Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison regarding the Auto bailout!!

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by SilverTurtle

I maintain that we need to institute some protectionism policies in the auto industry... taxing the import companies and making it almost impossible for them to sell cars here... these are the practices the Japanese government imposes on the US manufacturers when they try to sell cars in Japan... it makes it almost impossible to sell cars made outside of the country inside the shores of Japan... and all but completely blocks US auto manufacturers from buying any kind of Japanese plants or land to build cars there...

[TAG UR IT]

got the same letter

[stratman]

Originally Posted by SilverTurtle

I maintain that we need to institute some protectionism policies in the auto industry... taxing the import companies and making it almost impossible for them to sell cars here... these are the practices the Japanese government imposes on the US manufacturers when they try to sell cars in Japan... it makes it almost impossible to sell cars made outside of the country inside the shores of Japan... and all but completely blocks US auto manufacturers from buying any kind of Japanese plants or land to build cars there... its time to we took this game seriously and give the American public an idea of what they are facing by buying cars made by former Axis power countries.

This idea is ridiculous to me. You want to keep foreign competition off our shores. So you basically want to take our very diverse automotive landscape and reduce it by more than half? Does that sound utterly insane to anyone else? I’ll be honest and say Chevy/GM has a few cars I would personally buy and I don’t like any of Ford or Chrysler’s line up enough to purchase. You can’t force people to buy something if they don’t want it and there is an alternative they would prefer. Buying a car is a very big purchase and shouldn’t be maid in haste just to be patriotic. Not to mention the fact that foreign competition has helped force the Big Three to improve their product quality. If Chevy wasn’t trying to out do the imports, and that means anything not made state side, we might not be seeing things like an independent rear suspension on the new Camaro. The problem isn’t competent competition its homeland product stigma and production costs.

Originally Posted by SilverTurtle

and as for KBH's generic response to everyone's letters: that wench doesn't know anything about our economy... that letter was something one of her aides typed up to respond to the huge number of emails, letters and calls that her office is getting in support of the auto manufacturers... if she was really in the know about our economy, she'd be on a commercial talking about how bad of an idea it is to be throwing money to the banks... Heaven knows she's not afraid to get on TV and touting when she's doing something right.

I don’t think anyone expects a U.S. Senator to individually reply to every e-mail, phone call and/or letter they receive. Being that every person who contacted her in support was basically saying help get them the money, I don’t see what the problem is with an auto response stating her position. As someone else said just be glad you even got a response.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by stratman

Buying a car is a very big purchase and shouldn’t be maid in haste just to be patriotic.

EVERY purchase you make should include some understanding of the bigger picture. Even if it's a sense of remorse that socks aren't made in America anymore. Just because something is cheap, or "high quality", or the "best" doesn't mean it's a good purchase.

There's nothing wrong with wanting supporting your country. NOTHING. It was the lack of pride and support that led us down this path in the first place.

What Turtle, I think, was getting at is the need for SOME (read his post) protectionist policies....the same kind that helped this country survive its infant years, the same kind that actually CAN (under the correct circumstances) help domestic companies as evidenced by history, but most importantly...the same kind of policies that nearly every other country in the world utilizes to manipulate the "free market" system.

[dayvedayve]

I agree...Even the playing field. If they tax our goods then tax theirs. Dont allow competition on their soil then get their craop off ours. $150 barrel for oil then how bout $150 a bag for wheat or rice. We need to stop this turn the other cheek mentality and start b@tch slapping foreign trade.

[BowtieGuy]

I am so sick of nearly every one of these Senator's letters including something about how the domestic automakers failed to be competitive with the foreign ones. That is such a crock of shit.

People need to realize that just like any system, the free market idea has inherent flaws. They can't keep toting it like the end all of economic solutions. "The market will fix itself" is just another way of saying we're too lazy to take any action.

[USAFJeeper]

Isn't anyone else struck by the irony of the protectionists here... The Camaro is being built in Canada isn't it? Doesn't that make it an import?

[BowtieGuy]

Originally Posted by USAFJeeper

Isn't anyone else struck by the irony of the protectionists here... The Camaro is being built in Canada isn't it? Doesn't that make it an import?

So because Toyota has plants in America that makes it domestic? It doesn't matter where they are assembled, it matters where they are born.

[SilverTurtle]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

EVERY purchase you make should include some understanding of the bigger picture. Even if it's a sense of remorse that socks aren't made in America anymore. Just because something is cheap, or "high quality", or the "best" doesn't mean it's a good purchase.

There's nothing wrong with wanting supporting your country. NOTHING. It was the lack of pride and support that led us down this path in the first place.

What Turtle, I think, was getting at is the need for SOME (read his post) protectionist policies....the same kind that helped this country survive its infant years, the same kind that actually CAN (under the correct circumstances) help domestic companies as evidenced by history, but most importantly...the same kind of policies that nearly every other country in the world utilizes to manipulate the "free market" system.

EXACTLY!

[dayvedayve]

Originally Posted by USAFJeeper

Isn't anyone else struck by the irony of the protectionists here... The Camaro is being built in Canada isn't it? Doesn't that make it an import?

Canada isn't part of the United States ??

