Obama adviser warns automakers

There is a class bias here. White-collar workers and Republicans think they are entitled to a bailout, while the blue-collar workers can't even get a loan, which in the long run, would make money for the taxpayers. Blue-collar workers have to contend with physical dangers, of all kinds, especially if management does not want to spend the money to make for a safe workplace !! It happens all of the time. They put in a hard days work, physically and mentally and they should be compensated for their efforts. Just as the white-collar worker works hard and should be justly compensated. The problem lies with management, in both groups of workers. They are getting compensated for what? For doing the upper-level managers and owners, dirty work, making extremely and obvious, bad decisions, disrespecting workers and in some cases harassing union members, preventing unions from forming, union busting....which is all the Republican party cares about anyway. The Republicans, since the first Incompetent, President Reagan, until the most recent version of the Incompetent One, President Bush, they have all did their best to destroy the union movement in America and like most things, Republican, they have failed miserably, Thank God !! The union is the only real defense the worker has to protect him- or herself, from an unjust and punitive manager or owner.

The Republicons can kiss Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, good-bye. I don't think those voters will have much use for the Republicons, if they torpedo the Democrats' attempt at salvaging the ( Not so) Big 3 !! The Wingnuts can blindly throw $700 Billion Bailout for their Buddies in the Banking Scandal, but not the a cent for the 3 Million workers and their families !!?
No wonder, the Republicons were trounced in the general election !!

This is another signal that the UAW must be satisfied before the Dems will support a bailout. We'll all be better off if the carmakers reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The leaders of the "Big Three" automakers have tremendous responsibility on their backs. They are responsible for millions of jobs. They are responsible for a certain pride that some US citizens feel about the products that are "made in the USA". While they are responsible for all of that, they do not seem to me to be able to live up to that responsibility. The CEO of Toyota earns compensation of one million US dollars per year. Toyota operates in the black. The "Big Three" CEO's each get paid more than ten million US dollars per year...while their companies all operate in the red.The Big 3 CEO's each flew to DC last week in their own private jets...to ask congress to lend them taxpayer dollars to help their companies survive. The picture was compared by some to poor people wearing tuxedos, arriving at a soup kitchen for a free dinner. The Big Three have embraced hybrids reluctantly, have promoted SUV's and sport pickups instead of vehicles that offer fuel efficiency. While the Japanese companies and the South Korean companies have continuously improved the quality if the cars they build in the US market for US consumers...the Big Three have been dragged, kicking and screaming in protest as consumers demanded better quality vehicles. Sadly, the time may be past for the American auto industry to save itself. They get another opportunity in December. Maybe they can find the humility and the insight they'll need to save their industry. We will see.

White collar workers aren't the ones wanting the bailout. Lets make this crystal clear, Republicans are the ones who are able to get their heads out of their asses and get a bailout when they need one, it's called getting a job, it's the lazy liberals wanting everyone to bail them out along with their union cohorts.

Republicans for years have supported companies thriving on their own and going down when they can't support a business by themselves. It's a matter of survival of the fitist and that is pure conservatism at it's best.

If we lose auto industry, we lose energy reform. The American auto industry is the last bastion of competitive heavy manufacturing - and that is absolutely essential to retain it if we are to rebuild our aging energy and transportation infrastructure.

We need the tool makers, stampers, foundries, controls makers, gear makers, etc. etc. If they are lost, we will have to import both the designs and the parts - and we won't own any of it.

With all its warts, the auto industry is our last hope to get our mojo back. Even if the auto industry limps along for another 5 years, just long enough to give us time to re-purpose its assets, that's time we desperately need.

Republicans haven't learned a thing from the beatdown they got in the last two elections. Sure bail out the rich wall street sectors but not the middle class. I would also like to add that your Republican adminsitration for the past eight years gave no push for the auto industry to have incesntive to come up with new and better ideas. Not to mention that the auto industries best performing cars are not even introduced into the American market yet. You guys only care about the rich Wall Street companies that dont give a damn about the average American. For Republicans this is all about Union Busting, period, end of story.

The forgotten men and women in this bailout for excessive pay and poor management would be the taxpayers who will ultimately pay the bill for it.

bite the bullett-- you don"t get it. Bankruptcy 4 GM would be short__ and the UAW has the pension strings if GM goes bankrupt==that's for 20 years now.
The ENTIRE ECONOMY will crash (all those little manufacturers and diners and hospitals, and small businesses will go under---and they won't come back.

The Congressional hearings were obviously an eye-opening experience for the Dems. No way that those executives should be given carte blanche with $50 billion to simply survive for another three months.

A consensus will grow around a government-protected bankruptcy maneuver.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Bush could make this a really special Thanksgiving holiday by resigning next weekend.

