The destruction of Flint Michigan, and other industrial cities.
I'm from Flint Michigan, most of you know this. I have been reading about how the Big Three have been needing a bailout, and I am in favor of it. Not because I have any great love for the corporations themselves but because I know that the failure of the auto industry will cause Michigan's already failing economy to go belly up. Not to mention the fact that I have friends and family who would lose their pensions that they worked long and hard for.
I read that most people are under the impression that GM, Ford and Chrysler could just file for bankruptcy and then re-adjust everything, start over and they would thrive like K-Mart did. Well there's a difference between the big three and K-Mart. If you go to K-Mart and buy a TV you aren't buying their brand. You are buying Sony or some other brand so if they happen to go belly up and your TV goes on the fritz you can go to Sony and get the parts to fix it. People aren't going to reconsider buying from K-Mart because they know that they won't be holding a product that can't be fixed. If GM is in bankruptcy people won't want to buy a Buick because if GM goes under in two years they're stuck with a car with no way to get parts...see the difference?
Another thing that really pisses me off are the people blaming the average shop rat for all of the problems that the Three are having because of being "overpaid" and Union deals. What? Seriously? The average auto worker makes 25.00 an hour. Sure, he/she gets medical and such but why not? That pales in comparison with what lots of other people are being paid. 25 dollars an hour works out to about 50,000.00 a year. The average salary in the U.S. is 46,000.00 So that's about right. Lets put this into perspective shall we? The CEO of GM made 15 million last year. that works out to 7500 dollars an hour, that's 300 times what the average shop rat makes an hour and this is the dickhole who let GM go down the crapper. Yet people think it's the union's fault for demanding such high pay for the employees? That's all kinds of messed up. You want these corporation to do better? Stop letting them move jobs outside of the U.S. then expecting big tax breaks. Stop letting CEOs get huge salaries and then mismanaging the corporation knowing that they will be okay because they'll be getting a golden parachute.
Flint, Detroit, Allentown, Scranton, and many other industrial towns all through the rust belt are going under and no one seems to care. It breaks my heart.
I read that most people are under the impression that GM, Ford and Chrysler could just file for bankruptcy and then re-adjust everything, start over and they would thrive like K-Mart did. Well there's a difference between the big three and K-Mart. If you go to K-Mart and buy a TV you aren't buying their brand. You are buying Sony or some other brand so if they happen to go belly up and your TV goes on the fritz you can go to Sony and get the parts to fix it. People aren't going to reconsider buying from K-Mart because they know that they won't be holding a product that can't be fixed. If GM is in bankruptcy people won't want to buy a Buick because if GM goes under in two years they're stuck with a car with no way to get parts...see the difference?
Another thing that really pisses me off are the people blaming the average shop rat for all of the problems that the Three are having because of being "overpaid" and Union deals. What? Seriously? The average auto worker makes 25.00 an hour. Sure, he/she gets medical and such but why not? That pales in comparison with what lots of other people are being paid. 25 dollars an hour works out to about 50,000.00 a year. The average salary in the U.S. is 46,000.00 So that's about right. Lets put this into perspective shall we? The CEO of GM made 15 million last year. that works out to 7500 dollars an hour, that's 300 times what the average shop rat makes an hour and this is the dickhole who let GM go down the crapper. Yet people think it's the union's fault for demanding such high pay for the employees? That's all kinds of messed up. You want these corporation to do better? Stop letting them move jobs outside of the U.S. then expecting big tax breaks. Stop letting CEOs get huge salaries and then mismanaging the corporation knowing that they will be okay because they'll be getting a golden parachute.
Flint, Detroit, Allentown, Scranton, and many other industrial towns all through the rust belt are going under and no one seems to care. It breaks my heart.