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Michael Moo What's good for General Motors IS good for thecountry
On Dec 3, 3:25*pm, wrote:
> Michael Moore's Message > Saving the Big 3 for You and Me ...a message from Michael Moore > > Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 > > Friends, > > I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. > It's more like a cry for pity. And now for a decades-old story, retold > ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have > had to desert their country to simply find a damn way to get to work > in something that won't break down: > > My Chrysler is four years old. I bought it because of its smooth and > comfortable ride. Daimler-Benz owned the company then and had the good > grace to place the Chrysler chassis on a Mercedes axle and, man, was > that a sweet ride! > > When it would start. > > More than a dozen times in these years, the car has simply died. > Batteries have been replaced, but that wasn't the problem. My dad > drives the same model. His car has died many times, too. Just won't > start, for no reason at all. > > A few weeks ago, I took my Chrysler in to the Chrysler dealer here in > northern Michigan -- and the latest fixes cost me $1,400. The next > day, the vehicle wouldn't start. When I got it going, the brake > warning light came on. And on and on. > > You might assume from this that I couldn't give a rat's ass about > these miserably inept crapmobile makers down the road in Detroit city. > But I do care. I care about the millions whose lives and livelihoods > depend on these car companies. I care about the security and defense > of this country because the world is running out of oil -- and when it > runs out, the calamity and collapse that will take place will make the > current recession/depression look like a Tommy Tune musical. > > And I care about what happens with the Big 3 because they are more > responsible than almost anyone for the destruction of our fragile > atmosphere and the daily melting of our polar ice caps. > > Congress must save the industrial infrastructure that these companies > control and the jobs they create. And it must save the world from the > internal combustion engine. This great, vast manufacturing network can > redeem itself by building mass transit and electric/hybrid cars, and > the kind of transportation we need for the 21st century. > > And Congress must do all this by NOT giving GM, Ford and Chrysler the > $34 billion they are asking for in "loans" (a few days ago they only > wanted $25 billion; that's how stupid they are -- they don't even know > how much they really need to make this month's payroll. If you or I > tried to get a loan from the bank this way, not only would we be > thrown out on our ear, the bank would place us on some sort of credit > rating blacklist). > > Two weeks ago, the CEOs of the Big 3 were tarred and feathered before > a Congressional committee who sneered at them in a way far different > than when the heads of the financial industry showed up two months > earlier. At that time, the politicians tripped over each other in > their swoon for Wall Street and its Ponzi schemers who had concocted > Byzantine ways to bet other people's money on unregulated credit > default swaps, known in the common vernacular as unicorns and > fairies. > > But the Detroit boys were from the Midwest, the Rust (yuk!) Belt, > where they made real things that consumers needed and could touch and > buy, and that continually recycled money into the economy (shocking!), > produced unions that created the middle class, and fixed my teeth for > free when I was ten. > > For all of that, the auto heads had to sit there in November and be > ridiculed about how they traveled to D.C. Yes, they flew on their > corporate jets, just like the bankers and Wall Street thieves did in > October. But, hey, THAT was OK! They're the Masters of the Universe! > Nothing but the best chariots for Big Finance as they set about to > loot our nation's treasury. > > Of course, the auto magnates used be the Masters who ruled the world. > They were the pulsating hub that all other industries -- steel, oil, > cement contractors -- served. Fifty-five years ago, the president of > GM sat on that same Capitol Hill and bluntly told Congress, what's > good for General Motors is good for the country. Because, you see, in > their minds, GM WAS the country. > > What a long, sad fall from grace we witnessed on November 19th when > the three blind mice had their knuckles slapped and then were sent > back home to write an essay called, "Why You Should Give Me Billions > of Dollars of Free Cash." They were also asked if they would work for > a dollar a year. Take that! What a big, brave Congress they are! > Requesting indentured servitude from (still) three of the most > powerful men in the world. This from a spineless body that won't dare > stand up to a disgraced president nor turn down a single funding > request for a war that neither they nor the American public support. > Amazing. > > Let me just state the obvious: Every single dollar Congress gives > these three companies will be flushed right down the toilet. There is > nothing the management teams of the Big 3 are going to do to convince > people to go out during a recession and buy their big, gas-guzzling, > inferior products. Just forget it. And, as sure as I am that the Ford > family-owned Detroit Lions are not going to the Super Bowl -- ever -- > I can guarantee you, after they burn through this $34 billion, they'll > be back for another $34 billion next summer. > > So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose: > > 1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important > functions our government must address. And because we are facing a > massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president > and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced > with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and > instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point > forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil > and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail > (a corresponding public works project across the country will build > the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create > millions of new ones. > > 2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for > less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion > or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You're going to > demand collateral anyway if you give them the "loan," and because we > know they will default on that loan, you're going to own the company > in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.) > > 3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but > there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired > to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent > vehicles and get us into the 21st century. > > This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of > the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. > What I'm proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in > shambles in the '70s. The government took it over. A decade later it > was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public > hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury. > > This proposal will save our industrial infrastructure -- and millions > of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally > could pull us out of this recession. > > In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring > proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion > now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that > right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of > work. That's been their Big Idea for the last 30 years -- layoff > thousands in order to protect profits. But no one ever stopped to ask > this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who's going to have > the money to go out and buy a car? > > These idiots don't deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the > industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet. > > What's good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the > country is calling the shots. > > Yours,Michael > > P.S. I will be on Keith Olbermann tonight (8pm/10pm/midnight ET) to > discuss this further on MSNBC. For once I agree with Michael Moore. mitch |
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