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Locals Divided Over Helping Automakers

The Associated Press/Susan Walsh

Auto executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally and Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli listens to a question during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on a bailout of American automakers, Thursday on Capitol Hill in Washington.

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: December 6, 2008

SEBRING - President George W. Bush argued again on Friday for the proposed $34 billion bail out of the country's Big Three automakers, but congressional support was reported as lukewarm, with no specific plan among many options emerging as likely to pass soon.

As the Congress is divided, so are taxpayers here, according to man-on-the-street interviews at Lakeshore Mall on Friday morning.

About half expressed strong opposition to bailing out the automakers with tax dollars, while others said propping up General Motors, Ford and Chrysler is necessary to keep the struggling economy going.

"I think it would be wise if they (Congress) let them (automakers) go into bankruptcy," said Harry Snyder, a retired home builder from Pennsylvania.

"Bankruptcy isn't going down the tubes," he added. "It's reorganizing and starting all over from the bottom."

The hourly pay of $75 per hour in wages and benefits for union auto workers and the "high on the hog" salaries and perks for the top executives have to be changed, he said.

"They could cut that in half and still be working" at a decent wage, he said.

Snyder said the U.S. auto industry has come out of hard times before and it can again with the right leaders and innovation.

"Can you remember when Lee Iacocca took over Chrysler, when they were in big trouble?" he asked. "He took it over and built it up from the ground up. He said what he was going to do was revolutionize driving, and he did, he brought out the mini van. I'm on my third one."

Jacqueline Manley said she thinks the bailout is inevitable and needed, but should be made only with tight controls and scrutiny by the government.

"I know keeping them open is important to the economy," she said.

"But as a taxpayer I'm tired of just doling out money. I'm very disappointed with how they handled the bank bailout, because they just didn't think it through.

"They were in a panic mode, and there weren't any guidelines."

If the big auto makers would fail, she said, "all the support companies and the suppliers would be hurt. I see it filtering down and that really frightens me."

Manley said she could support a bailout of the automakers "if there are guidelines and auditing ... I just don't think you can give out billions of dollars and walk away and hope they'll be doing the right things."

Sam Wirick-Velez opposes the bailout, saying the more the government gets involved with companies, through regulations or financial help, the weaker they become.

"Overall, I don't like the idea because I believe more in a free market economy," he said.

"If the government is not going to bail me out," he added, "why should they bail anyone out?"

Companies, just like families, have to plan for the future, he said, and he doesn't see a bailout encouraging responsible behavior.

"If they see the possibility of a recession coming on, or fuel prices going up, or profits coming down, they need to research what they need to do to prepare for that future," he said. "I don't feel they did that, not wisely, at least."

Joe Huggler, a retired farmer from Indiana, said the bailout may not be popular but it's the right thing to do in tough times to help the entire economy.

"I think they (car companies) have blundered for a long time," he said. Both management and the unions are at fault, he said.

"However," he added, "I feel if some help isn't given to them, it's going to affect a lot of people and a lot of companies ... I think it will have adverse affects if we don't help them."

With the economy in tough shape, he said the bailout "is in our best interests. I hope they have the right way of using the resources, and they will be paying it back to the taxpayers in due time.

"It's not just a gift to them with no strings attached."

Joseph Bragg of Avon Park, who works in inventory at Lowe's, said he doesn't favor the bailout and wants the federal government to be sure the money will be spent wisely if it is given.

"I don't think it's such a good idea, because they basically put themselves into this predicament," he said about the automakers' pleas for federal assistance.

"It started with the banks and now it's the car companies, so what's going to be next?" he added.

Most of all, Bragg said, the federal government needs to protect the taxpayers because "basically it's our money, it's coming out of our pockets ... and we are a country now in big-time debt."

If the bailout is passed, he said, "The question is, will they use the money for the right things, and how will we track that?"

James Keck said he doesn't oppose the bailout because it will help the economy while new technologies are being developed to create jobs.

"The GM people and the other automakers are probably going to get the bail out because we need a manufacturing base in the United States," he said. "Even if the parts are made in Canada or Mexico, it's important that the cars are assembled in the United States."

Keck pointed out that the car makers are asking for far less than the banks did, and said the financial aid should be structured so that taxpayers are paid back.

"If GM profits later on, then we should get our fair share of the profits, too," he said.

Fred Alberts of Wauchula strongly opposes the auto bailouts.

"They shouldn't do it," he said. Big businesses should operate under the same rules that he does in his own small business, repairing heavy equipment, he said.

"If my business didn't make it on its own two feet, then I'd have to either declare bankruptcy or go back to work for a tractor dealership," he said. "The government is not going to bail me out because I'm the 'little man.' And I've never expected the government to bail me out."

Alberts called the Big Three CEOs flying to Washington aboard private luxury jets "a slap in the face to me."

Exorbitant executive salaries and bonuses, and hourly union workers making $75 per hour in wages and benefits, are the root of the car makers' problems, Alberts said. And so, he said, the companies can correct that problem.

"Wouldn't you think $75 an hour, with benefits, is obscene?" he asked.

Alberts said he's optimistic about the economy rebounding, without more multi-billion-dollar bailouts.

"America is a strong country," he said, "and we will recover."

Reporter Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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