Farago courteously requested that I stop posting them. So, I did.

I think that at a minimum, the folks who posted that type of comment… should come back out of the woodwork, suck it up, and admit they were wrong, like real men do.

Wrong about what? I said he’d get to GM Death Watch 250, and he did. I never said he was wrong. I’ve disagreed with much of his writings and much of his tone (very rarely speaking out on it), but I accepted long ago that GM was going under in some way.

Whilst I agree that it is immoral to allow fascism, you talk about socialism in the same vein, which I cannot agree with.

Socialism can work and does work, provided it is executed properly. One only has to look at France, the UK (believe it or not) and pretty much the whole of Western Europe.

None of those countries are socialist, not even close.

Socialism is a transitional phase to communism. Likewise there are no, and never were any true communist countries; all “communist” nations were actually socialist as none achieved true communism. Soviet president Brezhnev even mentioned this in a speech referring to the USSocialistR.

One of the most important traits of a socialist state is that it is a dictatorship (read Marx). So simply be being democratic and holding elections, exludes a state from being socialist.

You really think it’s that easy to control billions of culturally diverse people? It’s ridiculous to think that large populations of people would just allow themselves to be controlled without at least a few decades of social engineering and brainwashing. They’d resist, and it would be no more profitable than Vietnam or Iraq (though Iraq is certainly strategically important, and may pay off eventually). The U.S. could mass bomb the resisters, but then they’d just destroy the wealth that they instead gain through economic means, and there would always be plenty more resisters.

The USA had the bomb in 1945. But it had only a few bombs at that time. It wasn’t until the late ‘50 that they had enough to defeat the enemy by bombs alone. And in 1945 the largest army with the best weapons etc. wasn’t the USA but the USSR. Something you don’t hear on discovery but is obvious the truth

“highrpm, these companies won’t be paid until and unless The One chooses to have them paid. My home state of Michigan will sink, but guess what, America? We’re simply the bow….”

Kinda sucks because your taking Indiana with you. For what it’s worth I sent an e-mail to the Governor last week suggesting it was time to repeal the repeal of our right to work laws. Folks here and in Kokomo are scared to death what’s left of Delphi and the 3 Chrysler transmission plants are going to disappear, that would be the end of this 3 county area.

The Borrower is Slave to the Lender

True. We Americans and moderns all think we’re freeeeeee….

Not

So.

Nice.

I read a very good article with a humorous title, “Goodbye GM, Hello People’s Car” at http://economicefficiency.blogspot.com/2009/05/good-bye-gm-hello-peoples-car.html

My other great concern is that GM is going to be used as a policy tool and not as a private business. There have already been claims from the Administration that the focus is going to be on small, hybrid cars, while trucks and SUVs have the highest profit margins. Is Obama the new Clement Attlee?

In a world where everything is instantaneous, this foreshadows the impending implosion of the American empire (10 to 20 yrs away). It’s been a good 200+ yrs people! Da svidanije!!

Can we start the “USA Deathwatch?” First topic:
The Borrower is Slave to the Lender

So, I expect that Ford will have no choice but to file BK too. I haven’t seen a Ford Deathwatch in a long time. But how can Ford compete with New GM when New GM has no legacy debts?

How can Ford compete? By not having a Federal Auto Czar dictating product strategy. By not rolling up a third of their dealer network. By scooping up some of the market share that GM will lose with Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, and Saturn disappear. By selling to customers disgusted with the bailouts who want to be able to register a protest vote with their wallets.

I think Ford’s biggest competitive problem going forward won’t be the ‘new GM’ and the ‘new Chrysler’ but Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and Nissan — Ford still has cost and flexibility disadvantages relative to the transplants.

I hope you’re pleased with yourself!!! :P

++btw, when does the new ‘Good’ GM Deathwatch 2.0, ‘Attack of the Clones’, Series 2, Episode 1 Start?

So, I expect that Ford will have no choice but to file BK too. I haven’t seen a Ford Deathwatch in a long time. But how can Ford compete with New GM when New GM has no legacy debts?

We can hope. Right now D.C. is burning through money like it just paper. The idea that the Chinese Communists might put a stop to this nonsense is so humorous on so many levels, that it makes me wag my tail.

Who could have stopped us? Nobody.

It is to our eternal credit as a nation that it didn’t even occur to us to do it.

Nobody can deny this.

Once again; name me ONE OTHER country which would have had the moral courage to not take over the rest of the world, had they had sole access to the ‘bomb’.

Iran (persia)? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? North Korean communists? How about Pol Pot? Adolph? Stalin? Idi Amin? Mao?

