Arguing back and forth over whether to bail out the auto industry is worse than playing that old computer game.
I think we have no choice but to bail the bastards out. But, by God, I want to see some friggin’ restructuring take place in the coming months throughout these plants! And anyone who screams “deregulation!” from now on needs a shoe sunk deep up their ass.
No need for bailout, say diners near thriving car plant
ANNA, Ohio (CNN) — Many people in the diner know someone working in the car industry. They are certainly in car country — there’s an engine factory down the road, and they live between Ohio’s major plants and the Detroit home of the industry. [...]
“Honda’s really helped this area as far as housing, retail sales, the restaurant business,” said Tim Rogers, who has owned the Inn Between Tavern in Botkins, just up the road from Anna, for 33 years.
“People who are in here at night are also Honda employees. They have more money to spend. My business has been good since Honda came into the area.” [...]
“I don’t think they should bail them out because … obviously something’s not right in the way they’re running their business, and why should the American people have to bail them out if they can’t figure out how to do it right?” September Quinn, the busy waitress, said after the lunch rush at the Inn Between. [...]
“If you just give them money, you will get same-old, same-old results,” [Will Vetter, Plastipak Packaging] said after lunch at the Inn Between. “They’re not prepared to downsize their businesses fast enough and to eliminate their costs at a rate that will make them profitable.”
Super Reformer McCain is at it again… promising auto workers blue skies and jump-starting the entire U.S. economy, all with one brain tied behind his back.
McCain pledges to help auto industry rebuild
WARREN, Mich. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain pledged Friday to help auto workers rebuild their industry and in the process jump-start the entire U.S. economy.
Standing in a town hall meeting with hundreds of people and several shiny new cars, McCain sounded at times like a confident, encouraging salesman as he praised General Motors‘ plans for a long-range electric car.
“The key, integral, vital part of our ability to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil will be directly related to that sign over there,” said McCain, pointing to a sign for the Chevrolet Volt. “I wish you every success, and I want to help in every way.”
(emphasis mine)
UPDATE:
Will the U.S. ever have an auto maker that won’t require a bailout from time to time? A well-organized, well-oiled company that won’t have to rely on taxpayers to keep it afloat?
Should we reward companies that make lousy products? I saw a TV ad a couple of days ago where the automobile, (can’t remember the maker, but I do know it was American), would get an estimated 24 MPG, highway. COME ON! They can do better than that!
It’s like they’re trying to do themselves in. I suppose when your used to getting a lot of governmental hand-holding, you don’t have to put much effort into staying afloat.
Auto stocks slide with poor US sales results ahead
DETROIT (AP) — Shares of General Motors Corp. dropped to their lowest level in more than half a century, and Ford Motor Co. stock tumbled to a new low yesterday, a day before U.S. automakers announce what’s expected to be a bleak monthly report today on auto sales.
By DEE-ANN DURBIN and TOM KRISHER
The Associated Press
DETROIT - The signs were ready and picket assignments handed out as thousands of United Auto Workers at General Motors Corp. factories nationwide prepared to walk off their jobs Monday morning if no contract deal was reached.
Negotiators worked all night and still were at the bargaining table early Monday as the deadline approached. The UAW set an 11 a.m. Eastern strike deadline Sunday night.
“We’re getting activated right now,” Mike O’Rourke, president of Local 1853 at a GM plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., said Monday morning.
If no agreement was reached, bargaining committee members would clear the plant of unionized workers at 11 a.m., and many would head to the picket lines, O’Rourke said.
“We’ll have pickets out there,” said Chris “Tiny” Sherwood, president of Local 652 in Lansing. “Some will come out of work and grab a sign with us.”
The UAW hasn’t called a nationwide strike during contract negotiations since 1976, when Ford Motor Co. plants were shut down. There were strikes at two GM plants during contract negotiations in 1996.
Negotiators worked all night and still were at the bargaining table early Monday as the deadline approached. The UAW set an 11 a.m. Eastern strike deadline Sunday night.
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