AL, KY, IN, MS Governors are crying out for Toyota
02-10-2010, 04:46 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: City of Champions, MA, USA
Posts: 1,214
AL, KY, IN, MS Governors are crying out for Toyota
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=11959822
Indianapolis - Governor Mitch Daniels is taking President Barack Obama to task over his handling of the Toyota recall problem and several other governors have joined him.
Daniels stopped and talked with some school children at the Statehouse Tuesday. While he was making small talk, he was also sending out a big message to the federal government when it comes to Toyota.
"Let's recall. Let's fix it - the cars," Daniels said. "If a fine is in order, then fine, but they have gone so far beyond that. It's very very suspicious in view of the government conflict of interest."
That is why Daniels and, he says, a bipartisan group of other governors around the nation have joined together to send a letter to the Obama administration, complaining about the handling of the Toyota recall investigation. House investigators are now saying there is growing evidence that not all the causes of Toyota's acceleration problems have been identified.
"This is why you don't want government in the car business, for instance. There you have a company doing more than others have done with regard to a recall. There were 600 recalls last year alone and they didn't go so hysterical as this," Daniels said. "These congressmen running this committee have their own agenda and it is a discriminating agenda in this case. They didn't do this the last several hundred recalls."
The governor said the letter was written up without influence from Toyota.
"The company did not ask us to do it and may have preferred not, but we did not want to remain silent. We think they are being discriminated against," he said. "[Toyota is] an excellent citizen. Only company I know that didn't lay anyone off during this sales downturn of the last year and the most American car company, based on where they build their new cars and where their parts come from.
"So why are they being beat up this way? That is what the letter says. Obviously the government has a conflict of interest, owning companies that directly compete with Toyota. They need to play fair, which they haven't done up to now."
Daniels admitted that all the governor's involved - which is thought to be four or five total - have Toyota plants in their states.
The other governors signing the letter included Steven Beshear of Kentucky, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, and Bob Riley of Alabama.
Daniels stopped and talked with some school children at the Statehouse Tuesday. While he was making small talk, he was also sending out a big message to the federal government when it comes to Toyota.
"Let's recall. Let's fix it - the cars," Daniels said. "If a fine is in order, then fine, but they have gone so far beyond that. It's very very suspicious in view of the government conflict of interest."
That is why Daniels and, he says, a bipartisan group of other governors around the nation have joined together to send a letter to the Obama administration, complaining about the handling of the Toyota recall investigation. House investigators are now saying there is growing evidence that not all the causes of Toyota's acceleration problems have been identified.
"This is why you don't want government in the car business, for instance. There you have a company doing more than others have done with regard to a recall. There were 600 recalls last year alone and they didn't go so hysterical as this," Daniels said. "These congressmen running this committee have their own agenda and it is a discriminating agenda in this case. They didn't do this the last several hundred recalls."
The governor said the letter was written up without influence from Toyota.
"The company did not ask us to do it and may have preferred not, but we did not want to remain silent. We think they are being discriminated against," he said. "[Toyota is] an excellent citizen. Only company I know that didn't lay anyone off during this sales downturn of the last year and the most American car company, based on where they build their new cars and where their parts come from.
"So why are they being beat up this way? That is what the letter says. Obviously the government has a conflict of interest, owning companies that directly compete with Toyota. They need to play fair, which they haven't done up to now."
Daniels admitted that all the governor's involved - which is thought to be four or five total - have Toyota plants in their states.
The other governors signing the letter included Steven Beshear of Kentucky, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, and Bob Riley of Alabama.
02-10-2010, 06:24 PM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 1,897
...because the 600 other recalls didn't include 8.1 million vehicles that had the potential to kill not only the operators, but innocent civilians... and Toyota wasn't going to do **** until they were told to do so
...I could swear Toyota idled plants, laid people off, and isn't NUMMI CLOSING, if it hasn't done so already?
...I could swear Toyota idled plants, laid people off, and isn't NUMMI CLOSING, if it hasn't done so already?
02-10-2010, 07:02 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 3,650
I like Daniels, but I would rather he'd kept his trap shut about this.
Doesn't make him a "sell out" (after all, Toyota does employ lots of people in this state). And he's right, Obama HAS NO BUSINESS taking ownership of GM.
Still, I find it rather insulting to call Toyota "the most American car company" even with the qualifiers that were used. Perhaps Daniels has spoken up for GM in the past too; I don't know. GM, after all, has plants in Indiana as well.
Doesn't make him a "sell out" (after all, Toyota does employ lots of people in this state). And he's right, Obama HAS NO BUSINESS taking ownership of GM.
