Sarah Palin in 2012: auto

Showing posts with label auto. Show all posts

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cash for Clunkers unless they are really clunkers.....

This pre-1984 exclusion really doesn't make sense. JC

Nearly 5 million of the nation's most polluting vehicles were quietly excluded from the popular "cash for clunkers" program after lobbyists for antique auto parts suppliers and car collectors persuaded the government to shut out cars built before 1984.

The restriction has prevented consumers nationwide who own older cars and trucks from cashing in on the $3-billion federal program even though many don't consider their jalopies to be collectors' items.

When the federal government announced the rebates of up to $4,500, Chris Hurst said, it looked like the perfect time to unload his gas-guzzling 1981 Ford F-150 pickup. Hurst, who lives in the Sierra foothills north of Fresno, was surprised to discover his truck was too old to qualify.

"If we could have gotten that rebate, it would have worked perfectly for us," said Hurst, who is now trying to sell the vehicle, equipped with Ford's biggest V-8 engine, for $1,600.

The restrictions were pushed by lobbyists for the Specialty Equipment Market Assn., a Diamond Bar group that represents companies that sell parts and services to classic and antique car collectors. The group, as well as classic car enthusiasts, have opposed cash for clunkers because they don't want older vehicles to be destroyed.

When the proposals for a clunker buyback program surfaced early this year, the specialty equipment association opposed the entire concept because such a program could shrink the size of the market for aftermarket parts. The association eventually got lawmakers to adopt the age limit.

"We are very pleased that Congress was able to include that in the program," said Stuart Gosswein, director of regulatory affairs at the association.

The association represents more than 7,000 companies that make all manner of auto-related products, including reproduction Model T tires and AMC Gremlin upholstery. The powerful interest group has won legislative battles nationwide to protect owners of classic cars and hot rods from laws covering vehicle noise, emissions tests and much else.

The cash-for-clunkers legislation was sponsored by Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). Neither returned calls seeking comment. The final wording of the bill, including the provision requested by the interest group, was ironed out in a legislative conference committee and attached to a military spending bill.

Consumer and environmental groups reluctantly went along with the provision because they were fighting for any rule that would push consumers to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles than the ones they were trading in.

"I don't know that the program makes a whole lot of environmental sense," said Lena Pons, a policy analyst for Public Citizen, which pushed for tougher fuel-economy standards. "There is not a whole lot of justification for the classic car industry to block older vehicles from being traded in."

cont.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-clunkers13-2009aug13,0,6098269.story

http://conservativepatriot.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/cash-for-clunkers-%e2%80%93-deal-or-no-deal/

Monday, March 30, 2009

Auto Workers Not Happy With Treatment of Wagoner

by Janet Crain
One source said the reason for the disparaging treatment of the auto industry is because they are dinosaurs who have outlived their time. But bankers will still be needed in the future. This is a totally asinine explanation to me. How are we supposed to move people and goods from one place to another? Transportation is and will continue to be the most important industry in the global economy. I suppose BO plans to round up everyone and put them in ~~re-education camps~~ planned communities where they can walk or pedal to work and shopping and government approved cultural events. But there is just one problem with this scenario: we are Americans who were born free and we'll die free.

Anything less is to to spit on our ancestor's memories.

Workers say Obama treated autos worse than Wall St

DETROIT (AP) -- Many assembly line autoworkers reacted with skepticism and anger Monday to the Obama administration's tough tactics, which stoked long-simmering feelings that the people who put the country on wheels get treated differently than the wizards of Wall Street.

"It's the age-old Wall Street vs. Main Street smackdown again," said Brian Fredline, president of UAW Local 602 at a plant near Lansing. "You have all kinds of funding available to banks that are apparently too big to fail, but they're also too big to be responsible."

"But when it comes to auto manufacturing and middle-class jobs and people that don't matter on Wall Street, there are certainly different standards that we have to meet -- higher standards -- than the financials. That is a double standard that exists and it's unfair," Fredline said.

Many workers -- not generally known for their affection toward executives -- even sympathized with Rick Wagoner, who was forced to step down as chief executive of General Motors Corp. He was by turns called a "sacrificial lamb," "scapegoat" and "fall guy."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Workers-say-Obama-treated-apf-14789941.html

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Big Three Not So Big Now

Big Three Fight for Their Lives

By Daniel Politi
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008, at 6:31 AM ET

The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal lead with the restructuring plans that Detroit's Big Three presented to lawmakers yesterday in hopes that they will help garner support for billions of dollars in government assistance. On the same day as new industry-wide figures revealed that November was the worst sales month in 26 years, two of Detroit's giants made it clear they're hanging on by a string. General Motors could collapse by the end of the year and said it needs an immediate injection of $4 billion and will need as much as $18 billion in loans over the next year. Chrysler could suffer a similar fate and asked for a $7 billion loan before the end of the year, and Ford asked for a $9 billion line of credit but took pains to emphasize that it might not need it. The automakers will make their case to lawmakers this week, and Democratic leaders said they hope to have a bill ready by next Friday.