[DeTomaso] NPC: REALLY NO PANTERA CONTENT, US Auto Industry Bailout OPINION

Sat Dec 6 09:35:50 EST 2008

Many interesting points in the entire e-mail below.  Asa Jay had some great 
ideas I hadn't considered.  Give it to the taxpayers to use towards purchase 
of a new car.  Great idea, along with the qualifications where the company 
and the tax-payer benefits.

When my company, IBM, went through it's problems in the early 90's a little 
known fact is we nearly filed for bankruptcy.  We didn't, and there were no 
government give-me's.  There were serious "blood-lettings" and have been 
continually since then.  We went from over 400 thousand employees to a 
little over 200 thousand in just a few short years.  Our employment has gone 
up and down since then, dictated by the market  It's an entirely different 
company to work for now.  That said, we don't have unions to contend with so 
the company can do as it pleases to suit the share-holder's needs..  I'm not 
sure if that's good or not, for the employees, anyway.

GM is a $182 billion company, Ford a $172 billion dollar company.  That's 
huge.  Twice my companies size at $98 billion.  I'm not sure Chrysler should 
be counted or eligible.  They haven't been a US company since they were 
acquired by Daimler years ago.  They're part of some kind of holding company 
now so I'm not sure what they are.  They do employ American workers.  On the 
other hand so do many foreign car companies doing business here.

I'm all for some kind of consideration for GM and Ford.  I think Asa Jay's 
ideas are pretty darned good.

As an American, I do what I can to support American companies.  I'm all for 
supporting the country in which we live.  I have only Ford powered cars.  I 
try my best to buy American goods, but it's getting harder all the time as 
we've allowed most all of our manufacturing to be done elsewhere, and the 
jobs along with it.  We've been sold out by our government for years and the 
time has come to pay the price for the greed of the relatively few who 
orchestrated it.  Gas prices were nearly $4.00 per gallon.  We weren't 
geared for that but oil companies sure benefited at the expense of the rest 
of us.  It's a real shame it's all come to this.............

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ed Pike" <erpike at ymail.com>
To: "Asa Jay Laughton" <asajay at asajay.com>; "Pantera Forum" 
<detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2008 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] NPC: REALLY NO PANTERA CONTENT,US Auto Industry 
Bailout OPINION

