There’s a famous exchange between Henry Ford and Walter Reuther where Ford is showing Reuther around a new plant and pointing out machines that will replace men on the line. He says, “well, no union dues from this worker.” Reuther replies, “Will the machine be buying your cars?” Both sides have been short-sighted and have behaved like they don’t really need each other…but they do.

Of course Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc., have been “government subsidized” for years with the state paying worker’s health care and retirement benefits.

Before we blame this all on Detroit, I’d like to give them a chance at survival. I’d like to see the playing field more level.

We bailed out Chrysler in 1979. It worked. We not only got our taxpayer money back, we made a profit. The model is there.

Given that we have thrown $300 billion at CitiCorp — no questions asked — and that they are throwing $400 million of that at the NY Mets for naming rights to the former Shea Stadium. We should not let our manufacturing base go bankrupt.

I don’t want see a white collar bias, over a blue collar bailout, in our country.

We need to save the jobs of people who actually make products. Not just the people who make money on other people’s money.

http://www.nathanielbranden.com/catalog/articles_essays/labor_unions.html

Jeff

The big 3 have failed. Let them merge as one, maybe some good will come out of that. But to give them money in light of their poor management and lack of foresight is an outright disgrace. The Japanese are laughing.

I am a firm believer that the oil companies and the automakers, as well as the government, pushed SUV’s on the public in anticipation of the higher gas prices Bush’s wars and foriegn policy (or lack thereof) have helped to cause.

They all made huge profits and are now leave the automakers out there as scapegoats while they blissfully continue on, with the highest profit margins in history and no accountability. Meow is correct – the oil companies should bail out GM and Chrysler, if they are to be bailed out – if Ford is doing all you say, they’ll be fine on their own.

Personally, I’ve been driving small pickups for some time now (work truck, Ann – I use them for everything from driving to my office job to small side construction jobs to home repair). Currently I have a ’99 2.5L S-10 I bought used. It’s had a new rear, rebuilt transmission, various replaced components I’ve put in myself. Nary a month goes by that I don’t have to fix something.

Honestly, I’m so discouraged that I have no idea what to buy when this thing finally craps out, other than that it’ll be another 4 cyl pickup.

Maybe an older Ranger WOULD be the way to go . . .

r.elizabeth.m, i’m now a transplanted Yooper myself (MQT), and i love it up here. Thank you

In other news, GM/Chrysler (they seem already joined at the hip) are saying that they won’t make it through December without $34B…it’s beginning to sound like blackmail. Keep in mind that Ford requested $9B as an emergency line of credit that they would only tap if they really needed it.
http://www.freep.com/article/20081203/BUSINESS01/812030376

Mike @13, thank you.

Canadian visitor, that’s an excellent point that that is rarely addressed. I’m a proponent of the Natural Gas option because it represents a very feasible bridge technology without massive infrastructure changes or massive changes in how cars are built. It does not significantly improve mpg, but it does clean up emissions a great deal. By delivering the fuel as a vapor, combustion is far more complete and NG is a much lighter hydrocarbon so there’s less left over. The other bonus is that it pretty much eliminates carbon build up within the engine, so they run efficiently for much longer. NG fueled engines also require fewer oil changes because the breakdown of oil is mostly from unburnt fuel passing the piston rings. I’ve seen converted engines still have honey colored oil after two years without an oil change.

Ann, have you ever read Truck by Michael Perry?

i dont buy the anti-union whinefest that bellows from the mouths of rightwing ideologues. after all it was they who turned the US economy into an anti-savings consumer debt economy.

Historically, Unions have been the only natural market force that equitably distributed income. Work was valued. These days and in the past 2 recessions we face deflation. Its not difficult to draw a line from the 80′s anti-union movement to today’s consumer and corporate debt problems. Not to mention a whole host of problems with speculation and greed fed by the concentration of wealth and income into fewer and fewer hands.

As productivity continues to rise the working class must share in those gains. Capital and Labor must strike a balance for sustainable growth to occur. we have biased the economy against labor. The US has taken a divide and conquer approach to a global working class. The truth is we have much more to gain tha to lose from a strong labor movement here and abroad. Hopefully, President Obama understands that

Marlene and I would probably slip safely under a giant truck. In any case, I’d rather be nimble and fast than bulky.

Socraticgadfly, yes, the market accounts for a great deal of the weight gain in vehicles. But the market (and the companies that advertise to it) is influenced by studies like the 2003 NHTSA report that says, “One hundred-pound weight reductions in lighter LTVs and most passenger cars significantly increased fatality risk.” (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/pdf/809662.pdf) How does the UAW have any control over the design process? As for hydrogen, we’ll see how the FCX from Honda does. It won’t be a silver bullet, but it may have applications. But i’m not at all impressed with the hybrid technology that can’t even outperform an 85 Escort diesel.

Jeff, thanks. I’d put my money on Ford making it, and not just because i have an admitted thing against GM. I just think that they’re better positioned.

Ann, up here pickups are for the boys and SUV’s are for the girls. But there is some sense to the pickups. Most of them are used pretty hard and it is a place liable to record 50 inches of snow by December 1st. Even liberals drive pickups here, though the liberal elite prefer Subarus with ski/kayak racks. You probably are safer unless someone in a giant truck hits you; your vehicle is certainly more friendly with the forces of physics. Excellent definition of a true sports car, by the way.