President Obama's Rescue of GM and Chrystler - Did He Directly Save About 250,000 Jobs?

[TomCADem]

We have all hear recent figures putting the number of jobs saved or created by the stimulus at anywhere between 650,000 to 1 million. Of course, the right wing has disputed these numbers, but no one has come up with any numbers that are more accurate. Personally, I think the number is actually understated, because the stimulus figures are based on jobs that are directly created, and does not include an estimate of secondary effects.

However, separate and apart from the stimulus, what about GM and Chrystler? Early in President Obama's term, both companies were facing liquidation. Worse, no other car companies were in the position to buy them as a going concern, and bond holders were threatening to liquidate them, and sell their assets. Instead, President Obama's administration shepparded them through reorganization, and they remain going concerns. Now, GM currently has over 200,000 employees. Chyrtler has about 50,000 employees. While some of these employees may be in other countries, these numbers do not include employees as GM and Chryster car dealers.

The corporate media, of course, ignores these jobs and instead focuses on disputing the stimulus's job creation numbers. However, if you examine the Obama administration's moves objectively, and without an agenda, his administrations efforts have saved hundreds of thousands of jobs in the midst of the deepest recession since the Great Depression?

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/28/autos/gm_sales_projection/

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GM clawing back up the sales charts

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors expects to announce a market share gain for the third month in a row in October, GM executive director of corporate planning Mike DiGiovanni told reporters on Wednesday.

October will also mark the first year-over-year sales gain GM has managed in 21 months, DiGiovanni said. In September, GM's sales were down 47% compared to a year earlier.

"When you look at GM's performance, we're having a really good October," he said.

The automaker expects its vehicle sales will amount to 20% to 21% of all vehicles sold that month, he said. He expects those numbers to be about 3% higher than Toyota's and 4% higher than Ford's, he said.

DiGiovanni credited strong product introductions for the market share rise. Over the past few months, GM has started production on six new or redesigned models: the Chevrolet Camaro performance coupe, Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Cadillac SRX small crossover SUVs, Buick LaCrosse luxury sedan and the Cadillac CTS Sportwagon

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[krispos42]

1. I read an article a week or so ago that if we hadn't bailed out GM...

...the entire automotive idustry would have crashed. Basically, without the orders from GM, all of the suppliers (who also supply to other manufacturers) would have become insolvent. EVERYBODY would no longer be able to order critical parts.


I printed it out for my supervisor at work.

[Sebass1271]

3. Do you still have that article. I would love to read it and

forward to "keep government out of my life" criers and to the ones that THINK obama shoudn't have taken over gm..

[krispos42]

10. I tried to find it for you

No luck, not quite sure why.

I printed it out so I know it exists, but I didn't see it in the Farchives...

:shrug:

[blue_onyx]

11. Is this the article?

"The global auto industry would have collapsed if the U.S. government had not provided taxpayer-backed financing for automakers General Motors and Chrysler, according to the chief executive officer of Motors Liquidation Co.

"If GM had gone down, the world's supply base would have gone down," said Al Koch, speaking at the Reuters Restructuring Summit in New York. Koch was GM's chief restructuring officer during the bankruptcy and now heads the GM unit that is being liquidated."



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/Restructuring09/idUSTRE5906LM20091001

[krispos42]

16. Yes!

Damn, I thought Reuters had a blue logo. The AP uses red, so I thought I remembered it as being an AP story.

:dunce:

[Maraya1969]

2. Thanks for this.

[girl gone mad]

4. These bailouts were handled well.

When I hear right wingers complain, I ask them if they honestly believe that Bush would have let our auto industry fail and if they think it would be fair for our car companies to compete against the heavily subsidized Asian manufacturers. Most people realize that becoming entirely dependent on foreign car companies would be a bad idea.

[Deja Q]

8. With auto makers offshoring everything, why not let them fail?

They, in effect, forsaken their own countrymen so in return their own countrymen would give 'em big tax bailouts. "I'll scratch your back after you stick your knife into mine."


Though Bush just didn't give a damn about anything except short-term greed.

[Deja Q]

9. Links to issues going back... to 2003 (if not earlier!)

http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/gm-offshore-out...
http://www.articlealley.com/article_193949_31.html
http://www.manufacturing-today.com/content/view/806/81 /
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2005/...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2004-0...

May 2009, 2007, 2005, 2005, 2003 respectively. Note the 2009 article up top happened well after the bailout.

http://www.just-auto.com/article.aspx?id=99444

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/439875/the_new_gm_layoffs_factory_closings_offshoring
(JUNE, nothing is changing in Garbage Motors)

[Clio the Leo]

5. I think you're right because remember in the summer.....

..... the unemployment numbers were less than expected because forecasters were counting on GM layoffs that never happened.

[AllentownJake]

13. They were less than expected?

Geithner was on TV today saying he was surprised by the unemployment numbers.

Not questioning you, just more going back to my prime belief that Geithner is an incompetent pathological liar and douche.

[Clio the Leo]

15. lol, you are to questioning me.....

.... but there's not anything wrong with that.

This is what I'm referring to...

Payrolls fall less than expected; July unemployment rate drops
Updated 8/7/2009

By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Employers shed 247,000 jobs in July, fewest in nearly a year, bolstering forecasts for a third-quarter economic recovery.
Some economists, however, say the numbers were skewed by an unusual flurry of job additions in the automobile industry.

The unemployment rate fell to 9.4% from 9.5% in June, as 422,000 Americans left the labor force, including discouraged workers who gave up their job searches, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The 247,000 payroll jobs lost were the fewest since last August and handily beat analysts' projections of about 325,000. Manufacturing, finance and professional services cut substantially fewer workers than expected

<snip>

Other encouraging signs: The so-called underemployment rate, which includes the unemployed, people working part-time although they want full-time work, and those who stopped looking for work, dipped to 16.3% from 16.5%. The average work week edged up to 33.1 hours from a record low 33 hours. And average hourly wages rose to $18.56 from $18.53 in July.

Wachovia economist Mark Vitner says the relatively modest number of job losses in July was skewed by auto factories' moves to restart production a month earlier than usual, after closing for several months because of lackluster sales. Auto manufacturers gained about 28,000 workers after shedding 26,000 in previous months, and ripples likely affected other industries, such as steel-makers, he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-08-07-july-unemployment_N.htm

[impik]

6. Oh come on, stop confusing people with facts...

[Kdillard]

7. Thanks. I still can't believe people who think that helping American companies

and keeping people working is a bad idea.

[butterfly77]

12. The question I always want asked by these commentators..

talking head host is what was the republiCON plan? How was it going to work? And how was the their tax cut going to help people who had just lost their jobs? From what I have been watching they have put a tax cuts for businesses throughout every bill that has come up so what else would they do?

[AllentownJake]

14. GM was a good bailout

The company was restructured, there were strong conditions set, and management was shown the door.

As opposed to the banks, where no conditions were set, nothing was restructured, and management got bonuses.

[damonm]

17. GM was bailed under Obama...the Banks under Bush.

See the difference?