New Ford ad takes on bailout

[chargerboy69]

I am almost surprised they have not brought this up sooner.

As the story states, the guy in the commercial is a real Ford customer and totally unscripted.  The guy is right on the money in my opinion.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/09/16/ford-tv-ad-slams-obama-auto-bailouts

[Ghoste]

Surprised they didnt sooner myself. 

[41husk]

I am surprised they have not taken that angle sooner.  Hard to argue with that!

[bakerhillpins]

Agree with the bailout of the others or not, it may actually end up putting Ford's goods in a vice...

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/02/autos/fords_brilliant_bailout_plan_may_hurt.fortune/index.htm

Interesting counter point to Ford "not receiving a bailout". Guess it all depends on how you look at things.

"During the crisis of 2008-9, for example, Ford Motor Company borrowed as much as $7 billion from a lending facility of the Federal Reserve. But the details of these borrowings did not come to light until just three weeks ago. And even now, very few investors – or car-buyers – seem to realize that GM and Chrysler were not the only "Big 3" car companies to receive a helping hand from the government. Ford also cashed a few government checks."

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/12/blue-ops-the-clandestine-bailout-of-ford/

[Troy]

Agree with the bailout of the others or not, it may actually end up putting Ford's goods in a vice...

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/02/autos/fords_brilliant_bailout_plan_may_hurt.fortune/index.htm

Interesting counter point to Ford "not receiving a bailout". Guess it all depends on how you look at things.

"During the crisis of 2008-9, for example, Ford Motor Company borrowed as much as $7 billion from a lending facility of the Federal Reserve. But the details of these borrowings did not come to light until just three weeks ago. And even now, very few investors – or car-buyers – seem to realize that GM and Chrysler were not the only "Big 3" car companies to receive a helping hand from the government. Ford also cashed a few government checks."

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/12/blue-ops-the-clandestine-bailout-of-ford/

Apparently that loan fund was there all along. Not to mention $7 billion is a whole lot less than the $100 billion the other two needed just to survive.

But yeah, they're probably going to get bent over by the next contract.

Troy

[Chryco Psycho]

There is so much to this I could write a book
Firstly the fallout from having another american car company go under would be devastating .
Second once that company is gone who will fill the void , with all the hoops you have to jump through you could never create a major car company now , it is not 100 years ago when anyone could start building cars in a small factory & build it into a major company .
AT least Chrysler paid back the loans early just as they did in the late 70s/ early 80s ...too bad they had to sell out to FIx It Agian Tony , but that will be the third owner including  Diamler that raped them .

[nvrbdn]

The Fix...



There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg, Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?" I think this 80 year old guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.
You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new AMERICAN Car. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes..

Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!

[stripedelete]

You can tell he was 80.  $2 million and it just might work....

It certainly beats the current strategy.

[bobs66440]

The Fix...



There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg, Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?" I think this 80 year old guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.
You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new AMERICAN Car. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes..

Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!

I like that solution! I'll be first in line!! 

[chargerboy69]

There is so much to this I could write a book
Firstly the fallout from having another american car company go under would be devastating .
Second once that company is gone who will fill the void , with all the hoops you have to jump through you could never create a major car company now , it is not 100 years ago when anyone could start building cars in a small factory & build it into a major company .

Your right, someone could not just start a company like they did 100 years ago, unless it is a green car then you can get 500 billion in taxpayer funds to piss away.

The problem I have with the bailout was people said GM shutting down would be devastating to the economy.  But would they really close all the doors, nope. First they would go through the bankruptcy process. Then someone would have stepped up and bought GM.  Sure things would change, and probably many people would have lost their jobs, but GM would still be around, and end the end be stronger than ever.  All the bailout money did was allow them to continue to do business as usual.  They needed a new owner to shake things up and put the union in their place.  Roger Penske tried to save Saturn, but once again the United States government had to stick their meddling self in where it did not belong.  Just my opinion.

[Ponch ®]

The Fix...



There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg, Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?" I think this 80 year old guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.
You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

Of course, that's assuming that it doesn't create a brain drain and gives companies even more incentive to move overseas or simply cut those jobs altogether. Layoffs on the government's dime? HELL YEAH!!!

2) They MUST buy a new AMERICAN Car. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.

Sweet! More shifts and jobs for the fine folks in Canada and Mexico that put the cars together. Well, at least for the year or two it will take for all of these people to get around to buying those cars. And wait til the UAW gets a whiff of this...

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.

Oh awesome...lets all of a sudden create a huge demand for housing, which will drive home prices up and put them out of reach for those who aren't eligible for this golden parachute. At least we can count on these retirees to take equity loans out or flip these homes for a nifty profit sooner or later. Then let's wait for the bubble to burst...again.

It can't get any easier than that!!

Thats what Im saying! Why didn't some nobel prize winning economist think of this sooner? Great idea, kamerad!

and then theres the math... 40,000,000 x 1,000,000 = 40,000,000,000,000.

[bull]

It can't get any easier than that!!

