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fbodfather · 12-15-2008, 10:56 AM

I've been known to strongly disagree with Mitch Abolm over a variety of subjects - but I think he hits it on the head with the HYPOCRISY of Washington!

Hey, you senators: Thanks for nothing! A few parting words for the senators who squashed the auto rescue By MITCH ALBOM - FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

Do you want to watch us drown? Is that it? Do want to see the last gurgle of economic air spit from our lips? If so, senators, know this: You’ll go down with us. America isn’t America without an auto industry. You can argue whether $14 billion would have saved it, but you surely tried to kill it.

We have grease on our hands. You have blood.

Kill the car, kill the country. History will show that when America was on its knees, a handful of lawmakers tried to cut off its feet. And blame the workers. How suddenly did the workers — a small percentage of a car’s cost — become justification for crushing an industry?

And when did Detroit become the symbol of economic dysfunction? Are you kidding? Have you looked in the mirror lately, Washington?

In a world where banks hemorrhaged trillions in a high-priced gamble called credit derivative swaps that YOU failed to regulate, how on earth do WE need to be punished? In a bailout era where you shoveled billions, with no demands, to banks and financial firms, why do WE need to be schooled on how to run a business?

Who is more dysfunctional in business than YOU? Who blows more money? Who wastes more trillions on favors, payback and pork?

At least in the auto industry, if folks don’t like what you make, they don’t have to buy it. In government, even your worst mistakes, we have to live with.

And now Detroit should die with this?

In bed with the foreign automakers

Kill the car, kill the country. Sen. Richard Shelby, Sen. Bob Corker, Sen. Mitch McConnell, your names will not be forgotten. It’s amazing how you pretend to speak for America when you are only watching out for your political party, which would love to cripple unions, and your states, which house foreign auto plants.

Corker, you’ve got Nissan there and Volkswagen coming. Shelby, you’ve got Hyundai, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and — like McConnell — Toyota. Oh, don’t kid yourself. They didn’t come because you earned their business, a subject on which you enjoy lecturing the Detroit Three. No, they came because you threw billions in state tax breaks to lure them. And now you want those foreign companies, which you lured, and which get help from their governments, to dictate to American workers how much they should be paid?

Tell you what. You’re so fond of the foreign model, why don’t you do what Japanese ministers do when they screw up the country’s finances? They cut their salaries. Or they resign in shame. When was the last time a U.S. senator resigned over a failed policy? Yet you want to fire Rick Wagoner? Who are you people?

More money for the lords of Wall Street

There ought to be a law — against the hypocrisy our government has demonstrated. The speed with which wheelbarrows of money were dumped on Wall Street versus the slow noose hung on the auto companies’ necks is reprehensible. Some of those same banks we bailed out are now saying they won’t extend credit to auto dealers. Wasn’t that why we gave them the money? To loosen credit?

Where’s your tight grip on those funds, senators? Where’s your micromanaging of the wages in banking? Or do you just enjoy having your hands around blue-collared throats?

No matter what the president does, history will not forget this: At our nation’s most uncertain hour, you senators stood ready to plunge hundreds of thousands of American families into oblivion. Leave them unemployed, with no health care, on public assistance. And you were willing to put our nation’s security at risk — by squashing the manufacturing base we must have in times of war.

And why? So you could stand on some phony principle? Crush a union? Play to your base? How is our nation better off today now that you kept $14 billion in the treasury? Are you going to balance the budget with that?

Don’t make us laugh.

Kill the car, kill the country. You tried to slam a stake into our chest; you don’t realize how close you are to the nation’s heart. Shame on your pettiness. Shame on your hypocrisy. This is how lawmakers behave two weeks before Christmas? Honestly. What has become of this country?

BigRigMike · 12-15-2008, 11:06 AM

I would like to add to this what is taking so long for the TARP funds to be made available. It seems when the banks needed it the money was made available very quickly but for GM everyone is willing to take their time.

josh1147 · 12-15-2008, 11:14 AM

Great find Scott....and so true. I lived and worked in DC for 8 years and first hand witnessed the atrocity that is our Congress several times.

