America Needs More Guns

We know the criminals have them. That's how we can tell they're criminals. That guy pointing a gun at you? Probably a criminal. Unless, of course, he's a cop. They have guns too. But they usually wear uniforms and let you know they're a cop by yelling out something like, "Police! Stop!" Unless, of course, he's an undercover cop. He could be an undercover cop. Unless, of course, he's just an ordinary citizen, and he feels threatened. It could be that. But, probably, he's a criminal.

So, there are criminals, citizens, cops, security guards, body guards and any number of pseudo cop-like people with guns. We have guns in our homes, guns on our streets, guns in our national parks, guns in our airplanes, guns in the hands of our children and guns where drunk people hang out. Occasionally, we have guns at our political rallies, guns on our NFL players and soon, hopefully, on Amtrak.

But, still, we do not appear to have enough guns. The tragic shooting yesterday on our largest military base indicates that even when almost everyone in the vicinity has access to a gun, we are still not safe. Just one day later, the latest disgruntled employee rampage demonstrates that people aren't even safe in a state where you can own a gun, carry it in public and shoot anyone you think is dangerous.

So, with guns everywhere, what are we to do to protect ourselves? The answer is simple. Guns are not everywhere. Guns are in lots of places, but they are certainly not everywhere. We can change that.

We can begin by installing guns on every floor of every building, residential and commercial, churches and schools, like fire extinguishers. Break glass. Remove gun. Shoot the bad guy. But we cannot be sure that someone will be able to get to these guns in time. So, we should develop new technologies that embed computer controlled guns in walls. Giant supercomputers would then determine if a threat warrants retaliation and, if so, would automatically aim and discharge the firearms.

The same auto-fire mechanisms should be installed in trees in our parks, lampposts overlooking our streets and lifeguard stands on our beaches. You know what might be cool? Maybe we could even find a way to attach them to birds. Though we'd have to be careful to only use pigeons and sparrows; not ducks. We wouldn't want them firing back at duck hunters. As an added bonus, developing these technologies will be a boon to our economy. We'd get personal and economic security wrapped up in one program.

Undoubtedly, some tree hugging, soft on crime, Second Amendment hating lefty will use today's latest tragic shooting to, once again, make a case for what they'll call sensible gun laws. But do not listen (as if anyone will). The right answer is not less guns, but more. For the last decade, politicians and the NRA have been making it easier and easier for people in almost every state to obtain, carry and use guns, and yet our criminal gun violence is not stopping, or even slowing. It seems to be getting worse, actually. So, if what we're doing is not working, the answer is clear. Do more of it. Much, much more.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-tenenbaum/america-needs-more-guns_b_348953.html

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Car Buyers Come Back, but Not in Droves

THE American love affair with cars seemed to come to a sudden end this year, when car sales became less important to the economy than at any time since the government began counting more than 40 years ago. So far, there are only limited indications of a renewal of the relationship.The cash-for-clunkers program, in which the federal government offered cash to people who got rid of old, inefficient cars and bought new ones, helped cause a small increase in purchases by consumers. But as the accompanying charts show, there are only the slightest indications of a gain in purchases by businesses.

The government figures on car purchases relative to gross domestic product go back to 1967. In no quarter from then until 2006 did auto sales account for less than 3 percent of G.D.P. But earlier this year, that proportion fell to less than half that figure.

In the third quarter of this year, helped by the cash-for-clunkers program, that percentage climbed back to almost 2 percent, but it is still well below the historic range.

In one way, that plunge provides hope for rapid growth, someday, as sales rise to levels appropriate for an economy with 300 million people.

Figures released this week indicated that vehicles sold at an annual rate of fewer than 11 million in October. But, as Larry Summers, the director of President Obama’s National Economic Council, pointed out in a speech at the Economic Club of New York last week, the country needs more than 14 million new vehicles each year to replace cars that are wearing out and to keep up with population growth.

Therefore, he said, sales would come back. But he offered no forecasts as to timing.

One delaying factor could be that the auto companies in recent years engaged in major discounting, particularly in sales to rental car companies and other corporate fleets, to keep volume up. The extra cars produced then may delay the need for increased production now.

The plunge in auto sales this year was a major factor in the sharp reduction in the American trade deficit. Adjusted for inflation, the deficit in motor vehicle trade fell from an annual rate of more than $110 billion a year in 2006 to an annual rate of just $36 billion in the first three months of 2009, in large part because automobile imports plunged. With imports again rising, the deficit has moved back to $56 billion. The figures are in 2005 dollars.

