The Obama-GM Debacle

Obama says he wants to, “get G.M. back on its feet, take a hands-off approach and get out quickly.”

Problem: No plan.
Obama wants to build affordable green cars and save the mega company yet, he’s presented no product plan, no manufacturing plan and no plan for appeasing creditors, not to mention the fact that no one on his staff has experience turning around a large, complex, flailing company.


Problem: Get in and get out? More like get in and duck.
Obama and his diaper, er dapper clad youngings claim that they can get GM out of debt quickly and help them turn a profit after investing tax-payer dollars to the tune of $50billion. Really? That’s an arrogant notion considering GM’s been stuck in the non-profit quagmire for decades (and again, no one on Obama's staff has any experience dealing with billion dollar instant makeovers).

Obama wants GM to focus on building small, energy efficient cars for the future, yet GM's most profitable and most popular cars are the gas-guzzling SUVs and its monster Cadillac Escalade. What’s more, automotive economists have pointed out that sales of small-engine, green cars account for only 17 % of total automotive sales in the US and that it's a very competitve sector.

More arrogance. I'll miss those tax-payer dollars....


Problem: UAW, UAW, UAW
Management and the UAW have had a bad marriage for the last 30 years which has dragged down the entire company. Why neither party has ever filed for divorce befuddles me. Today's UAW is like some pesky virus that plagues every sector of the business until it's no longer functioning, and now they have even more stake in the company. Brill.

The UAW doesn’t approve of sending production off-shore, and while I agree that we need to keep jobs here, what the UAW doesn’t understand, or chooses to ignore, is that the UAW is the reason many U.S. automakers have turned to foreign production. Not only has the UAW priced itself out of the market with its incredulous wages, benefits and union dues, but they've gone greedy with their business dealings. Like I always say, they don't do squat but they sure do pay people well to take an 8-hour lunch break cleverly disguised as an 8-hour work day.

This UAW situation motto was pulled from the 'about us' page of their website:

"Wake-up, wake-up [yawn, stretch, yawn]...that bolt in the production line
needs to be replaced. Stop production. Go to maintenance and fill out a requisition to get the bolt guy to come down here and replace it. As soon as maintenance approves that other requisition to fill that open management position, hopefully we'll have the bolt guy down here sometime next month. In the meantime, here's
your paycheck for the next 4 weeks, plus bonus. Have a nice lunch."

Ok, so it didn't come from their website... Very amusing though is the thought of government getting into bed with the UAW. *chuckle, chuckle* That's likely to have explosive outcomes.


Problem: American car company + European car company = Disaster
Obama has given Chrysler 30 days to come-up with a game-plan for the newly proposed "ChryslerFiat", with a promise to provide $6billion in financial backing.

Flashback: Past attempts to merge failing US automakers with European automakers (American Motors and Renault, Daimler-Chrysler etc.) has resulted in poor quality, managment fumble-bumbles, revenue nose-dives, and expensive products that people just don't want. And apparently, neither do the automakers that produced them since even GM and Ford are dumping their still fairly new European divisions faster than you can say SAAB.


Problem: Any business + Government = Disaster
The government holds a 60% stake in GM. Does anyone really think this is a good thing?

Let’s consider…
City transportation: Loses millions every year. [FAIL.]

AMTRAK – has lost over $500 Million during the whole of its government-run lifespan with debts totaling more than $3Billion. [FAIL.]

Social and Welfare programs – [FAIL.]

Medicare – I read somewhere that Medicare was so lax in its oversight that they were approving orthopedic shoes for leg amputees. [FAIL.]

Federal deficit before Obama – [FAIL.]

Federal deficit after Obama – Obama has nearly tripled the deficit. Who knew one could expound even more on failure. [FAIL.]

The government-run Government - [FAIL.]

All, at the end of the day, private enterprise is the best there is at alleviating suffering and maximizing wealth to the most people most effectively and efficiently.

'Nuff said.