Mopar doomed?

[426HEMI]

In the early 90's I got screwed and so did the county I was living in.  It was called the Clean Air Act.  I lost my business and my house and my cars and most everything.  People had to move out of my county I was living in leaving them owing me a lot of money.  So dont want to go back to the 90's for sure!!!!

[t1971Chally]

Hey guys,

This is good!  The discussion that is taking place.....

I appreciate everyones input and I am not taking aim at anyone here.  I am taking aim at the bias' that exist regarding the bailout. 

We all watched the Big 3 CEO's get drilled regarding the request for government assistance (and some of it may have been deserved).  However, it is a SHINING example of how the government will easily protect what I call the true WHITE collar workers and not the BLUE collar workers. 

We watched as one financial institution after another got their money without being raked over the coals the way the Big 3 were.  I remember at one point during the hearings, a news release came out about how another financial institution had requested money (literally overnight) and the next day they received their approval. Meanwhile the drilling of the Big 3 continued for days. 

Finally as with many of the news agencies across the U.S., stretching of the truth has become the norm and it is up to the target of the news to defend themselves and state the truth.  For example, all the talk about autoworkers making $75.00 an hour and how they make so much more than Toyota, Nissan, etc.  THIS IS SO UNTRUE and the number was severely inflated due to how it was being calculated.  As a matter of fact, there are some Toyota workers who make more than U.S. workers. 

Anyway, I want ALL of the BIG 3 to survive!!!  I want our economy to return and grow stronger than ever before!!!  I want all of us and our families to be prosperous again!!!  We need to figure out how to INJECT a big dose of "consumer confidence" into the market.  Any ideas??

Take care....

BTW - I swear NEVER, NEVER, EVER to support the Transplants (new or used).

[wiiildcat]

For example, all the talk about autoworkers making $75.00 an hour and how they make so much more than Toyota, Nissan, etc.  THIS IS SO UNTRUE and the number was severely inflated due to how it was being calculated.  As a matter of fact, there are some Toyota workers who make more than U.S. workers.

75 hr a man hour is what it cost the company not what the individual worker receives, So yes they pay alot more than toyota and the others.

They kept these rates too low for too long and people took advantage of the low rates to buy big houses they really couldn't afford and run the prices up into a big housing bubble.

Thats way more accurate than blaming the sub-prime borrowers because the numbers reflect the Major majority of the defaults were from speculators over extending their means and buying multiple investment properties then defaulting, not solely the sup-prime.

[whitesatinmopar]

Al Franken is the new senator from Minn. AL FRANKEN. That's all anyone needs to know about the collective intelligence of our voters.

That is territorial up there, blame it on brain freeze, they also elected a few years back some WWF guy, remember. However I doubt those facts have much to do with Chrysler. Think of the big three like you would personal income levels, your have the super rich, you have the so called middle class, and you have those living in "poverty" income levels. Each of these "classes" pay the same for "cost of living" items, so the poor sucker on bottem feels it the most or worst, however you want to say that. Chrysler has always been at the bottom of the big three, and with the current overall economic conditions there generally speaking is no money in the publics budget to buy new vechicles. The old proverbial snowball effect. I know it is much more indepth than that but we should understand why they (the auto makers) are in this position. On the other hand I heard the the CEO of Ford received a 22 Mil. bonus for 2008, so.............   

[71chally416]

The whole point I'm making by going back to the root of the problems is that I can think of no time in history when so many people in America are totally duped about thier real causes. Electing Obama is one thing, but giving the same people that got us into this mess a super majority in Congress? I wonder if Clinton and Dodd and Frank were Republicans if they would have gotten a pass with the press the way they did for the Fannie and Freddy collapses. They all just blamed Bush, the one guy that called for more oversite 5 years ago and the guy who has consistently called for domestic drilling. They want us to believe he's a complete idiot and maybe he is, but he saw it coming and they didn't. So who are the real Idiots? They still don't think they've did anything wrong. After all, thier "intentions" were good. People who make 25K a year should have a 250K house, and we don't want to ruin the pristine enviornment in Anwar teaming with wildlife, right?




   

[Katfish]

Hey guys,

We all watched the Big 3 CEO's get drilled regarding the request for government assistance (and some of it may have been deserved).  However, it is a SHINING example of how the government will easily protect what I call the true WHITE collar workers and not the BLUE collar workers. 

