Russia, 1917. China, 1949. United States of America, 2008.
And thus does Obama fail his first test.
President-elect Barack Obama is pushing Congress this year to approve as much as $50 billion to save cash-starved U.S. automakers and appoint a czar or board to oversee the companies
This is not about helping the economy or improving the environment. This is just big labor using their political clout to transfer everyone else’s wealth to themselves.
It is theft, plain and simple, implemented by the state on behalf of a voting block.
I do not like bailing out banks, but economists across the political spectrum keep telling me it is necessary to prevent a systemic collapse. Find me a single economist — or even an economist-turned-hack like Krugman — who argues that bailing out GM is similarly necessary, and maybe we will have something to discuss. Until then, there is nothing here to argue about, because this is not even a close call.
But hey, look on the bright side:Â GM stock is trying to fill that 1933 gap, or something.
While I can see arguments about the validity of whether or not to bail out the big 2½, unless you used the phrase, “theft, plain and simple, implemented by the state on behalf of a voting block,” for TARP, you are showing a big double standard.
As an aside, I’m not sure that we should support the automaker’s bailout, my dad had it pegged in 1980s when he said that the Chrysler bailout was a really a bailout of its banker creditors anyway, but most of the problems with the domestic auto manufacturers have to do not with wages and benefits, but with the age of its workforce.
The additional labor costs are overwhelmingly increased costs because of large numbers of retirees, and because insurance is more for a 55 year old auto worker than it is for a 30 year old auto worker.
But I like Krugman, Nemo.
No clue what that dude above me is on about though.
Nemo, before you give BO a failing grade based on what “people familiar with the matter said.”, why not wait and see what really happens. I saw no quote from him about the issue in that article.
On another completely unrelated note, “tell him to not let the door hit him on the way out.” needs updating to some modern internet analogy….:-)I agree with the comment….