“Hi Marvin. I saw your trillion dollar plan a while back. I noticed even Marvin planned to give money to automakers and that was before they were on their knees begging for it! Now, they are all in big trouble and the government has to have a big debate about giving them a dime. Meanwhile, financial institutions get billions without even a hint of disagreement. Citibank>>General Motors? What gives? – Signed, Mad in Michigan”
Hi Mad. That’s an easy one. Bankers employ mostly white collar workers, who probably donate more to political campaigns. Moving around electronic bits that represent money is critical to our economy, especially when there are so many other companies in the USA that do the exact same thing. Blue collar workers who actually make stuff are essentially expendable. Plus, manufacturing jobs are so 1970s. The government and industries have done their best to send our manufacturing to the far east for the last decade or two, so what’s the big deal if one or two of the three US-based automakers disappear?
Seriously, Marvin is a little mad, too, because the Big Three support a lot of child passenger safety initiatives, like Safe Kids USA, fitforakid.org/seatcheck.org, Lifesavers Conference, etc. Granted, these efforts have seemed to dwindle in recent years, but it’s a lot better than what those financial institutions contribute to preventing the #1 cause of death for children! Marvin thinks the amount of one taxpayer-funded golden parachute for a failed banking executive would be a huge windfall for an organization like Safe Kids. Instead, that executive will retire comfortably and buy cars made overseas and luxury villas in foreign countries, while our friends who built cars in the USA (and kept our economy afloat for decades) will be in unemployment lines, wondering if their pensions and health care will continue after their company is allowed to go into bankruptcy.
Marvin really hopes the US automakers get their share of taxpayer charity, with some major conditions. It’s no secret that they’ve been losing market share for many years because they build vehicles that few people want. They’ve been caught building gas guzzlers during a gasoline crisis, twice! In terms of safety, the Big Three seem to be years behind even a relative newcomer like Hyndai/Kia. In terms of green, combined they can’t even match a relatively small company like Honda. In terms of jobs, the big three have been busy off-shoring and outsourcing, while many foreign auto makers have slowly increased their USA operations. Marvin isn’t sure what they are doing in Detroit, but it needs a big shakeup, just as the banks do. It would be sad to see so many of Marvin’s friends lose their jobs if the government fails to bailout the auto makers, while plenty of executives and overseas interests laugh their way to the bank (so to speak) as USA taxpayers spend a trillion or two on financial institution bailouts. Marvin wonders why banking execs aren’t forced to give a detailed plan before they get their billions? Instead, Marvin sees children being rewarded for bad behavior. That is never a good plan.
Marvin is thankful for the Big Three, despite inept corporate and union management that has driven them to near bankruptcy. Maybe a bailout and a new mandated focus on SAFE and GREEN and bringing jobs back to the USA could solve some economic, environmental and childhood fatality issues in one action. That would be a lot more than most actions our government has taken recently. If only the government had the foresight and the guts to actually do it.
Marvin’s Giveaway Corner
Marvin’s Giveaway Corner will now appear in a separate blog!
We own a Subaru Outback. We like it. We’d buy one again, if it wasn’t for the fact that Subaru isn’t immune to stupid decisions.
A few years ago, they reclassified the Outback line from sedans to light trucks. They did this because their car fleet was pushing the CAFE fuel economy average limit. Rather than making their cars more efficient, they raised the ground clearance a bit so they could count them under truck CAFE average standards instead. Then, they made them even less efficient by [allegedly] increasing production of 6-cylinder and Turbo models. Even worse was the line of crap they fed consumers and the media about the Outback really being more like a truck due to SUV-like features and consumer demand for a tinted rear glass that wasn’t permitted on sedans or wagons.
The problem with making Detroit suffer is that we will all suffer. More people on unemployment. More huge companies no longer buying products from other companies. I guarantee that whoever replaces the demand from one or more failed Big Three companies will not have anywhere near the financial footprint in the USA as what they replaced. There will be a big ripple down. I hope your industry is immune to it.
Please. Detroit doesn’t get any sympathy because their products are uncompetitive. To clarify, they only sell well when gas is cheap and Americans buy guzzlers. They admit they don’t profit on small cars. If you are only competitive when times are good, then in fact you are uncompetitive.
Detroit caters to the lowest common denominator and their products are insulting to many people. Take, for example, the Pontiac Vibe. It’s a rebadged Toyota Matrix but heavier and worse fuel economy. They took a successful platform and screwed it up (Americanized it). Sheesh.
I finally gave up on Detroit this year and purchased a Subaru. I feel good supporting an American corporation and the car was built in Indiana in a plant with the highest ‘green’ manufacturing standards for recycling and waste reduction. And did I mention the good mileage and PZEV emissions rating (now available nationwide). And it’s a better car than any of the Detroit products I drove/owned the previous 15 years.
Detroit will not change their ways as long as they know a bailout is primed. They deserve to suffer if they ever want to gain the respect of the broader consumer market.