Power Point: Do it better next time

People buy the imports because they are made so much better than American cars. Sorry about the job situation but America needs to wake up and stop making excuses for its greed and poor performance. I drive a Toyota that NEVER breaks down and will continue to do so.

The post from the gentleman from Troy,MI sums it up: American cars makers have been banking on the fact that folks want to buy American for the last 35 years. Quality and design have been crap for about 25 years and foreign makers have capitalized on that. If you look at American car makers market share from 1975 on, they have been steadily losing ground to Japanese cars. Nothing was done in the 80s or 90s when this trend took off and now that the economy is hurting the big three want a bail out? Their demise has been 35 years in the making. file for bankruptcy and reorganize, and next time put out a decent product.

I think we’d all agree our government is nearing insolvency and that most government workers get WAY too much in pension and pay.

Sorry, but I don’t think our government is nearing insolvency, and I don’t think most government workers are paid too much (how much do you want to cut the salaries of judges, who make far less than their companions in private practice?).

Government pensions are about what they should be — everybody else needs to catch up.

Which is why I don’t favor asking huge cuts from the auto workers. They didn’t put the Big 3 into this mess — it took a lot of help from others, including everyone who has opposed health care reform over the last 40 years, thereby giving a huge edge to Japanese automakers . . .

It always amazes me when I go to either coast… how many IMPORT cars everyone is driving, and when I get back to Michigan, you see perhaps only 1% of the cars are imports.

It also amazes me how clueless everyone is about the auto industry anywhere in the country except the rust belt states. There is even a blunt animosity as indicated by Claude in Denver, CO.

Here’s the deal folks: if 3 million auto industry jobs go away, there will be 3 million mid-westerners that will not be able to afford to see a Hollywood movie, or go to Disneyland, or fly or travel, or buy appliances, or eat at Chuck-E-Cheese…

So, consider what you wish for carefully, everyone… for if this economic toilet flushes, companies like Boeing, United Technologies, GE and the entire Silicon Valley will feel it. Everyone from the Pacific North West to California, to Up State New York to Florida will be scratching their heads wondering how THEY lost their jobs, too.

We lose our jobs, so do you, Claude. Get it?
Can you say “Domino Effect” boys and girls?

Our Government is BROKEN, folks. Broke and broken and a miserable failure.

I’m a bit torn on this subject. On one hand the automakers deserve to fail due to the culture of mismanagement. On the other hand, GM failure alone could effect up to 3 million people.

Since the government wants the auto industry to show good faith, the government should as well. I think we’d all agree our government is nearing insolvency and that most government workers get WAY too much in pension and pay. So, let’s cut ALL government workers pensions and pay to an equivalent level of what we are expecting the auto industry to do.

The Big three have gone to where they are because of themselves. I hope the Toyotas and Hondas and Nissans are in the same economy, but they havent begged for money. Change is the cry of the future, and we should let the inefficient companies of today (GM, Ford and Chrysler) perish to make way for more efficient, better run and worthy companies.

Some years ago my local power company (who at the time built a power plant that ran over 300% over projected cost) requested from the Pa. PUC a large rate increase. Now, i had numerous friends who had worked ans sometimes managed the power plant project. i was totally aware of incredible theft of tools ,materials, plus horrible productivity and cost overruns–all union-related.
The end result???–
The rate-paying public was being asked to pay for the abismal, corrupt management of the plant construction. The Power Company (Phil. Electric Co.) has the gaul to ask for an over 8% rate increase, where a 2.5% increase was all that was needed to cover true inflationary forces–
Someone wrote a simple letter, sincere and indisputable, that caught on fire and ended up being distributed to countless power customers. The letter had one simple point–” IF WE ENABLE THE PENNSYLVANIA UTILITY COMMISSION TO APPROVE THE OVER 8% INCREASE, WE ARE CONDONING (APPROVING) OF THE MANAGEMENT OVERSITE OF THE ENTIRE PECO STRUCTURE, INCLUDING THE POWER PLANT COSTS. PLUS, IN THE FUTURE, THEY WILL COME BACK THE THE HOG TROUGH FOR MORE, AND THEY WILL NEVER BE FORCED TO RUN THEIR COMPANY AS AN EFFICIENT BUSINESS.
SOUND FAMILIAR ???

Oh, by the way, the request was denied, the rate was increase by approx. 3%, PECO went thru a major restructiong, hired (for once) outside managers with true management skills, and today, under a different name, is a much better company.
Note##when the request for higher rates was proposed, PECO rates were the 3rd highest in the nation. I wonder how all those elderly on fixed incomes were going to pay for all the free tools and materials.

or, you might say it was cavalier for the automakers to vigorously battle higher mileage standards when that very same legislation would have helped prepare them for today’s competitive environment…and again for them now to expect tax money because of their awful business decisions and history of shoddy auto design.

Using that phrase in relation to letting the automakers fail, is pretty cavalier. Might as well say, “Hey, lets try the Great Depression again… I think we can do it better.”

Might be easy to say when you are independently wealthy (as many of the critics are I’m sure), or if you think that your job will be safe when the nations jobless rate increases by 10%.