Who’s going to build excitement now?

So General Motors in their never-ending quest to run their company into the ground, has decided to kill off Pontiac.  Yeah, kill off the brand that’s supposed to be exciting and fun and youthful and performance-driven.  I can understand that Olds was boring, but Pontiac? 

Granted like all brands, there were some models that puzzled me.  Why does one brand have to be one thing for everybody?  The Trans Sprot mini-van.  There’s nothing sporty or performance about one.  The Torrent.  It’s the same thing as the Equinox, and while that’s a peppy vehicle, it’s a truck. 

GM is hanging their hat on the new Camaro.  So kill off Pontiac and any chances of bringing back the Firebird or Trans AM?

Pontiac finally dropped the plastic glue-on pieces and started designing clean models.  But what is a G4, G5, or G6.  Dont’ bullshit a bullshit artist.  It’s not a ‘69 GTO.  Can somebody please explain to me what the hell an Aztec is?  And they were able to correct one of the biggest mockeries of the auto industry, the Fiero.  That Solstice roadster is one cute little vehicle. 

And in this economy, why is going to buy a two-seat roadster?  Even though they’re not that expensive, it’s not something you pile the family into.  So basically it’s a luxury, and it’s no surprise that sales have plumeted.  And that’s no good news for the workers that build them at the GM plant in Wilmington, DE.  They’ve been put on notice that there is no model that plant after 2010. 

And while politicians are clammoring to keep the good-paying, blue-collar jobs here in Delaware, the writing has been on the walls for quite some time.  Forget that the domestic auto industry is shrinking, it’s been leaving the east coast in droves in order to tighten up their supply chain.  They want to be closer to their suppliers, and there is an extra cost in moving parts (and finished cars) over a greater distance.  GM in Wilmington is the only auto plant left on the East Coast.  GM closed in Linden, NJ where they built SUV’s.  Ford closed in Edision, NJ, where I used to see the Ranger pickups roll off the line as I drove past the place to and from work.  GM closed the Trenton, NJ Delphi parts plant over a decade ago.  GM in Baltimore?  Gone.  And most recently, Chrysler shuttered their Newark, DE plant. 

So why are the employees shocked at GM Wilmington that they’re on borrowed time?  I don’t want to see prople lose their jobs, and the assorted shit that follows, but if the writing is on the wall, and you can see the hammer coming down, wouldn’t you be doing something about it other than sit there and hope for a miracle?  I think the new symbol of the UAW is an ostrich with its head in the sand, becuase clearly that’s what they are.

A very slippery slope…

I like to cut through the bullshit and separate the issues.  Since I’m not making millions of dollars, nor do I need to bow to advertiser interests, I have a lot more wiggle room than the papers and the news networks.  Especially television news or news-entertainment programs like to have compelling stories that will pull the viewer in and make them watch for 25 minutes until they finally show the hook. 

The headlines and lead stories are about how the bailed-out banks are spending their money.  AIG has used it for retention bonuses to some of the very people who nearly collapsed the global economy.  And Citibank needs $10 million for new executive offices.   The general public is outraged.  They’re about to come marching down Wall Street with their pitchforks and torches ablazing. 

Here’s the problem.  AIG had employment contracts that awarded bonuses that were not merit-based.  So no matter how good or bad a job these people did, the checks were going to be cut.  Not bad work if you can get it.  And I’m not saying all these people were saints, but like the old saying goes, a few bad apples spoils the bunch. 

So the federal government sends an ungodly amount of money to the banks in order to keep the world from coming to an end.  Citigroup gets $45 billion in bailouts, and the spend a paltry $10 million in executive office renovations.  It doesn’t look good that the top honchos are getting new mahogany desks, gold-plated carpets, and diamond-encrusted chandeliers for where they have to go to work while the ham-and-eggers are sitting in 20-year-old cubicles.  It makes for a PR nightmare.  But I highly doubt that Citigroup got the call that the feds were sending the trucks full of money, and somebody got on the phone and started calling interior decorators and architects.  If this were any other year, they would have spent this money anyways!

But here’s the rub.  Last year the Bush administration doled out stimulus checks to just about everybody in the country in an effort to give the economy a kick in the pants.  The idea was that we’d just go out and buy new televisions, laptops, and cars with them.  And while a few did, a good number did what they would do given the circumstances…they paid off credit card debt, paid utility or other outstanding bills, or just threw it in the bank.  Now how would we as the general public like it if we were told that after we spent those checks, that we were bad people for paying off credit cards and not buying more consumable goods?  You wake up in the morning and see your name in the paper…can you believe how much he sent to MBNA?  And then you hear an angry mob coming down your street.  It’s the UAW!  And they want to know why you didn’t buy a Dodge Durango!  It doesn’t matter that you weren’t in the market for a new car.  Because if more people spent their stimulus checks on Durangos, Chrysler wouldn’t be shutting down the assembly plant in Newark, DE.  Do you see how ridiculous this is?

The problem is that some people say that the government shout not interfere with big business, and let the market shake things out.  Sometimes you have to bend the rules a little to keep some companies that are too big to fail from failing, because the ripple effect would be much much worse.  Once the government starts tries to run the businesses through specialized regulations, we’re entering very dangerous territory.  They want to tax the AIG bonuses at 90% in an attempt to get some of the bailout money back.  Allowing this kind of legislation to go through sets an awful precedence.  What’s next?  Taxing profits for oil companies whose initials are E.M.?  Or government subcontractors whose name rhymes with Richard Burton?  Perhaps if the government had actually regulated the banking industry instead of letting the equivalent of children running with scissors, we wouldn’t be in the mess after all.