NBC's Gregory repeatedly asked GM CEO about cutting union benefits and jobs, but not about making fuel-efficient cars
SUMMARY: On Meet the Press, David Gregory repeatedly asked General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson about cutting union benefits or jobs, but did not ask Henderson a single question about creating fuel efficient or environmentally friendly cars.
During an April 5 interview with General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson, Meet the Press host David Gregory repeatedly asked Henderson about cutting union benefits or jobs, but did not ask Henderson a single question about creating fuel-efficient or environmentally friendly cars. Among the questions Gregory asked Henderson was the following: "The legacy costs, meaning all of the costs associated with union employees, part of the United Auto Workers, is just a huge issue for General Motors. The government report indicates that in order to pay those retired auto workers, GM has to produce an extra 900,000 cars every year. What is the message to the union now? Doesn't it have to be 'those days are over'?"
From the April 5 edition of NBC's Meet the Press:
GREGORY: The legacy costs, meaning all of the costs associated with union employees, part of the United Auto Workers, is just a huge issue for General Motors. The government report indicates that in order to pay those retired auto workers, GM has to produce an extra 900,000 cars every year. What is the message to the union now? Doesn't it have to be "those days are over"?
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GREGORY: Well, let's talk about how you can do more. How many union jobs are there in a typical factory for General Motors that have nothing to do with producing an automobile?
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GREGORY: But in some factories, you have a shop steward who's responsible for appointing -- whether it's a civil rights chief or an education person -- these are all union jobs that don't have anything to do with producing the car.
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GREGORY: You have told health-care managers and executives over 65 that they no longer get health-care benefits. They have to revert at that point to Medicare. Is it time for union workers to accept that same limit?
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GREGORY: But do you think that's the kind of cut that the union should have to accept?
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GREGORY: Do you really expect this president, given how strongly supported he is by the unions, do you really expect him to take a step that would hurt the unions?
Competant would be nice...
Competent would be even better.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
spell check would be awesome! (darn you!) ;)
I have been forever tainted by the image of Gregory doing the rap with Karl Rove. he should have exercised camera shyness and let some other schmuck, preferably from FOX News, get caught schmoozing with Rove. Ever since then, Gregory has been put in my dust bin of forgotten characters.
Why don't we ever hear an interviewer point out that when the auto companies were the most profitable companies on the planet they decided not to meet their contractual obligations to their employees?
Also, I am still waiting for the day when someone in the media mentions that the American Medical Association, longtime opponent of any progress in improving healthcare coverage in this country, is essentially a union for doctors.
an interesting persepctive.....i think you may be right on that
maybe not so much a union.......maybe more a lobbying outfit
I saw this segment and wanted to throw my shoe at my flat-screen ,but guess who would've come out on top? It's a shame that this passes as journalism, where is the voice of the people represented on the airwaves. david gregory seemed to be blaming the autoworkers union for the problems of GM, and seemed to be following the tact of his co-worker Chris Matthews who reaps praise on Reagan for destroying PATCO. I think these so-called journalist kiss to much corporate arse and are more concerned about pleasing them than supplying the public with information they can use. Did anyone see Bill Moyers interview with Glenn Grennwald and Amy Goodman here is the link : Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS .
I saw this segment and wanted to throw my shoe at my flat-screen ,but guess who would've come out on top?
Best Buy.
Which would kind of defeat the purpose.
Did anyone see Bill Moyers interview with Glenn Grennwald and Amy Goodman here is the link : Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS .
I saw this interview. The word Fantastic doesn't begin to cover it.
I think this link will get you to Greenwald and Goodman faster. Althought the William Black interview was good too. Thanks Congero6189599.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch2.html
I don't know why my link is slow, thanks for the faster link. Yes, i found William Blacks interview, well lets just say i think everyone should see it. Thankyou!
Watched the video...
Brought a tear to my eye... just knowing just how low the media bar is with the likes of FoxNoise, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, newsprint, and most radio...
Our country is in a bad way... and most of these corporate clowns just don't seem to care?
Thanks you too Congero6189599 for mentioning it first.
Great links, Juliajayne, both of them.Well worth the time.
Good to see you, colonel baby. ;-) But thank Conger instead of me.
Hey Dem02020, you've been vindicated by some very knowledgeable people re: Tim Russert and MTP, dude. You knew what you're were talking about way back then. I knew it, because I'm so darn smart......;-) And humble. Ha!
Gregory carries on like a good establishment man.
The unions have blame just as much as the company does. All we see anymore are unions asking for more and more and more when companies are going bankrupt.
Just once-- just once-- wouldn't you love it if one of these interviewees asked union bashers like Gregory how much their suit cost? And what percentage it is of the average worker's yearly pay?
Of course, those kind of responders never get on the airwaves. The last time I saw anything like that, it came from Michael Moore-- who, apparently, no longer exists to the MSM.
