Who here is worried...

[cabaret2]

At this point folks, we as a country must take responsibiloity & change our ways or face total economic destruction. IT WAS STUPID FOR THE CEO's to fly in luxury jets to go beg for money!! Ask yourself would u give money to someone who claims they are broke, but rolls up to your door in a Bentley???? I know i wouldn't, so of course they have to prove to Congress they are worthy of the help. I agree something has to be done because if they go under, a new camaro will be the least of ALL OUR WORRIES. Do the math, it has already been added up that if the US auto industry went belly up, the ripple effect will cause a loss of over 3MILLION jobs in this country!! Thats 3 million more people in this country with no way to feed their families!! I dont know about you, but thats scary. Especially with the fact that banks wont loan a cup of water right now. They have a lot to prove that they can stay in business until this boils over, which will most likely not happen any time soon. Of course it is their fault they are in this mess. POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE!!! Thats why this thing is called a "BAILOUT" I am a proud AMERICAN, but it is damn embarrasing to see what the 3 Founders of the CAR INDUSTRY have been reduced too. It is time for US car companies to do better, & come back to the standards of their foreign competitors all the way around, not just vehicle quality. Thats why Toyota & Honda have been #'s 1 & 2 for who knows how long. Its time we step our game up!!! So, in my eyes, its do or die time.

[70 COPO]

Hostory repeats. This reminds me of 1979 and HD. The Japanese Motorcycle Manufacture and Importation had all but put HD out of business. Things change and for the better. I think The big three are guilty of only ONE thing. This "thing" was being a good employer that took care of its workers. The erosion of standard level pensions and benifits (once considered standard within our domestic industry) has become accepted as we have been Wal-Marted by the imports at every level from retail to manufacturing.

The Playing field needs to be leveled. WW2 is long over and the post war idea of building industrial base overseas at our expence is obsolete as an idea.

Here is where our new President and the Majority in the house and senate get to show it - with the coming Card Check for unionization. Funny tho.. the "party of the UAW" has a clear majority in congress and could approve the Loans right now - yet they do not.....

[YellrRS]

I'm going to buy a Camaro, finance it through GM, not pay for it, and ask the government for help.

Regardless of which form of bankruptcy they file I would like to be protected from my creditors too. Its a business run it like one, and if you fail, you fail, but MY tax dollars should not be for private enterprises, and assisting them when they make poor decisions.

I understand the long range problems with people being out of work, just try not paying your taxes, you lose everything, maybe its time for GM to get it together. How about a tax break so my kids can go to college? Or should I default on the loan, and see if the government will pat me on the ass and hand over money.

[FFMaro]

Originally Posted by cabaret2

Of course it is their fault they are in this mess. POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE!!! Thats why this thing is called a "BAILOUT" I am a proud AMERICAN, but it is damn embarrasing to see what the 3 Founders of the CAR INDUSTRY have been reduced too. It is time for US car companies to do better, & come back to the standards of their foreign competitors all the way around, not just vehicle quality. Thats why Toyota & Honda have been #'s 1 & 2 for who knows how long. Its time we step our game up!!! So, in my eyes, its do or die time.

Not their fault! The UAW and the frozen credit markets combined have brought them to their knees! They were getting along fine and were getting better up intill the credit froze. They have more models with over 30mpg than any other auto manufacturer out there, and you call that poor buissess? Its not a "bailout", its a loan, that they have to pay back, the media wants to scream "bailout" to make people pissed off becasue they have a bias for imports.

Toyota and Honda have NOT been #1 and #2, I dont know where your getting your info. GM has been #1 for a long time, and only 1 year Toyota has outsold GM.

GM has been stepping up and getting better in the past 10 years, Honda just dosent have a union that wants to destroy the company, thats the diffrence.

All of this bias BS pisses me off

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by FFMaro

Not their fault! The UAW and the frozen credit markets combined have brought them to their knees! They were getting along fine and were getting better up intill the credit froze. They have more models with over 30mpg than any other auto manufacturer out there, and you call that poor buissess? Its not a "bailout", its a loan, that they have to pay back, the media wants to scream "bailout" to make people pissed off becasue they have a bias for imports.

Toyota and Honda have NOT been #1 and #2, I dont know where your getting your info. GM has been #1 for a long time, and only 1 year Toyota has outsold GM.

GM has been stepping up and getting better in the past 10 years, Honda just dosent have a union that wants to destroy the company, thats the diffrence.

All of this bias BS pisses me off

Ding ding ding ding! We have a Winner!!!!!!!!!

I might add to this a few other points:

The U.S. has had the strictest government mandated safety and emissions standards foisted upon the car industry than any other country in the world. a big part of the reason for their focus on trucks/SUVs was that the standards for these vehicles were less draconian. Trucks and SUVs turned into a profit GOLDMINE because the american people LIKE having large, safe, capable vehicles. It's what the consumer here PREFERS.

Why is it completely lost on the media that their beloved Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc. have ALL been chomping at the bit to break into this lucrative segment with their own huge guzzling SUVs and Pickups?

Over time, the US companies migrated to the vehicles their core buyers wanted from them and away from small cars. To be competative in that market they had to produce cheaply made cars because of unions and all that. Import car companies come from places where gas was outrageously expensive and there was no love of trucks, so years ago their core market at home was to focus on small fuel efficient cars and distinguish them from their competition with better quality and features. They simply took that experience over to the U.S. and started making the same type of cars here and they naturally had better econoboxes than the domestics did. They were experts at building them and the domestics were building them as cheaply and as minimalistic as possible simply as a way to OFFSET THE CAFE STANDARDS IMPOSED ON THEM so they could continue to produce the SUVs and Trucks people were clamoring for.

When the imports tried to steal market share in the truck/suv segment, the reverse situation happened. They were the ones with no experience and no reputation and it showed. Their first attempts were laughable, the second round were improved but still not up to par. They suppered from quality problems and design flaws. They couldn't match the domestics because they had all the experience.

The domestics did realize a cycle or two ago that they needed better small cars and their first attempts were improved but still suffered. Their latest versions are as good as their rivals and only suffer now because of media bias and public ignorance.

[detroitboy]

They gave $25 billion to Citigroup weeks ago at the bat of an eye and with no business plan...and now its about to crumble anyhow. Senator Shelby (remember him?)...from Alabama...said giving the auto makers loans would be "wasted money". But his state handed out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Honda and others to open plants in his state to compete with the big three. And Senator Waxman of California (who represents the district containing Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and all 27 miles of Malibu beachfront) just helped get money for a $1 billion network of electric car charging stations on the San Francisco Bay area. And guess whos congressional district those charging stations are going to built in? Yup...Nancy Pelosi's.

So do you think the people making these decisions care what happens to the economy anywhere but the west coast area? Heck no...they'll get their electric cars from Japan anyhow. I doubt they're not driving American anyway now. Shame on them. And I wonder how much government money the movie industry is going to get in the near future.....

[70 COPO]

You Nailed it.

[Maddog78]

Waxman will be in charge of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Not good news for Detroit as far as I can tell.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...KZO7Y&refer=us

[L. James]

Worry got the best of me...

<--------see my picture

[Vash]

Have Wagoner Take an SS to Washington and turn off traction control. Burn up a set of tires.. then toss angry senator the keys and tell him to stfu about GM quality and he will race his Honda for pink slips.