When questioned by a lawmaker, Ronald Gettlefinger, President of the United Auto Workes union said today that General Motors, the US’s largest automaker may fail by the end of December unless it receives cash.
The automakers and related interests are at the capitol asking for what appears to be a 34 billion dollar infusion of money.
Which raises interesting questions as telecom giant AT&T announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force, adding to the 250,000 jobs U.S. employers shed in November—when and where does the public letting stop?
There is evidence that the over 700 billion that was allocated to the Wall Street bunch has been unaccountable and nobody knows to where the money has gone.
Contrast all of this with the intense scrutiny that New Orleans and South Louisiana received when the federal levees broke flooding almost all of a historic city and a key component of commerce to the US and to Central and South America.
The automakers and Wall street are private industries.New Orleans was surrounded by public levees.Yet, the administration and Congress in control at that time were incredibly slow in helping out a community that was literally drowning. Two years to receive public money (other than building a failed bridge and cleaning debris) is an eternity to wait.
This time, what is good for GM might not be good for America.
The last time America was under the gun to bail out an industry, it did so in a hurry and we have no idea where the loot went.If Congress does save the auto industry, it must do so in a way so that Americans do not take the risk and that there is totat transparency.There also must be total accountability for every dollar spent which is what the US government demanded from Louisiana.
What is good for Louisiana is good for GM.
Tell us what you think by posting on our Buzzboards below. Should America lend money to the automakers?
{correction} - - - you would NOT have a society - - - Written by
on 12/9/2008
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I am very ‘pro-business’ and I am also a tremendous advocate of the common working men and women… Without those, you would have a society, nor a reason to even conduct business in the first place….. But, with regards to GM etc., bailout… This is not going to be a good thing unless the common working mena nd women involved in our society roll up their shirt sleeves, and advocate and perpetuate the rightful habit of buying “MADE IN AMERICA”……. And this of course can only happen if leadership values that they have representing them [business, AND working men/women – as well as the common folks be they retired, young, unemployed, whatever] embarks upon a program to make this possible…. It is up to the individual states, and individual citizens to make it something that is worthwhile to do, without that………………….. It is simply a fart on a breezy day out on the high plains of Montana…. Written by
on 12/8/2008
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Hate to disagree with you but not all right wingers are anti union. In todays work place successful companies must take care of their employees. If they don't they suffer and go under. It is hard to find good people that want to work, there are alot of folks out there that want a paycheck without the work. Honda and some of the other foriegn automakers are doing pretty good with their non union workforce. The workers get good pay and benefits without the union. Good productive employees are becoming a vanishing commodity today. Schools are producing sheep and we are letting it happen. Unions have their place and are still needed today, but like the government they sometimes get to big and lose touch with the working man. Check the salaries of the head of the national UAW president. Written by Sid
on 12/8/2008
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And the right wing myth is that without unions and without regulation sweatshops, unsafe working conditions, child labor, etc. would have ever disappeared. Oh come on, now!! We all know that most if not all businesses will try to minimize costs and get away with whatever they can in that vein and will not lift a finger in the interest of protecting the worker unless they have to. The pro-business types don't give a hoot about the working man and woman and never have. It's all about taking care of Number One and survival of the fittest and if you're not up on top of the ladder then you deserve to be treated like the dog crap you are. Written by Facing Reality
on 12/5/2008
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The auto companies should be allowed to die a natural death. They are already in failure mode. They can not be saved no matter how much taxpayer money is given them.
A good idea is a good idea. Too bad Nader and the lawyers aborted the Corvair. It was the perfect starting point from which to recreate the American auto industry. It's forty years too late for Detroit! Written by Khary Sudan
on 12/5/2008
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The mentality that is destroying the domestic automakers is the same reason for ridiculous health costs in this country. The "protect the little working man myth" professed by pandering democrats. Unions proclaim that American factories would all be sweat shops if not for them. Sleazy ambulance chasers like John Edwards become multimillionaires at our expense by suing insurers and medical providers. No economy can prosper with so many leeches hanging on to every available patch of skin. All of these groups are entrenched in the democratic party, the party of victimhood and government intervention. Written by whose reality
on 12/5/2008
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When the non-domestic based auto manufacturers have less costs to bear than the domestic based ones because those countries have single-payer health care systems while the U.S. does not, it's not so simple. I suspect that admirers of the market as a means to solve everything fail to take into account that not everyone gets to operate on an even playing field. Also, while in theory it's understandable how a dollar flowing through the market should be more efficiently made use of than a dollar elsewhere, in practice private sector organizations are hardly without fault or are more incapable of doing wrong than government is. Remember New Coke? Or the Corvair? Written by Facing Reality
on 12/4/2008
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It really isn't a matter of who gets to receive money taken from the private sector. It a matter of leave the money in the private sector so the people can spend it as they will. That way businesses that are providing the public what they want will thrive. That will grow the economy and provide jobs. Let good money flow to good money, do not throw good money after bad. Written by kpf
on 12/4/2008
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