It bothers me that the Gov. Doyle is in office
and to think i voted for THAT .ok i will slap myself.

Enough is enough. I feel sad for the 100 of thousands of United States families that are in severe times, not just the United Auto Workers. Face it, GM has had it too good for too many years. If way back in the 50's or earlier, the UAW would of mandated the workers to pay a fair portion of their paychecks for retirees' health care, GM's deficit would be non-existent today. The retirees' health care cost is around 3 times bigger than current working GM workers nationwide. Common sense GM does not have. If GM and other automakers cannot figure this out, let them all suffer with NO bailout money. You don't see every bankrupt company ask the federal government for a bailout do you? Sad but true!

I just saw a bulletin online that stated GM wants to cut 47,000 jobs worldwide (20,000 in the United States) in the next three years.

The stimulus money is to create a better economy accross the state. GM already got BAILOUT money for their irresponsible leadership. NO more money for GM or any of the big 3 auto makers. Let's bring up some of the other auto companies out there that have proven themselves worthy of help. This money needs to get to the rest of the people under $30,000 annual incomes which covers a much bigger base. Doyle keeps messing around and he won't be Governor much longer anyway.

True. Obama came out way ahead in the Fannie Mae deal, just for starters. Maybe he should step up and put that money he unethically gained and put that back into the economy for a little more "stimulus"!!

Frankly, anil, it's quite obvious that either "anilpore" or "anilorifice" would have been more a appropriate and descriptive choice of Username for you.

Nice try with all the deflections and straw man arguments, though. Try making one of substance and just maybe someone will bite.

"no wonder i dont post on this site with illiterate, high school educated factory workers..."

And yet, here you are, posting. Just to easy.

dingy, not the obvious...n read the other post bout texting/chat slang if you dont already know. Oops, don't has an apostrophe...This discussion turned from talking nonsense to complete idiots trying to sound smart correcting obvious and most importantly, intentional shortcuts cause you have no ideas bout much of anything. no wonder i dont post on this site with illiterate, high school educated factory workers... good night dumb asses.lol

Let's see...:

dont
its
cause
your

Obviously not a teacher. Done feeding the troll.

Hey, if you can tell me what is wrong with my post about teachin econ and gov. and why, then I will not think you are toothless and a heavy smoker.

I should ask you to find the grammatical mistakes instead of me pointing them out. Find one, besides punctuation...like sentence structure. Just like I thought. You have no idea cause you are a laid off factory worker. he he.

did you like the "righting" instead of "writing". O ya, you missed that one.

you still have yet to post any ideas. You have just commented on others. Really, what is your point to posting my quotes...I love it!!

Am I righting a paper. This is so informal, like texting, that it has a language all its own...again do some reasearch. and I dont care if i capitalize or write to instead of too etc... you only catch non-capitalized letters at the beginning of sentences anyway. Again I have proved my point... you are so boring that you are now cutting and pasting my quotes for yours. lol.

anil said, "I teach government and economics, and have held elected office."
*LOL* Now I know why the country is in such a mess. You really should go hide under a rock.

Hello students of anil. I will forward this to your school.

How many grammatical and spelling errors can you find?
“I have proved my point. I have baited obvious left wingers who have no tolerance for other views. Or maybe it's that I have an education and you dont. or its that I get a platform in front of hundreds of kids everyday to give an alternate viewpoint to a huge majority of people in my field who are polluting the minds of our youth with anti-American views. You all have no clue about politics. LOL but you have more time to bitch on these sites cause your all unemployed”
My input, find another teacher.

I cant help it if you are to afraid to engage me. You have yet to say anything. Unlike you or anyone else speaking tonight, I teach government and economics, and have held elected office. I guess it isnt fair to have a discussion with an "unarmed" person, that being you.

anil:
"I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person."
Keep trying. Maybe someday you will succeed.

I have proved my point. I have baited obvious left wingers who have no tolerance for other views. Or maybe it's that I have an education and you dont. or its that I get a platform in front of hundreds of kids everyday to give an alternate viewpoint to a huge majority of people in my field who are polluting the minds of our youth with anti-American views. You all have no clue about politics. LOL but you have more time to bitch on these sites cause your all unemployed

what is it to me? Maybe its that the leader of our county has a Muslim name. That;s like Reagan having the name Vladimir in the 80's. If you recall Hussein Obama went by another name until he started to hang with fringe groups that hated Americans... do some reasearch. When he was young he went by Barry Dunham.

Ok. I feel so silly now. After AN L's last statement I see I've been "debating" with a...well...another form of his name that we all probably use from time to time. AH***E
Sorry editors. I'm bowing out now.

