SHUTDOWN!!!

/149 Comments/in /by

I’d like to think GM is just trying to get Bush’s attention with its announcement that it’s shutting down much of its North American production at the beginning of next year.

General Motors Corp., which is involved in a last-ditch effort to garner federal funds to help it survive through January, confirmed this morning that it is slashing approximately 250,000 units of production in the first quarter by shutting down most North American assembly plants for about 30% of the first quarter.

After all, Bush is a little bit thick–and some drama might help him to get the message about what a GM bankruptcy means.

Unfortunately, given the list of plants and models they’re shutting down, this looks to be a response to the crashing auto market as much as it is an attempt to make a point.

  • Ft. Wayne, Ind.- Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra Light Duty Regular and Extended Cab
  • Flint Assembly – Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra Heavy Duty Regular and Crew Cab & Medium Duty
  • Wentzville, Mo. – Chevy Express, GMC Savanna
  • Lansing Delta Township- Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook
  • Pontiac Assembly – Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra Heavy Duty Extended Cab
  • Spring Hill, Tenn. – Chevy Traverse
  • Fairfax Assembly, Kansas City, Kan. – Chevrolet Malibu/Hybrid, Saturn Aura/Hybrid
  • Arlington Assembly, Texas- Full Size SUVs: Chevy Suburban, Tahoe & Tahoe Hybrid, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL & Yukon Hybrid, Cadillac Escalade/Escalade ESV & Escalade Hybrid
  • Lansing Grand River – Cadillac STS & CTS
  • Orion Township- Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G6
  • Detroit-Hamtramck- Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS
  • Shreveport, La. – Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Hummer H3 & H3T
  • Bowling Green, Ken. – Chevy Corvette, Cadillac XLR
  • Wilmington, Del. – Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky, Opel GT 
image_print
149 replies
    • oldnslow says:

      Coryn not bothering to vote last night did not stop him from hand wringing on the Austin NPR station this morning. Coward.

    • acquarius74 says:

      Yes, EW, Gutless John Cornyn, unfortunately my senator, nearly lost his senate seat this election. KB Hutchison, TX other senator, stupidly voted against the bridge loan. See what it got her -shutdown of the Arlington, TX assembly plant. I’ll help see that she can kiss her dreams of being governor or getting re-elected good-by.

      • Waccamaw says:

        I hate it for all the workers who will be jobless……one can only hope that every one of the pols who voted against will find themselves in the same position come next election.

        • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

          But think about the economic ramifications – how in God’s name does the US Treasury, after being almost completely looted under Paulson** going to pay out all those unemployment checks?

          You think this isn’t going to be major blowback for the GOP…?
          I think you can mark this date as the death of the GOP. Order the grave marker right now.

          I’ve been wrong lotsa times.
          But a check in my email today convinces me that I’m right about this call: G.O.P. = nearly dead.
          I’m not sure even one of Billy Crystal’s Chocolate Covered Miracles would breath life back into the GOP after this.

          The guy whose original TARP proposal was a 3 page document that basically said, “I’m Financial Dictator, I’ll do whatever the f*ck I damn well please and no Congress can say jack about it.”

          • Waccamaw says:

            Your mouth to doG’s ear……..but I will never underestimate the inability of low-information voters to put two and two together ever again.

        • acquarius74 says:

          Yes, Waccamaw, I guess I sounded pretty mean. I really feel for the Arlington workers, and the families in all the towns whose income, benefits, health care are to be suddenly lost.

          Maybe the impact on so many people will give us back a democrat senator or 2. My Rep is John Carter and he voted against the auto bridge loan in the house. I really can’t understand why the repubs keep getting re-elected in TX.

  3. FormerFed says:

    I don’t know if this is a game of chicken or not, and I don’t have much good to say about GM management, but this is pretty incredible. In addition to this, there is what is sometimes called a ‘logistics tail’ for any large industry, and this is where the follow on effect will come into play. It is not chicken to say that hundreds of thousands of people will be put out of work if this happens.

    Although I won’t use bmaz’s term and call some southern senators ‘rubes’, they are certainly not thinking about our country with their current actions.

    Come on Franken and hurry up 20 Jan.

    • emptywheel says:

      Yeah, the tail is the thing that’s actually driving the urgency of their bailout.

      They get paid immediately for cars that hit the showroom, then pay suppliers on a 45-60 day delay. So they’re now paying for cars in teh showrooms that aren’t selling, so they have no revenue coming in to pay those suppliers.

      In perhaps related news, mr. emptywheel’s company (he works for a supplier) announced layoffs today, too.

      • klynn says:

        Hey EW,

        I’m sorry. Mr. Klynn will not hear until after the holiday but the pay period was adjusted to Dec 29th. So it is a bit confusing why word has not been given one way or another.

        • emptywheel says:

          It may not be a bad thing. They’re doing a mix of voluntary and involuntary. We may well go the voluntary route–it’d give us money to ride out the depression and COBRA, which isn’t too shabby.

          • bigbrother says:

            Right getting the house reorganosed without bamkruptcy organization doing it is smart move and justifies bridge loans. The panic writing is not helping. Union workers are in better position than others in the work force with their benefits? They can hold out for two quarters while demand for what they build grows.

        • klynn says:

          Unfortunately, we switched companies a year ago…Only a year’s worth of severance pay…that would be two weeks…not enough to ride out a depression.

  6. JimWhite says:

    I kinda doubt this is all playing chicken. Aren’t the showrooms and lots full now? Even with a bridge loan, they’re going to have to cut back production for a while to clear the glut of unsold vehicles.

    • emptywheel says:

      The thing that makes me believe it is, to some degree, show, is that the Malibu’s on this list. Malibu is actually picking up market share, even with the contraction in the market. So those must be moving through dealers.

      • JimWhite says:

        But with a market that’s shrinking so dramatically, can’t they be increasing share but still falling short of volume projections made when production was planned?

        • ThingsComeUndone says:

          Yes if things are much much worse than we thought. The Chevy Malibu hybrid has been getting lots of hype this year. Canceling the “it ” of the year is a big deal.

      • RoyalOak says:

        The only way the Malibu is going off showroom floors is if the people wanting to buy it have a credit score of 750….

        • sacrablue says:

          Things at the dealers are even worse than you think. We bought an Altima hybrid (husband didn’t fit in the Prius, looked like he was driving with his knees). We offered downpayment of over fifty percent. Our average of the three credit scores was 853 and the best financing they could offer was 6.357%. That was is September. I can just imagine what it is like now!

  7. hayduke says:

    Marcy, why would Senator Harry Reid vote against cloture?

