How? What experience does Obama have in running an auto company or any business for that matter? He doesn't even have 5 years experience in the Senate yet.

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You don't need to be a CEO to notice that Ford NA and Chrysler at least (you could argue GM also) are or have been sucking wind. We'll see what Ford's EcoBoost is about though.

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Not Probably.

Dude there are cars that still do not have AC as a standard feature, still cars that do not have power windows (origibaly introduced in 1940's)


Auto industry is very backward

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MTU 5.0,

Substance doesn't matter, it's all about how someone makes you FEEL. Obama speaks in Hallmark Card platitudes that have little resemblance to the real world- but it feels good to the weak minded who can't think for themselves.

Of course, these are the same people who believe the lies foisted upon us by the media night after night. The unemployment rate is at 4.8%, yet the media tells us how bad the job sector is. Foreclosures account for .83% of all mortgages, yet MSNBC reports that 8.3% of homes in the US are in foreclosure- and doesn't correct themselves. Add to it the fact that the media doesn't include the fact that 54% of foreclosures are from speculative speculative investors (70% in southern FL). And while this is going on, Obama and Hillary want responsible tax payers to fork over more of their hard earned money to help these people pay for their bad investments!

Unfortuantely, the American educational system has been dumbed down over the past six decades in order to create a servile populus that does not know much about history or how the economy actually works, not to mention one that believes self-esteem is more important than hard work and actually accomplishing something. Because let's face it, without the government to do it for us- how will we ever be able to survive?

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@Holden

This is autoblog. Not a soapbox. Come off it.

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Wrong blog, there are more than enough political forums out there for you to express your political views.

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Obama's comments were typical of a politician. From a technical standpoint, the man couldn't find his a$$ with both hands and a flashlight if he had written instructions. On virtually every point he was off base.

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When the domestics were sleeping, that was true.Today, the big three, especially GM, will show the way in technology. We in the US now have the will to be the best. We always had the know-how but we were taking the lazy route, like we've been know to do in history.

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Exactly.

This blog entry ought to be filed under the "no s**t" category.

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and which one is the best example of the problems we face? Democrats & Unions, just as the excessive benefits to members helped trashed the auto industry the excessive benefits being promised to voters by Democrats is trashing SS and Medicare/Medicaid... and its only going to get worse

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In relation to the exact context of this question, the biggest problem we face is the accelerating gap between rich and poor. It's the auto execs who trashed the domestic auto industry yet the results are layoffs for the common working man and multi-million dollar payouts to the incompetent execs who created the mess.

Then you read these screwball comments on AB where if a company does good it's all because of the exec but if a company does bad it's the fault of the workers, the Evil(tm) unions or 'external factors outside the control of the CEO'. The ratio of management shills to working people must be extraordinarily high around here or something.

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Disgruntled Goat, took the words out of my keyboard, corporate America is slowly destroying the great US of A. This country was at it's best when most businesses were owned by individuals (sole proprietorships/partnerships) and not by some huge corporations. It's the corporations who created all this mess (especially banking). If I would fail at something in my job I would get fired, if some CEO messes up and causes millions in damages that leads to lay offs because of his ego he gets a nice cash bonus that for an average citizen would probably be enough for a lifetime.

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@ Disgruntled Goat,

You're definately right about the widening gap between the haves and have-nots. At this rate there will be no middle class in this country.

I disagree on many of your other points. First off, the blog doesn't state that this is only in relation to the domestic companies. I believe they are talking to everyone who does business in NA. CAFE is going to be extremely taxing on every auto manufacturer, not just the domestic ones.

Second, while I agree that the execs have to be held more responsible for their crippling decisions to damn everything in the name of upping CURRENT profits and share value, you do have to look at the greedy unions that have caused the decision to cut costs in other areas due to the pigeon hold that the unskilled workers have over their companies. You're talking about a group of people who threaten new employees if they don't slow their pace so as not to make the others look bad. You're talking about a union who fought tooth and nail to pay the guy pushing the broom around the plant as much as the guy doing tight-tolerance machine work, who was already getting paid more than most manufacturing labor in this country.

Now of course, things have changed some in that there are multi-tiered wages and other consessions made by the union, however, it was this greed that helped (and i say helped, because the execs should have taken action 20 years ago) the domestic industry to where it is now. It's always been easier to save $ on a part than to fight the union, it wasn't until that part needed to be bulletproof to stay competetive that they finally straightened things out.

I have to sit back and laugh at the current political situation. All the democrats had to do is find a leader they could agree on and it was a lock. Now they have slung enough mud at eachother to give McCain a fighting chance, it does help that he's more towards the middle than either of the demos too. Personally, I was hoping that a good leader would emerge to take over in this terrible time for our country, be that Democrat or Republican, now I think it's just the lesser of the evils again.

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Correct, BluePariah.

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Mike, what? Have you ever worked in an auto factory?

Management controls the speed of production, on all machines and assembly lines. Tampering with those controls, if you know how (most require an electrical engineering degree) is a fireable offense. Artificially slowing production is a fireable offense.

If there are slow downs, it's because management refuses to keep spare parts in stock for a machine they know will break down because they refuse to spend the money to repair it properly. Or because they decided we had too many tradesmen and laid half of them off.

Push brooms? Hardly. They're operating large street sweepers and fork-lifts to remove chips, coolants, and other hazardous waste/spills. They're the ones who get cut first anyway, leaving a handful of sanitation workers to cover a dirty, oily machine floor. No pay cut will restore those jobs, management is content with the filth and working conditions as it is. Beyond that, no, pay is not equal; There are sometimes huge differences in payrates for jobs. Machine floor personnel for example make more than someone on the line.

Don't get me wrong, there were liberties and excesses that my predecessors took when times where good, but management has it's fair share of guilt in letting it get that bad, of valuing short-term profits over long-term customer satisfaction. Regardless, today's workforce is a dedicated and professional bunch, and I take offense at your insinuations that we are otherwise.

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