UN declares contraception a “universal human right” November 16, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, asshatery, contraception, disaster, error, foolishness, General Catholic, sadness, secularism, sexual depravity, sickness, Society.comments closed
I’m sure they want to do the same for abortion, too! Wouldn’t that be funny – abortion is a universal human right, except for the babies murdered, they get no rights at all! HA HA HA HAAAA…….hee. Ho. No, that’s sick, terribly, awfully sick. Linka from a lefty site I wouldn’t go visit:
For the first time, the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) explicitly described family planning as a “universal human right.” In its annual report, the organization said that improved access to contraception and other methods of family planning could greatly improve the lives of women around the world………
……Although the report is non-binding and does not itself affect international law, the UNFPA noted that spending an additional $4.1 billion on family planning funding could save $11.3 billion each year on health care for new mothers and infants in poor countries. [And then they, too, can reap the wonderful, fantastic rewards of birth rate and subsequent economic collapse! Great plan!] During his failed campaign for president, Mitt Romney promised to pull U.S. funding U.N. Population Fund, and Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) introduced a bill in 2011 to prevent the U.S. from funding the global body. [Another to lament that they have not succeeded.
Since August, employer-provided insurance plans in the U.S. have been required to include contraception coverage at no additional cost……[because contraception falls from the sky! It’s totally free! There is no cost of research, production, distribution, marketing……..And that cost never gets passed on to other services to make up the difference! Because in left wing fantasy world, “money” is not real, it’s just a number! Yay!!!!!!!!]
The Vatican and a few countries with some sense have been fighting the UN’s overwhelming progressive secular pagan bent, and the many countries in favor of contraception, for many years. In fact, islamic countries are frequently allies in this fight. Unsurprisingly, the formerly Catholic countries of Europe – where the collapse of the Faith was so closely linked to embrace of contraception and sins against the 6th and 9th Commandment – have been some of the prinicple architects of enshrining contraception as a “right.” Abortion shall not be far behind.
Fortunately, the UN means very little. In fact, it’s almost exactly like the USCCB and other national bishop’s conferences. Nations yield only what rights or powers to the UN they choose to. But the US, a founding UN member (we should have gotten out long ago), has a constitution that states that foreign treaties and the like can have the force of US law. Which makes moves like this very dangerous.
But, oh, wait, I forgot, the US government now sees contraception as a universal human right, too! And abortion, as well! At least in the guise of the Obama administration and their many executive orders, laws, and mandates. That’s just super!
Support pro-life organizations with your money and time. Aside from faithfully and publicly living the Faith, that is the best way for us to fight back.
Planned Barrenhood accused of fraud in several states November 16, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Abortion, Basics, contraception, disaster, error, General Catholic, sadness, sickness, Society.comments closed
While Planned Barrenhood always has many, many millions of dollars to donate to Obama and the democrat party, it seems they don’t appreciate the federal largesse that results from that support very much. Unless allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding is a way to show appreciation (I have to say allegedly, since they haven’t been found guilty, yet, but, c’mon, this is Planned Parenthood, and they’re under investigation in 6 states. Does anyone think they wouldn’t do this?). If this were any other organiztion, their future ability to receive federal funds would be under dire threat. But that federal money stolen through Medicaid scams buys a lot of influence in Washington. Surely Obama, Pelosi, Boxer, et. al., will have their backs:
Apparently, Planned Parenthood is no longer content exploiting just women and children–so they’ve moved on to the federal government. Over the past several years, it seems the country’s biggest abortion provider has also been running one of the country’s biggest scams: a Medicaid racket that’s ripped off millions of taxpayer dollars.
Today, it appears that at least six states have been targeted by Cecile Richards’s scheme, which reportedly conned the government with hundreds of thousands of bogus reimbursement claims.
One of those states–Texas–will be hearing its first arguments on the issue this week in U.S. District Court, thanks to former Planned Parenthood director-turned-whistleblower Abby Johnson. With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), she plans to expose at least 87,000 instances of fraud during her time as a clinic manager in Southeast Texas. [I understand that there is another, separate investigation underway involving Planned Barrenhood in south Texas, as well.]
