American Morning
Steele: Government intrusion in GM is offensive
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/02/intv.steele.art.jpg caption="RNC Chairman Michael Steele blasts President Obama's GM plans as 'government intrusion.'"]
To date, General Motors and Chrysler have been given some $85 billion in taxpayers’ money and now they have to explain to Congress how they’re going to use it and eventually pay it back. Meantime, President Obama is defending the move by the federal government to step in and try to save the auto industry.
“In the midst of a deep recession and financial crisis, the collapse of these companies would have been devastating for countless Americans and done enormous damage to our economy beyond the auto industry.”
The GOP is now firing back. They have a web ad out dubbed “GM: Government Motors” and called President Obama “America's new CEO.” Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday.
Kiran Chetry: President Obama says he has no interest in actually running General Motors, but U.S. taxpayers now hold a 60% stake in the company. You called it a “government grab of a private company and another handout for the union cronies…” If not the president's plan, what do you think we should have done when it comes to the auto industry?
Michael Steele: I think you let happen what has happened with major corporations like GM before. They go into the market, they work out their situation in the market, they go through bankruptcy. Look. We spent $20 billion to keep them from going into bankruptcy, so I'm sitting here now and asking myself, why did we spend $20 billion if that’s ultimately where they were going to end up. Everyone stood in the doorstep…preventing GM from declaring bankruptcy six, eight, ten months ago. And now this is where we are.
So the reality for me was this is very short sighted planning by the administration, that clearly, you know, the ultimate goal was bankruptcy. So why are we doing it now as opposed to earlier in the process? Let it work itself through. Get rid of the bad assets, streamline the product, get a competitive business plan in place and go back into the marketplace very much like Harley Davidson did and very much like Chrysler did 20 years ago. And make yourself a competitive force. But this government intrusion to me is just offensive to the market.
GM CFO: We admit errors in the past
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/02/intv.young.art.jpg caption="GM CFO Ray Young tells CNN's Kiran Chetry that General Motors will learn from their mistakes."]
GM’s bankruptcy is viewed by many as a failure of historic proportions. GM’s chief financial officer says he views it as a once in a lifetime opportunity. GM CFO Ray Young spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday.
Kiran Chetry: Under the restructuring plan, the government will give the company $30 billion additional in taxpayer money, amounting to $50 billion so far. It's the largest amount, besides AIG, dolled out by the government. In a nutshell, can you explain what went so wrong for General Motors?
Ray Young: Kiran, we admit there have been errors in the past that we’ve made at General Motors. We’ve had a lot of extra excess costs, excess capacity over the years. We’ve got…defined benefit obligations that have really hurt us in the balance sheet. But going forward, Kiran, we're going to learn from our mistakes. And we’ve been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to restructure the balance sheet, to shed a lot of our extra capacity, extra costs, and move forward with a profitable new General Motors that’s going to be smaller but more focused with four core brands and with a cost structure that is very, very efficient.
Chetry: Can you explain to the American public how you're going to do that? How you're going to get back on track. Do you plan on being able to eventually return the billions in taxpayer money?
Young: Well clearly, with four core brands, we’re going to be very focused in terms of our product development and our marketing dollars. We're going to shed our extra capacity or our excess capacity in order to bring down the break-even level of our cost structure. But we're going to be very much focused as a product and customer oriented company…a lot of investments in this area, in terms of advanced technologies. Our intent is to return this investment by the American taxpayers both in terms of the loan they’re providing to us as well as the shares that the American public will initially own in the new General Motors.
Who's responsible for Tiller's killing?
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/02/art.tiller.kake.jpg caption="Dr. George Tiller was one of the few U.S. physicians who performed late-term abortions."]
From CNN's Carol Costello and Bob Ruff
Killing doctors who perform legal abortions is rare in this country—but it happened again over the weekend.
Dr. George Tiller, who performed late-term abortions at his Wichita, Kansas clinic, was shot and killed while serving as an usher at his church Sunday morning. Tiller was the fourth abortion doctor killed.
Dr. Barnett Slepian was killed by a sniper in his Buffalo Amherst, NY home in 1998.
In 1994 Dr. John Britton was murdered while sitting in a car in Pensacola, Florida.
The first killing of an abortion doctor happened in 1993, also in Pensacola. David Gunn was shot while abortion opponents protested outside his clinic.
You’ll notice that it has been more than a decade since the last such murder, and some speculate there’s a reason for that.
UC Berkeley professor Cynthia Gorney, author of “Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars”, says anti-abortion leaders realized years ago that such killings do not help their cause of eliminating all abortions in this country—and so they’ve discouraged it. The problem with high profile killings, Gorney told CNN’s Carol Costello, “is that you do stir up a great deal of conversation, and for them it’s almost all negative, because you’re going to get a huge backlash against right to life. You’re going to get a lot of people now saying, ‘see those people are all crazy.’”
Randall Terry, the outspoken founder of “Operation Rescue,” an anti-abortion pro-life group, agrees that such extreme violence puts pressure on their pro-life movement. He told reporters Monday that “President Obama, the pro-abortion groups, their friends on Capitol Hill are going to try to browbeat the pro-life movement into surrendering.”
But Terry has no qualms about verbally assaulting Dr. Tiller, even in the wake of his death. “George Tiller was a mass murderer,” says Terry, “he reaped what he sowed.”
President Obama to visit Egypt this week
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/01/obama.gm.art.jpg caption="President Barack Obama speaks about the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by General Motors June 1, 2009 from the White House in Washington, DC"]
From CNN's Jim Acosta and Bonney Kapp
The White House says President Obama’s trip to Egypt this week fulfills a campaign pledge. But that may be up for debate.
