Allies launch bailout blitz for Big Three

Jump in the lake -- Michigan that is. I've worked in institutional investment management, and am aware of the sophisticated pension investment staff at GM. They invest in alternative investments such as mezzanine finance and LBO's -- would they invest their hundred billion dollar pension funds at the terms they are seeking from the U.S. taxpayer. Hell no. I say have Management and Unions put their own pension fund money where their mouth is, and invest in the Big 3 themselves. Strangely they're silent on this. Are we fools!! Keep us out of it. For far too long the meely-mouthed Big Three executives cowtowed to union demands. They just agreed to the extortion, knowing all too well they would pass this on to the consumer, since they were the only game in town. Who'd they think they were, the post office? They had their henchmen in place, namely Dingell. They built utter junk -- remember "planned obsolesence"? I remember the hard times in the 80's when I attended college, and these dunderhead union dimwits pulled down way more than I would have hoped to earn -- for what turning a screw or pushing a broom? $73/hr with all benefits added in. For a bunch of bottom of the food chain thugs? Drop Dead and choke on it! In the 70's your daddy's brought this on for you with their lazy, incompentent, surly ways. Those 5th grade educated morons thought they were entitled to the same way of life as educated professionals. They used strikes or the threat of strikes to get huge concessions. The ivory tower management wanted to keep the native/inmates/unions at ease so they threw $$ at them. In so doing, management was allowed to pillage and profit on the other side of the ledger, with stock options, exceessive pay and fringe benefits. The unions in the 70's 80's added nothing that Mexican or Chinese laborors could not have done, but what did they get -- Fat Salaries, Fat Pensions, Job Security [See Jobs Bank], Post Retirement Health Care. What'd they do with their money? Save it? Nope in true Neanderthal way, they spent their money on bass boats, trips to Disney, big screen TV's, bowling balls, and beer. What a caricature -- not really. Let the automakers fail and have the unions children/prodgeny look at their abject failure back thru the prism of history to show the truth of these deadbeats/boat-anchors of America. And now they want me to pay?

MALAGE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! If they have faith in their business why diversify? ++$100B pension funds and they want to go unnoticed? Hiding them behind their backs while asking aid publicly! Not surprised some circles want GATES with 20000 military stand by in the streets for 'catastrophes'. This is a catastrophe, and it is not the only one!! They apply the rule mine is mine and yours is mine. Free economy benefits for their pension and bonus scheme....and state protectionist principles on tax payers expense!!!! In conclusion welcome to ''THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF USA''.... If they need to save their industry they have to put their had in their pockets, and better be fast.

Interesting comments that once again blame the blue collar working stiff for all that ails the auto companies, and from one of the smart cats from none other than the financial industry. You know that same industry that led us into this mess. The same industry that has an open line of credit to taxpayers money without nary one iota of oversight. I find it literally amazing how those on Wall Street who make billions and billions through all kinds of exotic investments can look at a poor blue collar stiff and blame them for the failure of the auto companies. How many cars did the union design, how many auto marketing plans did the union devise, and how many union contracts did the union unilaterally install. If I remember it, no one asked Wall Street about corporate jets, or what white collar workers make on Wall Street. Oh no, that kind of class warfare is reserved for the blue collar working stiff. Harry Reid said no one is too big to fail. Really? Then why are we devoting a single dollar to AIG, banks and others. If no one is too big to fail then why not do a Hoover and do nothing for anyone. Btw, Where was the financial industry's plan as to how they would use taxpayer money, where was their plan to show how their business model had changed to prevent anything like this from happening again. Where was their public flogging in front of Congress. And when is Congress going to flog itself for being the enablers to a dysfunctional Wall Street and Auto Industry.

UNIONS. I HAVE BUT ONE QUESTION? DID UNIONS EVER HEAR OF PAY FOR PERFORMANCE WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL WHO OUT PERFORMS RECEIVES THE REWARD AND THOSE WHO DO NOT RECEIVE NOTTA? TELL ME WHY UNIONS WHO OPERATE AS ONE SHOULD ALL RECEIVE THE SAME PAY GOVERNED BY A CONTRACT RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE? UNIONS HAD THEIR PLACE..NOT ANYMORE ASIDE FROM THE WASHINGTON BUREACRATS SEEKING VOTE APPROVAL TO STAY IN POWER.

Just had a thought on the way to work this morning - Who makes the vehicles for our military? If our auto makers fail, will we need to rely on foreign manufactures? Do we want to?

I agree with Malage completely! If we are so concerned about the "working stiff" - why we make a distinction between the UAW "stiff" and the poor "stiff" that is working for a small contractor? If we want to make a fare treatment of working people in our country - we should make laws protecting them to an equal reasonable extent and not leave it up to extortionist negotiations. And why not use those pension funds to bail out the "cash Cow" that was paying into those funds to begin with? The bailout would be at the expense of those less fotunate "working stiffs" who did not have the luxury of the inflated salaries, job banks and the astronomical pension benefits- but would have to pay the bailout with their tax money. Our Auto industry is obsolete, non-competitive and burdened with obligations they cannot meet - we should not be helping them to continue "as-is". Reorganizing under Chapter 11 would allow them to change their former ways and get a 'clean" start.

