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Dear Senator Shelby,
Yesterday I watched you on a Sunday morning news show and was amazed of the shallowness of your comments regarding the U.S. Automakers recent troubles.
There are several important reasons to support our automakers. The manufacturing base that the Big 3 command is vital to our national security.
It was our domestic automakers who played an important role in propping up the US economy after 9/11 with 0% financing. It was (and will be) the auto manufacturing plants who will produce War-time materials. And it will be the US auto manufacturing base that will support the US through natural and unnatural disasters in the future.
The Big 3 represent 1.7 million US jobs. If you don’t help them now, are you willing to pay for all their unemployment services/health-care and retiree pensions?
GM is now (and has been) the largest “health-care” company in the US . Our government does not assist automakers with subsidized health-care and export tariffs like many other countries do for their car companies. US automakers also endure unfair import taxes and currency manipulation by foreign countries. What is our government doing to “even the playing field”?
95% of the US automotive business is credit financing. Last I knew; GM, Ford or Chrysler was not responsible for the subprime/credit tightening mess that you (the government) failed to properly over-see for the past 20 years. The credit market is a wrecking ball to our business.
Today the US economy is in turmoil over just a .3% drop in GDP. If the US automotive companies fail, is the government prepared to endure an estimated 4% drop in GDP?
To me, the logic is simple. Help support our US Automakers by loaning them $25 billion or face the threat of 10% unemployment, weakening our national security and face far greater “Billions” in backing pensions, health-care, foreclosures etc.
Instead of you trying to identify the problems with the Big 3, please try and think about what can be done help them survive. Detroit ’s problems aren’t self inflicted. When is the last time you test drove a GM product? The quality results by JD Power are reported to be par or “BETTER” than foreign automakers.
You are wrong to have said “the big 3 have to make vehicles people want to buy…”. That comment was offensive and shallow. Last time I checked, GM was still the #1 Automaker (seller/producer). Someone’s buying GM, Ford and Chrysler vehicles, and a lot of them!!! But now people can’t get reasonable financing and are dealing with lay-offs, and possible foreclosures. What has our government done in the past two decades to curb the inevitable housing bubble burst and regulate lenders from issuing bad subprime loans?
In October 2008, both Honda and Toyota sales fell along with the Big 3. Toyota sales plummeted more than GM's sales did. But Toyota , Honda, Nissan have government subsidies, virtually zero legacy costs and are therefore more recession tolerant.
Did you know?
GM has more vehicles that get over 30 miles per gallon than any other manufacturer? GM is poised to change the auto industry with a new fuel cell, hybrid vehicle – the Volt. GM has recently made a “substantial” investment in a California company that has come up with a way to double or triple the effective cruising range of a fuel cell-powered vehicle to 500 miles. Yes, GM the company you referred to as a “Dinosaur"!
Both GM and Ford have extensively restructured their businesses; GM’s CEO is the 16th highest paid auto executive – not even in the top ten. GM execs have are not getting bonuses. Salary employees will not get raises for the foreseeable future and pensions were frozen in 2007 and retirees will no longer be provided company sponsored healthcare; the UAW has make huge concessions that will begin in 2010.
GM, Ford and Chrysler are doing what needs to be done and have a Plan to Win. Your comments to the contrary are reckless. Auto companies depend on revenue to survive. How do you expect auto companies to survive when our government has failed to miserably to provide a stable economy? Today public financing is null! When we gave you $700 billion tax payer dollars when the DOW was 10,500 and it was needed to curb the free falling economy. Today the DOW continues to drop at 8,500 and consumers are more concerned about their homes, retirement savings and jobs.
Senator, you should really take a moment to really understand all that is going on with the automakers and support these companies. May I suggest you start by visiting your nearest GM, Ford or Chrysler dealership to see the great products and services the U.S. automakers are producing? Then go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com to get a better education.
Yesterday I watched you on a Sunday morning news show and was amazed of the shallowness of your comments regarding the U.S. Automakers recent troubles.
There are several important reasons to support our automakers. The manufacturing base that the Big 3 command is vital to our national security.
It was our domestic automakers who played an important role in propping up the US economy after 9/11 with 0% financing. It was (and will be) the auto manufacturing plants who will produce War-time materials. And it will be the US auto manufacturing base that will support the US through natural and unnatural disasters in the future.
The Big 3 represent 1.7 million US jobs. If you don’t help them now, are you willing to pay for all their unemployment services/health-care and retiree pensions?
GM is now (and has been) the largest “health-care” company in the US . Our government does not assist automakers with subsidized health-care and export tariffs like many other countries do for their car companies. US automakers also endure unfair import taxes and currency manipulation by foreign countries. What is our government doing to “even the playing field”?
95% of the US automotive business is credit financing. Last I knew; GM, Ford or Chrysler was not responsible for the subprime/credit tightening mess that you (the government) failed to properly over-see for the past 20 years. The credit market is a wrecking ball to our business.
Today the US economy is in turmoil over just a .3% drop in GDP. If the US automotive companies fail, is the government prepared to endure an estimated 4% drop in GDP?
To me, the logic is simple. Help support our US Automakers by loaning them $25 billion or face the threat of 10% unemployment, weakening our national security and face far greater “Billions” in backing pensions, health-care, foreclosures etc.
Instead of you trying to identify the problems with the Big 3, please try and think about what can be done help them survive. Detroit ’s problems aren’t self inflicted. When is the last time you test drove a GM product? The quality results by JD Power are reported to be par or “BETTER” than foreign automakers.
You are wrong to have said “the big 3 have to make vehicles people want to buy…”. That comment was offensive and shallow. Last time I checked, GM was still the #1 Automaker (seller/producer). Someone’s buying GM, Ford and Chrysler vehicles, and a lot of them!!! But now people can’t get reasonable financing and are dealing with lay-offs, and possible foreclosures. What has our government done in the past two decades to curb the inevitable housing bubble burst and regulate lenders from issuing bad subprime loans?
In October 2008, both Honda and Toyota sales fell along with the Big 3. Toyota sales plummeted more than GM's sales did. But Toyota , Honda, Nissan have government subsidies, virtually zero legacy costs and are therefore more recession tolerant.
Did you know?
GM has more vehicles that get over 30 miles per gallon than any other manufacturer? GM is poised to change the auto industry with a new fuel cell, hybrid vehicle – the Volt. GM has recently made a “substantial” investment in a California company that has come up with a way to double or triple the effective cruising range of a fuel cell-powered vehicle to 500 miles. Yes, GM the company you referred to as a “Dinosaur"!
Both GM and Ford have extensively restructured their businesses; GM’s CEO is the 16th highest paid auto executive – not even in the top ten. GM execs have are not getting bonuses. Salary employees will not get raises for the foreseeable future and pensions were frozen in 2007 and retirees will no longer be provided company sponsored healthcare; the UAW has make huge concessions that will begin in 2010.
GM, Ford and Chrysler are doing what needs to be done and have a Plan to Win. Your comments to the contrary are reckless. Auto companies depend on revenue to survive. How do you expect auto companies to survive when our government has failed to miserably to provide a stable economy? Today public financing is null! When we gave you $700 billion tax payer dollars when the DOW was 10,500 and it was needed to curb the free falling economy. Today the DOW continues to drop at 8,500 and consumers are more concerned about their homes, retirement savings and jobs.
Senator, you should really take a moment to really understand all that is going on with the automakers and support these companies. May I suggest you start by visiting your nearest GM, Ford or Chrysler dealership to see the great products and services the U.S. automakers are producing? Then go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com to get a better education.
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