Posted on 05/07/2006 8:14:11 AM PDT by SamAdams76
.... Which means, the rats will do everything in their power to bail out the big three, George Bush will get the blame for all the problems, and the Republicans in Congress will roll over and play dead.
Nothing in life, short of death and the seasons is more preductable than this.
You do realize that applying the same logic to your above statement, you are supporting the liberal cause, as the UAW are staunch supporters of the Democratic Party and urge their members to vote the straight Democratic ticket always. They funnel millions of dollars straight to the Democrats and other liberal causes because when it comes down to it, the unions are all about socialism. So in that vein, I hope you enjoy donating your money to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and John Kerry!
May i dissent?I have a c1500 PU/with 110k on the engine,10yrs old,and so far(knock on wood)no major problems.Just tune ups and regular oil changes.Anyways my company recently purchased Delphi's domestic battery production.Why can't they compete?Their workers make about twice per hour as ours and the add ons(pension,health,etc)make the total more than 3x our compensation.Our company would like to keep their people/facilities working,but the compensation costs are prohibitive.
UAW and its contributions to the liberal party.
Maybe the UAW could now buy GM and produce a liberal car only.
The name of the car will not come to me now, may-be some-one
could give a post of a few names for the new made, liberal car?
I enjoy it a hell of a lot more than sitting on the side of the road waiting for AAA.
How is that applying the same logic? I just pointed out that when somebody buys a Nissan the profits unltimately go to France and for Honda and Toyota they go to Japan. If you buy Ford or GM the money stays here. That is basic common sense. France and Japan are much further down the socialist road than we are, so how is supporting their economies a good thing? I am not happy with many things unions do but I do dislike the French much more than I dislike American UAW workers. As far as I know all the airlines are unionized, do you forego flying because of that? If you fly anyways, I hope you enjoy donating your money to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and John Kerry!
The bottom line is that short-term greed caused the Big Three to make disastrous long-term concessions to the parasitic labor unions and now the chickens are coming home to roost. Meanwhile, the foreign companies focus not on short-term profit but long-term dominance.
Companies like Toyota, Honda and Nissan are juggernauts that cannot now be easily stopped. They are only now beginning to realize the benefits of economy of scale and they are going to absolutely dominate this industry in the years ahead.
The only thing that can save the U.S. auto industry now is to let the Big Three go bellyup and start from scratch. It will take at least 20 years for new startups to get into the game. But it can be done. Just learn from the Japanese and do it right this time. No union labor, treat your workers with respect and they won't need unions. Focus on building quality, cost-effective vehicles and just keep making them better year after year. Forget about short-term profits and focus on long-term market share by building loyal customer base.
"hear about "Buy American" with respect to the auto industry confuses me. Which is the true American car? Those made by Toyota, Nissan and Honda in plants in the U.S.A. with non-union American workers or those made by the Big Three in Detroit by unionized workers who are driving their companies into bankruptcy with unrealistic wage and benefits packages?"
Lower wages have not translated into lower prices for the products of foreign owner auto companies.
How much of the current standard of living can be reduced without a ripple effect on every American's wage and benefit package going lower.
You think it can't happen? Just wait till someone wants to send your job overseas or somewhere where they can produce your employment for less money. Are you willing to accept a pay cut and benefit cut for the services that provide your income?
If not, then picking out select American jobs and saying it is ok to cut their pay is hypocritical. Maybe illegal immigrants will replace your job because they will work for less?
Yeah, American automakers have had some sucky cars and you picked the peel of the lemons. A little slick marketing makes you an instant convert. Just remember the bulk of your dollars go overseas even if the car is assembled in America. And don't forget how once great cities across America are deteriorating because employment opportunity was eliminated.
Everyone wants more for less. But at what point does less capitalization for Americans place the whole country in decline and not just a few cities that once produced the industrial might that has won wars in the past.
What if Mercedes-Benz had produced the jeeps and tanks that we needed to win WW2? I think that outcome could have been much different. The slippery slope of allowing off shore parts manufacturers operate assembly plants IN THE NAME OF SAVING MONEY will hurt America proper.
This is about retaining power and brainwashing the lemmings, and the socialists won't want to do anything to jeopardize their hold on the unions.
Whereas the Japanese profits get funneled right back into the U.S. economy with the building of more plants and the hiring of more American workers to build them.
When was the last time a Big Three automaker built a new plant? They do have lots of glitzy fundraisers for liberal Democrats though.
Point is, it's not a zero-sum game. Americans benefit enormously when cars are built here and cars are bought here. Much of the money does stay in the U.S.A. American workers are paid to built them, American salespeople are paid to sell them and American mechanics are paid to service them. There is a multiplier effect that must be taken into account. And what do the Japanese people do with all those profits? They buy lots of lobster from Maine, lumber from Oregon, salmon from Washington State, iPods from Apple and on and on. You get the point.
It is strange that Renault was able to take the Nissan disaster and turn it around. But then, it was probably fun for the Renault executives to be able to do the things needed to fix Nissan that their own government would never let them do at home.
Might I recommend going to the Subaru dealership. I know they have something of a bad rap on here, but they are really great cars. And I recently got a Tribeca and love it so far. And no one does AWD like they do. My dad rented one while skiing in Utah, it snowed the entire two weeks he was there and he never so much as spun a tire. Plus they have all the durability that foreign cars are known for.
I think that Ford and GM could make vehicles like the Hondas and Toyotas. The problem is that their operations are so vast that they can't make a profit if they sell 15 million $10,000 vehicles. They've got to sell expensive vehicles, and you can't do that unless you sell big gas guzzling vehicles, so that is the segment they've focused on. Merge the two companies together, shut down about 2/3 of their factories, and then they'll be able to compete with Honda for that segment of the market.
I do not remember ever sitting on the side of the road waiting for AAA in any of my American cars. I did clip a Toyota that cut across three lanes of traffic in front of my pickup a few months ago and I drove away with no discernable damage while the other driver got the ticket and had to wait for somebody to tow their badly damaged car.
FWIW...the largest Q-ship w/ all its gizmos is the WORST in quality of all vehicles surveyed by J.D. Power
I also think it is interesting what they were able to do with Nissan. I remember they were in real trouble a few years ago. I guess you are probably right in writing that the Reanults executives can do things with Nissan that their government will not allow them to do with Renault.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.