Jay Leno for, Jeremy Clarkson against Detroit 3 bailout
It's the battle of the big chins! (Who are we kidding, Leno would win that fight against anyone.) Two gentlemen who stand as giants in automotive culture have finally weighed in with their opinions on whether or not the Detroit 3 should be rescued by the U.S. government. Jay Leno is all for it, citing the loss of this country's manufacturing infrastructure as the most compelling reason to save the automakers. He also cites a number of points that have been mentioned here and elsewhere, including the disparity between helping white collar workers on Wall St. while hanging blue collar workers on auto assembly production lines out to dry, the huge number of suppliers and businesses that depend on U.S. automakers, and the fact that domestic products have become competitive with the world's best in the last few years and it would be a shame to "get so close to the finish line and not win the race."
Jeremy Clarkson, on the other hand, disagrees. Though the top host of Top Gear says that we may be encountering the "end of days" for the auto industry, he fears the repercussions of letting another industry off the hook. Clarkson claims that he's against state intervention while at the same time acknowledges the immensity of Ford and GM (he calls Chrysler "two bit") and the number of people who depend on them for employment. Despite the ramifications of letting the Detroit 3 slip into oblivion, he leaves us with, "Where does it end?" We'll find out soon enough. Thanks for the tip, James (May?)!
[Source: Popular Mechanics, BBC]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
bill cosworth 5:27PM (12/05/2008)
WOW
Volt Races Prius in washington DC
Volt Wins.
GO GM
http://gm-volt.com/2008/12/05/volt-one-step-ahead-of-the-prius/
Reply
Arol 6:13PM (12/05/2008)
Heh. Good job GM only 2 years till the car is released and Prius has been selling for 200 years and costs 1/2 of Volt. Marvelous.
Scotty J in WV 3:12PM (12/05/2008)
Jeremy Clarkson against something American??!!?? Say it isn't so!!!
Honestly, would you expect anything less from Marbles-in-my-mouth Clarkson?
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tts 3:26PM (12/05/2008)
Do you mean American cars, or the Bailout? Because if you mean American cars, then that insane. He is not against American cars as much as he is against Americans trying to build super cars. Because honestly they have been embarrassing.
But if you think that a bailout is American, then what the hell kind of socialist mecca is this. I mean why not let the Government just buying the Big 3. If you are so concerned about them staying in business and continuing to make bad cars there is no better way to do it.
Personally I would like them to take responsibility for their poor business decisions. Accountability is so absent from this country that it is baffling.
ronEbear 3:22PM (12/05/2008)
If by something American you mean the mentality that no matter how bad you screw up, no matter how many times you eff up, Daddy`s always gonna be there you bail you out. If by something American you mean living a life of artificial prosperity enabled by: easy-to-get house mortgages, low fuel prices compared to the rest of the world, LOANS LOANS LOANS!!! . Then yes, it is understandable that Mr. Clarkson would have something against it, as does the ENTIRE PLANET!!!
nastinupe1 3:28PM (12/05/2008)
Isn't it funny how they have Jay with a smile and he's for American and Jermey with an evil look and he's against American?
Frank 3:33PM (12/05/2008)
"as does the ENTIRE PLANET!!!"
You're kidding me right? You know that Saab, Volvo, Renault, and many other manufactures are asking their governments for money? the only diiference is that they don't have the "hassle" of going thru public hearings. Oh and the Japanese government will lend whatever "assistance" is needed to keep their automakers in the black. So yes I guess your right, but your sentence should be "Daddy`s always gonna be there to bail us foreign companies out. But if you an American maker you should just go out of business. Then we will be happy to sell you our cars to make up the difference!"
Librapaj 3:39PM (12/05/2008)
@tts
in a perfect world everyone would be held accountable for their actions. But I think you are missing the point. Yes I do not agree with what is happening right now in the US and A. But the fact remains that a bailout has to happen for these companies. It's not just them that would fail. It's all the worker, suppliers, people who work for the suppliers, dealers, and the list goes on and on. The ramifications would be in epic proportions. So even though I don't agree with it, I find it to be a necessity. It's easy to say, just let them fail, but the workers and everyone who depends on the success of these companies, would also be out of job and they shouldn't be the ones to suffer because these CEO's made horrendous business decisions. Look at it this way, which in all honestly is the way I am looking at. We are bailing out the workers not the companies.
f1tifoso 1:39PM (12/07/2008)
Damn straight -
that spit brit is against anything not from the EU or UK no matter what - the rest of his staff is somewhat apathetic but at least more open minded.
Heard he was injured and applauded
Travis 3:50PM (12/05/2008)
Clarkson's just bitter that the US still has an auto industry while the UK domestic auto industry is pretty much dead and buried.
ronEbear 3:58PM (12/05/2008)
@ Frank
So what about the rest of my post. Don`t you have anything with which to argue against my statement that you people have been led around like cattle, mindlessly applying for loans and mortgages that you can`t afford, all the while thinking "USA number 1, highest quality of life!"
