Mitt Romney's view on the bailout..

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by dayvedayve

Here is a reason why the UAW might not be so willing to cut their members pay. I work for the Post Office. During the past years the PO has said how they are losing money. During contract negotiations it really was ramped up. Oh how much longer can we go on while losing money.... We agreed to roughly 1.9% raise for each year for the next five years. No big deal. Less than $10 a paycheck. After the contract negotiations were finished...wham Post Master General Potter (top dog of the PO) agrees to give himself, his VP's, ALL area and district managers a whopping 39% retroactive raise. WTF that puts them at over a $1000 dollars more per pay check. Now they are telling us that we need to do more to save the PO from falling apart. I said I'll gladly give my raise back if The Post Master General and his buds give theirs back first.

Post office ='s Government run entity where the fat cats "those on top" only care about their own pockets at the expense of the "little guys" in other words you.

Now thankfully the auto industry is still a privately run organization even though now it is in danger if they take the Democrats current proposal of becoming less private as more control is given up to the Government.

The "fat cats" in charge of GM and the other car companies all fly around in private jets paid for by their companies which costs about $20,000 with todays low cost of gas for a single round-trip on a Gulfstream Jet round-trip while flying first class in any airline would be considerably less. This should make everyone angry when the company is telling its employees they are going to cut their wages, have no bonuses, and for those unlucky enough will lose their jobs. So far the Unions haven't made things better and some would argue they are a major part of the problem, however the problems are far greater than any single entity. There is more blame in some areas and in my opinion the salaries of the CEO's of all three need to be lowered to match percentage wise the pay cut that all employees will face down the road. If salaries drop an average of 20%, the CEO should also see a 20% drop in their salary.. Flying first class instead of using private jets for the good of the company should also be a priority.. I'll get back to this once my TV show I'm watching ends..

[Nickdago]

Actually Romney is quite savey when it comes to business and understands the auto industry quite well. He has years of experience with the auto industry and business in general. What he says makes total sense and I fear is the only way the BIG 3 will survive. I would recommend to the UAW that they come to the table fast(like tomorrow) with concessions or they can kiss their butts good buy. From everything I am hearing on FOX, CNBC and Bloomberg there is not going to be a substantial bail out for the unions, I mean Big 3 And with the 10 to 12 Billion GM would have gotten from the 25 bil there is no way that would get them into 2010. They just released that they are going to burn through 5 billion this month alone. I am afraid GM and Chrysler are in extreme dire straights and the outlook is not good. So the unions can step up now and do the right thing or have it crammed down their thoats by the courts, either way the UAW and it's workers future is going to change dramatically.

We need the BIG 3 for reasons that go way beyond just auto makers. The industries that they support, or military needs and the research and development that is shared across other industries is not replaceable. Keeping the Big 3 is much more important than keeping the UAW, so if one has to go I say good riddens to the UAW.

[Angrybird 12]

I looked up some info yesterday

GM Manufacturing in the USA for 100 Years
Ford Manufacturing in the USA for 105 years
Chrysler Manufacturing in the USA for 83 Years

then we have the 3 big Japanese companies

Toyota Manufacturing in the USA for 26 Years
Honda Manufacturing in the USA for 26 years
Nissan Manufacturing in the USA for 28 Years....

I wonder how many people are still alive that have retired from each of these companies in the USA and how much of a burdon is their retirement and healthcare putting on the companies... I bet you the Japaneese companies have less than a 10th of the costs the domestics do.

How many of us will still be working for the same company for 28 years without retiring? Myself, I have 31 years in and still have a few more to go...

If you combine these costs with the difference in Hourly UAW workers pay (averages about $25 an hour more for the big 3) it is no wonder that the US automakers have a cost per car of cost $2000 more than the Japanese.

[MrIcky]

Originally Posted by BowtieGuy

My post had nothing to do with party politics. The fact of the matter is that he is simply another politician who must pander as much as possible. He is no better informed than 80% of politicians about any particular topic, ESPECIALLY the automotive world. Why should we care what any politician has to say about this, unless they are supporters.

*******.

Mitt actually is better informed than about 99% of the politicians regarding all things economic including the Big 3. As he points out, he grew up in the middle of it.

Dragoneye has a good point about some corrections being made in 2010. Chrysler has a short term funding hurdle in the amount of over 10 billion. I'm not sure what every manufacturer's VEBA funding hurdle is. So my question then becomes: is this actually a bailout of the retired employee health care plan?

I just researched this and the basic jist of it is the UAW will start to pay their own in 2010, but they can't pay their own without a huge injection to set the fund up.

If this is the case, it makes more sense to me. You could then say: "The Big 3 and the UAW have taken a gigantic step toward making Detroit competitive again. The UAW has agreed to self-fund their retirement starting in 2010, However we (the Big 3) have to step up to fund this for 2009. If we can get help to get us through 2009 we will be in a much better position cost-wise to compete."

