Don't Let Crisis Suck Down Auto Industry

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2008
Don't Let Crisis Suck Down Auto Industry
136
Wed, 11-19-2008 - 10:13pm

I am focused here on just the U.S. auto industry. People are so focused on whether the companies deserve to go bankrupt. We can all debate that. That issue pales in comparison to what will happen if we let these companies go down in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. As President Kennedy once said, timing is everything. And the timing could not be worse for a massive big three US auto company bankruptcy.

"U.S. auto companies employ nearly a quarter-million workers, and more than 730,000 other people have jobs producing the materials and parts that go into cars. About 1 million on top of that work in dealerships nationwide. If just one of the auto giants were to go belly up, some estimates put U.S. job losses next year as high as 2.5 million.
"If GM is telling us the truth, they go into bankruptcy and you see a cascade like you have never seen," said Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, who was working on one rescue plan Wednesday. "If people want to go home and not do anything, I think that they're going to have that on their hands.""

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOTm71rXkkZaLSOWaaIM11o06mNQD94IAPNG0

These millions of Americans are the families behind all those mortgages, all those CDOs, and the banking crisis. These are millions of the people who can't pay their bills. Stop the paychecks now to all these people, and you ain't seen nothing yet when it comes to America's foreclosures and this financial crisis.

Here is the link the Republicans don't get about American workers. We are they. Sell the worker out by making them lose their jobs to abused foreign labor and see what happens? We just did.

This is not the time to give the auto industry, auto executives, the auto unions, or whoever, their just due. We will cut off our noses to spite our faces.

And who are the ones who are all indignant about helping our auto industry in this time of need? The "Country First" Republican Senators of course - especially the ones in Southern States with foreign auto industry donors that stand to benefit from seeing the U.S. auto industry destroyed.

This is ridiculous. Why is anyone even listening to anything the Republicans are saying anymore in the midst of the disastrous fallout from their disastrous policies regarding . . . everything. Everything. Domestic policy. The economy. Foreign policy. The failed "war" against bin Ladin and fiasco in Iraq.

Let's save our auto industry and in the process save ourselves. The Republicans say the sky will fall if we save our the car companies, but the last time we saved Chrysler lo and behold it survived for decades. When the economy is better and not fed by fear, then if one or more of these companies goes down that's a different story. Now is not the time for that.

Let's not listen to the Republican parade of horribles. Let's not listen to the Republican fear-mongering about what will happen if we save the auto industry and the millions of jobs that it supports. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. We've got to stick together to get through this.

And when the Democrats reenter the White House and bring some competence and integrity back to our government again, we'll all be a lot better off. Then we'll get through this with hope and lots of hard work.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2008
Sun, 11-23-2008 - 9:15pm

toots, in case you hadn't noticed, finance is global.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2008
Sun, 11-23-2008 - 10:03pm
Funny thing is, I believe the US automakers and Chamber of Commerce no less want national health insurance.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Sun, 11-23-2008 - 11:20pm

You are right...business leaders have been calling for universal healthcare for years now.

Sopal

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2008
Mon, 11-24-2008 - 9:44am

Of course they do... Now that they have to look at paying what they promised their employees, they want to shift the cost to the taxpayer.


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Mon, 11-24-2008 - 10:28am

Yah, I know a wee bit about high-yield financing so don't worry yourself so much.


You can divert and distort, but the fact remains when an American

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2008
Mon, 11-24-2008 - 10:42am

Yah, I know a wee bit about high-yield financing so don't worry yourself so much.


Then why do you assume that finance must be located where physical plant is located?


It's about jobs.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-03-2008
Mon, 11-24-2008 - 11:32am

Why do you suppose that Honda and Toyota are not failing as well? Perhaps they run a fiscally responsible company. Perhaps they produce a reliable, fuel efficient product that Americans will buy.

I don't want my tax dollars thrown at failing companies who make no intentions of fixing their ways. All 3 CEO's fly to Washington in their private jets to beg for money from the hard working tax payers. The auto CEO's need to take a lesson from Lee Iacocha (sp?) when he took over Chrysler and put them back on the map.

Throwing money at a problem will NEVER fix the problem. I say let them file Chapter 11, renegotiate their contracts with the UAW union (the real culprit here) and restructure their business plan.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Mon, 11-24-2008 - 12:03pm

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Finance isn't "located" anywhere.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Mon, 11-24-2008 - 12:36pm

Not nationality.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-05-2008
Mon, 11-24-2008 - 2:05pm



Edited 11/24/2008 2:43 pm ET by chargermom2008




Edited 11/24/2008 2:43 pm ET by chargermom2008
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