from Michael Moore, born and raised in Michigan, this morning.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=242I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. It's more like a cry for pity. And now for a decades-old story, retold ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have had to desert their country to simply find a damn way to get to work in something that won't break down:
My Chrysler is four years old. I bought it because of its smooth and comfortable ride. Daimler-Benz owned the company then and had the good grace to place the Chrysler chassis on a Mercedes axle and, man, was that a sweet ride!
When it would start.
More than a dozen times in these years, the car has simply died. Batteries have been replaced, but that wasn't the problem. My dad drives the same model. His car has died many times, too. Just won't start, for no reason at all.
A few weeks ago, I took my Chrysler in to the Chrysler dealer here in northern Michigan -- and the latest fixes cost me $1,400. The next day, the vehicle wouldn't start. When I got it going, the brake warning light came on. And on and on.
You might assume from this that I couldn't give a rat's ass about these miserably inept crapmobile makers down the road in Detroit city. But I do care. I care about the millions whose lives and livelihoods depend on these car companies. I care about the security and defense of this country because the world is running out of oil -- and when it runs out, the calamity and collapse that will take place will make the current recession/depression look like a Tommy Tune musical.
And I care about what happens with the Big 3 because they are more responsible than almost anyone for the destruction of our fragile atmosphere and the daily melting of our polar ice caps.
( read more at link above)
Interesting point- even if GM receives billions in a bailout,
they still plan on 20,000 layoffs.
No restructuring, no new plans for building fuel efficient cars
that would preserve those jobs.
Naw- throw out 20,000 workers- that's the plan.
:(
And YES!- Why weren't the Wall Street CEOs blasted for using their
private jets to fly to DC and ask for their bailout?
Why weren't they required to have a plan before the money was handed
over to them, like Congress is demanding of the Big Three?
WTH?