Boston- I've read your comments but you have yet to say anything. You all are so intrigued by my off the cuff username. I think you need to hang around more stimulating and fun people.

huh? I've heard him even refer to his middle name before-at the roast he attended with McCain when he joked about whoever gave it to him didn't know he'd be running for president one day (because of people like you, I'm sure). On the other hand-I never heard George Bush using his middle name either. I'm sure he did when he took his oath of office-just like Obama did. What a stretch. I've never heard him deny his middle name.
And Muslim? Well, I suppose if you can convince him that he's one, he might start practicing, but until then, he thinks he's a Christian. What's it to you, anyway? What are you implying?
Now-tell me this-would you have expected any president, in these few weeks, to have cured all of the ills that Obama has inherited? Are you saying he has failed?

Okay. Once again, I am intrigued by ANIL(sic)al’s viewpoint. NOT. *LOL

If you cant read between the lines, I was implying superstition or an intangible to describe a man who talks big but has done "0" in real life. And that includes no experience in economics. It's kinda odd to me that since his visit, things have fallen apart here.

RUserious- maybe the welfare comment was harsh, but as to the use of Hussein, to my recollection, it is so THIS year: Jan 20 to be exact. Last year all the left-wingers tried to say that wasn't his middle name, that the right was making it up. Also, Inauguration day was the first time I've heard him say his middle name. Probably thought it was alright since he brainwashed people like you to believe he was qualified to be president and wasnt a Muslim.

SarahB: Regarding "Anil", I liked the way you handled the, "You can't be serious? Obama has been president for a total of 25 days." thing, and I am also intrigued by Anilal's (how is that for an all encompassing spelling?) viewpoints.

No SarahB, I am convinced he is not serious, but that he's one of those who finds his fun trying to get a rise out of people. I am convinced not a single person old enough to write could really believe anyone would blame Obama (by the way AN L, his first name is Barrack-and that unimaginative use of his middle name is so last year) for the downfall of GM or the present ills of the economy, or think that former GM workers would be ready yet for filing bankruptcy (except those who were already on the edge), or that the unemployment anyone else gets for being laid off should be considered welfare when received by a laid off GM worker.
AN L, why don't you take your foot out of your mouth and put it in your namesake before someone else beats you to it.

sarah- I read these chat sites occasionally for entertainment, so I wont be part of the "group" in the cultish sense like many people in chat rooms. Thanks though... it will be fun having some healthy discussions with you.

I dont assign homework on Fridays so my weekends are free...at least until baseball season starts-I would make my name anal but most people on these sites are so "Janesville" they would whine about it to the editor or something or maybe even call the cops. lol

LOL! Anil, don't you have any homework this weekend? I like your name here, even though I know you wanted to spell it correctly but didn't have the guts to do that. Anyway, welcome to the group.

Anil: You can't be serious? Obama has been president for a total of 25 days. This mess cannot be linked to him. That would be like me saying you are at fault for my spraining my knee today. After all, I was fine until you posted your first-ever comment today.

Former auto workers need to realize they have over extended their wallets and reality has set in. They need to file bankruptcy, give back their toys, and find entry level employment: like a janitorial position for minimum wage

what do you mean?

Anil: What planet are you from?

On Tuesday GM needs to show the government how they plan to operate at a profit. Keeping Janesville open, I doubt, is part of that plan. If one reads more than one source,Janesville Gazette, you will find that GM is planning on closing more plants. GM is closed, it is time to move past this. Good luck to all who have lost their jobs.

All you GM people (former GM people) that thought Hussein Obama was so great...are you reconsidering? Ever since he came to Janesville, things here have gone from scary to a complete nightmare we cant wake up from.

He was supposed to be your savior but since his visit: GM Janesville went from eliminating one shift to all shifts, closing the plant from 3yrs to 10 months, and giving you 3 years of welfare to a max of 11 months.

well dyna,where do you propose all these people get jobs? we are waiting. hmmm, you arent any smarter than the ones who cause this problem,or the ones who are trying to solve it. giving gm any of that money is wasting it and most people know it, the ones with all these ideas on giving them more money are the ones who are probably not going without to much.

I guess the latest round of talks broke down between the UAW and GM.

shdow5: Well, the way I see it if GM is sold because they file Chapter 11, that means new jobs for the people in Janesville. The way it is now, the building is just sitting there and people still need jobs.

As Donald Trump would say. YOUR FIRED!!!!!

COME ON PEOPLE,IT'S THE 14TH.,LOVE IS IN THE AIR!! BUT SHOULD BE PRACTICED EVERY DAY.

