about a dozen sleepy confused college kids who seemed to be as enthusiastic as, well, something that's NOT enthusiastic. But in any case, it was a quick clean job, i went in stared at this glaring white board with red dots and deciphered the simple (but not) voting method and hightailed it outta there for another donut.
EDIT:
I never got that Ben and Jerry's you know...*sigh. Maybe next time

-Ishi

Choose Your Destiny Tommrow

Twenty months of enduring non-stop ridiculous media coverage and endless (and mindless) conversation about the candidates will all be over after tomorrow evening. Well, they'll still "cover" the story for another month or two, or three but at least the speculation will be gone and everyone will just Shut up! I'm not a huge fan of Obama, mostly because i don't think he has enough experience and i believed he allied himself with greedy backstabbing democrats to beat out who I actually wanted, Hillary Clinton. But, I am by no means a Republican and unfortunately, out of touch McCain doesn't suit me either. Having said that, i actually like Sarah Palin, and I'm proud to see a woman (especially a strong woman) running and being one step closer to breaking that highest glass ceiling (that has 18 million cracks in it!!!). However, I am in complete opposition with all her positions so alas i have decided to cast my vote for Obama. Tomorrow I hope he wins but if there's anything I'll take away from this campaign is that one day I do believe we'll see a woman in the White House and thanks to Hillary Clinton, that day is closer than its ever been!
(Photo Credit: http://buttons.cafepress.com/item/hillary-18-million-cracks-225quot-button/298697162)

And Thus This Journey Begins...

So here is my attempt at managing a blog. Well actually this is my fourth blog, the other three seem to have stagnated (failed). But let's ignore that fact and apply the new lessons I've learned (which are none) and hopefully this blog will succeed...and someone will actually read it! That's another goal of mine, to actually have readers who didn't accidentally stumble on this page and click the back button immediately. So I hope you (whoever you are out there) will join me in my journey - where i go in this messed up muddled up world. This blog will be a blog about everything, as well as nothing. A blog that is equal parts inspiring and introspective. But most of all, this blog will be (or attempt at least) to be a voice of reason that cuts through the fog and provides a sense of company for the misery. But on a lighter note, I also want to highlight that i want to write about things that are passionate to me - whether or not they bring me joy or anger me is irrelevant - i simply want to release my feelings to the world, or web. So in light of this quick intro, i shall be writing more about me over the course of this blog and having said that....WERE OFF!
-Ishi