pzmonkeyz's Blog

Where will it end?  That's the question on everyone's mind as GM, Ford, and Chrysler-the big three of the U.S. auto industry-paid a visit to Washington, D.C.  The companies want a piece of the government bailout, but no one is quite certain if such a move will help the ailing automakers.

America is a country that loves to have her cake and eat it, too. When the free-market economy was red-hot, and people were making big money, there was no better economic system in the world.  Too much regulation was regarded as the death knell of a prosperous economy, and fat cats stood against social programs, like welfare.

It's now interesting to see who has recently visited Washington, D.C. with hat in hand.  The vaunted auto industry has finally imploded, and they've joined the nation's top financial institutions in crying out for government assistance.

Big three sparked the big mess

GM, Ford, and Chrysler have long fueled much of the growth and prosperity in this country.  They employ nearly a million people among them, and are responsible for the financial success of a series of related industries including steel and auto-part companies.  With so much at stake, everyone, including members of Congress, is wondering why the companies have fallen so low. 
Mired in an inventory of SUVs and big sedans, the big three have looked foolish when fuel prices recently skyrocketed.  Meanwhile, Honda and Toyota were patiently waiting for the energy crisis that everyone knew was coming with their compact, fuel-efficient cars.  Choking on their exhaust were the big three, who looked positively blind-sided by the turn of events in the marketplace.

Credit crunch the final blow

By their sheer enormity, the big three have remained afloat, even while foreign car companies have been driving circles around them.  It's in no small part thanks to the huge subsidies that they've received from Washington, and an oil industry that has kept fuel prices artificially low.

Now GM, Chrysler, and Ford are in a tremendous crunch.  They have no cash to innovate, and no time to raise more funds.  Should the auto industry be allowed to fail?
Pundits agree that the impact would be extremely painful, and are discussing the possibility that letting the big three fall would be in the best interests of the economy in the long run.  If a pre-packaged bankruptcy was initiated, where terms and conditions for creditors were negotiated ahead of time, the companies could start from scratch.  They wouldn't be committed to overly-expensive pension plans to vendor contracts.  They would have the latitude to innovate, building their companies based on the successful models of Honda and Toyota.

At this point, no legitimate alternative seems plausible.  A government bailout would stop the bleeding for a time, but it wouldn't heal the wound.  The big three and the government need to make a decision:  Either embrace a free market system with all of its ups and downs, or choose the much-maligned alternative.

For people drowning in credit card debt, the hope that Uncle Sam's cavalry is coming appears to have been dashed.  The Treasury Department nixed any type of a debt settlement program after a roundtable meeting of banks and consumers, leaving many debt-ridden consumers out of luck.

The federal bailout program doesn't appear to be quite as magnanimous as people had originally hoped.  Just like the automakers who arrived at the federal government's doorstep with hat in hand, credit cardholders have received a cold shoulder from the Treasury Department. Specifically, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency nixed a request by banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, and consumer groups for some type of debt settlement for over-burdened cardholders.

Panning the plan

The cry for help came from the Financial Services Roundtable and the Consumer Federation of America, who pointed out the high level of defaults on credit cards by consumers.  The crisis, it was noted, has affected even people with good credit. 
The request fell on deaf ears.  The Treasury Department refused to allow banks to defer losses for several years.  The government instead stressed the need for "timely identification, reporting, and management of credit losses." 
There's an obvious irony of a fiscally irresponsible government, floundering in deep debt, requesting fiscal responsibility on the part of credit card issuers. The question of whether the government imposes such standards on itself is being asked more and more frequently, but no answer has been forthcoming.

Feeling the pain

The government would be wise to look upon the bleeding of red ink in the financial industry as an omen.  Giants-including credit card lenders like Discover Financial Services, Bank of America Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co.-have suffered significant losses in the economic downturn.  According to Moody's Investors Service, credit card charge-off rates rose 48 percent from the previous year.  The Federal Reserve estimates that Americans carry nearly $900 billion in credit card debt.

