Saving the Big 3 for You and Me

Friends,

I drive an American car. It's a Chrysler. That's not an endorsement. It's more like a cry for pity. And now for a decades-old story, retold ad infinitum by tens of millions of Americans, a third of whom have had to desert their country to simply find a damn way to get to work in something that won't break down:

My Chrysler is four years old. I bought it because of its smooth and comfortable ride. Daimler-Benz owned the company then and had the good grace to place the Chrysler chassis on a Mercedes axle and, man, was that a sweet ride!

When it would start.

More than a dozen times in these years, the car has simply died. Batteries have been replaced, but that wasn't the problem. My dad drives the same model. His car has died many times, too. Just won't start, for no reason at all.

A few weeks ago, I took my Chrysler in to the Chrysler dealer here in northern Michigan -- and the latest fixes cost me $1,400. The next day, the vehicle wouldn't start. When I got it going, the brake warning light came on. And on and on.

You might assume from this that I couldn't give a rat's ass about these miserably inept crapmobile makers down the road in Detroit city. But I do care. I care about the millions whose lives and livelihoods depend on these car companies. I care about the security and defense of this country because the world is running out of oil -- and when it runs out, the calamity and collapse that will take place will make the current recession/depression look like a Tommy Tune musical.

And I care about what happens with the Big 3 because they are more responsible than almost anyone for the destruction of our fragile atmosphere and the daily melting of our polar ice caps.

Congress must save the industrial infrastructure that these companies control and the jobs they create. And it must save the world from the internal combustion engine. This great, vast manufacturing network can redeem itself by building mass transit and electric/hybrid cars, and the kind of transportation we need for the 21st century.

And Congress must do all this by NOT giving GM, Ford and Chrysler the $34 billion they are asking for in "loans" (a few days ago they only wanted $25 billion; that's how stupid they are -- they don't even know how much they really need to make this month's payroll. If you or I tried to get a loan from the bank this way, not only would we be thrown out on our ear, the bank would place us on some sort of credit rating blacklist).

Two weeks ago, the CEOs of the Big 3 were tarred and feathered before a Congressional committee who sneered at them in a way far different than when the heads of the financial industry showed up two months earlier. At that time, the politicians tripped over each other in their swoon for Wall Street and its Ponzi schemers who had concocted Byzantine ways to bet other people's money on unregulated credit default swaps, known in the common vernacular as unicorns and fairies.

But the Detroit boys were from the Midwest, the Rust (yuk!) Belt, where they made real things that consumers needed and could touch and buy, and that continually recycled money into the economy (shocking!), produced unions that created the middle class, and fixed my teeth for free when I was ten.

For all of that, the auto heads had to sit there in November and be ridiculed about how they traveled to D.C. Yes, they flew on their corporate jets, just like the bankers and Wall Street thieves did in October. But, hey, THAT was OK! They're the Masters of the Universe! Nothing but the best chariots for Big Finance as they set about to loot our nation's treasury.

Of course, the auto magnates used be the Masters who ruled the world. They were the pulsating hub that all other industries -- steel, oil, cement contractors -- served. Fifty-five years ago, the president of GM sat on that same Capitol Hill and bluntly told Congress, what's good for General Motors is good for the country. Because, you see, in their minds, GM WAS the country.

What a long, sad fall from grace we witnessed on November 19th when the three blind mice had their knuckles slapped and then were sent back home to write an essay called, "Why You Should Give Me Billions of Dollars of Free Cash." They were also asked if they would work for a dollar a year. Take that! What a big, brave Congress they are! Requesting indentured servitude from (still) three of the most powerful men in the world. This from a spineless body that won't dare stand up to a disgraced president nor turn down a single funding request for a war that neither they nor the American public support. Amazing.

