So I was sitting back, relaxing, enjoying some "vino" in my brother's living room tonight (he was out of beer). We were watching Glenn Beck do his thing when the question fired off my cortex and out of my mouth.

"Why the hell are they closing these dealerships? It doesn't cost GM anything to keep them open"

It really is simple and please don't let yourself get spun on this. Just ask yourself one question. If it doesn't cost the manufacturer money to keep an independent dealership open, why are they shutting them down? My brother hit me with simplicity at it's finest. Peel back all the layers and what are you left with. Political Contributions. Did that ever piss me off. So I have decided to stop sitting back just watching this craziness unfold and maybe change a mind or two by putting something down in black and white.

I think it sets me off so much because I have some personal experience in this matter. I worked for a couple of dealerships over the last few years and from what I remember, manufacturers do not have to take much of anything out of their pockets to keep these businesses running. The dealerships pay them. Hell, they pay for the car you are hoping to buy before you buy it. They pay to train their sales staff to learn about the features and benefits so they can educate customers to make an informed decision on their purchase. They pay to train their technicians to be able to diagnose problems that may arise with the new technology of new models. They pay to have that huge, copyrighted sign sitting out in front of their lot and all over their advertising material to attract potential customers and generate profit. Profit that generates jobs. Jobs that almost ten percent of us in the United States of America don't have.

These are profitable businesses that have been around for years, some for close to a century and they have provided products that the Americans proudly own, drive and love. Have you ever heard of that NASCAR thing? One of the most profitable sporting endeavors in the history of the world? Fueled by the American Auto Industry and our nation's loyalty to the brands represented within that sport. Even Toyota got in the game because they understand brand loyalty.  The angle is that Ford, Chrysler and GM don't build cars Americans want to buy any more.  Where did the '68 Camaros go? The '65 Vettes? The Chargers and Challengers from the 1970's? What about the '65 or '71 Mustang? The hard-nosed American Pickup Truck or the safe American Sedan? They never left us. They are here right now but our government has geared up to kill them all for more control. Just a few months ago I felt that the American Automobile Industry was right in line for a comeback. The new Challenger, Mustang, Camaro, a Tahoe that gets 21MPG City. I was honestly impressed. Now Chrysler will most likely be owned by Fiat, General Motors has been instructed by the current administration to drop Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research (watch Honda and Nissan blow everyone away with this technology) and HUMMER will probably be owned by a Chinese plastics manufacturing company. The American Automobile Industry has never thrived on Ford Fiestas, Geo Metros or Pintos. It's not our style. Our niche has always been size and power, yet over the last ten or fifteen years these once thriving businesses have been forced to change their recipe for success and are now writhing in failure due to CAFE Standards, over powered unions and alleged Carbon Dioxide Poisoning of our environment. Here are a couple of quick facts for you. Carbon Dioxide is a trace element in our atmosphere at 387 parts per million. Carbon Dioxide causes drowsiness in humans at a 1% concentration...that's 10,000 parts per million and at 100,000 parts per million it might knock you unconscious.  I've never been big on math but I have always respected it's strict adherence to reason.  How Al Gore gets a Nobel Prize for unjustifiably scaring the crap out of the world still escapes me.

Please stay with me here. At least 60% (and I am willing to bet that the number is easily over 80%) of car dealerships are owned by folks who don't donate to the left and throw more of their cash to the right. You can't blame them. It's just bad for business. Keep it simple. The farther left you lean, the more your ideals force you to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. The more care you provide to those who cannot care for themselves, the more social programs need to be developed. The more social programs you have to develop turn into monies that have to be collected to pay for said programs. I like to call those monies taxes. The larger the tax burden placed on those who can take care of themselves are asked to shoulder, the less money they are able to spend on things like cars. It's an ugly cycle and bad for capitalism. Which, incidentally has protected our nation and funded our defense from psychos, zealots and extremists for at least 100 years (Prove me wrong on this, I dare you). Now it's under full attack by those we as a nation have voted into power and I'll bet it all that it's not Chrysler and GM wanting these dealerships to close down. Why would they bite the hand that feeds them. It just does not add up.

I was taught in school that the New Deal was a good thing. It pulled us out of the Great Depression and created jobs. It brought this country back from the brink of disaster. It saddens me that I've now learned how misinformed I was. It saddens me more to see that the companies who built planes, ships and tanks to defeat the Facist Nazi Movement are now victims of a far less sinister yet eerily similar movement they once helped stem in the 1940s. Before you freak out please understand that a well educated friend of mine once told me that our government has no business being in business and that's what Fascism is. I looked it up, he was right.  I'm just putting two and two together.

“I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. … And an enormous debt to boot!” - Henry Morgenthau Jr. 5-9-1939

This man was a major player in the New Deal, some say an architect. It strikes me as absolutely insane to see how we are coming so close to the same circumstances, yet the powers that be choose to ignore history. I have heard many times over that a condition of insanity is repeating the same behavior while expecting a different result. I won't say that our President or Congress is insane. They could not possibly achieve the level of success that they have. There has to be an ulterior motive.

What I see from my chair at this horse and pony show is that they are just hoping you are not looking. That you are too wrapped up in Prime Time TV and would rather accept ignorance as bliss while letting them sacrifice our nation's future for their political aspirations then stand up and give a damn about the country we are leaving for our children and grandchildren. They do have a hell of a gig. Great pay, free travel, housing and those health benefits they are trying to make taxpayers pay over a trillion dollars for in the coming months. Why wouldn't they do anything in their power to hang on? They just keep trying to turn us against each other and divert attention from the fact that our government has borrowed more money in the last six months than they have in the last thirty years so they can hold their seats in office and "manage" all of the spending while stuffing their campaign piggy banks with money from their rich, powerful friends holding positions in companies they just bailed out.  We cannot allow this to continue.  The majority of those running our Federal Government are more interested in their title and all that goes with it than the job we have or may have not voted for them to perform.  I haven't really sunk my teeth into the US Constitution for quite some time but I'm pretty sure there isn't anything in there about bailing failing business pursuits out. I've learned the best lessons in my life when I have fallen down the hardest and I'm sure I'm not alone. Yet those in power keep cushioning the landing for those that need to learn the hardest lessons while the general welfare of this nation is beginning an ugly downward spiral. 

So they close down a few dealerships. No big deal, right? Well, this is just the beginning while we keep letting little the "little things" slide. We the people absolutely do have the power to end this madness and end this amazing growth of government. Talk to your friends, neighbors and relatives about what is going on don't hide from it.  Most importantly vote every chance you get but please do so after a little research and make your decision on what you believe is right, not on political ideals. Power is slowly being taken from us and now may be the most important time in our country's history to remember that it's "We the People" not "Them the Government".

May God Bless America. We need all the help we can get.