Imagine 1/27/09 version

Imagine....

...as President Obama encourages states to create more stringent emission standards, in order to pander to the radical environmentalists, the leadership of Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Mercedez, BMW and Nissan issue the following joint statement:

"While we respect the wishes of our California customers, with regard to more stringent emission standards, in light of the current financial problems of the domestic auto industry, we have determined that the incremental cost to the industry to comply with this new directive will prove fatal to the domestic auto industry. Given that the success of the domestic auto industry has been deemed critical to our national government as evidenced by the recent bailout grants and loans, we shall no longer provide automobiles for sale in California, so long as it chooses to demand an emissions standard that will jeopardize the viability of the auto industry. While we regret the inconvenience that this measure will have on Californians, we have determined this course of action to be in the best interest of the auto industry."

... as liberals seize upon the current calamitous economic condition, to demand that Detroit build the kind of cars liberals want to see built, as opposed to those that will actually sell....as Times columnist Tom Friedman recently insisted, "There has to be a system that permanently changes consumer demand, which would permanently change what Detroit makes, which would attract more investment in battery technology to make electric cars, which would hugely help the expansion of the wind and solar industries."

...we see a statement from Detroit auto executives:

"We can no longer deny the contradiction in the demands that have been coming out of Washington for years with regard to emissions requirements, gas mileage, safety standards, labor costs, material requirements and a long list of other stipulations on how we manufacture automobiles. We are now being told the kinds of cars we have to build - cars that our marketing experience has proven will sell poorly and at low margins. Complying with the directives from Washington has resulted in the self-immolation of our once successful industry, the only difference, now, being the pernicious intrusion of directives written by nitwits who know nothing about building and selling cars. As such, until such time as CAFE standards are suspended until at least 2015, Detroit shall terminate production of all automobiles."

Imagine...

...if President Obama came to the microphone and read the following speech...

"I have met with leaders of both parties, listened to their arguments and have concluded the following: There is sufficient uncertainty regarding the plan to 'spend our way into prosperity' as proposed by my fellow Democrats as to warrant caution and a full, dispassionate review, even if such a review takes several more weeks, before wasting over a trillion dollars. There is no evidence recorded in the history of man when a person, group or government has ever spent its way into prosperity. A rational review of the causes that have gotten us, collectively, into this mess, reveal that any solution or solutions implemented by our government must address increasing production and not consumption. Any rational, honest person knows that wealth can only be produced - it can't be created by spending."

"Given the risk of corruption, in the allocation of hundreds of billions of current and future Americans' hard-earned money by the Federal Government, I have been convinced by a dispassionate and fair review of the data, that the best opportunity for reviving the economy is to give back to Americans that which they have earned and to which they have the only moral claim. I will honor the request that is on the lips of many Americans regarding the role of government, 'Get the hell out of my way.'" The Obama Stimulus package will consist of permanent tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

"To my fellow Americans who expected a Democrat president to confiscate wealth produced by your hard-working neighbors and provide it to you simply because you create the false claim that you 'need' it, I say, 'Get up, get out and get to work.' America has so much work to do, and no one will have a right to lay-claim to unearned wealth extorted at the point of a gun from his neighbors. Start earning your keep."

Imagine...