FOUSESQUAWK: Let's Play, "Name That Bailout!"

Monday, November 24, 2008

Let's Play, "Name That Bailout!"

Which of the below Detroit firms do you think will get the next government bailout?

12 comments:

Lance Christian Johnson said...: Well, at least now the American automakers will get the message and actually start focusing on making fuel-efficient cars that don't constantly break down.

Oh, wait, I thought it was Opposite Day for a moment there.; November 24, 2008 at 2:11 PM
Gary Fouse said...: No they won't as long as the govt bails them out. They'll be back next year asking for more. The problem is the cost of making cars in Detroit (Look for the union label.)

So now it's city-corp asking for a bailout. California is asking for a bailout. LA is asking for a bailout. Phoenix is asking for a bailout. Where does it stop now that we have opened the barn door?; November 24, 2008 at 5:18 PM
Lance Christian Johnson said...: Come on, Gary - while the unions probably add to the problem in some way, that's right-wing scapegoating.

If they made cars that people wanted to buy, then they'd no doubt be doing better. Let's face it, while there have been some improvements, American cars are crap.

My wife recently had to have her Scion towed (because Jiffy Lube put too much oil in it - not because of a defect with the car) and the tow truck driver said, "Never picked up one of these before." He then told her all about the cars that were always being towed - and guess what? They were all American cars. My favorite bit was that he nicknamed the Ford Explorer the "Ford Explosion".

Let's start making cars that are the envy of the world ('cause gosh darnit, I'm patriotic enough to believe that we can) and then we can start talking about the problems with the unions.; November 24, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Gary Fouse said...: You are correct that Detroit makes lousy cars. I agree, that's why I drive a German car. But the other part of the problem is that employee expenses are through the roof in terms of wages, benefits and everything else the unions have bled out of the companies.; November 24, 2008 at 5:57 PM
Anonymous said...: I heard something about how Verizon representatives were on Capital Hill the same day as the auto industry people, and they took a jab at them by pointing out that their own workers were also unionized and had great benefits yet their company wasn't about to go bankrupt.

I agree with Lance, blaming the unions is blatant scapegoating of working class people. There are about a million things that the car companies have done wrong to make them deserve being where they are right now.; November 24, 2008 at 6:31 PM
Gary Fouse said...: Bryan,

face it-you have an ideological bent-your use of the phrase "working class people" gives it away. There are many reasons for the auto-makers problems, but it is undeniable that the unions have caused their employee costs to go through the roof. Take a look at what their pay and benefits are. The companies can't afford it.; November 24, 2008 at 7:34 PM
Lance Christian Johnson said...: But they can afford private jets. Come on.

Bryan makes a good point - why are other companies able to provide for their employees without having the same problems?; November 24, 2008 at 7:47 PM
Anonymous said...: I've never hidden the fact that I am a socialist and that I support working class interests over capitalist class interests any day of the week.

So the companies can't afford to take care of their employees but they can afford to fly their CEOs all over in private jets?; November 24, 2008 at 7:53 PM
Gary Fouse said...: Lance/Bryan,

The CEOs will always be taken care of. Maybe we should look at how Toyota and BMW do it.

Bryan,

Don't be so hard on capitalism. It has produced the greatest standard of living in hitory because it takes advantage of man's desire to better himself and be creative.

If you want to see failure, look at communist countries. No incentive for anyone to rise up and be creative.

And both of you guys should be honest with yourselves. Neither of you gives a rip about the Lions.; November 24, 2008 at 8:12 PM
Lance Christian Johnson said...: Neither of you gives a rip about the Lions.

Not true, as a cat owner, I am definitely pro-feline.

Oh, wait...that's not what you meant.; November 24, 2008 at 8:24 PM
Gary Fouse said...: Led you into that pretty good, didn't I?; November 24, 2008 at 8:48 PM
Gary Fouse said...: Lance, Bryan,
Thought you might enjoy this (from a friend of mine)

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale-boosting programs and teamwork posters.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off one rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, the End.

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses...

IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY; November 25, 2008 at 9:27 AM

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