Unfortunately the American public (as a whole) is too lazy to do anything about it and the US press won't give those of us who aren't lazy enough "press time" to raise hell.

If I was in charge, I'd have given you guys your loan (w/interest) weeks ago so you could get back to fixing one of America's business giants.

God bless and good luck!!

*Mr. Wyndham* · 12-15-2008, 11:18 AM

I think the fact that people who disagree so strongly over various auto subjects can still agree that what the senate did was borderline EVIL...shows how important this issue is.

D1BADZ · 12-15-2008, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

I think the fact that people who disagree so strongly over various auto subjects can still agree that what the senate did was borderline EVIL...shows how important this issue is.

Evil Indeed, I can not agree More.

I dont want my kids asking me one day "Daddy whats a Chevy"

that hurts!

TomServo · 12-15-2008, 11:33 AM

I agree, if $15B will solve the problem what's the matter with loaning them the $15B??? Most folks are led to believe that they need more $$$ to survive. I wonder why the media doesn't set this straight. $15B is peanuts.

Geez it's not like they are asking for $100B or more.

greenrail · 12-15-2008, 11:44 AM

Scott:

Amen Brother. I am so nonplussed about the Congress of the United States Flushing over $700 billion dollars to prop up suspect banking and financial practices without full accountability.

Then turn around and hold the North American Auto Manufacturing base hostage for a somewhat nominal (in comparison) $34 billion dollar loan. What an unmitigated crock of garbage.

I may be old, but I gotta tell ya, this really ticks me off no end. Each one of the Detroit Three was there to support this great nation every time they were needed. I won't relive the horrors of WW II, but dammit, when I think of all that GM, Ford and Chrysler did for this country while the country was in great need of their manufacturing prowess,this whole situation makes me ill.

I don't care if they are Republican or Democrat, these people need to be and should be held accountable.

350 HRSS · 12-15-2008, 12:03 PM

Wow, excellent post....it fired me up reading it, in how true it really is...

RS/SSYellowJacket · 12-15-2008, 12:13 PM

What needs to happen is Those Banks need to be forced to Loan the Auto Industry the funds they need. Those sorry A-holes aren't helping anyone but themselves!!!

Either way a loan at this point in time will not hurt the economy anymore but lack of one can seriously cripple it.

Scott@Bjorn3D · 12-15-2008, 12:48 PM

100 Billion would not even be bad for saving 3 companies that make a tangible product. AIG got more than that and they make nothing.

Think about it.

CWI · 12-15-2008, 12:59 PM

That's a great read. Great post. Thanks Scott.

The biggest problem I see these days, not just this issue but government in general, is that our congressmen are more concerned with their own constituency and special interest groups. Whatever it takes to keep their voters on their side to keep their office. They no longer care about our government or our economy as a whole. They certainly care about their personal economy and keeping their own estates intact. Simple greed. If not for our polititions terrible decisions and lack of oversight in the banking and mortgage industry over the last several years, we would not even be talking about this.

1camaro70 · 12-15-2008, 01:36 PM

I am going to be unpopular but, how can GM build cars for $72 per hour and the foreign manufacturers building in the USA at $48 per hour? When times were good and GM could make money on Trucks and SUV's they could absorb the difference. Did product upgrades get held up because of lack of money? What about the Cavalier, it was out of date when it was first put into production. Now I had the first Impala SS that came into my dealer in 1994, but O ring seals on water pump and reverse cooling caused problems, my first car was a 1970 Camaro traded for a 1976 Monza Spyder (performance model not convertable) poor example of a car. Now I have a 2006 Acura RL, 2007 VW EOS, 2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe, 1992 Acura Legend and 1990 Chevrolet K1500 Z71.
I want a new Camaro, but am holding off.
If GM would go into bankruptcy and releave itself of a union contract that is putting them out of business in the first place, how much could they reduce the price on their cars and trucks, 1/3 ? what about 20% I will be buying a new Camaro, Z71 Truck and the Volt.

