Michael Moore: Profits Up at GM! And You're Still Unemployed

[marmar]

August 13th, 2010 2:10 PM
Profits Up at GM! And You're Still Unemployed

By Michael Moore


So General Motors is back to making billions in profit. And if the past is any guide, we know what that means: time for some layoffs!

Or maybe not. Back in the '80s and '90s, when GM was consistently posting giant profits, they were simultaneously firing tens of thousands of workers in my hometown of Flint and across Michigan. Right now it looks like the only person being canned is CEO Edward Whitacre. (Only last week Whitacre was saying he wasn't planning to leave anytime soon—kind of ironic that the former president of the Boy Scouts of America failed to Be Prepared.)

But if they're not laying people off yet, they're also not hiring.

During the first half of 2010, GM made $2.2 billion in profit, yet according to The Wall Street Journal, they've only added 2,000 jobs in all of North America, taking their workforce from 113,000 to 115,000.

And what's true for GM is true for the country. The government stepped in with trillions of dollars in cash and guarantees to keep Corporate America from collapsing due to its own stupidity, short-sightedness and greed. And it worked—for Corporate America. You may not have noticed as you were being foreclosed on, but the profitability of the Fortune 500 is almost back to normal. It jumped to $391 billion in 2009, up 335 percent from 2008. And the 500 biggest non-financial corporations are now sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash, more than at any time in the past 50 years. (That's what the business press always says—that they're "sitting" on it—although as far as I know this is not literally true.) ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/profits-gm-and-youre-still-unemployed

[Faygo Kid]

1. I'm trying to think of when Michael Moore was wrong about anything. Still thinking.

Will be in Traverse City next week. Hope to see him again. We have a history. A good one.

[marmar]

2. I was at the Film Festival......Saw him but didn't actually meet him.

I had a great time.

[Faygo Kid]

4. You're fortunate. But I fly to TC on Wednesday for five days.

Get to stay with my college roommate from nearly 40 years ago, and his wife. They are family. I weep when I think of the beauty of Traverse City, Petoskey, Mackinac and all of northern Michigan.

I have traveled the world, and there is no place finer than that area in the entire world (great wines, too). But I bet you already know that.

[spartan61]

6. I certainly envy you.

Wish I was flying up to that beautiful area. Haven't been back there in more years than I can count. I now live in Maine, which is a beautiful state, but as a former Michigander, Michigan is where my heart will always be. I should have made plans to get to TC for the film festival.

[Faygo Kid]

7. Just go!

I will retire and die there, or die trying.

Maine ain't exactly chopped liver, either.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Wanna see them hire? Buy their cars. Nobody hires unless there's a job...

for them to do.

And not just GM, but their suppliers hire, too.

[madokie]

5. You see

as long as the people who the Obama Presidency's policies directly affect in a less, (to them) favorable way is the ones who are doing their best to not do any hiring and they, btw, are the ones who could be doing the hiring. After all they want this President to fail due to his stated policies toward them, meaning toward the corporations. GM is less that a good corporate friend to the American way of life to begin with. Do a little googling as to their involvement in the reasons most of our big cities don't still have a trolley service for instance. Much more is to be found also to substantiate what I'm saying.

[Bluebear]

8. kick

[Bluebear]

9. kick

[Obamanaut]

10. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8944704&mesg_id=8944704

[femrap]

11. k and r...nt