    I don’t get it. He supports the auto loans on his own website. What am I missing here?

    thanks

    • emptywheel says:

      That always happens with the leader of a party that loses a filibuster. You can ask for the body to reconsider the motion, but you have to be on the winning side of the issue.

      So basically, when it became clear that cloture was going to fail last night, Reid switched from Yes to No.

    • BoxTurtle says:

      It’s a tactical move. He can announce he’s changing his vote and request the senate revote. It happens on a lot of close bills. If the bill needed his vote for passage, he’d have voted “yes”. Since it was dead anyway, he covered the revote option.

      Boxturtle (GM is playing chicken with someone too stupid to know what happens in a tie)

    • scribe says:

      It’s a function of the Senate’s procedural rules. You only get to bring up something which has already been disposed of, if you were on the losing side of the vote. So, to give himself the power to bring it up again, Reid had to vote on the losing side, i.e., against cloture.

  9. SparklestheIguana says:

    I was at a convention a couple months ago in a booth not too far from the booth of the city of Wentzville, MO. Nice people. I’m sorry to see the Depression hitting ‘em.

  10. freepatriot says:

    joe the nada plumber better hope that book deal works out, cuz the people in the MidWest ain’t gonna be able to afford indoor plumbing much longer …

  12. ThingsComeUndone says:

    Lots of trucks big profit margins but low sales thanks to gas prices. The Chevy and Saturn hybrid shutdowns though only make sense if nobody is buying even fuel efficient cars?
    This might not be a game of chicken.
    Does anyone in the GOP understand that THEY will get blamed for a Christmas shutdown of the big three?
    Do they want to play Scrooge?
    Does any of them understand economics? They could lost the Midwest for a generation over this.

      • ThingsComeUndone says:

        I’m wondering just who is advising the GOP on economic matters or winning elections in the Midwest? You have to work HARD to be this stupid.

    • emptywheel says:

      Actually, not anymore.

      In November, Silverado was still 2nd best selling car in teh country (behind Ford F-Series). It was down FAR LESS year on year than the industry as a whole. And the Prius, bc of supply reasons among other reasons, was down FAR MORE year on year.

      • Petrocelli says:

        Prius is wait- listed approx. 6 months around the World, not sure about the U.S.
        I don’t know why other Hybrids’ sales have stalled though.
        Trucks are usually big sellers at the end of year, for tax purposes, no ?

  13. freepatriot says:

    can we have a contest to pick which repuglitard tells us that “Nobody could have anticipated that the auto industry would die like that”

  14. SparklestheIguana says:

    And speaking of another shutdown, Illinois’ bond rating might be lowered because of Blago. And John Harris has resigned. Oh it’s lonely at the top….

  16. whitewidow says:

    The Bush administration reversed its earlier opposition to using the TARP funds a day after the Senate failed to approve a short-term loan package for GM and Cerberus Capital Management LP’s Chrysler, pushing the companies toward a bankruptcy they said they were working to avoid.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p…

  18. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    Yup. Thanks.

    And it sure looks as if the GOP Senate has tried to work a deal with GWBush so that he can come in and look like some kind of ’savior’ with TARP $$. Fools.

    • freepatriot says:

      it sure looks as if the GOP Senate has tried to work a deal with GWBush so that he can come in and look like some kind of ’savior’ with TARP $$. Fools.

      I don’t know

      if the repuglitards just wanted a gratuitous chance to look like a bunch of DICKHEADS, then we could say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

      other than that, I can’t really see what the repuglitards accomplished

      cept for ensuring that Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan stay Democratic for the next five or six presidential cycles

      really, I can’t see the up side for the repuglitards

      when you fuck up so BAD that george w bush has to pull your nuts out of the fire, you only make yourself look MORE dimwitted and incompetent than george

      how can that be a good thing ???

      • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

        Agree completely.
        FWIW, it’s just more evidence of how completely out to lunch the GOP is – if they think that creating this kind of trauma just to pull a stunt that sets up GWBush to swoop in (Cmd Codpiece-like) as if he’s some how going to ’save the day’, then their minds must be orbiting somewhere out beyond Pluto.

        This sure looks to me like a “Mission Accomplished” moment for the GOP Senate.
        Someone needs to Photoshop Kyl, Cornyn, McConnell, Corker, and the rest of this brat pack into an image and put them in flight suits right along GWBush on that aircraft carrier beneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner.

        Foolish!

  19. bell says:

    to those who somehow thought the markets would tank today given the dire situation and outlook for the auto industry – those banking cartel folks know how to look after their own!

  20. ThingsComeUndone says:

    Why aren’t we pushing for conditions on the bailout? the Car and bank bailouts?
    Like any attempts to cut benefits for car makers will be matched by the same cuts in banking jobs pay and benefits?
    Its not like we don’t have leverage the Fed once Obama is in charge could return to the banks the toxic home loans they gave the Fed earlier this year, unless they start lending to Americans again.

  21. ThingsComeUndone says:

    Who in the GOP said having Senator Vitter lead the charge on an issue is a good thing? Is he the best they have on economics?

      • ThingsComeUndone says:

        Wasn’t that Rick Santorum unless Vitter is freakier than we thought? There are so many GOP scandals to keep track of.

        The Santorum controversy arose over former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum’s statements about homosexuality and the right to privacy in April 2003. In an interview with the Associated Press (AP) taped on April 7, 2003[1] and published April 20, 2003, Santorum stated that he believed consenting adults do not have a Constitutional right to privacy with respect to sexual acts. Santorum described the ability to regulate consensual homosexual acts as comparable to the states’ ability to regulate other consensual and non-consensual sexual behaviors, such as adultery, polygamy, child molestation, incest, sodomy and zoophilia (bestiality), whose decriminalization he believed would threaten society and the family, as they are not monogamous and heterosexual.

        Many Democratic politicians, gay rights advocates, and progressive commentators condemned the statements as homophobic and bigoted,[1] while some conservatives supported Santorum and called the condemnations unfair.[2]

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorum_controversy

    • BoxTurtle says:

      As I work it over in my mind, the thing that the GOP could hope to gain is some burnishing of the BushCo legacy. And some damage to the major unions, those hotbeds of anti-GOP voters. It just seems to me that is not enough to risk all that they are risking.

      They must be counting on voters short memories. Nobody can be made to answer for their vote until 2010 and that’s a lot of time to the average voter…two full seasons of American Idol!

      Boxturtle’s overly simplistic perscription to save the auto industry:

      1) National health care. Taxpayer financed. Health care is a right.
      2) Zero the unsecured debt holders.
      3) Zero the stockholders.
      4) Gov’t to own large portion of stock in the rescued companies in return for bailout.
      5) New executives. These folks had their chance and they blew it.
      6) PBGC takes on all old pensions, in return for stock.
      7) Unions & companies negociate new agreement that both can live with.

      Boxturtle (What?!? There are flaws in the above??)

      • freepatriot says:

        the thing that the GOP could hope to gain is some burnishing of the BushCo legacy

        of all the presnits who killed their own party, george w bush was the best of them ???

        wtf ???

  23. Petrocelli says:

    *sigh* NeoCons are writing our radio news in Toronto. An ‘All News’ station just talked about how the UAW was asked to make concessions but flatly refused, then went into the list of Plants closing for Dec.- Jan. … heavy emphasis on “Blame the Unions”

  25. WarOnWarOff says:

    chimp was in College Station this morning giving an Aggie graduation speech. Appropriate. Also appropriate that he made certain the new graduates understood that being popular wasn’t something to strive for. *g*

  29. KayInMaine says:

    Uh oh. Those shut downs are mainly in ‘red Southern states’ aren’t they? It’s already backfiring on the reich wingers! Bah hahahahahahahaha! Screwing over their constituents by voting against the auto bailout only means one thing:

    DEMOCRATS WINNING IN 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020!

  31. hackworth1 says:

    IIRC, the old Crawford Brush Clearing photo op features Shrub driving a Chevy pick em up at the dude ranch.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      FWIW, I have long time friends who live in the Crawford region and have said since 2000 that noone who knows jack sh*t about the local environment or the lifecyles of the plants down there would ever scrub brush in August!

      They’ve said for years it’s pure bullshit photo-op on the part of GWBush.

  33. Leen says:

    Was so surprised by Tester’s vote. I’ll bet he supports subsidizing ranchers in Montana. Have spent some summers in Montana have talked with some ranchers who have some interesting welfare deals with the government
    http://www.publiclandsranching….._intro.htm

  34. Blub says:

    “Shreveport, La. – Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Hummer H3 & H3T “

    Hey Daiper Dave “the John” Vitter, is your state gonna have any industry left before you’re finished fuxing with it?

  35. ThingsComeUndone says:

    Bush is trying to claim leadership because the Senate did nothing on the auto bailout. However Bush and the GOP wanted things in return for an auto bailout they wanted Union benefits and pay cut.
    However no Bailout deal in the Senate means that the GOP gets nothing.
    Bush’s bluff is being called remember that at first Bush wanted the Senate to use the money set aside to retool the auto makers and not his precious bank fund money.
    Now Bush is being pushed to use his precious bank fund money. Now Bush will not get the Unions to cut their pay or benefits!
    If we get the cash then we will have won this one!
    Next step hybrid cars.

  36. kala says:

    COBRA was quite expensive for me … although trying to find affordable private coverage when it ran out was outrageous.

    ~itunkala, hoping for 1 of those 5 million jobs to be created

      • Crosstimbers says:

        Arlington, TX is the town between Dallas and Ft. Worth where George Bush’s Texas Ranger ballpark was built following imminent domain seizure and largely at taxpayer expense. The ballpark is what added most of the value to the Ranger franchise, part of which was his windfall upon sale of the franchise. Arlington is also the location of the Dallas Cowboys new stadium under construction, also with large taxpayer expense. The Arlington GM Plant has historically been the major employer, prior to the advient of the baseball stadium and Six Flags. I hope Kay Bailey Hutchison is appropriately rewarded for her vote.

    • RoyalOak says:

      The Free Press had a lovely editorial on the front page today about how the Big 3 sent millions in aid and vehicles to Alabama and Louisiana after Katrina (as in, the day after). Their senators sure know how to say “thank you”.
      http://www.freep.com/article/2…..0403?imw=Y

      • ThingsComeUndone says:

        Great Catch:)

        General Motors Corp., on Aug. 30, donated $400,000 to the American Red Cross 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund, pledged to match up to $250,000 more in employee contributions, and sent more than 150 vehicles to the stricken area for use in relief work.

        Ford Motor Co. and the UAW quickly made a joint donation of $100,000 to the Red Cross. The Chrysler Group gave $150,000 to the Red Cross and $200,000 to local New Orleans charities. DaimlerChrysler Services chipped in $200,000 for the Red Cross and pledged to match employee donations up to $50,000.

        The three Detroit auto companies together gave more than $18 million in cash and vehicles to the Katrina relief effort in the ensuing months. No strings attached.

        http://www.freep.com/article/2…..0403?imw=Y

  38. Brisebonbons says:

    Something that hasn’t been mentioned much in reporting from the left of this situation (And trust me, I’m from that part of the spectrum), is that GM et al have been bleeding market share for decades. So even if they got the bridge loan, cut labor costs, and restructured their business debt to be more manageable, the fact is their infrastructure is now far larger than the demand for their products can support.

    No matter what, large amounts of big 3 jobs will be lost due to right-sizing the production to meet sales numbers and demand – even if the economy turns around tomorrow.

    Even with new management, and under perfect engineering and manufacturing conditions, it will take the big 3 years to repair their reputation with many auto buyers.

  39. SparklestheIguana says:

    Now Rendell is criticizing Obama for his response to Blago – it’s “bungled”. Rendell honestly thinks this could’ve been a one day story, but Obama’s bungling made it a three day story? It’s because “they’ve never been in an executive position before.”

      • ferrarimanf355 says:

        That’s okay, as long as Nissan’s still making the 370Z, I’ll find something that kicks my passion into sixth gear.

        Hopefully, Ford survives and not only keeps making Mustangs, but also gives us the Focus RS…

        • freepatriot says:

          scape that japanese junk and get serious about cars, Bro

          buy a Mercedes and learn what drivin in style is all about

    • RoyalOak says:

      That’s okay – they’re still making the Mustangs – although that plant will be shut at least one week a month for the first quarter.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Yeah, cause you know those ‘vette drivers are all DFHs.

      GOP = barely on life support.
      UAW = also on life support, but a much tougher, angrier fighter.
      Cerberus = if they get money, it’ll end up being a Pyrrhic victory.

  42. pajarito says:

    Just up-armor them and send them to Afghanistan. The unsold trucks, that is. Not the southern Republicans. S/

  44. foothillsmike says:

    Senator Dodd on MSNBC earlier saying he had several calls from car dealers who had notes called by banks for real estate and floor planning

  45. radiofreewill says:

    Well, it certainly looks like this Congress is going to end with the Republican Party breaking-up on the rocks that were hidden to them in the Fog of their own Ideology.

