A hospital stay by the president of the Philippines has caused quite a stir, with reports claiming the 62-year old Arroyo had breast implant revisions. At first the palace denied the president even having implants, and then they retracted their statement.
The cause of the hospital stay is still undetermined, but it begs the question: if you had a president with implants, would you mind using tax payer dollars to fix them? Personally, I could care less if a few thousand dollars went to beatifying our fearless leader. Especially, when you consider we’re spending billions bailing out greedy banks and inefficient automakers.
8 COMMENTS
Leave A CommentI didn’t know anything about this till now. I was aware of other “more important things” going on in the Philippines, back home. But since I am getting one too I think it’s funny that she would get one too, she is 62 years old, but that was just replacement. She needs to change it, maybe… If it’s a need it’s fine.
The use of tax money, well I hope she took it out of her salary and not grabbed it from the funds of the Philippines.
Ooooh! Never know when you’re going to say something you think is harmless and piss off a benefactor from Detroit…
Are the automakers perfect? No. Are they responsible for the mess they’re in right now? Only partly.
There are several factors that go together to create the mess the automakers are in right now. First, they aren’t making the cars people now want to buy. They were making the cars we were buying until gas prices went crazy last summer. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t their fault.
The other big problem is consumer confidence and lack of credit in general. The lack of credit is a backlash from the mortgage failures which also had nothing to do with automakers.
Greedy bankers? That one I believe. They destroyed the credit markets with their predatory loans and other scams. Now people are afraid to buy because they owe more on their homes than they’re worth.
I know our friends in Washington gave the automakers a rougher ride than the banks which makes it seem like the automakers are more of a problem. Guess which group is in the top 10 (according to NPR) of political spending for lobbiests and PACs? Hint: it isn’t the auto industry…
This sounds like it could become a heated debate. I will have to remember to come by and see if there are further posts later on!
I’m with you on this one Ginger. I think this one is going to be something I’m going to check on often.
I saw a picture on CNN not so long ago showing millions (almost literally) of cars sat at the harbour in LA, they were not being shipped to Asia because they were not selling. Presumably the automakers should have realised sales were going down and could have started cutting production before they did. I’ve heard stories of the factories now running like one and two shifts a week.
As for greedy bankers, I agree totally – I was in shock when I heard about the bonuses AIG are still paying their bosses after they were bailed out. We’ve got a few banks doing that here in the UK too.
In 2006 Toyota moved ahead of Chrysler for the first time in the US. It still trailed Ford and GM, though it was very close on Ford’s heels. Saying that consumers haven’t bought US cars for a while is popular and may even be true in California, but here in the midwest there are still tons of American-made cars.
US Exports are down in general due to the weak dollar. Cars are no exception.
To sum up: American auto-makers are buying implants for greedy bankers in the Phillippines, who deny they have implants.
I think I have that right.
Coverman, I think you’ve solved not only the US financial problems, but maybe even the WORLD’s problems – I salute you!