Gregory probably doesn't pay for his suits. Ever see the credits at the end of TCR? Colbert doesn't pay for his either. They are usually supplied by Brooks Brothers or one of the other higher end manufacturers. Call it advertising or promotional giveaways.
The premise of his questions were asinine anyway. He believes that cutting the salaries of middleclass workers will somehow lead to GM selling more cars. What they need is a better business model along with a better economy. These pundits don’t realize we’re in a recession and that’s understandable because they’re still making millions.
"On Meet the Press, David Gregory repeatedly asked General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson about cutting union benefits or jobs, but did not ask Henderson a single question about creating fuel efficient or environmentally friendly cars."
Well... this is not so much conservative / corporate media misinformation as it is outright laziness and/or obvious attempts at trying to lay the blame at the feet of the unions and the workers instead of where it belongs... at the feet of managment and CEO's and Wall Street thieves!
I have heard of a great book called "Who Killed the Electric Car"... I will be buying myself a copy soon, it will go great with my collection of thirty or so other books that exposes the right wing corporate ideology for what it is!
I think it's a combination of things to blame: corporate laziness and mismanagement, bloated wages (management and union) and government interference.
MM: "NBC's Gregory repeatedly asked GM CEO about cutting union benefits and jobs, but not about making fuel-efficient cars."
Where exactly is the "conservative misinformation" here? So Gregory didn't ask about fuel-efficient cars. Big whoop. I always buy a fuel-efficient car. I don't need help finding one from David Gregory or the CEO of GM.
GM needs to explain how GM and Toyota sold the same number of cars worldwide in 2007 (9.3 million), yet GM lost billions, and Toyota made a nice profit.
&
That's due to the disparity of executive income between American ceo's and Japanese ceo's. While American executives make about 300 times more than the average employee, Japanese execs only make about 25 times more.
It comes down to societal priorities. Japan has a a greater degree of economic equality, hence, they all win or lose together, which promotes a greater base of economic stability so their economy won't topple too easily from being too top heavy.
its the principle's of japanese culture and Bushido.
I think that the failure to ask the question could be one of two causes: laziness as suggested above and/or a vetting the questions and one about fuel efficient cars was excluded. As Gregory is not really a reporter but a commentator I would subscribe to the former, and as Henderson is a long time auto guy, I subscribe to the latter.
Beth, he bankrupted the company.
He should be 'responsible' for that.
He killed the EV-1. If GM had the EV-1 in production when gas hit $3 a gallon--let alone $4.50--GM's balance sheet would be just fine. Had there been a n electric car available, people would have left their SUV's in a ditch and walked to their dealerships to buy one.
But rather than produce them, GM took the cars back that were in the hands of happy consumers and destroyed them all. And during theoi crunch, GM just kept on producing big bloated SUV's.
GM is in trouble, not because of unions, but because of atrocious business decisions, of which the EV-1 was only one.
David Gregory gets paid an awful lot of money too, and is possibly stupider than Waggoner, but Waggoner took one of the biggest companies in the United States and bankrupted it.. David hasn't done that, at lest not so far.
Show us that in the sales numbers of hybrid cars. If people are so concerned about the gas prices that they would have jumped at an electric car if it was availble why then did they not go for the next best thing, a hybrid?
Why didn't the companies who sell electric cars become fortune 500 companies overnight?
You entire point is based on false assumptions.
You haven't watched "Who Killed the Electric Car." It's painful.
I have watched it. Nice way to avoid my points.
i agree ceo's are at the biggest fault. the unions share part of the blame, although a smaller part, but still when the profit margins are low the high wages and incrdible benefits the uaw gets makes it tough to compete.
It would have been entertaining of Mr. Henderson had asked Gregory how much HIS salary was, at the least they would have both had a good chuckle over it.
It would also have been nice if they had discussed the ramifications, implacations, and mechanics of changing those contracts and pension obligations.
And it would have been nice if there had been, I don't know, a UAW chief to talk about that issue as well. And gee, wouldn't it have been nice if Gregory had wondered why the miserable failure Wagoner was able to keep his $20 million parachute for leaving the company at the the request of the White House. Why should Rick Wagoner's contract be more sancrosanct then a UAW line worker at GM?
That's really the main question, how can the guy whose decisions have put GM in this place today take precedence over the people who try to carry out his miseable decisions? I mean, what are the workers going to do, not build SUV's, just start building EV-1's on the Chevy Blazer assembly line?
God, what a horrible news media we have.
Was Mr. Gregory supposed to ask about fuel-efficient or environmentally friendly cars?
Oh, I don't know but I would think if you had the opportunity to ask the CEO of a major auto company you might ask him why he didn't do a better job of doing HIS JOB? Instead of following the Republicans talking points of blaming the unions for that's wrong with the world. But hey, what do I know?