Based on her testimony and supporting documents, Planned Parenthood routinely submitted ineligible claims on everything from pap smears to STD and pregnancy tests. In fact, Johnson says her bosses at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast were under so much financial pressure that they would repeatedly tell staff, “We must turn every call and visit into a revenue-generating client.”
A ring of at least 10 clinics were falsifying patient charts, which they would “fix” and “cover up” before the auditors and inspectors came.
In states like Iowa, the plot was so sophisticated that clinics were getting $26.32 reimbursement checks for a $2.98 package of birth control. State and local governments have poured more than a billion dollars into Richards’s group–and this is how she repays them? Twenty-eight million in stolen funds in Iowa, $6 million in Texas, $180 million in California, and similar allegations in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. [I am certain this crime is systemic. Just as systemic cover up of minor abuse, sex-trafficking, eugenicism, etc, have all been found ongoing at Planned Parenthood by Live Action. This is a truly diabolical organization.]
And while we can’t say exactly where the dollars went, evidence suggests President Obama’s campaign was one of the biggest beneficiaries of Planned Parenthood’s largesse. Thanks to this extra revenue from overbilling, Richards’s group had the flexibility to spend a whopping $15 million to put Barack Obama back in the White House, where he can keep the money flowing to his favorite chain.
This is the dirty cycle of kickbacks and campaign contributions that is literally the machinery that drives the democrat party, a modern day Tammany Hall. Politicians direct huge funds to unions or pressure groups like Planned Barrenhood, who then reciprocate by donating some of those funds taken from us – the taxpayers – back to their preferred candidate. With that, he gets re-elected, gets more funds for his sponsors, who donate more cash (some of which surely finds it’s way into personal accounts) and the dirty, corrupt wheel keeps rolling along. This has been the democrat methodology for 150 years, far from populists, they are a corrupt party of the elites. Back-scratching and all that. Very dirty.
And Planned Parenthood has always been one of the favored targets of this mode of operation. In spite of all their work over-charging for birth control and lying about having mammography machines, their main purpose is to be an ideological agent of the left. That is all. The rest is incidental.
A man cannot love God unless he love also his brother November 16, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Bible, General Catholic, Glory, Grace, Holy suffering, Interior Life, persecution, Virtue.comments closed
I was particularly moved by 1 John Chapter 4 yesterday, and I pray it may be of benefit to you:
We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth us not. [meaning not just the Apostles, but the entire Church] By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. [7] Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for charity is of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. [8] He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is charity. [9] By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by him. [10]In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.
[11] My dearest, if God hath so loved us; we also ought to love one another. [12] No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abideth in us, and his charity is perfected in us. [13] In this we know that we abide in him, and he in us: because he hath given us of his spirit. [14] And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. [15]Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God.
[16] And we have known, and have believed the charity, which God hath to us. God is charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him. [17] In this is the charity of God perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment: because as he is, we also are in this world. [18] Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity casteth out fear, because fear hath pain. And he that feareth, is not perfected in charity. [19] Let us therefore love God, because God first hath loved us. [20] If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God, whom he seeth not?
This fact has been jumping out at me more and more lately. Perhaps the Lord is nudging me to recognize a lack of charity. Whatever the case, I have read in a number of sources that we manifest our love for God by our love for our fellow man. If we cannot muster love – which doesn’t mean sentimentality, but real, true concern – for our fellow man, even those who annoy or torment us, then our love for God is illusory and full of vain, prideful things. If we find that someone has crossed us in some way……….pray for them! That is the best way we can show concern, if someone treats us badly, don’t get angry, or get over the anger as quickly as you can, and pray for that person. Prayer is an act of love. It may be hard to do at times, but even a quick prayer for conversion or consolation will pull us away from vice and direct us towards virtue.
This can be a very challenging thing. If you’re like me, you may have acquired certain negative habits over the years that need to be expunged. Why do you think I harp on Confession all the time! Our God is a most merciful, kind, and loving God, but He does want us to be constantly striving to improve AND to recognize and repent when we fail. IF we do that, we should be pleasing to Him. I pray!