    With their high-beams ‘on’ to Break the Unions, the Gooper Senators were willing to risk Dashing 3 Million Jobs.

    While Trumpeting their Ideology – supported by the Fat Cats in their Ideology – they turned a Tin Ear to the Citizens’ Tales of Economic Collapse.

    This is the Exclamation Point on 8 Years of The Republican Party’s Complete and Utter Failure to Do the Right Thing – but, instead to Maniacally and Shamelessly, Self-Interestedly, Chase the Agenda Items of Their Authoritarian Ideology right Off the Cliff…

  46. freepatriot says:

    wanna peek at the dominate theme of the 2010 election

    Digby nailed it

    At this point, the only route they (the repuglitards) see to power is to make things worse and blame it on the Democrats. What else do they have?

    it’s a brilliant plan, unless the rubes catch on

    if that happens, the repuglitards are likely to become very attached to tar and feathers

    the repuglitards are engraving their own head stone

    • ThingsComeUndone says:

      Uh the GOP is still the party of the rich killing the economy if your rich is like shooting yourself to shoot the person standing behind you.
      Sure the rich have more cash to better weather a storm but they also have greater expenses and more debt.
      After all no bank would give me 30 to 1 leverage like the banks gave the hedge funds.

  47. KayInMaine says:

    “Thanks to George Bush the next 9/11 won’t be a surprise”

    (protest sign near the Bush Compound in Kennebunkport, Maine)

    It’s my favorite sign of all time and after 8 years and what George Bush has done to our country and abroad, none of us will be surprised when the next attack of any kind comes…..even if it happens under President Obama next year! Yep. We know exactly who to freaking blame!!!! And it won’t be Barack.

    • foothillsmike says:

      A billboard should be erected in front of every closed plant in a state represented by one of these rethugs thanking them for the plant closure.

  49. freepatriot says:

    is this guy goldfarb TOTALLY STUPID or what ???

    he’s on with rick the twit and his twitter critters, and he’s basically saying that he was discussing J Wright after he was specifically ordered NOT TO DISCUSS j wright

    and then he claims he “Had Some Success” because he sparked 3 hours of coverage about j writh the next day

    and how did that election turn out, goldfarb ???

    and did you lose cuz you failed to exploit J Wright, or because you supported a candidate who was so pathetic and inept that his own staff was incapable of following orders

    any candidate who employs goldfarb in the future should be automatically disqualified for mental incompetence

    talk about a LACK OF SELF AWARENESS, this guy knows he lacks it, and he just can’t do anything about it

    this guy looks and acts like he knows he is coming off as a lying dickhead, and he just puts his head down and plows into the brick wall of stupidity

    we have the poster boy for the repuglitard party of the 21st century

  51. Gerald says:

    We have to remember that last month, GM’s sales were down over 40% and Toyota over 30%.

    Of course they are shutting down factories. The question is whether it will become permanent???

    There is some things that everyone should remember.

    1) We do need to get over these next few months, and certainly past January 20.

    2) No matter what bailout money is given, no matter how many concessions union workers and white collar workers give, if people don’t buy the Detroit 3’s cars, all those people are out of a job.
    a) The government pension insurance will only pay so much of anyone’s pension. There are percentages, as well as maximums.
    b) The government will not provide ”company” medical benefits to anyone. Only Cobra can help the younger (less than 65) workers and they are limited in time (maybe 12 to 18 months) and require the company to still be alive.

    Arguments have been made often, for example here, and on the TV about how good the Detroit 3’s cars are nowadays, but no one seems to be listening.

    I was going to buy a new car this Christmas, though it would have been a Japanese or Korean vehicle and not a Detroit 3. Now with my 401 headed into the maelstrom with full sheets flying I am not even going to the movie this evening as I would have done 6 months ago.

    And speaking of movies, have those in the Auto Industry noticed that today is the start of ”The Day the Earth Stood Still?”
    There seems to be a rhythm to it all.

  53. wavpeac says:

    It’s fasinating to me. They had been on me for an insurance claim last year in december. They make you co sign the check. But in order to get your insurance money you have to have a contractor do the work, with their social security number and license number. So my husband is a licensed electrician who has worked every area of construction. So he had the work completed before we ever saw the check. Nebraska law says you can do your own work without a contractor. But homecomings will not give you your insurance money without having one sign off. I tried to talk to them but there was a complete shut down on that.

    Homecomings wanted us to sign the check over to them and they would give it to us in thirds per the contractor. I tried to explain it’s done. They said have a contractor sign off…well this is a problem because no one wants to say they were paid for the work or to put their license on the line for someone else’s electrical.

    Okay…so I just held on to the check. Still have it. I checked online and there are hundreds of complaints from hurricane Katrina survivors where homecomings refused to give the checks over to the people after co signing. So I still have the check.

    So they call me monthly, threaten legal consequences and want me to call and verify that the work has been done. But the calls and letters stopped completely around October. Nothing, nada.

    So last two weeks I started getting calls every day again. I figured this was because of the bailout potentially happening. Last three days. Calls have stopped dead.

    It’s going to be interesting.

    I pray for all those people without work and the hope the anti union republicans survive the revolution. (of ideas)

  54. cinnamonape says:

    Bob Corker, R-TN ~Spring Hill, Tenn. – Chevy Traverse
    Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX ~Arlington Assembly, Texas- Full Size SUVs: Chevy Suburban, Tahoe & Tahoe Hybrid, GMC
    Mitch McConnell, R-KY ~Bowling Green, Ken. – Chevy Corvette, Cadillac XLR
    John Vitter~Shreveport, La. – Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Hummer H3 & H3T
    Pat Roberts~Fairfax Assembly, Kansas City, Kan. – Chevrolet Malibu/Hybrid, Saturn Aura/Hybrid

    A bunch of those that voter against closure and to put the deal on the floor are thinking they aren’t in effected states…but suddenly the chickens have come home.

    Anyone know how the Senators from MO and IND voted on this?

    Wentzville, Mo. – Chevy Express, GMC Savanna
    Ft. Wayne, Ind.- Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra Light Duty Regular and Extended Cab

    • JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin says:

      Either they’ll call a special session for a new auto bailout bill or Bushie will give them money from the TARP fund. Remember, the GOP rejected the initial bailout bill, which resulted in a 770 something drop in the stock market and worldwide panic. Then they shut up and passed it.

      The GOP Senators stupidly figured (stupid and GOP are synonyms) that the only plants that the big 3 had were in Michigan, which is Democratic. I guess they never thought that the big 3 had other plants, especially in their states.

