Kingfrog

The bank bailout argument is lame. Certainly you are not putting the entire US banking system with worldwide effect, on par with a single tired US automobile manufacturer.

Would you call your FDIC INSURED by the GOVERNMENT a bailout if YOUR bank went under. I think you would be screaming for your money as would EVERY other American, not just 10% of the workforce......many of which would go to work for the other manufacturers who would have to pick up the slack. Someone is going to buy the 150k MAlibu replacement cars next year and someone is going to get that business, Maybe Ford.....

The buyers will still be there. They will have a few less choices thats all.

We had 10% Unemployment in the 70's. We survived. We will do it again. Huge and many tech companies went under 8 years ago..We survived. Even many of those who lost jobs on Wall Street are getting jobs in other areas of the country for less money but they can live as well.

ChevyMgr

My HHR has 4 tires and a spare??? My argument is lame?? Every thread you have trashed with your talk show BS is what is really lame. Lay off the AM radio for awhile!

FDIC money is paid by premiums to the government from insured banks (get your facts straight by reading up on the subject). The fund is there. Now if your beloved banks fail because they ripped off the public with shady loans,sub prime loans and credit cards for anyone that wants them whether they can pay them or not...that's their problem. As for the rest of your statement..blah blah blah

More of the same...blah blah blah. I really hoped after 2 other threads got locked that you had quit. But you are obsessed with this subject and JUST CAN'T LET IT GO. I think you need to start a economic forum of your own to spout your non stop BS!

Edit: What a shame this was my 2000th post...sort of took the excitement out of it.

XXL

Kingfrog

Perhaps you should heed your own signature......

"A government big enough to give you what you want is big enough to take it away"

There is NO insurance against bad business decisions. Deal with it. You don;t like alternative opinion don't respond to it


BTW I have no idea who is on the AM radio where you live, but I suggest you listen them.....I have my own ideas and opinion.
Been there done it...bought the T-Shirt,

ChevyMgr

Who is giving the money away? Everything stated by the media states LOAN. Big difference.

And don't quote me if you DON'T want a response.

Glad to see you got a t-shirt (whatever that is suppose to mean).

Go back and look at your posts for the last 2 months. They are all on this subject. Get a life outside your bitter feelings about GM and your HHR.

You hate your car because a trim piece came off of on the liftgate. Funny how you are the only post on that subject. Maybe it was user error. I've never seen that problem and I see a lot more HHRs than most.

Go ahead and quote me and type some more blah blah blah...I am done responding to you on this because your hate for GM exceeds any common sense statement I could make.

Kingfrog

Would any person or bank LOAN GM money? There's your answer..You loan to people who CAN pay it back. GM may not be able to. They are going to the government because no one will loan them a dollar, no one is buying their bonds, and selling the stock. This is not new. This has been an ongoing concern with GM.

Yes I am passionate about the issue of "bailouts" because thats what it will be if GM finally takes a final bow due their OWN management. Imagine a dealer who won;t take in ANY Chevy under warranty for weeks. That's what I ran into.
I busted them at their own game. And you wonder why GM is in trouble and I do not support taxpayer money being "loaned" to them?? Let them file Chapter 11 and get a judge to decide
I will assure you I'm not th only one who had their steering column replaced, who had the grip cup pull out, who had ignition keys getting stuck, who had a leaking sunroof, who has had to replace rotors.....all under 15k miles..

Catch a clue. I like the car. I hate the quality, All form.


Hmm so what "premiums" did GM pay to the government to insure against their failure? Those banks were FORCED to make sub Prime loans by the Clinton administration. NObama sued banks that refused to representing that major "Think Tank" ACORN. Please spare me. I understand you are scared to death of your job. Thats not the US taxpayers problem, It wasn't in the 70's under Carter when the Steel industry collapsed. It's not now. All the "depression" scare tactics won't work. This country has gone through a major Depression, many deep recessions a tech bubble (which Clintonites look at as real growth and economic success in the 90's when it was a giant Wall Street Ponzi scheme that was responsible for the Government surplus) which then burst and then 9-11 which was planned under his watch.

We can get through the loss of GM. Ford will survive. Vendors will get leaner an meaner. The UAW will lose it's foothold on Autoworkers, The surviving brands will sell more cars, needing more people to build, service and sell them. Maybe the existing dealers will be more scrupulous in their selling tactics as well.

