oh heck no!! GM bonuses

[HOGFAN]

GM is giving bonuses while they still owe taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars for the bailout..please go to the GM website and complain(assuming that you do)
THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!

 

[cabanafrau]

How much of the Wall Street bailouts have been repaid? In some cases the bonuses paid to five Wall Street execs or less far outweigh the entirety of the GM bonuses. Take note, many of the Wall Street execs are the same ones who helped cause the collapse of our economic system.

Where's the outrage on that front?

I'd be inclined to believe that if you searched public tax records you'd find the names of many of those same Wall Street execs listed for unpaid taxes, right along w/ many celebrities who seem to have no problem coughing up the cash for more bling, etc.

Why such vitriol when it comes to an average Joe who works hard for a living catching a break sometimes?

Note, this comes from a Michigander who does not live in an auto-employed household in any way, shape or fashion. I'm just tired of the unlevel playing field.

 

[tomthebarncat]

of why I would never buy an American made car, what a load of crap!

 

[jen0610]

GM is giving bonuses while they still owe taxpayers MILLIONS of dollars for the bailout..please go to the GM website and complain(assuming that you do)
THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!

But according to the news report they showed this morning on this here locally (we have a GM truck plant here in town), GM has repaid the bailout money. And the bonuses are to the tune of $4,000.00 per employee.

Would be nice, if DH still had his job at a GM supplier, but alas due to GM's issues - shut downs and slashing orders, he was laid off back in Oct 2009 and is still searching for a full time job. Very short temp jobs are all that are out there. Bankrupcy for us is coming closer and closer every day. No bailout for us.

 

[LisaR]

of why I would never buy an American made car, what a load of crap!

And this is another example of why it is not fair that American cars are all lumped into one pile. Ford DID NOT take a bailout. Ford pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and did it all on their own without any government intervention. Unfortunately, there are far too many people like yourself that are looking for any excuse not to buy an American car. The excuses about cars from the 70's that sucked or bailouts that didn't exist need to stop. Things change and it is really disappointing that people won't stand behind an American made company especially when they are producing top ranking cars.

 

[cabanafrau]

But according to the news report they showed this morning on this here locally (we have a GM truck plant here in town), GM has repaid the bailout money. And the bonuses are to the tune of $4,000.00 per employee.

Would be nice, if DH still had his job at a GM supplier, but alas due to GM's issues - shut downs and slashing orders, he was laid off back in Oct 2009 and is still searching for a full time job. Very short temp jobs are all that are out there. Bankrupcy for us is coming closer and closer every day. No bailout for us.

I sincerely hope something good comes along for you very soon. I know many, many people in this situation and we are only just coming out of a scare for DH's job ourselves.

I'd truly love to read a post from you and many others that good solid employment has come your way.

 

[QT Pooh]

GM has repaid their bailout money to the government.

 

[tlmdisney]

1

 

[cabanafrau]

And this is another example of why it is not fair that American cars are all lumped into one pile. Ford DID NOT take a bailout. Ford pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and did it all on their own without any government intervention. Unfortunately, there are far too many people like yourself that are looking for any excuse not to buy an American car. The excuses about cars from the 70's that sucked or bailouts that didn't exist need to stop. Things change and it is really disappointing that people won't stand behind an American made company especially when they are producing top ranking cars.

Not to mention many foreign automakers are subsidized by their governments as a standard operating procedure.

 

[cabanafrau]

GM has repaid bailout money, but I believe there is still money owed and the government still has an ownership stake in the company.

 

[LBKB]

The only american made car we'll buy again is Ford. Will be looking at foriegn made or ford. GM quality has disappeared and NO customer care for product after it is bought. NEVER again anything from General Motors

 

[kydisneyfans]

GM did some creative accounting to try to say the government has been repaid, but most of us know better.

The Ford Windstar van issues (98-03) is starting to get more and more media attention. Those vehicles are literally disintegrating and a man driving one in PA lost control from a collapsed axle and rammed into a storefront. Hundreds of Windstar owners are driving rentals at Ford's expense until they decide a long term solution, and a TV investigation last week said that only 1/6 of the van owners have taken their van in for the recalls, which now are up to 4. Some Ford van owners have had rentals over 4 months through Enterprise at $38 a day. This story will get bigger. If it were Toyota, the media would have been all over them by now.

