GM: The Troy Clarke e-mail

I have been surfing the tubes for more on the e-mail but only seem to find Wing nuts who keep calling this bridge loan a bailout (dudes, seriously, it's NOT a bailout). But in my wanderings, I came across this:

You made the right choice when you put your confidence in General Motors, and we appreciate your past support. I want to assure you that we are making our best vehicles ever, and we have exciting plans for the future. But we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs.

Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.

The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels.

The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:

• One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
• Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
• U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
• The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion

Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives.

Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the "I'm a Concerned American" link under the "Mobilize Now" section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry.

Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better — more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road.

Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.

Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.

Sincerely,

Troy Clarke

Now, I'd link to it, but ugh, right wing sites and the comments made my eyes bleed. So, I decided to look a little further and pull in information that really needs to be out there, and that information is about the consequences of DOING NOTHING.

Should we taxpayers extend a loan to GM so that it can operate until the U.S. economy recovers? I say yes!

If you think a bridge loan to GM so that the lights can stay on through this economic tsunami is expensive, then think about the cost of a GM failure.

Let's be clear, the alternative for GM and the domestic industry is not a cake walk through the bankruptcy courts, resulting in a reorganization that some think would put dealers and the UAW in their place and ensure future success.

No, even if GM could get debtor-in-possession financing to keep the lights on (which is extremely unlikely in today's credit crisis environment), Chapter 11 means a collapse of sales and a downward spiral into a Chapter 7 liquidation.

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Do these "instant experts" who call for the implosion of the domestic industry have the faintest clue as to what it means if it were allowed to happen?

GM's 100,000 American jobs will die. Health care for a million Americans will be lost or at risk. Hundreds of GM's 1,300 suppliers will fail.

There are 14,000 domestic-oriented dealers in the U.S. that employ approximately 750,000 Americans with a payroll of around $35 billion. Blink — they are gone.

Take just Texas, for instance. GM builds vehicles, including Tahoes, in a plant in Arlington, just outside of Dallas. The company has a major parts distribution warehouse in Fort Worth. These 4,289 Texans would lose their jobs, the suppliers to these operations would fail, the communities would lose their tax bases, and the state would lose its tax revenues.

The effect of the collapse of the U.S. automobile industry would be devastating in ways in which these "experts" are not considering. Nearly 3 million jobs would be lost in the first year alone — with another 2.5 million to follow in the next two years. Personal income in the United States would drop by more than $150 billion in the first year. The cost to local, state and federal governments could top $156 billion over three years in lost taxes and unemployment and health care benefits. And, due to supplier bankruptcies, domestic automobile production would most likely fall to zero, even by international producers.

The United States is in an economic crisis. The entire U.S. automobile industry has been devastated and it's not just the domestic manufacturers that have been affected, as many have asserted.

The issues facing GM, Chrysler and Ford aren't because of just poor market reading (yeah, they didn't read the market well and produced gas guzzling SUVs for way too long) there are other factors at work here and those factors include everything that Mr. Clarke mentions and all the info mentioned By W. Carroll Smith (Smith is the owner of Monument Chevrolet in Pasadena, a past chairman of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association and a director of the National Automobile Dealers Association).

We have to decide now not tomorrow how we can help the auto industry, Hang'em all isn't a solution to these problems, we need to bridge this gap for them and take the opportunity to get them on a better foundation. We can't afford to have the ENTIRE US AUTO INDUSTRY FAIL.