No evidence of Detroit enlightenment
The new president will face many complex questions when he takes office in January, not the least of which is what to do about the present condition of Detroit's Big Three.
There is nothing historical about a possible taxpayer bailout. Taxpayers bailed out Chrysler. Congress has already approved $25 million for Ford, GM, and Chrysler. In reality $5 to $10 per hour workers all across the country have been subsidizing $50 to $75 per hour auto workers for decades. We taxpayers have already guaranteed their bankrupt pension fund.
The auto executives and union bosses have consistently feathered each other's nests at the expense of the rest of us. Yes, even at the expense of their own union members and their own product quality.
Japanese attention to detail and Arab oil prices should have sounded the alarm bell 30 years ago, but the Detroit duo of unions and management - protected by stupid U.S. government policy - chose to ignore the early warning signs and declared business as usual.
Now, to borrow a phrase from the president-elect's former pastor, "Their chickens have come home to roost."
The victims of Detroit's blindness are in every city that has an American automobile dealership struggling to make payroll and in every city that taxpayers face paying the bill for the incredibly expensive bailout. The cost of letting Detroit go bankrupt would, indeed, be high. We have seen no evidence, however, that the companies and the unions have learned
anything from their current predicament other than how to go to Washington with a tin cup in hand.
We in the south have learned how to build quality cars at a profit and still make a good living. Why can't Detroit learn how to do that?
Further, it was an insult for the Big Three execs to fly to Washington seeking our money without having a written plan to present.
They want us to subsidize all their past and future mistakes with a blank check.