Can someone please explain to me why we're doing what we're doing to GM and Chrysler?

[Stinky The Clown]

I framed that question as neutrally as I possibly can.

Why did we single out the CEO of GM for axing, but no other executive has been similarly singled out?

What becomes of the unions, the union workers, the retirees, etc.? The Teevee bloviators are, of course, blaming the unions for all this.

So ..... seriously ...... without hyperbole ........ why are we doing what we're doing to GM and Chrysler?

[xchrom]

1. it's certainly the kind of thing the republick party advocated not so long ago. nt

[QC]

2. To bust the union. n/t

[Pirate Smile]

10. or to bust the bondholders.

[coalition_unwilling]

18. Obama&Co, Inc. believe there's

nothing wrong that a little ole-fashioned corporatism ("fascism," according to no less an authority than Benito Mussolini) can't fix.

Umion-busting is of a piece.

The only language these corporatist fucks understand is the general strike. Along those lines, the UAW should already be making plans to occupy and hold GM and Chrysler plants.

[jemma]

21. Right, union busting

Public enemy number one.
What's the first thing Hitler did when he got into power?
Repaid his rich industrialist backers by outlawing unions.

"Communist" - the boogeyman of the cold war - was a code name for "union member."

"Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.

"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus. "This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/bank-of-america-hosted-an_n_161248.html

[Pirate Smile]

3. AIG's CEO was ousted. Fannie and Freddie's heads were also ousted so this isn't the only CEO

fired.

[BobRossi]

4. Wagner wasn't DLC.

'Nuff said.

[cali]

5. oh brother. that's hitting on the old absurd.

[geek tragedy]

9. That guy is a certified Obama hater who's already promised

to vote against Obama in 2012.

Fuck him.

[geek tragedy]

8. Why are you shilling for an inept, overpaid CEO? n/t

[cali]

6. you're factually off.

other CEOs absolutely have been axed.

[geek tragedy]

7. AIG, CITI, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear, Lehman--

all of those CEO's lost their jobs.

Why did it take so long for Wagoner?

[nc4bo]

16. Thanks for that, I hadn't been paying very close attention

Shame on me (I know).

But it just "feels" like nothing changes when CEO's are booted out, here comes another one just like him/her to his place and the corruption remains.

I get very discouraged if think about any of this for too long.

[Stinky The Clown]

19. You're right

I was wrong in that specific implication of my OP

[Marie26]

11. To require "restructuring".

And if that "restructuring" requires busting unions, halting pensions or ending retiree health care, IMO you'll have your answer.

ETA: Try looking up "neoliberal restructuring". Basically, one of the keys to neoliberal restructuring is requiring a company or country to end health care, pensions or high union wages in order to receive financing from the IMF or USA.

Neoliberal Restructuring; The Origin and Formation of Economic Groups in Chile -

http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Neoliberal_Restructuring__The_Origin_and_Formation_of_Economic_Groups_in_Chile.pdf

Neoliberal Restructuring in Bolivia - http://www.ncsu.edu/project/acontracorriente/spring_05/Postero.pdf.

Neoliberal workplace reforms in the Antipodes: What impact on union power and influence? - http://www.australianreview.net/journal/v8/n1/perry.html

"Neo-Liberal Reforms in Pension and Health Care Systems in Turkey" -
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/7/9/2/1/p179212_index.html

- "Today's globalization is characterized by neoliberal economic policies such as privatization, deregulation, and limited government intervention--despite the growth of government--in open economies. In such an environment, social insurance, one of the defining characteristics of the welfare state, has become a great fiscal burden and not surprisingly on the neoliberal agenda of the institutions of global order such as the IMF and the World Bank lately. Solutions required by the neoliberal agenda involve privatization and deregulation of social insurance systems especially in developing countries such as Turkey. Despite the fact that the welfare state played a significant role between 1960 and 1980, social insurance has become one of the few safety nets left for many since the beginning of neoliberal policies in Turkey. Now with the increasing pressure from the IMF, Turkish government has been actively working on market-oriented solutions for financing health insurance, social security and pensions.

Neoliberalism Revisited: Economic Restructuring And Mexico's Political Future -
http://www.amazon.com/Neoliberalism-Revisited-Economic-Restructuring-Political/dp/0813324416

And etc.

[newportdadde]

12. Same thing that happened in the 70s and 80s - blame the unions.

Its the perfect plan, take all of the Americans out of work or hurting economically and focus their attention on the 'evil unions'. There is a lot of hate out there and the unions make a nice focus for it.

