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Three Stooges going back to D.C.


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Somethings got to give here. If the gummint can bail out AIG and other Wail Street weasels, why not, as Jay Leno put it, "help companies that actually create products and jobs". And if the media wants to keep kicking the US industry around and continue to announce every little recall that affects the US industry, then they should also quit giving a free pass to Toyota, Nissan etc., as they have just as many recalls. However, the only place you'll ever read about them is in publications such as Car and Driver.

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Think back Harry,

Read this slowly. . . Let it sink in. . . Quietly we go. . . Sheep to slaughter. Absolutely The Funniest Joke Ever! . . . ON US ! ! !

Does anybody out there have any memory of the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY during the Nixon Administration? Anybody? Anything? No? Didn't think so.

Bottom line . . we've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember.

Ready? It was very simple, and at the time everybody thought it very appropriate.

President Nixon launches Project Independence on November 7, 1973 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL. HEY, PRETTY EFFICIENT, HUH? AND NOW IT'S 2008, 31 YEARS LATER, AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS NECESSARY DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR, THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY 'WHAT WAS I THINKING?'

Ah yes, good ole bureaucracy. And now we've bailed out Insurance companies, maybe the auto industry, and are going to turn the Banking system over to them? Not to mention promises of a National Healthcare System! Oh God, PLEASE help us.

http://www.energy.gov/about/timeline1971-1980.htm

Edited by old-hermit
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I'm with Harold.Why is everyone so quick to badmouth the U.S.car makers?Where would we be today if not for them?Think about it......no Impalas,or Camaros,or Novas,noChargers,orRoadrunners,or Cudas,no Mustangs,or Torinos,or Fairlanes,and on and on.Can you imagine 40 years from now someone saying"Dude did you see that 09 Kia Rio?That thing is HOT."I don't think so.So buy American cars,guys,they're still the best deal.Trust me,I'm a car salesman,and everyone knows that we only speak the truth.Now what do I have to do to get you into this new Buick today.LOL Watch for the new Cadillac CTS-V coupe.Rear wheel drive,556 horsepower 6.2 liter v-8,6 speed manuel trans.WOW this aint you're granny's Caddy.

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I always said (" Arrogance will always be ones demise").....And for the BIG 3 Stooges whom thought they were the GODs of the auto industry, pricing cars at an unafortable level, (way too much for what its actually worth) and then complaining that the inports weather its chinese, korean, german, european are not losing their shirts off thier backs. HA HA HA! When I can get my butt in the seat of a Mercedes, BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Saab and other makers for less that the price of a Chevrolet Chrysler or Ford sedan, You gotta have to ask youself....Gee, DUH!!! where did we go wrong?

Along time ago back in 1948 these giants formed a coilition to knock down a little guy making a name for himself by building and trying to market the most advanced car of its time, and most of us remember him by TUCKER.

They were tough then, but look at who's on their knees now.....If these over paid under educated business planners and finacialists would of put any kind of intelligent thought decades ago and keep car prices to an affordable cost so that any working class people could of had the chance or choice to purchace a new car every 2-3 years like the rich folks.....Maybe just maybe they wouldnt be in this s**t.

I sure as heck dont feel sorry for them....I will feel sorry for those who will pay the ultimate price of losing thier jobs at thier expence, because the job cuts are sure not going to be from the top down ,but from the bottom up.....

......its like I said at the begining...."Arrogance will always be ones demise"

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Kinda like the Alaska pipe line huh? Gone save us all from them oil cartels in 1973. What a load of ###### that was. I lived right across the street from a gas station back then and watched as they filled the tanks every night. Yet you could only buy gas on odd or even days depending on you license plate number. Don't you just love our government bureaucracy ?

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RadRides,where I come from the car salesman have nothing to do with the price of a car.It is completely up to the sales manager and the dealership that you are dealing with.If a car dealer will only sell a car for $4000 over book,don't worry about them,they won't be around long.I regularly sell vehicles for $2000 or more under book,and yes I am an honest car salesman(as most of us are).And if people are buying cars that are way over their budget,it's because of their own stupidity,not dishonest salesmen.Every day I deal with MORONS who think we should allow them $3000 over book on their hammered,filthy old trade-in,and sell them a totally reconditioned,spotless,warenteed car for $3000 under book,and I'm the evil car salesman when I tell them I cant do it.And as far as buying one of those wonderful German engineered cars(that they're practically giving away)go ahead,and good luck getting it fixed when something goes wrong with it(and you'll be doing plenty of that).It always amazes me how when a car customer will beat-up a car salesman for 3 or 4 hours to save $200 on a $20,000 car and turn around and pay full price for a TV,jewelry,or piece of furniture that has been marked up by as much as 300 to 800%.So lighten up on car salesmen(they're just trying to make a living),and when you run across one who is too pushy,or tries to rip you off,just don't deal with them,it's that easy,just move on to the next dealer 'till you find one who is willing to work with you,and help you get the best deal on the right car or truck for you(and there are a lot of us out here).And remember,if you get screwed on a car deal,it's probabaly more you're fault than the salesman's.

