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Originally Posted by osv_alero

For once, maybe he is on to something. GM, Ford and Chrysler do not have the cash or government assistance that the Japanese makes do. They need government help our we might just loose them.

What about a petition started right here on GMInsidenews that pushes for government help of Americas most vital industry. The help should be in technology advancement and import tariffs.

And I'll start a more compassionate petition that will make more substantive change for the auto industry: balancing the budget and showing fiscal restraint so that when GM profits from its endeavors it gets to keep more of those profits; balancing the budget so that the dollar is more appropriately valued and in turn reduces the price of oil; ridding this country of useless, wasteful, misguided, excessive legislation that burdens business by discouraging investment; tort reform so that companies require appropriately-sized legal departments to conduct business legally and rationally; the encouragement through competitive grants to make science appealing to students in secondary school and post-secondary school so that American industry finally(!) has access to well-trained, qualified candidates for positions throughout their company so that they (and college universities) don't have to waste time and money retraining their workers/students in the basics. That is a much, much more appealing beginning to helping industry in this country than anything proposed thus far!

Originally Posted by ericmvest

I agree with your post 100%. To even the playing field the Federal Government should help the Big Three. A large tax deduction for series hybrids would be a big help to get the Volt off the ground. It seems that our Federal, state, and local governments have helped the Japanese car manufacturers more than our domestic manufacturers in recent years. The Japanese Government is very protective of their automotive industry and our Federal Government is dismissive of our automotive industry and helpful to the Japanese. It is a very odd and self-destructive state of affairs.

A quite uninspired approach to helping industry.

Originally Posted by windvale

And the answer is...because up until last month GM couldn't have given a tinker's damn less about small cars. The Aveo is a POS insult to the car buying public, and it has even further eroded any credibility GM ever had in the US small car business...

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

If your government pays for healthcare, you don't have legacy union costs, and your factories are built with significant tax breaks from state government, then you have more money to plow into R and D which allows your product to be more competitive. GM has been building cars at a cost disadvantage for a long, long time......it's a wonder the crisis has been averted this long. I don't think the problem is that hard to understand......it's the solutions that are complicated.

And who pays for that healthcare? Who pays for those tax breaks? I love that people think there's a magic tax revenue tree that pays for all these programs. What pays for them are the elimination of Bush's tax cuts, it's raising the capital gains tax (that will discourage investment in industry), it's raising taxes on families that earn(!) more tha $250,000 per annum. In essence, it means increasing the tax burden on those most capable of supporting inductry. So, how does making GM pay more in taxes help them? How does having consumers pay more in taxes help them support American industry? Make no mistake about it: when you work, it's your money, not the Federal government's. When they take $100 out of your(!) paycheck and give you $5 back in a tax break, it's not a good thing, especially when they should have only taken out $50 to begin with!

Originally Posted by PRO_USA1776

I don't really see the problem with the US government helping out GM and Ford. It is what Asian countries and european ones do for their manufacturers. What is good for the Goose should be good for the Gander! Besides that GM Ford and Chrysler helped us win WWII. Time for the American government to step up. It seems to me that the US governments job is to help US companies when necessary! If the rest of the world doesn't like it, then up theirs!

It's the government's job to provide a free, fair society. That, in large measure, is why we have so many successful companies that are the envy of the world. It's why our post-secondary institutions attract students from around the world. It's why people come to this country by the millions. Having a free, fair society absolutely involves the risk of failure. And welfare, fostering a sense of dependency on a system is no way to succeed. To insinuate that Toyota and Honda are successful simply because Japan supports their industries is pure twaddle. There are Japanese companies in other industries that, try as they might, cannot hold a candle to American enterprises. And that results from American enterprises' ingenuity, not as a result of America helping out those industries.

If you believe in GM, then put your money where your mouth is. Buy their stock. They will in turn invest in their industry, and you will reap the reward when they profit from their endeavors. But don't tell every tax payer to pay more in taxes to help an industry that unfortunately has mismanaged itself for decades because it's the compassionate, patriotic thing to do. That's pure bull****, plain and simple. Giving an alcoholic more alcohol is not compassion. Giving a homeless drug addict money "to buy some food" is not compassion. And giving American industry cash in the form of tax breaks is not compassion for the American auto industry.