> Couple of questions....
>
> What happens to the "check" when the tax payer can't get financed?
> What happens when the tax payer owes 10,000 on a car that is worth 500?
> Why shouldn't a blind taxpayer be able to get a check and own a car even 
> if he doesn't drive it himself?
>
> State an local governments spent alot of taxpayer money wooing foreign 
> manufacturers so they would put a plant in their state. The Mercedes plant 
> in Alabama is a good example. Tax abatements and free land. No repayment 
> schedule, as a matter of fact no repayment at all.
>
> Then there is the Hyndai plant and the Bmw plant.....? Why not LOAN to the 
> domestic corporations?
>
> Does any body know if the Mercedes, Bmw or Hyundai plants employ union 
> workers?
>
> Just a few thoughts from a different perspective.
>
> Happy Holidays All....
>
> Ed.....
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Asa Jay Laughton <asajay at asajay.com>
> To: Pantera Forum <detomaso at realbig.com>
> Sent: Friday, December 5, 2008 11:21:49 PM
> Subject: [DeTomaso] NPC: REALLY NO PANTERA CONTENT, US Auto Industry 
> Bailout OPINION
>
> This is POLITICAL, but NON- PARTISAN. (no stumping candidates, not
> speeches, no jokes)
> If this gets me banned... oh well, I've said my peace.
> This is -MY- opinion. If you AGREE, I would strongly encourage you to
> WRITE your congressman (or woman)
> This is about the AUTO BAILOUT being considered in the U.S. Congress
> If you are NOT INTERESTED, DELETE NOW
>
> ***************************************************************
> The REAL way to Bailout the Auto industry:
>
> Two sections:
> - Why Congress should NOT give any money to the automakers directly
> - How the money -should- be put to use and why
>
>
> Why Congress SHOULD NOT give any money directly to the automakers:
> - This will only put money in -their- pockets
> - It will NOT reduce inventories
> - It will NOT make room for more manufacturing
> - It will NOT benefit anyone down-line (dealerships, parts makers, etc.)
> - It will NOT prevent layoffs
> - It WILL ALLOW the Big Three to payoff the unions even if it can't
> give out work.
> - It WILL ALLOW high level corporate employees, CEO's, etc. to
> BAILOUT of the company with high dollar pensions, bonuses and severance
> packages. (It happend with the banking bailout, what makes you think it
> won't with the auto makers?)
>
>
> - How the money -should- be put to use and why:
> - GIVE THE MONEY TO THE TAXPAYERS
> - A sight-draft type of check
> - Can ONLY be cashed in at a Big Three auto dealer
> - May NOT be used to buy a foreign car (made by anyone other
> than a big three company)
> - May NOT be cashed at a bank
> - Transferable (in case the taxpayer does not or can not drive)
> - Auto makers and dealers may NOT manipulate MSRP
> - Who get's them?
> - Impractical for every taxpayer
> - 140 million taxpayers as of 2007 (IRS data)
> - $25 billion divided by 140 million is $178 per person.
> - Eligible group must be narrowed:
> - $25 billion divided by a $20,000 sight-draft per person is
> 1,250,000 recipients
> - The number of recipients goes up if Congress approves more.
> - Possible eligibility by income level?
> - To what income bracket will 1,250,000 checks be used up?
> - Possible first come, first served
> - Apply with U.S. Government
> - Web site or phone line
> - similar to the TV Converter coupons
> - Must be an eligible Taxpayer
> - Must be registered to vote
> - voters are the people who should have a say in this
> - Must have valid drivers license
> - Only ONE per eligible person or family (household)
> - U.S. Government verifies eligibility and issues
> sight-draft
> - The dealer completes the sight-draft check with a valid VIN and
> presents it for payment.
> - The dealer pays the Big Three auto maker
> - And thus, they get their bailout money
> - Benefits the Tax payer
> - They can get a new car increasing personal equity, mobility, etc.
> - Benefits the environment
> - New cars are more efficient
> - Many buyers will most likely get rid of their older car
> - Benefits the dealership
> - They sell the cars, stimulating local economies
> - Benefits the Big Three auto makers
> - They get rid of inventories
> - It makes room for more manufacturing
> - Benefits the auto parts industry
> - The Big Three will need more parts to build more cars
> - People will need spares or replacements for parts that break
> - Benefits local governments
> - Sales taxes, license fees, etc.
> - Keeps more people employed
> - See the benefits listed above
>
> Think about it for a minute, it makes more sense. Giving the auto
> makers the money doesn't stimulate local economies. It just lets them
> continue with the status quo; supplying overpriced benefits and inflated
> wages to union employees, building more cars in an already
> super-saturated market. In addition, not many people are buying new cars
> right now, so if you give the auto makers the money, it may just put
> more unsold inventory into the pipeline which in turn increases the
> entire problem they have in the first place.
>
> Who says giving the auto makers the money will change their strategy?
> If I had been a CEO of a major auto maker, I would have been re-thinking
> business strategy years ago, not living with razor thin profits, or even
> losses. You don't run a successful business that way. I wasn't too
> surprised when they showed up in Congress the first time with no plan,
> and frankly if they had a plan they wouldn't need the money in the first
> place. So if Congress wants to bail them out by giving them money,
> fine, but let them get it as they deserve, from the taxpayers and not
> directly from Congress. Give the bailout money to the taxpayer and let
> the taxpayer make the choice of who they bailout by exercising their tax
> money as a vote when they buy a car.
>
> It's an all around better idea.
>
> Write your congressman (or woman)
>
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