Still, I find it rather insulting to call Toyota "the most American car company" even with the qualifiers that were used. Perhaps Daniels has spoken up for GM in the past too; I don't know. GM, after all, has plants in Indiana as well.
02-10-2010, 07:48 PM
#12
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 3,650
That would be Obama, for sure, not to mention his whole administration. But Daniels is not a lifetime politician. I believe he was a rather successful businessman before running for elected office.
02-10-2010, 08:32 PM
#13
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 3,123
I think people are deliberately trying to make Toyota look like the innocent victim in all of this when they are being deliberately evasive.
I disagree with you on this point because even Japan are criticizing Toyota's lack of resolve on the issue. It's just a shame that American politicians are failing to see the real issue at hand here instead of the perceptions from some quarters.
02-11-2010, 01:50 AM
#14
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: SoCal
Posts: 3,463
Anyone who looks over the information related to this Toyota recall and still thinks the NHTSB somehow acted excessively harsh in some kind of twisted conspiracy to protect the US Treasury’s investment of taxpayer funds in certain car companies is delusional.
This is the same US Government that can’t get the terrorist do not fly list correct between the TSA, FBI, CIA and Justice Dept. And yet somehow there are powerful and cunning rogue forces in the same said government departments capable of coordinating an elaborate plan to bring Toyota down. What motive; sales, ROI? GM and Chrysler haven’t benefited thus far. Hyundai/Kia, Ford and Honda might be guilty of prospering in this post recall automotive economy except that the US Treasury didn’t bail them out or issues loans. So if these claims are true and there is a conflict of interest and subsequent conspiracy to protect the US Governments’ monetary influence in bailed out car companies then their diabolicalness is only matched by their incompetence as the plan hasn’t worked.
IMO the NHTSB should be brought in front of Congress to explain why it took so long to force Toyota to issue the recall and why it took more needless fatalities before this was taken seriously. IMO Toyota was given a pass like it has in the past that the information (false) that they gave the NHTSB was accurate and the problem wasn’t as serious as the complaints and statistics say it is. In the NHTSB’s defense it doesn’t have the funding or manpower to do the full testing for these claims and does rely on the car manufactures for help. In this case secretive Toyota and their decisions to save face misled the agency.
The only conflict of interest I find plausible in this article is the governors of the states that just so happen to have wooed and won Toyota factories in their states questioning the decision to recall vehicles. Some of which are built in their states. They say the US Government isn’t being fair and acting hysterical. They should go talk to the families of the 19 people who died from causes attributable by investigation to one kind of defect by one car company that admits knowing of the issue 6 years ago if they want to see hysterical and then let them call for fairness.
This is the same US Government that can’t get the terrorist do not fly list correct between the TSA, FBI, CIA and Justice Dept. And yet somehow there are powerful and cunning rogue forces in the same said government departments capable of coordinating an elaborate plan to bring Toyota down. What motive; sales, ROI? GM and Chrysler haven’t benefited thus far. Hyundai/Kia, Ford and Honda might be guilty of prospering in this post recall automotive economy except that the US Treasury didn’t bail them out or issues loans. So if these claims are true and there is a conflict of interest and subsequent conspiracy to protect the US Governments’ monetary influence in bailed out car companies then their diabolicalness is only matched by their incompetence as the plan hasn’t worked.
IMO the NHTSB should be brought in front of Congress to explain why it took so long to force Toyota to issue the recall and why it took more needless fatalities before this was taken seriously. IMO Toyota was given a pass like it has in the past that the information (false) that they gave the NHTSB was accurate and the problem wasn’t as serious as the complaints and statistics say it is. In the NHTSB’s defense it doesn’t have the funding or manpower to do the full testing for these claims and does rely on the car manufactures for help. In this case secretive Toyota and their decisions to save face misled the agency.
The only conflict of interest I find plausible in this article is the governors of the states that just so happen to have wooed and won Toyota factories in their states questioning the decision to recall vehicles. Some of which are built in their states. They say the US Government isn’t being fair and acting hysterical. They should go talk to the families of the 19 people who died from causes attributable by investigation to one kind of defect by one car company that admits knowing of the issue 6 years ago if they want to see hysterical and then let them call for fairness.
02-11-2010, 01:58 AM
#15
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Roseville, MI, USA
Posts: 1,496
I covered this "conspiracy theory" here and it's gotten A LOT of media attention and phone calls but seriously.....a politician?
http://www.thegmsource.com/index.php...articleid=1335
I'll call Toyota tomorrow and ask them directly.
Last edited by Josh452; 02-11-2010 at 02:02 AM.