In October 2007, then candidate Obama said the following in Iowa: “One of the things I’ve proposed is to call a summit in the Muslim world within the first year of my presidency that I would lead and would invite Muslim leaders from all around the world.”
Mr. Obama said roughly the same thing to author Richard Wolffe, who writes about the Muslim summit proposal in his new book, “Renegade.” "If I had a Muslim Summit," Mr. Obama tells Wolffe, "I think that I can speak credibly to them about the fact that I respect their culture."
But the White House says there will be no such summit. Instead, the president will be delivering a speech at one of the region’s most important universities. The White House points to this statement from the president that he made back in August, 2007: “As president, I will lead this effort. In the first 100 days of my administration, I will travel to a major Islamic forum and deliver an address to redefine our struggle. I will make clear that we are not at war with Islam, that we will stand with those who are willing to stand up for their future, and that we need their effort to defeat the prophets of hate and violence.”
Technically, the trip falls after the first 100 days. But who’s counting.
What’s on Tap – Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- An urgent search underway for a Paris-bound Air France jet that vanished while flying into thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean. Right now there are new clues into where the flight with 228 people on board may have gone down.
- A murder suspect's chilling past. New details about the man charged with gunning down a Kansas abortion doctor. He may have had an "eye-for-eye" anger toward those doctors performing abortions. We're live in Wichita with the developing story.
- A possible test case for the president's Supreme Court nominee. Will the current justices reject Judge Sonia Sotomayor's ruling in a case alleging reverse discrimination?
- It's the morning after for General Motors. The bankrupt automaker is now beginning the painful process of cutting one-third of its hourly workforce and 40-percent of its dealerships. The company's Chief Financial Officer joins us live.
- President Obama is leaving for the Middle East tonight. He’s hoping his visit will begin to "change the conversation" between the U.S. and the Muslim world. The president will be trying to win over the hearts and minds of millions who are still very suspicious of America’s motives. We’re talking to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about how his upcoming Cairo speech can get things off to a good start.
We Listen!
Monday’s American Morning audience awakened to the bankruptcy of General Motors. While the event was not unforeseen, many remained confused about the bankruptcy in conjunction with the government bailout and presented questions on numerous topics related to the filing.
- Joe: The U.S. Government already bailed out GM. The Hummer was designed for the military, it was the new 50K+ Jeep. The Government already supported GM by buying Hummers, Suburbans and Blazers at inflated prices, with billions of tax payer dollars. How many Government owned Hummers and other GM vehicles (running and in scrap yards) do we the people have in countries all over the world? No really, what is the price of this GM bailout?
- Andrew: I think that GM needs to cut down their prices on cars and trucks not a lot of people are buying new cars and trucks people are buying used cars and trucks now because new cars and trucks are too high
- 5XXXXXXX1: The auto execs had an opportunity to change their business practice years ago and didn't; they were getting their outrageous salaries.
How do you feel about the General Motors’ bankruptcy? How will it affect you? What is your opinion about GM’s future? What questions do you have about the bankruptcy?
The GM bondholder/school teacher was very heavily criticized for her naïveté and her seemingly alternative agenda against President and Mrs. Obama.
- Angus C: I am disgusted that you would bring that ditzy teacher on this morning whose only agenda was to try to bash Obama. I don't believe she was genuinely upset about the bonds. I expect this kind of nonsense from Fox News, not CNN. The very last comment about Michelle Obama was telling of her real position. If the government did not intervene with GM her bonds would be worth zero.
- L.T.: GM bondholder crying about not having a say, is wrong. When she and America voted G. Bush pres. she and they BANKRUPTED the U.S. and GM. creating the failures from surpluses to deficits and gave TAX breaks for Hummers.
- Bob: Today, Monday, on breaking news, a women was interviewed that invested $70,000 in GM six years ago. She was complaining about losing some of her money in the GM reorganization. Your reporter should have taken a few minutes to ask her if she understood that stocks and bonds all have a risk and that is the reason they generally provide more return than CDs or the money market. Please don't have that air brain on again – I am happy that she isn't teaching my grandchildren.
- Gwen: This is the first time I've ever written in but felt I should do so. First, this is regarding the so-called teacher who was on TV at approx. 5:30am Central time. She was upset about losing most of the $70,000 in GM investment and I understand her frustration. Many people have lost money during these economic problems. This lady readily wanted to blame the President for her lost, but no one explains that the President is working as hard as he can for the country with what he was handed when coming into office. If GM had not received the stimulus money, the GM retired workers would not have continued to receive their retirement, pension, and other benefits. I feel this needs to be explained to the American people, since there are so many criticizing the president every move he makes. Secondly, I was very upset with the comment she made regarding Michelle Obama's comment during the campaign about being proud of being an American only after her husband was campaigning for the presidency. She made a comment about how would Michelle feel if she was her children's teacher. This woman was out of order; these kids should never be mentioned in any political manner. This lets us know what type of teacher she really is. It appeared to be an attack on these sweet little Obama girls. She needs to come back on TV and explain her comment. I want to know what she was meaning.
- Rod: Where did you get that Gm bondholder you interviewed this morning from? And what may I ask was your purpose in talking with her? Mr. Obama just did a humane act. He pulled the plug on a life support patient that was never going to make it. Where has this bondholder been for the past decade? And she teaches our children? Now that in and of itself is a very scary thought.
What did you think of the interview with the schoolteacher/bondholder? Was she right to blame the government for the failure of GM?
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