Posted on 11/21/2008 11:05:08 AM PST by thetru
Who killed the U.S. auto industry? To hear the media tell it, arrogant corporate chiefs failed to foresee the demand for small, fuel-efficient cars and made gas-guzzling road-hog SUVs no one wanted, while the clever, far-sighted Japanese, Germans and Koreans prepared and built for the future.
I dissent. What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II.
As far back as the 1950s,
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Sure I can. Management should have declared bankruptcy so that it could get out of these labor agreements. Besides, it was the management that gave away the store to the unions. Perhaps it should have realized that such concessions to the union were ultimately unprofitable.
Theoretically, yes. But who wants to be remembered for quitting?
Nardelli and Mulally have only been around a year or two. The management of all the Big 3 negotiated and restructured much better deals in the last contract that will make them almost on par with the foreign automakers. The new deals take effect in 2010. Those need to be fast-tracked. Traditional bankruptcy means the end for these companies. A more targeted, short term bankruptcy with all parties agreeing beforehand to the necessary cuts may be plausible.
UAW.
Crush the UAW and each member and you will see a resurgence in US Auto Making.
No. There's a reason its called a collective bargaining agreement. The big three's sackless management agreed to the UAW's demands. They should have had the foresight to take care of this problem while they still had the means to ride out the inevitable strike.
Pat is more right on these issues than for example Bush trade policies. Go back to the article. The imports of early years are not those of today. Basically they were bargain basement junk made at very low wages and imported. France never apologized for the Renault which was one of the worst.
In the mean time federal government was the unions best friend and along with state closed shop laws tied the Big 3's hands. When the foreign owners finally began setting up manufacturing in the USA some things had changed. First thing was they built in non closed shop states meaning the south and were non union. The people in these states unlike the UAW workers in the north welcomed and worked with the companies by not demanding unrealistic wages. It was a win win for both company and worker. It was only then though with the cars made in USA that they had to come up to US safety standards and EPA. EPA and government have not helped the BIG 3. BTW there is still a big demand for larger vehicles as in some cases that is what the buyer needs. The smaller foreign owned can not meet that demand or rather won't.
PJB is right on many trade issues and it was a dumb move on Bush's part to exclude Conservatives like him from at least having advisory positions. But Bush never has been interested in that. He is simply serving corporate masters who's interest lie outside that of the USA.
The big 3 need to bust the unions. That would be a first. True labor unions should consist of actual workers from within a company. Many labor union leaders never worked in a plant a day in their lives. Union members need to come to terms with reality and realize that a livable and honest wage for their labor means more persons work and likely JOB SECURITY FOR ALL. Labor Unions in many places have become far worse than the abusive employers they were originally formed to deal with. For example no man who can not afford a strike and has to feed his family should get threatened or the crap beat out of him for crossing a picket line.
He is simply serving corporate masters who’s interest lie outside that of the USA.(They want to bring down America)
Next, Washington imposed a corporate tax rate of 35 percent, raking off another 15 percent of autoworkers’ wages in Social Security payroll taxes
State governments imposed income and sales taxes, and local governments property taxes to subsidize services and schools.
Greed on three sides {Union, government, management} is killing the U.S. automotive industry. None want to give in an inch but all three want to give themselves OUR money.
“I dissent. What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II”.
Don’t you know? Making things in this country is so 20th century.
One third of the cost of an auto is made up of taxation and regulations. I firmly believe that the elites are doing this on purpose to bring Americans to their knees. Just look at what they have done to free trade. It’s destroying America.
I'm sorry for your ignorance, but foreign autos being manufactured and sold in the US send a much greater percentage of profit back to their homleand than do US autos being manufactured anywhere. Here is the bottom line, about 76% of all profits from foreign auto sales goes back into that foreign country's economy, whereas about 36% of all profits from "Detroit" cars goes back into the American economy. Though a Toyota plant may assemble some autos in the US, they source the vast majority of their materials and parts from other countries. When replacement parts are needed for these Toyotas in America, those parts are not not manufactured in the US, but in Japan and elsewhere. This literally forces Detroit to use cheaper materials than its foreign competitors, just to remain competitive enough to stay alive. And that is but one reason why some foreign autos are "better" than US cars. But even this is changing today.
There are other reasons as well, not the least of them being that foreign nations place many restrictions on the importation of US cars, (heavy taxation, foreign protectionist trade laws, etc), while the US does NOTHING to counteract this outrageously unfair trade practice. Detroit isn't nearly as stupid as are the goons, cons and dimwits who run the United States governemnt.
Gov’t regulates labor laws —> Creating all-powerful unions
Strong Unions —> Steel Industry bankrupt
Strong Unions —> Airline Industry bankrupt
Strong Unions —> Education System bankrupt
Strong Unions —> Auto Industry bankrupt
Gov’t regulations lead to out-of-control costs in the financial industry —> Gov’t control under the guise of a bailout
Gov’t regulations lead to out-of-control costs in the medical industry —> Gov’t wants to control under the guise of lowering costs
Gov’t regulations of the drilling lead to domestic shortages in the oil industry —> Gov’t wants to control under the guise of windfall profits
Do we see a pattern here?
Who the hell is speaking for us?
The political party that does not say they are for "the little guy" every 2 seconds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.