Seriously. We have an economy that’s crashing and a vacuum at the top. Bush — who is currently on a trip to Peru to meet with Asian leaders who no longer care what he thinks — hasn’t got the clout, or possibly even the energy, to do anything useful. His most recent contribution to resolving the fiscal crisis was lecturing representatives of the world’s most important economies on the glories of free-market capitalism.

Putting Barack Obama in charge immediately isn’t impossible. Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We’re desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she’d defer to her party’s incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing.

As a bonus, the Pelosi presidency would put a woman in the White House this year after all. On the downside, a few blowhard AM radio right-wing talk-show hosts might succumb to apoplexy. That would, of course, be terrible, but I’m afraid we might have to take the risk in the name of a greater good.

That "hearing" sort of turned into a game of "chicken".

Posturing, devoid of any thing that sounded like a "plan" on eithr side.

Maybe they should revert to one of their favorite ideas:

The non-recourse commission.

A Base Closing Commision for American industry.

Let the Industrial Reorganization Commission just decide who gets what , what plants are closed, who gets f.ired.

Congress could then do a Pontius Pilate.

After all, that's what they're planning to do to social security & medicare:
The Entitlement Readjustment Commission.

Republicans for years have supported companies thriving on their own and going down when they can't support a business by themselves. It's a matter of survival of the fitist and that is pure conservatism at it's best.

Posted by: Teresa | November 23, 2008 3:04 PM

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I wouldn't normally wish this on anyone but I would love to see a knuckledragging rightwing lunitic fringer like you lose your job just so you can see the other side of your stupid "survival of the fittest" meme.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhDc_EEDKaQ&feature=related
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US automakers tout the good qualities of their cars, but how many of them have a 100,000 mile warranty?...That's one of the main things I, personally look at when I buy a car...why buy a car with a 60,000 mile warranty when Kia , for one, has 100?????

This is not a Republican or Democratic issue; it transcends both political parties both of whom have been at fault from a government point of view one way or another over many years. It is also not just about the auto industry but about our deteriorating manufacturing base, and about our unfettered "free trade" Globalization policies of long standing. But for now, let's stick to this auto industry mess. Some points:
1) The auto industry has been mired in old ways of thinking with out of touch management that has lent a blind eye to developments and trends long term. There has been little, if any, management accountability and the taking of responsibility for its dilemma.
2) CEOs should have long been separated from Company Boards by not being allowed to also wear the Chairman's hat, which in many ways constitutes a conflict of interest whereby shareholder interests are not properly protected and served. In conjunction with this, Boards have been packed by good old boy networks which has exacerbated problems.
3) CEO and management pay, as with other companies, e.g., Wall Street, far exceeds fair and equitable entitlement according to any reasonable standard of merit or common sense. In these times, in particular, CEO and management pay and benefits must be substantially reduce if these companies secure any public financial assistance and for so long as that assistance remains unpaid in full.
4) The long standing link between management and labor (UAW) in terms of overly liberal labor agreements must be ended with agreements brought more into line with cross-industry norms.
5) Much more must be done to improve manufacturing efficiencies and eliminate overlapping product lines where real product differentiation has been stifled and sacrificed.
6) The U.S. auto industry must take lessons from those foreign companies who do build and operate profitable plants in the U.S., and it must do so in conjunction with the Federal Government to ensure that the playing field is fairly leveled to allow for truly effective competition. Government interference must be limited to the greatest extent possible.

I read one republican and four democrats saying no. But, a few on here only read republican. A little bias in your thinking.

If the Automakers are smart, they should shun the bailout and file for bankruptcy. All contracts are thrown out and they can start all over without the crippling deals they have with the unions. It doesn't matter how much money the government gives, if it costs twice as much to make a car in the US than elsewhere because labor costs, the auto industry is doomed no matter how you slice it.

Please check out freep.com (The Detroit Free Press website) for the article "6 myths about the Detroit 3". I've already seen a few bits of these myths.

Regardless what the solution is, there has to be one. I didn't have to see "Roger and Me" to know what happens when automotive jobs dry up, I just had to drive 30 minutes down the road to Flint. It's bad enough that many people can shrug off the loss of 3 million jobs, but I don't think people appreciate the cascade effect on the economy when 3 million jobs are not pumping any capital into their communities. Don't call me pro bailout, I rather see this succeed without one...call me concerned about how my recently retired father from GM...call me concerned about my own job at a major Chrysler supplier...call me concerned about seeing more "Flints" cropping up across the country...call me concerned watching the state I grew up and live in becoming an economic shell of it's former self.

