Comments on: Thursday miscellanea #14

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:19:44 +0000

Gerry, I think it’s because of their astonishing greed. They have a stranglehood on the auto industry. There are federal laws that protect workers rights, but for decades these unions have demanded more and more. Ironically, they were bidding themselves out of work and the industry allowed it to happen.

By: gerry rosser

gerry rosser — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:04:47 +0000

I don’t get the “deal he couldn’t refuse” analogy, sorry. Nobody held a gun to management’s head. I just haven’t caught on to why unions are the whipping boy when things turn to crap. Lots of people say it, nobody explains it.

By: Bo

Bo — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:10:10 +0000

Gerry: Of course, you’re right. The auto manufacturers did agree to all of these terms. Jack Woltz agreed to cast Johnny Fontane, too.

Lee: Yeah, I’m looking forward to that myself. It’s the most memorable time of my life! It’s such a touching moment!

By: Lee Boutwell

Lee Boutwell — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:41:46 +0000

Relax. Obama will fix it. You’ll never have to make a mortgage payment or pay for gas again. Happy days!

By: gerry rosser

gerry rosser — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:29:11 +0000

Leave us not forget that in Ch. 11 the airlines dumped their pension obligations on the taxpayers, and the “Big 3″ probably will, too.

And everybody wants a tax cut. We should change the name our our country to “Wonderland.”

By: gerry rosser

gerry rosser — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:26:36 +0000

Didn’t GM and the others AGREE to everything they are obligated to pay their hourly workers, including retirement and health benefits?

I don’t know how much, if any, less I would have paid for a Saturn Aura hybrid as compared to my Honda Civic hybrid, but I was shopping for ga mileage, and willing to pay for it. I honestly would have considered the Aura hybrid if it was even close.

Nobody forced anyone to buy an inefficient SUV. I agree. However, let’s not leave out the ability of large corporations spending billions on slick advertising to create and boost demand. I live in the land of the SUV, my ‘hood is filled with them, big ones. These people could parbly well afford the expensive gas (in hot weather many of them leave their behemoth running in the parking lot while shopping!). Is being able to afford burning excessive fuel the only issue?

I favor Ch. 11 for these guys, not extinction, but in the end, Congress will decide and one or the other president will agree,that the taxpayers should pay for those executive salaries, those union benefits, and those jets (of course, meaning the taxpayers of several generations of Americans).

By: Bo

Bo — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:18:39 +0000

BB_FAN: Yeah, me either. In fact, I just confirmed on YouTube that she was nowhere near that hot.

Cheryl: Yes, you’re right: there are good domestic cars. You’re driving one. The Ford Fusion is another. The Chevrolet Malibu is another. The problem is that the per-unit cost for union obligations–and I don’t mean pay, I mean things like retiree health care and idled-by-design workforces–is enormous, and might be as much as $2,500.

You love your Focus, but would you have bought it at $24,000?

On the other hand, an Expedition might have $10,000 of MSRP-based profit in it, and $6,500 of real-world deal profit. Bit easier to recover those costs with that.

I fear GM, Ford, and Chrysler are going to avoid bankruptcy, and ultimately nothing’s going to change. Chapter 11 is awfully bitter medicine, but I think it has the better chance of working.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:04:10 +0000

I don’t remember the masses clamoring for fuel efficient cars… most of the people around here still drive SUVs or full sized trucks. They bought them when gas was still pretty cheap and now they’re stuck with them (tough shit). Why wouldn’t the big three build what people wanted to buy, especially then they make the most profit from that product? Now that gas is cheap again, most of them will go back to their wasteful ways.
As for me, I LOVE my new Ford Focus. It’s got voice-activated sync for my phone, USB, and iPod plus sat radio. I even like the styling. On top of that, I’m getting over 37 mpg! I checked out comparable cars in imports, but it would have cost me at least 5K more. There are still good domestic brands out there worth buying.

By: BB_FAN

BB_FAN — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:38:25 +0000

I don’t recall Holly being nearly that hot.

By: Bo

Bo — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:08:34 +0000

I’m not a big Will Ferrell fan, but his inclusion in the cast is excellent evidence that it won’t take itself too seriously (and yet, I don’t want it slapstick either).

Hopefully they have people working on it who understand the appeal of the original.