      What a bunch of rubes.

  55. sunshine says:

    UAW President Ron Gettelfinger’s Detroit’s Channel 7 News Press Conference
    Gettelfinger Calls on White House to Act
    Concerning the Senates Failed Auto Loan Bill Dec. 12, 2008
    Transcript written by sunshine

    Good Morning Everyone. Thank you for joining us here this morning. We thought it was important to get together and share some of the events that occurred yesterday. First of all I want to begin though by saying that we do appreciate the positive statement that was released by the White House this morning where they say that their reviewing all options that are necessary including the use of the Troubled Asset Relief Program to assist the industry. I also want to mention how pleased we were with the vote in the House, all of the hard work that was done there by the Leadership as well as the Leadership in the Senate. As everyone’s well aware the auto industry around the world is in peril. There’s no question other countries have stepped up to help their industry and the United States has been a little slower to react. Our Union, with a lot of hard work has recognized that the industry is in a restructuring mode and we have known that for a while. You’ve heard us talk about what we did in 03, 05, 07 negotiations and then just this past week to assist our industry and put them in a more competitive position. Unfortunately the Senate Republicans led by Senator McConnell rejected the bipartisan legislation and restructuring process that had been agreed too by the White House. Yesterday morning I received a call from Senator Bob Corker laying out some stipulations that he was going to introduce in the Senate and asked me if the UAW would be willing to consider entering in to talks with him. At that time we recognized that it was very risky to do this. First of all, we did not know who Senator Corker was representing on the Republican side and if he could reach an agreement, if he could deliver votes. We also recognized that the other parties involved, the other stake holders involved if you will, were not being held to the same standard that organized labor was. In fact, organized labor was being treated with a double standard, the same as what we saw in the financial markets, the double standard that was there. So the other parties weren’t there. Senator Corker had already had discussions with the companies at that time and basically had put down what he wanted to see happen or what he felt needed to happen. In addition to that we knew that to negotiate with an individual Senator was a difficult challenge for us when we still had to negotiate with the companies and we knew that there would be a number of people involved in the discussions with the Senator who really didn’t have the knowledge of the industry and from our personal standpoint this was going to mean long distance negotiations. In other words we would have our people on the ground in Washington communicating back and forth with us by way of phone. And then the other thing was, quite frankly, we wondered if we were just being set up. And I say that because there’s no question the UAW has demonstrated leadership throughout this process. And there were some in the Senate who we felt resented that. But, knowing all the risk that was there we were still willing to go the extra mile and negotiate with Senator Corker on modifications to the bill that the White House had agreed to and had already been approved in the House of Representatives. We, our people believed, that were on the ground in the negotiations reached a tentative agreement with Senator Corker on those modifications. But the Senate caucus rejected that agreement. The tentative agreement with Senator Corker provided that bond holders, and retiree health care VEBA would both have to exchange a large portion of their claims for equity or stock in the companies. And as Senator Corker recognized these agreed to changes would have made an enormous difference in the balance sheets of the companies and largely solve their financial problems. Senator Corker admitted to our people on the ground there that the other discussions over wages were largely about politics within the GOP caucus. And we went so far as after having stood up at a press conference prior to going to Washington and saying that we would eliminate the jobs bank it was insistent that we put that in that bill. Now we stood up and committed ourselves and we like to be credible people. And I often say to the companies you show us where we violated any agreement that we have reached with you. But I personally took that as an insult, however, in order to move this process forward we agreed to put that language in there. The tentative agreement with Senator Corker also provided that any restructuring plan approved by the auto Czar would have to insure that the wages and benefits paid to active employees at the domestic auto makers would be competitive with the compensation paid by the foreign transplants. After taking into consideration the transition to newer employees earning lower wages and benefits. If the auto Czar determined that this would not be accomplished under the restructuring plan the companies would have been required to file for bankruptcy or to have their money pulled back. And let me mention on wages and I think this is very important. In 2007 there were two employees at the Toyota Motor Company in Georgetown, Kentucky who were terminated because they found on their computer a five year plan that Toyota had put out talking about their wages and benefits. Those employees both remained fired today even though the local Board that Toyota has recommended that one of those workers not be fired. But in response to a question that was put on their hotline Toyota on January the 23rd of 2007 at 11:27 am stated that their wages were better than the Big 3 and their bench marking shows that the typical premium paid by the auto industry is 50% above manufacturing wage. Toyota claimed to exceed that rate by $3.00 an hour. Additionally, there was an article put out by the Detroit Free Press on January the 31st of 2007 and with a headline that said “UAW Losing Pay Edge” and it refers specifically to the Toyota Motor Plant that paid bonuses of $6,000. to $8,000. in Georgetown, Kentucky and it brought it up to an equivalent of $30. an hour. Additionally, Toyota put out on Thursday and Friday September the 25th and 26th of 2008 that with their bonuses their workers made $30.45 an hour. Under our agreement the $28.12 an hour. So when you say that the wages and the benefits have to be equal in discussions I had with Senator Corker I made it clear and he understood that this was mixing apples and oranges. This was just simply subterfuge on the minority and the Republican party who wanted to tear down any agreement we came up with. You know as I indicated the Senate caucus rejected this tentative agreement because of that issue that they demanded that the wages had to be slashed. In fact I had indicated to Senator Corker that if we were going to use Toyota as a bench mark then our research department was prepared to go to Toyota, not with a leap of faith but dealing with the fact go in and review their entire wage structure. In addition to that if we were going to use them as a bench mark we should be permitted to see how they paid management. If we did that we should also see their dealer contracts as well as their supplier contracts. That only would make sense to me. Instead of somebody saying here’s the wage and that’s what you have to agree to. However they did add a couple of other companies then that they wanted to use as a bench mark. The demand by the Senate GOP caucus would have no question treated workers differently from every other stake holder instead of leaving it to the Auto Czar to work out the time table and the mechanism for implementing sacrifices by all of the stake holders. And the GOP caucus tried to mandate the precise restructuring terms for workers. In effect, that means that GOP Caucus was insisting that the restructuring had to be done on the backs of workers and retirees rather then having all stake holders come to the table. And from the beginning the UAW has recognized, made it clear and so testified in front of the Congress of the United States that all stake holders had to be willing to make sacrifice. Even though we have stepped forward on three major occasions and as I’ve said many times we’re on 3rd base and the other stake holders are not even in the ballpark. We’ve already stepped forward and made enormous concessions but as we made it clear last night, we were prepared to make further sacrifices. But we could not accept the effort by the Senate GOP caucus to single out workers and retirees for different treatment and to make them shoulder the entire burden of any restructuring. And now that the Senate GOP caucus has repudiated the positions taken by President Bush and by Senator Corker and scuttled the legislation to provide the emergency bridge loans to the auto makers the only options are for Treasury Secretary Paulson to exercise his authority to use the TARP funds to provide assistance or for the Federal Reserve to take action. And the UAW calls on Secretary Treasury Paulson or the Federal Reserve to use their authority to prevent the immediate collapse of the automakers and the devastating consequences that would follow for millions of workers, retirees and for families across our nation and for our economy as a whole. So with that I very much appreciate the media being here this morning. We appreciate the reporting that you have done on these issues because from where we’re standing I can see how no one could have level critisim at the men and women of the UAW. I recognize that there are some out there that would do that but if you sit down and look at the facts as I have stated the facts here this morning to you as I believe them to be. If you look at the facts the men and women of the UAW care about our country. And by the way we will continue as a Union to put full energy in to bringing a successful resolve to this situation. So with that we’re going to take a few questions here this morning and then we’ve got work to do.

