Open letter from Ralph Nader and several other people (see end of article for list) to Barack Obama posted at Nader.org:
Dear President Obama,
The U.S. government bailout of, and acquisition of a majority share in, General Motors was an exceptional action, taken in response to exceptional circumstances. The U.S. stake in GM obviously poses novel managerial challenges to the government.… Read more ...
Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader has issued a press release on the occasion of today’s General Motors bankruptcy filing, scolding Congress and the “secretive, unaccountable, Wall Street-minded government task force” whose judgment it deferred to as the architects of needless hardship for thousands of GM stockholders, workers and consumers. Calling the proposed reorganization a “complex political nightmare” for president Obama, Nader goes on to call for three specific measures which he believes, along with other actions, would soften the potential devastation:
… Read more ...revisiting the serious drag-down, concessionary wage terms imposed on the United Auto Workers; demanding a moratorium on GM’s outsourcing of production of cars for sale in the United States; and establishing successorship liability for the new GM, so that victims of dangerous and defective GM cars can have their day in court.
Mailed to contact.ipr@gmail.com by Lou Novak
Not one job saved, not one community protected
Statement of Fred Vitale, Chairperson, Green Party of Michigan
The Green Party of Michigan strenuously opposes the $17.4 billion bailout for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
The agreement by the Bush administration to use a small part of the $700 billion already promised to Wall Street bankers is no victory for working people in Michigan.… Read more ...
The Socialist Equality Party held a public conference at Wayne State University in Detroit this past Saturday, presenting its analysis of the current course of the automotive industry and United Auto Workers union, as well as its implications for workers:
… Read more ...In the main report to the meeting, WSWS reporter and SEP member Jerry White began by describing the extreme concessions that will be demanded of autoworkers as a result of the recently announced Bush administration “bailout” of the industry.
Andrew Davis writes at LP.org
On Dec. 10, the Libertarian Party put out a press release calling the logic behind the auto bailout, "insane." In it, we stated that "it’s insane that we keep going back to the taxpayers to bail-out struggling corporations who, for lack of good management and sound business practices, have become unprofitable."
We also said that "the Libertarian Party favors letting these companies file Chapter 11, instead of risking taxpayer dollars for promises of reform."
The Kansas City Star, a McClatchy publication in Kansas City, Missouri, was rather offended with our assessment of the situation:
… Read more ...In case you missed it, the nation’s largest third party also opposed appropriating $14 billion of taxpayer money to bail out the American automotive industry.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The following is a statement from consumer advocate Ralph Nader and Robert Weissman, director of the advocacy group Essential Action:
In an effort to break the United Auto Workers — a union that historically has been responsible for raising wages and benefits not just for unionized auto workers but for all working Americans — Senate Republicans are apparently willing to permit the collapse of the U.S.… Read more ...
Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 1988, and appeared on the 2008 general election presidential ballot as a Taxpayers and Constitution Party in Louisiana and Montana, in addition to running in the Republican primary. He is a life member of the Libertarian Party, and has spoken at numerous Libertarian Party and Constitution Party events over the course of many years.… Read more ...