Posted on 11/16/2008 5:22:26 AM PST by gusopol3
The election results represent an exercise in poetic justice in that Barack Obama is inheriting a set of problems largely of his own ideology's making. The kicker is that the solutions likely to emerge based on that ideology make it all too likely that the problems will remain intractable.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
The reason we’re “bailing out” the financial industry is because the PROBLEM we face with the $700 billion is a credit crisis. It’s not a manufacturing crisis. The credit problem means that no short term money is available to run businesses like GM. That’s a problem that would not must slow down the world economy, it would shut it down. As in stop. Those who now try to siphon bailout money for other unrelated problems are just sucking at the taxpayer tit. This is why the union fat cats are trying to tie their miserable record of labor management to the current credit crisis as they say “it’s not my fault; we’re victims - so they can get their own piece of the action. But they are no victims of the credit crisis; GM is still running 8 assembly lines (too many), still burning cash (too much), etc.
Maybe we will just pick up our new GM cars in cardboard boxes and assemble them ourselves.
"Your new GM car can be built with these simple tools." (Drawing of a flat blade screwdriver and adjustable wrench).
"Follow these simple 982-page assembly instructions and don't call the 800 number for tech support until you have reviewed our FAQ on-line at buildyourowndreamride.com"
"Note: The installation of brakes is optional but highly recommended."
bump
“And Washington will determine what the automakers manufacture and how, not the buying public”
The Socialist Republic of Obama will promise a Trabant in every garage.
True. The big 3 have time honored tradition of producing cars that nobody wants. They occasionally hit on big sellers like the Mustang but also made the Pinto for far more years than it deserved to live.
Are we to believe that GM's entire business is run on credit? They have no money on hand and every week they borrow money to pay wages and bills? If that is so then it's not a money issue it's a management issue.
Why would I make an argument that I don't believe?
No Bailout / Nationalization!!!
How about the Unions bailing them out, taking a big ownership position and then being responsible for failure (MOST likely) or success.
Surprising article coming from Philadelphia Inquirer.
There is one other angle to the Amtrak boondoggle. Because of the unions, Amtrak is too expensive to survive on its own, the ticket prices would be much too high. A little nugget the unions included in the beginning to insure THEIR survival was that any employee fired or terminated for any reason would receive six years severance pay.
GM and Ford need to hold a press conference and explain the greedy unions have put them on the edge of a cliff, and if they don’t accept a 25% pay cut across the board effective immediately, they will file bankruptcy and move the plants to a country that doesn’t have forced unions, so they can be competitive going forward. Let the country know why they are going down, and how much they are overpaying the employees to the penny.
indeed you wouldn’t, therefore your argument seems to be “throw good money after bad.”
Those same bloated benefits apply to fedgov.
I admire your notion of the phrase, “little nugget.”
Our reitement funds have disappeared and now they want us to pay for auto workers retirement benefits?
Crazy is when people do the same things over and over and expect different results; auto makers are crazy and so is Congress!
Eventually, they might have no alternative. If the government is truly hell-bent on saving the automobile unions, they'd probably find a way to "level the playing field" by forcing unionism on the foreign manufacturers currently operating here, and placing huge tariffs (once more, to "level the playing field") on imports.
I just did the same, even though my representatives like Jeff Miller, and Mel Martinez are total morons. Martinez is a frickin RINO all the way, and was in Bush’s back pocket on every issue. I to will never buy another American auto, if this bailout is allowed. Ditch the unions, there are plenty of non-union jobs at stake to see Big Auto build something more efficiently.
There were no parallels. This is just unthinking FReeper negativity. The railroads wanted to get out of the passenger business altogther because it was unprofitable. The government decided some passenger rail service was necessary. The railroads have since been thriving as freight carriers and Amtrak, like the airlines, has survived with government subsidies.
Business will join with Obama to get health care off of their backs on to the backs of the taxpayer. Business will say the current health care system makes them less competitive globally.
The Unions killed the Golden Goose, they have shown NO RESTRAINT or common sense . . .anyone hear about Nissan or Toyota needing help ? They build cars in the USA also, but without out of control Unions. No company can afford to layoff people and pay them 90% of normal pay for a year while they do not work.
Same for California, State Workers retirement Benefits equal that of the United States Military.
California has enough income to run ANY STATE in the nation, except California. How’s that Open Border Policy of the last 20 years working out for ya ?
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