Yes, for those of you too young to remember General Motors used to be #1 in auto/truck sales commanding a whopping 50plus percent of the US market. Now they are around 20% and falling. Well, GM just woke up to discover that gasoline is expensive and pick-up trucks, SUVs and Hummers may not be the most prudent vehicle to produce.
Result, poor people in Janesville, WI and three other cities will be out of a job. Now it will take GM two or three years to pack up and actually close those plants but still ... jobs will be lost.
Let's consider this for a moment. The guys running GM will still get their salaries today and in three years. The guys at the top may even get a bonus for realizing that $4 a gallon for gas may cause people to think about the MPG. Those same guys will take a plane to D.C. to tell Congress they need many years to react and produce a vehicle that gets really good gas mileage.
Why, will the people in Janesville loose their jobs? Because thirty years ago when there was the first gasoline shortage, those bright folks at GM thought is was just a short term thing. Gasoline would be plentiful and cheap forever. Why, there was no potential for shortage. And we are the United States of America and it is the world's obligation to provide us with all of its resources so that we can maintain whatever lifestyle we choose. Its our God given right. If I go by myself in my Supersized Chevy Suburban that seats 7 and drive it 90 mph and get 5 miles per gallon ... well its my right. Now, since it is my God given right, I should get gas at maybe $2.50 per gallon so it won't hurt so much at the pump.
Well, it seems that while we have been guzzling gas and not worrying about how many miles per gallon our SUV got and didn't worry that our second car was an even bigger SUV for those times when you might want to take a friend or the kids in the car ... along comes the rest of the world and decides that some of that gasoline should be theirs. Imagine our surprise.
Now add to that, our dollar becoming like toilet paper so it takes more to actually buy that gasoline and you get $4 per gallon on its way to $5 or higher.
So, this freight train that has been coming since the early 70's ... why GM didn't see it coming. GM execs said they never in a million years thought gas would go to $4 per gallons so fast. Thirty years just went by in a snap.
So, if you were hoping to buy American, help those people in Detroit out, take a positive step so the people in Janesville would not suffer ... sorry GM didn't see it coming.
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