Now Tom, Lets not get all testy.
I'm just tired of paying the price for others ineptitude, greed and laziness. The automakers made this bed. Sure, I bet your vehicles are light years ahead of where they were when a lot of us got this bad taste in our mouths, but it's there. They screwed the golden pooch. Treated us like sh!t. Now they say "Pay Up or else".
Well I'll take a big heaping pile of "or else" please. I'm tired of having the union gun to my head and there's a whole lot of us that feel the same way.
Maxx
lets reevaluate whos getting testy...not the "lets teach em a lesson and screw the folks who will suffer because of it crowd"...right?
understand something....everyone including myself is tired of the waste and unnecessary spending in the automotive industry (along with our government and many other industries)....and i for one believe that congress is going about this the right way...make firm demands for performance and put time restrictions on them with oversight...its the only way it can work...unlike the wall street boys who have wiped their collective asses with the money and cant wait to access the rest of the $700 billion waiting for them...
nobody wants to beat an auto executive to within an inch of his life more than i do...but theres another side to this that nobody wants to pay attention to because they dont think it will affect them...itll be a rude wake up call if it goes that way...if it doesnt happen i'll be happy to stand still while you tell me you told me so...but dont count on that opportunity....
heres some more propaganda for you...i'm just trying to supply some industry information for you....from the sounds of it everyone could use some...this thing is deep...
enjoy....it is interesting that the people who get to make the decision for the big 3 are the same ones who vote their own raises, take breaks during national crisis and probably waste more of our money than anyone else can...
House Passes Rescue Plan for Big 3
Auto Makers Poised to Get $14 Billion in Loans, but Bill Will Be Tough Sell in Senate
WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives approved a wide-ranging rescue Wednesday of the nation's auto makers, sending the plan to the Senate where Republican critics could endanger the initiative. The White House and top Democrats on Capitol Hill hoped to hasten passage of the package this week and clear the way for release of billions in federal aid in an effort to avert a collapse of one or more of the troubled Big Three. But the compromise bill, forged over five days of negotiations among top presidential aides and the Democratic congressional leadership, is proving a difficult sell among Republicans, despite high-level arm twisting. Their backing wasn't so important in the House, where the package passed on a 237 to 170 vote, with Democrats providing most of the support. But Republican backing will be crucial in the narrowly divided Senate to give the measure the 60 votes needed to ensure passage. Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) said the White House may have hurt its cause Wednesday. "They probably left with less support than they came in with," he said. Sen. Corker suggested that the more rank-and-file Republicans learn about the White House-backed compromise, the less they like it. Amid the uncertainty, House Democratic leaders were determined to press forward. "If we do nothing we face the risk that sometime soon there will be no American auto industry," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.).
Source: The Wall Street Journal (Subscription required.)
[Editor's Note: URGENT DEALER ATTENTION -- Serious roadblocks for the bridge loans still exist in the Senate. With a vote expected as early as today, NADA is strongly urging all dealers and their employees to contact their Senators—especially Republican Senators—and ask them to support an automotive stabilization package. Senators need to be told that bankruptcy is not an option as it would further decimate both manufacturers and dealers. Any information from the Senate offices should be relayed back to NADA's Legislative Affairs Office at (800) 563-1556. Senators can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.]
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Bailout Considered Just a Beginning for Revival of U.S. Auto Industry
Transforming the U.S. auto industry into a profitable, innovative sector is likely to take more than the emergency loans approved by the House last night. Business leaders and industry analysts said the companies will also need further government assistance to get customers back in showrooms and stimulate demand for energy-efficient vehicles. Chief among them are proposals aimed at getting consumers to open their wallets again. The recession has scared off shoppers, knocking down sales in November to levels not seen since 1982. And many of those who want to buy are finding it difficult to obtain financing. To help address those problems, the National Automobile Dealers Association has suggested the government allow new-car buyers to deduct auto loan interest and sales tax on their personal income taxes. Others say a federal stimulus package could help get credit flowing and improve American households' purchasing power, providing an indirect benefit to automakers. "This business doesn't run without credit," [said Dan McGinn, chief executive of TMG Strategies and an adviser to General Motors.] "Automakers are not going to make money again until people start buying cars," said Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst with Global Insight.
Source: The Washington Post
[Editor's Note: Bills that provide consumer tax incentives designed to boost auto sales, S. 3684 and H.R. 7273, have been introduced in Congress. NADA's Legislative Office is urging dealers to call their members of Congress today and ask them to pass this legislation. A spike in auto sales would help stabilize the industry now. The measure would temporarily permit new car buyers (for loans made until Dec. 31, 2009) to deduct the interest on their car loans as well as state sales taxes from their personal income taxes. The car loan deduction would be available for the life of the loan.]
