Why AIG Gets Billions, GM Gets Scorn

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I am going to go out on the limb here and say the problem here is the automakers inability to have friends in high places, I am for unions, IF they are not gotten by Unions using open ballots to take over private businesses.. But the fact that AIG keeps getting money is proof that someones is being paid off for something.. since the Democrats not the Republicans have the power and are spending like Dogs in heat and the automakers are not getting any money says this is something much deeper than they are letting the American People know..

Independent Voter Joliet of IL 11:43AM March 12, 2009

To the moron who wrote its a backlash!! Toyota has asked the japanese government for two billion dollars. But all you jap lovers probably wont find anything wrong with that.

gene bush of NY 11:15AM March 12, 2009

For the past few years prior to the current recession the US automakers have been losing market to it's more fuel-efficient Japanese and European counterparts and have been receiving the scorn of environmentalists such as Al Gore. Their response up until their request for a bailout has been dismissive and arrogant. They have neither tried to develop new vehicles to match the growing need for fuel-efficiency nor have they shown much (if any) support for green planet idea. Now, after years of losing market share to foreign competition they get one last blow: Global Recession. They may not have triggered it, but hell, none of the foreign automakers are asking for a bailout. What makes US automakers that much bigger failures? Is it simply their proximity to the center of this recession or is it more of their past actions that have brought them to this point?

Beans 9:16AM February 09, 2009

Republicans have been trying to break up unions for 3 decades now, since Reagan fired the air controllers! Look where it's gotten this country by defaming the very workers who built it! Jobs shipped overseas, wages down, many working 3 jobs to stay afloat...which Bush famously thought was "JUST SO AMERICAN"!!! We have unions to thank for all the good working conditions most of us enjoy today, but look where the last 3 decades of mostly Republican rule has taken this country! And these idiots are still trying to sell us their supply side economic theories...it's time we grew a brain!
BTW, Toyota is posting a loss, too!

liberalbias of CO 5:37PM January 28, 2009

Well lets turn back the page, the year is 1979.... Oil has gone throught the roof, gas prices are higher than evere..... The big 3 make the statement "we need to retool our facilities to compete with the competetion..." Well after the fall of gas prices... They fell back into old ways with old friends (oil Industry). They turned their backs on the American People in exchange for the all mighty dollar. Now the greed of the uaw and corporate earnings has befudded these companies? Time for America to put this industry behind us, learn from the mistakes we allowed to occur and begin a new age of economics. Time to allow these Dogs to be put down,,, Time to get a new puppy and this time,,,, Bring them to training classes until they get it right..... CALLL YOUR VET!

of CT 10:07AM January 03, 2009

The unions were good when they worked for fair wages and good working conditions. But when they got into the insurance business, they were greedy and not concerned about the companies
survival. Unions have gotten too much control and need to be pulled back in line. All the auto unions need to wake up and see the whole picture. If the auto companies close shop, their members will be out of a job and then they can't pay those union dues. No need for union officers if plants are shut down.

Jerry A. Pugh of TX 11:29PM December 18, 2008

Boeing offers a great plane that can compete on the global market. GM does NOT offer such a product. However, their cars are built tough and well assembled. Maybe we don't need the US to build cars so much as we would rather have them build something else. Maybe build wind turbines? The USA has a great design, a need for tons of them, and not to mention a nation of motivated workers. I say let Japan build our cars, we'll build the next great revolution!

Landon of WA 11:20PM December 18, 2008

I don't know how many times I've heard this argument but it's simply not true. It's not the UAW wages that are uncompetitive. They are only slightly higher than the foreign transplants now, and the new contract actually UNDERCUTS the transplant labor rates. Labor is only 5-10% of a vehicle's cost anyway so the wage differences mean NOTHING.
It is the LEGACY costs that are killing the Big 3. Each working employee supports something like 5 retirees. The foreign transplants have only been here 20-30 years so are only now starting to have a few retirees, and they done't have very good pensions anyway. So everyone needs to get off their high horse and stop ripping the UAW for being prima donnas. How to deal with the legacy costs is the issue at hand. Go ahead and hope for bankrptcy but remember if it happens, the PBGC and therefore you and me, will pick up the legacy tab! Not to mention the Unemployment tab.

todd of KY 5:46PM December 18, 2008

The American Auto Industry is the last great Union refuge and the GOP will finally finish its war on America by destroying the last bastion of workers who have a say in their jobs.
Thanks Ronald Reagan, thanks GOP for helping send whats left of our industry overseas or to foreign auto plants. Ironic that the same Republicans that are firmly against domestic auto bailouts have Volkswagen, Toyota plants in their home states. Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.
The one thing the GOP doesn't want you to know is that other nations protect their workers, give them nationalized health care, retirement and benefits as well as ensure their wages are fair.

Rick Cain of OK 4:50PM December 18, 2008

Have any of the union bashers out there had a lesson in the history of the industrialization in this country. Business owners prior to unionization were only too happy to reap the benefits from the work force they had available to them. If not for the sacrifices of a hand full of individuals who were determined to get better working conditions, better pay, reasonable working hours, health benefits, pensions, etc this country would still be forcing children to work 12 hour days. The unions fought for the rights of the workers which ultimately affected every business and employee union or not. This means the job you have now, the benefits you enjoy, and the lifestyle you lead are the direct results of union activity from the early 1900's. In fact if you took the time to do some research you would find unions and their members are the most prolific participants in donating time and money to charities directly affecting the communities they operate in. Besides of the economic problems we are having today are because of non-union organizations that exhibited an enormous amount of greed and basically robbed the American people.
So let me get this right… It’s ok to bail out a bunch of rich crooks who have basically caused an economic crisis resulting in thousands of jobs rapidly disappearing and causing the stock market to lose nearly half its value, but its not ok to save the auto industry which employs hundreds of thousand hard working honest middle class people who have done nothing but create good products in America and abide by a contract negotiated in good faith. Let’s not forget about the millions of workers who work for companies which supply the auto industry. What about them?
If there’s a vote then I vote to bail out the auto industry and let the businesses that caused this mess to fail!

Sean Corcoran of NY 4:12PM December 18, 2008