I agree that Gregory is no Tim Russert and is not anywhere as thorough in asking the right questions. But if MMFA thinks that the crucial questions are whether or not GM is "green" enough then they need to look a little deeper as well. It's more than just the unions - management and government can share in the blame in the downfall of the American auto industry. GM and Ford both have hybrids. If market demand dictates that hybrids are worth the cost (as when gas cost $4.00-plus/gallon) then hybrids will sell better. With the recession and gas at half the cost, it's cheaper overall to buy regular gas-powered vehicles. That's just simple economics. If American auto manufacturers cannot adapt then they should fail and go into bankruptcy. I do not believe that the government can or should insert themselves in the auto industry.
The same goes for oil producers. When gas was $4.00 all you heard was "drill, baby, drill" and whining from the oil companies about more domestic drilling. Now that gas is $2.00 there's not a peep from them except to complain about potential tax hikes and how that would hurt American jobs. They don't care about American jobs when oil is $50.00 a barrel. The dirty little secret is that the oil companies find it cheaper to buy oil overseas rather than invest in infrastructure and labor to search and produce oil in lands already leased. Just watch what happens when some bright person comes up with a car battery that will propel an SUV 500 miles on one charge, can be recharged in 15 minutes, and it will only cost $1000.00 more. The oil company execs will have a simultaneous heart attack...thank you for the reply!
Only if he wants to find out why GM is losing market share.
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Big Corporations and over paid CEOs are driving the middle class into the poor house.
I know Gregory can't be an idiot, but he portrays one on MTP. And he certainly thinks we are idiots. I have carefully listened and he always asks the most irrelevant questions and always tries to make anyone Democratic or chosen by President Obama look bad. In fact he persists in calling the President Mr. Obama. Then he spends every minute he can making republicans looking as good as they can look given the things they say. This was a sacred place. Tim Russert made it a temple of truth. This is just disgusting and sad to watch.
How dare Gregory not even ask what the he thinks about the government stepping in and firing the last GM CEO of a public company? I do not care about the fuel-efficient cars cause if GM were selling them now they would not need a taxpayer government bail out. I am just so excited to buy a Volt; you know that cool car that will allow me to drive 40 miles without using gas. (40 miles, would get me to work, now what?) Driving home and plugging in my car and getting my monthly electricity bill that will be four times more then it is now. Then of course with the new smart gird technology and the electricity company required to report back to the government that I am using more then my fair share of electricity. Then after the government learns that I am using more then my fair share of electricity, they (the government) will require me to pay a green tax, I mean does that not just sound so exciting? It would have been much easier to just drive down to the local gas station and fill up. Much, much cheaper then a fuel cell, electricity draining overly priced green car.
sigh.
So your saying if GM weere selling fuel efficient cars they would not need a bailout? Great we can get the money back then because they have been selling them for years.
"The Union"?
what is that supposed to mean. cause LABOR UNIONS are different in a variety of fields, there isn't a single "Union"
and how will they kill the industry? by making the cars? how is that killing the industry?
that should create jobs so the cars can be made
Well, let's assume that we are all educated. With that in mind, since the conversation is about the auto industry, I would deduct that would have something to do with the Autoworkers Union, huh?
haha very nice one.
but strangely enough you didn't answer my question
Unions ask for too much.
and more often than not corporations give too little. if they gave enough....there wouldn't be a need for unions
I personally think unions have served their purpose.
First, GM is already making fuel efficient cars. They have at least 8 models I know of.
Second, People are not buying the fuel efficient cars in near the numbers they are buying standard fuel cars. They are not money makers. You want GM to get out of this financial slump they should focus on the cars that sell.
If the American people truly wanted fuel efficient vehicles or enviromentaly friendly ones for that matter than it would show in the sales numbers. And the sales numbers are telling us they want standard fuel SUVs and Trucks more.
if i had the money or ability to refinance to get a hybrid vehicle i would do so in a heartbeat.
fact is i drive a ford focus, now while i would like to have a hybrid of such a vehicle, id get something else. but as i said i don't have the money to be doing so.
My next car is going to be a hybrid. In six years when I am done paying for Chevrolet Cobalt. That is a car that already gets over 30 mpg and I have gotten upwards to 40 mpg when going across country.
GM doesn't make fuel efficient cars my fat fanny.
well my focus is the bastard brother to your cobalt. im betting that they probably wont have a hybrid focus until i pay my current car off.
if i had the money or ability to refinance to get a hybrid vehicle i would do so in a heartbeat.
Duh! I'd buy a new fuel efficient yacht if I had the money. The fact is that this is not the time for these cars. We have researched fuel efficiency for over 40 years. What is going to change now? Spending even more money?
Gregory is all about sensationalism - this is a good example of why I no longer watch Meet the Press. Jobs and bene's are important, but efficient American cars is what it is all about too. claudiatucsonaz