Bail Out

here is another D word...depression. If GM and Chrysler don't get their bridge LOAN (LOAN!!!) we could see our recession turn in to a depression.

It should be noted that the "bailout" they are asking for is a loan, not a handout. A handout is what we>>>

A word we are going to using a lot whether the auto industry has bailout money or not, Deflation I'll repeat it so as we don't forget Deflation there is going to be a little bump in commodities in the coming months then it is a Nantucket Sleigh ride ri>>>

So last night the bail out was quashed.....because the UAW refused to lower wages to non union rates until the end of their contract. So now you get nothing, and you add to the woes of a country already on it's back, and how many people lose their jobs?,>>>

Randy and OS make good points I won't repeat. But I will add a couple One giant "elephant in the room" we all ignore is that people live a whole lot longer than they used too. When my dad was born in 1917 his life expectancy was about 58 years old. Pe>>>

Has anyone noticed that CONGRESS is giving the auto companies holy hell for asking for a LOAN. They GAVE the banks about 55 times as much. This from an institution that exempts itself from social security, and has its own permanent pension plan with ful>>>

RandyB1986 - Did they? To date I don't believe they have a fully funded pension program. Sooner or later, we all have to pay the piper. It seems to me that the automakers pension plan is funded the same way the US government is funding Social Security>>>

Except ... notice something weird about this calculation? It's not as if each active worker is getting health benefits and pensions worth $42 per hour. That would come to nearly twice his or her wages. (Talk about gold-plated coverage!) Instead, each act>>>

If you've been following the auto industry's crisis, then you've probably read or heard a lot about overpaid American autoworkers--in particular, the fact that the average hourly employee of the Big Three makes $70 per hour.

That's an awful lot of m>>>

elcid - I don't disagree. I was kind of being sarcastic. Of course the Legacy cost are a factor in the current financial predicament; but only a small one. I am only 42 years old and I've been hearing about the failing US auto industry since the earl>>>

House of Pain: Without being privy to their internal accounting, I am fairly certain that this is the case. Given the collapse of the stock market, their pension fund probably lost upwards of 50% and more, which will somehow have to be funded thru increas>>>

I have watched what the unions did to the steel mills around here. Where there used to be 4 mills within a 7 mile radius, there is now 1 that is working with a ghost staff. Small business found it nearly impossible to find people to work. Everyone want>>>

It was even more criminal, even traitorous, to bail out the Wall Street and bank crooks imo. I don't see how the country won't collapse. As for the automakers, it's not even a matter of if, but how and when they will get their loans.

Is this the same>>>

HOP, On Talk Of The Nation (NPR) with Neil Conan yesterday they said that the "cost" to the Ford Motor Company of the average worker was $70 an hour. By the same token I heard somewhere else that only 10% of the cost of the average vehicle goes in la>>>

elcid - Are you suggesting that the pension plans are not already funded? I thought that pensions were funded as payroll is accrued.>>>

I read somewhere that the auto industry has to take care of 450,000 retirees health and welfare. That is quite a number, the cost for which has been borne by the consumer in the past. Should a bail out be considered, not one nickel should be forthcoming f>>>