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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (441710)	12/21/2008 5:36:30 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1577982

And the car companies, which have long lead times to develop products, will need sales of big trucks and sport utility vehicles, which may pick up again as gas prices fall, to bring in much-needed revenue. Should the economy start to improve in the next year or two, oil and gas prices will start to climb fairly quickly. People are already aware of that.........they have 4 years of high gas prices. I think that's the longest we've gone. I think they realize this time is different. I don't think SUVs will be as popular as before. “The auto industry’s refusal to act for so long has left it mired in a predicament for which there is no easy way out,” Mr. Obama said. He added, “For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars. And whenever an attempt was made to raise our fuel efficiency standards, the auto companies would lobby furiously against it.” Bull. Obama is trying to blame mgmt. The problem is the UAW. Ask inode. Congress later included up to $25 billion for the companies for the retooling. General Motors and Chrysler initially tried to tap that money for their depleted cash reserves, before receiving assistance from the Bush administration. Americans have to watch how this is spent. Mr. Obama, who received standing ovations at the beginning and conclusion of his speech, said he wanted to be blunt with the Detroit companies on their home turf. Its amazing how people respond positively to his bluntness. Soon after President Bush finished announcing the terms of the $17.4 billion in assistance for the auto companies on Friday, the U.A.W. union was calling on Mr. Obama, for whom they rallied support in important Midwestern states, to revise it. They wanted him to discard a requirement that auto workers agree to wage and benefit concessions that would bring their compensation in line with that paid nonunion workers. Its struck me on more than one occasion that a reduction in salary will not be the negative it could be given the states in which the auto workers live. Real estate prices and rentals have not gone up at in places like Detroit or Cleveland......in fact, they have gone done. No one likes to have their pay reduced but it may not be as painful as it could be.