Senator Shelby opposes auto loans?

Alabama is home to Hyundai, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and soon Nissan. Alabama may have given tax breaks and incentives to get foreign automakers into Alabama...but they created thousands of jobs for Alabamians (Ackhem, we're Americans too), the South is not unionized (which is an incentive in itself), and Alabama is ranked #20 in terms of lowest unemployment rate.

Sen. Shelby and Sen. Sessions of Alabama opposed the Wall St Bailout and oppose bailing out the Big 3. Our Senators actually support the people of Alabama's opinion (Ackem, most Americans opposed the bailouts, but their Senators didn't honor their constituent's opinion).

They aren't receiving kickbacks. Sen. Shelby said, "This isn't the General Motors we all grew up with." And it's not.

If we bailout the Big 3...we're only bailing out the United Autoworkers Union - that tried to block Alabama from getting jobs from foreign automakers, aided in busting the KC-45 tanker deal, tried to block the German steel mill from coming into Alabama...all because Alabama doesn't support labor unions. So, it's kind of payback in a way.

Giving breaks for companies to create jobs for Americans is not a bailout. The South is part of the United States...FYI.

EDIT:

No, it's not OK to kill millions of jobs at GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Since the UAW brings in $100+ million annually and has over $2 billion in net worth... Why don't they lend the Big 3 a little pocket change.

The fact is that your statements are against the automakers in Alabama (which is my home state) and I live 3 miles from a Hyundai parts plant that employs a lot of locals. Since the Alabama automakers aren't unionized, they make less, and low and behold their products are affordable.

GM itself said that labor costs make up 80% of the cost of a vehicle and you can't deny that the UAW is responsible for majority of that cost. You can't deny that UAW having the Big 3 by the balls has a lot to do with their current situation.

No, we can't lose the Big 3, but we also shouldn't reward them, shouldn't have rewarded the banks, and shouldn't reward anyone else for their bad business decisions.

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The thing is that the companies aren't likely to go out of business. They're likely to merge during bankruptcy and reemerge as a strong company again. Bailing out employees while they build a car no one wants because it's inferior to the competition doesn't make sense. The cars are inferior because of the labor costs associated with them. The average assembly employee working for GM makes $28 an hour and has free benefits. The average employee for Toyota at their American factories is $18 an hour with reasonable benefits. Let's be honest here, these guys aren't doing rocket science. They're bolting a car together. Please don't think I don't respect the important work they do but it's not talented labor. This is work that a teenager could be doing with only a few days of training. $60,000 a year with free benefits is more, a lot more, than the average American makes. That's even more than the average doctor or pilot makes a year. Their cars are inferior because they can't afford to put quality parts into them. They've got to cut corners where they can to try to make a profit because everyone else is using substantially cheaper labor. The answer is that they need to start building cars people want to buy, that's a lot different problem than saying we're working on a plug in hybrid. I know the difference between a loan and a bailout. You pay back a loan. The car manufacturers are asking for a bailout but calling it a loan. Even the car manufacturers have said this won't be enough money to keep them afloat and they expect to come back for more money come next fall. Doesn't sound like a repayment plan to me. (Maybe it is . . . depends how they spend the money they get next time . . . maybe they'll pay back the old loan with the new bailout.)

I too am proud of our senators here in Alabama.

I'm not saying it's OK for those millions of workers to lose their jobs, and I don't think our senators are receiving kickbacks. I think he was just asking for a reason to think they might be able to stay in business if they were given the bail-out.

Things are tough all over.

" In July, Mercedes slowed production for the first time in more than a decade of U.S. production as rising gas prices in June drastically cut sales. Although the buyout packages are being offered to all employees, Mercedes spokespersons are quick to point out that these are not to be considered layoffs. In fact, the automaker will only hand out an undisclosed limited number of buyout packages as it makes changes to the plant to bring production back in line with demand.

Alabama has been hard hit this year by the global auto industry slump. The state's automotive industry is 134,000 workers strong, and the sobering news from Mercedes-Benz only adds to earlier production cuts from Honda and slowdowns from Hyundai, two other automakers with assembly plants in the Heart of Dixie. "

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/04/mercedes-offers...