{"id":31227,"date":"2008-12-22T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T03:00:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T03:00:03","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T03:00:03","slug":"big_3_the_cars_aren_t_the_problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/12\/22\/big_3_the_cars_aren_t_the_problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Big 3: The Cars Aren\u2019t the Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Pompano Beach, Florida. Bob, you\u2019re next. It\u2019s nice to have you here with us, sir.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You bet.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Merry Christmas to you, and thanks for the enlightenment.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I appreciate that.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I have a problem, a very serious problem. I\u2019m a fourth generation American and what\u2019s happening to the American automobile companies is, to me, beyond belief. I just can\u2019t believe that three companies that made this country what it is — and certainly have contributed in many, many different ways — are almost on the path of going down the tube, which really blows my mind. The average American is absolutely madly in love with his American car, and I just can\u2019t understand how people will —<\/p>\n

RUSH: You think people are really in love with their hybrids?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hell no!<\/p>\n

RUSH: Or are they just buying them because it\u2019s like wearing a ribbon saying, ‘Hey, look at me! I\u2019m a big, caring person.\u2019<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, I don\u2019t know about that. I\u2019m not smart enough to know what people buy cars for or what reason, but all I know is —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, when you\u2019re young you buy \u2019em to get girls —<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, hello?<\/p>\n

RUSH: — and go fast.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hello?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah.<\/p>\n

CALLER: That\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yes. It is.<\/p>\n

CALLER: But when you get old, what happens?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, when you get old, you want one that you don\u2019t have fix every week.<\/p>\n

CALLER: (laughing) That\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You want the most expensive one you can afford because it\u2019s reliable. Depending on how large your family is, you want it big enough to cart them all around.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, but the point I\u2019m getting at is if the American automobile companies go out of business, I don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s going to have enough money to buy a car from anybody, quite frankly. It looks to me like the country will go down the tubes. I may be wrong.<\/p>\n

RUSH: It\u2019s not that. See, this is the problem. General Motors, these companies are not that big anymore. Do you know that in terms of stock price, Bed, Bath and Beyond has a larger market cap than General Motors?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Don\u2019t you think a lot of that has to do with the media and what\u2019s been going on?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, but it is what it is. Whoever\u2019s driven down the stock price has given driven down the stock price.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, I suppose.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Don\u2019t worry. The automobile industry is not going to go kaput because the United Auto Workers will not be allowed to go kaput.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, God knows I hope not.<\/p>\n

RUSH: What\u2019s going to happen is the UAW is going to end up owning it.<\/p>\n

CALLER: (laughing)<\/p>\n

RUSH: After the government invests and nationalizes the auto industry, the Obama administration, out of a sense of compassion, will transfer ownership — free of charge, just transfer the deed — to the United Auto Workers.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, I think that\u2019s partially in the works now the way it looks to me. <\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah. It is.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah, it\u2019s too bad. It\u2019s a shame. But however there are a lot of people like myself who are still madly in love with the American automobile companies and what they have given us through the years.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I\u2019ll tell you something else. By the way, full disclosure here. General Motors is a sponsor, a proud sponsor of this program, and we\u2019re proud to have \u2019em.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I\u2019m familiar with that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: But I have to tell you something. This notion that General Motors is making cars that nobody wants and is making cars that are worthless is simply absurd.<\/p>\n

CALLER: There\u2019s no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: They have revitalized the Cadillac line, and they\u2019re getting no credit whatsoever for it. They have remade that whole brand.<\/p>\n

CALLER: They certainly have.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I wish \u2019em luck in doing the same thing with other brands. There are some fascinating Chevrolets out there. You wouldn\u2019t think they\u2019re Chevrolets based on what they looked like ten, 15, 20 years ago. To say that they\u2019re making cars that nobody wants is crazy.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, that\u2019s the way I look at it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: If people had the money, they would keep buying those SUVs and pickup trucks. There are all kinds of cars General Motors is making that people want.<\/p>\n

CALLER: But I\u2019m —<\/p>\n

RUSH: But they\u2019re being forced to make cars that people don\u2019t want with all these ridiculous CAFE standards. I\u2019m telling you, when you\u2019ve got… Try this. General Motors has 96,000 direct employees and over a million retired people being paid by General Motors. They\u2019re former employees, and GM is paying their health benefits.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I heard you say that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, at some point, it\u2019s gonna implode. It doesn\u2019t matter how quality your cars are.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, they are quality, \u2019cause I just went to the automobile show in Miam\u2019a recently and I tell you, the cars were magnificent. I was impressed.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah. The thing about those auto shows… I used to go to \u2019em when I lived in places where they had \u2019em, and I always thought every automobile company in the world made the biggest mistake by bringing in the sharpest-looking, sleekest-looking car of the future and never making it. Why show it to us? You know, our memories collect. ‘Well, they\u2019re not going to make that. They\u2019re not going to make that. They show us this, and it never happens. Why even show these prototypes?\u2019 <\/p>\n

‘Well, this is to show the advanced techniques the auto companies are working on.\u2019<\/p>\n

‘Make the car! If you\u2019re going to show it at the auto show, make the car. Put it in the pipeline.\u2019 <\/p>\n

‘Well, you know, it takes a long time to ramp up these assembly plants.\u2019<\/p>\n

‘Look, Chrysler comes out with the PT Cruiser, and within months, Chevrolet has its version. What is this, ‘It takes years to ramp up production of a new model\u2019?\u2019 <\/p>\n

‘Well, Rush, what happened is that General Motors hired away the Chrysler designer who designed the PT Cruiser.\u2019<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter. You were still able to ramp up production of the Chevrolet version of it and get it out, and people are buying it. It\u2019s a mysterious business. I think, basically, General Motors and Ford and Chrysler have become retirement homes; and they have a subsidiary business, which is manufacturing cars. That\u2019s how Mark Steyn characterized it in a column on Friday. It makes total sense when you look at it. We\u2019ve even had Rick Wagoner. He said, ‘I didn\u2019t know when I took the CEO job here that I was gonna become an expert in health care.\u2019 But it is what it is. All these mandated standards — requirements, emissions, mileage — all this crap put on by a bunch of lug heads like Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi who haven\u2019t the slightest clue what they\u2019re doing, other than to punish successful American corporations. Thanks for the call out there, Bob, I appreciate it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Pompano Beach, Florida. Bob, you\u2019re next. It\u2019s nice to have you here with us, sir. CALLER: Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it. RUSH: You bet. CALLER: Merry Christmas to you, and thanks for the enlightenment. RUSH: I appreciate that. CALLER: I have a problem, a very serious problem. I\u2019m a fourth generation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBig 3: The Cars Aren't the Problem - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2008\/12\/22\/big_3_the_cars_aren_t_the_problem\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Big 3: The Cars Aren't the Problem - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Pompano Beach, Florida. Bob, you\u2019re next. It\u2019s nice to have you here with us, sir. CALLER: Thanks for taking my call. 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