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Friday, June 12, 2009

Bailed-Out GM Asking For Cash From Bailed-Out States?

The worst of the worst.
Chicago Tribune Excerpt:
Bredesen said the state doesn't have "a lot of spare money available to make large upfront payments." The governor wouldn't specify how much money GM was asking for, but said that hundreds of millions of dollars would be "the low end of the range."
But who could blame GM for demanding a huge cash hand-out from Bredesen when.....
Chicago Tribune Excerpt:
The Bredesen administration has landed other high-profile automotive deals through its aggressive corporate tax incentives, including a new $1 billion Volkswagen AG plant in Chattanooga and the relocation of Nissan Motor Corp.'s North American headquarters from California to suburban Nashville in 2006.

USA Today Excerpt:
Former Milwaukee mayor John Norquist says once a city starts offering subsidies, developers come to expect it. "You'll have one or two connected developers with their hands out doing all the deals," he says. "The little guy — the plumber who builds five houses — can't afford lawyers and lobbyists."
Tell me about it. In Janesville, we know all too well about the run-away welfare perks one or two wealthy local developers and business groups are handed regularly.

I for one am tired about hearing that GM originally planned to build the new small car in China but instead decided to build it in the U.S. only as a union concession. After reading the Trib article, I'm convinced they have no loyalty to America or our workers. We should slam the door on GM and consider the $25 billion in bail-out money a cheap price to pay to get rid of them. The last thing America needs is to twist the arm of someone to make them stay...when they've signaled they'd be happier with General Mao. It's not about politics or the skilled workers, it's always about the $$$.

If the Janesville plant has a strong enough foundation for stamping, the UAW should consider building their own vehicle at the Janesville plant. There has to be investors willing to build the future American car right here in Janesville. We've got the workers, the transportation and the infrastructure. There's certainly a market for it, considering the domestic market has just about collapsed.

* UPDATE *
JS Online Excerpt:
The only one they want to know is how much cash are you going to put in up front - we don't care about tax credits, we don't care about any of those other things," he said.

2 comments:

Capitalism is bankrupt said...

Here's a prediction. GM will save face and choose Janesville over the others and claim it's about the workers and the region. And they'll prove it wasn't about the money because they can say they turned down whatever cashola the other two offered ;)

Lou Kaye said...

Interesting prediction. But in order to save face they'd have think what they're asking for now is absurd. They don't. This is the new normal.

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