The financial institutions (banks, investment houses, etc.) have spent years getting fat and happy using questionable loans, mortgage backed securities, derivatives, consolidated debt objects...all of which are under the radar and non regulated.
And when these esoteric contracts blow up in their faces, they come to us, the taxpayer, begging for a hand out.
We don't tell them to suck it up, change your business practices, and re-organize out of bankruptcy.....we oblige them to the tune of trillions of dollars.
But when the auto companies can't get cash from these same banks....which every business relies on for keeping inventory and meeting payroll, our government kicks them in the teeth and tells them they need to change how they do business...and, by the way, maybe they should just go through bankruptcy.
Once again, the average worker (Joe the Auto Worker) can just go suck eggs...we're only interested in helping out Jack the Banker.
Wake up America!
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4 comments:
The parallels between the current situation and the decline of the steel industry, esp. in the Mon Valley, are striking. We have the captains of the industries tone deaf to change, and complimentary cognitive dissonance amongst some union chiefs. The results hurt the working woman and working man. It's very sad.
Good point...when you allow CEO's to accept stock options as compensation, you encourage short term thinking about profits just to boost the stock.
As for unions, over the past 15 years, the Auto Workers have taken huge cuts and given back on several occasions. Today's new hires make less than 25$ an hour with no benefits for up to a year.
I agree with Robert Reich...the auto industry is worth saving, but everyone has to sacrifice...owners, management, unions, and especially the share holders.
I say, the government should buy up 51% of the auto stock and give it to the employees...as well as giving the employees seats on the board.
$25 an hour, huh? Well up to 12,000 people get paid $31 an hour to sit in a room and play crossword puzzles, as part of the "job bank." The UAW appears to be willing to give that up, if necessary, to get the Congressional bailout.
Similar to the steel industry, it took the fear of abject failure to see both management and unions begin some turns towards modernity and reality. But it's mostly probably too late.
Who cares what the unions and management have been doing right for the last 15 years? That's exactly the time frame within which Honda, Toyota and others pushed "fast forward."
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0510/17/A01-351179.htm
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