Let me just state the obvious: Every single dollar Congress gives these three companies will be flushed right down the toilet. There is nothing the management teams of the Big 3 are going to do to convince people to go out during a recession and buy their big, gas-guzzling, inferior products. Just forget it. And, as sure as I am that the Ford family-owned Detroit Lions are not going to the Super Bowl -- ever -- I can guarantee you, after they burn through this $34 billion, they'll be back for another $34 billion next summer.

So what to do? Members of Congress, here's what I propose:

1. Transporting Americans is and should be one of the most important functions our government must address. And because we are facing a massive economic, energy and environmental crisis, the new president and Congress must do what Franklin Roosevelt did when he was faced with a crisis (and ordered the auto industry to stop building cars and instead build tanks and planes): The Big 3 are, from this point forward, to build only cars that are not primarily dependent on oil and, more importantly to build trains, buses, subways and light rail (a corresponding public works project across the country will build the rail lines and tracks). This will not only save jobs, but create millions of new ones.

2. You could buy ALL the common shares of stock in General Motors for less than $3 billion. Why should we give GM $18 billion or $25 billion or anything? Take the money and buy the company! (You're going to demand collateral anyway if you give them the "loan," and because we know they will default on that loan, you're going to own the company in the end as it is. So why wait? Just buy them out now.)

3. None of us want government officials running a car company, but there are some very smart transportation geniuses who could be hired to do this. We need a Marshall Plan to switch us off oil-dependent vehicles and get us into the 21st century.

This proposal is not radical or rocket science. It just takes one of the smartest people ever to run for the presidency to pull it off. What I'm proposing has worked before. The national rail system was in shambles in the '70s. The government took it over. A decade later it was turning a profit, so the government returned it to private/public hands, and got a couple billion dollars put back in the treasury.

This proposal will save our industrial infrastructure -- and millions of jobs. More importantly, it will create millions more. It literally could pull us out of this recession.

In contrast, yesterday General Motors presented its restructuring proposal to Congress. They promised, if Congress gave them $18 billion now, they would, in turn, eliminate around 20,000 jobs. You read that right. We give them billions so they can throw more Americans out of work. That's been their Big Idea for the last 30 years -- layoff thousands in order to protect profits. But no one ever stopped to ask this question: If you throw everyone out of work, who's going to have the money to go out and buy a car?

These idiots don't deserve a dime. Fire all of them, and take over the industry for the good of the workers, the country and the planet.

What's good for General Motors IS good for the country. Once the country is calling the shots.

Yours,
Michael Moore
[e-mail]
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. I will be on Keith Olbermann tonight (8pm/10pm/midnight ET) to discuss this further on MSNBC.

Comments

[christopherstjohn]

That's a great point about buying up all GM's shares for $3 billion instead of giving them much more money, which we all know they will flush down the toilet.

The current management is clearly incompetent. And by "current," I mean since the 1970's. They've had reprieves and second chances out the wazoo. Time for them to go.

So if we (the citizens) buy it, we can appoint a new management team. And spend some of the other money on helping that region and the people there segue gracefully into 21st century manufacturing. We could make Detroit a center for Green technology. Researching, prototyping, production: it could be huge. And what a comeback story! That's the American way.

Christopher St. John
www.christopherstjohnblog.com

[DLBSR]

Exactly my point. If you will go to http://taxpayercommonsense.blogspot.com you will find a model that addresses all of your remarks. We can rescue this industry today and become a better and cleaner America without lending a single dollar of taxpayer money to the industry in the form of a bailout.

[spinns17]

mike moore for car zar

[Buzzther]

This is the best parody of the automakers' bailout hearing on YouTube. You HAVE to see this! We all need a little amusement right now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRVRTTMwhK8

[JusticiaParaTodos]

While I realize that the U.S. needs a strong industrial base to get back afloat, I am not in favor of giving the Auto bosses anything unless they are willing to do the following: 1) Begin building vehicles that are more energy efficient (hybrid, electric), 2)recall the workers laid off recently, 3) Cut the bonuses, pay and perks of the auto hierarchy, 4) Giving money to the private corporations makes NO sense unless we intend to nationalize the auto industry (and the banking industry as well)

Yes, these are radical ideas. We live in radical times. If the U.S. is ever to recover from this economic crisis caused by corporate greed, we must begin doing things outside the box! It's OUR money! Bailed out industry should become OUR property!

