"General Motors to Invest $1 Billion in Brazil Operations - Money to Come from U.S. Rescue Program

The only thing I can say about this is - Oh hell no! Is there no stipulation in the bailout bill that would prevent companies from spending the money overseas?


www.laht.com...

SAO PAULO -- General Motors plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market, said the beleaguered car maker.

According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and will be used to "complete the renovation of the line of products up to 2012."

"It wouldn't be logical to withdraw the investment from where we're growing, and our goal is to protect investments in emerging markets," he said in a statement published by the business daily Gazeta Mercantil.

[edit on 1/2/2009 by kosmicjack]

I hate to be sarcastic but really "who did not expect this"?
For almost two decades we have seen "Trickle Over Economics" in action. All of the wealth America had has 'trickled over' to foreign countries.

I for one believe that if ANY company takes a "bailout" that the taxpayer must burden over the long haul then ALL of that money should be used domestically.

Banks are doing the same thing (even worse) by investing their bailout money overseas and buying foreign banks.

This is nothing but the final LOOTING of America with borrowed money.


Remember: The Great Depression was only bad for the common person. Those who were rich at the time were "Living Like Kings" and could care less about the rest of us. It gave them much more power when they had common people kissing their asses just to have enough money to eat.

[edit on 1-2-2009 by infolurker]

Someone was already talking about 60,000 lay offs in the car market even after the bail out not sure where he heard that number at but if they are taking the money over seas I guess that would make sense.

haha this is almost funny, the cheek of it!

Well what did you expect? raise people above having any connection to the local area and of course they won't care about it! They can just move to a huge mansion in south america, or buy an island or two and forget about the chaos that effects the rest of the world.

Again, what are they going to make?

Cars.

For who?

This is all BS. Don't believe any of what you read from these companies.

There are already hundreds of thousands of cars sitting in old airfields waiting to be sold. They were already running at a rate above demand.
Now, no one is buying any of them.

They could all stop manufacturing today and there will still be enough cars to sell at a stable current rate for several years to come.

The bail out money is being used to prevent a massive influx of unemployment into state care. That's all. Basically the big car manufacturers went to government and said that if they didn't give them this money, they would make several million people their responsibility immediately.

It was blackmail.
And it worked.

Now, the government has to try to control the closure/collapse of these companies so that there isn't such a massive influx of unemployment into the system all in one go, so they have a chance to get them back into other employment elsewhere.

The car business has already failed, these people will be unemployed, and there is nothing GM or the government can do about it.

I would bet that this money vanishes into a black hole, thereby securing a safe cushion for the CEO's.

They are following Fords lead. Opened in 2001 capable of producing 5 platforms at once. Assembly and supplier integration inside Ford's Factory
See my ATS thread

and/or
this VIDEO

Seems to me this would be a very smart move for GM. Before you guys say oh wait, they are shipping jobs, take a look at Brazils Economy. I would move there in a heart beat. First of all, most of their vehicles are not dependent on Foreign Oil but instead ethonal, one of the biggest cash crops in Brazil.

In the past there have been preventions made for motor companies to develop this technology because of our invested interest in foreign oil we have failed to develop new technologies on our own. Well look who has them now...thats right Brazil.


[edit on 1-2-2009 by 12.21.12]

Should of let that no so American company fail. Now we're giving them money to continue to screw the American worker and their target American consumers.

I hope the fold and never bother us again.

OH-HELL-YES!!!!!!
What do expect when the American Auto Worker has priced themselves out of Work!!! I feel NO SYMPATHY FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Will Never Buy a so called American Car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Redsox your an idiot. Sorry to make personal attacks, but you know nothing of what you speak and then criticize others on your ignorance. It is not the auto workers who priced themselves out of a job. The average make, i believe 26-29 an hour which is not an awful lot. Its our healthcare system that has priced them out of a job. Due to all the expenses a job must pay for workers, the cost of employing a worker that gets paid 29/hour is actually close to 70/hour for the business. Massively this is due to healthcare costs for retirement, and the surge in healthcare costs for benefits plans, and this was legislated by congress, not by the worker. Health costs are massive for americans, and the pharmaceutical and hospital industry are raping the people for the profits of the few, and have twisted arms in congress to get this done. Blame THEM, not the workers.

However, i agree with you about not buying an american car....they are all crap. Every toyota, honda, or nissan ive had i got up to 200-250k miles, with no problems, everything intact and the car in excellent condition. Every american car ive had gets to 100k and all, and i mean ALL the electric windows need replacing, the door handles break, the switches stopped working, and on most the engine needed replacing shortly thereafter as well. Comfortable though!

reply to post by 67redsox


Redsox, you are not an idiot.

Those same American auto workers voted for the legislators who imposed such a screwed system on them.

Why should automakers continue operations in the U.S. when not only auto workers are expensive but they keep voting for legislators that keep increasing costs through taxation and regulations (which by the way also increase health care costs)?

Not only that, but the workers also vote for the unions that keep demanding even during hard times.

AND, many of these workers are also shareholders so they vote for their inept executive leadership.

No wonder why American cars are so crappy. Automakers have to spend on everything else then the actual quality of the car.

You know this could be a way to get the union out of at least some of their plants also unless it transfers over into foreign countries I don't know. Kind of a stretch here but thought it might be a perk assuming they are union free over seas.

This is betrayal.

