Lee Iacoca for Auto Czar

[librechik]

am I right?

[floridablue]

1. He is the only one I would approve of.

[bdamomma]

12. just a reminder Bush will appoint the car czar.

approval, if bush does appoint someone it won't meet with our approval.

[SharonRB]

2. I said the same thing two weeks ago.

He'd be perfect.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. That would be an excellent choice. :)

[BootinUp]

4. If he feels up to it, then absolutely. nt

[mdmc]

5. RALPH NADER

Go with someone that stands for the consumer, against the CEO...

[Jennicut]

6. How old is he though?

[Arkana]

10. Yeah, there's also that whole thing about Ralph being a self-serving ass

who used a racial epithet in reference to Obama...not to mention a major contributor to why the last eight years were the way they were.

[mdmc]

19. Nader can change the industry

Lee can give us the LeBaron again...

[dysfunctional press]

11. i don't think that he's as old as iacocca...

he's definitely in better shape.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. In his 80s ... but seemingly still quite vital

NJ Sen Lautenberg is about the same age.

[JVS]

20. He would bust asses in the auto industry so well that they'd wish they'd never come for aide.

Which is exactly what needs to be done. Go RALPH!

[ColbertWatcher]

22. No. n/t

[jakefrep]

23. Absolutely not! nt

[JohnWxy]

7. Only if the plan is approved. Shelby and others seem to want to risk a depression.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4631293

[napi21]

8. Unfortunately Lee is too old and not doing very well in his health.

I watched his interview about his book that was aired on cspan a number of months ago, and although he still speaks coherently, he's pretty slow to comprehend the questions, and you could tell he was getting very tired when nearing the end of the interview.

[Buzz Clik]

9. Hells bells -- go for the best: Henry Ford! (the original)

[Ganja Ninja]

14. No thanks.

He's the visionary behind the K car. Nuf said!

I don't know why we need a "car czar" when we already have a Secretary of Transportation.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. That's a silly poisiton to take

The K-Car was a brilliant strategy for its time and for the issue it addressed.

It saved Chrysler.

And Iacocca has been a brilliant car guy who shifted at least three paradigms in his career:

Mustang

K-Car

Minivan


Each of those were brilliant in their own right and for different reasons. Take the time to **study** the K-Car story. Yes, it was a crap car. But it was also light years better than what it replaced at aa time when the company wa son life support. You may also mot like where Chrysler has gone since then, but that's not Iacocca's or the K-Car's fault.

Iacocca is a perfect blend of passionate car guy, salesman, engineer, and bean counter. He built cars to meet specific goals. If he's tasked with a green car, you'll get one.

What we **really** need is Iacocca 2.0

[Stinky The Clown]

15. I think Iacocca is a good idea, if he's up to it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=4502693

[lapfog_1]

17. He is 84 right now.

If he was 10 or 15 years younger, I would think this would be a natural. But I don't know how hail and hearty he is at 84.

[librechik]

21. Well, Volcker is doing it , and he's at least that old

why not the I man?

[lapfog_1]

24. There are some 84 year olds that are "young at heart"

then the vast majority are not up to the rigors (or simply want to enjoy their golden years) of the stress. The carzar sounds like a stressful job to me. Really, it's up to how he and his family feel about it.

I haven't seen him in quite some time (he used to do those commercials for Amex or some such, but even that was a long time ago).

[Venceremos]

18. Iacocco has been "Santa Clausified" by the media

Despite the current media adoration for him, Lee Iacocca is no working class hero. He led Chrysler by closing more than 30 plants in the US. He also laid off about 45% of both its blue and white collar workforce (about 65,000 people). Those who kept their jobs took massive pay and benefit cuts.

He currently opposes making management changes at the Big 3. His current stance and history gives us a glimpse into his ideas - layoff the rank and file and keep the bumbling CEOs.

Just because he hates Bush doesn't mean he's a good choice. The last thing this country needs right now is a massive Iacocca style layoff.

He's also 84 years old now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_bi_ge/congress_autos_iacocca

http://www.richgibson.com/VincentChinChrysler.htm