Congress Takes The Detroit 3 To The Whipping Shed And They STILL Have No Clue Why!

How interesting that all 3 US auto companies need help...not 1 or 2 but all 3! They shared the same mentality, which was to build crap. Now they have to suffer.
Shame on the other 2 CEOs who are not willing to accept $1 salary. This shows that they only want their company to survive so they can get more bonuses that's all. They don't give a crap that they're putting the other millions of employees at risk by not showing mercy to the gov.

— SHOWTIME (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 9:20:07 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8   

What's boggling is that Chrysler ever hired Nardelli after he destroyed Home Depot when it was being challenged by Lowes. Yeah he agreed to take a $1 salary, for the next two months of the year, not 09.

Screw this guys again, taking their big jets. They were asked if they flew commercial, nobody spoke, they were asked if they would fly home commercial, nobody answered. Asked to sell their jets, no answer. Forget these fools. If they are afraid to fly commercial then what chance do I have to fly? If they deem it not safe then I guess we should all get private jets.

These lame asses need to stop begging and arguing for money and instead show the government some concrete planning. All I see is them asking for money, but I have yet to see one of them get up, turn on a computer and pop open a powerpoint presentation showing the allocated money, where it is going, the affect it will have and a timeline for payback.

Give me something I can read and stop following Obama's philosophy of "Change without proof". I still can't find one O-spenda supporter who can tell me what he is changing. And when they say healthcare I laugh. Who would want a governmnet who killed Social Securuity among other national plans to run our health system, LOL.

— Whelan (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 9:31:11 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 8   

@Showtime

-Agreed. The fact that the CEOs aren't willing to accept a $1 salary is pitiful. After all, they have millions stashed away and they could potentially still get bonuses in the million dollar range.

It looks like the Big 3 are holding a gun to Congresses head. "Give us $25 Billion or we are going to add 3 million unemployed people...." Seriously, can't we just let them go bankrupt and re-invent Detroit from the ground up?

— GreenPlease (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 9:33:21 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

I listened to a bit of the testimony. I was totally shocked to see each one on them mention the problem was not in their business model or products, but they were the victims of the lack of financing funds.

EXCUSE ME! Look at how bad sales were BEFORE the credit implosion. The sales figures alone should tell you that that scenario is simply not true. They have been having big trouble long before the credit crunch.

— Agent009 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 10:09:53 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

I still can't believe these guys have the audacity to even ask for help from the taxpayer when all they give us in return is a shotty product for the most part and the CEOs themselves are living the good life, while bringing no benefit to their respective companies. I feel badly for the thousands of employees who have no say in how the companies are run, but at the same time we cannot afford to waste money on poorly run businesses who can't even bring some sort of plan to congress that shows they are serious about turning their company around. Even children know how to give a blank promise to stay ou of trouble, or clean their room in exchange for money, candy, toys, or whatever they want. These execs didn't even pretend to have an idea of what they'll do in the future

— BlakuraTLS (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 10:35:31 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

ShowTime: I totally agree. What I find interesting is the non-union auto factors in the south (Benz, BMW Honda, Hyundia) are not in this terrible financial crisis like the Big 3. I watched about an hour of the hearing and these CEO idiots just don't get it. Why should we the taxpaper give your car company bailout money, just so you can pass it along for your retiree's pension and health insurance. Why can't we require the Big 3 to file Chapter 11 which enables them to reorganize their finances, eliminate any obsolete product line or merge division and restructure contracts with their union people.

For those folks who also think GM's Chevy Volt is their "golden egg", I doubt that. That electric car only has a maxium charge of 40 miles. It also has a small gas tank but I believe to be limited to 2.0 gallons (or close). People would have to charge their car when they get to work, then when they get back home. I watched congress grill those CEOs and they still tried to defend why it's ok to use private jets; how there is little advantage for the non-union shops over them. I think if we do bail them out, some sort of stipulation should be attached where those CEO's are FIRED. They haven't done their job - period.

— gkearns56 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 10:45:45 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

At first I was for baling them out. But after watching this for the past two days I think they actually do need to go bankrupt, pick up the few pieces they need to start over the right way and move on. These old dinosaurs still don't seem to truly get what needs to be done. Throwing money at them would only delay the inevitable. I hate that so many people would lose their jobs but their business model is truly flawed on so many levels.

— PlanB (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 10:49:16 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 6   

Instead of giving money to Big 3, they should be criminally charged, along with UAW, and their millions stashed in different places should be confiscated, and invested to make those companies better.

— vladyxa (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 11:49:41 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

There has been the concern that what will happen if the American 3 go bankrupt. Well I think this is where the government can then step in and help. What I mean is if all 3 file for chapter 11 bankruptcy then the government can step in and set up a program to back ALL warranteys and new parts for X number of yrs. That will then give the consumer confidence to continue buying their cars. Second it will allow them to reorganize at the governments discretion. When I found out that current union employees get 80% of their salary after they are let go that put me over the edge. The entire corporate structure of the US auto companies has to be rethought. What may have worked in the 1920's through the 1980's now no longer works.I now believe the US companies have the technology and ability to build cars just as good as their foreign competition but are strangled due to their selling their souls everytime they renegotiate a union contract. It is better to have auto workers employed making less money and having less benefits then having companies shut down and 3 million people out of work. Chapter 11 will cause people to lose their jobs but it certainly seems the lessor of 2 evils now.If GM can't wait for the Obama administration to take office so be it. If it is able to hold on then perhaps a bailout will work with many many strings attached to it. Restructuring has to be one of those strings.The pay scale and benfits must equal what Toyota and the rest of the foreign competition pay their employees.I also think the idea of a US auto company zsar to oversee the restructuring business plan of all three is necessary. It will then be the governments job to make sure people can get loans to buy cars.

— mini22 (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 12:07:07 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

Fact is, if you let the Big 3, or any of it's components go under, there will be serious repercusions in the market that will surpass any "bailout" monies you can give them.

Think about all of the direct company employees, then dealership salesmen, service techs, suppliers(Delphi = 100k+ employees), now each one of these 1 million plus employees will default on mortgages, car notes, go on unemployment, welfare, not buy clothing, other discretionary items, go on vacations etc.

I'd like to remind everyone that 2/3 of our economy is driven by consumer spending. If you take a sizeable portion of that out of the picture, we are in deep trouble.

On the flip side, if you do give them the money, will it change the fundamentals of their business. Will it make the consumers by their product? It is well known most people purchase their cars based on perception. Volvo=safe, Toyota=reliable etc. and it takes YEARS to create or destroy such a perception. Fact is if you give them 25 billion it will keep them afloat for a few months, they will return, guaranteed. When will it stop? Then who's next? Airlines again?

It's the literal catch-22.

— kablaam (View Profile)

Posted on 11/20/2008 11:52:35 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

i think the no. of empployees that will lose their jobs is grossly exaggerated.

just WHERE did that 3 million figure come from? most i heard, was maybe 200,000 direct employees, with other closely related jobs totalling ~1.5 million max.

parts makers will have to downsize, but they can still supply the surviving (foreign based) carmakers.

and it's not like there won't be cars anymore for american buyers. the pool of buyers won't disappear. they'll just have different choices.

gov't bailout/loans will be mere band-aids. the big 3 needs serious basic SURGERY. chap. 11 will the knife they can NOT avoid. if some go on to chap 7, so be it.

— XYZZ (View Profile)

Posted on 11/23/2008 7:00:33 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1