I find it hard to believe the automaker is experiencing hard times yet again. It is so reminicent of the devastation that ravaged Flint, Michigan and surrounding areas, thousands of workers lost their jobs, myself included. For me it actually turned out to be a blessing that was very much disguised at the time. This was not so for most people living in the area. To get an idea of what happens when corporations like GM fail, one should check out the film Roger & Me which depicts how a community becomes ravaged when it depends on only one industry.I saw many of my friends lose their homes, automobiles and all of their savings when several plants closed in Flint. This time the pain is being felt in Detroit, where they are still reeling from the mayoral scandal. Now the corporation is looking to the federal government for a bailout (for more on the story click here). Should our government assist the ailing automaker?
5 comments:
They made there beds let them sleep in it.
I would feel the same way Mike if it were not for the workers and the many others who will be affected. I believe the top brass at General Motors are a bunch of greedy bastards; however the employee would be the big loser.
I have mixed feelings. Given that the top brass are (as you put it) "greedy bastards" (LOL), I'm wondering if a bailout is the real solution for what ails GM. Won't they find themselves right back in the same position again if they're not willing to do the things necessary to fix the problem?
It's kind of like a relative of ours who constantly mismanages his money and then comes to us begging for help/a handout, which, by the way, he never intends to pay back.
At a certain point you just have to say, sorry dude, the bank is closed.
Let's see. For the past two decades, GM has forced thousands of people out of their jobs (in profiting plants like Flint, MI and Norwood, OH, mind you) so they could make more money exploiting laxer labor laws in other countries; they forced labor unions into 25 years of concessions, yet cry about how much the unions have hurt them; then they make gas-guzzling SUVs by the ton because the profit margin of more energy efficient cars isn't sexy enough--never mind that there were a number of ways to make SUVs more energy efficient, since they lobbied Congress not to make them do so--and now because of this manegerial misstep (not to mention hubris) they want American taxpayers to subsidize their greed and recklessness?
Hell, why shouldn't GM ask? It worked for Wall Street, didn't it?
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