"Czars", good word.

There's an old saying, that beggars can't be choosers. I'm not sure whether we should bail Detroit out or not, but I am sure just giving them plenty of money won't help anyone but the clueless executives.

We keep using this word "Czar" for everything - Drugs, Cyber Security, Copyright, now Cars - I think we should remember what happened to them a century ago.

UNC_Samurai: We keep using this word "Czar" for everything - Drugs, Cyber Security, Copyright, now Cars - I think we should remember what happened to them a century ago.

That should happen to most of the "czars" in government, actually.

Did you say...Car Wars?

/obscure?
//no, not really.
///hotlinked like a dirty whore.

For years there has been commentary that American auto makers should offer more fuel efficient cars. And the response has been "we know what American consumers want... a big car with lots of power". If you look at the cars on the road, what do you see? Small, fuel efficient cars - offered by foreign companies. And now our auto industry is in the shiatter.

Good work, boys. Thank god for your strong leadership, you sure put those whining hippies in their place.

Weaver95: /obscure?
//no, not really.

I remember my days as a card-carrying member of the American Auto-dueling Association.

Kumana Wanalaia: For years there has been commentary that American auto makers should offer more fuel efficient cars. And the response has been "we know what American consumers want... a big car with lots of power". If you look at the cars on the road, what do you see? Small, fuel efficient cars - offered by foreign companies. And now our auto industry is in the shiatter.

Good work, boys. Thank god for your strong leadership, you sure put those whining hippies in their place.

I'll tell you what is even more offensive than what you're talking about. For years, corporate 'leaders' have preached that 'government is bad' and that 'unions are evil'. They've told us that 'free markets' are god and that if we just believed in them hard enough, then everyone would make money. They told us that they were 'capitalists'.

And now they're in trouble. So what do they do? After years of telling us how rugged capitalists they all are, they run straight to government for a bailout. I find that highly offensive and insulting. I also do not trust the Big Three to play fair. I think they'll take any bailout money and spend it on hookers and blow.

Considering motor vehicles do more damage than a bunch of pot-smoking hippies, I'm not surprised.

/I got hit by a truck Friday so I'm getting a kick out of some of these replies...
//never been hit by a pot-smoking hippie

Weaver already covered my first impulse, so I had to go with my second:

If you look at the cars on the road, what do you see? Small, fuel efficient cars - offered by foreign companies.

Especially Asian. European carmakers have routinely exceeded CAFE limits, because consumers are willing to pay the cost of the car plus the hidden cost of the CAFE fine plus the overt cost of the "gas guzzler" tax plus the fuel costs to drive something fun or luxurious or pretentious.

A big difference between European and American companies is, BMW and Mercedes make small cars too because there's a huge market for them in Europe, and they don't believe in the American principle that small cars have to be crap.

GaryPDX: "Czars", good word.

Maybe they could borrow from the Republican Libertarian phrasebook and use "Patriots" instead. I reckon you could get permission from the base to do a lot more damage that way

I always thought the title of Czar was weird, given that we can't have any people carrying titles like Sir, Majesty, King, Duke, etc.

Kumana Wanalaia: For years there has been commentary that American auto makers should offer more fuel efficient cars. And the response has been "we know what American consumers want... a big car with lots of power". If you look at the cars on the road, what do you see? Small, fuel efficient cars - offered by foreign companies.

Yeah, and do you know where they're made? Alabama. Mississippi. Places where there are no unions. The Big 3 are dragging along a the dead weight of union contracts that cost them a fortune, so they lose money on every small, fuel efficient vehicle they sell. The only place they made money until recently was on the high-dollar gas-guzzlers. Let them move their factories to the South or ditch their union contracts and they'd have a chance at producing a profit as well.

God, 2 people already beat me hotlinking the CarWars and Autoduel images. Christ.

Am I the only one who thinks the title "Czar" is stupid for Americans to use since it's just the Russian variation on "Caesar?"

What about Car Caesar? Drug Caesar? Sex Caesar?

Car Comrade sounds much more appropriate.


I'm gonna get in line early for my free car!!

jjorsett,
Alabama is on the verge of bankruptcy because of the subsidies they gave to lure the automakers

I nominate Peter Sarsgard. Car Czar Sarsgard will fix it!

Nuke Detroit.

From the frying pan into the blast furnace. Surely we need the imbeciles that haven't gotten much correct in the last, oh I don't know, decades?

El Robbo: Am I the only one who thinks the title "Czar" is stupid for Americans to use since it's just the Russian variation on "Caesar?"

What about Car Caesar? Drug Caesar? Sex Caesar?

AM I the only one who thinks that you are stupid for making that comment??

jjorsett: Yeah, and do you know where they're made? Alabama. Mississippi. Places where there are no unions.

The amusing thing is, it's not geographical at all. The UAW has tried to get Nissan, Toyota, etc workers in the US to unionize for going on two decades now, and the workers have refused. Told them to take a hike after seeing what they did to Detroit.

