Not since the Sheriff of Nottingham rode the trails of Sherwood Forest has there been such a tax levied on the country's citizens as the bailout and bankruptcy of General Motors.  This lumbering, union encumbered, out of style industrial mammoth, is being treated as if it were the linchpin to the American Economy when in fact, it's only a little larger than Amway (without the neat parties) The mistake here is to be held hostage by the promise of Democratic Votes in 2012 when in reality to promise of the votes are exactly like the promise of improvements in GM's product line:  long on style and short on substance.

My great friend Dan Sullivan of The Strategic Coach (www.thestrategiccoach.com ) has often remarked that bankruptcy is just an acute form of market research.  GM did not have to file bankruptcy to understand that Americans weren't buying there cars.  All they had to do was look at what they were driving instead.   Guess what?  It wasn't the Pontiac Firebird.  When your newest product is a remake of your oldest product, you have no real chance of selling either.  GM's strategy of remakes is like a once successful band doing a greatest hits tour.  After the first 12 songs, there's nothing new...bought the t-shirt, been there, done that.  The only difference between GM's post bankruptcy strategy and a Grateful Dead tour is that GM is neither.

GM has two huge issues that led to it's bankruptcy problem: 1. The inmates (union slackards) have been running the asylum and (2) Arrogance- they've been telling us what we should want to drive instead of asking us.  That may have worked when men went to work in factories every day and women read "The Good Wife" as a guide to marital bliss, but it doesn't sell anymore.  We want what we want when we want it in the color, price, form, and design that we desire.  BMW gets it.  Porsche gets it.  Even Range Rover gets it.  GM doesn't get it because it doesn't want to.  When your only window faces East, then it's natural to assume that every day is a new one with a beautiful sunrise.  GM's problem hasn't been vision, just clarity.

To listen to the UAW saying they knew something might be wrong is like listening to a Brontasaurus 10 million years ago musing that it might be getting colder.

When the history of this little period of time is written, my bet is that there will be a chapter entitled: "How to buy an election four years in advance and not pay anything for it".  The only thing Barack could've done more obvious than buy the Union Vote in those states is to set up booths at factory entrances and give away 75K a year jobs.  The American Tax Payer has paid for the next election courtesy of the UAW and the Bankruptcy Court.

What Barack doesn't see, nor the UAW henchmen, is that there is a backlash building against the involuntary transfer of wealth to support industries, Unions, and products that don't work anymore.  The backlash will begin with people moving out of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana into those states where taxes are lower and workers can still see over their belt buckles.  It will end with factories being burned and Michigan being the new Darfur. Unlike "Field of Dreams", not only will they not come if you build it, they won't even look at".  When your newest product idea is a green car or an electric one, you need to be looking for other work.

Write your Congress Person today.  Tell them GM has to pay the money back to everyone.  Or tell them that you will begin a boycott of every GM product in the future until they do.  That would include Barack or his replacement as well.