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24HourForums.com > The Top 10 Supported Forums > 24's Open Talk > Lee Iacocca speaks out about America |
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THUMPER Guardian1000© Member 
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 Lee Iacocca speaks out about America July 21 2008 at 8:36 AM Lee Iacocca is the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death. He's now 82 years old and has a new book, here are some excerpts. Sunday, April 20, 2008 These words by Lee Iacocca are excerpts from his new book and have been circulating the net lately. I couldn't help but spread the word as his opinions are my feelings as well. I am not taking any responsibility for their accuracy, I'm just passing on the information received. Lee Iacocca Says: 'Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course'. Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!' You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the 'America' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you? I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest 'C' is Crisis ! ( see the ten C's in his book ) Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a attlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess, so here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership. But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point. Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened. Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time. Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it? Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry. I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change? Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great Depression', 'World War II', the 'Korean War', the 'Kennedy Assassination', the 'Vietnam War', the 1970s oil crisis and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to 'Action' for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough.' Last edited on 05:11 pm by THUMPER |
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foxglovepress Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member  NON-PC!!
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This puts tears in my eyes...........to think that someone besides a very few out there actually feels the exact same way I do. I'm not a racist! I'm not stupid! I'm not against America! I'm damn patriotic, and wondering when the hell we're going to start fighting what's happening to our country. I'm sick to death of PC people and all their crap taking this country down! If we don't stand up and fight, we'll have no country to defend anymore........... Just point me in the direction, and I'll be there!!
 Justice for Mark.....Imprison Employers Who Hire ILLEGALS! |
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sirlamre Pioneer100© Member Official Forum Troublemaker
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A lot of people have written impassioned articles like his. That's no different than the politicians. they decry all this stuff too from campaign podiums, but then don't do anything. Iacocca had his chance as head of one of the biggest dinosaurs in American industry to FIX a lot of it. He "revived" a car company---- which meant pandering to the Wall Street investors, allowing the unions to drive up payroll costs and thusly the cost of cars to us. "Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?" Who is "WE" Mr. Iacocca ? YOU were at the helm of a US car company and didn't do things in the (apparently successful) way the Japanese did, which made their cars MORE desired by the American public, for running longer, being more fuel efficient, AND costing LESS to PURCHASE. When did YOU build a hybrid?? Unlike the rest of us, YOU were a CEO of a carmaker. YOU had a HUGE opportunity Mr. Iacocca: to have the vision AND the power to BUILD a hybrid long ago, to RETURN the cost of a family car to being something a FAMILY could own, to force American carmakers to build cars that, like the imports, don't even THINK about failing until 200,000 miles. "Saving" a car manufacturer from financial ruin and bankruptcy on Wall Street is one thing. Taking the REST of the steps to have made that US car maker a LEADER in hybrid technologies, AFFORDABLE and RELIABLE were the next steps. We've known for a couple of decades BEFORE Iacocca's time that we NEEDED hybrids and people NEEDED cars to be utterly reliable and much cheaper. Sorry, but I've long felt that Iacocca's efforts, while somewhat laudable, were NOT the full-blown miracle that Wall Street spun it to be. It was a great thing for investors. But he never turned Chrysler into what the average middle class Joe Consumer needs a US car company to be. Yet, like a President, history has treated his accomplishments like gold and diamonds, and idealised the fact that Chrysler, along with the rest of the carmakers, never LED America into less reliance on oil, more efficient cheaper cars, etc. They just kept right on marketing what had the biggest profit margin -- SUVs. They could have marketed fuel efficiency, cost, and reliablility. they didn't. The Big Three of Asia did. Last edited on 06:23 pm by sirlamre Turn thou unto God and say: O my Sovereign Lord! I am but a vassal of Thine, and Thou art, in truth, the King of kings. I have lifted my suppliant hands unto the heaven of Thy grace and Thy bounties. |
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foxglovepress Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member NON-PC!!
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I agree sirlamre. He certainly seemed to have been in a position to have done something to change the course. Maybe he's telling people we were stupid to not catch what the elites were doing, including him! Or, maybe he's just finally decided enough is enough. I don't actually care at this point. The post is about what he's saying, and I agree with with what he's saying 100%!
Justice for Mark.....Imprison Employers Who Hire ILLEGALS! |
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Squarebob Spongepants Guardian1000© Member 
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Sorry folks.... but it IS too late. From my post regarding financial conditions on finance forum: Re: As faith in bank bailouts dims, losses set to deepen..How could it be otherwise? Let's pretend that all the banks have sold off all their junk and it's 2010 and we're starting all over. China is still growing, consuming, and outproducing us by magnitudes. Ditto India. Americans still don't save a nickel a year and they are cutting BACK on everything in order to...maybe... have a downscratch for a house. And the parents aren't cooperating by kicking the bucket. And AMERICANS own no gold and have dry wells. NOW................................ Where's the revenue to pay the NATIONAL debt as it rises and rises and rises? It's already too late and those who are predicting comebacks in the near future are just WISHING. The only thing a currency is good for is a STABLE base for interest. The dollar ain't it. And by the time the dust settles, those Chinese won't need or want interest on a depreciating base. Thass my story an I'm stickin to it.   
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librtyhead Original500© Member 
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Bring back the gold standard.........it would really suck for 10 years but after that pain we would be much stronger.
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24HourForums.com > The Top 10 Supported Forums > 24's Open Talk > Lee Iacocca speaks out about America | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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