Thread: GM said it lost $38.7 billion in 2007.

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Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

...... Or in other words ignore history. .....

.......... But Bob .......... "Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"

Just keep in mind the reality of the situation and that is ....The large corperations are holding this whole mess together ,they have a vested interest in doing soo ,the people on the other hand are definatly not holding this mess together,we are just willing and unwilling riders on the amusement ride........when the big boys can not make profit as in big profit ,not just making a living ,but leer jet kind of living they will fold up shop and we will be left with the husk .
Almost everything done in the last 40 years has been to keep us afloat for 10 or more so years ,not a solution or even the road to a solution ,it has been crutches and baindaids for years now,the decisions that were made ,were made to just get by a while longer ,not permanent solutions.,.......well, we are all tired of baindiads and crutches,besides that we are running out peters to rob to pay pauls....soo they have been robbing you instead of peter,problem is none of the money is making to paul,soo we are getting no where ,in fact we are going backwards..............
and it seems the political diversions of a election are keeping us occupied with the irrelevant and mundane ,while the situation remains unchanged,sad thing is we still believe the figure head will save us or change anything....
The people get mad ,soo we elect a new diversion to lie and make us feel better ,after all its a state of mind and if we keep the people in a good state of mind ,they will not care if tax them to death and never fufill any promises...as long as they are happy..the cycle continues.
I wonder how outlandish the actors and news crews will get this year to help offset the rising fears and failing public opinions .....
Maybe they will elect Micheal Jackson next to help draw attention away from whats really going on.......

Is it ever fun when a "bomb" is thrown out for discussion.

I really do like some in depth discussion on these subjects as they give me a chance to think as well. I am not of the 'sky is falling' mentality. We as a country have a bunch of problems. They will be 'fixed', but history has and will repeat itself. Unfortunately there are a lot of small self indulgent splinter groups that make a lot of noise. This in turn causes some knee jerk reaction. We have a Congress that might on a good day, have a 20% approval rating. The Dems moved into power a year ago with the proclamation by Nancy Pelosi that in the first 100 hours, major changes would occur. Now that we are by that first 100 hours by about 9600 hours, there has been little accomplished. Immigration? When is the fence going to be finished? But with that said, will it do any good to close the barn door to keep the horses out when there already 12MM UDA's here. National Security? That keeps getting watered down. WE WILL have another attack - but my guess is that it wont be a simple plane bomb the next time. Imports/trade balance. Like I said above- it's bad and continues to worsen as the Far Eastern influence keeps getting stronger. Iraq? Dammit, Uncle Sam, make a commitment, finish your job and get out. This little "brush fire" war is bleeding the US to the tune of 1-2 MMM per WEEK. Then there is the Iran and Korean 'axis of evil' left of the three.

No, I'm not Chicken Little. I do live in NY State, which now has the highest taxes and fees in the US, but my county, Saratoga, is the only one in NY where the property taxes have either remained stable or gone down plus we are the only county in the State that has ever given homeowners a rebate. Unemployment is at less then 4% - my wife cannot hire healthy, drug free people to work for her company - there is just too much to pick and choose from. Now, school taxes - 'nother story, but still not too bad.

Grocery store and gas station - it is getting dam' expensive, particularly since my retirement cut my income by a bit more then half, but my investments are still in the green. And I haven't touched them. (Why do you think I keep my young chick wife working - believe that, and can I interest you in some 'special' Florida land?)

As far as GM, well it used to be "How GM goes, so will the rest of the country" Not so any more. They dug themselves a big hole with union concessions, poor quality, hum drum designs and their arrogance to customer needs. (could be said about Ford and Chrysler as well)

'Nuff said - need some more folks to say their piece.

From this page

This was in 2006...


Life would be great if we could pull the same tricks with our finances that GM has pulled off with theirs. Earlier this month the ailing Detroit giant reported a loss of $323 million, a substantial loss, but still a significant improvement over the same quarter the previous year. They significantly changed their financial fortunes yesterday, though, by announcing that they have retracted that loss and instead posted a $445 million profit.

The extra $778 million didn’t appear as the result of a sudden rush of sales or anything like that. Instead, it came about because SEC regulators, after conversations with GM, have allowed a different interpretation of the settlement they had to make with retired workers over health care costs. The SEC had previously required GM to report the cost entirely in the first quarter. That never made a lot of sense, and it has been remedied. Instead, the charge will be spread out over 7 years, starting in the third quarter of this year, which is when the settlement will come into effect.


2005 Pay scale & other bonuses for GM top dogs Do the math & you'll see where some of the "LOSE" is at.


and I love this part from this page During this week’s bargaining convention, the U.A.W.’s president, Ron Gettelfinger, repeatedly criticized executives at the Delphi Corporation, the auto supplier that declared bankruptcy in 2005, for collecting bonuses while trying to cut hourly workers’ pay and benefits. Delphi says the $37 million in incentive pay recently approved by a bankruptcy judge is necessary to keep top executives from leaving.


Personally I blame the GM big wigs for all of their troubles, but also blame some of the workers for the crappy job they do putting together some of thier cars/trucks.