*** LATE NEWS: As part of their bankruptcy plan, GM is now welcome to tap into $15 billion in order to help with the reorganization process. Geez, it must be tough being bankrupt!
==========================
It would not have been a surprise to see me experience an auto accident today, laughing to myself as hard as possible. Today was supposedly doomsday for GM, the long-awaited announcement of bankruptcy, and what happens? The Dow Industrials close up over 200 points to their highest close in six months. Was this a collective sigh of relief for the Dow, knowing they no longer have to shoulder the burden of carrying GM among its 30 stocks?
Turns out what GM thought was good wasn't good enough for the country. If this were 25 years ago, I'd be a little more worried about how this would affect the economy. But GM has shown, thru poor products & inept management, that it lost touch with customers on both world hemispheres. What makes it worse, GM gets bankruptcy protection, while all the tax-payer stimulus money directed toward it has been burned up.
There's "special report" coverage all over the radio and TV. Yet I'm still surprised at the sheer force of the coverage, especially when we all knew this move was months in the making.
This reminds me of a time about ten years ago when my father tried to get me into work at Woodhaven Stamping Plant (Ford). I honestly couldn't picture myself working at a factory, and for years he had told me he'd rather not see me go through the intensive labor.
However, the prevailing thought then was the same thought of forty years prior: You get into an auto factory, you're set for life. Locally, it was the same with the chemical companies: Work for Wyandotte, and never worry. Machine shops were plentiful. There were many in a strip along Allen Rd. in Taylor. Get fired from one, just walk next door and there you have it. Anything with a mechanical aptitude was looked at with respect.
Based on historical thought alone, I could understand why my father may have been frustrated due to my lukewarm response to factory work. I now see where, in fact, such a career move would have been a huge error. These layoffs & drawbacks have no safety net; it's just a plunge taken by the victimized worker. And in my mental state, that would've been more catastrophic than anything I've experienced (and called bad) in my life.
Michigan's still going to kick itself regardless of what recovery program GM employs. We do not have a reliable backup industry that can help draw dollars & balance the budget.
What's bad for GM is bad for Michigan, and we have to live it out every day, whether we worked for them or not.
