Pro-Toyota Government Influence
in [Toyota]
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From: Ed White on 8 Feb 2010 14:18 I've seen a few persons speculating that there was a secret government consipracy behind all the recent Toyota problems. In light of this speculation I thought the following article was interesting: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_toyota_s_friends THE INFLUENCE GAME: Toyota's powerful DC friends By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer Sharon Theimer, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 8, 10:19 am ET WASHINGTON The lawmakers now investigating Toyota's recall include a senator who was so eager to lure the Japanese automaker to his state that he tramped along through fields as its executives scouted plant sites, and a congresswoman who owes much of her wealth to a Toyota supplier. They and others on the congressional committees investigating Toyota's massive recall represent states where Toyota has factories and the coveted well-paying manufacturing jobs they bring. Some members of Congress have been such cheerleaders for Toyota that the public may wonder how they can act objectively as government watchdogs for auto safety and oversight. The company's executives include a former employee of the federal agency that is supposed to oversee the automaker. Toyota has sought to sow good will and win allies with lobbying, charitable giving, racing in the American-as-apple pie NASCAR series and, perhaps most important, creating jobs. Will those connections pay off as it tries to minimize fallout from its problems? see more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_toyota_s_friends
From: Tegger on 8 Feb 2010 15:13 Ed White <ce.white3(a)gmail.com> wrote in news:7b4e40f9-3669-4591-bd59- 3e4b29e0651e(a)t1g2000vbq.googlegroups.com: > I've seen a few persons speculating that there was a secret government > consipracy behind all the recent Toyota problems. Not behind the technical problems themselves -- which are minor, but behind the totally irrational response to them. But hardly "secret". And hardly a "conspiracy". It's not at all a "secret" that the Obama administration is hand-in-hand with the unions.Obama has been very open in his union sympathies, and in his desire to appease them to the best of his abilities. It's also not "secret" at all that the UAW is really miffed at Toyota for 1) avoiding unionization, and 2) shutting down NUMMI. Reporters are mostly unionized as well, so they're disposed to support union causes. -- Tegger
From: Mike Hunter on 8 Feb 2010 19:22 How does one "minimize the fallout" of a massive WORLD WIDE safety recall of over 5.4 MILLION vehicles, with SEVERAL different TYPES of loss of control problems involving so many dissimilar models, built all over the world, from its midge cars all the way up to its luxury cars, including its trucks? "Ed White" <ce.white3(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:7b4e40f9-3669-4591-bd59-3e4b29e0651e(a)t1g2000vbq.googlegroups.com... I've seen a few persons speculating that there was a secret government consipracy behind all the recent Toyota problems. In light of this speculation I thought the following article was interesting: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_toyota_s_friends THE INFLUENCE GAME: Toyota's powerful DC friends By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer Sharon Theimer, Associated Press Writer � Mon Feb 8, 10:19 am ET WASHINGTON � The lawmakers now investigating Toyota's recall include a senator who was so eager to lure the Japanese automaker to his state that he tramped along through fields as its executives scouted plant sites, and a congresswoman who owes much of her wealth to a Toyota supplier. They and others on the congressional committees investigating Toyota's massive recall represent states where Toyota has factories and the coveted well-paying manufacturing jobs they bring. Some members of Congress have been such cheerleaders for Toyota that the public may wonder how they can act objectively as government watchdogs for auto safety and oversight. The company's executives include a former employee of the federal agency that is supposed to oversee the automaker. Toyota has sought to sow good will and win allies with lobbying, charitable giving, racing in the American-as-apple pie NASCAR series and, perhaps most important, creating jobs. Will those connections pay off as it tries to minimize fallout from its problems? see more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_toyota_s_friends
