GM And China

1. 76

   brimancandyposted 11 years ago

   I was watching a news report about the supposed comeback of GM. And, I was kind of sad by what I heard about their business ventures in China.
   
   After receiving an 800 billion dollar bailout from the fed, which probably saved a lot of american auto workers jobs, (The ones where GM did not already close factories down) we now learn that business is booming for them in China. The report talked to GM execs who claimed that the American auto sales in China could reach 30 million autos sold every year, to the tune of billions in sales. Sounds like great news for america right? NOT!!
   
   Instead of reinvesting that money in America, and producing the 30 million plus cars in the United States, the company plans to build and sell all of those 30 million cars by building auto factories in China. Which once again screws auto workers in the United States out of jobs. Which makes one wonder how long before all of the so-called American cars will be made in China, and shipped here like everything else. Something the US government is saying nothing about.
   
   So, the question is, how long can GM claim the Chinese love affair with American made cars be legitimate if all the cars it sells are not made in America. That just stinks to me. Especially when the company stands to make billions. I say tax the crap out of them, and make them pay back every sent of the bailout money, and give it to all the US auto workers who have already lost their jobs.
   
   We have allowed our government to let American corporations to get far too much for far too long.

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2. 65

   Tusitala Tomposted 11 years ago

   You mean you haven't yet come to the conclusion that government's don't have the final say as to what goes on in America?   I'm talking about the heads of the corporations which donate big money to political campaigns with the tacit proviso that when that government gets in it will certainly look favourably - if not downright approve - the proposals put forward by those who enabled it to get into office.   I don't pretend to know what goes on in any detail in any government, but I did hear somewhere that there are more professional 'lobbyists' than there are congressmen and women whose job it is to sway government decision makers their clients' way.
   
   I doubt very much that the current US government is going to tax GM in order to recover all that bail out money...maybe someone does...

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3. 76

   brimancandyposted 11 years ago

   Just a comment. The deal that Obama, Jennifer Granholm, and Debbie Stabinow made with GM to keep them out of filing Chapter 13, was a bailout loan, in which GM will have to pay back a certain amount of the bailout, but it doesn't claim how much, or for how long GM will have to pay that money back.
   
   My guess is that GM will keep up up it's end of the bargain, and as soon as the payback is complete, they will probably be like any other American Company that has jumped ship for lower wages, and begin closing up shop. They made the same deals with the Electrolux company, which sells appliances, and added a voucher program which was a lot like "Cash for clunkers" and, as soon as that program ended, and the government gravy train expired. The Company closed it's factories in Michigan and moved all of it's operations over seas. Only they raked in huge profits.
   
   So, the US government is not the problem. It's Corporate greed. Which is something our government should be doing more to stop. The Companies claim the general public will benefit by lower prices on their goods. But, so far, the cost of those products has only gone up, while the cost of making them has dropped nearly 80 percent. In some countries even more.

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4. 64

   atechwizposted 11 years ago

   I too feel that it is not just GM doing this.  I understand the point being made was with regard to the bailout however.  Corporations are in many ways evil when it comes to making money.  I remember working for a company that constantly, and I mean constantly, reminded us American workers that if we failed to meet quota that the corporate office would close our facility and open a new one in Mexico.  I understand companies need to make a profit but perhaps if they reduced the pay of their management teams then profits could still be obtained and we could once again be proud when we buy products that are made in the USA.

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