I hope we all realize that the main difference between the Detroit 3 and everyone else is the incredible legacy costs of retiree's benefits and pensions along with some 30 year old burdensome UAW contracts. So shame on GM, Ford and Chrysler for being feeders to the U.S. economy for the past 100 years! Shame on you for helping build a middle class in this country! Shame on you for helping create jobs through your factories and the suppliers that feed the factories and the local stores and restaurants that feed those workers and so on and so on. Shame on you for paying a good wage to a blue collar worker so they can be an active consumer in our marketplace and send their kids to college! Shame on you for creating a pension and health benefit plans for retirees of all levels that rewarded years of loyalty to your organization! Shame on you for keeping property taxes low in the communities where you have a presence! How dare you pay so much in taxes, give so much in charity and give back so much to the local communities! How greedy can you get!
Have they been perfect through the years? No. Guess what? Neither has our government - where deficit spending is business as usual. Do you remember the Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey? Did George make some mistakes along the way? Hell yeah! Then why did the whole town bail HIM out at the end of the movie? Simple. Because he gave so much to so many for so long. Sound familiar? It was the town's opportunity to say thank you. Maybe Sen. Shelby from Alabama needs a visit from Clarence the Angel so he can see how things would be if the Detroit 3 were never born.
4 comments:
I don't blame the big 3 for this problem either, but these companies need to get over their arrogance. I met a guy recently who proposed a new product that would save millions on gas...he first proposed his innovation to the big 3, and you know what? Each of the three companies rejected his proposal. Guess what company ended up buying this product? You got it...Toyota...then later Honda. Look at the companies dominating the consumer market right now...it's the companies who adopted this new product.
Maybe all three of these companies made a mistake...but...idk i'm tired and got nothing left right now...
Well, Tommy, I'd been wondering about the "Wonderful Life" thing for years! But every year, I also think THIS will be the year Uncle Billy remembers where the money went!
Nice thought....truly, as the Good Bok says, "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone"
Gary
This is politics at its worst. I don't have a problem with the interrogation of these individuals, nor the scrutinization of their respective business plans, models, etc., as it is part of any loan application process. Having said that, the GRANDSTANDING that is taking place is intolerable. Casting stones, with the benefit of hindsight, in addition to the fact that it is very likely that none of these politicians have ever managed a multi-billion dollar corporation, makes them ill-suited to cast judgement, let alone control the fate of these companies (and our future). It is obvious that mistakes have been made, so consult the experts; establish benchmarks; advance loan proceeds, in stages; and hold them accountable to improvement! Change is needed and it is likely some jobs will be lost, regardless of whether their bailed out or not, but we owe it to the 3 million + people, who will be immediately impacted, by this decision, an opportunity to make this work. Is it a gamble, sure, but it's one worth taking.
In the meantime, each of us can help by buying american made products. It took this recession, to drive the importance of this home for me (I drive a Toyota Camry), but the next car I buy will be a General Motors, Ford or Chrysler product.
Will your next car be american made? A hypocrite at its finest...
Post a Comment