Auto bail out WORTH READING

[Hammer]

To: undisclosed-recipients

This was forwarded to me. Again, I'm not a big fan of bailouts. But after the financials got their unconditional presents and the incredible ignorance shown by the media (who have lost any semblance of neutrality and/or fairness) and Congress (What, Congress is stupid?!?!).... I don't mean to suggest that big mistakes, in the past, haven't been made. And there surely is enough blame to go around--management, labor/UAW, etc. But these arrogant fools in Washington sit back and pontificate like they are the next coming, rather than a major cause of the economic and political malaise in this country. Of course, we are the ones who elect and re-elect these ignorant, arrogant hypocrites.



Incredible editorial from one FORD Dealer in the Pittsburgh Region. A well written "Letter to the Editor" from Elkins Fordland. Editor:As I watch the coverage of the fate of the U.S. auto industry, onealarming and frustrating fact hits me right between the eyes. The fate ofour nation's economic survival is in the hands of some congressmen who arecompletely out of touch and act without knowledge of an industry thataffects almost every person in our nation. The same lack of knowledge isshared with many journalists whom are irresponsible when influencing theopinion of millions of viewers. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama has doomed the industry, calling it adinosaur. No Mr. Shelby, you are the dinosaur, with ideas stuck in the'70s, '80s and '90s. You and the uninformed journalist and senators thathold onto myths that are not relevant in today's world. When you say that the Big Three build vehicles nobody wants to buy, youmust have overlooked that GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Ford outsold Honda by 850,000 and Nissan by 1.2 million inthe U.S. GM was the world's No. 1 automaker beating Toyota by 3,000 units. When you claim inferior quality comes from the Big Three, did you realizethat Chevy makes the Malibu and Ford makes the Fusion that were both ratedover the Camry and Accord by J.D. Power independent survey on initialquality? Did you bother to read the Consumer Report that rated Ford on parwith good Japanese automakers? Did you realize Big Three's gas guzzlers include the 33 mpg Malibu thatbeats the Accord? And for '09 Ford introduces the Hybrid Fusion whose 39mpg is the best midsize, beating the Camry Hybrid? Ford's Focus beats theCorolla and Chevy's Cobalt beats the Civic? When you ask how many times are we going to bail them out you must bereferring to 1980. The only Big Three bailout was Chrysler, who paid back$1 billion, plus interest. GM and Ford have never received government aid. When you criticize the Big Three for building so many pickups, surelyyou've noticed the attempts Toyota and Nissan have made spending billionsto try to get a piece of that pie. Perhaps it bothers you that for 31straight years Ford's F-Series has been the best selling vehicle. Ford andGM have dominated this market and when you see the new '09 F-150 you'llagree this won't change soon. Did you realize that both GM and Ford offer more hybrid models than Nissanor Honda? Between 2005 and 2007, Ford alone has invested more than $22billion in research and development of technologies such as Eco Boost,flex fuel, clean diesel, hybrids, plug in hybrids and hydrogen cars. It's 2008 and the quality of the vehicles coming out of Detroit are onceagain the best in the world!Perhaps Sen. Shelby isn't really that blind. Maybe he realizes the qualityshift to American. Maybe it's the fact that his state of Alabama has givenso much to land factories from Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes Benz that he ismore concerned about their continued growth than he is about the people ofour country. Sen. Shelby's disdain for "government subsidies" is veryhypocritical. In the early '90s he was the driving force behind a $253million incentive package to Mercedes. Also, Alabama agreed to purchase2,500 vehicles from Mercedes. While the bridge loan the Big Three isrequesting will be paid back, Alabama's $180,000-plus per job was pureincentive. Sen. Shelby, not only are you out of touch, you are aself-serving hypocrite, who is prepared to ruin our nation because of lackof knowledge and lack of due diligence in making your o! pinions anddecisions. After 9/11, the Detroit Three and Harley Davidson gave $40 million-plusemergency vehicles to the recovery efforts. What was given to the 9/11relief effort by the Asian and European Auto Manufactures? $0 Nada. Zip! We live in a world of free trade,20world economy and we have not been ableto produce products as cost efficiently. While the governments of otherauto producing nations subsidize their automakers, our government may beready to force its demise. While our automakers have paid union wages,benefits and legacy debt, our Asian competitors employ cheap labor. We areat an extreme disadvantage in production cost. Although many UAWconcessions begin in 2010, many lawmakers think it's not enough. Some point the blame to corporate management. I would like to speak ofFord Motor Co. The company has streamlined by reducing our workforce by51,000 since 2005, closing 17 plants and cutting expenses. Product andfuture product is excellent and the company is focused on one Ford. Thisis a company poised for success. Ford product quality and corporatemanagement have improved light years since the nightmare of JacquesNasser. Thank you Alan Mulally and the best auto company management teamin the business. The financial collapse caused by the secondary mortgage fiasco and thegreed of Wall Street has led to a $700 billion bailout of the industrythat created the problem. AIG spent nearly $1 million on three companyexcursions to lavish resorts and hunting destinations. Paulson is sayingno to $250 billion foreclosure relief and the whole thing is a mess. Sowhen the Big Three ask for 4 percent of that of the $700 billion, $25billion to save the country's largest industry, there is obviously0Aoppositions. But does it make sense to reward the culprits of the problemwith $700 billion unconditionally, and ignore the victims? As a Ford dealer, I feel our portion of the $25 billion will never betouched and is not necessary. Ford currently has $29 billion of liquidity.However, the effect of a bankruptcy by GM will hurt the suppliers we alldo business with. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy by any manufacture would costretirees their health care and retirements. Chances are GM would recoverfrom Chapter 11 with a better business plan with much less expense. So whofoots the bill if GM or all three go Chapter 11? All that extra healthcare, unemployment, loss of tax base and some forgiven debt goes back tothe taxpayer, us. With no chance of repayment, this would be much worsethan a loan with the intent of repayment. So while it is debatable whether a loan or Chapter 11 is better for theBig Three, a $25 billion loan is definitely better for the taxpayers andthe economy of our country. So I'll end where I began on the quality of the products of Detroit.Before you, Mr. or Ms. Journalist continue to misinform the Americanpublic and turn them against one of the great industries that helped buildthis nation, I must ask you one question. Before you, Mr. or MadamCongressman vote to end health care and retirement benefits for 1 millionretirees, eliminate 2.5 million of our nation's jobs, lose the technologythat=20will lead us in the future and create an economic disaster includinghundreds of billions of tax dollars lost, I ask this question not in therhetorical sense. I ask it in the sincere, literal way. Can you tell me,have you driven a Ford lately? Jim JacksonElkin