From the Fbodfather - Thoughts on our leaders

[Moose]

MITCH ALBOM
If I had the floor at the auto rescue talks
BY MITCH ALBOM • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • November 23, 2000

Good morning.

First of all, before you ask, I flew commercial.

Northwest Airlines.

Had a bag of peanuts for breakfast. Of course, that's Northwest, which just merged with Delta, a merger you, our government, approved -- and one which, inevitably, will lead to big bonuses for their executives and higher costs for us. You seem to be OK with that kind of business.


Which makes me wonder why you're so against our kind of business? The kind we do in Detroit. The kind that gets your fingernails dirty. The kind where people use hammers and drills, not keystrokes. The kind where you get paid for making something, not moving money around a board and skimming a percentage.

You've already given hundreds of billions to banking and finance companies -- and hardly demanded anything. Yet you balk at the very idea of giving $25 billion to the Detroit Three. Heck, you shoveled that exact amount to Citigroup -- $25 billion -- just weeks ago, and that place is about to crumble anyhow.

Does the word "hypocrisy" ring a bell?

Protecting the home turf?

Sen. Shelby.

Yes.

You.

From Alabama. You've been awfully vocal. You called the Detroit Three's leaders "failures." You said loans to them would be "wasted money." You said they should go bankrupt and "let the market work."
Why weren't you equally vocal when your state handed out hundreds of millions in tax breaks to Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Honda and others to open plants there? Why not "let the market work"? Or is it better for Alabama if the Detroit Three fold so that the foreign companies -- in your state -- can produce more?
Way to think of the nation first, senator.


And you, Sen. Kyl of Arizona. You told reporters: "There's no reason to throw money at a problem that's not going to get solved."
That's funny, coming from such an avid supporter of the Iraq war. You've been gung ho on that for years. So how could you just sit there when, according to the New York Times, an Iraqi former chief investigator told Congress that $13 billion in U.S. reconstruction funds

>>>>"had been lost to fraud, embezzlement, theft and waste" by the Iraqi government?<<<<
That's 13 billion, senator. More than half of what the auto industry is asking for. Thirteen billion? Gone? Wasted?
Where was your "throwing money at a problem that's not going to get solved" speech then?

Watching over the bankers?

And the rest of you lawmakers. The ones who insist the auto companies show you a plan before you help them. You've already handed over $150 billion of our tax money to AIG. How come you never demanded a plan from it? How come when AIG blew through its first $85 billion, you quickly gave it more? The car companies may be losing money, but they can explain it: They're paying workers too much and selling cars for too little.
AIG lost hundred of billions in credit default swaps -- which no one can explain and which make nothing, produce nothing, employ no one and are essentially bets on failure.
And you don't demand a paragraph from it?
Look. Nobody is saying the auto business is healthy. Its unions need to adjust more. Its models and dealerships need to shrink. Its top executives have to downsize their own importance.
But this is a business that has been around for more than a century. And some of its problems are because of that, because people get used to certain wages, manufacturers get used to certain business models. It's easy to point to foreign carmakers with tax breaks, no union costs and a cleaner slate -- not to mention help from their home countries -- and say "be more like them."
But if you let us die, you let our national spine collapse. America can't be a country of lawyers and financial analysts. We have to manufacture. We need that infrastructure. We need those jobs. We need that security. Have you forgotten who built equipment during the world wars?
Besides, let's be honest. When it comes to blowing budgets, being grossly inefficient and wallowing in debt, who's better than Congress?
So who are you to lecture anyone on how to run a business?
Ask fair questions. Demand accountability. But knock it off with the holier than thou crap, OK? You got us into this mess with greed, a bad Fed policy and too little regulation. Don't kick our tires to make yourselves look better.
Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or malbom@freepress.com. Catch "The Mitch Albom Show" 5-7 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).

[Camaro_Corvette]

and any other smiley that agrees with this post.

[KILLER74Z28]

AMEN... Right to the point. I like this guy.

[Angrybird 12]

I agree 100%

If I was GM, I would see which Senators voted against the Government loan package, and if I had any plants in those states I would choose them to be the ones to close. also if I had suppliers in those states I would look for suppliers in states that supported the Goverment Loans.

I am ashamed of Bob Corker, does he not realize GM has a big plant in Tennessee, and many suppliers of parts and materials for all the automakers? Or is all he worried about are Nissan and Volkswagen?

