F Congress: Give automakers the money
Or do I mean F America?Congress is in a tough spot. The majority of Americans don't want Congress to help the US auto industry, despite the fact that all of the Big 3's competitors receive heavy subsidies from their governments.
I understand. For decades the Big 3 built a lot of crap and, even after 9/11, they still didn't react to fuel economy. Profit was more important than national security.
Nonetheless, Congress has to give automakers the money and, we the people, should accept that because we the people are also responsible for the state of the US auto industry. We bought the gas-guzzlers. We demanded that gas stay cheap. We voted for politicians that made gas taxes and increased fuel economy standards dirty word for decades.
I know. None of that justifies the failures of the Big 3, whom helped brainwash the people into gas-guzzling stupidity. And, I know most Americans want the corporate big wigs of America, including those from Detroit, to suffer. Yet, it will be average Americans - all over America - that will suffer most if Detroit goes under. Now is not the time to seek revenge, it's time to turn a wrong into a right.
Labels: bailout, CAFE, Congress, Foreign Oil Dependency, gas tax
posted by Dahcredyns at
6:52 AM
10 Comments:
I'm thinking give autoWORKERs the money instead. Or Tesla, AC Propulsion, A123 systems, etc so they can hire up. Spin off the Volt team as their own company. Maybe hybrid Vue as well. The Big 3 and the UAW are not thinking creatively enough, they're stuck in old bureaucratic mindsets. Time to get some new players in who can think outside the box. I'm happy to help pay for unemployment benefits and jumpstarting other manufacturing for those that will lose work.
Here is a quote from Michael Moore on Larry King:
GM is currently building a $300 million factory in Russia right now to build SUVs, right outside of St. Petersburg. That's where your money's going to go, no matter what they say.
Wow, that makes me feel better about the bailout. The big 3 just don't get it do they. I'm with the poster above me, let's start over and give the money to the new automakers who see that the world is changing.
Moore: Automakers never listened to workers, consumers - CNN.com
I don't have a big problem mith helping with requirements. Cut all management pay to no more than 200,000 a year until it is payed back. Sell off privet jets and any thing else not needed to build cars. MOVE ALL MANUFACTURING TO THE US.....! THAT IS A GOOD PART OF WHAT COUSED THE PROBLEM . Produce 35 mpg or better cars.
More bad news for Detroit:
Representative Henry A. Waxman of California ousted Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan from his post as chairman of the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday
Dingell has led the charge on undermining CAFE for years and now he won't have near the power to do so. Times are a changin and Detroit needs to jump on board or get out of the way. I think we need to break these companies up and start over. The idea that the big 3 will no longer exist are just scare tactics. Certain divisions will survive even if they go bankrupt. Could the Volt come to market quicker if they are spun off and bought by another company? In the long run, we will be better off if we let these companies go bankrupt and get bought off. Other than the Volt, which cars are anybody excited about coming out of Detroit?
READ MY LIPS: NO BAILOUT FOR THE AUTO INDUSTRY. Let them go into Chapter 11 and be reorganized. Since when in our capitalistic country do we give taxpayer money to failing business? The straw that broke the camel's back was when all three CEO's flew into Washington on private jets to appeal to the Congress! Also, that worthless louts won't even discuss reduced pay. Does that take nerve or what? I say fire the lot of them and let the chips fall where they may.
Here is a quote from Michael Moore on Larry King:
GM is currently building a $300 million factory in Russia right now to build SUVs, right outside of St. Petersburg. That's where your money's going to go, no matter what they say.
Wow, that makes me feel better about the bailout. The big 3 just don't get it do they. I'm with the poster above me, let's start over and give the money to the new automakers who see that the world is changing.
That's what I've been saying all along....these fkers have duped everyone into thinking the bailout is to save people here...it isn't.
As I have said SEVERAL times on this blog, while GM and Ford are acting holier than though here and being green, etc...they are pumping the same wasteful SUV bullshit agenda everywhere else.
How can anyone...with a straight face...help these pieces of shit scumbags for doing such things.
Kill em off...you NEED TO get rid of cancer...not spur its growth.
It's not just the big three look at AIG. We have dumped tons of money on banking and insurance then the big wheels take vacations and cut jobs! Put the money where it will do some good not in the hands of people who have more than they know what to do with it.
dahc,
Waxman beat Dingell! Damn, that's good news. That Detroit dinosaur had no business, NO BUSINESS, being in charge of setting CAFE standards, overseeing a Detroit Bailout, overseeing issues like regulation of CO2 emissions, because he cared more about Detroit than the common good. Thank god the good guys one this one!
Get ready for some real change on CAFE, CO2 emissions, and all things reducing dependence on foreign oil. Man, I feel like singing that Wizard of Oz song...Ding Dong the Dingell's dead!
I wonder when CAFE can be revisited so as to remove those insane credits and loopholes?
michael moore also said that the big 3 can't be allowed to go under, and he essentially called for the end of capitalism. so does that mean a nationalized US auto industry? i don't really see that as an option.
just some things to ponder. for example, if the economy picks up by mid-2009, Ford might not need any bailout money. however, Ford is convinced that if one of the Big 3 goes into bankruptcy, then most suppliers will go into bankruptcy. most suppliers work with multiple automakers. if critical suppliers go into bankruptcy, this will also drag Ford into bankruptcy.
unfortunately, this recession has made Ford reliant upon GM and Chrysler - and vice versa.
nonetheless, the big issue against bankruptcy is largely perception. studies carried out on this issue demonstrate that most consumers won't buy from a bankrupt company.
for those against bankruptcy, would you buy an auto - even the Volt - if GM was in bankruptcy?
also, in regards to Tesla picking up the slack, for instance, Tesla is trying to get money from the government. subsidies built A123. moreover, tesla had to downsize because of the credit freeze.
if tesla finds itself in trouble due to the credit freeze, is it really a surprise the much bigger automakers would be affected?
ultimately, if not for the credit freeze, these companies would not be anywhere near bankruptcy. that doesn't mean they would have great business models, but they wouldn't be facing bankruptcy. and, in 2010, there is a lot restructuring that goes into effect, particularly regarding legacy costs and Union employment.
hating these automakers for making the wrong kinds of vehicles is fair, but based on fleet CAFE of all automakers - no automaker in the world deserves kudos.
when everything is factored, especially Obama in the White House and Waxman ahead of the Energy and Commerce Panel, i think a new partnership is possible.
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