Why only WHEN ITS GM does the state feel a need to get involved arethe people making less wage not as important!!!! get a clue their are many companies and people affected by this and woo woo woo POOR GM workers are all that seem to matter come on! the wage and benifits should secure some of these workers. Yes it is sad and i feel for the ones losing their jobs at GM but their are others that need the state support now to. The community as a whole is going to suffer the loss and many more companies and stores will downsize or close What will they do for them. We are all in for a long haul.............

But are the lawmakers attracted to him?

Northman GM will only pay a fine, and head out of town for joe tax payer to pick up the tab for clean up, there workers.

w8nc:
You hit it on the nose. These lawmakers have no leverage with GM whatever. You or I could send GM a letter and get as much attention. If you want to keep GM, or attract new businesses, then don’t ask for “every consideration”. Take a look at the laws that have made Wisconsin business-hostile, and start turning them around. You have to decide whether you want to have fun bashing business, and letting your uneducated constituents think that you’re looking out for the “little guy”, or whether you want to attract business and investment and provide more jobs for everyone.

The question arises, if and when the plant closes, who's going to clean up the contaminates in and around the area that has leeched into the soil for 90 years. It might be cheaper to keep the plant open!

I feel those boys should write a letter asking for the due date for the plant closing. That is what they should be asking, or pushing for. Or maybe they already know? Could GM have a deal worked out with the state to keep things on the down low.

At least these law makers are being somewhat proactive. However, they need to think of ways to keep business in Wisconsin because polite letters asking them to stay just isn't going to cut it. So many business leave Wisconsin to relocate to other States that are not such "Tax Hells". Instead of lawmakers worrying about what to do when business pack up and leave, they need to start working on plans to keep business in Wisconsin. At least the letter shows they are capable of forward thinking, which is a tiny baby step in the right direction.

The lawmakers are doing what we elected them to do. Where's Doyle been?

Those boys already know it is a ship that has been sent to be deep 6 aka sunk.

All they did was send a letter.

The politicians are pandering at this point. There is nothing they can say that will change GM's mind. What a joke.

BMW, Honda and Toyota will not "take over" a plant in a union town, at an old facility.

bringintoyota- You do realize the plant is owned by GM and you can't just turn it over to someone else if GM shuts it down?
Long_time_gone- I agree, it is time for those 3 guys to start flexing some of their political muscle and start bringing it home instead of giving it to everyone else.

whatdidyousay -- I disagree with you. Fiengold, Kohl and Ryan are simply trying to protect the livelihoods of their constituents.

Right on; Local UAW/GM leadership has done everything in its' powers to make this facility more palatable for Detroit; outsourced in-house work to *several* other local facilities @ 1/2 the wage and less benefits, outsourced work to Mexico, built a fast-access road directly to the facility w/o GM money, pioneered this new non-core new-hire system of Unit 1 employees topping out @ $14 an hour with ZERO pension, AND have bent over backwards in Madison to feed GM Janesville some of the best corporate welfare around the Nation. But Detroit wants to blame the SUV "market", while just standing by with their hands in their pockets?

We're right on the verge of shopping this facility to BMW, Honda, or Toyota. The GM Janesville people build higher quality vehicles, at a faster rate, with less workers than ANY other facility in the WORLD. That's right, on the GLOBE. SO, if GM wants to leave? Time to call the " other 3" execs in Ohio, Spartanburg, or Kentucky.

I agree with you, too, Long_Time_Gone. Well put.

Well said. I agree 110%

Kohl, Feingold and Ryan need to play it tougher than "asking for every consideration..."
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Kohl serves on Appropriations, Feingold on Budget and Judiciary, and Ryan on Ways and Means. How many pieces of GM's business is impacted by the power & oversight of those committees?
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The question of GM's future in Janesville presents a real crisis for the region - so enough with the press releases on winning funding for school lunch programs and lets see how our experienced, influential, power-brokers play the game in Congress for the benefit of folks back home.