I won't be buying GM. I'll just keep fixing my old jalapi.

reply to post by kosmicjack


Frankly the banks have been doing it all along. Since the day they got the funds to be exact. What was there in the wording of the bail out bill that said they couldn't?
This whole thing is nothing more than a power grab by the top percentage of the worlds' elite. They are trying once again to consolidate the worlds industries into a more manageable core. (Did I mention they are succeeding?)
All of the side stories in the news about the whole thing are nothing more than ways to strike fear and loathing into the hearts of the populations worldwide. This in the hopes of creating enough fear to get total control of everything including peoples minds and how they view their personal outlook on life. Disgusting to many, but to those who just don't get it, its a daily bump and grind of fear and loathing.
You can either follow along with the fear and loathing or you can make changes in your own personal life to get you through the times to come.

Personally my family and I have gotten rid of our "financed truck" and cut back on everything we can cut without causing harm to our family.
So far this winter we have not ONCE turned on our heater, we only go out to eat once every two weeks and go to places where its cheap to eat and has healthy foods.
When we go shopping we are by passing on the ready made foods that cost alot and getting twice as much by electing to make it ourselves and either freeze the left overs or can them.
There are SO many things we can all do to make this SO much easier on our families.
We just need to sit down AS A FAMILY and figure out what we can do with out and what we feel we really need.
If you are really tired of listening to all the doom and gloom and straight up law breaking in the news maybe its time to unplug for a bit!
See where you and your loved ones can make changes to your own lives to make them more livable and enjoyable again. xoxo Stacie

Originally posted by pexx421
The average make, i believe 26-29 an hour which is not an awful lot. Its our healthcare system that has priced them out of a job. Due to all the expenses a job must pay for workers, the cost of employing a worker that gets paid 29/hour is actually close to 70/hour for the business. Massively this is due to healthcare costs for retirement, and the surge in healthcare costs for benefits plans, and this was legislated by congress, not by the worker.

A large portion of that is pension spending. It's the equivalant of social security that's internal to the auto industry. What you're seeing right now in the automotive sector is what's coming for the entire country as a result of the giant ponzi scheme that is social security.

Their legislators are not chosen by them but rather sold to them. We only get to choose the ones they put up for us, all of them rich, and you cant expect a member of the wealthy elite to care for the concerns of the poor ignorant masses. Im sure YOU voted for obama or mccain, both of which supported the bailouts, so tell me, then, why didnt you pick the candidate that would have resolved the issue? Save it...i know...because we werent offered one. Our government is intentionally opaque so that those in power can have freedom to push legislation they like without it being subject to the perusal or understanding of the laymen.
The unions need the same thing our government needs. EFFECTIVE oversight. Something we seem to be unable to provide anywhere in our political system. Not in the FCC, not in the FDA, not in CPS or the IRS, the police, or the military. Why? Money and greed is the common denominator. Its the same god obama and mccain serve, and the same god Mcdonalds and big pharma serve. It is also served by your ignorance.

reply to post by pexx421


A sign of ignorance is making an assumption on who a particular person voted for and basing an entire argument on that.

But getting back to the elite legislator and voter relationship since it was brought up....

I hate to say it, but the government we have is a reflection of society in general. We want stuff and think we are entitled to stuff irregardless of costs and it is only natural that someone who is running for something will use that against us.

If the elites are the problem, then we must be seriously lazy because we as a population aren't doing what populations in the past have done to obviously corrupt leaders, get rid of them.

Either way, we get what we deserve. I don't see auto workers storming government buildings or staging mass takeovers of the Michigan industrial infrastructure. If they are concerned about their livelihoods, they should stop being spoiled and act on it. Work to throw the corruption out and work to keep people who will protect their industry using realistic means in.




[edit on 2-2-2009 by wutone]

My assumption that you voted for one of the two was based off the fact that those are the only two options we were given.

The idea that we are lazy is flawed due to the fact that we have a system which coerces people to the path we have. Its not that we dont want different, its that safeguards have been put into effect that exploit the human nature that pushes people to the path of least resistance. No revolution has begun in any society that was comfortable, and our society is set up to keep people comfortable while it consolidates its control. It is a velvet dictatorship that minimizes the ability the common man has to make any real change, while at the same time offering them a life of pseudo security and luxury as long as they are willing to submit to that control.

Our government is NOT a reflection of our society, but rather a reflection of the ruling elite, the ownership class. And the staging of mass takovers that you refer to is something that would be countered by a police and military group of unprecedented historical power, able to inflict carnage and destruction on dissenters in a manner unprecedented. I think we all recognize that, and that is why we are afraid to take that last step to the brink. This is not just the rulers of some little country that we must compete against, its the corporate and financial entity that in many ways directs the whole world. Those who dictate the legislation and decisions of the US are those same powerful multi-national corporations that dictate to all countries, whose power spans time zones as well as generations. Who largely control the airwaves, and monitor the net and use that power to keep the working class from achieving solidarity. Why is it, do you think, that the main stream media refuses to show the riots in california from last week, refuses to show the uprisings and riots going on all across europe, in France, England, Iceland, refused to show the massive civil disruptions for the last 3 months in Greece?

If the elites are the problem, then we must be seriously lazy because we as a population aren't doing what populations in the past have done to obviously corrupt leaders, get rid of them.

If you excuse me, I have to go play my XBOX. Will be back later to complain some more.

Yep, we are lazy and complacent and will no doubt keep reelecting the same fools who got us here in the first place. And if don't elect them, people like Obama will make sure they get recycled. I recycle cans and the government recycles fools.

And it just keeps coming, more taxpayer abuse. They think we're suckers - because we are.

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