From: jim beam on 8 Feb 2010 22:54 On 02/08/2010 11:18 AM, Ed White wrote: > I've seen a few persons speculating that there was a secret government > consipracy behind all the recent Toyota problems. In light of this > speculation I thought the following article was interesting: > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_toyota_s_friends > > THE INFLUENCE GAME: Toyota's powerful DC friends > > By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer Sharon Theimer, Associated > Press Writer � Mon Feb 8, 10:19 am ET > > WASHINGTON � The lawmakers now investigating Toyota's recall include a > senator who was so eager to lure the Japanese automaker to his state > that he tramped along through fields as its executives scouted plant > sites, and a congresswoman who owes much of her wealth to a Toyota > supplier. > > They and others on the congressional committees investigating Toyota's > massive recall represent states where Toyota has factories and the > coveted well-paying manufacturing jobs they bring. Some members of > Congress have been such cheerleaders for Toyota that the public may > wonder how they can act objectively as government watchdogs for auto > safety and oversight. The company's executives include a former > employee of the federal agency that is supposed to oversee the > automaker. > > Toyota has sought to sow good will and win allies with lobbying, > charitable giving, racing in the American-as-apple pie NASCAR series > and, perhaps most important, creating jobs. Will those connections pay > off as it tries to minimize fallout from its problems? > > see more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_toyota_s_friends interestingly, [or perhaps not for a shill], you forgot to cite the article comparing gm & frod's monetary political contributions vs. toyota's. our domestics are each contributing >20x more than the politically naive japanese.
From: C. E. White on 9 Feb 2010 09:12
"jim beam" <me(a)privacy.net> wrote in message news:wM2dnU3JCLrHQe3WnZ2dnUVZ_jadnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net... >> see more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_toyota_s_friends > > interestingly, [or perhaps not for a shill], you forgot to cite the > article comparing gm & frod's monetary political contributions vs. > toyota's. our domestics are each contributing >20x more than the > politically naive japanese. Care to cite a reference? And are you including contributions from suppliers, dealers, distributors, etc.? I suspect dealers have more political clout with congress than manufacturers. You might want to read: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/06/gm-stops-political-contributions/ "With 2008 in the rear-view mirror, GM has decided to halt all political contributions...." From http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Toyota "Lobbying "Through its subsidiaries Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America & Toyota Motor Sales USA, the Toyota Motor Corporation spent over $4.1 million in lobbying expenses in the first three quarters of 2008. They hired a number of influential lobbying firms, including: Brown, Rudnick et al; Capitol Hill Consulting; National Environmental Strategies, & Decker, Garman et al. [6] The issues that Toyota spent money attempting to influence ranged from: Labor, Antitrust & Workplace Issues; Environmental, Clean Air & Water, Energy & Nuclear Power; and Trade, Taxes, Banking, Copyright, Patent, & Trademark.[7] The Automotive Industry as a whole spent $49.5 million on lobbying in the first three quarters of 2008, of which Toyota contributed nearly a tenth.[8]" From what I can tell from other reports, both Ford and GM have cut back on lobbying. While I suspect both still spend more than Toyota, I doubt it is anywhere near 20x. Based on older numbers, at the most Ford was 2X more than Toyota on lobbying. And none of the car companies spend all that much on direct campaign contributions. From http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2011012070.html : "Toyota has not been a big player in U.S. campaigns. Its U.S. employees contributed roughly $30,000 to federal candidates in 2007-08, compared with about $880,000 from Ford employees and about $799,000 from GM workers. "Unlike rivals Ford and GM, Toyota doesn't have a political-action committee (PAC) to dole out campaign contributions. Toyota's PAC would have difficulty distinguishing itself from Toyota's Japanese management to the degree needed to be legal under U.S. campaign-finance laws. "That makes Toyota an unwitting example of an issue that has become a hot topic in Washington in recent days: foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries and their involvement in U.S. elections. The Supreme Court ruled last month that U.S. corporations and unions can spend treasury money on election ads attacking federal candidates. Some Democrats including President Obama argue the ruling would let foreign corporations with U.S. subsidiaries sneak into U.S. election activities, and they plan legislation to close such a loophole." Ed |