Enthusiast
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Vancouver USA
Posts: 282
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Scott-
Slow down, I'm not for living on the weak; I'm a Reaganomics capitalistic conservative. The right thing to do with the automakers would have been to let them file for bankruptcy when this all came to a head but Obama didn't want that because he owes the unions. Now don't get me wrong it's not my intention to dish on all of the unions, some have a place and I believe we need living wage jobs etc, but in the case of the auto workers they pumped up the contracts to the point the Big Three couldn't compete. If the American companies could have gone BK and had a judge rework the near full paycheck and full health coverage after retirement benefits the employees get they may have been saved with less fanfare and pain. Granted management has to carry some of the blame here too but again it is the unions that strangled the life out of the companies. In this case the payoff is the unions now own a good chunk of the company. Remember the 1980 union strike against International? It was a classic case in point as IH never produced a non commercial vehicle again.
As far as Fiat they did not have to put one dime into this deal but get 35% of the pie, a US outlet for their cars, and day to day operation of the company. Obama has majority control so don't think for a minute he is going to point the way and that is not all good. With Hummer, China an unabashed communist country with the sole ambition of world dominance not only has their foot in the door of the US auto market but they now have access to all of the technology that comes with it plus we add to the Chinas ability to feed their army with more of our dollars. One last thing, why would we want to give the profits to others than ourselves and just how long does everyone think we can continue to buy more goods (read: give away our treasure/dollars) than we sell to other countries before something has to give?
And RRICH is right, our guns are next.
1978 CJ5, AMC 401, CJ T18, Scout D300, 2 1/2" Lift, Locked Front/Back