Clarifying “latin Mass” November 15, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in awesomeness, Basics, Dallas Diocese, Eucharist, General Catholic, Glory, Interior Life, Latin Mass, Liturgy, North Deanery, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
I had a discussion with a pious woman today after Mass, a discussion I’ve had many times before. She is a nice lady who I know has been trying hard to grow in her faith for several years. And she has an interest in assisting at Latin Mass, especially the Traditional Latin Mass. But, she had a lot of questions over terms. I’ve heard these questions so many times, I thought I would put together a post to help people understand what is meant by various phrases used to describe different forms of the Mass. I pray that one day, there will only be ONE form of the Mass. I think you know which form I am alluding to.
Anyway, to hopefully put to rest some of the confusion, here is what we have:
- There are TWO forms of the Mass.
- The Extraordinary Form of the Mass, so-called by Pope Benedict XVI, is the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), the Mass that existed prior to Vatican II, the Mass many remember from their youth/childhood. It is also sometimes called the Tridentine Mass.
- The Ordinary Form is the Mass since Vatican II (the Novus Ordo), the Mass you see at most every parish in the country day-in and day-out. This is almost always in the vernacular (English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, etc), but can be in Latin.
The Extraordinary Form Mass, or Traditional Latin Mass, is what it is – and what it is, is awesome! There are some variants – low Mass, high or sung Mass, Solemn Pontifical Masses, but, this Mass is always in Latin, it’s always offered by the priest facing the Lord in the Tabernacle, it is very much the same no matter where it is offered.
The Ordinary Form can be offered in Latin, but rarely is. There are actually far fewer Novus Ordo, or Ordinary Form, Latin masses in the US right now than there are TLMs. There just isn’t a great deal of demand for Novus Ordo Latin Mass. Those who want a really traditional Mass, ummmm……..tend to prefer the Traditional Latin Mass. The vast majority of Ordinary Form Masses, as I said, are in the vernacular. There are also all kinds of variants of the Ordinary Form that trick it up – or butcher it, depending on your opinion – to one degree or another. There is the youth Mass, the children’s Mass, the Lifeteen Mass, the folk Mass, the charismatic Mass, the mariachi Mass (increasingly popular), and of course the 255 different languages in which the Ordinary Form is presently offered (that might be old – it could be more by now).
At St. Mark on Monday nights, we (still?) have the Novus Ordo Latin Mass. It’s the same Mass as in virtually every parish in the country, but in Latin. The Novus Ordo is also offered in Latin on Sundays and most holy days at St. William in Greenville.
The Traditional Latin Mass in this Diocese is only offered at the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) parish of Mater Dei. The prayers and actions of the priest in the TLM are very, very different from those of the Novus Ordo. There is a much heavier focus on sacrifice, our need for contrition for our sins, and our unworthiness to be present at – let alone receive! – such an august, stupefyingly beautiful Sacrament. But, God’s beneficent Mercy also comes shining through this Mass, producing, in many, a sense of profound thanksgiving. If you have never been to a Traditional Latin Mass, I cannot recommend it strongly enough! But, if you do go, go at least 3 or 4 weeks (or days) in a row, because there will be a period of adjustment.
I know most of this will be superfluous for most of my readers, but I pray it may prove helpful to some.
Dominus vobiscum!
On the radio tonight at 9pm! November 15, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, awesomeness, Dallas Diocese, fun, General Catholic, Sacraments, Society.comments closed
Salve Regina radio is back tonight (Thurs, Nov. 15) on Fidelis Radio! Listen live here or anytime after the fact! I will be discussing some further aspects of the election and the leadership we need to be praying for from our episcopate! I also plan to talk about Confession some more, and how we all need to be availing ourselves of this great and so very necessary Sacrament on a very regular basis!
Next week I hope to have Fr. Rodriguez back on.
When I said they saw Obama as their lord and savior…….. November 15, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in asshatery, disaster, error, foolishness, General Catholic, secularism, sickness, silliness, Society.comments closed
……I didn’t really mean to be hyperbolic. I think there are people in this country – more than a trivial amount, I mean millions of people – who look on Barack Hussein Obama as really a messiah. There was of course the whole “lightworker” garbage in 2008, and the weird cult-like followings with use of children, and the people expecting Obama to pay their rent, and car payments, and grocery bills (check, check, and check!) etc, but now we have a black university professor at predominately black Florida A&M who has written a book describing Obama as an “apostle,” and not only that, an “apostle” who has a new “gospel:”
According to a book written by longtime Florida A&M University professor Barbara A. Thompson, Barack Obama is no mere mortal. He is, as she wrote, “Apostle Barack,” sent to create a “heaven here on earth,” a post at PJ Tatler said Monday.
