GM on the verge of bankruptcy. Nothing to see here. No need to worry.

[endarkenment]

Anyone else just a little concerned about what massive layoffs and bankruptcy of our major auto manufacturers might mean for our economic future?

Tens of thousands of jobs, the keystone of our remaining industrial base, and that freaking idiot in the white house is sitting on his ass being petulant.

[onehandle]

1. This is the "Obama Depression." Rush says so. nt

[still_one]

2. I heard something like 3 million people. I think that includes dealerships /nt

[flvegan]

6. I was listening to an economist yesterday that concluded it would be 1 million plus.

Not only the immediate workers, but the dealerships, the supply industry, the local industries that the workers utilize, etc. It's the ripple effect, and it would be a disaster.

I also wonder what "the big 3" going under would do world wide. Would this also take Vauxhall, Holden, Opel, Saab, Daewoo, etc down? If so, you're looking at a worldwide employment disaster I would think. I guess maybe they would get chopped up and the other brands might be sold off. Scary nontheless.

[still_one]

10. It would be a disaster /nt

[blue_onyx]

13. I think a lot of people are forgetting the world wide impact

Canada's PM realizes this and has said his country may help the bailout too. I would assume if the main company dies, so does everything related to that company (so yeah, Holden, Opel, etc).

[blue_onyx]

8. Don't forget the jobs that will be lost...

due to the fact that those unemployed people don't have money to spend (restaurants, stores, etc).


"Every direct job at an automaker in the United States creates five more jobs. Two of the five are related to suppliers or dealers; the other three are spinoff jobs at businesses where auto industry workers spend their paychecks. The next closest industry to autos is high-tech, where each job creates a total of four, including spinoffs. By contrast, one Wall Street position creates a total of about 2.5 jobs, yet Congress expedited aid to the financial services sector this year."

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081103/AUTO01/811030343

[AndyA]

3. I saw a report on television yesterday that said if just one of the major

automakers goes under, it will cost us 2,500,000 jobs. Yes, TWO MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND.

If you want to talk about an industry with companies that are too big to fail, it's the auto industry. That industry has a lot of fingers into other industries. The fall out from a Big 3 failure would be devastating, and that's an understatement.

[INdemo]

14. It would mean throwing us into a depression....

Not being considered is the loss that banks would suffer that dealerships have their inventory financed through...And what about the our steel industry? It would be gone completely. so we have no choice but to bail the auto industry out..If Bush would announce today(following Obama's suggestion) that he would seek additional funding for the auto industry our economy would turn around immediately.

[liberal N proud]

4. The auto industry represents over a million jobs

when you consider all the suppliers and dealers.

Then you have to start to count all the community supporting jobs at McDonald's, the grocery store and every other service in a community.

The health care community will be very hard hit because all those people will lose their health care coverage.

If the auto industry is allowed to collapse, you can put a lid on the US economy, lights out, case closed. It will be toast.

[Bluzmann57]

5. But...but...

The auto companies don't need a bailout. They make crap cars anyway. :sarcasm: And I was reading a thread the other day right here on DU about that very thing. The poster said that since the U.S. auto manufacturers make crap, they don't need any help, they should sink or swim on their own.
Bottom line-If the auto manufacturers fail, we will see a repeat of the great depression. Over three million jobs will be lost. That is not acceptable.

[dkofos]

7. What better way to bust the unions!!

[INdemo]

15. Unions and retiree's will lose something but something is better than nothing

[dmosh42]

9. What will be sad, is what will happen when.....

they get the loans to keep going. Already I hear the media beating the drums against the union, but no talk about the lousy engineering that has driven us to foreign brands of vehicles. This will be just like AIG, who continues paying exorbitant salaries to their loser execs, and continue having lush parties on our money. For forty years I bought Gm & Chrysler products, but finally I had enough and bought a Toyota in 2002. I never went back for any warranty work on that car, which just amazed me. All my other vehicles required many hours sitting in waiting rooms for repair work, or I had to do some myself, once the warranty perod was over. We used to have pride, but now it's just the bottom line.

[Blue Diadem]

11. It will be the 1930's all over again and not just for auto workers.

We may have a depression even if they are bailed out. Our country has been falsely propped up by credit and falsely inflated housing prices for way too long now. When the top gets everything and the workers pay doesn't increase but everything else does, the economy can only hold on for so long before doing exactly what it is doing now.

[INdemo]

18. What really aggravates me is .....

we were given false economic numbers by various gov't agencies for years to keep this administration popularity numbers up.Greenspan admitted to following his ideology more so than economic strategy.
One thing that I remember that could have had a direct impact on our economy was way back when we were getting those phony unemployment numbers is when Tom Delay(house majority leader at the time) said unemployment extensions was off the table because people would not look for jobs? What jobs? That could have helped somewhat with mortgage payments if the Democrats would have actually shown some courage and stood up to the Repukes and forced the issue..Now that was back in 2004 or 2005...Could ahve helped..

[strategery blunder]

12. Indeed, the auto companies should get bailed out.

Unlike the financials that looted our taxpayer dollars, the Big 3 actually MAKE SOMETHING.

However, the executives that ran the Big 3 into the ground should be fired without severance of any kind, and never allowed to run a company again. Replace the current, conniving executives with executives who want to repair the bailed-out companies, rather than executives who want to loot what is left.

[lpbk2713]

16. I hate to see anything bad happen to the blue collar workers ...

.. but if any of the car makers really has to go down it helps to keep in mind that GM is a frequent
advertiser on Limbaugh's and Hannity's Hatefests. And they are frequent contributors to RW causes.

[yurbud]

17. give them money with steel cables, not strings. For example: electric & hybrid cars

are fifty percent of their production within five years, NO money on exec bonuses or raises until they turn a profit, NO money on lobbying against raising fuel efficiency standards EVER again, and a public apology for the Pontiac Aztec, Chevy Cavalier, and the Chevy Vega.

[99th_Monkey]

19. Here's a "fix" for GM: USE FEDERAL $$$ TO LEVERAGE A UAW-based WORKER BUYOUT

And force them to bring back the Electric Car, along with other innovations that they have
been quashing or foot-dragging on developing.