By Staff
Taking three separate private jets to beg for money from Congress shows an arrogance so stunning that it makes Donald Trump look shy and modest in comparison. The action also proves that the American Automotive "Big Three" could get all the cash they want from the government and still find a way to be bankrupt a few years later.
While gas prices, economic changes and cheap foreign labor did not help the American auto industry, it's clear nothing could help three CEOs so out of touch with the public.
These men weren't smart enough to look frugal when asking for a taxpayer bailout, so it's hard to imagine they are the right leaders to save these companies.
To spend money well, you must have some basic idea of thriftiness. If you consider switching to a cheaper brand of champagne for your bathtub being fiscally responsible, than you should not be in charge of spending taxpayer dollars.
Of course, management was not alone in ruining what was once our nation's most prosperous, inventive and stable industry. Greedy labor unions, which ignored the lessons of the steel industry, pushed wages and benefits out of whack with the free market, making costs significantly higher than those at various foreign competitors.
Still, in an amazingly close race to see who can bankrupt the American auto industry first, management appears to have taken a slight lead over the labor unions. It's hard to predict whose foolish actions and unbridled greed will actually be the final nail in Detroit's coffin, but I'd be pretty confident if I was a coffin salesman.
Detroit has had its share of hard times and has been beaten down more times than the Lions. From the advent of foreign competition to gas prices making all their profitable cars irrelevant and Kid Rock repeatedly reminding people that he comes from there, this city has had more than a few difficulties.
The American auto industry, however, has brought on its own demise. By being incredibly arrogant and ignoring its better-run foreign competition for decades, Ford, GM and Chrysler have become unable to make the changes needed to survive.
These bloated behemoths should have died years ago as their reputation for inferior, inefficient cars sent their customers to Toyota, Honda and others. The American Big Three got a reprieve when the United States driver became enamored with SUVs and pickup trucks – vehicles they excelled at making.
The success of these products should have allowed Detroit to build up the financial resources needed for the day when the pendulum swung back towards fuel efficiency.
Instead, nobody at Ford, GM or Chrysler had the foresight to plan ahead and when Americans want small cars, all the Big Three have to sell are gas-guzzling behemoths.
Of course, Chevrolet and Ford both have small hybrid vehicles planned for release next year, a move akin to the Detroit Tigers announcing they have signed Nolan Ryan for the 2011 season. It's too little too late and not enough to convince anyone that the people running these companies would spend our money wisely.
If we want to bail out the Big Three, then make new management and concessions from labor a condition of any deal.
Open all the books and find CEOs who treat the company's money (or in this case the taxpayers') as their own.
Only then might it be worth saving the Big Three from themselves.