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Tough Sell for Colorado Car Dealers
Colorado car dealers John Medved and John Schenden have struggled to close the deal this year because of a credit crisis and a souring economy. Selling a $14 billion loan plan to rescue the Detroit automakers has been equally challenging. "It's frustrating," Medved said by cell phone Wednesday as he waited to board a plane in Washington prior to the House vote. "I think some people understand what the ramifications are, but others are standing on principle and not taking into consideration what those ramifications are. We're talking about a lot of carnage and suffering." Medved, who was on his way back to Denver, said he worries about millions of lost jobs across the country should the major automakers go belly up. A number of businesses in Colorado, such as Bestop, a maker of tops for Jeeps, and Gates Corp., a supplier of belts and hoses, would feel the impact, he said. That's not to mention the dealerships, which are significant employers and civic boosters. "The communities count on us for more than sales and service," Medved said, adding that his business supports an array of causes, from the Salvation Army to his parish in Golden, St. Joseph Catholic Church. Medved, Schenden and a couple other Colorado representatives met with lawmakers in Washington this week to back the rescue effort. They had dinner on Tuesday with Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican - who voted against the loan plan - and talked with Sen. Ken Salazar and outgoing Sen. Wayne Allard on Wednesday.
Source: Rocky Mountain News
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Pressing Its Investors, GMAC Says It Lacks the Capital to Be a Bank
As lawmakers debated a bailout package for Detroit’s big automobile companies, the future of an important piece of the industry was being negotiated on a parallel track in New York on Wednesday. Cerberus Capital Management, the private investment firm that controls GMAC and owns Chrysler, raised the specter of bankruptcy to apply pressure to GMAC’s bondholders to go along with a bond-exchange plan that many of them have been resisting. Whether bondholders agree will not be known for at least a few days. But whatever happens at GMAC will ripple through the auto industry. The financing company provides loans to consumers for cars and to dealers for their inventories. General Motors, which retains a large stake in the financing company, said in its latest turnaround plan to Congress that it was counting on GMAC’s viability. Otherwise, G.M.’s financial problems, and its need for government assistance, could grow. Without that money, GMAC could indeed be forced to file for bankruptcy by year-end, industry experts said. For G.M., any additional problems at the financing company would bring more pain for its dealers, who have long depended on GMAC to provide consumer financing and to carry its inventory. The automaker set up the unit in 1919 to help customers buy its cars. “How serious is this on a scale of one to 10?” asked Michael Martin, chairman of the G.M. Industry Relations Committee at the National Automobile Dealers Association. “It’s a 10.”
Source: The New York Times
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White House: Bush May Clear 'Car Czar' Pick with Obama
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration hinted today it will seek a "car czar" who would be acceptable to President-elect Barack Obama and could stay on after Obama takes office next month. "We expect to work closely with the president-elect's team in figuring out, once this legislation is passed, what the most effective means possible is of implementing this legislation," said Joel Kaplan, deputy White House chief of staff. One condition of the legislation is the appointment of a government official who would oversee restructuring of the Detroit 3. Kaplan told reporters that the president's designee, as the bill labels the industry overseer, will make his or her most critical decisions after Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration. The designee would not have absolute discretion to declare whether a plan would make a company viable. Instead, Kaplan said, the designee must certify that a plan meets a tough accounting standard called positive net present value. The standard takes into account all of a company's expected cash receipts and outflows, including long-term obligations for pensions and benefits. "This is going to be one of the most highly reviewed and scrutinized certifications in history," Kaplan said.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription required.)
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Big 3 Crisis Squeezes Suppliers
Auto parts makers in trouble as production slows, lending tap shuts
The auto parts industry -- already riddled with bankruptcies -- is in a state of quiet panic over the ability of Detroit's three automakers to secure federal loans and avoid financial collapse in coming weeks. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have been frank about their need for government aid to pay their bills -- many of them for parts and materials -- come Jan. 1. The financial crisis and credit squeeze that has turned off the borrowing tap for Detroit automakers is equally unavailable to parts makers, which have become even more cash strapped as production slows because of the severe downturn in new car and truck sales. "Suppliers are extremely concerned right now," said Neil De Koker, chief executive officer of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, a leading trade group for the auto parts industry. "They are trying to avoid panic."
Source: The Detroit News
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Opinion: Senate Should Give Auto Industry a Shot at Recovery
The Detroit News
Approval of an auto industry loan package will not save the domestic automakers, but it will give the Detroit Three a chance to save themselves. The emergency loans are desperately needed to keep the automakers alive long enough for their turnaround plans to take hold. Without the assistance, one or more of these companies could die. No one can know the impact a failure of a major automaker will have on the national economy. But at the least it would deepen and darken an already frightening recession. The House understood that, as evidenced by its approval vote Wednesday night. But the Senate is a tougher sell. Republican senators primarily from states that host foreign auto manufacturers have shown little sympathy for Detroit's plight, and have assumed they know more about building cars than Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. The automakers are moving with purpose to fix what ails them. If successful, they will change the fate of the workers and businesses that depend on them throughout the economy and across the nation... But if the Senate lets them die, they will take with them 4.5 million jobs and all hope for a quick economic recovery. We urge the Senate, please give Detroit a chance to make things right.