Then all of a sudden these credit opportunities are taken away because the "American way" has suddenly become unsustainable, it`s not by chance that it happened. The outcome? No one can afford to buy the products made in the U.S.A. that are supposed to sustain this "way of life" and yet almost every other non auto related manufacturing is outsourced overseas. This worldwide problem started in the U.S.A. and your "We`re not allowed to fail" mentality.
Would you like some fries with that?
Rocketboy 4:00PM (12/05/2008)
Librapaj.. Enough with the 3rd grade approach to economics. Going bankrupt does not mean that they will close their doors, and everyone comes home without a job. It means that they would FINALLY have the power to start from square one with contract negotiations, and that's the only thing that will bail them out of the hole they dug for themselves.
Exhibit 1:
Delphi. Right after they went bankrupt, their number one plant was hiring so many new people, they were practically putting job applications in the local newspaper. And, they just posted their FIRST profit in many years (and that includes their pre-bankruptcy period).
Exhibit 2:
Ames Department Stores. Yes, they are no longer around, and yes, it was due to bankruptcy, but it was the SECOND declaration of bankruptcy that put them under, not the first. After the first bankruptcy, they went on to become the fourth largest retailer in the US.
Bankruptcy will NOT mean that they will close down. Just stop it.
Librapaj 4:08PM (12/05/2008)
@rocketboy
Thank god your screen name is not rocket scientist because you really do not sound like one. I don't I ever mentioned in my post anything about going bankrupt. And the reason why are they are having these meetings in the first place is because the big 3 want to avoid bankruptcy all costs. If they would not have had these meetings and potentially talk about bankruptcy and or a bailout what I mentioned would have been exactly what would have happened. I understand, thanks to my career, that bankruptcy doesn't mean that they are going to hang a sign on their doors that says, "sorry we are closed"
Noidor 5:13PM (12/05/2008)
I'll do something I have not done, I believe, ever - that is to call those who misunderstood what Clarkson was saying, TOTAL IDIOTS. Did any of you bother watching the interview?
He acknowledges that Ford and GM are too big too fail, however:
1) Where does it end? Because you KNOW that Ford & GM will come back for more money in probably another 6 months. Because this recession is going to be such a long one that, for example, the $9bil that GM wants, will simply not be enough to stay afloat, let alone strategically manage operations with new products!
2) That opens the door for all other sectors to come in with a needy hand asking government for more money. And some of those sectors employ WAY more people directly or indirectly than automotive industry.
Their argument will be the same flawed one, "we are too big too fail because we have so many employees, way more than automotive sector"
3) The most important point - US does NOT HAVE the money to bailout companies. There is nothing, the world is not lending us anything anymore, and all we got now are printing presses. Do you really want inflationary holocaust mixed with a recession? I think not.
Get your heads out of your behinds and start reading books, news, paying attention and so forth - it is beyond moronic to call Clarkson "Un-American" because he merely points out the flaws behind the proposed bailout. How stupid are you people?
Yes Germany is THINKING about helping Opel, but guess what 1) they have the means to do so 2) they don't have to bailout the banks to extent that we do!
US financial/banking system is f-ed up, and people are dumb! Want to know why? Because a $700 bil bailout was just APPROVED! Compare that with $20bil in parts of EU!
It it so short-sighted to support these bailouts, and sad thing is no-one is the wiser...at least in power.
Noidor 5:32PM (12/05/2008)
http://www.europac.net/Schiff-CNN-12-4-08_lg.asp
Rocketboy 8:06AM (12/06/2008)
Librapaj..."Thank god your screen name is not rocket scientist because you really do not sound like one."
Please come back when you have a better grasp of English, and can sit at the adult table. I'm not sure what the hell you just said in your second comment, nor if you fully understood what I said. The long and the short of it is, if we give them more money (loan, bailout, who cares, it's still my money) then they will not suddenly become a better, stable, profitable company. We will be just throwing money down a hole, and when they do crash, they will crash harder. The BEST solution is bankruptcy, so they can the flexibility that I talked about above to finally get themselves out of the money pit that they are in. If they go bankrupt, there will not be hoards of unemployed factory workers roaming the streets. It's just not going to happen.
happy_penguin 3:14PM (12/05/2008)
I really couldn't care less about celebrity opinions on issues of national American relevance. But as much as I love Clarkson's insights for entertainment value, it's none of his goddamned business what America does with its internal affairs.
Go ahead and thumbs down. It doesn't matter because I know I'm right.
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AkulaX1 3:33PM (12/05/2008)
Thumbs up
Ligor 3:38PM (12/05/2008)
+1
Germany already approved a bailout for their companies, and japan always helps them out, see how Toyota said they did get gov't $ to develop Prius, then pulled it back, adn they will loan them whatever they need to assure they're ok
and now, so should our gov't
mk3 5:02PM (12/05/2008)
I know that other non-Ameriacan companies asked for financial help from the government but how much did they ask?? I don't is more than 50+ billion dollars that the big 3 are asking (including the first 25 billion). So this make me think that the European and Japanese automakers are asking help to ease the pain that the financial crisis causes, but on the other hand the Big 3 are asking so much money to cover their mistakes too. Now that is not fair!!!