Yes, car dealers. Well, why not? If you think about it, the car dealers have a LOT of political pull. (Remember GM CEO RIck Wagoner’s letter to the dealers asking for their support for HIS $25b Department of Energy federal teat suckle?) So, now, “Auto dealers are calling on President Bush and Congress to take emergency measures to help revive vehicle retailing and contribute to the nation’s economic recovery,” Automotive News [sub] dutifully (not to say respectfully, although you could say that too) reports. The request came this week in a hand-delivered letter [from the National Automobile Dealers Association] to an economic adviser to the president at the White House.” And what goodies, you ask, were requested in this mammary-seeking missive? “Refundable tax credits for car and truck buyers and restoring the tax deductibility of vehicle loans.” Is that it? You must be joking mate. “Federal funds for state programs to take air-polluting clunkers off the roads and giving businesses additional tax breaks for vehicle purchases.” Air-polluting clunkers? Someone remind me again what decade we’re in. All done? Ha! NADA also wants the feds to “provide emergency loan guarantees to dealers through the Small Business Administration so that they have working capital.” OK, NOW are we done? Who knows? Automotive News forgot to include the text of the actual letter. Doh!
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One response to the dealers: Go to Hell. You made your bed, sleep in it.
Where’s my GD bailout? :)
If we could get a coordinated effort where every business in the US demanded a bailout perhaps we could stop this insanity.
If we could get a coordinated effort where every business in the US demanded a bailout perhaps we could stop this insanity.
Absolutely! When Congress approves another stimulus bill, send all businesses a nice big check as well. Ridiculous.
John
Dealers may be scum, but I was recently in my local BMW dealer. It was a beehive. They claim they are still doing OK, although a few other local BMW dealers, not so much.
Imagine you had a Chrysler Dealership in, say 1967, and you were offered some stupid Japanese car, a Toyoda, or something like that. Maybe you’d buy on a whim, but you’d not think it was a better car to sell than the 67 Fury or Imperial. Today it’s the other way.
The dealer has no say over what he sells, if what I’ve read for years is at all true. I don’t think we should bail the dealers, unless in the context of a mass mortgage loan forgiveness program, which won’t happen.
The banks need suckers to work to make the engine go. That’s why it costs them next to zero to borrow from the Treasury but your credit card bill is still 19%.
So do only D3 dealers get a bailout, or do import dealers qualify?
If we support import dealers, we are supporting the sales of foreign cars, and shipping well paying jobs overseas, you liberal elitist!
If we don’t support foreign dealers, we will be losing a lot of well paying sales and service jobs, jobs that can’t be outsourced, you liberal elitist!
Ohh, I’m so confused. Glad I’m just a midwestern simpleton, and not a liberal elitist.
A car dealer bailout? I don’t know if we can do a car dealer bailout. I’m going to have to talk to my manager about that.
no_slushbox :
A car dealer bailout? I don’t know if we can do a car dealer bailout. I’m going to have to talk to my manager about that.
Alright, he says if you take it before the end of the day today, we can get you a car dealer bailout for the showrooms. What about the service depots? I don’t think I can do that. Sit here for 10-15 minutes and I’ll go ask him.
Why not bail out barbers? Men used to get haircuts every week or two. They’d get shaves. There was a shop or two on every corner.
Long hair came as well as casual dressing. Barbers used to make a decent coin. Now the business has been just barely keeping its head up for decades. A lot of the remaining barbers are old timers.
They did nothing to earn this loss. They provided news, camaraderie, grooming.
Where the hell is THEIR bailout?
Hey. What about us bald people? At least the barbers have hair to cut!
I lost my hair. It’s not fair!. Where’s my bailout?
Great bunch of comments. Seriously, the US economy has turned into a massive horde of piglets jostling for their spot at the teats of good ol’ Uncle Sow Sam. Except this litter is going to feed until the milk is gone, and then turn carnivorous on mom. (Too much of a stretch on the metaphor?)
Most if not all of them also own foreign brand. You can’t and couldn’t just waltz into Toyota or Honda office and offer service without having dealership already, and the one you could have was domestic. Also, because GM would not give 2 franchises to one operator in 40-50’s a lot of franchisees own competing brand. One would imagine that those pimples on society ass had enough. There is nothing wrong with public buying cars directly from manufacturers, but those cok suckers pushed laws through each state (except Alaska I think) which prohibit sale of new cars without a dealer.
A car dealer bailout? I don’t know if we can do a car dealer bailout. I’m going to have to talk to my manager about that.
Senator Plaidcoat: “Well Mr and Mrs Dealers… you seem like a nice couple… let’s just pencil in a few bailout numbers on this 4-Square Worksheet…. and, you know… see if we can get the numbers to work out. Heh heh.”
All this begging for gov’t money…you guys could be mistaken for Canadians!