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As GM goes, so goes nation

General Motors' downfall didn't start with gas prices, it started with them making a shoddy product in comparison to foreign makes. By the time they realized the err of their ways, gas prices began to climb. Sorry, but if GM drags this nation down as this letter claims, it will have no one but GM to blame.

GM stock sold for less than ten bucks last week for the first time since 1954. Bush told America that increased mileage standards would ruin the auto industry. Not anymore than economic policies of the last seven years that have devalued our dollar to the point oil costs twice as much as the Clinton years.

This is a trend. Real estate is still dropping. There are billions in noncollectable debts that will be written down.

Wasn't trickle down economics a beter fantasy than a reality?

The wealthy are much more wealthy. Russia, Reagan's evil empire is running in the black while we sink deeper in debt.

I could'a had a V8 ain't gonna fly any more. Can you say 2.5 liter direct injection turbo diesel at 60 miles per gallon?

And America's favorite store is Wal-Mart.

Buying foreign goods instead of spending more for American made goods is the choice that individual Americans made - and then they wonder why THEIR job was exported out of the country.

Greedy Americans wanting something for nothing is a large part of the problem. Greedy politicians who sign agreements with other nations that allow those nations free access to our markets without requiring them to let us have free access to their markets is a big part of the problem. Lazy workers who want to be paid for doing a shoddy job is a big part of the problem.

The problem could stop tomorrow if each American worker took pride in his job and gave an honest day's work for an honest day's pay, and then spent his paycheck on goods that were entirely made in America.

The cost of each item would be much, much higher, but the jobs would stay in America. We simply have to fully understand that the shopper's greed has cost far, far more than the discounted price on that foreign made product.

The Wal-Mart syndrome has destroyed the American market.

We Americans are all to blame for this country problems and no one else. As US rich companies move there manufacturing over seas to buy cheap labor and lay off more workers here, plus a lot of people think foreign cars are better, which they are not. We are the ones that made the dollar sink to new lows. Wake up America, its our fault and no one else, keep buying those foreign cars, etc. and we will keep sinking until we hit real bottom, worse then the great depression could ever be.

This is a simple as I can put it so everyone should understand, you think?

Ironically, Toyota and Honda are building plants in America to take advantage of the weak dollar; Toyota is even making hybrid Camrys in Kentucky -- green cars in a green state! If you want to support American workers and reduce America's oil addiction, buy a Toyota hybrid Camry!

I live near Flint, MI I never got the chance to work in one of the local GM plants. My dad and some of my uncles and cousins did though and most of them managed somehow to stay employed long enough to retire from GM.
My dad was considered some in management as a pain in the neck. He retired in 1989 when GM tore down the factory that he had worked at for nearly 25 years or so.
He started in the mid 60's making this statement: "When engineers run a company, they make a high quality product, but they do not make much money. So the money men come in and take over. When they do, they make a lot of money, but they make a lousy product." The money men at GM started making plans to move car building out of the US in the 60's. It has continued to accelerate ever since.
When I drive around Flint and Detroit and see where people worked to build the best product that they were allowed to build, torn down and allowed to become empty weed covered lots, the phrase that the letter writer uses comes true.

Russia is developing their natural resources. They are running in black oil.

all of you anti-free traders need to check yourself. The only thing keeping Ford and GM afloat is the ability to sell their product in China and Central and South America. I blame the Unions for destroying these companies. Over 1000.00 from the sale of every GM vehicle goes to pay health care costs for retirees( and that includes Viagara prescriptions)And they are supposed to be competitive? Maybe it would be better for them to go belly-up. And I'm a Ford stockholder!
I can't ever recall seeing a Kerry/Edwards or Obama bumper sticker on a Ford or GM vehicle. The libs are too hip and cool to buy American.... so don't blame Reagan or Bush

Americans no longer wish to be free, so what is the difference anymore?

The fact is that most people shop at Walmart because they HAVE to. When your high paying engineering job is sent overseas, you have no choice. Ask me how I know.

