I just wish Reason had paid more attention to the Obama footage they included here... he's getting out of a FORD MUSTANG and Ford didn't get a bailout. I get their point, yet still.
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In other news... we've just now poured our first cup and haven't even made our way through the inbox yet. So there's NO other news, other than it's gonna be one of "those" days.
I hear ya on the bailouts, not a clear cut issue.
ReplyDeleteThat Chrysler slogan, Imported from Detroit, only lacks a comma after imported.
I saw this on a Hot Air update sometime this morning. It's a brilliant parody and definitely makes you question the original ad which I saw on Sunday. At the time on Superbowl Sunday, I thought, well this Eastwood, so I can relax. There won't be any shenanigans.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm not so sure.
Rush L. says he thinks they bamboozled Eastwood, slipped one by him under the guise of unity and patriotism. That might be true, but if it is, that severely damages E's image in my mind. I can't imagine E being hoodwinked by anybody. I know he's older now and he's not the Dirty Harry guy. But still.
Ivan: You're correct: the issue isn't clear cut at all. The reason I supported the bailouts was the fear of unintended consequences, specifically the effect of a Chapter 11 filing on the automotive supplier industry. It's no exaggeration to think over a million people could have lost their jobs... either permanently or temporarily... through a normal bankruptcy filings by GM and Chrysler. And then there were the psychological impacts on the markets, the US populace as a whole, yadda, yadda. I still believe we were on the brink of a financial meltdown at that point in time and the collapse of the auto industry would have added fuel to the fire.
ReplyDeleteDan: Clint might have supported the bailouts for the same reasons I did. Ya can't rule that out.
Tough call. I do like Limbaugh's version of the spot, though.
ReplyDeleteI kinda like Limbaugh's take, too.
ReplyDeleteI like the parody. However, I was unsure about the bailouts. I know an elderly person who lost about 200K in GM Stock values.
ReplyDeleteBut something to consider on the bailouts is that if there was no bailout, the big automakers could have restructured; Especially restructured the contracts with the Union which may have leaned out the costs of manufacture and future costs of pensions.
So the bailout could be seen as a payoff to the Unions for the election support that the President received.
I would love the opportunity to be in the UAW and make thirty bucks an hour sweeping floors. Seriously.
The bailout might have had some justification, but it was so poorly handled, without "transparency", without it being specific about how the bailout was going to be repaid and restructuring for taking a company that was failing huge, it is just a putting off till tomorrow move.
ReplyDeleteThere are and have been big companies that have failed before, gone bankrupt, and come back, just as there are those that are just plain gone.
Yes, it would impact a lot of people. Trouble is, it just shifted where the impact hit. The Chevy Volt is a train wreck, showing that they still haven't learned on either side of the bailout.
UAW got greedy and they doomed the company.
I just think there have to have been other options that were more controlled that would have left us in better shape. Add to that, it seems that the government - post stimulus - is spending as if the special stimulus is now a part of the "budget".
A poorly run company is going to fail. The bailout might just have allowed that failure to be put off. I'm not sure that this is the end of it at all, as they are still poorly run.