We watched as one financial institution after another got their money without being raked over the coals the way the Big 3 were.  I remember at one point during the hearings, a news release came out about how another financial institution had requested money (literally overnight) and the next day they received their approval. Meanwhile the drilling of the Big 3 continued for days. 

I wondered if anyone else noticed that.  I was diehard Republican, but it's a crime the way they bailed out the bankers without even blinking.  But the Democrats have the majority votes, so I don't really think it's a Red/Blue thing, it's the have's vs the have nots! 

Do you realize the banks can't even (or in some cases won't) give details on where the money actually went!

[71chally416]

Obama was actually in a law firm that sued Citibank to make sub-prime loans. It's true....

[Katfish]

My son had to read the book "Animal Farm" for school, I said let me see that when you're done.  It's a short read, only 100 or so pages.  But it hits the nail square on the head.

The people in power will always screw over the people they "serve"!

[JH27N0B]

A good non-partisan educational video that explains the different forms of government and shows what happens when citizens demand their government give them too much (such as what happened in ancient Rome):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7M-7LkvcVw

Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it.

[priderocks]

Buy foreign vs. domestic? I buy whatever I want that best meets my needs (assuming I can afford it). I suppose I have about the same level of loyalty toward American manufacturers as they have toward me. Do you really believe the number crunchers at the Big 3 let patriotism influence THEIR purchasing decisions? Dude, if Chrysler could make better money selling rickshaws in Thailand do you think for a minute they wouldn't do it?

[whitesatinmopar]

Buy foreign vs. domestic? I buy whatever I want that best meets my needs (assuming I can afford it).

I understand that view at least in part. I'm 62 + and I once owned a jap car, good fuel miliage, dependable car. But I FELT GUILTY AS HELL FOR OWNING IT !  Now that is just me, but I do believe the foreign imports do at least in part have a negitive aspect to the overall $$$$$$$$$$ of the big three. I'm not knocking ANYONE  for owning an import here, I'm just saying for me it will NEVER happen again.     Now don't remind me about outsourcing and out of country parts on "American" vechicles, they still are American companys. As ole Popeye the salior used to say, "I am what I am"..............or something to that nature.

[heminut]

Buy foreign vs. domestic? Dude, if Chrysler could make better money selling rickshaws in Thailand do you think for a minute they wouldn't do it?

   Just take a look at Harley-Davidson, the icon of American made. 99% of their clothing line is made in Taiwan! I don't know the percentage of the parts on their motorcycles that are made out of country, but I guarantee you the bikes are no where near 100% American made.  I've been riding Harleys for over 20 years and have no intentions of changing, just as I have no intentions of buying any other vehicle from a foreign based company, but American made went out the window years ago, and there's no getting back.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Most of you have brought up some very good points here. The way I read it, it boils down to a few fundamental issue's. Unfortunatley things dont go that way.  If they did, the mess wouldn't be here. The only thing is, does it start at the top and work its way down or vice-versa? All of the points have already been made. We'll get a few band-aids put on things, then it's back to business as usuall. And the whole circus starts all over again......................... 

[71chally416]

I just hope the party in control now doesn't think they have a "Mandate"
to pile on more crap that will come back 10 years from now to haunt us. For instance, gas is pretty low right now but that doesn't mean we should again pull the plug on all exploration and drilling. Things could change in a hurry and we don't want to hear the same ole worn out mantra "It'll take 8 years to get the gas" 8 years from now. That's what the "How am I feeling right now about things" American people completely miss the boat on. It's real easy to sit back and critique the people that are left to deal with a catastopy you helped to create. Right Bill? 

On a positive note I hear Russia and Venezuela are hurting real bad because of the free fall in gas prices. I say we ratchet up the hurt by producing our own oil. 

[ragtopdodge]

I would say all of them are doomed, the bailout is only prolonging the death. The UAW needs to change in order for these companies to survive.

I hope they do not fail though, as I would loose my lifetime warranty on my new ram

get off your high horse about making the UAW the blame of their demise.  Blame upper mgt, Daimler, and the public for buying foreign.

http://www.allpar.com/ed/2002/union.html

http://www.allpar.com/weblogs/2008/12/03/uaw-agrees-to-1-per-year-automakers-still-need-cash/