[downwithbig3]

we cannot nationalize anything and everything as soon as it appears to be in trouble. The government cannot run anything efficiently. You think theres waste or corruption in these industries now? Just wait until the government gets ahold of them.

[Pearlswan]

Great idea, Mike. It should work. Unless, of course, they need a scapegoat for some reason that has not yet been revealed to us. Looks to me like the Big 3 are gonna take the Big Fall, just like Lehman Brothers did. How come no one is talking about their finance business? Isn't that the root of the current problem? No money means no car loans means no car sales. Their finance companies should be eligible for some TARP funds from Paulson. Let's see if they get it. Next they hit up the House of Representatives. Good luck chiefs.

[mjasper]

GM destroyed the electric car, bought 51% control of the battery company under the ruse of putting them into full production and sold the rights to an oil company and promptly destroyed all the technology.
They should be in prison as they took taxpayer funds to develop the technology.
If we are going to put money into the auto industry loan it to Tesla to buy the plants they need from GM, hire the trained employees and really put the industry back in play to win.

[SusieQ]

The big three make good full sized vehicles. It's the tiny crappers that they're not good at. My 94 DeVile gets better gas mileage than my company's Element. It's more dependable and since I got it used, it cost a lot less. The Americans had a definate quality problem in the late 70s and into the 80s. chrysler still does.
My suggestions for the big three are:
1. Make cars that people can work on themselves again. That's important in third world places & It'd sell well here,
2. Don't make tiny cars until you can make them well. Concentrate on med. sized vehicles and advertise their safety. Walk everyone through a junkyard in an ad. Show a film of a demolition derby. They'll never buy another Japanese car.
3. Make things that aren't cars. My 1952 Ford Motor boiler (furnace) just quit last year. It lasted 55 years.
4. Put the planned obsolescence expert to work making things last as long as possible.
5. Stop making everything look like a Mitsubishi. They're Really, really ugly. Rat butt ugly. Wanna make 'em all look alike? Make 'em look like Corvettes.
6. There are people who live "off grid", and others who live with free energy because they feed back into the grid. If you develop small energy technology, like a generator that runs off of the water flowing through the sewer line, we'll have plenty of gasoline for cars until the battery technology or ? catches up with the demand

[IDIOTA]

Hmmm...BUY GM for 3 billion instead of GIVING them many billions more? It doesn't take an overpaid, auto executive to figure this one out.

[motamanx]

Oil should have always been regarded as a lubricant, not as a fuel. Burning it all up in gas guzzlers is like eating the seed corn.

The Detroit 3 make great cars for the Europeans, why can't they do the same at home?

[ARTIST50]

Being from Indiana I can't imagine what their collapse would do to our state. Indiana, like Michigan and Ohio has been terribly hurt by the downturn in the auto industry. I know there is some federal insurance for retirees when their companys have gone under. Can someone tell me what happens to all the retirees? Are their pensions guaranteed? This to me seems to be a huge question that I don't hear talked about. What about their insurance plans?

[spinns17]

there pensions are safe.the pension is in a ,guarantee pension fund.like a savings account, backed by the government.

[downwithbig3]

Overpaid uneducated autoworkers + anti free market labor auto unions +government pushing automakers to make cars they want them to make(not what the public wants) =Big 3 automakers noncompetitive. I do blame the auto companies for giving in to the unions all those years. They didn't help their cause. Let them go down in flames. They will be replaced or they'll come back leaner.

[econ1]

This is just replacing one lobbyist group (oil ) with another (not the US auto manufacturers but just GM, Chrysler, and Ford...and Ford just because if the politicians are handing out money to some of your competitors you better get some).

