Jeff Stahler for July 20, 2013

Well, the Rest Of The World was trying really hard for many years to drop big hints as to what the American auto industry should be doing, but the main reaction was to protest to Japan for being unfairly competent.Anyone remember when this happened in the 1980s?

this guage coming to a city near you.

This has little to do with the car companies but with liberal (and union) policies that coerce management into unsustainable pension benefits.

Not if you’re dead because you can’t afford health care.

The loss of the auto industry resulted from many things. most have been noted here, such as the lack of nationalized health care and the greed of the CEOs and unions. One thing not mentioned was the taxation policies of our government. In the 70’s, over 50% of the cost of a new car went to taxes. Taxes on a Japanese auto consisted of about 15%. Today, it still holds true as local taxes are set aside for foreign auto makers to build their plants in a state. Plants such as Honda’s are modular and the company threatens to move their plants to other states if they aren’t given more tax breaks. States competing for business are actually hurting themselves by "playing the game. =lower wages, taxes and education quality.

This is a link to an article in Wikipedia that goes through the history of the city since the 1950’s and outlines the problems very well. The scary part of this is when you look at their total debt at 18 billion dollars, half of it is unfunded pension obligations and retiree health care benefits. Detroit’s problems go far beyond just unions and benefits, but it is a very significant part of the problem. As one looks around America, this is a common issue that is being repeated from the state level all the way down to municipalities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_Detroit

uuuuuuuh, what?

“There is more to life than socialized healthcare.”

Agreed; there’s death.

Ha! Say, what are the drones powered by?

"New management has promised to avoid those old mistakes, and to try to make only brand new ones.<brNice turn of phrase. :)

This is what happens when Democrats are in complete control for 50 years. The country might be next.

“The ‘rest of the world’ would love to be America.”

Not really, but keep telling yourself that if it makes you happy. Also, the planet wouldn’t be able to handle it. 5% of the world’s population consuming an inordinate proportion of its resources… I thought the Brits were profligate but Americans manage to consume twice as much as the British per capita.

“Overall, National Geographic’s Greendex found that American consumers rank last of 17 countries surveyed in regard to sustainable behavior. Furthermore, the study found that U.S. consumers are among the least likely to feel guilty about the impact they have on the environment, yet they are near to top of the list in believing that individual choices could make a difference.”

Detroit prided itself on producing gas guzzlers. But it’s the nation’s pride that wanted those cars. Only now they’re realising gas guzzlers were a bad idea.Too late for Detroit.

Österreich? Oh-oh. Ich denke meine Frau wird nicht glücklich sein das zu hören

Aaaaerrr … no, we don’t all want to live in America.For a start, the USA does not have a national health care system.And it has lots and lots of guns amongst the citizenry, irrespective of their mental health, whether or not they’re needed. Even more scary is the thought that they probably are.Then there is your education system, that has decided to throw Science out the window, giving religion a bad name in the process. You guys were responsible for the Marshall Plan and even landed a Man on the Moon on this day 44 years ago. Please, WAKE UP!