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    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    Mourning the passing of the Big 3 (and hating on her killers)


    By Nick, Section News
    Posted on Wed May 20, 2009 at 08:00:51 AM EST
    Tags: Granholm-Cherry, Cherry, Obama, CAFE, Big 3, unemployment, spin-off jobs (all tags)

    A quick glance at this morning's Obama Motors Edition of In the Sphere and it is pretty easy to figure out what has folks buzzing this morning.  The Granholm-Cherry administration's decision to stand with President Obama and California environmental extremists represents one heck of a potent punch to the state economy's gut and a lot of Michiganders are already reeling.

    The Democrats have arbitrarily agreed to mandate an increase in fuel economy standards that will add $1,300 to the up-front cost of every vehicle produced in Michigan.  (As Jacob points out in BofB, the cost is likely to end up being much higher.)  That's one mighty push in the back while two of the Big 3 are bankrupt and essentially stand on the edge of insolvency.

    Granholm, Cherry and President Obama are taking the nation's most fragile industry, an industry that is having an impossible time selling her product and in one fell swoop DRAMATICALY increased the barriers standing between cash-strapped consumers and the purchase of a new automobile.  

    Add to that this morning the news that the Feds are preparing to essentially buy GMAC via a fresh $7.5 billion "stimulus" that grants the government control of the financing giant and that General Motors is sliding faster and faster towards it's own personal Armageddon complete with total government control and the news couldn't get much bleaker for struggling Michigan families and the folks stuck in an unemployment line that stopped moving years ago.

    And no one has even mentioned those proverbial spin-off jobs.  At least not until this morning.  The Ivory Tower covers the angle and reminds folks, fuel efficiency requires light-weight parts and technology that does not yet exist as it eventually must.  R & D and dramatic changes in production come with a cost and require significant cash investment that hasn't yet materialized.  Additional thousands of jobs are this morning at risk in new and scary ways.

    The new standards come at a time when suppliers are cutting their staffs to stay afloat and doing their best to maintain their budgets for research and development.

    "The first thing we need to do in this country is to get auto sales back up to a level where we have sufficient cash and profitability in the supply sector so we can afford to make these moves to more fuel-efficient engines," said Jim Gillette, director of financial services at CSM Worldwide...

    Parts makers have the technology to meet these new standards, Gillette said, but "whether or not they're going to get the financing sources to expand to meet the production requirements is another question."

    C'mon, Mr. Gillette, that's what Uncle Sam is for.  And if the Democrats don't like YOUR particular supplier they'll just let you and your jobs die while they funnel billions in "free money" to your competitors.  That's the new American way.

    Jennifer Granholm and John Cherry yesterday sold out Michigan.  I wish there was a more polite way to put it.  They stood by and nodded their heads in approval while the federal government lined up the state's biggest industry against a massive firing squad of new regulations and bureaucratic price gouging.  Might as well have pulled the trigger themselves.

    < Wednesday in the Sphere: May 20 (The Obama Motors Edition) | Genesee County Republican Party on Veteran Cuts >


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    Display: Sort:
    Buy Ford (none / 0) (#1)
    by grpundit on Wed May 20, 2009 at 09:21:00 AM EST
    Buy Ford - they're the only ones not sucking at the government teet. They are doing it the real American way: through good decision making, hard work, and without corporate welfare.

    Talk about kicking the industry when they are down (none / 0) (#2)
    by Chazwald on Wed May 20, 2009 at 10:31:44 AM EST
    This is absolutley ridiculous. What next, is the government going to tell the automakers what color the car should be? Does anyone else see history repeating itself?

    As a GM retiree (none / 0) (#5)
    by apackof2 on Wed May 20, 2009 at 09:04:47 PM EST
    I can't begin to tell you how it grieves me to see this once great American car company destroyed

    I literally mean I have no words...

    We've just got to survive (none / 0) (#6)
    by thejmfc on Thu May 21, 2009 at 01:38:48 AM EST
    for another year and a half, I think.  Then things might start looking up.

    Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta (none / 0) (#8)
    by goppartyreptile on Thu May 21, 2009 at 10:36:21 AM EST
    I have caught a lot of hell for the last year, as a Michigander that was opposed to the bailout.  

    And my reasoning was quite simple.  Remember the scene in Goodfellas where Pesci and Liotta were in their car, arguing over going out on a double date while the restaurant they just torched went up in flames?

    Yeah.  See, taking money from the government is like taking money from the mob.  They will bust you out once they are done ruining you.

    And I'm sitting at home, scrambling to by a minivan for my kids, any future kids that I have, and the several labrador retrievers I intend to get... why you ask?

    Because in about five years, my 09 Chrysler Town and Country will be priceless.  See, the only way to do what the government wants is to build smaller, lighter, and less powerful cars.

    And I can't pack my brood, and a tent, and all the luggage that I'll need in a Smart Car.

    Now GM and Chrysler don't care, because government mandates means a captive buyer. Oh yeah, and because the government has them buy the you know whats.

     And the environmentalists signed off, because they consider this a "snout under the door", and will revisit the issue by sueing the government in the future, or pushing for even harsher legislation or rules from the Executive.

    And the Union doesn't care, because they need those dues coming in... and they are up to their eyeballs with the other Lefty interests.

    So that leaves us. Families, business owners, the regular old people.

    All those guys  that own plumbing and roofing services... how you gonna buy a new pickup or van?   Even if they make one that can handle the kinds of loads you need to carry, how do you afford it?

    The price of all contractor services are going up.

    We run all these Pure Michigan ads, yet how is anyone going to pack up their family and drive to the U.P. in a car the size of an MG?

    They will not.  Our tourism industry will take a hit.  As will RV dealers and so on...

    And how long will it take till they come after Semi Trucks?

    See our entire economy is set up on the principle of "just on time" deliveries.  Meijer doesn't have to inventory large amounts of flip flops, they order as needed.  Auto makers don't have to build gigantic warehouses for bumpers, they order as they build.

    But when the big trucks have to apply the same standards, what's going to happen?

    That's right.  The price of EVERYTHING will be going up.

    And these were just off the top of my head.  Think about it, and you'll come up with more.

    All this for a planet that doesn't need to be saved.

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