The Next Bailout: Detroit

Look, for decades now, the american auto worker has competed with workers throughout the world, while his true market value is what these workers are paid. He was effectively being paid from his own future wages. Now the piper must be paid. There is absolutely no way out of this. If the nation goes back to permitting the artificial inflation of our workers' wages, this welfare fee will simply be transferred to another segment of our country. While other countries are moving construction to areas of the world with cheaper labor for similar quality and, as a result, selling their products throughout the world, our products will be limited more and more to this country. When our companies seek leverage or issue stocks, they will be competing with these much larger and more efficient companies overseas. We will, in effect, simply shrink away. On the other hand, if our companies are permitted, they will logically move to these more efficient worker environments, etc. Whether we tax at a gas pump (which would restict spending on such things as healthcare, housing, food, the traveland entertainment industries, etc.) to pay the welfare of an overvalued worker skill or whether we legislate something else, it would bring a disaster -- similar to the one we now have. You just can't avoid true market value for long (see, for example, the wages of healthcare workers inflated above market value by insurance -- after the current tyranny of public health fails in saving the healthcare wage -- this shoe will drop as well; simply, no one, not even an MD, for example, can recieve mre than the individual patient can pay out of pocket -- more than his market value). I dislike it, too, but it is an ironclad reality. If our government tries to "bail out" GM in any way, we must suffer again (and probably much worse) as we are now. We must take the hit sometime (the sooner, the less catastrophic). Only ignorance or lack of courage puts it off.

I am not a UAW sympathizer nor do I tend to be, but since the housing market and medical costs will be downsized due to budget constrictions, it is about time the unions considered decreasing their hourly wages. The amount that a select few make over the money that an entire nonunionized staff would incur is significant. The union is needed to protect but it should also realize that it is time to keep their workers employed and not line the pockets of the union organizers

Bailing out Detroit is like pouring more sand on a sandcastle wall -it will be a never-ending money pit-doomed to failure. The management still just does not get it in terms of REALLY making a commitment to build reliable efficient cars people want while still maintaining a bloated management structure. Meanwhile the unions are living in some wishful utopian la-la land thinking that they can be competitive while stubbornly refunding to limit their benefit structures in line with the competition. Better to tear it down and support smaller US startups with a clean slate. How sad it is that the taxes from those making $9 an hour are being used to prop up the bloated and overpaid for what they do. Cerberus should bail out Chrysler anyways ???another scandal.

I think the oil companys should bailout the auto industry

i think the oil companys should bail out the auto industry

To those of you who voted the democrats into power you are going to see another $1 trillion dollars in economic stimulus handed out again after Obama takes office. The federal debt for 2009 will stand at 2 trillion for the year if he follows through with that plan. That will be over 70% of GWB added in eight years in just one year and you all complained about GWB and his deficit spending. No policies of Bush caused this economic meltdown it was the housing bubble, the dems support of Fannie and Freddie and the spike in gas prices that led to the downtrun. Expect the democrats to spend spend and spend. After all, we bought Pelosi a jet for over 100 miilion and it costs 5.7 million a year in fuel costs to fly her back and forth from California to Wash DC.not to mention maintenance and security simply because it was too inconvienant for her to haveto landonce each way and refuel the private jet she was intially given. Why in the world doesn't she fly commercially as they all should expect the POTUS and VP.
Business as usual for Washington Hope and Change not likely same ole same ole. We need real change. Term limits for congress and federal judgeships, strict adherance to the constitution no courts legislating from the bench, reductions in congressional staff and fedral employment, the elimination of lifetime health care ad benefits for congress, elimination of federal pensions for the executive branch and congress if they have assets exceeding 5 million dollars. Until this happens expect no changeand therefore no hope as promised.

Whether you want the bailout or not the democrats are going to give it to them. They OWE the Unions big for their election to power. I had to laugh about all the stink made about the CEO's flying to the meeting in corporate jets all the while we pay 120K a week to fly Nancy Pelosi back and forth to Washington because the private jet given to her had to land and refuel once each trip. The solution, a 200 seat jet for her $5.7 million in fuel costs to fly her back and forth per year what a joke - all the while she complained about the lack of a plan for the big three bailout. She hould fly coach like everyone else, but you elected them - Live with it.

Good comment nobailout!

The people of this country after years and years have finally realized that we need to be buying smaller, more fuel efficient cars. The problem is that GM, Chrysler, and and not so much Ford have not learned from companies like Toyota. I have to give some credit to Ford because they have been selling cars in Europe and other countries that are great on fuel efficiency. There is a Ford sold in Europe that gets 65 mpg but it is not sold in the US. Why? Because of old environmentalist pushed laws for taxing Diesel! If the government really wants to help these companies then they need to take away these rediculous laws that halt car companies from selling fuel efficient, affordable, money making cars in the US. Diesel cars of today run 3 times as clean as the 1970's diesels. Also with Biofuels becoming more and more available what reason is there not to sell cars like this?

I for one also blame lazy, greedy union workers for getting these American auto makers into this mess. I read in my local paper today that union officials have been gouging the companies for more money, more healthcare, etc. Well of course these higher prices are passed down to the consumers. Every GM car sold has an added price of $1600 directly as a result from union demands. And they sit there and threaten to strike! I tell you what Unions, go ahead and strike, these auto makers can't even sell the cars that have so what makes you think that we need you making more?