Rick Wagoner is sad sad joke!

GM made billions from sales over the past 15 years. Where are the savings?
Ford made less than GM and they are not relaying on FED money as of yet.
If I ran my family income like GM did, I too would need a bailout!!!

If GM files for the Chapter 11. GM will no longer exist and all their bad assets including GM's Janesville plant will be sold. A new company will be formed and we(Janesville) will be even farther away from having an Auto industry here.

Quote -- "Even if GM wanted to open a new plant, it would be somewhere else where state/local government was offering the same incentives, BUT with a fresh workforce hired at the pay scale bottom to maximize share holder dividends." -- Quote
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GM is signatory to the UAW "United auto workers" which means they hire union, which is nationwide. there is no "low end of the pay scale"

GM back? Boy, that sure would be nice for the city, but someone must be dippin' into (and trippin' on) that local over-supply of heroin to think that's a real possibility! I'm afraid that GM won't be coming back, any more that Beloit will be getting that casino any time soon, regardless of not letting go of that decade-long pipe dream. A DAY CARE CENTER? Why, isn't that what BTC is for?! Perhaps we should look into the possibility of turning the facility into a Soilent Green factory? That would provide a long-term solution for a number of local problems!

Retain GM? You can't "retain" what's already lost.

Even if GM wanted to open a new plant, it would be somewhere else where state/local government was offering the same incentives, BUT with a fresh workforce hired at the pay scale bottom to maximize share holder dividends. They would not choose Janesville where they'd be "guilted" into rehiring high wage former employees.

Doyle, Cullen, Dutcher and anyone else foolishly delusional should be channeling their energy toward enticing new businesses to Janesville.

Reports today have GM considering chapter 11 and creating a new company (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090214/bs_n...) as an option. That considered, do we really think it's realistic that GM has any plans for Janesville? Again, there has to be some serious recovery on GM's part before they will consider adding capacity. Until we start seeing things improve for GM we should start focusing our efforts elsewhere. If GM doesn't know what Janesville offers them as a company by now, they never will. Is is possible GM could come back here? Yes. Is it likely? Who knows. Nonetheless, as a community we have to consider alternatives while maintaining communication with GM executives. As I said earlier, even if GM gives the go ahead for a new product here, it's likely going to be several or more years down the road. As a result, we have to work to find other options to either hold us over or help us recover.

It bothers me that the Gov. Doyle specifically targeted GM for a task force, I agree with the comment it should be Janesville or Rock County not one private business. As a property owner and resident in this area I am fearful of the future of this area without GM, but the next five to ten years will determine if this area is the next Flint, MI. There may be no more GM within the next year, so don't hold your breath on the Janesville plant. Gov. Doyle has enough problems with his budget, and I don't think a lot is left to dole out. The plant needs to be torn down if not used within five years. It will only be as practical as the guy who graduated in 1984, who drives a Trans Am and blasts REO Speedwagon, living in the past. It's time to take off the black dress and start a new chapter.

Jeez justsaynotomath, do you live in Janesville? Do you know how many millions of dollars that have been paid to the city of Janesville and Rock County over the decades this facility has been in operation? Have you ever seen the numbers of how many more millions of dollars that the employees of this facility have paid to the state of Wisconsin via income tax over the decades? I didn't think so, keep up your rant.

There's proably ex-beloit corp workers out there that still think they will reopen the corp... ?

Jobs are out there beleive it or not, it may not be for the pay you want but they are out there, people need to swallow their pride and go apply at home depot or somewhere like that, If i can walk into texas roadhouse and see 15 servers 16 years old running around, the jobs are out there.

DYNA
You make me sick.

shut that dump down! i don't want my tax dollars paying for a plant upgrade when that's gm's problem. and if you are layed off, get a new job like everyone else................

Give me the paddles..... Clear ZAP don't you die on me now!!!! We keep trying to revive the dead like an ER Dr., And this story is proof!

These dreams so lavish and though. Nite all well wishers...

It would be a good use of the money for the GM Plant. We need jobs here in Janesville. And part of that money should be used for the interstate project started here in the Janesville area. That would attract new companies to invest their time and money here.

rascal, I couldn't agree with you more! I am still optimistic that a new plant will be built along I-90. The old plant will soldier on as a supplier/logistics park.

The demographics for Janesville do have the attention of the company. Many people in GM would like to get out of the Flint/Pontiac area.As long as that building is still standing, there may be some hope.It would be politically incorect to go into details, however Janesville Assembly was always high on the list of 'favorite plants'with the people in Detroit that matter. You gotta whisper somethings today,but the subject is still revelant. Stay tuned

i think we need to make I-90 a six lane hwy for all the former gm/lear employees,so they can commute to rockford and madison...or where ever they can find employment.

