7:14 am November 13, 2008
No bailout for GM. The company and the other "big two" has had decades of bailouts and many chances to make the products America has bought from other companies. The auto industry in this country has never paid attention to consumer trends and made cars environmentally friendly. They have been given many opportunities to do so. We wouldn't treat our children that way by encouraging bad behavior with rewards.
The public here in the US still believes the myth that the Detroit automakers are the backbone of our manufacturing economy. Hello, the Industrial Revolution was a hundred years ago. Anyone heard of the Digital Revolution and Global Warming?
GM could continue operations after declaring bankruptcy. I'd prefer to spend my tax dollars on providing support for laid off workers and re-educating them for new jobs that are greener and smarter. GM, Chrysler and Ford need to rethink, retool and redesign their product. Let them do it.
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8 comments:
Yes, I don't know why Barnie Frank is pushing so hard for the Big 3. To stay in business you have to make a product that sells and they failed to do it. If Congress is concerned about the millions that will lose their jobs, set up a fund for them and let the overpaid CEOs experience the fruit of their lack of effort- they were given a sizable chunk of change not long ago to develop alternative energy vehicles and be competitive and they are still pushing the F150s and such.
I'm very proud of my state, though. We did it! We are officially blue.
Alice, Los Angeles
Alice is in NOrth Carolina ( somewhere in the south)
Anyway, I couldn't agree more with you. They've been bailed out before and improved for a while, but seem to have lost the plot. Put those workers to work in a electric car plant instead.
My response to the bailout, although somewhat sketchy, is that we cannot abandon the stupids in the auto industry for the following :One out of l0 Americans work for the auto industry in some way or another. If we were to cancel them out, we would have a responsibility to re-educate the workers, many of whom have no other skills. Until we can re-invent these millions, we cannot close down the industry. The expense to the American taxpayer would be enormous in support of those unemployed. The crisis situation economically will take a long time to figure out, and I am not favoring anything at the moment.
Mama Mopp
From the New York Times today (Nov. 18, 2008) in an article by Catherine Rampell entitled “ How Many Jobs Depen on the Big Three?” (auto companies)
“The auto industry supports one of every 10 jobs in the United States,” Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan wrote in a CNN.com plea for a bailout of Detroit’s Big Three. The day before, she told “The Early Show” on CBS that “this industry supports one in 10 jobs in the country,” adding, “If this industry is allowed to fail, there will be a ripple effect throughout the nation.” Many others have used the same statistic.
That’s a scary figure. It’s also somewhat misleading.
The statistic seems to indicate that 10 percent of American jobs – a total of roughly 14 million jobs, if you’re just looking at the Bureau of Labor Statistics non-farm payroll report – could evaporate if the Detroit Three are allowed to fail. But that’s not actually what the statistic refers to.
the loss of a single American car company wouldn’t necessarily dissolve all those jobs that the entire auto industry “supports.” The failure of General Motors, for example, wouldn’t eliminate the entire car-wash industry. Car-washing jobs are primarily dependent on Americans’ continued demand for automobiles — whether they’re from Detroit or Nagoya — and not the operations of any one automobile company."
I still think the government should not use bailouts on our failing industries. Wouldn't you like to see money go to each state in America to "bailout" schools, hospital, parks and recreation, etc.?
A great debate on CNN Monday at 6:00. There seems to be a way to lend the money (not give) holding the 3 biggy to a payback and with certain restrictions. Bancrupcy does not seem to be a solution. there must be an attempt to improve their future output; that is, get "modern."
December 19th, 2008 12:45 am
Shame on us all for having to save criminals, even reward them, for destroying the auto companies and millions of jobs in the US. Shame on them for lying and stealing, shame on us for helping them continue, and shame on our government which is telling us that the only way to save jobs is to give corporate crooks the power to stay and do what they have been doing to America for twenty or more year. Cheating, lying, manipulating and enriching themselves off of poor people.
I am deeply ashamed and disappointed in the Bush administration and Washington in general, including President-Elect Obama.
Dear Americans,
Here are some ideas as to how we should repair America:
1. As for the “financial world as we know it,” throw it away because it is not worth fixing. Good riddance!
2. Restore large and small businesses that are American owned with funds allotted by the bailouts. A multibillion dollar business must help fund programs that help the American people live at a reasonable level of comfort without debt. There should be a cap on their earnings that reflects their equal efforts to help poorer segments of the economy.
3. Subsidized areas of the economy that are essential: lodging, jobs, education, medicine and protection.
4. Provide adequate shelter and food for everyone. Persons with more than one dwelling should help by providing housing to those who have none. They can sell the extra properties or develop them for use as public housing.
5. Provide a “job” to all that can work at a minimum (but higher than it is now) wage so they can feed and clothe themselves.
6. Bailout the American school system. Give money to states and local governments to pay for a completely new educational model. Emphasis should be on the liberal arts, math and science in keeping with the high quality of learning in other countries such as England or France. Teachers and other educators should be valued with a higher pay bracket such as lawyers and doctors and other professionals.
7. Guarantee health care to all. Use a system such as the very successful Kaiser HMO to build a national system so that all Americans can obtain care.
8. Use local police, law enforcement and the National Guard to keep law and order. Local police and fire departments should also be compensated with higher pay and venerated for the extraordinary duties they perform.
9. Insure that everyone is safe, warm, fed and educated.
The present order of the American economy compensates individuals with (income in
the millions and billions) assets that could feed whole countries around the world.
Their earnings are obscene. Why is government regulation so lax? Why is the imbalance so obvious and accepted by such intelligent educated people? The majority of people here in the US struggle to provide the basics for their families, let alone those who are working three jobs to pay for college or training for a trade. The division is classes has grown into a giant chasm that may claim the life blood of the existence of America. America, as we have known it, is dying. We must accept that. New financial models, new systems for organization, new technologies for production, new economic structures for manufacturing need to be built from the ground up. The important priorities such as those delineated above must be addressed by the government and our people. The lesson to be learned is improvement begins at the bottom and grows up, not the old status quo of Reagan’s“trickle down”. This and only this thinking will mean renewed prosperity and justice for us all.
Elizabeth Brady
World, get a clue!
The Palestinians and the Israelis have been at this conflict since 1947 and the Balfour Declaration that took Palestine away from it's people. Study the history of the Middle East just for five minutes and you will find out that this conflict is deeply rooted in both societies. No one in Israel or Palestine is at fault. Europeans, especially the WWII allies, are at fault for alleviating their guilt after the war by plopping the disenfranchised Jews in the Palestinian homeland. Would you like it if someone came along and said move out of your state, we need it for the American Indians?
Divide the holy land in half, one for Israel and one for Palestine. Divide Jerusalem, where many religions have important monuments, and make the old center a city state like the Vatican in Rome. Put a peace keeping force between the two countries until they give up struggling. Until then, there will always be cycles of violence and poor women and children dying on both sides.
This is the bare truth.
The US, to this day, has backed Israel because the Jewish population in our country is large and financially integral to our economy. So be it. We can support Israel and Palestine both.
As I said, get a clue - like the one I'm giving you now - and gather the world to support and bring about the existence of two free and autonomous states of Israel and Palestine. Gather to bring about peace in the Middle East. Is there anyone for this job?
How about it, Secretary Clinton?
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