I am the original owner a 1984 Chevette. When it was new, it would go 50 mpg on the freeway. Today, it is still running fine, passes all the emissions tests, and averages about 33mpg around town, and can make better than 40mpg on the freeway.

I am not suggesting you will all want one, but keep that in mind that you are being asked to pay $25K to $35K for a super duper hybrid that doesn't get the economy of a 24 year old car, and ask yourself is that is really progress?

The only reason a Toyota Camry built in the United States is more competitive than a Pontiac G6 built in the United States is that the Pontiac is built by a union worker.

Read "Downsize This!" from Flint, Michigan's own Michael Moore.
Moore's scating attack on the CEO's of America predicted the economic situation we are in today.
Michael Moore takes on corporations, politicians and Americana in general in a mordant satire that will leave both conservatives and liberals reeling with embarrassment. Moore tears into corporations and labor unions alike. Citing "economic terrorism," he goes after the "Big Welfare Mamas"?the CEOs?detailing their cozy tax deals with federal and local government, which have added to the deficit. He attacks the unions in "Why Are Union Leaders So F#!@ing Stupid," citing how they have collaborated with corporations (while taking huge salaries) to slash jobs from their own memberships. No one is immune; Moore scrutinizes the President, Bob Dole, NAFTA, Cuban refugees and Pat Buchanan. A scathing, funny book packed with facts, it will appeal to those who loved Al Franken's Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot.

As we go deeper and deeper into Great Depression II (possibly the mother of all Depressions) collectively bargaining will be more important than ever to bring the greedy CEO's to their knees.

Let's put the blame squarely where it ought to be placed - on Congress.

Congress passes the laws that restrict business. When the laws are too restrictive for that business to make a profit in America, it outsources or moves to a foreign country where the laws are not as restrictive.

Some laws are necessary, but most of the restrictions placed on business are placed there because of special interest groups who want to gain an advantage through an act of Congress rather than competing in the "real world".

The profit margin of most businesses is around 10%. That doesn't leave a lot of room for increased wages. That doesn't leave a lot of room for customer discounts. In fact, it's a wonder that most businesses are still able to make a profit.

Those who think that greedy CEOs are the cause of the problem know absolutely nothing about business or about running a business. Those who think that paying a CEO absolutely nothing would increase the wages of the workers in that business also know absolutely nothing about business.

Class envy is an art form practiced by liberals. It is not worthy of America or of Americans.

buckwild | 10:20 a.m. July 5, 2008: "I blame the Unions for destroying these companies. Over $1,000 from the sale of every GM vehicle goes to pay health care costs for retirees( and that includes Viagra prescriptions)."

You got that right. Unions killed the goose that laid the golden egg. And they still don't understand what they've done or how they did it. Collectively, they don't have the brains of a wet dishrag.

Blame unions. It's lazy American workers who expect companies to keep contracts like Americans have to keep contracts.

Next economic lesson is the economics of scale. The cost per car is related to sales sold. If GM's management produced cars people wanted to buy the overhead per cars drops by the increase in production.

Look at business in America. Business is focused on the next quarter's returns. Toyota focuses on long term goals.

People who trade shares want it all and the want it now. You can't run a major car company without investing in the long term. Any monies invested how for the future, is debited against current profits. So, to keep profits high in any one quarter, companies fore go long term improvments.

This is why I don't buy American. It's the American way of doing business. American business will make number with little concern what they produce. This is why we have e coli in meat and contaminated food. These companies made the numbers but, at what cost?

This is what we call the loss function. I hate Microsoft. They sell be a flawed product and expect me to debug it for them.

To wrz: Japanese and German auto workers make as much as their unionized American counterparts. The difference is their corporations are not saddled with health care costs because they are spread out among all taxpayers. That is why Toyota located their latest plant in Canada instead of the U.S.

Mike Richards knows absolutely nothing about the greed nature of mankind.

Yup, GM has poor managment (they were way behind the ball with regards to hybrids) and the US has a horrible president, who's never had a viable energy policy.
No wonder both are in the tanks and will likely never fully recover.

@ roland : no one ever said that big corporations don't want nationalized health care - of course they do - it's one less expense they have to worry about