It seems that Ford Motor Co. has decided to cut a major percentage of its workforce and shut down up to 14 plants between now and 2012.

I read the news and can’t help but feel sympathy toward the thousands who will become classified as able and looking.



But what is the reason behind the restructuring? Why is the automotive industry suffering so badly in an economy that seems to be booming?

I can predict with reasonable certainty that it will be attributed by most media outlets to Ford management and, of course, the Bush administration. But what really is the cause?

It’s obvious to any physician that symptoms are not the cause of any given illness, so consider these layoffs and plant closings symptoms of a larger problem plaguing our corporations. What is plaguing our employers?

I would not consider myself any more versed in economics than the average person, but it seems obvious to me that any cuts in manufacturing would have the benefit of more disposable income or “paid in capital” for the company to utilize within the restructuring efforts. This would put the company in a better position to step back and reassess its goals and how to reach them.

But why is this necessary? Why would a company as big as Ford need to cut costs? Perhaps the reason is because it’s price per unit has become unreasonable for the majority of families and sales have dipped. Or perhaps competition has simply done a better job in the price wars. The more I consider these two reasons, the more I can’t help but think I’m still discussing the symptoms.

From my perspective I can see three major causes. Surely there’s more, but I think three major causes are primary here.

First, I think it is reasonable to place some blame – though not most – on Ford management. Bad decision-making and allocation can certainly have devastating effects. But bad management can be reasonably well controlled by the corporation, so it should not carry the full load of guilt.

Second, governmental policy and the corporate tax code is a devastating and overburdening load for corporations to carry. It is not hard for any reasonable person to see that politicians see corporations as a back-door tax advantage on the consumer. Considering the ignorance of the average American taxpayer, who can blame the politicians? But more and more people are waking up to this fact. Do not think for one second that corporations pay taxes? You the consumer pay corporate taxes. Any taxes levied by government on corporations are simply passed on to the consumer in price increases.

Third, unions have without a doubt caused the majority of the problems facing American corporations today, and are, in my humble opinion, the single biggest cause of this whole Ford debacle. I like the way Neil Boortz put it in his latest blog: “Have you been around a major union auto plant lately? Look at the bumper stickers on the cars. You’ll see many more bumper stickers that say ‘UAW’ than you will that say ‘Ford.’ Watch the workers as they arrive or leave on a chilly day. They’re wearing UAW jackets, not Ford or Chevy jackets. Many of these people have far more loyalty to their union than they do to the company that is actually writing their paychecks. The financial burden that has been on these automakers by inflated union contracts has been crippling. Many years ago the UAW developed a game plan for bleeding the automakers dry. They would pick one of the big-three, either Ford, Chrysler or General Motors. They would then hit the target automaker with a demand for huge pay and benefit increases. That automaker would balk, and the UAW would go out on strike. Finally, after huge losses, the automaker would cave. A new contract would be signed, and the unions would then force that contract on the other automakers. Over the years these contracts created a burden on the automakers that could not be sustained. In some cases these automakers can’t even lay off employees without having to continue their paychecks years into the future.” (boortz.com)

We have even seen the damage done here in Meridian. Surely you remember Delco Remy. Surely you can understand how prices are affected through union “bargaining.”

So how can we solve these issues as a society? I think the single greatest possibility we have is with the fair-tax legislation as proposed by U.S. Rep. John Linder, R-Ga. Why would a tax bill be so important? Because it is more than a tax “reform.” We all know what reforms end up doing. It is a power shift. Under the fair-tax legislation all income taxes will disappear, corporate and private (yes, including yours). The Internal Revenue Service will disappear. And politicians will no longer be able to use tax law to buy votes. That’s right: The politicians will no longer be able to use your money to buy their jobs.

I realize that there are many who favor a flat tax to reform our present code, but a flat tax does not do the one thing that is needed, namely transfer the power back to the people.

So how would the fair tax help Ford and its employees? For exactly the same reasons I listed above.

First, Ford as a corporation no longer would be subjected to unreasonable tax burdens, which would drastically cut costs in products, yet unions would no longer have the collective power they use to influence our lawmakers, which frees them up to actually do something useful. Workers keep their jobs, get paid higher wages due to the elimination of the tax burden that their employers had to pay for each individual, and productivity increases, not to mention competition.

But for now we have to read the sad accounts of how the evil corporate machine is grinding up helpless employees and spitting them out on the curb, never to work again. And all of this coming from someone who knows first-hand what it’s like to be laid off. Trust me, folks: Politicians are afraid of this kind of legislation. The only way to get it through Congress is by “we the people” threatening the politicians by suggesting that unless they hear us and act, they themselves may end up using their unemployment benefits.

I hope to write in the future about the fair-tax plan, but until then if you want to know more about the legislation go to www.fairtax.org.

Lenny Joiner a Collinsville resident. His e-mail address is MLjoin@aol.com.