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Auto-pedestrian stories are needed

The Utah State Health Department is looking for stories of people who have been affected by an auto-pedestrian crash.

Those with a personal story are asked to share it online with the Utah Health Story Bank at health.utah.gov/bhp /sb/. By doing so, citizens can increase awareness of pedestrian safety issues and encourage others to be safe, officials said.

Each year in Utah an average of 860 pedestrians are injured and 30 are killed in collisions with motor vehicles.

Utah police officers will conduct Operation Crosswalk Enforcement Campaigns in April and May to educate citizens about pedestrian safety. Officers dressed as civilians will walk back and forth in crosswalks while fellow officers watch for drivers who fail to yield the right-of-way (either by not stopping or stopping within the crosswalk).Last fall, officers in 17 jurisdictions issued 4,126 citations and warnings to both drivers and pedestrians who failed to obey pedestrian safety laws.

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The Right Subprime Car Dealer

Locating the right dealer for a bad credit car loan can be the most important step in the car buying process if you have bad credit.

Business trends

At Auto Credit Express, we’ve been involved with subprime car finance for the past 17 years. One thing we’ve noticed in particular is that over the past few years, auto dealer profits, especially those of the domestic car dealers, have been declining. In fact, it’s quite common these days for new car dealers to sell a vehicle for the invoice price just to move the unit and satisfy their sales targets with the manufacturer.

Another thing that we’ve witnessed: when auto sales are slow, dealerships look for additional ways to move more inventory off their lots. One of the ways in which to do this is to get a higher percentage of their floor traffic – especially those customers with bad credit - approved.

Special finance

That being said, many of these car dealers jump into the bad credit car sales arena without the proper training and, quite frankly, many of these dealers make a mess of it. With bad credit auto sales, the finance department has to do more work than it may be used to. As an example, it’s a good idea for dealers to verify employment and income before they finalize a bad credit auto loan. Here is why:

When a subprime lender first approves an auto loan, they assume all the information on the credit application is correct. After the car has been delivered and they receive the finance package from the dealer for funding, they begin the verification process. If the application was misrepresented, the lender may refuse to finance the vehicle.

When this happens, often a week or more after the sale, the dealer contacts the customer and asks them to return the vehicle (although in some states the dealer is now responsible for the loan). When it’s all over, everyone is upset; the dealer is mad because they lost the sale, the customer is mad because they wasted a lot of time and still have to buy a car, and the lender is mad because they had to return the deal (after spending a great deal of time and money processing the customer in their system).

Other mistakes

Dealers can also get tripped up even before they begin processing deals. When car dealers first begin bad credit auto sales, most do so with only a few subprime lenders. If you are a consumer with bad credit, it is much better to buy a car from a dealer that has numerous subprime lending sources at their disposal. The big advantage is that with a broad spectrum of lenders, you have a better chance of getting the best auto loan based on your credit (most car dealers that specialize in bad credit auto sales use special finance software to compare your credit profile and their new and used car inventory, against hundreds of subprime lending programs to get you the best deal possible).

The Bottom Line

If you have bad credit and need a loan to buy a car, make sure you do business with an auto dealer that specializes in bad credit auto sales. How can you accomplish this? You can either contact numerous dealers in the area until you find the one that that has the lenders and technology in place to best handle your credit needs or you can use a car buying service like Auto Credit Express.

At Auto Credit Express, our business is to help people with bad, blemished, bruised and tarnished credit buy cars and reestablish their credit at the same time. Our national network of affiliate dealers specialize in bad credit car loans. If you have any additional questions, our web site will help you determine how much car you can afford and, unlike other sites, our toll free number is listed on every page in case you have any additional questions.

http://www.autocreditexpress.com/blog/2009/08/27/the-right-subprime-car-dealer/

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Tire-testing facility seeks space in Charlotte region

A consortium of auto and motorsports companies has committed to finance a tire-testing facility in the Charlotte region that could require an investment of “tens of millions of dollars.”

The project, called Camber Ridge, will help drive research for the industry as it prepares for federal electronic stability control requirements. The new mandate hits the auto industry in 2011.

