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To: The Reaper who wrote (162921)	11/8/2008 6:06:31 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 306849

well- ok- personally I would have liked to seen GM go under years ago. I blame GM and their lobbyists for delaying any move to alternative fuels, or electric vehicles of any kind. If you want to see something gross, 60 minutes story on electric cars interviewing Lutz co-chair of GM who doesn't believe in Global warming (calls it a bunch of horse -sh!t) and owns 2 planes and 2 helicopters. Just this interview alone, displaying this arrogant suit as all that is in charge of GM shows you whats wrong with US business. This guy, the co-chair of GM is nothing more than a LOBBYIST. He has nothing actively to do with products or fixing the company. Just bailouts. Here is the 60 minutes piece. At least the silicon valley guys are on the ground with their teams trying to build something. cbsnews.com But anyway, the reason for saving GM at this moment seems to have more to do with the economy and less to do with GM, thats why they are doing it. I was surprised to hear you blame Pelosi and Reid, because this GM bailout and every other pork program (farm bill, no bid contracts, no price controls on drugs) are the hallmark of the bush administration under the category of "corporate welfare". This is an area that Obama intends to target right away according to G Stephanopolis. Republicans are hte ones who do this, not democrats.

To: The Reaper who wrote (162921)	11/9/2008 10:11:47 PM
From: John Koligman	Respond to of 306849

K, I think at this point the GM problem is not really one of wages (US based Honda and Toyota autoworkers are pretty well paid), but one of legacy retirement and healthcare costs. Healthcare in Japan is government aided. One longstanding joke is that GM is really a healthcare company with an auto business on the side. They are in the process of offloading these costs via a VEBA to the union, but they need to deposit something on the order of 20B-30B to fund it, and are having trouble coming up with that kind of cash in this environment. The longer term management and product shortcomings are well known, but in the end I think they get the government cash they want. The FEDs would be on the hook if they went BK because all those pension obligations become PBGC owned, and who knows what the unemployment fallout would be. Best regards, John