Trump invokes Defense Production Act to compel GM to manufacture respirators for coronavirus

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

President Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act to make General Motors manufacture respirators to help fight the coronavirus outbreak. The announcement was made hours after Trump complained in tweets that GM and Ford were not doing enough to help produce the medical equipment during the pandemic.

“Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course,” Trump said in a statement. “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”

Earlier, the House passed a $2 trillion emergency spending bill to combat economic impact of coronavirus, sending the measure to President Trump for enactment.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/27/coronavirus-latest-news/

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Full headline: Live updates: Trump invokes Defense Production Act to compel GM to manufacture respirators for coronavirus outbreak

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. About fucking time! Nt

[Grokenstein]

4. Every delay costs lives.

And Donny delays at every turn while his grovelers seek a way for him to benefit from the situation.

[sheshe2]

11. You took the words right out of my mouth.

[msongs]

2. first he chastises them on twitter now this follow up - grandstanding nt

[ashredux]

3. I'd wait to see what the real story is

[Dream Girl]

7. I think he was trying to negotiate with them to ensure they were made in Ohio

Sound like they were balking because is would have required signsificant retooling of the Lordstown Ohio plant. He was thinking this would have helped him in Ohio. Nice huh? I’m just guessing and now they have to supply them regardless of where they are manufactured.

[Metatask]

32. Bingo

This explains his tweet.

Delay caused by trump trying to reopen a plant they dont want for his election chances

[SeattleVet]

35. How could he compel them to make ventilators there?

Didn't GM sell off the Lordstown plant a few years ago to another entity?

[Dream Girl]

36. He want trying to negotiate this with them outside of DPA. Under DPA, he has docents have the

Same leverage. He can compel them to produce X number of ventaliator but can’t specify the how or where. He would be ramp up Kokomo quickly, but he won’t get to play hero for reopening Lordstown in Ohio

[spudspud]

38. Yes, to a small EV truck company.

The plant isn't GM's to reopen.

[Ms. Toad]

44. Lordstown is not theirs to retool.

They sold it off.

[machoneman]

5. Actually, GM won't do a thing w/o a signed contract, you can bet on that.

Trump and his minions can't be trusted.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

34. And payment up front.

Trump loves to leave contractors unpaid for completed work.

[ohtransplant]

6. "GM was wasting time."

Where do I start with this sentence?

This from the guy who retweeted a message comparing himself to Nero..

[IronLionZion]

8. Why not do this for actual medical device manufacturers?

It would make more sense for them to add shifts and ramp up production than for an automaker to completely change everything to produce a very different product. Health care supplies are not like cars.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. The answer should be obvious

(hint - in every presser, he insisted that they "volunteered" to do it and well... )

[IronLionZion]

16. Congresspeople and reporters need to expose this

because of the obvious corruption and kleptocracy going on here while Americans are dying

[BumRushDaShow]

19. What is sad

is that the corruption and kleptocracy have been going on since before election day in 2016 and have continued unabated, even with an impeachment. Not much else left to do.

[Igel]

47. It actually is.

They're made overseas, so the factories and equipment's over there.

What they make here by way of medical supplies can't be discontinued because we need those, too.

Meaning that those that already make them have neither the space here nor the facilities for doing so--and, in any event, they're already ramping up production.

[BumRushDaShow]

48. I.e., single points of failure in the quest to chase the cheapest labor

can bite you in the ass one day.

[Bayard]

24. Exactly

Medical device companies already have sterile production facilities, and aseptic techniques in place.

Of course, not the same brag as--I commanded GM do what I wanted!

[Ohiogal]

9. He should know about wasting time.

[Botany]

14. Anybody want to get that barn door?

[avebury]

12. I think that GM is probably concerned about whether they

would actually be able to generate the volume of respirators that is expected of them. By compelling them to do so, Trump looks good and if GM can't actually meet the demands he blames them.

In theory it is a great idea for manufacturing companies to start to manufacture respirators but you they do have to re-tool their factories to change production. That may not be able to be accomplished as fast as we would like. Of course, if Trump hadn't dicked around for as long as he did, efforts to retool existing factories couldn't be under fire the way they are now and they could have already been churning out respirators.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. You can imagine what the presser (which I refuse to watch) will be like today

I posted in a couple other threads that the ones who are actually more suited to do this are the vacuum cleaner companies - just based on the size of the device and types of processes they already have in place dealing with "portable" air-handling systems.

The Dyson vacuum company in the UK is doing just that - https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213182716



https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a31943465/dyson-ventilators/

There are a bunch of red-state vacuum cleaner manufacturers in the U.S. that could do the same.

[RobinA]

17. Not To Mention

the liability!!! And getting the knowledge into the company. “Here you go Mr. Foreman, no more Cadillacs, you’re in charge of making respirators now. Don’t expect your boss to answer questions, he’s been making pick-ups for thirty years.”

[Dream Girl]

33. See my post above. This all about Ohio. He wanted to the reopen Lordstown be boost his chances

[druidity33]

13. Aren't respirators and ventilators different? nt.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. The masks they show have been considered "respirators"

although there are hospital devices that including O2 through a small mask too. The ventilators I believe involve intubation and basically have a pump that expands and contracts the lungs at a set rate.

[druidity33]

20. Right...

that was my understanding. Respirators are mask type things and ventilators involve intubation. Interesting that the article treats them as the same thing. Also that 3M has told the gov't they could scale up production (2 wks ago) of N95 masks to 10 million a day, but they haven't heard back from the government...

[BumRushDaShow]

23. It's Friday and the headline writers are probably like

[RobinA]

21. Wait

What about the big national stockpile. Shipping them out, even for non-shipping clerks should be faster than car guys making them from scratch in a car plant.

Still waiting for proof there’s a national stockpile.

[BumRushDaShow]

26. Well as noted above

The "respirators" (masks) are different from the "ventilators" (that are actually what are being referenced in the OP article despite the headline).

The PA Health Secretary had answered a media question today at the presser, regarding the respirator mask shipments, and how many of them were supposedly "expired". She noted that they should be fine as long as they were intact (in the packaging)and not discolored. However she noted that about 10% of masks shipped to PA were in bad shape (brittle, discolored) and those would be disposed of.

I think states are probably still waiting for the ventilators from the stockpile.

The "stockpile" was apparently put together for the Swine Flu outbreak ~2009 (according to our Health Secretary).

[mikewv]

22. About time. (NM)

[bucolic_frolic]

25. Swing states get Trump's attention, all others drop dead /nt

[captain queeg]

27. Why GM? I'd think there are others that are a better match.

But at least they are finally doing something.

[Eliot Rosewater]

28. Hillary or Barack would have done this in January

[42bambi]

29. Allowing the ventilators to remain unavailable for so long, but now Voil, Trumps a hero, the one

person that can "fix it". I've never hated anyone in my whole long life but I detest that man!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

30. Trump acts ONLY when pushed into action.....

That is how he rolls as he days he came up with an idea all on his own.

[procon]

31. Trump forced GM to comply under the Defense Production Act

because he is scared out of his mind. He stalled for weeks hoping to convince businesses to help build up medical equipment and supplies, but Trump is a weak leader and he held no sway over corporate greed where there is no room for public philanthropy.

Trump had to pull the trigger today because his failed presidency is disintegrating around him as the human death count continues to grow. His chances of reelection are fading as the cacophony of unrelenting complaints and criticism keep pointing to his incompetence and failure to act.

His usual bluster and blame tactics aren't working and the attention on his negligence in handling the corona virus is unrelenting. He's afraid and he invoked the Defense Production Act, not to help sick people, but to try to save his ass.

[Progressive Jones]

37. Well put. Sad but true. nt

[GreydeeThos]

39. Trump is testing his ability to assume dictatorial powers.

First he takes a little power in the manufacturing sector. Then he takes a little in food production followed by electric power generation.

When Trump claims he can make the trains run on time, it will be too late.

[catrose]

40. Is GM the best choice? Don't they have to do a lot of retrofitting?

because a transmission really isn't much like a ventilator.

[Dream Girl]

45. He had his heart set on reopening Lordstown

[truthisfreedom]

41. Let's unpack this completely. He wanted an Ohio plant to open

To help his campaign. That wasn’t happening so he invoked his war powers to compel GM to make a product they’ve never made before using setups and techniques they’ve never used before, and he wants results now? I love it when a plan comes together!

[BumRushDaShow]

42. Hannibal would agree!

[pansypoo53219]

43. moron wanted to make sure he goall the credit for being presidentializing supreme. bigly.

[sakabatou]

46. Oh, so NOW he does