One Unhappy Customer

General Motors Corporation
Attn: Mr. G. Richard Wagoner, CEO
Ford Motor Company
Mr. Alan R. Mulally, CEO
Chrysler Corporation
Mr. Robert L. Nardelli, CEO
Detroit, Michigan

Gentlemen:

I watched with interest as you paraded to Washington on your private jets begging for money and, to be honest, was chagrined as you waltzed out with commitments from Congress for billions of dollars of taxpayer funding. You may not know it, but some of that money is mine and, from my perspective, you don't deserve a penny. Yes, I know you are struggling because of the economic downdraft. So are many other people. However, the problems that have caused your economic demise are not of recent origin although they are of your own making. The current economic chill may have accelerated your collapse, but these problems have been building for a generation. And, despite your testimony to the contrary, little has been done to address long-standing issues of cost, compensation and competitiveness. If you had, I would not have needed to write you at this time. As with many things in this country, delay and avoidance have been the solutions with the inevitable outcome of insolvency looming large.

Unfortunately, politics being politics, our elected representatives did not insist that your companies (including your past and present workforce) accept the responsibility and consequences of your collective decisions. (I would be delighted to discuss the "broader" problems purportedly associated with this bailout; none of which justified asking uninvolved taxpayers to be your sugardaddies). Sadly, politics and courage don't mix any more than oil and water; business it seems is just like politics.

I must admit, I am still struggling to figure out why my elected representatives think turning over my hard earned money to you is in my interest. I also have no clue why they think they even have the right to do this. Maybe it is because they think we have our heads in the sand and don't realize that someone actually has to pay for these government handouts. However, I am here to tell you that is not the case. I am not going to be willingly left holding the bag. It may seem that way to you, but lemon laws were not meant to protect the automobile manufacturers from their customers.

I figure, you folks owe me and a whole lot of Americans a new vehicle (or at least a reasonable down payment towards one). Not a free vehicle mind you, but one that has already been paid for. And I hope I am not wrong in speaking for many of these other potential customers when I say I don't like doing business with people who think they can rob me blind. So if you ever hope to attract me as a customer, let me know where I can go to select my car (I will provide the calculation for my taxable share of the bailout, which must include any future handouts). Until then, there are a lot of other car companies in the sea.

Sincerely,

Comments

[autobailout]

Kudos for speaking the truth. The auto companies owe us some discounts on vehicles and the banks owe us some loans. We have all paid to keep big companies in business. We've also paid to keep their fat cat leaders comfortable in Grosse Point and Greenwich.

Sign the petition against the bailout at http://www.autoindustrybailout.com/petition

It's nice to see someone on this site not thinking it's ok to just give our money to big business.

[Parducci]

GM builds junk. My GM car needed over $1,000 in repairs within a month of the warranty expiration. When I went to GM for some relief, they not only turned me down, but the GM employee on the other end of the line took particular delight in doing so. I suspect that if she's not out of work by now, she will be soon. It's not just senior management. The company is rotten from top to bottom.

[hopeless277]

Neil,

Get the government to cover the cost of healthcare for our workers like Japan and Korea do for theirs and we will give you a HELL of a deal on any car you want.

Signed,

The American Worker

[Neil Grossman - Huffpost Blogger]

i can't disagree with the idea of leveling the playing field for the united states. but it has to be on a broad scale--com­pensation, benefits, education, etc.--- and an equal time scale too. furthermore, we need to start paying for what we do as a society, and not simply taking now and telling the future they have to pay for it. the auto makers are really a microcosm of this broader problem. they have been structurally burdened by non-competitive agreements and obligations for a long period of time; but rather than deal with the issues head on, they have been pushed aside, raising the total cost, but transferring the problem into the future; which has finally arrived.