Fed's to make your car payments

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

Amazing...




...that you spend so much time thinking about some of this. If the goal is to restructure GM and keep a domestic auto industy going, little matters like this, and this is a little matter, can't distract you from the strategic objective.

-spence

Spence, do you really believe that GM needs to be kept going? I wonder if it might be better to let them fail. They got themselves in this mess and if they can't get out of it, let them fail. Obama, Inc. isn't going to step in and save the little local businesses that are suffering because of the economy.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Spence, do you really believe that GM needs to be kept going? I wonder if it might be better to let them fail. They got themselves in this mess and if they can't get out of it, let them fail. Obama, Inc. isn't going to step in and save the little local businesses that are suffering because of the economy.

Agreed. Let. Them. Fail.

This isn't truly a democratic society. It is a Capitalistic society. The country was founded with capitalistic goals in mind - to hunt, harvest and scavenge products to trade with Europe. As competition came in, they were forced to adjust. Early colonists didn't supply to current fads. Information traveled to slowly to make an approach like that possible. They provided quality products that people wanted to buy.

GM, on the other hand, did the exact opposite. They created crappy vehicles that sometimes played into current fads, as opposed to anticipating the consumer's needs and supplying quality products that created their own demand.

Let. Them. Fail.

[striperman36]

if they fail, not just enter Chapter 11, cease operations all together, I think there would be a tremendous impact across the global economy.

[Cool Beans]

Originally Posted by striperman36

if they fail, not just enter Chapter 11, cease operations all together, I think there would be a tremendous impact across the global economy.

If they are forced to make electric crap and stop making the American pick up truck (their #1 money maker since the 30s) they will fail.

Of course Obama will do his part and subsidize them and give tax credits to people to buy the "crap".
And if that doesn't work, we will run the fuel prices up, by restricting oil production further, making it too expensive to drive regular cars.
(last week congress passed a bill adding 200,000 acres to the off limits area for oil exploration and use)

Not sure what to do, invest in FORD or buy a crap ton of double A batteries for my future golf cart.....

One sure bet, buy property in Dubai...

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Cool Beans

If they are forced to make electric crap and stop making the American pick up truck (their #1 money maker since the 30s) they will fail.

Why exactly is it "electric crap"?

I will give GM one benefit of the doubt. They developed a Chevy hybrid pickup truck that put out the exact same torque and HP as their non-hybrid model. Only difference between the two was that the hybrid got almost double the gas mileage.

Then, back to my comment that the company has a terrible business plan, they didn't market the truck or provide any PR for it. There wasn't any demand because no one knew about it.

A friend of mine owns a landscaping company. Last year on one of his work trucks, he was paying over $1000/month in fuel costs - on one truck! Now, cut that number almost in half and he would have saved over $4000 in expenses last year for that truck.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by striperman36

if they fail, not just enter Chapter 11, cease operations all together, I think there would be a tremendous impact across the global economy.

How? We don't export a massive number of GM vehicles and have to import most of the materials needed to build the vehicle. GM and Chrysler play no major roll in the global economy. They aren't a company like General Electric that employs 330,000 people worldwide with key roles in multiple industries from aerospace to lightbulbs.

I think there would be a tremendous impact on the local economies, in that whole towns have been developed where 90% of the town is employed at the factory.

However, I'm willing to sacrifice the financial security of the few for the benefits of the country as a whole. I would rather see the money that is being sent to GM go to the employees for re-education so they can develop a new set of skills. The company is on track to fail resulting in those people losing their jobs anyway, and we're only delaying the inevitable.

[spence]

Originally Posted by striperman36

if they fail, not just enter Chapter 11, cease operations all together, I think there would be a tremendous impact across the global economy.

That is a big factor for sure, additionally think of the billions in taxpayer aid already given that would be lost.

The former leadership believed bankruptcy was off the table, and they're now gone or going. It would seem that a prudent path is to help the company into Chapter 11 so the massive debt and liability issues can be restructured. Without bankruptcy they don't have enough leverage with the unions.

There seems to be a lot of selective conservatism going on around here. Let them fail might sound like a free market solution, but we don't really have a free market now do we?

-spence