IntenseDebate - Will

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: S... · 0 replies · +4 points

The Youtube link is broken, but I hope that we can find a way to match people and service interests in a given community, by having a directory of contacts or something like that. Community projects would also be great.

We need the President to use the bully pulpit to get people out there volunteering nationally and locally. Celebrities and senators and secretaries need to put in real time, and show that the administration is walking the walk. You can discuss policy while bagging goods.

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: S... · 24 replies · +6 points

We have to work together all across this country to fix the huge issues ahead, even if we don't agree on everything. Think about healthcare and the War in Iraq.

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 0 replies · +1 points

Go to the Jobs link at Change.gov You can also become a commentator or analyst - I imagine many companies want someone to explain how this will affect them and their business decisions in the years ahead.

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 3 replies · +1 points

The reasoning is that these companies' failure would devastate the economy in a wide area, hurting the country more than a bailout would. I don't know the facts, so I can't judge the accuracy of that reasoning, but that seems to be what's going on.

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 2 replies · +2 points

I would prefer that the credit go to goods that allow people to DO things, not TVs or luxury items.

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 4 replies · +1 points

The AIG and other bailouts were not made to save workers. They were made to save credit markets, which are the HEART of the financial system. If we had let the heart stop, money circulation would have stopped. Including, it is likely, your payroll.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_financial_crisis_of_2008
(with the caveat that factual accuracy on Wikipedia isn't assured)

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 0 replies · +1 points

I don't think you understand where that figure comes from. You are in including the cost of all retiree benefits in that figure - it's misleading. The number you need is $38/hour including benefits, not $70. That makes for a total compensation around $76,000/year, far off of what you said.

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 0 replies · +1 points

Amy, the Big 2/3 is a major part of the auto industry. The question is if there is greater economic cost in letting the economic forces run their course (causes waves of layoffs and massive pain in Detroit), or if a taxpayer investment will pay off more in the long run.

We nee to ask ourselves: "What is the cost of NOT bailing out the Big 3?"

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 1 reply · +2 points

Thank you - that was very useful. Some relevant quotes:

"the best estimates suggests the corresponding 2007 figure for these "transplants" -- as the foreign-owned factories are known -- was somewhere between $20 and $26 per hour, and most likely around $24 or $25"

"But then what's the source of that $70 hourly figure? It didn't come out of thin air. Analysts came up with it by including the cost of all employer-provided benefits -- namely, health insurance and pensions -- and then dividing by the number of workers. The result, they found, was that benefits for Big Three cost about $42 per hour, per employee. Add that to the wages -- again, $28 per hour -- and you get the $70 figure.... The number only gets to $70 an hour if you include the cost of benefits for retirees -- in other words, the cost of benefits for other people."

15 years ago @ Change.gov - Join the Discussion: T... · 0 replies · +1 points

It's not feasible to say that the blame falls onto either side exclusively, or that any side is perfect in this. What everyone needs to recognize is that GM has a much bigger retiree base than any transplant company, because companies like Toyota have only been manufacturing here in the last 30 years. GM's been around longer.

The math makes it harder for GM and the UAW - the transplants don't pay that much below what unionized companies do, but the underlying factors make it that much harder. Not to mention how messed up healthcare is at the moment.

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