StoutFiles · 12-15-2008, 01:37 PM

The Senate members who voted Nay are not EVIL...they have their reasons.

They feel that 15 Billion without some sort of financial plan would be throwing away money and delaying the inevitable...Chapter 11. They want those CEO's who screwed up fired...they want the GM workers who are making so much money to make what they should be making...considerably less. It's hard to beat the competition when you have CEO's who made these bad decisions leadign us here and workers draining away more money than the competition.

They want GM recleansed. Management fired, union contracts tore up, and a complete recleansing. It's a Republican thing. I don't know which is the right answer, but they aren't evil...right now 50% of the country says Nay. All we ca hope for is that it all works out in the end.

1camaro70 · 12-15-2008, 01:47 PM

A quick GM story, Freemarkets, located in Pittsburgh, PA sold GM a service to bid products and services on-line for $2.5 million, GM saved $100 million the first year, GM head Wagner decided he could do it better and cancelled the contract, GM spent $500 million over the next 5 years doing it themselves, and sold it back to Freemarkets for $15 million, so GM could have saved hundreds of millions of dollars yet it lost $500 million, maybe its the Leadership and the Unions.

12-15-2008, 10:56 AM	#1
fbodfather Drives: Camaros................ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Seven Fields, PA (Pittsburgh) Posts: 4,523	Detroit Free-press -- a MUST READ I've been known to strongly disagree with Mitch Abolm over a variety of subjects - but I think he hits it on the head with the HYPOCRISY of Washington! Hey, you senators: Thanks for nothing! A few parting words for the senators who squashed the auto rescue By MITCH ALBOM - FREE PRESS COLUMNIST Do you want to watch us drown? Is that it? Do want to see the last gurgle of economic air spit from our lips? If so, senators, know this: You’ll go down with us. America isn’t America without an auto industry. You can argue whether $14 billion would have saved it, but you surely tried to kill it. We have grease on our hands. You have blood. Kill the car, kill the country. History will show that when America was on its knees, a handful of lawmakers tried to cut off its feet. And blame the workers. How suddenly did the workers — a small percentage of a car’s cost — become justification for crushing an industry? And when did Detroit become the symbol of economic dysfunction? Are you kidding? Have you looked in the mirror lately, Washington? In a world where banks hemorrhaged trillions in a high-priced gamble called credit derivative swaps that YOU failed to regulate, how on earth do WE need to be punished? In a bailout era where you shoveled billions, with no demands, to banks and financial firms, why do WE need to be schooled on how to run a business? Who is more dysfunctional in business than YOU? Who blows more money? Who wastes more trillions on favors, payback and pork? At least in the auto industry, if folks don’t like what you make, they don’t have to buy it. In government, even your worst mistakes, we have to live with. And now Detroit should die with this? In bed with the foreign automakers Kill the car, kill the country. Sen. Richard Shelby, Sen. Bob Corker, Sen. Mitch McConnell, your names will not be forgotten. It’s amazing how you pretend to speak for America when you are only watching out for your political party, which would love to cripple unions, and your states, which house foreign auto plants. Corker, you’ve got Nissan there and Volkswagen coming. Shelby, you’ve got Hyundai, Honda, Mercedes-Benz and — like McConnell — Toyota. Oh, don’t kid yourself. They didn’t come because you earned their business, a subject on which you enjoy lecturing the Detroit Three. No, they came because you threw billions in state tax breaks to lure them. And now you want those foreign companies, which you lured, and which get help from their governments, to dictate to American workers how much they should be paid? Tell you what. You’re so fond of the foreign model, why don’t you do what Japanese ministers do when they screw up the country’s finances? They cut their salaries. Or they resign in shame. When was the last time a U.S. senator resigned over a failed policy? Yet you want to fire Rick Wagoner? Who are you people? More money for the lords of Wall Street There ought to be a law — against the hypocrisy our government has demonstrated. The speed with which wheelbarrows of money were dumped on Wall Street versus the slow noose hung on the auto companies’ necks is reprehensible. Some of those same banks we bailed out are now saying they won’t extend credit to auto dealers. Wasn’t that why we gave them the money? To loosen credit? Where’s your tight grip on those funds, senators? Where’s your micromanaging of the wages in banking? Or do you just enjoy having your hands around blue-collared throats? No matter what the president does, history will not forget this: At our nation’s most uncertain hour, you senators stood ready to plunge hundreds of thousands of American families into oblivion. Leave them unemployed, with no health care, on public assistance. And you were willing to put our nation’s security at risk — by squashing the manufacturing base we must have in times of war. And why? So you could stand on some phony principle? Crush a union? Play to your base? How is our nation better off today now that you kept $14 billion in the treasury? Are you going to balance the budget with that? Don’t make us laugh. Kill the car, kill the country. You tried to slam a stake into our chest; you don’t realize how close you are to the nation’s heart. Shame on your pettiness. Shame on your hypocrisy. This is how lawmakers behave two weeks before Christmas? Honestly. What has become of this country?