It will not be Armageddon for the country if GM goes under like some would have you believe.

Hamer1

I really don't see much difference between AIG and the "big 3". Maybe the auto companies management wasn't that good but AIG's management blows also but yet they get 150 billion of taxpayer money to fix their problems. Then they give part our money to the managers of the company not as a bonus( because they aren't going to give bonuses) they call it some kind of a retention fee. I bet the corporate managers didn't get rid of their planes either. I would rather give the "big 3" 14 billion to help 3 companies and hopefully save the average workers jobs. I just think it's the same old double standard again. As long as the rich keep getting righer who cares about the peons. As far as the brilliant idea of letting them go into chapter 11 that's also a bunch of crap. I have yet to talk to anyone who would buy a car from anyone in chapter 11. I haven't bought an american car since 1992 but before I got the HHR I had heard the quality was on par with the foreign companies. So far no real problems. I would rather support an American company. BY the way my sister-in-law bought a new Solara it has been in the shop more than my so called piece of junk GM.

3amigos

If you want to save the US Auto Industry - you need to be revolutionary, not evolutionary. GM Europe is carrying GM America; Ford Europe is carrying Ford America. Ford and Cerebus (Chryslers holding company) have enough cash reserves to weather the storm for now. Ford did so by mortgaging it's assets, Cerebus owns many businesses. Remember the movie "The Betsy"? Remember when they said that they were not going to pin the future of the auto company on one car - and Sir Olivier stated "This company was founded on one car". This sentiment holds true for the American manufacturers.
Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac get one to two models. Chevy, three to four. Corvette becomes it's own brand. GMC closed. Saturn becomes Opel instead of just a rebadged one. Hummer gone. SAAB - one model.
Second - the government helps the environmentalists, and the car manufacturers by changing the taxing on diesel fuel and gasoline - so diesel is cheaper (just like in Europe). Second - we align our safety standards with Europe (i.e. - European standards regulate airbag strength for a 110 kilo [220 lb] restrained driver whereas NHTSA standards are for an unrestrained 200 lb person. Safety Belts and Helmets are there for a reason - and just like the guy who refuses to wear a helmet - and may pay so with his life - the same thing should be in place for those who don't belt up.
This way the companies can A - save money in meeting a single set of safety standards, and B - import their high mileage diesel powered cars....
Third - Drop the redundant models - i.e. - Enclave, Traverse and Acadia; Explorer and Mountaineer, Silverado and Sierra, etc.
Fourth - Make vehicles like the F-350, K3500 available to businesses and contractors only. This keeps CAFE standards higher because people would settle for smaller and more fuel efficient models.
Fifth - Start making Diesel/Electric Hybrids - the locomotive industry has had this technology for years. Imagine a truck with a diesel engine powering a generator that was powering an electric motor at each wheel...
Finally - Give government grants and rewards to universities and institutes which come up with new ideas..i.e. - make the Presidential Limousine look like nothing else on the road - and equip it with the latest technology - diesel /electric hybrid, LED lighting, etc. Trickle that technology down to everyone else.

The glass is not half empty. Everything I stated is achievable. Sure you need to rethink the unions, Executive packages, etc.

Kingfrog

I agree with almost all you said. Big oil has dragged its feet on alternative energy for obvious reasons and strong lobbying has kept it so.. Diesel Electric is a good thing. Witness the free fall in gasoline prices. They are making it financially impossible at these prices to pay for alternative energy technology. The US makers should Adapt the model of the imports all the way down to the bottom in pay scale and benefits all the way up the ladder and lose the UAW. Henry Ford is dead........a long time. They had their time of need.

3amigos

I agree with what you said 100%. Paying a guy who was laid off 95% of his pay is ridiculous. What incentive is there for him to find; another job or even get off his butt to do so. As far as the executive salaries - hey if your company is making bank I have no problem if you are. If your company is going to Uncle Sam (and ultimately the American Folk) to bail you out..then you deserve 6.95 an hour. Big Oil needs a lesson in hard knocks. When gas was at $4.00 a gallon, ExxonMobil logged it's highest quarterly profit ever. No Sh*t? Really? People had to decide between fuel or rent? Huh.