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 ...
“The taxpayer subsidies given to Kia and the other foreign makers far exceed, per job, the loans requested by the Big 3. “
HUH? The big 3 already have $25 BILLION in a loan to restructure. Now they have asked for an additional $25 BILLION.
You’re saying that the other companies have received more than $50 BILLION in federal dollars?
If the market makes a substantial upturn, my next vehicle is going to be either a KIA or a HUNDAI............probably a used one but who can afford a new American car?
“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.”
These kind of towns don’t have all that many offers for companies like this to come in. Towns like this are out selling themselves to get more businesses. Without business these towns will cease to exist.
At least its being done at the local level where people actually have a say in what happens. Not the federal level where the average person has no input.
the issue wasn’t the loans but to give them funds from TARP
“The White House yesterday threw its support behind a plan to speed release of $25 billion in existing loans to the Big Three U.S. automakers but rejected a Democratic proposal to use money from a financial bailout to help the troubled industry.”
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20081115/BUSINESS/811150420/
per job, not total
We will always have used Saabs to buy! :)
Owned a 1985 Honda Civic CRX till 1995 then my current 1995 Honda Del Sol........ Getting some rust now but still runs like a champ.
That buggy couldn’t survive a wreck with my WheelHorse garden tractor........
Dean Moriarty hunched over the wheel, driving the new Hudson into the American night.
It is too sad.
oh I tend to agree with this kind of policy a lot more at the local level, a bit less on the state level and not much at all at the federal level (unless the govt in question was a developing country). You just have to be careful, that you are going after real companies like Kia and not just anything for purely political reasons.
Per job? That doesn’t even make sense. Especially when the Big 3 are paying people full wages for NOT working.
“You just have to be careful, that you are going after real companies like Kia and not just anything for purely political reasons.”
Absolutely, there are cases were smaller towns made bad deals. But thats the free market right? Some people win and some people lose.
I dunno, I’m not sure I want to eat puppy.
There are several Korean barbeque dishes described here.
The one I remember most from my tour is bulgogi
Corolla cost $20000??? I live in SF/ bay area and here you can get LE fully loaded for $14000 + tax.
Do they make that in a size 46 tall, 34” inseam?
Well, the perfect time for the Big 3 to restructure and get rid of the unions and fat pensions was back in 1992. It was a perfect storm and they should have all closed shop in Detroit and moved down South.
yes, if a town screws up, I could move to one of any of the thousands of other towns out there. If a state screws up, I only have 49 others to choose from. If the Feds screw up, I really have no other choice.
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