So the best run ( of the three US headquartered companies) Ford, gets less for its' size, than the worst -GM or Chrysler..take your pick or ask Home Depot. This is putting your heaviest bets on the losers. If that is the new plan for America it isn't going to be pretty going forward.

Anything but a bail out would be better for US manufacturing. How about loaning Toyota, Honda, BMW and Mercedes $50B to build plants in the US. That would put people to work.

Or loan it all to Ford and have them buy the assets and hire the workers of GM and Chrysler.

I don't think Congress is nearly as smart as the Cerberus guys...they will take Nancy and crew to the cleaners (unfortunately with our money).

Heck you could give me the $50b and I'll figure out a way to build some cars....hmmmmmmm

[rixter1965]

While newer/alternative sources of energy for private automobiles would be a good (necessary) thing for America's future, security, and environment -- so would some more responsible choices on the part of all Americans (you know, that call for sacrifice and thinking beyond the short term that should have come from the "bully pulpit" after 9/11). If you have a vehicle right now that does not get great mileage (and cannot realistically get another vehicle), it is not doing any harm if you don't drive it everywhere, all the time.

And I'd like Mr. Moore to confront some of those blowhards in Congress from states such as Alabama that gave billions in tax-breaks to foreign automakers to locate to their union-hostile states. Since Alabama, for example, receives more in Federal money that it pays in to the Federal government, the American people had to foot the bill to get those factories there.

And the media coverage of this issue has been anything but fair. Nor have members of Congress been much better. Did anyone ask those bankers and Wall Street types how they got to Washington? Did anyone ask why they were wearing designer suits that most Americans cannot afford? Did anyone have to listen to scolding about how recklessness tanked individuals' 401Ks? Nope!

[MadMadMan]

This is right on the money, Michael Moore! It' is essentially what I've been arguing to my buddies, right and left. A straight up bail out to make cars that people don't want or can't afford is not a way to "save" the industry nor the jobs that rely on it. Lay out the broad strokes of what the country needs in terms of transportatioin and vehicles and then ask the industry - Can you do that? Will you do that? There is an enormous amount at stake here - and I don't just mean the $50 billion or so that will be involved. We're talking about environmental degredation, lack of mass transit, and a true shift to a realistic future economy.
As for the money we've already thrown at the Financial wizards who've managed to toast my retirement, we should demand accountablility and if Paulson can't give it to us, he should be charged with a massive fraud indictment.

[gmlaster]

The argument for bailing out big corporations that lose money making products or offering services that people aren't buying actually worked beautifully...until last October. Until recently, the government always paid up and the Big 3 had every reason to expect that they would be "rescued" again, but Wall St. got there first. The Big 3 CEOs went to Washington expecting to bring back their own billions. Now they're going home with a $1-per-year salary and probably nothing else. If you ask me, they're being grossly overpaid.

Half the men in my family worked for Chrysler, and they spent almost every weekend working on their Chrysler cars. The damned things never ran for more than a couple of months without breaking down. My Chrysler-employed uncle always said it was because his car was a delicate piece of machinery, but in reality, it was because it was a P.O.S.

That's why the Big 3 are dying. The American public is fed up with buying cars that suck. That's why Toyota got so rich and why Detroit is in so much trouble. While the Big 3 were building crap, Toyota was building cars. A bailout isn't going to save them. Unless they have a magic blueprint to build a supercar people really want to buy that doesn't break down every 500 miles, giving them money would just be putting off the inevitable.

[surfsocal]

Just curious... Economic times are tough on most if not all automakers so how come it appears it's only the Big 3 US car companies that are on the brink of bankruptcy and not the foreign auto companies?

[CalvinistHobbesian]

A lot of people making a good point about Tesla. I recently read that they were postponing their next model (a family sedan) due to not being able to borrow the capital. Let's let them in on the loan largess, and maybe let GM write off one of the plants they want to close by selling it to Tesla for $1.