Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann did it again. She opened her big stupid mouth.
“Whoops, I did it again,” said Congressman Bachman, who was regularly featured on MSNBC for her idiotic outbursts.
She has a big problem with the government's involvement with the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler. She says the forced closure of nearly 2,000 dealers amounts to gangsta' strong-arming.
Speaking on the House floor this week, Bachmann paraphrased conservative columnist Michael Barone:
“Now we've moved into the realm of gangsta' government. We have gangsta' government when the Federal Government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local--hopefully well politically connected--congressman or their senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business. Is that the kind of country we are going to have in the future?
We need to call this for what this is, my colleagues. We need to call this for what this is. . . No business is safe when you see the administration appoint czars--car czars, wage czars--there's over 20 czars that have been appointed. And what do those czars do? They bypass the Congress. We are the people's elected representatives; we have been bypassed.”
Bachmann's language was off-the-wall. However, earlier today, a bipartisan group of Representatives -- led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) formally introduced a bill that would halt the dealership closing plan, which has the approval of President Obama's automobile industry restructuring panel.
According to MSNBC, 80 per cent of these auto dealers donate money to the Republican Party. In addition, many have pressured newspapers and other media to suppress criticism of borderline business practices. Local and state auto dealer associations have frequently pulled all advertising from local newspapers and broadcasters when some of their questionable burliness practices were disclosed to the public.The dealer closure will have a bigger effect on the GOP then on the Democratic Party.
Car dealers are a potent political force, contributing more than $9 million to federal candidates for the 2008 elections. It is clear that the decision to close the dealers is an automaker decision that is not being advocated by the federal government.
General Motors and Chrysler told Congress there are too many dealers to support their new operations. The sacrifices must be shared as the manufacturers try to overcome bankruptcy.
GM is aiming for "fewer, stronger brands as well as fewer, stronger dealers," stated GM President Fritz "These are tough times for everyone in the GM family."
Chrysler President James Press said: "Poor performing dealers cost us customers...If they don't sell cars, we don't either."
More than 2,700 dealerships are in line to lose their franchise. Two small-town dealers invited to appear before the committee spoke of the anguish ahead.
The executives of the struggling companies said there are too many dealers, with many often cannibalizing each other for sales. They suggested many of the dealerships date to the 1940s and 1950s, when motorists lived farther apart and Detroit automakers led the world in sales.
Detroit has wanted to get rid of these dealers for decades, but state franchise laws have made this impossible.
After losing customers for decades and losing market share to foreign competitors, the two automakers said their companies need to scale back all their operations to become leaner to become profitable again.
Chrysler is expected to emerge from bankruptcy protection within the next few days. General Motors just filed for Chapter 11 protection and its officials said they hope to be able to emerge as a new company in 60-90 days.
This is the fourth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The automakers, in response, says taxpayers' investment is best protected by shedding unprofitable operations and strengthening the bottom line as fast as possible.
"It's not our place to change your decision," Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, told the auto executives. "But it is our place...to make sure that everyone is treated as well as can be in these circumstances."
Chrysler LLC has identified nearly 800 dealerships it plans to close next week, about a quarter of the company's dealership network. Lawmakers complained because dealers received only three weeks' notice.
General Motors told 1,100 dealerships it will not renew their franchise agreements in late 2010 and expects to shed an additional 900 dealerships by selling or discontinuing its Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands. The Hummer brand is being sold to a Chinese company. The Pontiac line has been closed down.
Chrysler dealers have only until June 9 to close down. "That termination date is needed to ensure that our new dealership structure will be firmly in place at or about the time the new company is formed with Fiat, something understandably important to Fiat," Press said. The Supreme Court is allowing the sale to Fiat to proceed.
Chrysler says its departing dealerships have resold or redistributed about 90 percent of their inventory and parts through a company program. The dropped dealers want the Obama administration to give them more time because they have only three weeks to clear them out.
GM is giving its dropped dealers until October 2010 to close.
The third Detroit automaker, Ford Motor Corp., has not filed for bankruptcy protection and has not taken any federal bailout money. It has also not announced widespread dealership closings.
GM and Chrysler also have argued that they both need a strong dealer base in to be successful. Chrysler has said that most of the dealers it is eliminating are unprofitable, don't carry all three brands of Chrysler vehicles, or are located too close to another Chrysler dealer that results in the cannibalization of sales.
www.whnt.com/business/sns-ap-us-meltdown-101-auto-dealers,0,1350171.story
www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0609/Bachmann_bemoans_gangster_government.html
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