Economic Crisis not Just U.S. Problem

The pundits in the press and politicians seem not understand that the economic mess is not just an American problem. Washington seems to think that by them sending money (that we don't have) to Wall St. is the cure. The reality is that it could be beyond the control of the craven politicians in American, or in the West as a whole. The financial monster that has dominated the World for the last 2 decades is bigger than any one government and their ability to intervene. If any government has control it would be the Chinese rulers in Beijing. America, in particular, is a debtor nation that cannot pay it's bills alone. We depend on the unreliable and unpredictable Chinese. All Washington seems to be doing is pretending to act thus giving an illusion on doing something. If America really knew the truth we would march on the Capitol and string-up each member of Congress.

The auto industry's historic meltdown showed no signs of relenting in
January, with Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler on Tuesday posting U.S. sales declines of more than 40% -- below even the lowest of Wall Street targets.

Toyota Motor Corp., on the brink of posting its first-ever operating loss, fared only slightly better as the entire global auto industry continues to suffer.

Worst in 27 years:

Ford (F.N) posted a 40 percent drop in January sales in the United States, the sharpest decline for the No. 2 U.S. automaker in 10 months of double-digit sales declines in the world's largest market for new cars and trucks.

Toyota (7203.T), the world's largest automaker, was hit with a 34 percent sales decline, a drop that underscores how the U.S. recession has tripped up even the industry's strongest players.

Sales for Nissan (7201.T) were off almost 30 percent.

The results from Toyota, Ford and Nissan on Tuesday were among the first from major automakers for a month expected to show overall sales near 27-year lows, extending a stretch of 15 months of consecutive auto sales declines.