Michigan’s auto executives went before Congress begging for some money and they got the shit kicked out of them – why? Many people in Michigan are up in arms saying how can Congress give billions after billions to financial and insurance institutions without asking one question of the idiots that ran those institutions into the ground BUT badger the hell out of the auto CEOs who asked for a “loan or bridge loan” of a measly $25 billion?
It appears the whole state went ballistic about this issue judging by the newspaper columns and letters to the editor. My letter suggesting we allow the auto companies to declare bankruptcy and reorganize probably did not set all too well with my fellow Michigan residents. It also did not sit well at the Thanksgiving Dinner table.
But as with any issue, each side has reasons for their actions and their feelings but to truly understand the issue at hand one must put aside all emotion and carefully examine the facts of the matter. I can see that this discussion will take a number of blogs.
The first thing to understand about Congressmen is that they are politicians that want to keep getting re-elected and therefore they will do whatever it takes to get re-elected and that means doing what their constituents want. Obviously the people living outside of Michigan wanted their Congressman to kick the hell out of the auto CEOs and they made sure their Representative knew they were watching hence the sound bites for TV ; but why the lack of sympathy from the nation?
Here in Michigan, we are kind of naïve about how people in the rest of the country perceive us. The majority of Michigan workers are pro-union because a majority of workers in Michigan belong to a union. The rest of the country is “Right to Work” meaning no one can be forced to join a union. You may also say that the rest of the country views unionism as a form of communism and union workers as fat cats that blackmail (strike) their employers to get what they want and that’s why a janitor in a union shop makes $75 hour.
The rest of the country also see auto companies as weaklings that too easily give into union demands and therefore are responsible for their ridiculous labor costs and inability to compete with foreign auto manufacturers in the U.S. that are doing just fine at their plants down South.
They also blame the auto execs for a lack of foresight, making gas guzzlers and not investing and planning enough for fuel efficient cars. They resent people like John Dingell, a powerful Democrat from Michigan that blocked all government efforts to force the auto companies to increase the fuel efficiency of their auto fleets. Recently, the rest of the Democrats in Congress kicked his old ass out of that powerful position; something they should have done some time ago. But you can’t blame him; he was only doing what the auto companies wanted him to do and that goes for the rest of the Michigan Congressional delegation.
Obviously the people outside of Michigan don’t know the whole story but it seems, they know enough not to like what they see coming out of Detroit especially when what is coming out flies on private jets and makes millions; not your average beggar.
Next, why don’t we see the same aversion to bailing out financial institutions as we do to helping the Detroit auto companies?
It appears the whole state went ballistic about this issue judging by the newspaper columns and letters to the editor. My letter suggesting we allow the auto companies to declare bankruptcy and reorganize probably did not set all too well with my fellow Michigan residents. It also did not sit well at the Thanksgiving Dinner table.
But as with any issue, each side has reasons for their actions and their feelings but to truly understand the issue at hand one must put aside all emotion and carefully examine the facts of the matter. I can see that this discussion will take a number of blogs.
The first thing to understand about Congressmen is that they are politicians that want to keep getting re-elected and therefore they will do whatever it takes to get re-elected and that means doing what their constituents want. Obviously the people living outside of Michigan wanted their Congressman to kick the hell out of the auto CEOs and they made sure their Representative knew they were watching hence the sound bites for TV ; but why the lack of sympathy from the nation?
Here in Michigan, we are kind of naïve about how people in the rest of the country perceive us. The majority of Michigan workers are pro-union because a majority of workers in Michigan belong to a union. The rest of the country is “Right to Work” meaning no one can be forced to join a union. You may also say that the rest of the country views unionism as a form of communism and union workers as fat cats that blackmail (strike) their employers to get what they want and that’s why a janitor in a union shop makes $75 hour.
The rest of the country also see auto companies as weaklings that too easily give into union demands and therefore are responsible for their ridiculous labor costs and inability to compete with foreign auto manufacturers in the U.S. that are doing just fine at their plants down South.
They also blame the auto execs for a lack of foresight, making gas guzzlers and not investing and planning enough for fuel efficient cars. They resent people like John Dingell, a powerful Democrat from Michigan that blocked all government efforts to force the auto companies to increase the fuel efficiency of their auto fleets. Recently, the rest of the Democrats in Congress kicked his old ass out of that powerful position; something they should have done some time ago. But you can’t blame him; he was only doing what the auto companies wanted him to do and that goes for the rest of the Michigan Congressional delegation.
Obviously the people outside of Michigan don’t know the whole story but it seems, they know enough not to like what they see coming out of Detroit especially when what is coming out flies on private jets and makes millions; not your average beggar.
Next, why don’t we see the same aversion to bailing out financial institutions as we do to helping the Detroit auto companies?
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