In her book, “The Gospel According to Apostle Barack: In Search of a More Perfect Political Union as ‘Heaven Here on Earth,'” Professor Thompson says she was given this message in her dreams.
“Yes, Barack had worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people, [with all that golf, and constant junkets to Vegas, and the numerous vacations his wife and kids have taken at taxpayer expense] especially those who elected him in 2008. His followers needed to re-elect him to a second term, so that he could continue to accomplish the promises he made, thus, realizing his vision of America as a more perfect political union or heaven here on earth,’” the book description at Amazon says. [Uff da…….]
“Then, as I began to contemplate ways to assist Barack in his 2012 re-election bid something miraculous happened. I felt God’s (His) Spirit beckoning me in my dreams at night. Listening, cautiously, I learned that Jesus walked the earth to create a more civilized society, [no, no, NO NO! Jesus is God Incarnate on earth to offer up the Sacrifice of the God-man to God for the salvation of souls! To provide a Sacrifice acceptable to God for the infinitely heinous crime of sin, which our first parents committed. This is the perversion of Christianity into marxist materialist liberation theology claptrap. Archbishop Muller of the CDF, your ears should be burning!] Martin (Luther King) walked the earth to create a more justified society, but, Apostle Barack, the name he was called in my dreams, would walk the earth to create a more equalized society, for the middle class and working poor,” she added. [First of all, this is so parochial it’s not even funny. There is, after all, an entire world outside the US. And whatever red light Obama has, it’s pretty dim in most of the rest of the world]
“Barack, the next young leader with a new cause, had been taken to the mountaintop and allowed to see over the other side. He had the answers to unlock the kingdom of ‘heaven here on earth’ for his followers. The answers were repeated – over and over – in speeches Barack had made from his presidential announcement to his inaugural address. Those speeches or his teachings contained the answers to the middle class and working poor people living in a ‘heaven here on earth.’ For when the answers were unlocked and enacted, Apostle Barack’s vision of America would be realized,” Thompson wrote.
Alright. Obviously, someone has drunk a bit too much kool-aid. But I don’t think I would be incorrect in claiming that there are presently millions of Americans who have this incredibly reductive view of…..is it even Christianity, anymore?……whatever materialist worldly “religion” they feel they hold. This is something the Popes have been warning about for 2 centuries and more, especially since the French Revolution, materialists within and without the Church who see Christianity as nothing more than a vehicle of social change. I have no idea of what kind of faith, if any, this woman professes, but I know that what she is preaching is entirely in line with the very screwed up “gospel” Barack Obama heard from Jeremiah Wright for decades at that churchy place in Chicago. It’s not Christianity, it’s socialism aping some Christian terms for effect.
And how many Catholics are there who think similarly, if not perhaps to the same warped, almost deranged degree?
Texas secession petition at White House website has over 100,000 signatures November 14, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, demographics, fun, General Catholic, silliness, Society.comments closed
Dang – I signed it! I’d rather be a citizen of the great nation of Texas than the USA right about now. You can sign it here, if you think jack booted thugs won’t come bursting through your windows at 2 in the morning. I used a fakey reserve e-mail I have, not that it would help much. Apparently, almost 700,000 other Americans (as of this morning) had signed similar petitions for their state:
Less than a week after a New Orleans suburbanite petitioned the White House to allow Louisiana to secede from the United States, petitions from seven states have collected enough signatures to trigger a promised review from the Obama administration.
By 6:00 a.m. EST Wednesday, more than 675,000 digital signatures appeared on 69 separate secession petitions covering all 50 states, according to a Daily Caller analysis of requests lodged with the White House’s “We the People” online petition system.
I think the division in this country, it’s becoming too much. Things are going to break. Half the country wants absolutely nothing to do with the other half. And we’re pretty regionally split. As in they have the cities/coasts, and we have everything else. In nuclear warfighting, that was how things were divided – the ‘A’ country of cities where the elites live, and the ‘B’ country of everyone else. In a nuclear war, the plan was always to save the ‘B’ country, since we knew the ‘A’ country would be gone. Just sayin……..
