McCain's Cars.

McCain's Cars
This weekend, the national media (read: CNN) took up a story about how John McCain owns 13 cars while Barack Obama only owns a Ford Escape Hybrid. The story zeros in on the fact that many of McCain's cars are foreign-produced cars (after, they claim, he said he only buys American cars). If you read between the lines, you'll see that only two of his cars are foreign: a VW and a Honda. The story goes on to fish a comment from Ron Gettlefinger, president of the United Auto Worker's Union. Said Ron, "McCain is not being truthful with Americans and undermining autoworkers."

First, let's examine Gettlefinger's comments. Notice the story neglects to mention the eleven other cars McCain owns, and what brands those cars are. Depending on the model of Honda, there stands a good chance that it, too, may be made in the U.S. Importing the VW from Germany gave a few thousand dollars in tarriffs to the U.S. government (at a time when Joe Biden says paying taxes is patriotic), and made some car salesman somewhere a few bucks to feed his family (after he too paid taxes -- on his commission).

Not to mention that more Americans buy foreign passenger cars than American-made cars nowadays anyways. The Toyota Camry is our best-selling passenger car (the F-150 is still the best selling vehicle and pickup). Many foreign automobile manufacturers are utilizing plants they have built in the U.S.:

• Honda: East Liberty, OH; Lincoln, AL; Marysville, OH
• Nissan: Smyrna, TN; Decherd, TN; Canton, MS
• Toyota: Huntsville, AL; Georgetown, KY; Princeton, IN; San Antonio, TX; Buffalo, WV
• BMW: Spartanburg, SC
• Mercedes: Vance, AL
• VW: New Stanton, PA (closed); Chattanooga, TN (to open 2011)

This is just a partial list of foreign automaker's plants in the U.S. I can just about guarantee that where Mr. Gettlefinger's problem lies is with the labor force with most foreign auto manufacturers. Many do not allow union labor because of the stranglehold it places on the auto manufacturer. For those who do not believe me, look at how close Ford and GM have come to bankruptcy; GM has had to pay over $6 billion in pension and healthcare benefits to employees who aren't even working anymore. Ford's stock has gone from nearly $50 a share in the late 90's to about $5.40 a share today. Their 52-week high hasn't even broken $10.00.

This stranglehold isn't without consequence for both sides, either. While I cannot verify this claim, I would be willing to bet that employees for foreign auto manufacturers in the U.S. earn a higher wage than employees for Detroit brands. With so much additional debt due to the UAW and retirees, Detroit will be playing catch-up for a long time to come. As a result, their price will remain higher for lower-quality interiors and average fuel economy. Perhaps we need a Reagan-esque purging of autoworkers... (I say this as I drive a Jeep manufacturered in OH and with a union-member father-in-law who agrees with me).

In short: It really doesn't matter what manufacturer you buy a car from. You're going to give some American somewhere a little extra in his or her pocket. The beauty of living in this country is you have a choice to drive whatever you want.

Second, let's remove ourselves from the union side of this argument and think about the logical side of the article. John McCain has several houses and over a dozen cars. That's the kind of person I want to decide about our future. Think about it: in a time of financial crisis for the rest of the country, McCain is able to hold down several mortgages and car loans. I would much rather have someone I know is financially stable and can prove such as my President.

Let's face it. It's always easy to bash those who have more than you as bourgeois-decadent. Mostly because we'd all love to have their problems of deciding which new car to buy, or what color to paint their third house. I personally wish I could own another house (I'd rent it), and I would buy another home if I had the money. But some people actually believe those with more should be punished for their success.

They're called Democrats.

-Craig

P.S. I own three vehicles, a jetski and a camper. One of my cars is Japanese, a second has an Italian-built engine, the third has no emissions equipment and gets 10 mpg, and the jetski was made in Canada. I must go and repent my sins now.