Another bailout? Please! Look what happened in 1980 when the Carter administration bailed out Chrysler. The company still had to file partial bankruptcy and fire over half of it's work force. The only people who gained from that disaster were the already rich corporate share holders!

Seriously, how stupid are we?

Why should they be bailed out? They just opened a new plant in Russia, opened a new design center in India, are negotiating for a larger stake in the joint venture between China & GM, and GM awarded the Volt battery contract to Korea, where did they get the money for this? No mention of bringing back jobs or keeping jobs in the US. They shut down a plant and pay the union employees 100% of their pay, they have 1 US worker for every 4 retired worker. They want money so they can set themselves up comfortably in other countries and then finally, inevitably go bankrupt and be done with the unions. Let the car makers that are already in the US employing US workers and making a profit take over. Toyota makes money and the CEO gets 1 mil for a good job, GM begs for billions and gives their CEO 26 Mil for what? Come on people how stupid are we?

The oil industry brought down the American auto industry. High costs of oil drove away customers from the GM, Ford showrooms to the Priuses of the day. While the oil industry reported massive profits, it was at the expense of the consumer(car buyer) and the car manufacturer. A slow down in the important segment (auto industry) would have likewise tipped the scales in the other industries (read mortgage) due to low business. The future of America is in the production of the electric vehicle, but this will also kill the oil industry. Mass market innovative products ( eg information age technology) have also reduced dramatically as the information age nears maturity and with no other new products/innovations in the horizon. the global economy will thus record reduced growth until such a time when innovation will pick up in all sectors including the auto industry.

Let them fail. It is a sign that they (CEO's) didn't know how to properly manage the comapny. The failure shows what they did wrong. My tax dollars should not be going fo bailout anyone person or company.

The automaker bailout bill should include a provision requiring the Detroit big-three to commit to production of cars and commercial trucks that run on compressed natural gas (CNG). This would speed the new energy economy, promote greenhouse gas reductions, and reduce dependence on foreign oil. A good first step, and a small price for the Big Three to pay to stay alive.

The big three, especially GM, deserve to die. Ten years ago they HAD the technology for a fully electric car and new battery technology that would have revolutionized the industry by today. What did they do with it? They killed it. Now they are dying as they deserve. Nobody is happy about jobs lost for good American workers but this is what happens when the greedy people in charge do not see the future and make the best decision for all. It is too bad our home grown auto companies didnt see what Toyota saw when marketing the Prius. Why is it we still cant a fully electric plug in? Oh yeah, the profits lost from maintaining internal combustion would be too expensive for the big 3 to market such cars.......

I am sick and tired of the ignorance of the American public not realizing the impact of a nation without an auto industry. Not just the auto workers but the thousands of suppliers, the trucking industry, the medical industry, Whether america knows it or not, every business in this country is relient on another just like a huge spider web. I'm also tired of the way the media portrays the American auto industry ,telling the world that foreign cars are higher in quality ,it isnt true ! Just because someone tells you something does it make it true? Come on America quit being a mouse following the pied piper . Let the U.S. auto industry die ? if that happens so will our once great nation. BE AMERICAN BUY AMERICAN !!!! or we will all be moving to China to find work! In response to Moose 123 Toyota not needing a bailout ,Toyota doesn't have retiree pension cost like GM does but give Toyota 20yrs and they will be dealing with the same issues.

Let GM die. GM is a global corporation. It builds Holdens and Opels but it's not asking Australia and Germany for a bailout. Where do you think the Chevrolet Malibu and Saturn Sky come from? Toyota is not asking for a bailout from Japan and it is experiencing a reduction in sales? Porsche is actually profitable, having managed its finances, and it doesn't sell 1/20 of the volume GM does. GM is failing because it tried to shove unimaginative designs onto people for the last thirty years like it was 1960 all over again. The car market is not the oligopoly it once was. What do I care that GM and Ford die? Ford was a Nazi who treated his workers like disobedient children. Build windmills in Detroit and sell them to the Midwest. The Golden Age of Detroit Automobiles has been dead for decades.

This link of a CSPAN video clip may help set the context, as these hearings were at the time of McCains attempt at S.190.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

"Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis"

The Bush Depression

In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
Also, he perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide the largest morgage bank in the world,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top 5 wall street firms. Also, Fanny and Freddy Mae which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash and we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before.

McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand exactly what is broken.
It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use complex mathematical models very few people understand.
Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.

Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He either didn't care or didn't realize that anything was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime.
It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a surplus like Bush did but a tanking economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit.Bush created a national debt larger then the first 42 presidents combined
If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
So why isnt obama 25 points ahead
The chairman of McCains campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues they vote on a personality composite. Which means he is trying to sell you personality instead of results.
Let's teach him we are smarter than that .

31 states are voting now, dont wait
Elect Obama Biden 2008




Check out this video of sarah palins interview before you vote


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ

A man of great wisdom:
http://www.atlah.org/broadcast/manningreport.html