FACT: US auto exec's make 22 times what their Japanese counterparts make, and 17 times what their European counterparts make. Yet despite this disparity, they have consistently made poor decisions, as opposed to those same counterparts. Example: Investing heavily in SUV's as opposed to the hybrid technology that Japan invested in.
FACT: US autoworkers earn about $39.00/hr total package. Japanese autoworkers earn 30 to 40% more, and German autoworkers earn $49.00/hr total package. So much for the idea that it is the workers pricing themselves out of a job.
MYTH: CEOs create jobs. They create shareholder value. They have supposedly made the U.S. economy the strongest and most competitive in the world. The facts are that fewer and fewer jobs exist in the US and they offer meager pay and fewer and fewer benefits. And as to the shareholder value, well, just take a look at your 401(k) balance. All this in a time when average CEO pay rose from about $40.00 for every dollar the employees made (1960's) to well over $500.00 for every dollar the employees make now. Do you know anyone working by the hour whose pay rose over a 1000% in that same time? Forbes magazine, a right wing management magazine, reported that the average exec saw their pay rise 54% last year.
The facts are that beginning with Reagan, The Great Communicator, the dismantling of a century and a half of progressive legislation began. This legislation was aimed at protecting the working class, and enhancing their quality and safety of life. It was aimed at creating the best education system in the world. It was aimed at creating the finest standards of public health, the safest and most productive workplaces, and a vibrant economy. It had its flaws, but that is what being a progressive is about. It is about tinkering, refining, and constantly looking out for the public good. It is about creating a balance between the rights of capital and the rights of labor.
Congratulations, America. I hope that Kool Aid was the flavor you liked. This industry needs a bailout. 10% of the jobs in this country are created by it. But without strings????? I don't think so. You can retain private ownership, but if you want the bailout, we get a stake in the decisions on the business model. That is no different from any other investor, now is it?