"See all these lazy people making thousands of dollars!!!"

Perfect plan. Blame the unions for being greedy etc and then bust them. What people don't realize, especially white collar workers like myself is that OUR BENEFITS are tied into strong unions. Take a look at your benefits now versus 20 years ago, they are declining as the union declines.

So AIG can fuck the tax payer out of billions - that is okay. Toxic bank assets - no problem. Company that has union employees who make a good wage - whooooooo stop the presses can't have that.

This is about busting unions plan and simple.

[JDPriestly]

13. I haven't heard enough about what is going on to answer your question.

GM and Chrysler want taxpayer money. Their unwillingness and inability to respond to environmental concerns, to the imbalance in our trade figures and to moderate the greed of their executives in the face of declining sales and market shares makes them bad investment risks. They are calling on the U.S. government to loan them enormous amounts of money and failed to show their lender a business that would justify the lender's giving the loan. Their prospective lender has told them what they need to do and what their plan needs to look like if they are to qualify for the loan.

In a market economy, huge corporations turn to their shareholders, not their government for money. If GM and Chrysler want to avoid government interference in their business, then they need to find private lenders or investors to bail them out of the mess they got themselves into. GM and Chrysler executives are like spoiled kids who flunk out of college, refuse to get up to go to work on time, waste all their resources and then turn to their indulgent parents for the money to buy food and clothes for their children. Daddy is reading them the riot act and telling them that they have to get a plan for self-sufficiency before they can have any money. It's called tough love.

[Demeter]

14. National Death Wish and/or Treason

nothing else would cover the economic plans to date. Oh, and Looting. Lots of Looting.

[screembloodymurder]

15. Read this. It sums up Wagoner's + & -

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/29/news/companies/motor_world.fortune/index.htm

At a time when Japanese competitors like Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) were constantly making improvements, that strategy proved inadequate. Even Ford (F, Fortune 500) began to perform more dynamically than GM (GM, Fortune 500). The dictum that you can't cost-cut your way to prosperity was proved in spades by GM under Wagoner.

Secondly, Wagoner remained loyal to GM's outmoded structure of brands, nameplates and dealers. As GM's market share continued to shrink, he kept trying to develop enough new models to feed eight separate brands and nearly as many separate dealer groups. He never developed a strategy for disposing of the brands and the dealers through benign neglect

[Statistical]

17. Wagoner also steered company AWAY from Hybrids

Giving Honda & Toyota a huge advantage in technology.

GM is esssentially 4 years behind Toyota or Honda in terms of expertise, R&D, and production knowledge on Hybrids.

Even Chevy Volt which I admit is an ambitious vehicle would have been developed easier (lots of problems still w/ battery pack) if GM could have relied on 4, 6, 8 years experience in hybrid systems.

Wagoner essentially has been 1990s business model. Business as usual. We will build our way out of this problem. He has refused to face the INSANELY OBVIOUS REALITY.

GM has 19% marketshare not 50%+. 8 BRANDS for 19% marketshare. Thats what 3% per brand. The overhead of that is INSANE.

Anyone who couldn't realize that in a decade as CEO and nearly 30 years as an executive can't do this job. Period.

[Coyote_Bandit]

20. A couple of reasons

The auto companies were losing lots of money before the recession/depression and had made some very poor corporate product and marketing decisions. There isn't a whole lot of confidence in the auto company management teams. The banks and mortgage companies meanwhile were showing profits before the recession/depression. Although, arguably those profits were based on flawed asset valuations.

More importantly, politicians and office holders are bankrolled by corporate Amerikka. Most industries exert influence in areas that most directly impact them (i.e. the drug companies influence the FDA and health care issues). The financial sector exerts governmental influences on all aspects of our economy and society. If the financial sector doesn't have confidence in the auto company management teams then they argue for their replacement. Because the auto companies have performed so poorly they have little objective evidence to use to respond and defend themselves against the desires of the financial sector. End result? THe banks and financial houses run the government.

[defendandprotect]

22. Obama should take over plants and workers and start building electric cars . . .

Let the executives go -- America could challenge any country's cars if they

end the alliance with the oil industry---!!!

Capitalism, actually, is a farce . . .

In order for capitalism to survive, we have to re-regulate capitalism --

which is what FDR did . . . he regulated capitalism to save it!!!

Un-regulated capitalism is merely organized crime.

Meanwhile, nor is capitalism about competition . . . rather it's about

killing the competition. Winner take all!!!

Meanwhile, the capitalistic losers are taking it all and walking away with taxpayer $$$.