On Wednesday, GM Will End Production at its Lordstown Ohio Plant. The UAW and Trump both want Trump to keep producing cars that nobody wants.
General Motors Co said on Monday it expects to end production of the Chevrolet Cruze at its Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant on Wednesday, the first of five plants it is idling this year in North America.
Last week, the United Auto Workers union sued GM over its decision to end production and eliminate thousands of jobs U.S. auto plants, saying it violated a 2015 collective bargaining agreement. The UAW has asked a federal judge to order GM to rescind its November decision to close three plants in Michigan, Ohio and Maryland, and award damages to employees for losses from what the UAW calls GM’s breach of contract.
GM said in November it was cutting up to 15,000 jobs and ending production at five plants in North America, including one in Canada.
The job cuts have angered U.S. President Donald Trump, who has demanded GM find a replacement product for its Lordstown plant and threatened to cut GM subsidies.
Collective Bargaining
One of the obvious problems with “collective bargaining” is that unions can force business owners to do stupid things like making cars at a loss that nobody wants.
Governments do the same thing. It is a fatal flaw of all command economies and ultimately what did in the USSR.
Subsidies
Trump threatens to cut GM subsidies. I am not sure what subsidies Trump means, and perhaps he doesn’t either. There are electric vehicle subsidies but those go to the buyer, not GM.
But assuming GM has subsidies, yes, please cut them. Cut all subsidies for every company.
All-Knowing Trump
Last week, at a CPAC 2019 conference, Trump Blasted Powell on Rate Hikes, QT, and the Strong Dollar.
Trump didn’t mention Fed Chairman Jerome Powell by name. But he did reference “a gentleman in the Fed that likes raising interest rates, a gentleman that loves quantitative tightening, and a gentlemen that likes a very strong dollar.”
The message is clear. Trump knows where interest rates should be, what assets should be on the Fed’s balance sheet, and how many cars GM should produce, whether or not GM makes a profit on them.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
That sign has got to be at least 30 years old. Can’t imagine what the inside of the plant looks like. Must be one heck of a depressing place to work every day.
Maybe if Ted Cruz was president, the Cruze would sell better. That’s how brands work, right? I’m not sure. Either way, sounds like someone else could just buy the plant and build their own preferred products. I don’t see why GM has to do it.
As opposed to in automaking, in governance I’m not sure sure being equipped with Cruz control is necessarily a desirable feature….
Wouldn’t it be fun if EVERYONE were subjected to a multiyear investigation into EVERY conversation, transaction, email and phone call you have EVER MADE by the highest levels of the federal government employing people who have publicly declared their hate and hopes of your demise? Wouldn’t it be even better if EVERY person who had been associated with you was treated to the same experience, secretly recorded and then questioned to test their answers against the “tape” so it could be used as evidence of LYING to government agents, subsequently bankrupted and disgraced over issues of no criminality. Wouldn’t ALL of that be FUN?
And then the BEST part is that your job performance would be harshly criticized while all of this is happening.
You’re just describing what it means to be a politician. Especially an unskilled one.
I mean… there’s also the fun parts: The amazing power, unsurpassed authority, and incredible privileges, like private aircraft, leisure days galore, contacts, state dinners, millions of people trying to bribe you, please you, or work to serve you, including servicemen with a fleet of multi-billion dollar vehicles, and so on.
Not everyone runs around claiming some sort of “right” to rob others in the name of “taxation.” In a civilized society, those that do, are not only subject the trivialities you are describing; but also to routine tarring and feathering; as well as summary execution at the hands of a mob of citizens-as-opposed-to-subjects.
Tesla, for instance
Trump will be prove correct, but for the wrong reason. When large groups, organizations, or companies make a decision, it is usually at the end of the trend. In GM’s case, the truck/SUV is ending. People will want the smaller, more efficient, more affordable sedan. MISH has shown auto loan delinquencies are on the rise. As people discharge debt in bankruptcy, they won’t be allowed to buy truck/SUV. Thier “choice” will be a basic sedan or even a coupe! So GM is completely exposed to trend reversal to basic transportation. GM is no longer diversified in its product mix.
Unsure of what subsidies??????
Wow. That is a tough one.
2014 – old news. What subsidies is Trump cutting? Nothing
The article you posted is five years old …
How can Trump cut subs that are already given?
“Government Motor” was happy to receive handout from Uncle Sam. So what’s wrong if Uncle Sam asks some favors in return?
I’ve been saying for a while that he is a Chavez (Venezuela). All you have to do is watch how each one run/ran the country. People here dismiss this concept because they can’t phantom Trump being like a socialist Chavez. However, they are wrong. Chavez as well as Trump were populist and just like Chavez he will ruin the country where they ran.
