Posted on 02/21/2010 4:31:28 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
Internal Toyota documents derided the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as activist and not industry friendly," a revelation that comes days before the giant automaker's top executives testify on Capitol Hill amid a giant recall.
According to a presentation obtained under subpoena by the House Oversight and Government Relations committee, Toyota referred to the changing political environment as one of its main challenges and anticipated a "more challenging regulatory" environment under the Obama administration's purview.
This document, in addition to piles of other records, will be front and center this week as the Japanese automaker girds to face lawmakers hungry for answers about a recall that has the company teetering.
Upwards of 8 million cars have been recalled in the U.S. and worldwide, amid reports of Toyota's vehicles accelerating rapidly. The problems have turned political, as the company has shuttered some American factories, potentially resulting in layoffs.
The oversight committee, which is led by Democrat Ed Towns of New York and Republican Darrell Issa of California, will seek to discover if Toyota was forthright in disclosing problems with rapid acceleration and if the government was responsible and quick in investigating such complaints.
Toyota has launched an image rehabilitation campaign on Capitol Hill, and its top lobbyist has sent emails to Congressional aides in an attempt to shape its image amid this crisis.
Committee aides say the presentation, which was obtained by POLITICO, gives the clearest view into the minds of Toyota executives.
Aides believe the presentation was an explanatory slideshow prepared to explain the inner-workings of Toyotas Washington lobbying operations. It includes a responsibility flow chart, in addition to resources the office calls upon, including The Brookings Institution and the Chamber of Commerce.
The slideshow is titled Toyota Washington, DC and the cover sheet is labeled Yoshi Inaba the president of Toyota North America, who is slated to testify.
It is a peek into how Toyota executives view the American political environment.
The Activist Administration & Congress increasing laws & regulations is listed as one of Toyota Challenges, as is Massive government support for Detroit automakers.
The July 2009 presentation also says the Department of Transportation and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration under Obama administration is not industry friendly, and anticipates a more challenging regulatory and enforcement environment.
It says the NHTSA new team has less understanding of engineering issues and are primarily focused on legal issues.
While the administration may have changed, the bureaucracy itself has not and we must ensure that government regulators give every possible consumer concern its due diligence, said Republican Oversight spokesman Kurt Bardella.
Please post translations of the articles when you can.
That feeling their feeling in the Toyota boardroom ain't all that grand.
A little late to the party now aren't they....
Just look what they did to essentially a poor man's Porsche...
I’d rather had the first 500 employees on Toyota’s roster in Congress than the fruitbats we have now
well i coulda’ told ya’ that & i’m not even Japanese/s
does anyone have that image where the guy in a stasi-style uniform has a pistol pointed to the head of a kid and underneath there’s something written liek “We’re Not Done With Toyota Yet or something like that??? i’ve been looking all over for that since this sotry broke this afternoon if you have it could you post it?
The list, ping
It was the Dems who nuked Japan. Just saying.
(they would be the first to say it about Republicans IF true)
Wow, guys, you just get that figured out now?
Members of my family buy and sell cars for a living i.e. wholesalers, and sooner or later just helping move cars around auction areas I pretty much get to drive everything which you’d normally ever see rolling. Of cars which the non rich drive, Hondas, Toyotas and Nissan cars are heads and shoulders above everything else.
Toyota has yet to fly an aircraft into one of our skyscrapers.
This is code talk for a warning to Bummer: keep up this lopsided attention on us and we will support every Republican challenger to the hilt.
I tried finding it, but zilch.
i do appreciate the effort i have no idea where to look for that.......
I’d miss them, I’ve owned some fine products from them over the years...but i wouldn't blame them one bit.
EVERY auto company has recalls, has had millions of them over the years! Toyota is NO different, and the only reason they are a target of the demonrat congress and the white house is because the are moving a plant to a different location, and none of them will be UNION. Oh the horror /s.
Sinister and frightening! That can’t be overstated.
To be fair, Jo, Rush has covered Toyota and these recalls quite extensively.
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