12-15-2008, 11:18 AM	#4
Mr. Wyndham I used to be Dragoneye... Drives: 2018 ZL1 1LE Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 31,876 View My Garage	I think the fact that people who disagree so strongly over various auto subjects can still agree that what the senate did was borderline EVIL...shows how important this issue is. __________________ *"Keep the faith."* - Fbodfather

12-15-2008, 11:44 AM	#7
greenrail Comic Curmudgeon Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS-2010 VW CC Sport Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Near Chicago, IL Posts: 2,395	Scott: Amen Brother. I am so nonplussed about the Congress of the United States Flushing over $700 billion dollars to prop up suspect banking and financial practices without full accountability. Then turn around and hold the North American Auto Manufacturing base hostage for a somewhat nominal (in comparison) $34 billion dollar loan. What an unmitigated crock of garbage. I may be old, but I gotta tell ya, this really ticks me off no end. Each one of the Detroit Three was there to support this great nation every time they were needed. I won't relive the horrors of WW II, but dammit, when I think of all that GM, Ford and Chrysler did for this country while the country was in great need of their manufacturing prowess,this whole situation makes me ill. I don't care if they are Republican or Democrat, these people need to be and should be held accountable. __________________ Member Illinois Camaro Club His Name is Rosie - "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick!" - If you know who said that, then you know the genesis of his name. Last edited by greenrail; 12-15-2008 at 01:36 PM.

12-15-2008, 12:03 PM	#8
350 HRSS GM Toyz Lover Drives: GM Toyz Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: VA Posts: 1,103	Wow, excellent post....it fired me up reading it, in how true it really is... __________________ Angela

12-15-2008, 12:59 PM	#11
CWI Helping Build America Drives: 2010 2SS/RS,LS3 2013 Duramax 3500HD Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Freeport LPG Export Posts: 3,839 View My Garage	That's a great read. Great post. Thanks Scott. The biggest problem I see these days, not just this issue but government in general, is that our congressmen are more concerned with their own constituency and special interest groups. Whatever it takes to keep their voters on their side to keep their office. They no longer care about our government or our economy as a whole. They certainly care about their personal economy and keeping their own estates intact. Simple greed. If not for our polititions terrible decisions and lack of oversight in the banking and mortgage industry over the last several years, we would not even be talking about this. __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit, what a ride!"

12-15-2008, 11:06 AM	#2
BigRigMike Drives: 2010 Ford Fusion Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: York, PA Posts: 374 View My Garage	I would like to add to this what is taking so long for the TARP funds to be made available. It seems when the banks needed it the money was made available very quickly but for GM everyone is willing to take their time.