Venezuela is being heavily sanction by the US. We have essentially cut them off from the World Economy. It’s nothing to due with Socialism. It’s more to due with retaliation for nationalizing the oil refineries, and the threatening to go off the petro dollar.
So Venezuela can’t sell oil to Russia and China? You had better not tell them as Maduro owes them a lot of money and it is ALL payable in OIL. Venezuela’s oil production hasn’t failed due to sanctions. Their farms haven’t failed due to sanctions. Their people are not starving due to sanctions. Maduro imposed price controls while their currency has inflated by thousands of percent, attempting to force importers to sell at fixed domestic currency prices that in no way came close to covering costs. Airlines even stopped taking their money. Their oil production has decreased by over half in recent years simply because they have refused to maintain it after nationalizing and stealing it from the oil companies. When you can’t survive off of stolen wealth, how dub are you?
“Trump being like a socialist Chavez”
Yes. I noticed right away. Especially when DJT:
Cut taxes.
Cut regulations
Cut the amount of people working for federal government bureaucracy
Protects the 1st Amendment
Protects the 2nd Amendment
Is trying to unnationalize health care to include getting rid of obamacare and forcing hospitals to actually post their prices
Stopped the picking of government winners and losers in the energy industry
Allowed states to impose work requirements for welfare
Has the least amount of people on foodstamps in a generation
Etc.
Big surprise you didn’t get what I said. So I’ll put it to you in simple terms.
Both won because of the votes of the “disposes”. People who felt the system failed them
Both promised to drain the swap if elected. Out with the corrupt elites
Both attacked the press at all times
Both “knew” (so they claim) more than any expert in any field
Both won on a make “country name” great again
Both try to bypass congress authority. Chavez did will see if Trump does
Both try to stack the supreme court with their “yes” judges. Chavez did. Trump is in its way.
Both maligned any old allied once it served its purpose
Both picked a country enemy (Chavez the USA; Trump China)
Both ridicule the opposition with pejorative name calling. Has anyone forgotten when Chavez said at the UN: “It smells like sulfur” indirectly calling the US president the devil.
Both will do “out of script” speeches about how badly he is been treated by anyone who opposed him to a drunken populist crowd.
And I can go on and on but sufficed to say both were/are authoritarian figures that use the same methods to destroy their respective countries. BTW I know is a difficult concept to grasp but just because a president calls its political views socialist (or his country) that does not mean that they are.
I will put it in simple terms for you.
Every point you made could be also said of obama. On an order of magnitude larger scale.
Face it. You can’t face the fact the the policies of DJT are POPULAR and he never tried to hide his agenda while campaigning. So, you have to demonize him.
Meanwhile, obama never ran on a promise of DACA, men peeing in women’s bathrooms, destroying marriage or nationalizing healthcare.
And that is the difference. Liberals/progressives could never get elected if they ran on what they actually believe.
“Face it. You can’t face the fact the the policies of DJT are POPULAR and he never tried to hide his agenda while campaigning. So, you have to demonize him.”
Chavez was at his peak of popularity for the same reasons: he kept his promises.
Hitler was also at the peak of popularity for the same reason: He kept his promises (make Germany great again). Make Germany an industrial powerhouse again. Create thousands of jobs. Make the people feel proud to be Germans and his final accomplishment to get rid of all sub-humans immigrants.
There you have it to extremes from the left and right who kept their promises.
Just admit it. You have TDS. I’m sure you hated Ronald Reagan too.
Both attack the press? Is criticizing the same thing as attacking because while Obama & Co boycotted Fox, Trump has gone on any network that would have him and has not attempted to punish any media that I’m aware of. The media has attacked trump mercilessly with many false claims of criminality and more, and seldom if ever walks them back. To this day they still claim Trump colluded with Russia after NO evidence whatsoever. It has reached the level of insanity. Something like 94% of ALL news coverage of Trump is negative. I would suggest you check with Maduro to see what HIS news coverage is in Venezuela. You simply propagate more lies presented as fact, when none of it is.
“they still claim Trump colluded with Russia after NO evidence whatsoever. ” The only person that knows if there was collusion is Mueller. BTW I think Trump will be in trouble for other things not collusion. Before you say that Muller overstep let me remind you that the Clinton impeachment investigation was only about a real state deal and yet they tried to impeachment for lying to congress about an affair. Gee sounds familiar doesn’t it?
As did Chavez. All Caudillos only do great things on TV.
Of course, in both cases, despite “cutting” whatever they call bad; objectively measured deficits and debt, hence objectively measured government size and intrusiveness, just keep increasing…….
Leading to the inevitable conclusion that a degree in caudilloism, includes neither a math, nor an economics, nor a logic requirement.
Lordstown, home of the Vega, another GM prize. BTW, waves of strikes been hitting Mexican factories since the beginning of the year. The “news” here in the US doesn’t report it much.
Because The Dumpster® is a stable genius with a very big brain.