GM cuts Pontiac

[sbeaulieu]

GM cuts Pontiac

I'm literally floored by the first few paragraphs. Read beyond that if you wish, but I'm apalled that GM would cut 21,000 jobs in order to secure more government aid - at the cost of taxpayers. 21,000 of those taxpayers will be losing their jobs in order to pay into GM's bailout.

As little as I know about the inner workings of the US financial machine, this sticks out as fu$%^#! stupid. It would be entirely different if those folks were given new jobs in GM for their other brands, but decimation seems to be the fate of choice ushered in by the new administration.

~ Shane

Edited April 27, 2009 by sbeaulieu

[BaalChatzaf]

GM cuts Pontiac

I'm literally floored by the first few paragraphs. Read beyond that if you wish, but I'm apalled that GM would cut 21,000 jobs in order to secure more government aid - at the cost of taxpayers. 21,000 of those taxpayers will be losing their jobs in order to pay into GM's bailout.

As little as I know about the inner workings of the US financial machine, this sticks out as fu$%^#! stupid. It would be entirely different if those folks were given new jobs in GM for their other brands, but decimation seems to be the fate of choice ushered in by new administration.

~ Shane

Extrapolate this farce and conclude that the company the produces no cars will receive the most income. The joke is on all of us.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Dragonfly]

While I can understand the indignation at the argument of government aid, cutting 21,000 jobs can in itself be a necessary decision if a company is in big trouble. If a brand is structurally losing money, it's time to abandon it. GM is not a charity.

[sbeaulieu]

While I can understand the indignation at the argument of government aid, cutting 21,000 jobs can in itself be a necessary decision if a company is in big trouble. If a brand is structurally losing money, it's time to abandon it. GM is not a charity.

The parts that gets deeply under my skin is that it's a tradeoff. It could have been avoided.

~ Shane

[Brant Gaede]

GM is preparing for bankruptcy. The gov't will keep pumping in money to avoid this. GM cannot make money. If there is BK, the feds will end up responsible for the GM retired. Chysler is going down the tubes, too. Ford will benefit from all this as it picks up a lot of market share. The UAW has pretty much ruined two of the Big Three. I saw this coming nearly 40 yrs ago when they let laid off workers contractually keep getting most of their pay after being laid off, destroying their ability to adjust to any economic downturn.

--Brant

Edited April 27, 2009 by Brant Gaede

[Chris Grieb]

When all this over half of GM will be owned by Federal Government. What economic system is that?

[galtgulch]

GM is preparing for bankruptcy. The gov't will keep pumping in money to avoid this. GM cannot make money. If there is BK, the feds will end up responsible for the GM retired. Chysler is going down the tubes, too. Ford will benefit from all this as it picks up a lot of market share. The UAW has pretty much ruined two of the Big Three. I saw this coming nearly 40 yrs ago when they let laid off workers contractually keep getting most of their pay after being laid off, destroying their ability to adjust to any economic downturn.

--Brant

Brant,

I recall reading that the unions won a Supreme Court decision allowing the unions to use force during their strikes, supposedly to balance the use of force the companies used to break the strikes.

The Supreme Court is largely responsible for the loss of individual freedom as it supported the interests of society over that of the individual in many cases over the years. I just read a review in a publication of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, of a book entitled Sweet Land of Liberty by Henry Mark Holzer which documents much of that. He was Ayn Rand's attorney. His article entitled The Constitution and the Draft appeared in the October 1967 issue of The Objectivist

http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/mags/obj_mag_sum.html

Site credits Nathaniel Branden for his articles in The Objectivist.

There are links to other Web Discussion Boards under Forums

gulch

[Selene]

Thank you Brant:

Just being amazed at how great those five (5) years were. There was, in my mind, no way to stop us. The only way was to stop ourselves. We did.

That is quite a line-up we had on the philosophical field of dreamers.

Rand would clearly bat clean up and Greenspan fifth.

Of course I would always lead Barbara off to distract the pitcher.

The other positions would make for some nice satire.

Adam