Wednesday, 09 September 2009 12:24
Back from summer vacation, back from the long Labor Day weekend, and back to real life.
Congress is also back in their offices in Washington, D.C., and getting back to business. That could be good or bad news for auto dealers. It all depends how effective we dealers are at communicating our positions to Congress.
The House of Representatives and the Senate could spend the remainder of 2009 developing a sensible and workable health care plan for Americans.
Or they could place the burden of health care costs on small businesses.
Congress could, after years of debate, boost our economy by ratifying pending free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.
Or they could pursue "Buy American" legislation that penalizes imports and sets our economy back.
Congress could promote good business practices and protect workers by allowing them access to the same secret ballot elections they themselves enjoy.
Or they could pass a damaging Card Check bill that would allow unions to form without a secret ballot vote, and allow arbiters who know nothing about the car business to negotiate contracts with your employees.
Congress could do a lot of things this fall. Let's make sure that they don't do ANYTHING without hearing from dealers first.
Now is the time for dealers to be fully engaged in AIADA's advocacy efforts. As we saw during the Cash for Clunkers program, the government can have an enormous impact on our businesses. We need to work together to ensure that the impact is wholly positive. That means joining AIADA in its letter writing and phone-in campaigns, becoming a member of our Legislative Action Network, and staying abreast of dealer issues through AIADA's FirstUp e-newsletter, AutoDealer magazine, and weekly Capitol Insight e-mail.
AIADA is the international nameplate dealer's strongest voice in Washington. But we're only as strong as our membership. Join us this fall as we work to influence the legislation coming out of Washington. As always, our goal is to keep dealerships operating, employees working, and our economy buzzing.
Russ Darrow
AIADA Chairman
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