But counter petitions from lefty-ish cities in Texas like Austin and El Paso are demanding the right to secede from Texas if we secede from the union.
Balkanization…….it’s a lefty trend.
Still, it would be interesting to see a few million names on a petition to secede. What then? Texas is soon to have a majority Catholic population. Or, at least, catholyc. So……?
A reminder – don’t give money to upcoming CCHD collections November 14, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, disaster, error, General Catholic, sadness, scandals, sickness.comments closed
It’s that time of year – generally, the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the time when most dioceses roll out the collection basket a second time for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development – CCHD. To say this program is problematic and should not be supported is about as big an understatement as I can make. I’ve written on CCHD more times than I can count, almost universally negatively.
But don’t listen just to me. Listen to Michael Voris with the short Vortex below, and then, if you want to know more, watch his in-depth special on the CCHD funding problems at bottom. Not only is CCHD not reforming itself, not only is it not eliminating funding to left-wing groups which hold beliefs directly counter to Church Dogma, but they’ve even INCREASED funding to such groups! I’ve said it for a while, and let me now say it even more vociferously – CCHD cannot be reformed. It should be abolished. The entire organization and the goals it desires to achieve are misbegotten – far from “empowering” the poor, CCHD and the left-wing agitprop groups it supports help keep the poor mired in poverty – the better to be a reliable left-wing voting bloc:
Now, the detailed report:
De-fund CCHD!
Cardinal Dolan pushes to reinstate Friday abstinence? November 14, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, episcopate, General Catholic, Grace, Interior Life, North Deanery, Sacraments, scandals, secularism, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
A report from the fall meetings of the USCCB indicates that, in addition to trying to push for more emphasis on Confession, Cardinal Dolan is also pushing to have the USCCB reinstate the Friday abstinence from all meat in the United States. This would be a most welcome change, although it is a practice my family and I follow almost universally already. Cardinal Dolan was quoted as saying:
“The work of our Conference during the coming year includes reflections on re-embracing Friday as a particular day of penance, including the possible re-institution of abstinence on all Fridays of the year, not just during Lent.”
Rorate Caeli also noted:
The speech by Cardinal Dolan is not the first time the USCCB president has mentioned Friday abstinence (in blog posts, he has also cited Ember Days, Lenten fasting and feast day vigils). Taking action on these words would certainly be a big deal in the U.S., a move that would likely define Cardinal Dolan as a shepherd serious about restoring discipline within the Catholic Church in America.
I agree. Words are one thing. We have had many pretty words in the Church over the past several decades, but precious little in the way of action concerned with restoring discipline and the practice of the Faith.
The current practice in the US is that the faithful should perform some act of penance or self-denial on Fridays. I would hazard to guess that the vast, vast majority do nothing penitential at all. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the faithful should this law be re-instituted. Will the progressive circles in the Church howl in protest, or will they recognize the benefits this practice would mean for their souls? I am heartened to note that Cardinal Dolan has indeed talked previously about the need for more penance in general, including the possible return of such penitential seasons as Ember Days, Rogation Days, Septuagint, etc.
But all this will be quite meaningless without the other priority Cardinal Dolan is stressing – a much greater focus on Confession. I have prayed for a very long time that all parishes in the country and world would have at least 1 hour of Confession every day, 365 days a year, every year. Confession and the Mass are inextricably linked. Both are vitally necessary for the life of the Church and the good of souls. I pray that the bishop’s conference might do some good and institute a law that requires all parishes to have a minimal amount of Confession – as I said, at least 1 hour per day. Many parishes have seen that, if they take Confession more seriously and make it more available, more souls will avail themselves of it. Only tremendous good can come from reinstituting the practice of Confession on a wide scale, as a Sacrament second only to the Mass in terms of day to day emphasis in the Church.