I realize some of these people were not yet in control of their respective nations; that is not the point.

The point is – remember what was good about our nation. It was good, once. It was upright, once. It was moral, once.

The rest of the world pointing a finger at America, has three fingers pointing back – at themselves.

I’m in my 40s and have been expecting this for years. The legacy and labor costs, the ridiculously inflexible work rules — there was no way Detroit was going to be able to keep competing against the transplants without these costs and survive. No way.

I will say, though, I thought Ford would go before GM (but then Ford avoided that by being smart/lucky enough to mortgaging everything to the hilt while the financial market would still lend them the money).

And now, even though the debt load and legacy costs are off the table, GM is still going to have a work rule and labor cost disadvantage relative to the transplants. Plus a demoralized, older work-force who think the world has screwed them over (and that Obama has their back). I think it’s more likely than not that ‘Good GM’ is ultimately going to follow the path of ‘Bad GM’ even after 50 billion has been pumped in.

Which other nation in the history of the world, had it obtained nuclear weapons when no other nation had them, and finding the rest of the world wrecked from a world-war, could or would have passed up the opportunity to simply take over the world? Name me one, out of all history, please.

Post-WW2 USA has been an interventionist nation for good and bad, mostly because it and the USSR held the world to ransom for 50 years via (and in pursuit of) nuclear weapons/crazy economic idiology (on both sides).

You need to read “The Decision To Use The Atomic Bomb” by Henry Stimson and “The Trial of Henry Kissinger” by Christopher Hitchens.

Yes, just LOOK at what the black Furer has “accomplished” in 5 months- the mind boggles as it has truly been an utter Blitzkrieg.

“When the fat disgusting socialists come out of the woodwork”

Hoi! We’re not all fat and disgusting!

“Speaking of religion- does anyone have any doubt that GM will Burn in Hell???”

I don’t know about burning in hell, but they’ll certainly fry in the bankruptcy court! ;O)

I’m almost thinking that this is also some staged attempt to bankrupt and ruin the United States. Either that, or it is almost unbelievable incompetence on the part of what once was a huge industrial company. Since Obama has been in office the spending and debt load have gone absolutely bonkers…

(Can I interest anyone in a special GM “family/employee discount”? Anyone?? LOL )

When the fat disgusting socialists come out of the woodwork, I’d say “Yes, we ARE near the end of times” Menno :) God Help us all, but more importantly…we need a time for grieving.

Grieving is necessary in these most-troublesome times. That and the aforementioned 10 Big Macs and a Diet Coke.

Speaking of religion- does anyone have any doubt that GM will Burn in Hell???

But by 2001 things started to turn downward. I looked around and saw major problems. For one, all of the good people in the company worked in the truck division. Poeple who were poor performers were sent to car as a punishment. Management was making seemingly schizophrenic decisions. In one instance a high level exec drove a SUV that was a few months away from production (his first ever ride in this model) and demanded a total change in dampers at a huge cost for an improvement no one outside the vehicle dynamics group could notice. Worse, the relationship with our suppliers was extremely combative. Design changes were declarations of war.

TTAC was the only place I found espousing my concerns and highlighting issues I hadn’t seen. The collective denial within Detroit was infectious. People realized there were issues but there was no sense of urgency to correct them or even a hint of worry that they were potentially fatal. Without the analysis and discussion here it could have been easy to be drawn into that trap. Instead, TTAC contributed in no small part to my decision to get out 2 1/2 years ago. I can see from the plight of my friends still there, how different my life would be had I not made that decision.

For me, this decline has been traumatic. I have been obsessed with cars for as long as I can remember. It was my childhood dream to be an automotive engineer. Still the proudest moment of my life was opening that offer letter and realizing my dream had come true. I can only hope that one day the auto industry will regain some of its former glory and I can find a place in it.

Whilst I agree that it is immoral to allow fascism, you talk about socialism in the same vein, which I cannot agree with.

Socialism can work and does work, provided it is executed properly. One only has to look at France, the UK (believe it or not) and pretty much the whole of Western Europe. Socialism ensures that people have a base standard of living and can aspire to greater heights, if so desired. To make sure everyone has an equal chance in life can’t be immoral, surely? (and no, I’m not calling you “Shirley”! ;O))

What I do think is immoral is for GM and Chrysler to champion the “wonders” of the American “free market system” (note the inverted commas) when they were making record profits, then go cap in hand to the government when times are lean. Capitalist when you fancy it and socialist when it suits you.

Almost like Aesop’s fable of the ant and grasshopper, eh?