Poll: Auto industry bailout: Should congress do it?
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This is really hard to really nail down, If we don't help them one one-hundreth of all americans will become unemployed, and One of America's last remaining industries will be gone, and we will be more or less completely reliant on foriegn companies. On the other hand if we do bail them out and they squander it, then we will be up shit creek yet again. But GM has slowly been starting to turn it around and Ford is also (not as much, but whatever) so maybe we can help them restructure their companies and have them set guidelines that can help their doughy asses in the changing world.
According to a popular factoid, the Big Three account for nearly 10% of the U.S. workforce (albeit indirectly in many cases). This is the only reason I'm willing to consider the bailout seriously. The figure given is probably high, and there is a great deal to argue, but the basic fact remains- losing all three automakers would put a lot of people on the street. Both the short- and long-term effects would be very unpleasant. The right thing to do, in my humble and un-boffinish opinion, is to bail them out on the condition that they present and carry out a plan for becoming competitive again, and that the UAW play along with the plans- even if it means a pay cut. I'm willing to put up with the Big Three provided they're willing to smarten up and retool.
I agree with everything this post said. The tendency to go doe-eyed at the prospect of another green technology is all-too-rarely challenged.thiosk said:
They are simply printing the money. The federal reserve borders on treasonous, and the congress just follows them like puppy dogs. Factoid: the federal reserve is not federal, and they really don't reserve a whole heck of a lot. its name is to make us feel warm and cozy, its a private national bank.sv93 said:
The government borrows this money from somewhere, raiding social security and the like. But the real bailouts are the ones outside the 700 billion (850 after the votes were purchased). The federal reserve just deposits numbers into a bank account. That number is in the trillions. its amazing what the federal reserve is doing. Don't even need to print it, you just type a number into a computer and now you have that money. ANd then they transfer it. Horay federal reserve! The federal reserve was created to protect our money against inflation.
They've done a great job: the dollar we have was worth 4 cents when we created the federal reserve. And while it seems old fashioned to pay a nickle for a candybar, all we've done is decrease the value of the dollar. Now we pay a dollar for a candybar, but the candy never changed its inherent value.
I really hope it doesn't destroy our nation. And all the sheeple just go right along with it. So you can have your bailouts, but do you really trust the government to make your cars?
Why GM and Ford? At least they're trying to fix themselves. It's Dodge/Chrysler that should be chopped up.Rankao said:
no. just no.
you bail them out you become invested in seeing they succeed...which means if they fail to follow a good business strategy (like they have for the last 30 yrs) you will want to bail them out again because you don't want the first bailout to be a failure,
if they come to expect it they'll do whatever the hell they want, sell no cars and come to the american ppl with their hand out
also if the american tax payer bails them out...what do they get? what if i would still rather drive a Toyota? are they going to make better cars...why would they change anything the gov bailed them out...would we get free cars? no they can't do that...would they lower the prices?
you bail them out you become invested in seeing they succeed...which means if they fail to follow a good business strategy (like they have for the last 30 yrs) you will want to bail them out again because you don't want the first bailout to be a failure,
if they come to expect it they'll do whatever the hell they want, sell no cars and come to the american ppl with their hand out
also if the american tax payer bails them out...what do they get? what if i would still rather drive a Toyota? are they going to make better cars...why would they change anything the gov bailed them out...would we get free cars? no they can't do that...would they lower the prices?
For years I've seen GM reporting layoffs and downsizing in the wake of their SUV wet dream turning into a nightmare, that was before the mortgage market took a nosedive on the back of speculative folly. Let them die, others are ready to take their place.
Yeah, but now their Chevy division is at least trying to save themselves as opposed to Dodge/Chrysler. We must focus our hatred on one company to have it drown!mooncalf said:
They dug themselves into the hole and unlike the banks their disapearance will mean companies with better management can take over, the way economics should work.
Well you see its not hatred of the company and the workers its hatred of their really horrible business style. Realistically the company is not keeping up its falling behind. Like social darwinist I believe if a animal is too weak to survive it shouldn't have to be picked up weight by the rest of the herd, it will be left along to die. I can never support a company who's shareholders tell their former CEO "We don't make cars we make money"crimson5pheonix said:
If they did, they don't anymore. And I highly doubt it would have got 45 MPG without modifications.falcontwin said:
Yes but all three companies suck at that, so if we're going to hate one, we might as well hate the lame duck among them. It's hard to turn a large company onto a different track, but Chevy is trying to save their asses and Ford is as well (not as hard, but they are). But Dodge/Chrysler's best car gets 30MPG highway and they don't feel like changing that.Rankao said: