"I happen to prefer American cars and we have 2 of them. But what we don't need from a Big Three Bailout is a billion dollar boondoggle designed to pay back the UAW and other unions for support of the Obama campaign. The U.S. industry has been promising fuel efficient cars since the 70s oil crisis. Their most creative "innovation" so far has been "job banks," the practice of paying union workers who don't work because technological efficiency has streamlined the assembly line. America can produce great cars but the unions have made them uncompetitive with the Toyota, Honda and other plants in the South. A pared down, restructured U.S. car industry will be hugely better than a politically inspired bailout which pours money down the same hole where it has previously disappeared. "
And then there is this:
Nov-15 - CGraham — I say let 'em fail. They've had 30 years to clean up this mess and build better cars and they chose not to. The only two things US auto makers have ever been good at is building trucks and manipulating the American public into thinking it's good for the country if we waste our hard-earned money on their second-rate products.
And here's an example of the kind of fluff written by this local managing editor:
If you bought GM stock, you'd want a financial return on your investment. How about a social and political return? Anything that reduces our reliance on oil reduces our reliance on other nations. That's where we want to go: Energy independence. Everything government does should have that built in.
It's not pie in the sky, either. It's just a lot of effort and a lot of retooling. And with demand for petroleum products increasing around the world, alternatives will become a necessity, not an option. Why not seize the moment to save both jobs and the future?
Strong arguments from a "pillar of the community" right?
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