Please - The Detroit 3 have a combined market value of something under $9.2 Billion and they want a handout of $34 Billion more (on top of the original $25 Billion to retool) for a total of $59 Billion. The value of the bailout is equal to 600% of the current market value of the companies! They are kidding, right? A common sense alternative - buy the Detroit 3 for market value ($9 Bilion), throw them in bankruptcy reorganization, fire the Auto Execs and trash the UAW contracts. Then give the Detroit 3 to Toyota with $10 Billion in cash and let Toyota run the "New Auto Industry". Total cost to US taxpayers $19 Billion. This alternate proposal would save US taxpayers $40 Billion in upfront costs.($59B - $19B). The Detroit 3 are unbelievable - tell them to go home and implement their proposed "survival plans"; announce which plants will be closed, indicate where the employee cuts will take place, put the spending cuts in place and obtain other actual UAW concessions. Take the "Job Bank" as an example. GM alone pays over $10 Million a week to employees who no longer work for the company. It seems simple enough, the Detroit 3 can't afford to keep the ridiculous promises they have made, so now they want taxpayers to bail thenm out. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/business/28jobsbank.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=UAW%20JOB%20BANKS%20&st=cse Have the Detroit 3 implement their survival plans first, then they can come back and demonstrate how the money will be repaid to the taxpayers. With specifics. Can you imagine going into a bank and asking for a loan and telling the bank, "gee, I might be able to start paying you back in five years". "Oh, and by the way, I need to cut my production by 30% next year ...." At present the "survival plans" are just another set of empty promises. No more "TARPS" or "Troubled Asset Relief Programs" - once the money is given away - it can be used for whatever they want, but not necessarily for what it was intended. I don't want to fund another round of UAW pay increases, Executive bonuses or extensions of "pay not to work programs" for a group of failed companies. The Auto Execs and UAW are just like the Politicians; none of them will accept responsibility for the mess they created. It is always someone else's fault. SEE: http://mcauleysworld.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/the-detroit-3-bailout-tell-your-politician-to-vote-no-now/

Enough of the fear tactics - the contribution of the "Old Auto Industry" (Detroit 3) and the "New Auto Industry" (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc) is approximately 1% of our GNP (Gross National Product) http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/deutsche-bank-cuts-gm-sell/story.aspx?guid=%7BCAFEF63F%2D017D%2D42E2%2D874A%2D14146A6D20A5%7D&dist=TNMostRead The total number of US Auto Industry related jobs, those directly employed by "auto companies" and their "suppliers" totaled approximately 900,000. Only 1/3 of these jobs are associated with the Detroit 3 and their suppliers, for a total of approximately 300,000 jobs. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/deutsche-bank-cuts-gm-sell/story.aspx?guid=%7BCAFEF63F%2D017D%2D42E2%2D874A%2D14146A6D20A5%7D&dist=TNMostRead The 300,000 job total does not represent the 1 in 10 US jobs as the fear mongers currently claim. It isn't even close. Before recently announced job cuts, Citibank, alone, employed 375,000 people. http://in.ibtimes.com/articles/20081118/citigroup-looks-shed-weight-announces-50000-job-cuts.htm In 1999 Walmart, by itself, employed 950,000 people. http://asms.k12.ar.us/armem/clark/inter.htm Their are 203 different occupations classified in the US - and 135 Million (135,000,000) people employed in those classifications. http://www.jobseducationwis.org/ The 300,000 jobs associated with the Detroit 3 represent 1 job out of every 450 US jobs not 1 out of 10. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. If they can't make the case for a bailout without the lies, they don't deserve the money.

It's easy to sit on the sidelines and delare that whole industries should "die." Fact is, companies like GM, where I work, were well underway with solid turnaround plans when the credit crisis hit. The sudden, severe lack of available credit for consumers, combined with declining consumer confidence, is what brings us to Washington. GM’s plan is all about critically acclaimed new product, including plenty of fuel efficient vehicles. Chevy Malibu, just one example, won North American Car of the Year, looks great, gets excellent mileage and is built in America. Seriously. Check it out for yourself. And, bankruptcy is not an option. Who would buy a car from an automaker in bankruptcy? It's not the same as purchasing an airline ticket for a trip you'll take in three weeks. Buying a car is a big-ticket, long-term relationship. No, the domestic auto companies aren’t perfect. We’ve made mistakes. And there’s still a lot of work to do. But I’ve seen how far we’ve come, and how fast we’ve moved, and now we need a little help from Congress to get the job done.