Thats what Im saying! Why didn't some nobel prize winning economist think of this sooner? Great idea, kamerad!

Nobel Prize winner. That whole institution has become a joke.

[Ponch ®]

It can't get any easier than that!!

Thats what Im saying! Why didn't some nobel prize winning economist think of this sooner? Great idea, kamerad!

Nobel Prize winner. That whole institution has become a joke.

good point. The senile old man figured it out though...

[Ponch ®]

You can tell he was 80.  $2 million and it just might work....

It certainly beats the current strategy.

sure, lets go for two million a piece and make it a nice even $80 trillion.

[stripedelete]

You can tell he was 80.  $2 million and it just might work....

It certainly beats the current strategy.

sure, lets go for two million a piece and make it a nice even $80 trillion.

Ya, I get the larger picture.  But could one last 30 years on what's left of the million after the mortgage and the car?  Wonder what health care would cost of 15 years.  (Probably 18 yrs by the time a 50 yo gets there.)

[Ponch ®]

You can tell he was 80.  $2 million and it just might work....

It certainly beats the current strategy.

sure, lets go for two million a piece and make it a nice even $80 trillion.

Ya, I get the larger picture.  But could one last 30 years on what's left of the million after the mortgage and the car?  Wonder what health care would cost of 15 years.  (Probably 18 yrs by the time a 50 yo gets there.)

well, we could make stipulation #4 that they blow whatever is left on viagra, hookers, and coke...and they won't make it to 55.

[bull]

The guy has a point though. If you want to stimulate the economy and increase consumer confidence the govt. should give some regular folks those billions instead of the irresponsible corporations. Solyndra goes bankrupt, taxpayers lose $500 million. I bet 500 regular Joe's could have put a million each to better use.

[1970Moparmann]

Good for them!

[stripedelete]

You can tell he was 80.  $2 million and it just might work....

It certainly beats the current strategy.

sure, lets go for two million a piece and make it a nice even $80 trillion.

Ya, I get the larger picture.  But could one last 30 years on what's left of the million after the mortgage and the car?  Wonder what health care would cost of 15 years.  (Probably 18 yrs by the time a 50 yo gets there.)

well, we could make stipulation #4 that they blow whatever is left on viagra, hookers, and coke...and they won't make it to 55.

I can get behind any economic solution that includes hookers.

[Tilar]

If you want to stimulate the economy and increase consumer confidence the govt. should .....

Turn in their resignation letters starting with the hooligan right at the top.

well, we could make stipulation #4 that they blow whatever is left on viagra, hookers, and coke...and they won't make it to 55.

Great, Take a man that hasn't done a single pushup in 20 years, and all of a sudden give him a reason to do 200 of them in 5 minutes. 

[aussiemuscle]

Second once that company is gone who will fill the void?

If there's money to be made, someone will step up to take advantage of it.

[nh_mopar_fan]

There is so much to this I could write a book
Firstly the fallout from having another american car company go under would be devastating .
Second once that company is gone who will fill the void , with all the hoops you have to jump through you could never create a major car company now , it is not 100 years ago when anyone could start building cars in a small factory & build it into a major company .
AT least Chrysler paid back the loans early just as they did in the late 70s/ early 80s ...too bad they had to sell out to FIx It Agian Tony , but that will be the third owner including  Diamler that raped them .

Chrysler has not paid back all the money.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/06/obama-and-chrysler-repayment----the-whole-story/1

[stripedelete]

There is so much to this I could write a book
Firstly the fallout from having another american car company go under would be devastating .
Second once that company is gone who will fill the void , with all the hoops you have to jump through you could never create a major car company now , it is not 100 years ago when anyone could start building cars in a small factory & build it into a major company .
AT least Chrysler paid back the loans early just as they did in the late 70s/ early 80s ...too bad they had to sell out to FIx It Agian Tony , but that will be the third owner including  Diamler that raped them .

Chrysler has not paid back all the money.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/06/obama-and-chrysler-repayment----the-whole-story/1

Actually, there is an argument that Chrysler never really paid back the 80's loans.  Tax breaks were  extended to Chrysler only as part of the bailout.  Those tax breaks enabled Chrysler to pay us back with money we would have received in the form of tax revenue.  Or in otherwords, they paid us back with our own money.   

Both cases remind me of a joke that ends with an interviewer asking an accounting candidate what 2+2 is.
His response is, "What do you want it to be?"   
 

[Ponch ®]

I bet 500 regular Joe's could have put a million each to better use.

you would think so, but as Vainglory would say - empirically we know they wont. They'll use it to pay off their credit card bills and mortgages, put the rest in the bank, and maybe buy a new Waverunner, which "big picture"-wise doesn't do much to stimulate the economy.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

Hmm, I got dragged into this despite minding my own business.  Just when I thought I was out ...they pull me back in!

But in all honesty, I will say one thing that I think has been missing from the discussion, and that is that attempting to stimulate consumer spending is like encouraging the tail to wag the dog.  Spending follows prosperity in the real world, and not the other way around.