^^^This sounds MUCH more reasonable to me as a taxpayer than "we need money to keep going"- which is really all we hear. I simply won't accept that I need to throw money at a problem unless I know it's really going to make a difference. The UAW needs to educate the American people on their plan if they want the American people to assist them. I don't speak for America, but I know a lot of people who basically feel like I do. We don't want the Big 3 to fail. We don't particularly feel like making a donation. However give me a business plan on why things will be different and we'll talk.

[Design1stCode2nd]

Without chapter 11 you still have 8 brands when you only need 2-3, you still have thousands and thousands of dealers you no longer need. Yes come 2010 the VEBA will kick in and costs will lessen but there is still a 2-tier wage system that has some GM line workers making about the same as they do now. There are still contracts in place that mean you can not move a piece of equipment yourself or by anyone except whom the contract stipulates can move it; even if that causes the line to shut down.

Federally backed chapter 11 allows you to keep only the dealers, brands and factories you need to make the company profitable. You could pour 200 billion into GM alone and all you would do is delay the inevitable. You will never see a return to 50% market share in NA by GM. There is too much competition for that and it will only increase. Ford, GM and Chrysler be need to be lean and well lead with defined goals and strategies to stay in business. They also need to do everything better than their competition. Better designs, better reliability, better resale, better fuel economy, more powerful, greener, etc.

I want to see a future of when I take my son car shopping and there isn’t any reason to look at a foreign car because we already know that the best is built by Chevy, Ford and Dodge. I can’t say that today.

[headpunter]

Originally Posted by Mitt Romney

The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.

In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.

i knew i liked him and this is what i want to see happen. Giving a bail out doesnt help anything. Allowing them to cut costs and making sure the public knows that their warranties are still active and viable is the Best option.

Im to the point were Wagoner could go, the only person from the Top executives i would like to make sure stays would be Lutz, other then that i have no real attachments.

[Congoman775]

Originally Posted by headpunter

i knew i liked him and this is what i want to see happen. Giving a bail out doesnt help anything. Allowing them to cut costs and making sure the public knows that their warranties are still active and viable is the Best option.

Im to the point were Wagoner could go, the only person from the Top executives i would like to make sure stays would be Lutz, other then that i have no real attachments.

i am with you 100% on this.


**********.

[Georgie]

******************. i think the big 3 should get money, but not if its just going to feed the bloated cost structure they currently have

[Supermans]

Originally Posted by headpunter

i knew i liked him and this is what i want to see happen. Giving a bail out doesnt help anything. Allowing them to cut costs and making sure the public knows that their warranties are still active and viable is the Best option.

Im to the point were Wagoner could go, the only person from the Top executives i would like to make sure stays would be Lutz, other then that i have no real attachments.

Romney was my first choice as well and I believe he had a better chance on the ticket overall, but alas we have to wait four more years and he may not run again..

headpunter, I agree with you 100% and I can see only positive things from a bankruptcy at this point in time since the 27 billion bailout would have gone straight to Legacy costs anyway if all those Union contracts stayed the same.

I agree with Mitt Romney that there is no amount of money that could ever completely fix the problem, it could only prolong it. I have the utmost respect for the admins of this site and for Scott (Fbodfather) however I disagree with their views and doom and gloom attitude towards anything but a bailout. I respect Rick Wagoner and how he has expanded GM into other markets however I do believe he needs to be replaced with someone else who will give the company a new direction. One that would focus more on America. A bankruptcy will ensure that worker salary/pay here in America remains competitive with auto manufacturing plants abroad. This means we see more auto plants being built here in America providing even more jobs instead of going abroad as they are..Correct me if I'm wrong but the Camaro is being built in Canada and not the USA for crying out loud because they agreed to work an extra hour instead of taking a lunch break or something silly to that regard.. So its OK for Canadians to work extra and not Americans? That's thousands of jobs lost here in America and I'm sure there are many workers that would have loved to take that job in America if it was offered.. A bankruptcy will ensure that those jobs come back to America or stay in America down the road...

[Angrybird 12]

Come January 20th everything will be perfect, no more suffffering, no more problems, the economy will bounce back along with the stock market, and everyone that wants a job will have one..... everything will be fine.
I love change......

Can I have some more Kool-Aid please????

My opinion is the change we need is not only in Government and management of our companies but in our own attitudes.
We as consumers and workers cannot keep buying things made elsewhere and demand higher pay and benefits for the jobs we are doing here. Without supporting our own industries how can we expect them to stay in business? How can we expect them to give us more when we buy less and less from them every year?
Just think about it.

[Rodrunner]

I really like this thread. Some rational people are actually starting to speak up. Way to go! Like Mitt basically put it: time for a thorough house cleaning.


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