rokemronnie on November 21, 2008 at 2:23 AM

Good points, all. Unfortunately perception is reality and the bad p.r. gave the Dems an opening. They are fooling a whole lotta fools into thinking they actually give a flip about ‘accountability’.

Come January Obamuary, they will be doling out billions of our money to their union base with Henry “global warming” Waxman making the rules – which will end in disaster far greater than any climate change apocalypse tale.

Flying commercial vs private adds about 3 hours to travel time and would save about $10,000. I don’t know what kind of jet GM owns but it’s probably big enough to seat the CEO’s entire entourage. When you figure how much the CEO and other high execs with him/her make an hour flying private saves money.

rokemronnie on November 21, 2008 at 2:23 AM

Good points. If the auto CEO’s were smart they would have said the same thing.

Personally, I like how Congress skated by without noting that the first $25 billion, already suthorized, is just so that Detroit can start producing the cars that Congress has decided must be produced. This Congress will kill every industry it can get its hands on, and that will start dawning on people soon.

Toyota and Honda don’t outsell the Big Three with less-efficient vehicles.

Ed,

Toyota and Honda don’t outsell the Detroit 3, period. GM, Ford & Chrysler sold 55% of the cars in October.

Also, I’m no fan of perks but the brouhaha about the private jets is really silly – unless you think there can be no justification for a business to have a corporate jet at all. The jets are already owned or leased by the companies. The executives are making a lot of money. Frankly I’d rather have Mullaly working in Dearborn than standing in line to go through security at the airport. Flying commercial vs private adds about 3 hours to travel time and would save about $10,000. I don’t know what kind of jet GM owns but it’s probably big enough to seat the CEO’s entire entourage. When you figure how much the CEO and other high execs with him/her make an hour flying private saves money.

Auto bailout compromise reached?
Perhaps not so much of a bailout compromise but a retreat by Democrats.
Instead of coughing up an additional $25 billion in loans, the
bipartisan group of Senators will propose that the $25 billion in
energy……

Greenie nonsense in this economy is insanity and there’s no way that will be omitted. Why can’t Bush and his crooked Republicans just say no, stop doing damage, shut up, and let the (D) leftists do it next year?

What the Republicans are doing is the same as calling Amnesty something different. The public got wise to the ways of government and rejected it. Everything Bush and his Republican enablers touch turns to s*it and it’s catastrophe every time he comes out of his office.

I guess it’s easier for them to keep fooling themselves than it is to keep fooling the voters. Welcome back, Boehner.

The demand for itty bitty overpriced Prius’ is not there in significant numbers for families and no amount of Congressional intervention and mandates will change that fact.

Doesn’t the last few years tell us that folks DON’T really want to buy gas guzzlers?

DeathToMediaHacks on November 20, 2008 at 2:39 PM

Years? Hardly. See this page of googled stories. The demand goes up and down depending on gas prices, but ultimately families want and need larger vehicles. Indeed, the demand for SUVs is right back up again.

The demand for itty bitty overpriced Prius’ is not there in significant numbers for families.

Doesn’t the last few years tell us that folks DON’T really want to buy gas guzzlers?

DeathToMediaHacks on November 20, 2008 at 2:39 PM

No – they tell us the opposite. Trucks and SUVs outsold cars in the US until around June of this year.

These are failures of government, not of the auto industry

The more I hear from this guy, the more I like him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwN_WVJ-5RA&feature=related

I’ll give McCotter benefit of the doubt, that he is trying to survive in a climate that is not politically friendly to him or his state.

I do believe we are circling the drain.

After He Who Shall Not Be Named throws out all of our trade agreements in favor of a bunch of protectionist policies, we will be mandated to buy only official state approved Green Mobiles. Biden will tell us it is our patriotic duty.

Laura in Maryland on November 20, 2008 at 2:31 PM

Here is where it gets weird. If I’m remembering correctly, a larger fraction of the parts that go into BIG 3 cars are imported than the parts that go into Toyotas and Nisans. So protectionism would protect Toyota and Nisan at the expense of the Big 3.

I don’t think man has been on this earth for a trillion seconds yet.

right2bright on November 20, 2008 at 2:16 PM

A trillion seconds is only about 30,000 years.
Depends on how far back you call our ancestors “man.”

They don’t want to assemble government mandates. The UAW leadership is a different story. You can’t back Democrats when they’re telling you exactly how they are going to tie your hands behind your back and then ask you to assemble a vehicle. That’s exactly what the regulations for environmental reasons do.

We do have to pray that at least one of them survives, or there will be a domino effect such as we have not seen in our lifetime. It’s not just the auto workers, local dealerships, parts makers, and other direct auto industry relationships, it’s local radio and tv stations who depend on local auto dealers advertising to stay in business, advertising agencies, and so forth.

Can someone tell me where all the buyers are going to come from? I mean between foreclosures and unemployment, all the credit mess? Are there any lenders out there that will continue to do 125% of sticker price????

gringo69 on November 20, 2008 at 1:41 PM

After He Who Shall Not Be Named throws out all of our trade agreements in favor of a bunch of protectionist policies, we will be mandated to buy only official state approved Green Mobiles. Biden will tell us it is our patriotic duty.

Sheesh.