Carmakers and motorsports companies will have other needs for testing facilities such as Camber Ridge, says James Cuttino, director of the N.C. Motorsports and Automotive Research Center at UNC Charlotte.

“It’s driven specifically by the needs of industry,” he says. Cuttino is taking a leave of absence from UNCC to start the business.

Humpy Wheeler, chairman of Charlotte Regional Partnership, says the facility will become “another anchor for the development of the auto industry” in the Charlotte area.

Specifics of financing, location, size and employment were not disclosed. One source suggests Camber Ridge’s search in the region would be for a site that could accommodate a 50,000-square-foot building.

Cuttino says he expects the first tests will be run in the facility in two years.

Ronnie Bryant, partnership president and chief executive, says the building and site will need room for expansion. He also mentioned that Camber Ridge may need only about 5 acres to build the facility.

Cuttino says automaker and tire manufacturers need a test laboratory such as Camber Ridge because no single manufacturer could afford to develop it. Initial investment will involve “tens of millions of dollars,” he says.

Entities that Cuttino calls his affiliates will provide financing. He declines to name those financial partners.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that mandating stability controls on cars will save up to 9,600 lives annually and prevent as many as 323,000 crashes.

The controls take over braking and other automobile capabilities when a vehicle skids or tips on the highway.

Cuttino says he’s spent the past 18 months investigating the need for such a test facility. Wheeler says Camber Ridge’s computer-driven equipment will in some cases replace a need for auto test sites that cost up to $150 million to develop. Such automobile-research facilities include test tracks that can measure seven miles.

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Cash for Clunkers needs more speed

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Dealerships across the country are waiting for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in government reimbursements for the $4,500 in cash they award each customer who trades in an gas guzzler for a more fuel-efficient model.

Car dealerships blame slow paperwork at the Department of Transportation for the cash-flow bind. Some dealers are so concerned about getting paid, they're pulling out of the program, which ends Monday.

However, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told CNN Money.com that the government is putting more people on the task of processing paperwork and "there will be no car dealer that won't be reimbursed."

This conundrum raises other questions, too. What if the reimbursements don't come quickly enough?

Also, while putting more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road will help the environment, what about the practice of smashing the trade-in clunkers, some of which are only a few years old? Doesn't that incur some financial and environmental cost itself?

There is a bright spot. General Motors just announced it will build 60,000 more cars and trucks this year to replace dwindling supplies due to sales generated by Cash for Clunkers. It also promised to provide cash advances to its dealers for the rebate amounts they're owed.

While it may be unfair to judge a program's success after only three weeks, it's worrisome to see a program of this magnitude, one that began with such promise, mired in the predicable red tape.

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20090821/APC0602/908210497/1003

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State Auto Financial Corp. is selling the business management software

State Auto Financial Corp. is selling the business management software it created nearly 15 years ago to another company in Columbus.

The insurer this week said it will sell its Strategic Insurance Software business to NuGrowth Solutions, a 20-employee software sales and business development operation. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but State Auto spokesman Win Logan said the sale won’t be material to the company’s financial results.

The sale is expected to close Aug. 31.

Shedding Strategic Insurance marks the end of what was a major step for State Auto when it created the business.

“We’re not a software company, and when we did this years ago, for us it was a new venture,” Logan said.

The software, whose clients are mostly State Auto agencies, allows users to track and manage clients, insurance products and business transactions. The operation is run out of an office on Morrison Road in Gahanna and has 16 employees.

The deal came out of a move State Auto made last year in hiring NuGrowth to market the software, a practice that had been challenging for the insurer, Logan said.

“The business was fine. The product was fine. It’s the marketing of it,” he said. “That’s something NuGrowth does well, so we struck a deal.”

State Auto CEO Bob Restrepo said the transaction allows the insurer to focus on its business.

“State Auto is an insurance company and that needs to be our singular focus,” he said in a release.

The deal to acquire Strategic Insurance represents the first acquisition of its kind for NuGrowth, spokeswoman Carol Williams said. Strategic Insurance’s employees will remain at the Gahanna office until a lease expires this year and they will be moved to NuGrowth’s headquarters at Arlingate Plaza.

NuGrowth declined to comment further on the acquisition until the deal closes.

State Auto Financial (NASDAQ:STFC) has about 2,200 employees and in 2008 lost $31 million on $1.2 billion in revenue. State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. owns about two-thirds of its stock.
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2009/08/17/daily25.html

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