#6: Letter to Senator Levin

Honorable Senator Levin,

Thank you for your email regarding the current state of legislation to bailout the automobile manufacturing industry. However, I note that you make reference to the claim that automakers need capital in the form of credit in order to continue operating and that you propose to provide emergency loans to them to bridge this credit gap with no real assurances that said loans will ever be paid back. This, sir, is silly.

You are, in effect, recommending that my taxpayer money be given to corporations that needed credit to even operate in the first place while providing absolutely no relief for me or my peers. Although I also note that Ford Motor Co, General Motors, and Cerberus Capital Management* have been among your top 5 campaign contributors for the past 5 years, I nonetheless feel that I must emphatically remind you that we, the voters who pay the taxes that you impose, remain your primary constituents to whom you should be beholden above the corporate interests you are currently seeking to protect.

The source of my rage regarding this issue stems from the simple fact that an individual who pays their living expenses through credit is deemed a fool and unworthy of government aid while a corporation that depends on credit to operate its factories is deemed as needing taxpayer monies and aid. This, sir, is also silly.
I find that you are endorsing failed “trickle-down” economic rhetoric and I am deeply disappointed by this. At no time in the past 25 years that trickle-down theories have been if vogue have tax breaks to millionaires or corporations truly benefited the working and middle classes. In fact, over this same period of time the real purchasing parity of working and middle class wages has stagnated. And yet, the working and middle classes are now expected to foot the bill for a colossal bailout of an economy in which they have little to no stake? This, sir, is not only silly but is also ridiculous.

If you as a Senator wish to truly address this economic crisis, then you must advocate for the average taxpayer and voter. The economy will never heal if those who drive it are suffering; this is called gangrene. Restoring the economy, and the automakers, is dependent upon true relief for the working and middle classes. If you could move to reduce our taxes and lift our burdens of consumer, mortgage, and student debts, then you would also create a new ability for us to spend and purchase and thereby rescue failing companies that make good American products. Real wealth and economic growth trickle upwards. That, sir, is dead serious.

Sincerely,
Toaster


*For those who don't know: Cerberus Capital Management bought Daimler-Chrysler a while back.