As for the GM issue, IF the government has been repaid in full, give the hard working employees a bonus, they deserve it. If there is tax money involved, then I want a check too, since my dollars helped this turnaround.

 

[M5ward]

GM has repaid their bailout money to the government.

GM "repaid" the bailout money with TARP (Trouble Asset Relief Program) money. In other words, they repaid bailout money with bailout money (not earnings)..so they should still be accountable to the federal government (taxpayers) for that money. Pretty creative accounting!

 

[Kathi OD]

of why I would never buy an American made car, what a load of crap!

I don't understand this line of thinking at all, let alone the outrage. Can someone please explain why it is OK to buy a car manufactured by a foreign company & subsidized by their government, but not one manufactured by a US company & subsidized by the US government. Maybe if our government had been subsidizing our car manufacturers for decades, the perceived quality of domestic vehicles would match that of foreign ones.

Pot meet kettle, anyone?

 

[AKL_Megs]

As someone from Michigan, someone from Detroit, I know the individuals getting the $4000 deserve it. I know MANY auto employees - most of my neighbors work for Ford - and I would rather they, who work long, hard hours, get the money than the government to give it to people like the idiot I saw yesterday buying Ghirardelli Valentines chocolate and a 24-pack of Diet Coke with a Bridge Card.

 

[Lassie Lynne]

Just remember that not all American cars are totally made in america with american parts.....some have foreign parts or assembled someplace else. Also, not all foreign cars are 100% foreign, they have american made parts or assembled in USA. Nowadays, each car when you look into the paperwork will tell you where the parts were made and where the car was assembled.

 

[FireDancer]

I don't understand this line of thinking at all, let alone the outrage. Can someone please explain why it is OK to buy a car manufactured by a foreign company & subsidized by their government, but not one manufactured by a US company & subsidized by the US government. Maybe if our government had been subsidizing our car manufacturers for decades, the perceived quality of domestic vehicles would match that of foreign ones.

Pot meet kettle, anyone?

I am paying taxes to the US government so I care what they do with that money. I am not paying taxes to the Japanese or German government so I really don't care what they do with their tax dollars.

Personally I'd rather support Honda because even though they are owned by a foreign company a lot of their cars are made in Ohio and the only person I know who even works in the automotive industry is an engineer down in Columbus with Honda. I really don't care where the owners are since in reality the owners are the stockholders anyway. American made is more important than American owned as far as I'm concerned.

Just my preference of course, I'd never tell anyone else what kind of car to buy. I don't know why anyone else tries to persuade others what to do with their money.

 

[sbell111]

GM workers are getting a $4000 bonus? I'm sorry, but I simply cannot work up the outrage over that.

Our next car will be a GM. So will the next, next one and the one after that.

 

[sbell111]

Just remember that not all American cars are totally made in america with american parts.....some have foreign parts or assembled someplace else. Also, not all foreign cars are 100% foreign, they have american made parts or assembled in USA. Nowadays, each car when you look into the paperwork will tell you where the parts were made and where the car was assembled.

The difference is whether the profits come home to the US or wander off to Yokohama or wherever.

 

[momof1princess]

Just remember that not all American cars are totally made in america with american parts.....some have foreign parts or assembled someplace else. Also, not all foreign cars are 100% foreign, they have american made parts or assembled in USA. Nowadays, each car when you look into the paperwork will tell you where the parts were made and where the car was assembled.

this is true. many GM and ford cars are produced in mexico and central america, while toyota and honda produce many of their cars in tennessee, ohio and alabama. i live an hour from the alabama honda plant, and i've seen many lives changed for the better because of honda. we also have a hyundai plant in south alabama and a kia plant in southern georgia, very close to the alabama/georgia border. oh, and there's a mercedes benz plant in tuscaloosa, alabama.
my husband works at an aluminum recycling plant, which supplies molten metal to honda for engine blocks-just one example of locally made parts for "foreign" cars.