GM sending bailout money to Korea

#TCOT #diggcons

You would have thought General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner would have learned a little about the value of PR last November.  Flying to DC to beg for taxpayer money aboard a private jet almost cost him and the other little piggies their bailout cash.  Evidently he didn’t learn a thing.

In an announcement at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show today, Little Piggy Wagoner announced that GM would bypass an American supplier to spend our money in Korea.  The battery cells for GM’s long overdue Chevy Volt, will be purchased from LG Chem in Korea.  LG Chem and Massachussetts based A123 Systems/Continental were competing for the contract.  I wonder what Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) thinks of the bailout now that GM is bypassing a Massachussets company and sending his constituents’ jobs overseas. 

Now, I’m a free market/free trade fan and if these were normal times I wouldn’t raise a fuss about this.  However, these aren’t normal times and last month’s auto company bailout cast off any semblance of GM operating under free market/free trade principles.

Recall, we were told the bailout of GM and Chrysler was essential to save American jobs and prevent an imminent collapse of our economy if these two went under.  In this video, Wagoner claims the bailout will “preserve many jobs, and support the continued operation of GM and the many suppliers, dealers and small businesses across the country that depend on our company and our industry.”  The following is a Bush quote from an article in the Dallas Morning News after the bailout was announced.  (emphasis added)

“By giving the auto companies a chance to restructure, we will shield the American people from a harsh economic blow at a vulnerable time,” the president said. “And we will give American workers an opportunity to show the world once again that they can meet challenges with ingenuity and determination, and emerge stronger than before.”

This would be understandable if the A123 batteries just couldn’t cut it, but that’s not the case.  GM’s vice-chairman, Bob Lutz says the A123 product was “very good.” 

That’s not the worst part.

Lutz went on to blame the US government for GM’s choice of a foreign supplier, saying Detroit isn’t the problem, Washington is.  His rationale?  The US government hasn’t spent enough money on research to develop battery technology.  He goes on saying this “is part of the penalty we pay in the U.S. for not having a well-funded R&D budget.”

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!  Can you believe the arrogance of these jerks running GM?

They come begging from us, telling everyone that will listen the US economy is dependent on them and we must fill their coffers to save our jobs, save our economy.  Then, they have the gall to send that money overseas and tell us its our fault!

GM management still doesn’t get it.  They’re dependent on us, the US taxpayers/consumers.  This latest PR boondoggle is going to use up whatever good will the American taxpayer has for this US icon.  I’ve bought nothing but GM vehicles for the past 15 years, and now I’ll probably never buy another.

Congress shouldn’t give the idiots running GM another dime.  The only hope for this American icon’s survival is bankruptcy.  The GM Board of Directors should be ousted for leaving incompetent Little Piggy Wagoner in charge and paying him millions of dollars to lose billions of the company’s money.  Wagoner and the rest of GM’s management should be replaced with a team that understands that without customers, there’s no chance of success.

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