Turn the big place into a homeless shelter. We may all need it.

that is what i'm talking about. now we won't have to sell our houses for $1 at an auction

The horse(GM) is dead. Stop beating the carcass.

Don't hold your breath for the stimulus. It's all smoke and mirrors. Who really knows what all is in this package? From what I've read most if not the majority of our Gov. Officials have not read the package.

With GM closing plants by the week and eliminating shifts elsewhere, it's very tough to believe there is any hope for this plant retaining GM. Unless GM can do a complete turn around very quickly, I just don't see it happening. GM has issues like staying out of bankruptcy to deal with, which means Janesville is probably not on their short list of things to worry about. In addition, even if GM were to bring work back here, it's going to be years before it happens. As a result, efforts need to made for alternatives so people can work in the meantime. I remained optimistic up until recently, but at this point I think it's time concentrate efforts elsewhere.

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1695
Let's hope the automakers can perform or this committee has been spinning their wheels!

GM lost control a long time ago, until they start running it like a business again (verses giving everything away so they have to increase the price of a vehicle so no one not even employees can afford them anymore)they will never make it, Nobody is buying GM stock anymore. Ford is the only smart one, anyone that has to take money from the Federal Govt is in big trouble.

"The biggest reason for the closing was loss of market share to foreign competitors."

In Janesville's case, high fuel prices killed the SUV. This was happening before the housing bubble burst. An inability to beat the competition has killed GM as a whole.

"Certainly, we need a buy American provisions and other such things that stop good jobs from going overseas."

Strict 'Buy American' language was taken out of the stimulus bill because it violates trade agreements we have with the rest of the world. Besides, protectionism is not good policy, and is believed to be one of the triggers that turned a recession into the Great Depression.

I would think GM would be willing to lease a portion of the plant, but it doesn't make sense to do a bunch of improvements without a tenant. There is a lot of other unused manufacturing space in Janesville that should be filled before we start spending money to improve a 100 year old site.

The I90 expansion seems to be a no-brainer.

There's people who still have their Christmas lights turned on, too.
Move on.

Thanks for the tip, SarahB! I read the Gazette before I get to the Times.... The story is here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/13/b...
.
But I don't think they're going to put this money in unless they have an actual tenant. For one thing, GM still owns the site.
.
It's absolutely untrue that the only thing it's good for is a sprawling automotive plant. Many parts could be retained and turned into a industrial park housing multiple tenants, although certainly some of the plant would be demolished. It's very, very unlikely that any future tenant other than GM would need the entire facility, and those that could use one of this size would rather build new regardless.
.
But the point is to explore options; whether those include GM or not is mostly out of our hands. GM is paying dearly for its mistakes and the entire US auto industry is going to look dramatically and permanently different a year or two from now.

more money to build elsewhere.

While they are at it maybe they could remodel the bathrooms. They get really hot in the summer.

The New York Times business section today carries a feature re: GM workers here in Janesville.

I applaud the group working on this but worry that they continue to serve up hope for a situation that is near hopeless. There are to many folks in Janesville who really believe GM will reopen. In the meantime, they have been satisfied to receive benefits and have not pursued new employment or training. For once I would like to hear the President, Governor , and Senators jawbowning Americans to buy American. The biggest reason for the closing was loss of market share to foreign competitors. All the government regulations, spending, and class warfare rhetoric won't change that.

When Detroit says NO then GM is gone until then there is still hope

GM needn't be gone, and our stimulus money should go to help retain good manufacturing jobs. Certainly, we need a buy American provisions and other such things that stop good jobs from going overseas. Our local economy is reeling, and this is probably the best immediate plan to help it out.

Please don't waste our money on this idea.

I am currently in need of a bailout. Anyone willing to set up a task force? As for trying to keep GM in Janesville...if there isn't anything to produce wont it be counterproductive?

Enough of this stupidity! GM IS GONE! The buildings have little practical use for anything but an automobile production plant. I am sure that the proposal to build a daycare and improve the lighting will entice GM to stay or bring in another large employer. Come on. Give us a break!! Is this the best Sheridan, Cullen and our so called leaders could come up with?!

Everyone involved with this story should be ashamed of themselves. Come on Gazette, report fact and not fiction!!!

I heard JP Cullen is willing to build a new plant at cost. I hope it's true.

Until the CEO's of General Motors know how to handle their money properly, you are just putting the stimulus money into a bad investment.