Author Note: I have no ties to the auto industry whatsoever, and no family members or friends who are employed by the auto industry.
I'll just be real up front about this. I am freaking tired of watching Congress lambaste the automakers, and here's why.
The government threw taxpayer dollars at the financial services industry as if they were on fire. $700 freaking billion dollars at an industry which begged and lobbied for deregulation all the while it was rewarding it's managers for poor performance.
Today we learned that Merrill Lynch's CEO has asked for a $10 million bonus. For what you ask? After all, the idiot completely took down his own company. Well, the jackass today said that he deserves a bonus for brokering the merger of ML with Bank of America because the losses would have been greater if he had not. Can he spell CORPORATE F*CKING GREED??
And then of course there is AIG, famous for habituating luxury resorts while being supported by taxpayer dollars.
The $700 billion was given almost as a blank check, as there is no real system in place to ensure that restrictions are adhered to. Those restrictions include stipulations that the money not be spent on executive bonuses or golden parachutes, stipulations that are freaking useless without the ability to monitor adherence to the agreement!
Meanwhile, our auto industry is struggling. And before you say it, NO, they are not in trouble solely through their own failures/bad management. Believe it or not, the US auto industry is not the only one worldwide that now requires help from it's government. It is among all the others who are already receiving assistance from their governments, such as France, England, China, and a number of others.
The auto industry did not cause the credit crisis, it is just as much a victim of it as both our economy and we are. Wanna lay blame, go lay it on the doorstep of the Bush Administration and Congress. The deregulation of the financial services industry is a direct cause of our current economic problems.
Furthermore, if I hear one more person say that it is the auto industry's fault that it is not competitive, I will bloody scream. The auto industry in the US is at a disadvantage by virtue of the fact that labor costs so much here. And no, I am not referring to high hourly wages, but to health care. In other auto producing countries, health care is paid for by the government. In America, the money for healthcare comes from the auto industry itself, and it is a huge amount. Hard to be competitive re pricing with that crucial difference.
Okay, they have made mistakes. But no more than most other industries, and a hell of a lot less than the financial services industry at whom we threw that $700 billion dollars. And not enough to be forced to beg and plead and grovel for virtual pennies due to the downfall of our economy caused by the very f*cking people who are making them grovel.
