Congressman responded to letter

[NAHURRY]

Dear Danny,



You were good to give me your thoughts on recent financial rescue packages. I voted for the financial market rescue, but I can't support the proposed auto industry rescue package. The auto industry needs cultural transformation to be viable in the future and not just tinkering to get taxpayer bailout funds.



The proposed $25 billion auto industry rescue is aimed at a single industry. That industry is vital to America, but so was a robust textile industry. The things that ail the domestic car producers-archaic union work rules and unsustainable salary and benefit packages-don't ail successful manufacturers like BMW. This crisis calls for all players to see it in their best interest to remake themselves into a wholly different industry and shed legacy costs and thinking. A prepackaged bankruptcy option may be the only way to cleanly break from the past.



The $700 billion financial market rescue, in contrast, was an effort to prevent a systemic collapse of the banking system on which we all rely. In the Great Depression the government was slow to act, and the Federal Reserve Board kept a tight money policy. Many economists believe that those mistakes made the Depression worse than it might have been. Hopefully, the quick and unprecedented actions by the federal government (President Bush and the Congress acting together) will keep this downturn from becoming catastrophic.



Thanks again for sharing your comments. For more information on today's top issues, please visit the Fourth District Web site at www.inglis.house.gov.







This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.



Best regards,

Bob Inglis

[ljustin293]

Pretty cool to get a response..

[StoutFiles]

This mailing was prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.

Boo.

[The_Blur]

Unless you're an automotive industry expert, you don't have the knowledge necessary to make any of the points in this letter.

[zebra]

did he really just compare the Big 3 to BMW? Detroit's auto makers are in the business of selling vehicles to everybody, not just the ones who can afford high-end luxury vehicles. that means lots more cars have to be sold in order to recoup the costs of extensive R&D, safety engineering, emissions, and economy standards. selling lots of $50k cars will keep you in the green easier than the same number of $20k cars.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by zebra

did he really just compare the Big 3 to BMW? Detroit's auto makers are in the business of selling vehicles to everybody, not just the ones who can afford high-end luxury vehicles. that means lots more cars have to be sold in order to recoup the costs of extensive R&D, safety engineering, emissions, and economy standards. selling lots of $50k cars will keep you in the green easier than the same number of $20k cars.

I also take issue with the argument that Detroit's automakers fundamentally are inefficient or not green. How can this guy argue that they need to break with the past? Ford and GM have been in the market for as long as Mercedes and longer than anyone else. It is a past of success and market dominance. Is that somehow un-American or inefficient?

[StoutFiles]

This also shows what Congress thinks of the Big 3 and how this might not pass.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by StoutFiles

This also shows what Congress thinks of the Big 3 and how this might not pass.

The media posts the extraordinary, not the ordinary.

They all love America, their corresponding states, and their constituents. That is ordinary for an elected official. In effect, the big variable that we aren't weighing is whether they love their economies more than they love being stubborn. I think it is safe to say that it will pass because it has to pass. If it fails, they'll be damned out of office by their voters when they all lose their jobs.

[blackZbandit]

One thing that legislators have failed to realize that I'm glad Mullaly brught up during his testimony is that all three companies were viable and profitable or nearing profitablity early this year. It wasn't until the gas crisis that that left large trucks and suv's (which are the products Americans wanted) filling up lots and the credit crunch slashed the amount of qualified buyers by 20% overnight that these companies ran into problems. Now granted, they weren't perfect before, but it almost impossible to weather this sort of economic storm when you're at such a stated disadvantage (union costs) compared to your foreign rivals (no union costs). Foreign auto makers are seeing their sales decline at a similar pace as the Big 3 but their better able to weather the storm as they have lower overhead and an already stronger focus on cars. Besides, didn't Germany provide a bailout for their auto industry? Quickly? Before this year all of the Big 3 had begun shifting their focus away from larger inefficient vehicles to new, more efficient technology, but even the people who suspected the impending doom the economy was headed for had no idea how quickly it would arise.

Sorry for the rant, but I hate the way the media and our government has turned against its last bastion of manufacturing greatness. GM makes more 30+ mpg models than its foreign competitors and they're vehicles are all rated as high or nearly as high as their foreign competion in initial quality... all while offering great, exciting performance. I am somewhat glad that this has happened though because now the restructuring can be expidited and union contracts can reflect real-world, present day industyr/workplace conditions or better yet be dissolved.

*WARNING: RANT MAY BE CONTINUED AT LATER TIME WHEN I'M AM NOT AT WORK LOL!!*

[CWI]

Originally Posted by in a hurry

Dear Danny,



. The auto industry needs cultural transformation to be viable in the future and not just tinkering to get taxpayer bailout funds.

True. Tinkering? WTF?

. The things that ail the domestic car producers-archaic union work rules and unsustainable salary and benefit packages-don't ail successful manufacturers like BMW. This crisis calls for all players to see it in their best interest to remake themselves into a wholly different industry and shed legacy costs and thinking. A prepackaged bankruptcy option may be the only way to cleanly break from the past.
BMW is probably not enjoying large sales during this economic downturn either. They are also nowhere near as diversified as the Big 3 and not affected as severely in the broad spectrum of the market. The Big 3 sales suffer in more areas than just transportation and luxury cars. They must also sustain slow sales in heavy equipment, construction equipment and military equipment. The Big 3 manufactures more than just "driving machines." How did this congressman vote on military spending?


The $700 billion financial market rescue, in contrast, was an effort to prevent a systemic collapse of the banking system on which we all rely.
Will the auto industry not collapse? I hope not. That would certainly not be economically stimulating.

