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Posted on 11/29/2008 5:04:06 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The residents of this town are learning to enjoy Korean barbecue, and are wary of bailing out American automakers. 'The foreign cars took the lead, and they deserve it,' says one.
This attractive old mill town along the Chattahoochee River, with its brick downtown and streets of cozy, unpretentious homes, could be the backdrop for a patriotic American car commercial -- lacking only the plaintive croak of a Bob Seger or John Mellencamp.
But America's Big Three automakers, which are teetering at a financial abyss, shouldn't expect much sympathy here.
Kia Motors, the South Korean automaker, is building a plant in town, promising 2,500 jobs to help replace a textile industry that has all but vanished. The locals are excited to have nonunion work that will start at about $14 per hour. They are discovering the joys of bulgogi -- a different kind of barbecue -- at the Korean restaurants popping up.
And many are wondering why Detroit still thinks it's so special that it can ask taxpayers for a $25-billion bailout.
"The foreign cars took the lead, and they deserve it," said Emile Earles, owner of Sweet Georgia Brown, a gift shop on a quiet downtown thoroughfare.
Earles, 60, said she is fed up with Detroit -- fed up with its fat labor contracts, its arrogant CEOs and even her Cadillac, which gets only 15 miles per gallon and cost her dearly when gas spiked to $4.
Buying American, she added, "is still a big deal. But you can only be patriotic until you can't afford it anymore."
Such sentiments represent more than a marketing problem for the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, who will return to Congress next week to argue that a federal cash infusion will help them avoid bankruptcy.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
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it’s with beef ribs
Well, there was a day when the auto makers could give into the workers ever-growing demands and pass the cost of the whole compensation package on to the public in the form of higher new car prices. Those days are over.
man I love sweet and spicy, salty and vinegary and beefy!
Ok, then its not much different than Thai...cool.
Wild oinkers around here get cooked with brown sugar, soy, ginger, pepper and garlic. Its all good then.
Q: What do they call a Korean with more than one dog?
A: A rancher.
The "Big 3" can't figure out this simple formula to compete in a global market? Or they don't have the courage to do it?
Either way, it's business. No bail out. Same for the banks.
It looks as though the $420 million consisted of free land, taxpayer-funded training, and a new interstate interchange. I'm a fan of free markets, but even I can see that there's quite a difference between luring a productive company to your state v. propping up a failed business model.
***snicker***
Maybe you haven’t heard of the Cobalt SS
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/13/in-the-autobog-garage-2009-chevy-cobalt-ss-turbo/
Cool. Most people around here commute to LaGrange or Newnan. Some commute to Atlanta. I moved back here from an area in PA that started pretty rural when I moved there and ended up where you could barely find green anywhere. While I welcome the business, I don’t want to see this area become like that. I grew up here and it hasn’t changed much, except out at the interstate. I’d love to keep it that way.
yeah compared to some americans that eat opossum and others that eat nothing but garbage out of a box and full of chemicals.
“Yeah, but taxpayers already had a gun put to their head when Kia was given $420 million in taxpayer subsidies to open there, too.”
Thats what is done to attract business to communities. Perhaps you’d be happier if they went someplace else.
Lots of states help with the upfront construction costs of building a factory to give companies a chance but that is a bit different from a bailout, which props up the failure of established companies.
A bailout sends the market the message that if you do the right thing, it doesn’t matter because the companies that screw up and are “too big to fail” will stay in power.
“I’m a fan of free markets, but even I can see that there’s quite a difference between luring a productive company to your state v. propping up a failed business model.”
Sure seems that way. Its the city competing on the open market to get this business. In the long run they’ll make money by increasing tax revenue.
That's chump change in comparison to other pork. I'm willing to bet that the taxpayer has already made that $420 million back and then some.
A bailout sends the market the message that if you do the right thing, it doesn’t matter because the companies that screw up and are “too big to fail” will stay in power.
The Big 3 are looking for loans, not a bailout. I'm the first to acknowledge that the unions need to be destroyed, but the automakers have made major restructuring in the past few years and in 2010 their labor costs will rival the foreign automakers as a result of the last deal. The taxpayer subsidies given to Kia and the other foreign makers far exceed, per job, the loans requested by the Big 3.
” I have no interest in ever returning to Japan “
Why not ? Just curious .
you don’t want this to be at the expense of higher taxes in general. You don’t want politicians choosing Kia at the exclusion of other companies simply because Kia’s lobbyists gave them a better deal.
I had a Honda Prelude that was already eleven years old when I bought it, a little beauty, it only ever required a small leak in its radiator that needed repairing, I loved that car. When I eventually bought a Merc (I could finally afford it) my Dad took over the Honda and got another two years out of it zipping around town like a 19 year old boy racer he said, he was 70 at the time.
Can’t beat Hondas.
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