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<\/a>Guess who opposed bailing out the auto industry?\u00a0 It was … General Motors<\/a><\/strong>!\u00a0 Then GM Chairman Thomas Murphy<\/a><\/strong> condemned the Chrysler bailout in 1979 as “a basic challenge to the philosophy of America.”<\/p>\nThat is, GM said this was darn-near unAmerican!<\/p>\n
Another interesting point.\u00a0 All of the key ingredients that Peter Cohen <\/a><\/strong>said made the Chrysler bailout successful — including a new plan, new management, new technology, and some serious shared sacrifice — don’t seem to be part of the current $25 billion proposal.<\/p>\n The oppositions to the bailout is mounting.<\/p>\n The problem is, as reported in the Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/strong>, people just don’t trust American auto makers any more.\u00a0 That is, they think that auto industry management is a joke.<\/p>\n My favorite quote<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n “There’s the feeling that next to financial services, automotive execs are the dumbest people in the world,” said Thomas Stallkamp<\/a><\/strong>, a former Chrysler<\/a><\/strong> president who worked at the car company when it received emergency government loans in 1980.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Ah, there’s the rub.\u00a0 Why do people oppose the bailout?<\/p>\n Because people think that auto management is incompetent.<\/p>\n