Loved me some CarWars and Autoduel. I really wanted MCO to do well also, too bad it sucked.

It'll be good until Lenin Motor Company runs them all out of business. Detroit is cold this time of year.

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting editorial (new window) yesterday in which they pointed out that the Big 3 bailout has morphed into political extortion by the Congress, and that the bailout is going to cost much, much more than 34 billion.

El Robbo: Am I the only one who thinks the title "Czar" is stupid for Americans to use since it's just the Russian variation on "Caesar?"

What about Car Caesar? Drug Caesar? Sex Caesar?

Or how about "kaiser" since that is another variation on Caeser.

If we appoint a car Czar, will we also have to appoint a car Tatsuma? Just, ya know, to be fair, and balanced? :D

Kumana Wanalaia [TotalFark] Quote 2008-12-07 12:42:14 PM
For years there has been commentary that American auto makers should offer more fuel efficient cars. And the response has been "we know what American consumers want... a big car with lots of power". If you look at the cars on the road, what do you see? Small, fuel efficient cars - offered by foreign companies. And now our auto industry is in the shiatter.

Good work, boys. Thank god for your strong leadership, you sure put those whining hippies in their place.


You're right, American car companies don't make ANY 4 cylinder/fuel efficient cars......

oh, wait, yes they do......the difference is that apparently if you work on the line at an American car company, you can't build one for less than $70.00 per hour in wages and benefits......

On the other hand, America workers building Japanese cars seem to be able to get it done for about $40.00

Go figure......

Good thing the UAW strong armed all of those great benefits.......for jobs that will no longer exist.

btw...you really do sound like a whining hippie who hasn't the first clue about the last 30 years of the auto industry.

El Robbo: Am I the only one who thinks the title "Czar" is stupid for Americans to use since it's just the Russian variation on "Caesar?"

What about Car Caesar? Drug Caesar? Sex Caesar?

I prefer Car Führer.

libbynomore2: btw...you really do sound like a whining hippie who hasn't the first clue about the last 30 years of the auto industry.

To be fair, I don't think the Unions or the Big 3 themselves have much of a clue about the auto industry either.

ultraholland:[douchebag]

hahahahah. What ever happened to that guy.

Single White Male: I prefer Car Führer.

Know who else designed a small, fuel-efficient car?

Single White Male: El Robbo: Am I the only one who thinks the title "Czar" is stupid for Americans to use since it's just the Russian variation on "Caesar?"

What about Car Caesar? Drug Caesar? Sex Caesar?

I prefer Car Führer.

Car Commandant? Car Commanche? Car Curmudgeon?

IF they do go far a csar, or whatever else you want to call it, I would recommend that they go to Tokyo to find him.

loser0: Single White Male: I prefer Car Führer.

Know who else designed a small, fuel-efficient car?

Homer Simpson?

Has anyone stopped to consider the repercussions of not bailing out the industry? I mean...they certainly farked themselves over, but I don't think congress gives $15b to someone who just wants it.

Car Czar? I guess Detroit might as well pack things away now. Anytime we've had a 'Czar' for something it has been a complete and total failure.

loser0: Single White Male: I prefer Car Führer.

Know who else designed a small, fuel-efficient car?

Hell, the Volkswagen Thing was nothing more than a repainted Kubelwagen left over from World War II.

Weaver95 [TotalFark] Quote 2008-12-07 04:21:41 PM
libbynomore2: btw...you really do sound like a whining hippie who hasn't the first clue about the last 30 years of the auto industry.

To be fair, I don't think the Unions or the Big 3 themselves have much of a clue about the auto industry either.


Touche'

loser0: Single White Male: I prefer Car Führer.

Know who else designed a small, fuel-efficient car?

I know where you're going with that, but the correct answer is Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. (cribbing a little from Hans Ledwinka)

/fail

SwallowTheKnife: Has anyone stopped to consider the repercussions of not bailing out the industry? I mean...they certainly farked themselves over, but I don't think congress gives $15b to someone who just wants it.

we put them into receivership, appoint a neutral third party to reorganize the companies/clean house and then restructure the debt?

pzippy: loser0: Single White Male: I prefer Car Führer.

Know who else designed a small, fuel-efficient car?

Hell, the Volkswagen Thing was nothing more than a repainted Kubelwagen left over from World War II.

That is EXTREMELY unlikely since the VW beetle was designed long before the KubelWagen.

UNC_Samurai: Weaver95: /obscure?
//no, not really.

I remember my days as a card-carrying member of the American Auto-dueling Association.

I rode up in an elevator with Steve Jackson at Origins 87 or 88. He was a really short dude.

Lost in the first round of the national title that year.

goofgirl: Sars

Awesome. This is what I came here for.

Of course you all say we shouldn't bail out Detroit, but have you considered how cold it is in the "D" right now?

To illustrate my point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aktLRiWXfqg