Auto Execs ask US for $25 billion or so

Photo Credit: Herbert Gerard/AP

By l.t. Dravis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Wednesday, November 19, 2008 – HEY, CONGRESS . . . STOP THE POSTURING!

            If you don’t want to bail out Detroit, don’t!

If you do, do.

But whatever you do, stop the public posturing!

You’ve only been grilling Detroit bigwigs for one day but we’re already sick of your ‘sound-bite’ complaints . . . Okay?

Besides, though you may not believe it, we don’t need you to tell us what’s wrong with Detroit.

We know what’s wrong with Detroit; they’re not selling enough cars.

And, because they’re not selling enough cars, General Motors is burning through cash at the rate of $2 billion a month.

We understand that at that rate, GM will soon run out of money . . . who wouldn’t?

We’ve also figured out that Chrysler is on its last legs.

And, we know that although Ford may not be in as bad shape as its ‘brothers-in-arms’, that big blue ain’t exactly sittin’ in high cotton.

            We know that bankruptcy filings are possible, but we wonder, why would you push the Big Three that far?

            What’s the gain?

            Sure, you get to make political points and let us know how tough you are, but though the posturing is important to you, it isn’t to us.

            We don’t care about how tough you are, we care about 3 million Americans who will lose their jobs; we care about thousands of Big Three vendors that will fail; we care about thousands of Chrysler, Ford, and GM dealerships that will lose even more customers if one or more of the Big Three file for bankruptcy protection; and we care about the ‘rumble’ effect that will take away tax revenues from entire states, counties, cities, and towns if the Big Three go down.

You want guarantees that the Big Three will become more efficient to be more competitive?

Okay . . . spell out those guarantees . . . chapter and verse!

You want the Big Three to build more fuel efficient cars and trucks?

Okay . . . tell them what you want and when you want it!

You want the Big Three to renegotiate union contracts?

Okay . . . tell them how much you think the unions should give up and when.

Just lay it out . . . tell them . . . and us . . . the truth about what you want.

Detroit will either do what you want or it won’t.

Don’t forget that the current crisis isn’t entirely the fault of the Big Three; after all, for the past eight years you and the Bush Administration overspent the nation into virtual bankruptcy, diluting capital available for consumer lending; causing unprecedented small business failures; helping to cause the Wall Street Meltdown and subsequent credit crunch and huge job losses.

So, what do you plan to do now about easing credit and what do you plan to do now about creating more jobs so more Americans can buy more of those more efficient cars Detroit will produce after your new rules and regulations kick in?

Huh?

Copyright © 2008 by LTD Associates West, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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