This behavior ignores the root cause of the problem:  What will the nation do about its debt-laden citizens?  If heavy credit card debt appears to be the same sort of toxin as subprime mortgages, there may be a real need for some sort of debt settlement program.
To the government's credit, equating the two problems doesn't necessarily make sense.  The subprime mortgage was caused when housing values declined, and homeowners were unable to qualify for a refinance of their adjustable-rate mortgages.  Unable to pay the escalating rate, and without the ability to refinance, these homeowners lapsed into default.

Credit card debt could fall victim to similar market forces.  Banks that issue plastic, frightened by rising defaults, could escalate interest rates.  Massive layoffs, due to a yearlong recession, could impair consumers' ability to make regular payments on their debts.  Americans would then face a crisis similar to the subprime mortgage mess.  The big question is, after the last few months of financial bleeding, could the U.S. weather another financial storm?

The company had no formal recycling program in place for its 1,400 employees until it began developing one with the city of Santa Barbara about this time last year.

"We wanted to step it up," bank spokesperson Randy Weiss said.

The bank and the city developed a plan to recycle 40 percent of the paper, plastic, metal and glass the 10 Santa Barbara branches no longer needs.

The 10 branches will likely reach the 40 percent goal in a month or two and are already diverting about 40 yards or seven to eight tons of recyclables from a Goleta landfill, said Alelia Parenteau, city of Santa Barbara's recycling coordinator.

It's an ambitious plan, because they had nothing to start with, Parenteau said.

Initially, the program affects the company's 10 Santa Barbara-area branches but will eventually spread to all 32 branches in Northern California, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties—including two branches in Camarillo, two in Simi Valley, one in Thousand Oaks and one in Westlake Village—keeping more tons of recyclables out of California landfills, Weiss said.

The 40 percent target doesn't include the stacks of documents the 10 branches hire a company to shred for them and then recycle. Add that in the mix and the company may be keeping another 20 percent of its recycled waste out of the local landfill, Parenteau said.

The bank's recycling effort includes printer cartridges; but when branches purchase new printers, they opt for those that don't have replaceable cartridges. And the company store stocks recycled grocery bags, which employees can order and the company gives away as promotional gifts at special events and to customers.

Recycling is only one step the company is taking to help the environment. Santa Barbara Bank & Trust also encourages employees to take alternative transportation.

By logging on an internal company website, employees can search for carpool partners inside and outside of the company, learn about the environmental and cost saving benefits of alternative transportation and map their route to work.

A new incentive program pays eligible employees up to $35 for taking public transportation and allows them to use pre-tax dollars to pay for additional transportation expenses. Although the program is in its infancy, it's showing signs of acceptance.

Since August, employees using alternative transportation have saved 185 vehicle trips, 274 gallons of gasoline, kept more than $3,000 in their wallets and more than 5,300 pounds of emissions from being released into the air, Weiss said.

"It's an ongoing process, so we're always looking to do more things as we can," Weiss said. "It's just a part of who we are."

Pacific Capital Bank operates Santa Barbara Bank & Trust and four other banks in Central California and has a total of 48 branches and $7.4 billion in assets, according to the company's website. Pacific Capital Bancorp is the parent company.

Growing older is pretty rough and Kenji is finding out just how hard it can be as life starts wearing down on him. On top of trying to make ends meet running a convenience store he has to care for the niece that his missing sister left in his care. Memories of youth make it easier, until those memories come back to haunt him.

Kenji and his old friends are slowly being drawn into a mysterious conspiracy that could threaten the world. Who is the mysterious "Friend" and how does he tie into Kenji's youth? Why are there disappearances and deaths tied into Ochanomizu University? Their memories hold the keys to the puzzle, but time and age have clouded their minds.

The strange occurrences and the reach of the "Friend" conspiracy grow by the day. It will all culminate on New Year's Eve 2000. Will Kenji and the others be able to put together the puzzle and save the world?