[SilverTurtle]

Originally Posted by USAFJeeper

Isn't anyone else struck by the irony of the protectionists here... The Camaro is being built in Canada isn't it? Doesn't that make it an import?

Originally Posted by BowtieGuy

So because Toyota has plants in America that makes it domestic? It doesn't matter where they are assembled, it matters where they are born.

cars built in Canada and Mexico by corporations based inside the United States would be exempt in these policies that I support... and the North American Free Trade Agreement would support that idea.


when GM, Ford and Chrysler are allowed to buy plants in Japan and build Cobalts, Focuses and Calibers in Japan, I'll start to think of the Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans as playing fair... if they dont like the taxes and tariffs imposed on them, they need to petition their government to lower the restrictions on the American auto makers... play fair or go home.


and this pains me, because I am actually a Honda fan... I have had 2 Civics in my life and they were BOTH made here in the USA... and I honestly believe that they are one of the best manufacturers out there and the Americans should be using them as a benchmark of build quality and reliability... and since almost nothing they sell in the USA is made anywhere but here in the US, they're one of the ones that would be hardest hit by the policies that I support... but leveling the playing field and protecting AMERICAN jobs in AMERICAN factories with AMERICAN employees and AMERICAN managers is what we need right now... not someone trying to play favorites based on what some Congressman who screwed up and gave almost a trillion dollars to bank executives who are STILL going on CRAZY EXPENSIVE VACATIONS on the taxpayers' dollars.

[SilverTurtle]

Originally Posted by stratman

This idea is ridiculous to me. You want to keep foreign competition off our shores. So you basically want to take our very diverse automotive landscape and reduce it by more than half? Does that sound utterly insane to anyone else? I’ll be honest and say Chevy/GM has a few cars I would personally buy and I don’t like any of Ford or Chrysler’s line up enough to purchase. You can’t force people to buy something if they don’t want it and there is an alternative they would prefer. Buying a car is a very big purchase and shouldn’t be maid in haste just to be patriotic. Not to mention the fact that foreign competition has helped force the Big Three to improve their product quality. If Chevy wasn’t trying to out do the imports, and that means anything not made state side, we might not be seeing things like an independent rear suspension on the new Camaro. The problem isn’t competent competition its homeland product stigma and production costs.



I don’t think anyone expects a U.S. Senator to individually reply to every e-mail, phone call and/or letter they receive. Being that every person who contacted her in support was basically saying help get them the money, I don’t see what the problem is with an auto response stating her position. As someone else said just be glad you even got a response.

you seriously dont comprehend the situation, do you? you really dont know how companies like Toyota get HUGE discounts on taxes to build factories here in the USA and then, when they come in under budget, they take these discounts and savings and put them into the company's budget in JAPAN, do you?

like, for instance, when Toyota built the Tundra plant in San Antonio and then they suddenly had $11million worth of tax dollars available that they said they were going to "reinvest" in the facility... but then the money went away and now there's no telling where it is.

so, tell me, do you just not care? or are you so narrow minded that you can't see the reality here? open your eyes, man... the world is happening outside of your bubble.

[detroitboy]

I'll bet 1:3 using what is left in my 401 that the country will go into a depression if the feds don't help out the big three.
You guys outside of the Detroit manufacturing area have no idea how bad this can get....we see it here on a daily basis. The rest of the country thinks they are immune to the ripple effects of the collapse of this huge industry. You are NOT immune....it will hit you hard in every area from travel to food costs. And when the Japs are the only ones manufacturing cars you will be complaining about the high costs of the cars (since they have no US competition).
Recession hell....its been here in Michigan for two years and was ignored. Now you have to worry about a depression. And if all the big three employees, supplier employees, local businesses supported by them etc. lose their jobs the few people left working will be paying all the unemployment and social benefits for everyone who lost their jobs.
Wake up people...no matter how much money the feds throw at job creation 5years from now they will never get as much bang for their buck as they would by helping out the big three during this time of worldwide financial crisis.
Cars are going to wear out/crash...and they will have to be replaced eventually. If you want the foreign manufacturers to control this industry just keep your head in the sand and it will happen on its own. But don't cry to me when the federal government has no money to pay for your social security benefits because all the car manufacturers put thier money in pillowcases and took it back to Japan....

[Rodrunner]

No offence, Dragoneye, but it hurt me to read your comment, "Just because something is cheap, or "high quality", or the "best" doesn't mean it's a good purchase.(if not American made) That attitude is totally unfathomable to me. It implies we can't produce as good a product and must settle for second best to compete in the world market, and therefore that we as a people must be inferior.

I know you made the comment because the playing field isn't level and I understand that. But that aside, the fact is, in a lot of cases we don't, or haven't, produced the best product, and damn it Americans shouldn't have to buy crap to keep us afloat, be it cars or socks. Level the playing field, sure, but don't whine about that until you're at least producing the best product you can.

What bothers me most is that we got into this situation to begin with. Regardless of export, import laws, etc., we're Americans, the world's melding pot, the best of the best. We can produce the very best quality, and we never should have fallen behind anyone! Fortunately, it looks like the turning away from American made cars has woken us up and we're on the road to recovery...with a couple billion $ of help.


2SS/RS Black/Black w-Cyber Gray stripes/Auto - ordered 10/18/08 - Polished Aluminums added 12/1/08