[Spridgets] FW: Huh???

[Jim Johnson]

On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 7:12 AM, <corvallis at peoplepc.com> wrote:

> "As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad
> decision-making and a global recession have pushed our automakers to the
> brink. We should not, and will not, protect them from their own bad
> practices. But we are committed to the goal of a retooled, re-imagined auto
> industry that can compete and win. Millions of jobs depend on it. Scores of
> communities depend on it. And I believe the nation that invented the
> automobile cannot walk away from it."


Let's keep the story straight here..  It ain't just our auto
manufacturers....  What's he gonna do - subsidize the global auto
manufacturers?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

By Chang-Ran Kim and Helen Massy-Beresford

TOKYO/PARIS (Reuters) - Feb. 6, 2009 - Toyota, the world's top carmaker,
said its losses were ballooning as world car sales drop, while truckmaker
Volvo swung to a fourth-quarter loss and Italy readied aid for the ailing
industry.

A sudden collapse in consumer demand last year battered automakers who were
forced to cut production and shed jobs, leaving the sector and its related
industries reeling.

Governments have swung into action, preparing aid packages to help out their
struggling car sectors.

The Italian government on Friday approved a decree which included incentives
worth more than 1,500 euros for trading-in cars which were more than 10
years old and buying a new one. The total value of the package for the car
industry is worth between 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) and 1.3 billion,
a government source said.

South African car industry representatives said they had approached the
government for loans to help curb job losses.

German's BMW, meanwhile, provided a rare glimmer of hope and its shares rose
as it earned a clear profit in 2008 with fourth-quarter sales beating
expectations.

Fellow German car manufacturer Volkswagen AG'S January vehicle sales plunged
a fifth, according to a source close to Europe's biggest auto maker.


-- 
Cheers!!
Jim
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough
to take everything you have." - Gerald Ford