    Reporter: Mr. Gettlelfinger I know you’ve heard this before is there a possibility that there was a master plan here that this movement was all part of an effort to oust or break the UAW to keep them out of the right to work states?

    Gettelfinger: I’m going to answer that question this way. I have in my hand a document that was provided to us and I’m going to say up front that the “from” was deleted from it when it was given to us and “to” was deleted from it and it’s an email it’s an action allert that’s called:

    “Auto Bailout”, it says, and this was Wednesday December the 10th, 2008 at 9:12 am.
    “Today at noon Senator’s Enson, Shelby, Colburn and DeMint will hold a press conference in the Senate radio tv gallery. They would appreciate our support through messaging and attending the press conference if possible. The message they want us to deliver is:

    1. This is the Democrats first opportunity to pay off organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card (?) check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor instead of taking their first blow from it.
    2. This rush to judgment is the same thing that happened with the TARP. Members do not have an opportunity to read or digest the legislation and therefor could not understand the consequences of it. We should not rush to pass this because Detroit says the sky is falling. The sooner you can have press releases and documents like this in the hands of members of the press the better. Please contact me if you need additional information. Again, the hardest thing for the Democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans we can beat this.”

    Gettelfinger: And again I will stipulate that when I received this document, this is the way I got it, the “from” is not there and the “to” is not there. But our sources and you know I understand sources, our sources indicate to us this was put out by staffers on the Republican side of the isle.

    • acquarius74 says:

      Thanks, sunshine. I watched Gettelfinger’s film clip but it did not include the reporter’s question and the e-mail. That deserves a diary here at the lake,sunshine. We need to keep it up front and throw it in the repubs face every time they broadcast that it’s all the union’s fault.

      O/T Glenn Greenwald is to be on Bill Moyers’ Journal tonight – PBS.

        • acquarius74 says:

          Thank you multiple times over, Sunshine!! I read every word in all your comments here.

          Maybe my ignorance has whacked me again: I haven’t been here at the lake very long and the posting process is largely a mystery to me. I thought the main articles were called “diaries”.

          I’ve tried to watch the hearings, news, postings here, etc. on the subject of the auto bridge loan. I’ve concluded that Gettlefinger is the most straight talking and brightest bulb in the whole damned bunch! He does a fantastic job of seeing into the dirty manipulations of all the factions that would do the UAW in. Maybe Obama should consider him for Secretary of Labor.

          I appreciate all your contributions, Sunshine. Take Good Care Of Yourself, you belong to us…(the pups).

          pup34

          • acquarius74 says:

            One more thing: Sen. Shelby was chairman of the senate banking committee before 2006 when the dems got the majority. It seems to me that Senator Dodd, now chairman, acts like Shelby is still running things – – and Shelby acts the same. Sen. Dodd is the ultimate gentleman and, I think, one of the most sincere members in DC, but he needs to learn to “street fight” with Shelby. IMHO, Shelby’s understanding is pint-sized and Sen. Dodd keeps trying to pour a quart of enlightenment into it.

  56. acquarius74 says:

    It just occurred to me: I haven’t seen a comment by whangdoodle in a long time. Anybody know why?

    Thinking about you, Katymine. Cuss, cry and throw rocks if that’s what you feel like doing. Hope you’re on the mend.

  57. sunshine says:

    WXYZ) Sources tell Action News that the White House and U.S. automakers have reached a deal that could prevent a collapse of the industry.

    IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT, ACTION NEWS REPORTER TOM WAIT SAYS THAT A DEAL HAS BEEN REACHED BUT THAT AN ANNOUNCEMENT WILL NOT COME FRIDAY NIGHT

    Our source says the agreement with the Bush administration will mirror the bill that passed the House.

    We do know the White House and officials from GM have been in talks for several hours. The negotiations may also involve the Federal Reserve.

    President Bush is back in Washington after a trip to Texas and an announcement could come at any time.

    Bush also released a statement today saying “The economy could not handle the collapse of the car industry.”

    Congress is now out of the game after talks in the Senate broke down last night.

    http://www.wxyz.com/news/story…..vIEhQ.cspx

  58. brandane says:

    Why is everyone so happy about a “bill” written and approved by King Dumbfuck and his gang of five, If it is okay with them then it obviously is not good for the working man.

  59. sunshine says:

    Part 3
    UAW President Gettelfinger’s Press Conference Dec 12, 2008
    “Gettelfinger Calls on White House To Act”

    Question 2
    Reporter: There was no agreement last night. I know that you said you felt there was a double standard there but now that if the companies, 1 or 2 of the companies go bankrupt there’s a chance that your contracts with them could be null and void and that they could take that standard at you when they don’t have to deal with the actual contract because their bankruptcy. So how do you deal with it then?

    Gettelfinger: Look, we’ve said all along bankruptcy is not an option and it won’t just be one company that’s impacted. It’ll be 2, 3, others, the supply bases, they’ll all be impacted, every auto manufacture in this country. Some much worse than others. That is the very reason that we have tirelessly. These officers, our board, our local union leadership, our membership, have worked tirelessly to try to bring a successful conclusion to this.

    Question 3
    Reporter: If they do go bankrupt what will you do?

    Gettelfinger: If they go bankrupt, let me tell you, they won’t just go bankrupt, they will go into liquidation. We have said that. We have bankruptcy practitioners made it inequity clear to us. I think that’s one thing that Senator Corker truly understands that bankruptcy is not an option here.

    Question 4
    Reporter: Ron you mentioned the White House statement when you started out your conference here. I’ve been told by my station that while you talking that more bulletins have been running on the wires, including one that says the Treasury Department is ready to prevent the collapse of the Detroit 3 automakers because rescue efforts in Congress have failed. And that is coming from Treasury Secretary Paulson. So my question is two fold, what’s your reaction to that? Does that mean everything that has happened in Congress and in the Senate last night is now mute and your starting fresh?
    2. Does that mean you have to be in a position to negotiate with the White House and the Bush administration over terms that are acceptable or do you fall back on the agreement that Democrats and the White House had yesterday before all this new business with Senator Corker?

    Gettelfinger: Well first of all I don’t think that we would be in negotiations with the White House. We’re not in negotiations with the House of Representatives. It was only the Republican caucus in the Senate that forced us into negotiations with the Senate. Secondly, I think it’s great news. The response that we’ve been getting out of the both out of the White House and out of Treasury. So we’re prepared to move forward. That still means there’s a lot of work to be done here. I’m not even sure what this means, how much their talking about, any terms or conditions that are associated with it. But I do know this. It’s important for the White House to exert it’s influence to get this money released as quickly as possible. We cannot afford for there to be a run on the banks, if you will, at these companies. And that means simply the trade credits, the suppliers are shortening their terms, are wanting cash on delivery.

    Question 5
    Reporter: Just by way of follow up: If the White House says we want to negotiate some terms, you would facilitate that?
    Gettelfinger: I, I tried so hard. I don’t believe the White House would ask that. That’s my personal opinion. I think that the White House recognizes that we’ve been very responsible from the stand point of organized labor. And look, every company that testified in front of the Congress talked about the competitive agreement that we had negotiated with them and it was a matter of phasing things in. But what they were saying to us last night would be like saying to General Motors in your plan you say your going to take out X number of dealers, you have to take those dealers out by this date and that’s it. It ludicrous. So it’s a very complicated process and I think the White House understands that and Treasury does. But we’ll just have to wait and see what comes in front of us and we will try as I indicated earlier we going to work tirelessly to make sure that this happens and we recognize that we’re going to have to go with additional restructuring.

    Question 6
    Reporter: Are wage cuts an option here with talks with the White House and with Congress, again, even though you’ve got parity? with the non union shops.
    Gettelfinger: Well, When we say parity, I’m not even sure what that means to be honest with you. And that’s one of the discussions that I had with Senator Corker. You’ve got different facilities working under different agreements. What do we say? And oh by the way, if we could, let me just divert a minute. You heard the term viable out of the Congress a lot. Lets take Volkswagen, Volkswagen right now is asking their government to give them assistance. Our government has already given them over 500 million, ya, 500 million dollars to locate in the state of Tennessee. So their going to get money from their government to help them. Now how does that help our industry for us to subsidize our competition? What about health care? What about Free Trade Agreements? What about lack of an industrial policy? What about is having the most open market in the world. How do we, how do we as a nation compete? And the sad thing here is in these discussions it appears that there are those on the Republican side, and I say those because it certainly doesn’t apply to all of them, and we know who they are, that believe workers are expendable, that wages mean nothing and oh, by the way, they are going to be getting a raise by January the 1st. But they used tax payer dollars to subsidize our competition. We can’t, we can’t operate this way as a country.

    Question 7
    Reporter: So wage cuts is not an option?
    Gettelfinger: I’m very careful what I say. There are other ways within our contract to be very competitive. These Vice Presidents behind me have all been working extremely hard. We gave a commitment, we gave a commitment to these companies, to the
    people of America what we were going to do. We have all been sitting down working immediately to get out from under the jobs programs. We have already engaged our team on the VEBA because we would stretch out the payments. But then when the Senate got involved we didn’t even know if we needed to keep that commitment any more. So for me to, it’s premature for me to say what it is we would do as a Union. But I can say this quality, safety, productivity, we’re there. We’ve got some plants that we need to up grade, we’re going to do that. We have been working hard forever. It’s just easy to take the Union and blame us for everything. And as you can see, some of those in the Senate who were quick to scuttle this plan want to say that it’s the fault of the UAW. All they want to do is say wait a minute, workers shouldn’t have a voice in their work place. You know Union is the only instrument that gives working men and women any form of equity and justice in the work place. It gives them a voice at the table. And it’s very clear that there are those who would do away with that tonight if they could.

    Question 8
    Reporter: Do you have any indications from the companies on how long you have? I mean we don’t hear something from Treasury by the end of the day or the Federal Reserve by the end of the day, does some balls start get rolling?
    Gettelfinger: I’ve had discussions with both Mr. Wagoner this morning and Mr. Lasorta. The bigger concern right now is we need to
    get the commitment, they know when they make their payments. But we need to satisfy the suppliers that there is going to be a tomorrow. I think the run on the banks is a much bigger issue than anybody here realizes. If suppliers believe that they can’t operate, what are they going to do? Their not going to deliver the goods. If they don’t deliver the goods then the plants go down. We can’t have that so the urgency of the situation is to hit the supply base. General Motors have made it very clear they can not make it out of the month of December. And Chrysler, their very close with General Motors.

    Question 9
    Reporter: Is it within a week with General Motors? What are they telling you?
    Gettelfinger: Some of the conversations I have with General Motors obviously is confidential. We have creditability, we’re going to protect that. Let me just leave it at this we need action sooner rather than later.

    Question 10
    Reporter: Is there anything the UAW can do to help them limp into January if they have to?
    Gettelfinger: We did our research department if we work for nothing. You got to remember we’re 10% of the labor cost. If we worked for nothing it wouldn’t help them limp into January.

    Question 11
    Reporter: Is there a point in time that with the two tiered wages that you would reach parity with the foreign transplants down the road 2010 or at some point and what point do you reach that? In other words if you were just quiveling over months with the Senators, the Republicans last night at what point do you reach that point of parity?

    Gettelfinger: With the down turn in the economy right now vehicle sales fallen from 16% to 10.8% or two months in a row, it’s kind of difficult to answer that and the reason is we have 3,000 entry level workers at General Motors who will all be laid off on February the 1st. Those 3,000 entry level workers were helping to level that playing field immediately and that’s one of the complex things about the industry that I don’t believe a lot of the folks in the Senate really understood.

    Question 12:
    Reporter: Would you say this was anything said in Congress this week to come back. Was there any talk about that? Is there any window of opportunity there where something could be done?

