Automakers pitch to reach down deep into your pockets
by ItalianBred - December 4, 2008 8:10pm
In a pathetic photo op General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, steps from a Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid car Wednesday,Dec. 3, 2008, at his hotel in Washington after driving from Detroit to testify at Congressional hearings on the auto industry bailout. He is a millionaire, why he doesn’t just get on a jet and use it as a write off is pretty funny to me. Isn’t that another fine example of corporate wasting time doing business? Exiting from his car he is seen back bent, cramped, with his ass and back totally soaked in sweat. His legs were stiff and he could hardly stand straight, he looks like he may have a headache from the gas fumes as well. The poor slob. He complained that gas was still too to expensive and told reporters that he was happy to arrive alive while fearing that the constant ping from under the hood might need service before making it into Washington. Someone reported that they heard the man say under his breadth that he should have took a bus or a train. “At least I could’ve got cocked on the train” he purportedly said. Hey who is not into an eight hour road trip right? Do ya think the long boring ride would make this GM Exec suddenly realize that the company can do more production toward the creation of more trains and buses? Rather than lay more workers off, and leaving even less consumers to fuel the bad economy. Maybe if Mr. Wagoner ups production for public transportation GMC may also, in turn, inspire other business development and public travel. Sadly, there is no indication that he and his colleagues get it.
WASHINGTON—Humbled U.S. automakers pleaded with Congress Thursday for an expanded $34 billion rescue package, but heard fresh skepticism in a bumpy encore appearance.
“We’re here today because we made mistakes,” General Motors chief executive Rick Wagoner told the Senate Banking Committee in prepared testimony.
The three executives made the trip in new-model autos made by their respective companies, two weeks after a botched attempt for aid that included harsh criticism of corporate leaders who flew here on private jets to beg for money.
Joining Wall Street in the looting frenzy of the US treasury, The big three American Auto manufacturers re-spin their strategy to lure and tempt law makers into giving them tax money to support their years of bad business, swindling and law suits against the government for excessive environmental protection regulations. The shame of this is all is that the American Manufacturing, by that I mean the manufacturing that is actually going on here in the US borders, is at the lowest in decades. During World War II, Roosevelt had thousands of cities across the USA each with up to dozens of manufacturing plants and mills that could easily switch from whatever product they were producing to a military product in short time. Car plants made tanks and plan bodies, metal workers made armor and munitions, machine shops made weapons, clothing and textile mills served for military uniforms and medical needs, etc. Most of it gone, outsourced in other nations. Can you imagine if the auto manufacturing plants disappear in this country and another world war flares up? Will Japanese automakers stop all production and turn into building tanks? Maybe but maybe not for the USA. Our oil dependency is primarily upon hostile nations in the middle east and elsewhere, our manufacturing links are scattered across the globe with no real assurance of compliance to a Presidential order to contribute, and our money (worthless as it is) is in the hands of the Chinese.
What is left? We would have to depend upon our retailing experience to save the world. We can set up Walmart greeters at all border tolls. “Welcome to the United States check out our low prices and please don’t trample over me”.
I guess there is little choice than to nationalize and heavily regulate major industry in this country. I agree in part with what Michael Moore who recently had suggested that the government should force th big three to cap their executive salaries, hire some real executive talent, put a freeze on laying off anyone, and mandate production to suit public transportation infrastructure and at the same time produce an energy efficient mass produced vehicle that can generate it’s own green energy and make it affordable for all the rest of the “out of work” Americans. I think we also need to mandate that all American manufacturing be facilitated within the United States borders. It is time to bring jobs home and bring em home along with the soldiers fighting to protect the oil industry. It is also time for separation of big business and state. That’s another story.