Reaping What You Sow

Today General Motors announced it is leaving Janesville and canning 2,600 workers in the southern Wisconsin city. The politicians were quick to line up offering their "shock" at the General Motors action. Mayors, senators, congressmen, the governor and others have all released statements urging the car company to change its mind. Ummm, right.

Mind you now, these are the same people that are at least partially to blame for the closing in the first place. Because they didn't have the political will to pass an energy policy that moved the country toward energy independence, we have seen gas prices skyrocket. That is one of the main reasons people don't want the gas pigs built in Janesville. They also whistled by the graveyard while the mortgage crisis loomed. Another major contributor to the economic tailspin that contributed to the woes of the auto industry. Tight credit means people don't or can't finance large purchases. Why are they so shocked?

The other factor playing into the mess in Janesville is General Motors burying its corporate head in the sand while all the indicators pointed to the looming energy crisis. They are simply producing the wrong car for the times. It's not that they build bad cars, they just build the wrong cars.

While the Koreans and Japanese were busy developing inexpensive hybrids and small high-milage cars, GM was busy cranking out trucks and SUVs where the short-term profit margin was greater on a per vehicle basis. When they finally figured out what was going on they were already ten years behind. Too bad the quality workforce in Janesville is paying the price for politicians and corporate moguls with no vision.

GM has developed the Volt. It will probably be out in 2010. It's a battery/gas car but will carry a price tag of at least $40,000. What are they thinking? You can already get a Toyota hybrid for low 20's. Again, GM is a day late and a dollar short.

You reap what you sow. The seeds of this disaster for Janesville were planted by politicians and GM execs years ago. Now it's harvest time and no one should be "shocked."