US auto industry bailout = W T F
The big three US automakers are asking for a “bailout” from the American government. In their words, they’ve spun it as an R&D investment to help them develop greener vehicles… even though GM is on pace to run out of money by the end of the year. Sure sounds like a bailout to me.
Now this is rich shit. Do we not live in a free economy anymore? Let’s face it — the big three are suffering for a couple of reasons:
- People are buying fewer new cars (despite the planned obsolescence lovingly built into each model) and opting for public transit or choosing used cars instead.
- Foreign automakers make better cars. Given the choice, of course I’d buy a Volkswagen or a Toyota over a Ford.
So… it would seem that US automakers need to either downsize or make a better product. I don’t understand what the rationale would be for bailing these guys out. OK, let’s ignore all the obvious signs that they’re running a business that is out of touch with the North American car buying market and throw them a bone just for the sake of saving the jobs of all the people who work there? I mean, c’mon! I’d hate to see thousands of people lose their jobs if GM went belly-up, but is that really a reason to prop them up with a government loan? Isn’t that what the welfare program is for?
Do you think the horse carriage manufacturers went whining to the government 100 years ago when that market dried up? I seriously doubt it. Evolve or dissolve.
KISS, Hayden, The Beatles, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Graham Day & The Gaolers, Spiritualized, The Rolling Stones, Little Richard, Theme Songs, The Dears, The Stooges, The Who, MGMT, The Hellacopters, Spoon 
In the case of the auto-makers’ bailout, it’s a relief to have a national issue that is so straightforward: American cars tend to break down and fall apart therefore people have stopped buying them. If GM and Ford don’t want to go out of business, they should start making decent cars. To bail them out would be to reward their terrible manufacturing standards.
They all made a huge mistake 5 years ago. Everyone else in the world was going smaller and more efficient and American culture and car companies were going bigger and badder. The whole supper-size-me pandemic has caught up with the corporations pushing it - people have reached their bullshit threshold and don’t want any more of it. Frankly, I don’t think it would have taken that much vision to foresee this. They were pushing their own agenda and not what was right for the people.
The reason for the bailout, however, should be to protect those people who did not make the mistakes. The people who were actually building the machines. The bailout should start from the bottom up. It should start with capacity building, training, new tools, transferable skills - whatever the workers need to survive the rough times ahead. Then if that doesn’t save the company, then the guys at the top, the ones who drove the car into the proverbial wall - are out looking for jobs. It was their risk, the workers should not suffer.
… i just came looking for the neil young video on snl
HARSH.
I’m not one to agree with Government bailouts at all, but it’s not as cut and dry as this. This is truly a complicated situation. There’s no doubt about the fact that domestic car companies have been snapped awake by what was a 75% market share of the U.S. automobile market just a short while ago, to now enjoying less than 47% of it. They were fat and lazy, and began thinking less about innovating because they simply didn’t have to. They also produced shit, and didn’t concern themselves with quality like their Japanese competitors…just quantity, especially SUVs. The more cars purchased, the better….BUT…keep in mind…the overnight spike in OIL and Petrol, not to mention the ridiculous cost of health care and benefits for auto workers, which has forced GM, Ford, and Chrysler to have higher costs, per car, than their competitors, has also been part of the problem. It was a combination of bad circumstance, lack of foresight and ability to respond on management’s part, as well as some clusterfucks in terms of cost per car related to pensions, health care, and benefits that put these guys at a disadvantage. Do you have any idea what it’s like to change a company culture, one that is 100 years old, quickly? Virtually impossible. It’s a major challenge.
Listen…bottom line. The big three go bankrupt, and we will see a recession unlike any other. The psychological effect of something like this alone will resonate forever. I think the government should bail out the car companies with major conditions….and the money should be paid back with interest over a period of time.