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I hate to see GM going down the tubes like they are, but will a bailout really change anything? Being from MI, I know people who've been adversly affected by Ford and GM cutting jobs. I guess I'd have to study more into it before I would be able to cast an educated vote. GM is going through money like an Alaskan governor buying clothing (sorry, couldn't resist). I am going to say the money for any GM bailout would be gone rather quickly with little positive results. Maybe someone out there who's smarter can sway me one way or the other.
My daughter's lemonaid stand didn't do well this past summer, would she be entitled to a government bailout too?
In principle, no. Also no to subsidizing housing deadbeats.
In practice we are where we are. It seems that the president elect's first order of business is pushing through a rescue package for US automakers. Business as usual, then.
As I mentioned in the other thread, if they have to do it, then at least on the condition that they roll out alternative-energy cars and possibly go into the production of mass transit vehicles. This assumes a comprehensive government program to invest in alternative energy and infrastructure.
I realize that this too is wishful thinking.
The guilds have it. Read about the decline of the Italian city states and Venice.
No they should not be bailed out. They have been making bad decisions for years. They won't stop just because they get help. Look at Airlines- they have no clue how to run a business and they never learned either.
Gm should have known "from a business standpoint" pensions, unions, retirement packages are "no good for a company". And then the idiots compounded their problems by doing 0% financing. Pay people a good salary, make a good product and let employees take care of themselves.
If I were congress I'd bail them out only under specific conditions.
One of which is that they change directions with their product line overall. They need to build good quality fuel efficient cars....not $h!tboxes with wheels that happen to get good fuel economy. GM seems to be trying...but nothing seems to really get off the ground. The Volt seems like a good car concept but it's too expensive for what it is. They just need something to keep up with the market today. Hybrids.
And they need to build fewer trucks and SUV's. If fuel usage is a problem then the government needs to regulate the number of gas guzzlers that can be produced. And hey...if they're the ones bailing the auto industry out then they make the call.
They need to spend the money to re-tool their existing factories in the US to build these cars here....not shut the doors on these plants and ship all the work to Mexico. They need to keep the jobs where they are and salvage as many of them as they can. If not then bailing them out does nothing to support our economy. It's the workers that keep it going by paying their bills and being consumers. If they aren't paying their bills and buying goods then that's where the problem starts.
But by the same token they've got to shut out the UAW. This will be an endless cycle if not. Assembly workers have to understand that only having a high school education doesn't entitle them to have a $70k salary, benefits, pension that someone who graduated from college gets. Sorry.
Once a corporation gets too large it has to fail. Otherwise it will be feeding high-level excecutives with outrageous compensation, and towing behind union salaries and retirement benefits that exceed its profits. Just let the whole thing implode and all that mess goes away. Liquidate the assets and let someone else start over. Of course in order to work the government needs to remove union requirements and high taxes, otherwise the new cars will be built in Alabama.
Wake up people... The $25 Billion that is already allocated to the auto industry IS FOR retooling and advancing to future products. The Gov isn't giving them cash to do with what they want. They just need the already allocated funds immediately, not a few months from now.
By receiving it now it will free up cash they are currently using for retooling. Last I saw on CNBC yesterday, it was reported that Obama is planning on doubling funds to $50 billion with the additional $25 billion to be used for pensions to free up even more cash for them to advance themselves which is what they WANTS to do and are trying to do.
Everyone will sit and criticize US auto for not building what people want, I beg to differ as the big SUV's were EXACTLY what everyone wanted for the last 10 years. And as soon as gas went through the roof, all of the sudden nobody wanted those anymore and started screaming about it. What, does everyone think US auto should be able to pull a completely different model vehicle out of their butts in the drop of a hat ? What, did everyone expect the Auto industry to have a crystal ball ? Why not right, it's obvious the rest of the world has one... I guess this GLOBAL crisis is just an illusion !
Be realistic, US auto can't fail ! It effects too many other industries WORLDWIDE. If it does The Great Depression will look like a small pullback in comparison to what will come from it !
I wouldn't care except I work for a GM dealership, and so does my wife.
I don't mean this to antagonize you, but this attitude is the problem. You should care regardless if your work is related to the industry, because you depend on the stability of that sector indirectly even if you don't work under said industry. Standard american attitude of "I'll continue watching football until I go to the ATM and my own checking account reads zero".
actually i was hoping to join the poll to the other conversation already started on the GM bailout. could a moderator or someone combine the posts because it is all addressing the same issue?
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