12-15-2008, 11:14 AM	#3
josh1147 Delivered 29June09 Drives: Early Order Camaro Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 411 View My Garage	Great find Scott....and so true. I lived and worked in DC for 8 years and first hand witnessed the atrocity that is our Congress several times. Unfortunately the American public (as a whole) is too lazy to do anything about it and the US press won't give those of us who aren't lazy enough "press time" to raise hell. If I was in charge, I'd have given you guys your loan (w/interest) weeks ago so you could get back to fixing one of America's business giants. God bless and good luck!!

12-15-2008, 11:33 AM	#6
TomServo Drives: 2007 Z06 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Swansea IL Posts: 727	I agree, if $15B will solve the problem what's the matter with loaning them the $15B??? Most folks are led to believe that they need more $$$ to survive. I wonder why the media doesn't set this straight. $15B is peanuts. Geez it's not like they are asking for $100B or more.

12-15-2008, 12:13 PM	#9
RS/SSYellowJacket Old School Drives: Ordered Yellow/Black RS/SS2 M6 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Weatherford, Tx Posts: 65	What needs to happen is Those Banks need to be forced to Loan the Auto Industry the funds they need. Those sorry A-holes aren't helping anyone but themselves!!! Either way a loan at this point in time will not hurt the economy anymore but lack of one can seriously cripple it.

12-15-2008, 12:48 PM	#10
Scott@Bjorn3D Drives: Kami, 2013 2SS LS3 Luvin Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Eufaula, Alabama Posts: 6,427	100 Billion would not even be bad for saving 3 companies that make a tangible product. AIG got more than that and they make nothing. Think about it.

12-15-2008, 01:36 PM	#12
1camaro70 Drives: 2010 2SS RS L99 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: BUTLER, PA Posts: 531	I am going to be unpopular but, how can GM build cars for $72 per hour and the foreign manufacturers building in the USA at $48 per hour? When times were good and GM could make money on Trucks and SUV's they could absorb the difference. Did product upgrades get held up because of lack of money? What about the Cavalier, it was out of date when it was first put into production. Now I had the first Impala SS that came into my dealer in 1994, but O ring seals on water pump and reverse cooling caused problems, my first car was a 1970 Camaro traded for a 1976 Monza Spyder (performance model not convertable) poor example of a car. Now I have a 2006 Acura RL, 2007 VW EOS, 2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe, 1992 Acura Legend and 1990 Chevrolet K1500 Z71. I want a new Camaro, but am holding off. If GM would go into bankruptcy and releave itself of a union contract that is putting them out of business in the first place, how much could they reduce the price on their cars and trucks, 1/3 ? what about 20% I will be buying a new Camaro, Z71 Truck and the Volt.

12-15-2008, 01:37 PM	#13
StoutFiles Drives: Black/Black 2SS/RS Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 733	The Senate members who voted Nay are not EVIL...they have their reasons. They feel that 15 Billion without some sort of financial plan would be throwing away money and delaying the inevitable...Chapter 11. They want those CEO's who screwed up fired...they want the GM workers who are making so much money to make what they should be making...considerably less. It's hard to beat the competition when you have CEO's who made these bad decisions leadign us here and workers draining away more money than the competition. They want GM recleansed. Management fired, union contracts tore up, and a complete recleansing. It's a Republican thing. I don't know which is the right answer, but they aren't evil...right now 50% of the country says Nay. All we ca hope for is that it all works out in the end.

12-15-2008, 01:47 PM	#14
1camaro70 Drives: 2010 2SS RS L99 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: BUTLER, PA Posts: 531	A quick GM story, Freemarkets, located in Pittsburgh, PA sold GM a service to bid products and services on-line for $2.5 million, GM saved $100 million the first year, GM head Wagner decided he could do it better and cancelled the contract, GM spent $500 million over the next 5 years doing it themselves, and sold it back to Freemarkets for $15 million, so GM could have saved hundreds of millions of dollars yet it lost $500 million, maybe its the Leadership and the Unions.