Happy Monday! The start of a new work week. Time to get busy, shift a few paradigms, revolutionize outside the box. How ’bout a beer?
Been quite some time since we did a Beer Monday, and, considering this next story, Team Obama must have been seriously imbibing: Barack Obama sees auto rescue as 2012 plank
In the next few months, the U.S. Treasury will finish selling its shares in General Motors, effectively ending the biggest piece of the $85 billion auto-industry bailout that inflamed fiscal conservatives and helped fuel the rise of the tea party movement.
In the end, Uncle Sam will probably lose several billion dollars on its stake in GM and will have bits of Chrysler and Ally Financial, GM’s former financing arm, left to unload. But the bulk of the bailout will wrap up six years ahead of schedule after forestalling a collapse many experts say could have cost millions of jobs and driven the nation into a longer, deeper and more painful recession.
So, he’s going to run on the government taking over a company, giving huge chunks to the unions, and losing billions? In fact, some are saying that the US taxpayers are going to lose $17 billion from the bailout. Chump change compared to the stimulus, of course, but, still, a large amount of coinage. But, you know who the Politico uses as a comparison?
In doing so, he will follow in the footsteps of President Ronald Reagan, who imposed a protective tariff in 1983 to revive motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson — an American icon that blended well with Reagan’s image — and basked in the spotlight of the successful close of the 1979 bailout of Chrysler and its high-profile chairman, Lee Iacocca.
I don’t know about you, but, personally, I see a huge difference between a protective tariff and an $87 billion bailout. Furthermore, Reagan didn’t run on the Chrysler bailout. Nor did the government end up owning Chrysler and dictating policy.
Interestingly, does this mean that Bush was super awesome in Obama world, for starting this bailout? Kinda hard to reconcile all the gloomy “we inherited X” when Team Obama also inherited the means to solve.
Finally, if this is the best Team Obama can choose to run on, that says quite a bit about the negative state of the Obama administration and their “accomplishments”. Nothing about running on his Stimulus. Nothing about running on job creation. Nothing on his foreign policy, though he will surly chest thump himself for getting Osama Bin Laden. And, so far, there have been zero hints that he will run on his signature legislation, the so-called Affordable Care Act.
It should also be noted that the Harley Davidson “protective tariff” was implemented because the Japanese were dumping huge numbers of large engine motorcycles into the market. HD did not ask that the sale of Japanese bikes be stopped, but only that the undercutting of the market be stopped by the tariff.
The tariff was due to last 5 years but HD asked for it to end after only three years as in that time they had retooled and the market had stabilized.
If Obama wants to run on the success of the auto bailout, let him. One can point to the marketshare and growth of non-bailed out Ford to that of GM.
The Hybred Ford Fusion has been somewhat of a success. The Chevy Volt and Cruze have not sold well, even with government rebates.