I may be off track, but my thoughts. I own them.

[CWI]

Sorry if ^^^^ is hard to sort out.

[DZbob]

Originally Posted by blackZbandit

One thing that legislators have failed to realize that I'm glad Mullaly brught up during his testimony is that all three companies were viable and profitable or nearing profitablity early this year. It wasn't until the gas crisis that that left large trucks and suv's (which are the products Americans wanted) filling up lots and the credit crunch slashed the amount of qualified buyers by 20% overnight that these companies ran into problems. Now granted, they weren't perfect before, but it almost impossible to weather this sort of economic storm when you're at such a stated disadvantage (union costs) compared to your foreign rivals (no union costs). Foreign auto makers are seeing their sales decline at a similar pace as the Big 3 but their better able to weather the storm as they have lower overhead and an already stronger focus on cars. Besides, didn't Germany provide a bailout for their auto industry? Quickly? Before this year all of the Big 3 had begun shifting their focus away from larger inefficient vehicles to new, more efficient technology, but even the people who suspected the impending doom the economy was headed for had no idea how quickly it would arise.

Sorry for the rant, but I hate the way the media and our government has turned against its last bastion of manufacturing greatness. GM makes more 30+ mpg models than its foreign competitors and they're vehicles are all rated as high or nearly as high as their foreign competion in initial quality... all while offering great, exciting performance. I am somewhat glad that this has happened though because now the restructuring can be expidited and union contracts can reflect real-world, present day industyr/workplace conditions or better yet be dissolved.

*WARNING: RANT MAY BE CONTINUED AT LATER TIME WHEN I'M AM NOT AT WORK LOL!!*

I am very offended that the media and many people seem to be blaming Union workers for the bad choices that the American auto industry has made. Under the current contract the big 3 UAW contract is very close to its foreign rivals. The American auto industry does not have the luxury of government backed research and development as does Japan, Korea and China. Many foreign nations building cars overseas have nationalized health plans and inferior wages that bring down the costs of foreign cars. Granted the foreign CEO’s do not have multi-million dollar contracts with multi-million dollar perks, they have regulations on how much the CEOs can make above and beyond the factory workers. Profits made in the USA from the foreign car makers go back to the country of origin. I think we all have to stand together and support things MADE IN THE USA or living the American dream might become a nightmare.:flag2:

[blackZbandit]

Originally Posted by DZbob

I am very offended that the media and many people seem to be blaming Union workers for the bad choices that the American auto industry has made. Under the current contract the big 3 UAW contract is very close to its foreign rivals. The American auto industry does not have the luxury of government backed research and development as does Japan, Korea and China. Many foreign nations building cars overseas have nationalized health plans and inferior wages that bring down the costs of foreign cars. Granted the foreign CEO’s do not have multi-million dollar contracts with multi-million dollar perks, they have regulations on how much the CEOs can make above and beyond the factory workers. Profits made in the USA from the foreign car makers go back to the country of origin. I think we all have to stand together and support things MADE IN THE USA or living the American dream might become a nightmare.:flag2:

I'm in no way blaming the union workers... if you go to the negotiating table and win, more power to you. BUT the Big 3's legacy/benefit costs are in fact higher than their foreign competitors who not only have govt backed research that you mentioned, but also tens to hundreds of million of dollars in tax breaks for building cars here. I'm not pointing fingers, I'm just calling it how it is... with todays employee focused labor laws unions are almost uneccesary... i've got to clock out now so I'll finish rant #2 later. LOL

[Inspector 17]

Why do we (on this site, in the media, in the US) keep trying to find ONE thing that caused this situation? After nearly 80 years, all the brilliant economic minds in the world still can't figure out what really caused the Great Depression. Yet we are trying to find a single cause for the situation the US automakers are in right now.

Here are just a few of the reasons why GM and the other US manufacturers are where they are:
* The credit crunch and the inability of many people to obtain credit.
* The fact that we are a credit hungry society and most Americans are living outside their means.
* The residual affects of years of poor decisions by the US automakers allowing the foreign makers to leapfrog them.
* The structure of the US makers not allowing them to be agile enough to adapt to the changing environment (not just this year, but over the past decades).
* The unions and the financial impact they have had on the cost basis of the US automakers (they are still carrying the burden of decades of workers).
* The lack of US buyers to overcome the sting of the poor quality automobiles produced in the past by the US automakers.
* The globalization of production in general and the fact that the US is no longer a low-cost producer.
* The drive by American buyers for cheaper automobilies.
* The fact that people in the US, for the most part, feel that executives are overpaid and don't care about the general public.
* The fact that people in the US, for the most part, don't care if GM or any other company goes out of business.
* The animosity of the general US public for the banking industry and the $700B bailout package.
* The US media.
* The fact that most Americans don't understand the macro and micro-economic environment right now.

You could probably add a ton of other issues. They have all come together to create "the perfect storm" for the automakers. They are going to get some money to help them weather this storm in the near term. Mostly because the economy can't take the impact of them going out of business right now. However, they have about a month or so of loans to keep them afloat, at least until the new administration comes into office. They need to very quickly get themselves into a position to be cash-flow positive in this type of environment.

In the end, if they can't get themselves straightened out they are going to go out of business. The general public is not going to stand for billions and billions of more money flowing to US businesses. If any of the makers go out of business (or if all of them do) it is going to be painful for many, but the US will go on just as it did after the collapse of the US steel industry, the textile industry, the agricultural industry and just about every other industry that has left the US for lower-cost manufacturing countries. If we don't like that, then the US public needs to start making some real decisions about what is important to them and driving our industries and legislators to position themselves to support that.