I agree. Injecting money into a dying business is like burning it. There are two means for reorganizing a business - a plan, or a bankruptcy.
If Michigan had come to Congress with a plan and a defined need, or had presented their old plan clearly and discussed how diminished sales had damaged their redesign plan, I'd be more sympathetic.
I'm still somewhat disturbed that the Republicans managed to negotiate almost a pre-packaged bailout and then scuttled it in a demeaning manner.
I will object to one of your comments. I looked up (not long ago) the efficiency of car manufacture itself. American car companies are as efficient as any others in terms of man-hours per car. The problem is that union labor costs are far higher per hour, and then there is the overhead for benefits and pensions, which are also far higher. As much as 2,500 or 3,000 per vehicle.
For an American car to price-compete with a non-union labor car, they have to be MORE efficient. They are. But it isn't helping.
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Date: 2008-12-13 04:24 pm (UTC)If Michigan had come to Congress with a plan and a defined need, or had presented their old plan clearly and discussed how diminished sales had damaged their redesign plan, I'd be more sympathetic.
I'm still somewhat disturbed that the Republicans managed to negotiate almost a pre-packaged bailout and then scuttled it in a demeaning manner.
I will object to one of your comments. I looked up (not long ago) the efficiency of car manufacture itself. American car companies are as efficient as any others in terms of man-hours per car. The problem is that union labor costs are far higher per hour, and then there is the overhead for benefits and pensions, which are also far higher. As much as 2,500 or 3,000 per vehicle.
For an American car to price-compete with a non-union labor car, they have to be MORE efficient. They are. But it isn't helping.