White House Approves $17.4 Billion Auto Loans to GM & Chrysler

[Barry626]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Essentially, as of this announcement; GM's life is in the government's hands.:(

Gm's life should be in their own hands not the government.
Meaning: they got themself in this mess & need to find their way out of it.
That goes for all the "Big Shots" with their big expense accounts, private jets,
outrageous hotel suites, limos & endless list of waste of $$$.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Georgie

ford gets a bad rap by GM loyalists and usually is the number 1 target of import drivers but they didn't ask for money upfront and are trying to resurface on their own accord without taxpayer dollars, that's pretty darn good on Ford's part and i'm proud of them for doing so :flag2:

Yep.
It can be argued who took the "smart route". But Ford hasn't poured much money into risky vehicles...like the Volt. 700 million dollars into that project...that could have been 700 million saved, you know? Or...it was 700 million put into the future of cars as we know it. Who knows?

[OUR72GTO]

Tomorrow is Canada's turn. Oshawa gets some billions up here too.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by Georgie

ford gets a bad rap by GM loyalists and usually is the number 1 target of import drivers but they didn't ask for money upfront and are trying to resurface on their own accord without taxpayer dollars, that's pretty darn good on Ford's part and i'm proud of them for doing so :flag2:

The only reason Ford has enough money right now is because they mortgaged practically everything they had.

[Matrix]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

I think the unions and management should be the least of our concerns, right now...

Worry about government scrutiny. GM and Chrysler have no more than 3 months to enact all their final turnaround plans. And the government, the same people who decided to fork over 700 billion to a black hole of corruption, will be the ones that will decide whether or not the Big Three are "viable".

Essentially, as of this announcement; GM's life is in the government's hands.:(

I COULDNT have said it better!!

[GTAHVIT]

OK,

Here's the Mod intervention warning.

One post has already been deleted for crossing the site rules here. We pride ourselves on being respectful in debate whether we agree or not. So, keep it that way.

If you don't like CEO's, that's fine. If you think blaming the CEO's is immature, that's also fine. If both side wanna duke it out here... Guess what? That's fine too. But the instant it gets personal, disrespectful, or antagonistic. We'll shut it down and those that are out of line will be notified.

So, stay true to the maturity of this site and keep it on topic and constructive.

[CamaroScotty]

And it's not a bailout, it's a loan.

The banking companies and mortgage institutions got a bail out.... no need to be repaid.

[gladiatoro]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

The only reason Ford has enough money right now is because they mortgaged practically everything they had.

You are correct sir

[brantley847]

glad to see both sides come together for this....Barack better continue this unity..

[Matrix]

Originally Posted by Barry626

Gm's life should be in their own hands not the government.
Meaning: they got themself in this mess & need to find their way out of it.
That goes for all the "Big Shots" with their big expense accounts, private jets,
outrageous hotel suites, limos & endless list of waste of $$$.

Whilst I understand your sentiment, WHY NOT bitch about the financial big wigs the have screwed up the economy and they got bailed out no questions asked! We could all go further and point the finger at the dopey monkey and puppet on a string who also ruined eveything, who didnt give a crap about the people and who kissed the a$$es of corporations for sheer profit and money in the pocket. What a bloody mess that has to be cleaned up now. I dont care what your views are, were in a mess so PLEASE dont just single out the auto industry!

[Matrix]

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

4 more years! 4 more years! Wait, is this considered POLITICAL talk?

Oh POLEAAAAASE!!!

Wait, is this considered POLITICAL talk? LOL!!

[dayvedayve]

The real culprits if this mess

1. Unregulated Mortgage Industry (handing out loans left and right, shady mortgage broakers, people wanting more than they can afford)

2. Huge War fiasco (not saying it was right or wrong but costly)

3. surge in gas prices. Remember how great the economy was when gas was under $2.

4. 1 + 2 means less money for consumers to pay bills or spend on groceries, movies, car payments, $4 coffe, etc..)

5. less money in the hands of consumers means les goes into the business industry.

6. Mortgages fail and credit cards dont get paid.

7. Banks in trouble as result of bad debt. Less money loaned out.

8. Fewer loans means fewer large purchases such as cars and trucks.

9. And so here we are here today.

[camarolt76]

This is great news!!!!!!!!!!!!

[camarolt76]

Originally Posted by kinyu

I listen to financial people on news radio pretty frequently, and the general consensus with them seems to be that this money is just a bandaid, and that it doesn't fix the overall/biggest problem GM has, which is the high salary they pay the employees. A company that pays its employees an average of $73 an hour can't compete with companies like Nissan and Toyota who average around $42 an hour. While I know the "financial professionals" are not always correct, this does seem like a valid argument.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/economy/wm2162.cfm

I had read a statement from GM a week or two ago which stated that the average hourly wages for their employees is pretty much in line with Totota workers at some of their senior factories in the US. Both were $29 and change per hour. The difference comes when you consider GM has significantly more employees on pention, and their benifits package is better. With that factored in the difference is $42 per hour for Toyota, and $62 per hour for GM. To me it is pretty clear how you fix that. You stop the pension plan and buy out the senior employees as you can. In fact 80zedder stated in another thread that some of the GM layoffs you read about in the news is GM doing just that. :flag2::flag2::flag2: