The federal government’s nod over the request of the three big U.S. automakers to help them in their present economic mess is something that creates panic among the millions of U.S. taxpayers. This has something to do with the recent announcement of President Bush that it would consider releasing a total of $13.4 billion to rescue the ailing automakers from folding up indefinitely.
The White House had resorted to this economic strategy owing to the failure of Congress to act on the automakers’ request for a bailout package so that their companies (Ford, GM and Chrysler) could eventually operate for a longer period of time without sacrificing thousands of jobs at this time when the tentacles of the country’s economic recession are being felt by each concerned citizen.
Despite the White House intervention, the automakers seemed caught flat-footed and a little unconvinced on the amount the federal government had approved to keep their operations going. It is understandable that they needed more.
Alone, it is very difficult to imagine why? Considering the fat bonuses and salaries that each executive gets, not to mention the high per hour rate of ordinary workers, where could the $13.4 billion go? Comparatively, workers at the Japanese car companies are getting much less than their counterparts at the three American car companies. If I’m not mistaken, this makes production costs of Toyota, Honda and Nissan much cheaper. Naturally, when the labor costs are less, finished products that are sold in the markets are much cheaper to buy. And it is not surprising why many consumers want to buy Japanese cars because their spare parts and maintenance are much more economical for the ordinary pockets, too.
With cars produced by American companies already stockpiling in their company yards, probably because they are much more expensive to buy and maintain, many have expressed doubts that the three automakers would be able to repay what they owed to the federal government in due time. That’s the time when the millions of taxpayers would realize that they had been short-changed.
Earlier, however, employees of the big automakers have signified their willingness to cut down on their hourly rate in order to continue working. This is a good sign that they wanted to keep up with their auto counterparts just to keep the business afloat while the economic turmoil is putting pressures on most workers and their families.
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