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HA HA HA! When I can get my butt in the seat of a Mercedes, BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Saab and other makers for less that the price of a Chevrolet Chrysler or Ford sedan, You gotta have to ask youself....Gee, DUH!!! where did we go wrong?

Pssst Dan, You still named part of the Big3 in your comparisson Bro... Good Luck trying to find one not affliated in some way with them :lol:

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Here is a little story that came up several years ago. I think it is very appropriate at the moment. It is a bit long, I am sure most of you will enjoy it.

A Japanese company (Toyota ) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior

management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person

steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person

rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor

performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and

canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India .

Sadly, The End.

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants

inside the US The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads.

IF THIS WASN'T SO SAD IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

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RadRides,where I come from the car salesman have nothing to do with the price of a car.It is completely up to the sales manager and the dealership that you are dealing with.If a car dealer will only sell a car for $4000 over book,don't worry about them,they won't be around long.I regularly sell vehicles for $2000 or more under book,and yes I am an honest car salesman(as most of us are).And if people are buying cars that are way over their budget,it's because of their own stupidity,not dishonest salesmen.Every day I deal with MORONS who think we should allow them $3000 over book on their hammered,filthy old trade-in,and sell them a totally reconditioned,spotless,warenteed car for $3000 under book,and I'm the evil car salesman when I tell them I cant do it.And as far as buying one of those wonderful German engineered cars(that they're practically giving away)go ahead,and good luck getting it fixed when something goes wrong with it(and you'll be doing plenty of that).It always amazes me how when a car customer will beat-up a car salesman for 3 or 4 hours to save $200 on a $20,000 car and turn around and pay full price for a TV,jewelry,or piece of furniture that has been marked up by as much as 300 to 800%.So lighten up on car salesmen(they're just trying to make a living),and when you run across one who is too pushy,or tries to rip you off,just don't deal with them,it's that easy,just move on to the next dealer 'till you find one who is willing to work with you,and help you get the best deal on the right car or truck for you(and there are a lot of us out here).And remember,if you get screwed on a car deal,it's probabaly more you're fault than the salesman's.

Hey Ricco, I never said that you were a dishonest salesman.....in fact I said,"God bless you Sir if you are an honest one", I have had bad luck dealing with sales people where I am from, All of the sales people that I have delt with were far from being honest with me. I have been a mechanic and car nut for 20 years. I have what I think is a great wealth of knowledge which makes me a lesser target to get screwed. Not all sales people are dishonest. We mechanics and salesmen have lots in common, 75% of us are crooked to the bone, and the rest of us that are honest have to work 10 times harder at earning the customers trust.

I never said that customers are easy either. Because of my automotive knowledge, I will admit that I am one of the hardest people to deal with. The last dealership I went to, the poor guy worked his butt off to help me the the best of his abilities, and I went as far as apologizing to him for being one of the hardest people to deal with. But when he went to the manager to approve a sale with a reasonable offer on a truck that was priced $3000.00 over what its worth....this is where things fell apart. The Dealership advertized a voucher for $1870 off the lowest price....which means one of 2 things, either they bumped up the price by that much OR even if they sell the car including the voucher, they are still making more than the required mark-up.....which means the price can be negotiated. Any how.....

......moral of what Im saying is that when a dealership would rather hang on to a car rather that than maybe lose $500 of mark up on a $10,990 car that would of been traded in for maybe $6500 at the most. You cant feel sorry for these companies for being in the mess they are in. The only people I will feel bad for will those who will lose thier jobs because of money hungry corporations that still dont undestand the concept that sometimes if you lower your prices and sell more, you make more money than to sell less at a higher price.

Bear

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Pssst Dan, You still named part of the Big3 in your comparisson Bro... Good Luck trying to find one not affliated in some way with them ;)

:blink::lol: Aint that the cherry on the cake......I kinda realized that too.....Maza, Nissan, Volvo, Ford...one big family

GM, Saab , Saturn....one big family and so on.....but it makes you wonder like Pete said, imports open plant after plant and show profits and domestics show huge losses and get the ax, it says alot.

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Here is a little story that came up several years ago. I think it is very appropriate at the moment. It is a bit long, I am sure most of you will enjoy it.

A Japanese company (Toyota ) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior

management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person

steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person

rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor

performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and

canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India .

Sadly, The End.

Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants

inside the US The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads.

IF THIS WASN'T SO SAD IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

That maybe in NET profits, but there is another car company that makes the most gross profit. It's not Toyota. In fact, it's not even Japanese. Funny the most successful car company in the world is hardly even recongnized.

I mean Ferrari made 800M in the 3rd quarter of this year, so even Ferrari is not far behind Toyota in net profits.

And they can't keep paying UAW wages, which are twice what non-union import factories here in the states are paying in wages.

Although the story part doesn't seem to far from the truth from my corp. experience. - A lot of people "busy" but nothing going on.

Edited by CAL
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