At one time, around the time of the last Council and for years afterwards, there were actually many elements in the Church demanding that daily Mass be done away with. Such demands were largely put down by Pope John Paul II, but they still exist in some quarters. To me, such seems insane, to have a parish without Mass every day, but there are parishes in the Diocese that don’t, even some that have more than one priest assigned (Seton used to not have Mass one day of the week, in spite of 2 or sometimes 3 priests being assigned, but thank God that is no longer the case with the new pastor. St. Martin of Tours in Forney doesn’t have Mass 2 or 3 days a week, even with 2 priests assigned).
There are three elements of a priest’s life that should be totally non-negotiable, the foundation that comes before every other task a priest performs. These elements are:
- Offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day
- Hearing Confessions every day
- Praying the Divine Office/Breviary every day, hopefully, all the Hours
All else should fit around that. Not just should, but must. The Holy Sacrifice is both Source and Summit of our Faith, the constant inflowing of Grace into the Church and individual souls (not least of which, the priest’s) which is indispensable for the life of the Church. Likewise, since we are such fallen sinners who frequently (if not near constantly) offend God, with many of us taking ourselves out of the life of Grace through grievous sins like contraceptive use, sins against the 6th and 9th Commandments, greed, religious indifference, etc, etc, Confession should be about as available as the Mass is, so that souls can assist at Mass and receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily. And without a foundational life of prayer, no vocation – to the priesthood, religious life, married life, whatever – is going to be fruitful, and the Breviary is the foundation of that life.
Cardinal Dolan has a lot of making up to do. There is no question he’s done some good things, but errors like the Obama invite to the charity dinner, not fighting the New York gay marriage vote very hard, punishing a priest for offering a TLM, etc, require a great deal of making up. Pushing for a reinstitution of Friday abstinence, and pushing for much more universal Confession, are good starts. But I pray we see much, much more in terms of trying to re-instill discipline and the general practice of the Faith.
What do you make of this? November 14, 2012
Posted by Tantumblogo in Admin, Basics, General Catholic, Society.comments closed
What do you make of an effort to punish strong union companies by buying from non-union ones? Even if the non-union ones are foreign brands and the union ones largely domestic?
Mazda is union because Ford owned a big chunk of them at one time – do they still? Mitsubishi was likewise tied in with Chrysler.
I have always bought domestic autos. My siblings, they buy whatever, but I, like my father and grandfather, have always bought GM. I’ve had good success with them……I’ve never had the lemon experience that ostensibly drove many away from domestic brands (although, I think there is a cultural preference that is the main driver, which makes domestic brands somehow less than chic and their buyers less than bright). I’ve bought domestic brands to support American jobs, for one reason. Foreign owned companies with assembly plants in the US do not employ the same number or caliber of workers as domestic companies. For one thing, almost all the engineering is done in the home country – Japan, Germany, Korea, etc. Many suppliers are also overseas. Although this is somewhat true now even for domestic brands, it is more true for overseas brands. Nissan and other companies even ship large sub-assemblies of their autos to the US, with only final assembly done here. So, foreign brands do not support nearly as many jobs as domestic ones.
I guess the question is, should I care anymore? I actually have no interest in buying any foreign car, save for some types I could never afford like a BMW M3, which I will fully admit, is an amazing car.
I have no interest in supporting unions which donate 90+% of their copious political funds to democrats, who then enact laws that benefit unions and help perpetuate economic decline. GM and Chrysler went under, and had to be bailed out, because of the profligate salaries and especially benefits provided to their union employees. Does an unskilled assembly line worker really merit a six-figure salary? Salaries are much lower and the foreign-owned, non-union plants, and they produce cars of equal or higher quality (but much of that is due to design, not necessarily assembly).
I don’t know. It’s interesting to ponder. But since I will likely only ever buy trucks (unless one of my readers loves me so much they’d like to drop $40k in my lap for a Boss 302 – but even that won’t work, my wife would abscond with it for a housing upgrade), and foreign brand pickups have never appealed to me, it’s unlikely I’ll change course.
But, who knows, with Obama’s re-election and the ridiculously high, nigh-unobtainable fleet mileage requirements the Environmental Extortion Protection Agency has set, there probably won’t be anything but 4-banger mini-trucks on the market in a few years, anyway.
Another factor – most of those non-union auto plants are in the conservative south, while most (but by no means all) domestic plants are in blue states. More money for the left wing political machine.
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