[philthy]

Originally Posted by Skyman 08

I agree 100%

If I was GM, I would see which Senators voted against the Government loan package, and if I had any plants in those states I would choose them to be the ones to close. also if I had suppliers in those states I would look for suppliers in states that supported the Goverment Loans.

I am ashamed of Bob Corker, does he not realize GM has a big plant in Tennessee, and many suppliers of parts and materials for all the automakers? Or is all he worried about are Nissan and Volkswagen?

I like the way you think, Skyman!

[radz28]

Originally Posted by camaro_corvette

and any other smiley that agrees with this post.

Originally Posted by philthy

I like the way you think, Skyman!

POWNED!!!!!!!!! I'd like a smilie made from that whole post!

[rmyers]

The bailout of banks was wrong, and the loan or bailout to the automakers is also wrong. It is not governments place in a free market economy to bail out companies. When and if it does happen and the government starts mandating what types of cars the companies can build, (you think CAFE is bad) all those supporting the bailout or loan whatever you want to call it, will lose all rights to complain about the choice of vehicles.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by rmyers

The bailout of banks was wrong, and the loan or bailout to the automakers is also wrong. It is not governments place in a free market economy to bail out companies. When and if it does happen and the government starts mandating what types of cars the companies can build, (you think CAFE is bad) all those supporting the bailout or loan whatever you want to call it, will lose all rights to complain about the choice of vehicles.

If you haven't noticed we already have lost alot of our choices in vehicles. look at all the safety and pollution laws that restrict what you can do to your own car after you get it...

I want to be able to buy an American Car from an American Company, if we lose the big 3 then what choice will I have??? NONE!

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Skyman 08

I agree 100%

If I was GM, I would see which Senators voted against the Government loan package, and if I had any plants in those states I would choose them to be the ones to close. also if I had suppliers in those states I would look for suppliers in states that supported the Goverment Loans.

I am ashamed of Bob Corker, does he not realize GM has a big plant in Tennessee, and many suppliers of parts and materials for all the automakers? Or is all he worried about are Nissan and Volkswagen?

I actually have a lot of respect for Bob Corker. He asked all the right questions. Yes there is a hell of a lot of hypocracy when looking at the financial bailout BUT 2 wrongs don't make a right and many Senators have acknowledged the failure in the financial bailout.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by Hylton

I actually have a lot of respect for Bob Corker. He asked all the right questions. Yes there is a hell of a lot of hypocracy when looking at the financial bailout BUT 2 wrongs don't make a right and many Senators have acknowledged the failure in the financial bailout.

But punishing the Auto industry because they realized what a mistake to give the money to the banks is wrong also.

Like I read, they gave AIG 25 billion with virtually no strings attached, but have put all sorts of restrictions on the Auto companies and still say it's not enough... like your parents buying your brother a new car and then telling you you need to go to work and buy one for yourself... not very fair is it..

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Skyman 08

like your parents buying your brother a new car and then telling you you need to go to work and buy one for yourself... not very fair is it..

No it's not but when is life ever fair? If my brother had wrapped the car around a pole right after buying it, should I be surprised in my parents change of thought?

If the govt. had the opportunity to re-do the financial deal, they would have. I, like most of my friends here, still hope that the govt. will go back and re-visit the whole financial bailout. It looks like nothing but a scam where the only people benefiting by it are the very people who started the mess.

I would like to see some of those financial guys not only lose jobs but also go to jail as is what happened in the junk bond collapse. What angers me the most about the banks is that the everyday citizen gets no benefit whatsoever because the money given to the banks is being spent on investments instead of consumer loans. It's consumer loans that will get the economy going.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by Hylton

What angers me the most about the banks is that the everyday citizen gets no benefit whatsoever because the money given to the banks is being spent on investments instead of consumer loans. It's consumer loans which is what will get the economy going.

The only ones that will benefit from a big 3 collapse is the foreign car makers....

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Skyman 08

The only ones that will benefit from a big 3 collapse is the foreign car makers....

True, so let's make sure that the right things are done here on in.

[lalometalik]

Originally Posted by Moose

MITCH ALBOM
If I had the floor at the auto rescue talks
BY MITCH ALBOM • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • November 23, 2000

Nov 23, 2000? is this correct?

awesome work btw :flag2: