dshort36 (Offline)
#11
12/12/08 5:05 PM
no bailouts......no bankruptcy......record profits for years...... if they have mismanaged there money and businesses for years let them pay the price. reorganize ,restructure. this country has given to much and that is why we are in the shape we are in.....spending more than they have.....our govt needs to restructure also....no unemployment extensions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
trblshtr56 (Offline)
#12
12/12/08 6:27 PM
Where were some of you when the government bailed out the banks and insurance companies??? Two examples..........After getting their slice of the pie and the majority of the money going overseas, CitiBank is laying off 25,00 people. But, they still spent 20 million on the naming rights for the new stadium for the New York Mets!!! Bank of America is laying off 35,00 people over three years, but, that didn't stop them from increasing their share (16% to 19%) in a Chinese bank.
micro94 (Offline)
#14
12/12/08 7:55 PM
Ok my 2 cents.And I know it matters to no one but me but here goes.I work at a Chevy dealership and from what I have heard lately around work and tv this is going to be ugly.I dont work at a big dealership,we have 26 people counting the owner but this is killing us.We went from averaging selling 62 new cars a week to selling 4 last month.There was a little talk around work at the end of the day about just selling used cars which makes me wonder if something has already happened with GM that hasnt been reported yet.But we will find out before the weekend is up huh? I detail cars myself but seeing that change in how people are buying vehicles and seeing the change in the amount of work that the mechanics are getting(we have 4 that are fighting over work cause there is none) I wonder how much worse it will get.I do agree the bozos running GM need to get out of there and hit the unemployment line.And unless they do something to get rid of the union its not gonna work.They pay with hourly wages benifits and the whole ball of wax an average of $42 an hour.Honda is doing the same for around $25.Cant do it.You cant compete.I know there are union guys working for GM that are going to read this and not like it but tough.Gas will go back up I have no doubt.I already had to give up racing earlier in the year and it wasnt this bad then.Now I wonder if the doors are gonna be locked every morning when I go in to work.I myself dont know exactly what will fix it but I think its so far gone that its going to be a long time before its ever good again.I guess I can at least go to Gas City next year,providing I have a job!
Biro 22 (Offline)
#16
12/12/08 9:57 PM
Good thoughts Todd, but ponder this..........
The 14 billion that may or may not be on the table is to get them through the end of the month.
What happens when that money runs out early next year?
UAW walked away from the table yesterday because they knew the white house would back them whether or not they could cut a comprimise.
Why is UAW sponsoring a NASCAR?
One of UAW's health benifits they get from the big 3 is a 25million dollar allowance per year to the members for VIAGRA.
I think the bailout is a good idea for the workers and suppliers ONLY. But, and a big BUT, UAW HAS to comprimise and make sure what ever deal they can come up with works. And that money needs to be paid back to us. Remember if this thing passes.............your tax dollars will be buying cars and those cars will NOT be in your garage!!!!!!!!!!!
Gas prices are controlled by wallstreet. Light Sweet Crude is traded on the commodities market. Whatever happens to the trading markets will directly affect your pocketbook. Buying and selling and trading stocks is a form of legalized gambling to 99.9% of the people in the world. Everytime you purchase gas, you are indirectly purchasing futures. When the market is up on Oil, the gas prices go up. When the market is down, the gas goes down. This is a basic concept, however, a solution to stability for gas prices would be to take Oil off of the futures market. Stabilize the price over a given amount of time instead of daily. That way we are not gambling every time we buy gas and the commodities traders and brokers aren't making a profit directly from us the consumer.
One last thing to think about. Has President Bush made any CORRECT decisions about anything in the last 8 years? and i'm not a democrat.
nice debate thread
curt
racephoto1 (Offline)
#17
12/12/08 10:34 PM
Curt,
Bush has done one thing 100% correct. Picking supreme court justices. This saved the 2nd amendment,and the way things are going I may need my guns.
Biro 22 (Offline)
#18
12/13/08 12:40 AM
Your right about that, but after bama starts you might not be able to use them anymore.
curt
LEADERS EDGE (Offline)
#20
12/13/08 8:36 AM
GM has already shuttered 21 plants til the end of January. To some extent those plants where going to be closed for a few weeks anyway for normal shutdown.
It is not just the big three though, Honda and Toyota are cutting back production even at the new Greensburg plant.
Lets face it, not just loans on cars and houses have been too easy, but easy credit period has been both the driving factor behind this bloated economy and is it's downfall.
So many people of every ethnicity and social level where just willing to take on loans they couldn't afford and then when they can't make the payments they just declare bankruptcy and walk away.
The biggest problem we have today is that all groups of people are self serving,greedy and ignorant when it comes to money.
I know of one person who had been in money trouble since the day they left high school because of the credit cards and new cars and after 10 years filed bankruptcy and within the last two years is exactly where they where just a few years ago. A car, a bike, credit card debt and no job. The worst part is that they where making $18 an hour and couldn't live on it.
What no one understood about the finance situation was that no one was taking responsability for the loans. The people getting them, the people issuing them, the people insuring them and on down the line. I had a customer put it correctly; he said that irresponable people have been allowed to bankrupt the world. He was right.
Mortgage and easy credit have almost bankrupted this country numerous times. Going back to the beginning of the country.
I believe that this is going to have a profound effect for a generation or two, but it will happen again as people forget and think they have a "new" plan. I have said for years that I believe that the source of much of the "Depression" people have suffered from and have had to take all of th pills for is their inability to want to deal with the responablility and debt that they have incurred and if they would relieve themselves of the debt they would feel better. It's the same broken record over and over again that people get divorced, kill themselves, kill their loved ones over debt and ultimately the unwillingness to want to deal with it.
People have for far to long judged their self worth over "objects" that they posess and their status symbols and I think it is now coming home to roost for a period.