Big Three Plea
 

When talking about American automobile manufacturers, people always mention "The Big Three." These are, of course, Ford, GM, and Daimler/Chrysler. Today, the three predictably stuffed-suit-CEOs of that big three met with W to discuss...well, we probably don't "really" know what they discussed, but we know what they said they discussed.

http://i.cnn.net/money/2006/11/14/ne...ceos.gi.03.jpg

They said they don't want a government bailout, but they are really concerned about their health care costs. They are also mad with Japan and its yen, both the currency and their "yen" to make better cars than the big three.

Funny thing to me was, in all the talk I heard from W at the post-conference press meeting with the generically caucasian CEOs, nobody (including the press) ever mentioned the "U" word; you know, "Union," as in the UAW, or more accurately, the Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union. What a pain for the Big Three that that stupid union FORCES them to provide health care coverage through their threats of "work actions." They used to be called strikes, but "work action" sounds better.

You know, sometimes I think it would be really cool if, let's say, all the fast-food workers in America just went on strike one day. That would be amazing. And I bet more people would be mad at not getting burgers than breaking down the doors for an opportunity to flip burgers. It seems to me that strikes are about the only way to get the corporate fucktards to understand the relationship between work and profit.

So what do they "really" want? Hard to tell, but they say Japan is being "unfair" and making too much profit at their expense.

Listen, if they made appealing American cars that people other than morons would buy, maybe I would have some sympathy. And maybe if they weren't already oligopolies I could understand their currency exchange rate argument:

FORD
Lincoln
Mercury
Jaguar
Mazda
Land Rover
Austin Martin
Volvo


GM
Chevrolet
Buick
Pontiac
Hummer
GMC
Saturn
Cadilac
Saab
Holden
Opel
Vauxhall
On Star
XM Satelite Radio


Daimler/Chrysler
Maybach
Mercedes Benz
Dodge
Chrysler
Jeep
Freightliner
Fuso
Smart
Sterling
Western Star
Detroit Diesel
Orion
Thomas

Maybe those Big Three CEOs just suck at their jobs.

Well, they're still gettin' their paychecks, so, why should they care?

That is the question
 

That is the question.

They care because if they don't show some progress they'll be out of a job and probably have to scrape to get by on a couple of million dollars a year.

For some time I've wondered, as I see companies trying push more and more of the health care costs on employees, why they haven't pushed for national health care. Never a peep from corporate America on it.

Afraid of offending Doctors? Drug companies? Health Insurance companies?
I doubt if they're afraid of an increase in corporate taxes, but maybe a mandatory fee per employee, if it went through.:confused:

Tax increases work to destroy prosperity, and prosperity destroying is not what a CEO is at work to do; they get fired if they do that. Big businessmen as a class, leaving aside the occasional exception, aren't going to bring socialism on. Seems simple enough.

If your costs of production aren't covered by your returns in a free market, you're on the way out. These costs includes huge union-scale wages, and they include benefits. Quite bluntly, modern-day unionism is contaminated by monopolism. Not only should managements be in competition to attract workers, but unions should be in competition also -- which is precisely what is not mandated by union law as it currently stands.