The Inevitable: Part I, General Motors

[InternalDialogue]

http://detroitoutsider.blogspot.com/2009/03/inevitable-part-i-general-motors.html

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Detroit's Three Stooges
When all of this began, the reaction stunned Detroit, illustrating a major reason they've been losing market share and stumbling for years: Many Americans, including much of the West Coast and Northeast, view the domestic automakers as our very own Three Stooges, whose products "no one" wants to buy. "All of the foreign brands make good cars and they're doing fine."

Chrysler and GM insisted that they were merely canaries in the coal mine, and that the whole industry was in peril, an argument that got them nowhere. They also made the case that they have some world-class cars, and here they did meet with some success, due in part to the uprising of people who live between Detroit and the coasts, as well as a full-court effort to educate lawmakers, a campaign whose effect was already evident when the second round of Congressional hearings took place.

As for the coal-mine argument, the rest of the industry has been making it for the canaries by coming down with a persistent cough and signs of disorientation. In the interim, one automaker after another has requested — and in many cases been granted — assistance from their home countries: Germany, France and the U.K. came first. Russia levied stiff tariffs on imported cars to prop up its domestic companies, leading to protests in Vladivostok last December at which riot police beat some of the estimated 500 demonstrators. (And you think you hate Pontiac? Drive a Lada someday.)

Need a Cough Drop, My Darling?
If none of that convinces you, Toyota has posted its first loss in history and begun layoffs. On Tuesday of this week, everybody's darling requested a loan from the Japanese government. Today Honda and Mazda followed suit. Bear in mind, Americans, that these are countries that have propped up their domestic automakers all along in ways we don't. At minimum, government-funded healthcare relieves a substantial burden that cripples our "Stooges" especially, because they have been shrinking for years and each of their current workers supports between three and six retirees.

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[FreakinDJ]

1. RATpubliCONs are Cheerleading Doom and Gloom to Bust Unions

Parroting talking points trying to force the Big 3 into chapter 11 so they can disolve Union contracts