This is a comment somebody wrote in response to an article about the closing of four GM brands. The person who wrote this is obviously very intelligent (something our country needs), and his statements can all be backed by facts and figures. The concepts behind his statements hold true for other industries besides automotive manufacture, and even give insight to the true cause of our country's financial problems. I wish that other Americans could see the truth in this, and I could not have said it better myself.

Here's a thought...

Why don't AMERICANS stand up and admit that they are to blame for
this mess? Here is the truth, and it isn't the fault of the big three...

(1) The UNIONS in this country have too much control. There are at
least 3 major unions that impact the auto market: the United Steel
Workers, the Teamsters, and the United Auto Workers. When the USW
screams that the employees they represent need higher wages, it leads
to higher steel prices and to higher costs of producing vehicles. When
the Teamsters screams that the truckers need more, it leads to a
greater cost getting the parts to build the vehicles and, unltimately,
to deliver the vehicles to dealerships. When the UAW screams for more,
well that is obvious how it affects the price of a vehicle.

(2) In a society where too much is never enough, AMERICANS kept
wanting to buy bigger and more expensive automobiles. The result is
that the length of auto loans, which used to be restricted to no more
than 36 months, are now as long as 84 months! This obviously severely
impacts the buying cycle, taking what used to be a 36-month cycle and
making it 60 - 72 months for most buyers now because they have no
equity in their vehicles until they are nearly paid off.

(3) The banks need to shoulder some of the blame for extending loan
terms instead of just telling Americans, "If you can't afford it at 36
months then buy something you can afford at 36 months". They also need
to shoulder the blame for over-extending credit to people who were
high-risk borrowers. If they don't pay the credit card companies, do
you really think they will pay the bank for their car? Um, probably not!

As Americans, we need to suck it up and admit that we ARE and WERE
the problem. Too much is truly never enough for most Americans. As wage
earners, auto workers should not be making $50K+ per year PLUS benefits
for doing what they do. Teamsters should not be getting paid ridiculous
amounts of money per mile, unless they are carrying a hazardous load.
And, steel workers need to have their wages scaled back, too, as making
$60K+ per year plus benefits in that industry is absurd. Don't get me
wrong, workers should get their due. But, it is exactly that type of
greed that has put us in this position to start with.

Jeff