Do my fellow DUers give the Obama administration credit for saving the Auto Industry?

[Dawgs]

As someone who has two close friends that work for GM, I sure do.

GM profit clears way for stock sale
http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/12/news/companies/gm_results/index.htm

:)

[Clio the Leo]

1. Of course not, why would we give the President credit for anything?

That's just crazy talk! ;)

[PassingFair]

41. Does he also get the credit for installing a Carlyle Group honcho as CEO?

http://blogs.wsj.com/privateequity/2010/08/13/the-morning-leverage-gm-taps-carlyle-executive-to-drive-company/


You know, the new guy, with no car experience, but
HEAD OF GLOBAL ACQUISITIONS for Carlyle.

[boppers]

50. Did it work?

The "car experience" folks seemed to be running it into the ground, so maybe a "manage huge company transitions" person was what was needed?

[yurbud]

57. that is the Obama method: 10% for us in exchange for 90% for the oligarchs

[30rock]

2. Foreclosues are up...GDP likely to be revised to 1.4

I think that these news may prevent some from being happy about General Motors making tons of money.

[impik]

5. Two more years, dude. Hang in there

[Dawgs]

6. I'm happy because it saved 100,000's of blue-collar jobs.

I feel sorry that you can't recognize that fact.

And, your snarky comments about foreclosures and GDP have nothing to do with my OP.

[quiller4]

15. I'm thrilled about the saved jobs and I think your 100,000 is low

when you think of all the related jobs that would have been lost had Chrysler and GM gone under.

[Dawgs]

29. Thanks and agree. It should be millions.

:hi:

[polmaven]

26. And will it prevent

anyone from being happy that GM will begin hiring people for the restored JOBS????

[stevenleser]

47. Poster is no longer with us. n/t

[zipplewrath]

3. I'm a regular critic

But its one of the few things I do "give him credit" for doing basically "right". That and nuclear arms are two of his best accomplishments.

[impik]

4. Be serious now

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OHdem10]

8. He deserves credit , in face he deserves HIGH PRAISE.

This needs to be communicated to the American People
in very reasoned clear terms, WHO, WhY, How, WHEN, WHERE?

[lillypaddle]

12. His "face" is quite handsome

I agree with you. :hi:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. Sure. nt

[disillusioned73]

10. Yes,

:beer: - no reason for this, other than it looks like a Guiness... mmmm

[boomerbust]

11. Absolutely

By saving GM and Chrysler he saved the whole economy from being destroyed any further.

[Llewlladdwr]

13. I'm not at all convinced that the Auto Industry has been saved. NT

[Yavin4]

14. Presidents Bush Would Have Let GM Collapse

or demanded draconian union concessions.

But there's no difference. None at all.

[firedupdem]

16. Absolutely... n.t

[Bluenorthwest]

17. It was a good thing that was done. Not sure it is actually 'saved'

as yet, and of course, the President deserves credit for his actions, as do many in the Auto Industry, Unions and workers and management and engineers. I want those who have gotten jobs to keep them, and welcome new co-workers daily.
I come from a business where we never count the chickens unhatched so 'saved' is for me, far too strong, not because of Obama, but because it is bad luck to say too much in advance of the actual goals. We are knockers on wood, and that is how we are. So I say, so far, so good.
I celebrate upon arrival, not departure. That is my nature. This is why the hyperbole on DU often bothers me. I find it to be hubristic.

[4lbs]

18. I think the 55,000 auto workers re-hired the past year after the auto bailout would give them credit

I doubt those jobs would have returned and those people re-hired if we simply let the American auto industry go bankrupt.

[amborin]

19. K&U the new NON-UNION GM plants, in Michigan, & UAW wages halved, in the remaining union plants?

that's what the bankruptcy was all about

[amborin]

27. AND, no promise of keeping jobs in the US, despite taxpayer billions

[dionysus]

51. figured you'd cruise in with some talking points to whiz on something good.

:rofl:

[FrenchieCat]

20. Credit?

What's that?

Blame is the only word used a lot that I've seen.

[JNelson6563]

61. lol Great avatar!

You crack me up Frenchie. :toast:

[MichiganVote]

21. Not entirely. Afterall the union rank and file did their bit to sustain the companies too.

[JoePhilly]

22. I think Obama hates auto workers ...

:sarcasm:

[amborin]

32. he's pushing for an early risky IPO that will give big $$$$$ to the banksters

[dionysus]

52. bless your little heart for trying so hard.

[Robbins]

23. Of course I do

GM and Chrysler would be bankrupted If Mccain was President.You don't like unemployment at 9.5 percent just Imagne It at 19 percent.
Lot of people would be out of work If GM and Crysler were under.Obama may not be perfect and give us all we wanted but he Is the best we got.He has the Corporate Media,The Republicans and even some Centist Democrats against him.He Is not a liberal Bush.He tries
to get as best he can.The right wing and the friends In the MSM call him a radical and socialist and even unlegitimate president.
While some on the left(Including some here) eather call him just like Bush or a corporate tool.

[BootinUp]

24. Obama destroyed the Unions! Damnnn him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!``

(This is a pre-emptive over the top woodchuck protest post.)

Actually, I do give him quite a bit of credit for saving the US auto industry.

[ljm2002]

25. Yes. n/t

[catgirl]

28. Add it to the list of his successes

[amborin]

31. for the banksters, not for US workers

[catgirl]

34. Interesting spin

I'm rolling my eyes at that response.

[amborin]

37. don't you read newspapers?

Obama is pushing through an early IPO for GM before the midterms

guess who benefits, regardless of stock price? not the auto workers, whose pension and benefit fund rides on the stock price

Goldman Sachs and the other banksters benefit, as they will handle the IPO and get huge profits from financial fees

GM now has NON-union plants in Michigan

Obama did not ask for any quid pro quo when forcing GM into bankruptcy and bailing it out....so GM will now invest $50 million of taxpayer
money into another Mexican auto plant

[Dawgs]

38. You're right. He should have let GM and Chrysler fail.

Americans will be happy buying foreign only made cars. At least those that still have jobs.

:eyes:

[JoePhilly]

40. Socialist if he holds on ... Corpratist if he lets go ....

The extremist tug of war continues.

[amborin]

45. Obama should have told GM: no huge $$$ investment in Mexico w/ bailout funds

[amborin]

44. Huh! Obama should not have pushed the union to agree to horrible terms that only benefit banksters

[ipaint]

30. Mexico is thrilled.

Half a billion and 390 new jobs.

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=552&fArticleId=5590233

[LWolf]

33. Yep. I'll bet they're toasting him. nt

[Dawgs]

39. So is Michigan and Ohio; where millions of jobs were saved.

Too bad you can only focus on the few in Mexico.

[ipaint]

46. I can multi task. Luckily so can quite a few others here.

Courtesy of:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8937020

GM Seeks to Cut Wages in Half at Indianapolis Factory

GM stamping plant workers in Indianapolis have told the company they won’t cut their wages in half, even when threatened with a shutdown. A prospective buyer of the 650-worker factory has indicated he wants United Auto Workers members to drop from $29 an hour to $14.65.

http://www.labornotes.org/2010/07/gm-seeks-cut-wages-half-indianapolis-factory

GM’s Battery Plant Opens Non-Union

The opening of GM’s lithium-ion battery plant near Detroit signals the company’s turn to electric vehicles and to non-union production.

The new plant is funded in part by taxpayer dollars, and it is not rehiring any of the thousands of United Auto Workers members who were laid off when their plants closed—despite union promises that workers’ concessions on pay, benefits, and speed of work were their only chance for job security.

http://www.labornotes.org/2010/03/gm%E2%80%99s-battery-plant-opens-non-union



The real reason GM was bailed out-


The Big Guns Coming Out for GM Deal

Wall Street bankers are salivating over one of their biggest potential paydays since the market meltdown of 2008: the planned initial public offering of General Motors Co.

With a size that may top $10 billion, the GM IPO could generate fees of $275 million or more for the Wall Street underwriters, the most fees from a single stock deal since the $19.7 billion IPO of credit-card giant Visa in March 2008 generated $550 million.....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703630304575270892916644732.html?KEYWORDS=gm+mexico

[stevenleser]

48. You can jump the shark, that's what you can do. n/t

[phleshdef]

42. GM sells a lot of fucking cars to Mexico.

I don't mind an American company hiring overseas if they is a reason for it other than just trying to find cheap labor. If that same company is also doing a good deal of exporting to that country, I think its appropriate. Do you think its bad for Toyota and Honda, who both sell a lot of cars here in America, also provide a lot of Americans with jobs?

[golfguru]

35. GM can not be saved in the long run

GM's labor costs are $25-$30 higher/hour than Toyota (USA plants).
Tax payer funded bailouts can prolong GM's life but can not assure
it's long term survival. GM is the next Fanny & Freddie.

[scheming daemons]

36. This is DU. All the "cool kids" are criticizing Obama, dontcha know...

..can't be seen praising him.

Hurts their street cred over on FireDogLake.

[dionysus]

54. yup, the FailDogLosers.

[suzie]

55. +1,000,000

[trayfoot]

43. Yes, absolutely!!!!

[OhioBlue]

49. yes!!! I give him a lot of credit

And, I'm thankful my cousin's family still has a roof over their head as he kept his union job in a factory that is a supplier to GM. It was pretty shaky for a while.

[Phx_Dem]

53. Damn straight Skippy!

[LatteLibertine]

56. I do

and I will continue to support him until the end of his term. Then I will evaluate what has been done or left undone. I have zero problems with people voicing constructive dissent. For example; I think DADT should have been ended a while ago, and folks that have been forced out because of it should be allowed to return. We have lost some excellent military personnel because of the DADT nonsense.

[Skittles]

58. I vote yes

I think he did right by GM; now if he could just work on OTHER JOBS

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

59. Ask me in five years,

Obama pulled them back from oblivion at extraordinary cost, it would be impossible to do so again.

Both GM and Chrysler still face monumental challenges and I can't for the life of me figure out how in the case of GM Akerson is likely to be helpful to that end, he is a walking stereotype of the aloof Fortune 500 asshole executive. Why isn't GM drawing on management talent from their successful international subsidiaries?

Chrysler has even bigger challenges, outside of Jeep their product line still sucks and while Fiat is coming - they will probably try to position it at a premium and price it out of its market. I would bet their going to position the Fiat 500 against the Mini Cooper and Beetle when they need to be positioning it against the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris or even Hyundai Accent.

[JNelson6563]

60. This Michigander sure does.

:toast:

Got no love for the bastards who'd've let it die. Wait till those fuckers get thirsty for some fresh water. Drive your Toyotas to the swamp and drink that swill!

Julie