Apart from the grossly overpaid line workers, what's GM's problem? :sarcasm:

[MindPilot]

From what I can understand it is health-care and pensions.

Would a better car company bailout be for the government to guarantee the health care either though a medicare expansion or simply a new program that could ultimately become a single-payer plan?

Rather than running the CEO out and publicly asking the workers to the hit for the aforementioned CEO, wouldn't it be better to use some government bonds or something to cover the pensions?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Here's Obama's assessment of GM.

Free of RW distortions:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/GM_Viability_Assessment.pdf

[leftofthedial]

2. it's not just the overpaid workers,

it's their damned union. :sarcasm:

we need to get those damned unions out of the picture, so that "free markets" can rule.

[EC]

4. But how can that be?

The Unions in the auto manufactures of other countries have strong unions too, so how come ours is picked on? Jealousy by those who work as their own agent instead of being represented? Not invited to the union Xmas parties? :sarcasm: I just wish that - just once the pundits would hit back at the conservative meme about unions with the fact that Honda, Subaru etc...all the other auto makers have strong unions too...

[Hannah Bell]

12. gm has 9.5% market share in europe - despite their "strong unions".

the ptb are steering this to get the result they want.

[angstlessk]

3. one thing none of the people asked was,...does GM get to use some change in HEALTHCARE

costs in their equasion?

[readmoreoften]

5. "Overpaid worker" is an oxymoron.

Beyond the vagaries of the stock market, corporate profit comes solely from depressing wages because it can't inflate the value of its products.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. That would be to easy.

Not to mention, it is !!!SOCIALISM!!!!

[greendog]

7. Maybe it's the grossly underpaid non-union service industry workers who...

...couldn't buy a new car if they wanted to.

[TWiley]

8. 500,000 GM employees worldwide and about 50,000 in the US

Do you really believe that all of GM's problems are due to the American Worker? Workers in Mexico, India, China, Africa, or wherever off-shore do not earn the same. They probably earn a good living in their community, but it would be at a fraction of the US cost. The cost of living is vastly different.

[Deja Q]

10. Precisely. Otherwise there would NOT be increased demand or more applying for H1Bs.

Never mind the fraud in the H1B program, which is a separate issue...

[TWiley]

11. Sorry, but I don't know what a H1B is ....

[B o d i]

9. I heard on the radio (forgot who said it) that for every GM worker, there are 6 collecting pensions

I don't see how that could be, but that's what I heard.

[amandabeech]

13. Between extraordinary automation, making fewer vehicles and off-shoring,

that's right.

My bachelor uncle is one of them.

[Hannah Bell]

14. somewhere between 350,000 - 400,000 pensioners & 250,000 current employees.

those are global numbers. that's more like 1.7 workers for every 2 retirees.

650,000 people. if they paid every one of them $100K/yr, it would *still* be only 1/3 of GM's revenues ($189 billion).

but they don't pay anywhere near that average. labor cost = about 10% of vehicle cost.