Posted on 05/27/2009 9:04:14 AM PDT by STARWISE
More Hope and Change... Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla) lost his Chrysler dealership in Florida. He found out from a fellow colleague. News 10 reported:
Even a member of Congress is on Chrysler's dealership hit list.
Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., a businessman who has owned car dealerships since 1992, learned Thursday that his Venice, Fla., Dodge dealership was among those scheduled to be terminated.
"It's an outrage. It's not about me. I'm going to be fine," said Buchanan, the dealership's majority owner. "You're talking over 100,000 jobs. We're supposed to be in the business of creating jobs, not killing jobs."
Chrysler LLC disclosed that it intends to close about a quarter of its 3,200 U.S. dealerships by June 9, saying in a bankruptcy court filing that the network has too many stores competing against each other. Buchanan's dealership is the first listed on the court document specifying the dealerships scheduled for closure.
Buchanan owns five dealership locations in Florida and North Carolina. He once owned 23 car franchises and sold off about 60 percent of his car dealerships before entering Congress. His Dodge dealership in Venice also includes a Nissan store.
"This doesn't do anything but hurt Chrysler. This doesn't help Chrysler. And they're going to be hurting a lot of working families," said Buchanan, who was first elected to Congress in 2006 to a seat previously held by Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla.
While many dealers learned the news through United Parcel Service letters, Buchanan found out from a House colleague.
Then there are the Uftring dealerships in Peoria, Illinois...
Car dealer Gary Uftring speaks during a press conference in front Uftring Chrysler in Peoria Sunday morning. The Uftring Chrysler dealership is one of the thousands of dealerships being forced to close by bankruptcy proceedings against the ailing automaker. Congressman Aaron Schock, left, has joined with several of his colleagues to officially question the forced closures that will be affecting local economies across the nation. (PJStar)
Rep. Aaron Schock's supporter Gary Uftring from Peoria, Illinois is losing two of his franchises even though they are "5 Star Dealerships" that make money. PJSTar reported:
U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock blasted Chrysler's decision to shutter nearly 800 dealerships across the country, including two here that he and others say are making money and not costing the automaker a dime.
Joined by Gary Uftring, owner of Uftring Auto Mall, Schock stressed that there should be greater accountability of the governmental task force tapped by the Obama administration to review the overhaul of the domestic auto industry.
"This happened not because they failed, not because of market pressure, but because of a third party, the government, which intervened," the congressman said, saying the government shouldn't be in the business of dictating business decisions to an entire industry.
To him, the decision to close shop makes no sense. He claims he met all sales expectations and never cost Chrysler money. Rather, he said, he was a "Five Star" dealership, the highest rating Chrysler gives, and one of the better-selling dealerships.
Terry Allen, whose Chrysler dealership in Mason City will be eliminated, said his business was the top sales tax generator in the area. He, like Uftring, said he met or exceeded all expectations from the car maker but in the end, has about three weeks left as a dealer.
More... George W.Bush attended Aaron's fundraiser. Local libs threw a fit about the cost for security. Aaron left his campaign to return to Peoria to announce he'd pay for it, other costs were covered through the fundraiser.
Car dealer Gary Uftring speaks during a press conference in front Uftring Chrysler in Peoria Sunday morning. The Uftring Chrysler dealership is one of the thousands of dealerships being forced to close by bankruptcy proceedings against the ailing automaker. Congressman Aaron Schock, left, has joined with several of his colleagues to officially question the forced closures that will be affecting local economies across the nation. (PJStar)
~~PING!
Bookmarked.
Related:
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
It’s Ford or Foreign from Now On (UPDATED AGAIN)
http://rebootcongress.blogspot.com/2009/05/its-ford-or-foreign-from-now-on.html
~~~
More On Chrysler Closings— Did Team Obama Target Red Counties?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2259076/posts
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Shock!Big Dem Donor Group Allowed to Keep 6 Chrysler Dealerships Open..Local Competitors Eliminated
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2258852/posts
Is there a report of how many Republican dealers are losing their franchises vis a vis Democrat dealers?
Further related:
More evidence emerges that Chrysler Dealer closings was politically motivated
The American Thinker ^ | May 27, 2009 | Rick Moran
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2259101/posts
How's that HOPE and CHANGE for you idiots that voted for Obama now????
I'll bet lots of Democrats work at these dealerships that Obama closed.
bookmark.
Rush mentioning this issue right now- he says all the evidence isn’t in yet- but it’s interesting nonetheless...
SO when is the MSM going to pick up these stories and do their job?......never mind.
This was politics. This is a political massacre and they know the GOP won’t or can’t fight back.
I smell class-action suit.
“I smell class-action suit.”
I own a Dodge, 2007 Caliber. Can I be in the class-action suit?
ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES...
Apparently, under the New Order, competition is bad, even if it means selling more cars. Making money is also bad, only dealerships that lose money, or at least don’t sell so many cars, are worthy of staying in business.
You have my condolences.
Oh no, we love the Caliber.
I didn't much like the one I drove. Underpowered and pretty "rough" on the inside. Of course it was the base model. I drove it when my car was in the shop. No worse than the Chevy HHR though, not as bad I think, although I never drove the Caliber on the highway in hilly country, while I drove the HHR in San Diego. What a pig. I resorted to putting on my corporate travel profile, or least my travel authorization requests, "No HHR".
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