Another day, another presidential candidate of the Republican Party remembers the 2009 U.S. automotive industry bailout and declares his disdain by saying that both the country and the carmakers would be better off without it. So what else is new?
Well, Rick Santorum managed to attack not only President Barack Obama, but also his predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush and “fellow” Republican candidate Mitt Romney – all during the same speech he made at the Detroit Economic Club today.
Predictably, Santorum, like Romney, said that both General Motors and Chrysler would be “alive and equally as well, or better off, than they are now," adding "the markets would have reacted to restructure it to be more competitive.”
The former Pennsylvania senator, though, also attacked the former occupant of the White House, explaining that it was Bush who gave the green light for the bailout. “I actually blame President Bush more than I do President Obama. President Obama was just following suit”.
Santorum didn’t stop there as he also accused his opponent in the Michigan primaries; citing the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program for financial institutions, which Romney supported, he claimed that the latter’s behavior is inconsistent.
“Governor Romney supported the bailout of Wall Street and decided not to support the bailout of Detroit”, he said. “My feeling was the government should not be involved in bailouts, period. That’s a much more consistent position.”
According to Business Week, two surveys that were released on February 13 gave Santorum a lead in the state of Michigan – the first by 15 percentage points and the second by six.
A Detroit News-WDIV telephone poll that was released today, February 17, still puts Santorum ahead of Romney, with 34.0 vs 30.4 percent. The 4.4 percentage point margin of error, though, in the poll makes the outcome quite uncertain.
Ironically, while the Republicans are fighting it out over who opposed the U.S. auto industry bailout the most, GM announced today that in 2011 it posted the largest annual profit in its 103-year-old history, US$9.19 billion, and a net income of US$7.6 billion, up from US$4.7 billion in 2010…
Story References: Businessweek
11 Comments:
Remember, taxpayers' are still on the hook. And Santorum is correct: "the markets would have reacted to restructure it to be more competitive.” Me, I like Ron Paul.
P.S. Look at what GM paid for its 2011 taxes.
oohhh boy... Another simpleton steps up to the plate to show the world just how stupid he really is.
Where have these Republican numbskulls come from? Santorum was a loser in PA. and now he wants to be president?
I'm an independant, but I hope Obama keeps his position over these guys. Just saying.
Don't play this attack-blame-game. All are in the same team of the Devil - The international bankers, Israel and Rothschild, also their sympathizer fiends.
Leaving things to the markets to sort out won't always leave things as you want. Our markets were in terrible shape at that time and are still digging their way out. Who would have stepped in to rescue the day? The Chinese with all their money? No one, leaving one huge mess with few to clean it up and make it healthy today? I'm all for a free market but to simply close one's eyes to what's going on in the world and hide behind that mantra is rather short cited and naive. During a healthy economy I'm not sure a bailout would have happened or at least not as great as one. Sometimes we have to invest in ourselves and not just leave it to a crap shoot.
It really boiled-down to one thing: Corporate Malfeasance. GM execs were selling-off stocks prior to the bailouts; GM had been forewarned thirty years ago by the likes of Peter Drucker that pensions were unsustainable; the opportunity cost of using funds for areas that will be a betterment for America's future: lost. We're simply back to the same situation, prolonging the inevitable. Automation is displacing the lesser educated worker and manual labor; transportation will be changing owed to energy availability. However, let's all go down utilizing current superimposed/superficial changes atop failed legacy systems and ideas. It simply does not and will not work in the long-run, but immediate gratification is what America is all about these days. However, we did save jobs and industries that will no longer be viable in tomorrow's world.
If you haven't already, don't forget to google Santorum ;)
BS, Libertarians and their sacred free markets that exist only their minds. Even the conservative capitalist Economist magazine recently blasted Romney for saying the bailouts were a mistake. Libertarians are like 21st century versions of the native Americans who thought they got a good deal selling Manhattan Island for some beads and smallpox blankets.
In the real world, America isn't getting it's butt kicked by purer capitalist countries but by state socialist nations like China, Japan, South Korea and even Germany. It's hilarious that the rightwing picks Hyundai as an example of pure capitalism in action either ignorant or deceptive about the reality that Hyundai and Kia were the posterchilden for government bailouts just a decade ago. JapanInc just recently merged and subsidized their flatscreen TV industry. For decades, JapanInc has bought it's currency down vs the dollar so they could conquer America's industrial heartland. Today, Japan has the highest public debt per capita of any nation on the planet including Greece.
Hi All - Interesting comment- Yes, separation of church and state! We're lucky GM survived and got back on it's feet. It was a huge gamble! When it comes right down to it. The vote in Nov will be between Obama and Romney. Both men are family men with religious views that won't subject their view on yours. Amen! On the one hand, Obama has been a fair president. Romney will do better. He'll balance the US budget in 4 years and put you back to work. Since most of our current problems are due to waste of tax payer funds, he shouldn't have to cut services. He is not a career politician. He won't worry about offending any group as he puts the house back together again. You may not love him but he'll do the right thing. He'll keep our military strong, protect our borders and make us proud of being Americans. You'll see. - John.
How is he gonna balance the budget, by laying off every government worker?
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