    Gettelfinger: You see. What’s was going to have to happen here if I understand it correctly we needed 59 votes for cloture. We didn’t have it in the Senate but we did have the majority in the Senate but since the new bill, er, amendment had been introduced that would have meant the House would have to come back and end up going into a compromise committee. So in effect, the minority in the Republican party that put up a wall here made it very, very difficult for everybody involved. And oh by the way, you know it’s the Christmas holiday season coming up and I don’t think they were real happy about having to come back to Washington anyway cause I did hear a lot of talk about flights back home and all of that. So I think the President working with Treasury will now need to decide what it is that their going to do and how long they want to tied the companies over. I think the White House demonstrated by working with Senator Reed and Speaker Pelosi that they wanted to have this thing worked out. They did not just want to pass it off to the next administration. And I think they demonstrated that by their actions. It’s just unfortunate that the Republican minority decided that they wanted to go against their own President, that they wanted to go against what had been compromised in a bill that would have been good for all of us involved.

    Question 13
    Reporter: Ron, About the letter you shared, er the e-mail that you showed from the Republican Congress, in your view to what extent was this political payback for Democratic support historically, or UAW support of Democratic candidates? Do you think they were getting even?

    Gettelfinger: Were they getting even? I don’t know. I think two factors come into play here and I think one is, more than they fact is, or maybe there coupled together. One of them is we are an effective political organization. But more importantly were Union. And you know, the right wing in this country had basically painted the word Union to be a very negative word. We’re also up against the National Right to Work Legal Defense Organization who we don’t even know who they are because we can’t find out who their contributors are. So all of that comes into play. But there’s no question and I think at the end of the day who was the minority in the Senate representing? Regardless of their motivation? They thought perhaps they could have a twofer her maybe, you know, pierce the heart of organized labor while representing the foreign brands. And if you just look at Alabama we went through this before. And by the way, our country, our tax payers have put over $3 billion that we know of, and this is money on the top, to subsidize the foreign brands to come here. They weren’t asked to pay a penny of that money back and the tax payers actually weren’t asked to approve it. And again that’s state by state. I once again want to go through Alabama here. If you look at Hyundai they got $252 million dollars Toyota got $229 million and Honda got $158. million and Mercedes got $253 million dollars. That’s what we know. And I want to go back to the Peter Carmelis (sp?) editorial he put out in addition to the $259. million dollars, they trained the workers, they cleared the land, they put in the utilities, they agreed to buy 2,500 automobiles and on top of all of that they gave them land worth the value of the plant they were going to be building. So these are just numbers we know. So I think, I think enough said on that. It’s pretty clear to us what’s going on here. And by the way, we’ve received a lot of calls from the workers at the foreign transplants operations who are very worried about what was going to happen here because they appreciate the UAW. They may not be organized and they may be afraid to sign a Union card but they see what’s happening to us and they know it’s going an impact on them. And as I indicated to you Toyota has already introduced in one of the papers here, had quite an extensive article in it a 5 year plan talking about how they were going to reduce their costs. Ok, anything else before we finish up here real quick?

    Question 14
    Reporter: Did you say that was $253 million

    Gettelfinger: Yes

    Question 15
    Reporter: Ron, let me ask you about one final question about the Bush administration. Even though they were in support of the bipartisan bill they were stead fatly opposed to using any of the TARP money. Now they appear to be doing an about face on this. Do you think that’s because this President doesn’t want to leave office with a legacy of letting the auto industry and the manufacturing base fall under his watch, that he’d rather leave office with a legacy of I did the right thing and helped them out in my final days? What are your thoughts on that?

    Gettelfinger: Well I’m sure that’s part of it. But I also think the other piece of it would be that he recognized that Speaker Pelosi was willing to agree to get off of TARP and go into the Section 136 money and that was what he wanted done. She attempted to do that. And I think he recognizes also that it was the minority in his party that went against his negotiated legislation if you will, compromised legislation. So I think all of that comes into play. But this is an opportunity for the President to step back, take a second look that’s why I started this press conference off with saying how pleased we were with the positive statements that were coming out of the White House. So with that I thank you very much for being here this morning and I’m sorry we’re a little cramped here but we’ve got some other activities going on in the other auditorium and have a great day. Thank you.

    http://www.wxyz.com/mostpopula…..JoCag.cspx

  60. sunshine says:

    This is the second time during Ron Gettelfinger’s press conference news came out during his conference that put his voice to the American people on the back burner. The last time Levin called Ch. 7 news and said they had a bipartisian agreement in the Senate and later Pelosi came out and said show us the plan and we’ll show you the money. Today during his press Conf info came out that Bush would approve the TARP money. I watched the Republican stock channel for a few minutes before Ron’s PC. They were saying remember who he is talking to, his members that give him a pay check. No, he is talking to all of USA and his words are not getting out there. Do most people know that the South has given 3 billion dollars (that they know of, it could be more) of their tax dollars to get the foreign auto companies to come here and the tax payers weren’t even asked if they could spend that much money on foreign co’s.? I imagine $3 billion divided up between the residents of their states for small business could have made a great impact. It’s like tha TARP money, every citizen could have gotten $200,000. dollars instead of giving it away to failing corporations. I could have started a small business, you know, I heard they are the backbone of America. How much money goes back to those foreign countries?
    Do they know that GM had no chance to go through bankruptcy? Do they know that Senator Corker tried to negotiate with the UAW even though he had no authority or power to do so which lead to the breakdown in the negotiations between the 2 political parties in the Senate? Gettelfinger did not negotiate with the House of Rep or with the Senate. Corker tried to pull a fast one. Does the American people know that Toyota has a 5 year plan to reduce wages? Gettelfinger asked to look at Toyota’s books, management, dealer and supplier contracts to see what they were paid to compare prices to possibly come in comparrison with them but Corker didn’t set that up. Why?
    Does the American people understand that only the UAW members were asked to make scarifices in pay? No dealers and no parts suppliers or bond holders came to the barganing table to make sacrifices.
    What about the email that was sent by Senator’s Emerson, Shelby, Colburn and DeMint to fellow republicans telling them to spread the word that the loan was just a way of paying back the UAW for voting for them? That email also stated

    Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor instead of taking their first blow from it.

    Gettelfinger also tells us that Volkswagon is getting financial help from theri government AND OUR government.

    Lets take Volkswagon, Volkswagon right now is asking their government to give them assistance. Our government has already given them over 500 million, ya, 500 million dollars to locate in the state of Tennessee. So their going to get money from their government to help them. Now how does that help our industry for us to subsidize our competition? What about health care? What about Free Trade Agreements? What about lack of an industrial policy?

    Hey, I heard on Detroit’s ch 7 news that Canada is going to help out our domistic auto companies. At least we hear some really good news. After all we have done for the world some things come back.

Comments are closed.