I saw a bumper sticker the other day it said, Abstinence makes the church grow fondlers. I laughed like a drain until I realized the suffering that has been caused over the years. I hope the new Pope, who will probably have been elected by the time this goes to press, brings about some major shifts in policy. Mind you, Im not Roman Catholic; Im with King Henry VIII and the Church of England so, whilst I dont have a dog directly in this fight, I still believe that the Church, in general, needs to reassess its place in todays world.
Normally I would say we should have some old cornerstones to rely on; old rules that have served society well but I dont think celibacy has served any such purpose. Suppressing one of the most forceful urges in humanity invites problems. Its a bit like trying to get rid of a bump in a carpet; you push it down and it pops up somewhere else. Maybe its not my place to say but marriage in the priesthood would be a healthy change. Even Chaucer, in The Canterbury Tales, told of the monk keeping pins and presents in his hood to pay for his dalliances.
The Vatican City is a place of deep and abiding secrets. Well never know the real reason for Pope Benedicts abdication. Why he should fly in the face of hundreds of years of accepted custom and practice dying in office in spite of frailties being one of them has an odor to it.
Switching gears I recently attended the CAR conference in Las Vegas. Whilst a lot of the subject matter stays pretty similar, in that, current systems and practices come under the scrutiny and microscope of the industry, its probably a good thing. Change comes that way. Sometimes change doesnt seem quick enough I worry that our business will come into the purview of others and strip chunks of responsibility away that means revenue streams go with them. Our dexterity and agility will be put to the test and protection of old territories, like hugging a beloved teddy bear, will have to stop. Open platforms will only come with open minds. Expensively cobbling together old technologies to look like new wont stand the tests of the industrys customers.
I may be an old dog this is my 47th year in the car business but the prospects of learning all kinds of new tricks still excites me to no end. Mind you, I still believe a car nose is still a worthwhile attachment.
Data is available at every level in its myriad these days; its the interpretation thats important. Perhaps thats the subject of another article, in itself. But I was listening to Steve Cortes, the commentator from CNBC, at the conference. As youd expect he was fascinating, insightful and contrarian, putting his obverse slant on a worldview. He has one of the most bullish outlooks on the short and long-term views of Americas performance he gets my vote! He believes that American energy wealth will fuel (pardon the pun) more manufacturing growth, along with Americas natural creative abilities to keep us independently ahead the other global efforts. China, the current darling of most economists, will stumble on its own lack of creativity and demographic deficiencies as a result of the one-child-per-family rule.
Our attachment to Middle-Eastern oil is lessening as we speak but China doesnt, as yet, produce much of its own energy. The only frailty in Cortes view, as far as I see it, is that China will make new geo-political alignments with the Middle East and who knows where that will lead. He made no mention of Africa either. Their mineral wealth will assure a place at any future economic table.
Housing sales are on the rise and I give no credit whatsoever to the current administration for what is essentially a pent-up demand being satisfied by the banks finally taking their icy grip off the vault doors. Thatll grow employment and demand for materials. Jobs will pay taxes and our debt repayment schedule may be shortened.
Lighten up spring is in the air and lots of good things to which to look forward. Even a third of the world will get a new Pope.

Tax money was as slow as molasses on a winters day this year. I guess that was thanks to last-minute tax code adjustments at the end of last year and the IRS trying to catch up. So business planning was rendered all but useless for those who depend on a momentary up-tick in their markets and its no small thing cash in the early part of the year can often dictate the pace for the rest of the year.
Even Wal-Mart has felt the draft.
I know dealers who did what they were supposed to do last October and
November and stocked up on cheaper cars to sell at decent profits in January
and February.
Wholesale floor plan
financing was available, so it all made sense. But, just like a perfect storm, it didnt happen like that.
Customers were paying for Christmas, the rent, the mortgage or stashing some for a rainy day if no credit card debt was to be paid off so no retail traffic. The floor plan pay-offs for cars bought last year were now due or curtailments were coming up to extend them and because fewer trades were made at the start of the year, inventory was tough to get from the new car stores to replenish what few had slipped over the curb.
That was how the folks in D.C. dealt with the fiscal cliff leave people and businesses dangling.
Next we have sequestration. What is sequestration? Its a series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to government agencies, in this case totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years a mere bagatelle compared to the excess of $16 trillion we have in our national debt right now.
The cuts would be split half and half between defense and domestic discretionary spending.
Ironically, the people most affected would be in areas where the government has a big influence or hires a lot of people.
Obviously those close to the seat of power, say Maryland and Northern Virginia as well as those in D.C. itself, would feel the pinch, creating some self-imposed pressure to find jobs. That may be a good thing in the long run.
But some less obvious casualties may be affected New Mexico comes to mind or Colorado, both having close attachments to defense establishments and government-funded infrastructure.
It seems that the dole queues will be expensively extended did they figure the unemployment payments into their math?
To sequester means to hide away, remove or shield as well as to take out.
At least they got the name right. Theyll take away the spending with one hand and give a lot of it back with the other and bury the consequences in the next governments backyard.
One thing that President Obama has learned well since taking office the first time around is the power of oratory.
He could say very little at first without the aid of a teleprompter, but now he can convincingly speak of moving money from the rich to the middle classes in a more socialist society.
If youre in any doubt about his convictions here I suggest you rent the movie 2016 very insightful. His next learning curve should be mathematics. There appears to be some deficiency in adding and taking away.
Im going to indulge in my own sequestration this week. Its off to Las Vegas again to hide away in the bowels of Caesars Palace at the Conference of Automotive Remarketing, the confluence of folks from the NAAA, IARA and Bobit Business Media.
I hope we get good economic news for the rest of the year and trade ideas on how to get the most out of what weve got.
Maybe I should see a magic show and learn how to pull a rabbit out of a hat or sit at the tables and find an ace up my sleeve!
I think not.
But for once in a long time, Im kind of in the mood for Vegas. The odds may be better there than in the used-car business.