Teresa wrote:
It's a matter of survival of the fitist and that is pure conservatism at it's best

So no job for you that requires basic command of English, then.

Wanda,

Write your own stuff, or at least attribute/quote the words that others have composed.

Your comment was plagiarized from the NY Times' Gail Collins in an article published on the 22nd.

I first have to comment on your knuckledragging....we don't knuckledrag we crawl on our backs because we have to hold up #$%&$ like you who don't want to work. That is your American way.

Dirty Hippy-I agree with Teresa, I worked my way up to a good like and didn't ask for handouts, my husband was layed off twice and we didn't want a bailout we wanted more job opportunities....if these libs hadn't forced us out of our jobs by driving corporations out of the country with their high taxes on them we would have more jobs. I don't want one of your made up GREEN PANT SUIT JOBS from the govt, someone has to pay for that and it shouldn't be those who worked hard.

I think the auto industry execs and DC big wigs are kind of the same. They are out of touch with reality of life in these United States and they don't mind if you get stuck with the bill so long as they get their paychecks, perks, and benefits. NO BAILOUT! Why aren't the airlines lobbying against this? They went bankrupt and are still in business.

Bailout GM or the economy tanks....

Dirty Hippy-I agree with Teresa, I worked my way up to a good like and didn't ask for handouts, my husband was layed off twice and we didn't want a bailout we wanted more job opportunities....
Posted by: Teresa | November 24, 2008 6:41 AM

Besides agreeing with yourself, the rest of your arguement is total bunk. You spend way to much time listening to the garbage spewed by Limpbag and Vannity. Your assumption that liberals don't work is pure stupidity. One of the biggest reasons we are in the fix we're in is due to greed from the bigshots in the financial field. My guess? hardly the "liberal" type. When you're done patting yourself on the back for "working your way up", please take time to realize you are just one of millions who have done so from either side of the aisle.

Yes, the lazy lib is a myth, for the most part. I’m sure there are some, just as there are on the right side too. Libs want JOBS, and there are none at this current moment, thanks to the pugs wonderful idealisms of free trade. Let’s all trade with third world countries so that we can see what the lowest common denominator is….yeah, that’s a winning plan.

I despise all of these bailouts, but of any of them, GM’s should be the one to fly. For strategic reasons; for job reasons; for common sense reasons; and for the fact they are getting excessive whiplash for the problems that the banks caused (with the economy…I know GM management caused their own product problems) This double standard is just making me sick. Let’s bail the rich out and piss on the poor. Yep, there’s a real nugget of conservatism for you.

dano said: "The Wingnuts can blindly throw $700 Billion Bailout for their Buddies in the Banking Scandal..."

Wasn't it a Democrat-led Congress that passed the Bailout bill? In fact, if you count the number of votes from each party, I believe you will see more "Ds" than "Rs" in the "Yea" column. Why don't you take a deep breath and lay off the partisan propaganda.

Saving the American Auto Industry is a matter of National Security as well as Economic Stability. Without our auto industry we would soon become a Banana Republic and a International Disgrace. If WWIII came who would make our war machines? Toyota, Nissan & Mitsubishi; or BMW, Volkswagen & Dahmler? I don't think so.

I find it somewhat incredible that those who say we should let them go, and claim to be conservatives are completely ignoring the fact that this is a national security issue as well as an economic one. Quite simply, we need the manufacturing capacity and work force that GM, Ford and Chrysler can supply. If we were involved in another large scale war, we would not have the capacity to build the implements of war (tanks, planes, and other large items and vehicles) without these US based companies. Do you honestly expect Toyota or BMW to make these things in their US plants? I don't. The big three are necessary for just such an emergency. So to the quasi-conservatives out there who say "let them go" I humbly ask you to look beyond mere economics and you'll see why we can't. We need a managed chapter 11 bankruptsy for all three of them. Call it union busting if you will, but what good is the UAW if it gets everyone fired by driving these companies out of business?

Kudos to Harvard economist Martin Feldstein for calling out that the US automakers' should not be bailed out. If they file Chapter 11 bankruptcy and discharge debts and contracts, retirees who lose health care coverage (Do you have retiree health coverage?) will be subsidized by taxpayers just like the rest of us.

ITS ALWAYS THE NORMAL GREED
THE MORE YOU MAKE THE MORE
YOU CAN "RIPOFF" THE TAX PAYERS IN THE USA.
IT WILL NEVER CHANGE!
WAKE UP AMERICA TO THIS FACT!
IF "ALL" THE RICH COULD GIVE MORE THE WORLD WOULD BE IN >>>>>>>> "SHOCK"! <<<<<<<
P.S. MOST OF THE RICH ARE IN
THE USA.