Jack Fitzgerald on Greta Van Susteren

There was a jobs summit in Washington. Well I told Greta this is a no-cost stimulus, put the dealers back and retain 169,000 direct dealer jobs.
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Judiciary Committee Hearing Postponed

We have received word from Chairman Conyers that the Judiciary Committee has decided to postpone the hearing originally scheduled for Thursday morning on our auto dealers issue given the pendency of ongoing negotiations between dealer groups and the two automakers. Please note that the hearing is postponed and not cancelled, meaning that it could be rescheduled at any time.

We understand that many of you were planning to come to Washington and attend as part of our show of support for the dealer cause. We regret that you may have been inconvenienced, but we only just now (6PM Eastern) have learned that the hearing would not take place on Thursday.

Chairman Conyers and other Members of the Judiciary Committee continue to be very interested in the dealer issue and we are encouraged by their willingness to dig deep into the issue and to study all its facets from our perspective.

We will keep you informed of any new developments as they arise.

Upcoming Judiciary Committee Hearing

Now I know why it’s called grass roots, because so much of our work is done underground. I’m forever grateful for the work that dealers, their employees and their customers are doing across this country of ours to keep our issue of the taking of dealer businesses on the front burner.

To summarize, we have two bills we’re tracking in Congress, and the language from one of our bills was attached to a spending bill, HR3170, that we call the LaTourette Amendment because Congressman LaTourette from Ohio put this amendment on to the Appropriations bill, and preserved it. That appropriations bill with the amendment is awaiting action in the Senate, under Senator Durbin’s direction.
In the meantime, NADA, NAMAD, our group CRDR and the ATAE’s are working in concert to bring about a “non-legislative” solution at the urging of our congressional supporters. On October 3rd, 2009 Speaker Pelosi said that will only be possible as long as “fairness” is injected into the process. Meetings with the manufacturers are ongoing.

In new developments, Congressman and Chairman John Conyers has called for a FULL Judiciary Committee Hearing on Thursday, October 15th 2009 at 10:00am in the Rayburn building (2141) that’s open to the public. This is part IV in the review of the effects of the bankruptcies, but this upcoming hearing is expected to focus on the facts considered by the Auto Task Force, who have been invited to testify. There is also a rumor that a senior retired executive from one of the automakers is appearing under subpoena who has questioned the so-called “experts” who advised the Auto Task Force.

Where did they get these experts?

Cash for Clunkers, err "Clinkers"

The Cash for Clunkers program is indeed over, and I'm grateful to all of our customers who chose to purchase vehicles from Fitzgerald, and to all of my associates who are still trying to process the clunkers. It's been very successful at re-charging the new car business, but there are some people who were left behind. That's why we've introduced Cash for "Clinkers."

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Visit us at www.cash4clinkers.com

Grassroots Effort

What GM & Chrysler don't understand is that dealers are the very fabric of America. While Congress is in recess this week to celebrate Independence Day, dealers in cities, rural areas and small towns across this country are celebrating too, in spite of the challenges of today's economy. Dealers are sponsoring parades, little league teams, booster clubs, because we are America.

We have the support here in Maryland, and there is support growing across this country.

In Pennsylvania,

In Arkansas,

Thanks again for your continued support.

The Media Can Help

I think the more that Congress and the media learn about this, the more they see through the misinformation being spread by the manufacturers.
http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/22419007/let-free-markets-decide.htm

Senate Bill & House Bill

No one wants to believe that the truth is so different from the fairy tale being spun by the executives from GM and Chrysler, no one thinks we could all be fooled, let alone the administration or Congress. Unfortunately that’s exactly what’s happening

Dealers don’t cost manufacturers any money.
Fritz Henderson and Jim Press failed to convince Congress or demonstrate how reducing dealers saves money. Filling a car up with gas is a cost associated with selling a car, not how many dealers they have. Dealers pay the freight to get the car shipped. Dealers order parts and vehicles, and become the warehouse for their products. The factory offers no subsidy for dealers, in fact, the dealers pay fees to the factory, almost $40,000 a year, not including the purchase of inventory.

Too few dealers, not too many.
2 out of 3 cars on the road are Domestic. There were 13,000 domestic dealers at the end of 2008. At the end of their cuts, there will be 9,600. How will Detroit rise again if there are fewer domestic dealers than Import? There are already 10,000 import dealers. Dealers are not “branches”.
If you’re going to be like Toyota, build Toyota quality.
It’s the car, the product, that determines success. Dealers have established relationships with owners of vehicles, who remain loyal, despite the lower ratings in Consumer Reports. GM has lost market share for 30 years. GM has seen ratings in Consumer Reports go down for 30 years. This isn’t a coincidence, customers know quality. Toyota focused on the East and West Coast. On Rockville Pike there are three Toyota dealers, there will be 1 Chrysler Dealer. How does that match Toyota’s model?

Why would they do this?
They need a scapegoat for Wall Street to keep investing, to avoid blaming the very same managers who remain employed, to get their retention bonuses. This is the same management that drove both companies into bankruptcy. The dealers are not bankrupt, the manufacturers are.

Some of the material I've been researching is making it out into the web, and the public...the more information the better.