The sound of Richard Shelby's voice makes me nauseous.......

[marmar]

.....I have really started to loathe that man. :mad:



Dodd Calls for Firing GM’s Wagoner, Chrysler Merger (Update4)
By Lorraine Woellert and Nadine Elsibai


Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Richard Wagoner should be replaced as a condition for federal aid and Chrysler LLC may have to merge to survive.

“You’ve got to consider new leadership,” Dodd said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Wagoner, he said, “has to move on.”

GM spokesman Steve Harris said he didn’t interpret Dodd’s comments as making Wagoner’s exit a condition for aid, adding that the company management, employees and dealers “all feel like Rick is the right guy to lead us at difficult time.”

Lawmakers are putting together a $15 billion plan intended to help keep GM and Chrysler afloat and negotiations are underway between congressional Democrats and the Bush administration over what conditions for restructuring will be required. The House and Senate are returning this week specifically to consider the measure.

At least some GM board members would be willing to leave if it were a requirement of Congress for receiving aid, said a person familiar with GM board deliberations.

President-elect Barack Obama, asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” whether the management of the automaker should be allowed to stay, said “it may not be the same for all the companies.”

....(snip)....

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama said he supports a filibuster, a procedural tactic which stalls legislation to allow endless debate. Sixty votes are needed to end filibusters.

“I think we need to debate it and that’s what filibusters allow and this week would be a good time to do it,” Shelby said. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auGMJk3S1hCY&refer=home

[Idealism]

1. Shelby wants the Mercedes-Benz gravy train to keep on giving

Hell if the Big Three close up, MB will need more factories right? Maybe the hundreds of millions the state of Alabama gave Mercedes will help them think where to put it. Oh wait, thats just the "invisble hand of the market" telling them to where to go...

[tularetom]

2. All the millions in the world won't save MB's ass (or their reputation)

if the uneducated unskilled untrained ubtrainable workers they have to hire in Alabama start fucking up their $75,000 automobiles. It's false economy to hire poor workers even if all you pay them is minimum wage. Won't pay for all the do overs and QC failures caused by fuckups by poorly trained employees.

Nissan has already reconsidered their decision to locate plants in the south and is planning to move to Canada.

You get what you pay for.

[FarCenter]

4. In Alabama they produce Mercedes-Benz M-Class, R-Class, GL-Class

I doubt they'd try to produce quality automobiles in Alabama -- just vans and SUVs.

[Idealism]

5. The state of Alabama offered to

spend millions on training workers for the MB plant too actually, as part of their incentive package to offer the company there, but the company turned them down on the training. Fear of the locals lol

[merh]

3. I've loathed him for some time

imagine helping to coordinate a fundraiser for him when he was a dem, to help get him elected only to have him jump parties. :grr:

I really didn't trust him then, the friend that was his ardent supporter convinced me I was unfairly judging him and he would make a wonderful senator. Lesson learned: Always go with your gut. :banghead: