The things they blame on Obama . . . and other myths
Shot by Dan in Southeast Roanoke
Friday evening I picked up some beer on the way home from work. And I spent a few minutes talking to the clerk in the convenience store. Despite the pic on the left it was not a 7-Eleven. And the clerk was a guy. He’s a Vietnam vet.
“Do you know that lady . . ?” he said, and he mentioned a woman I actually do know. She’s a local business owner who I’ve quoted at least twice in my columns. Her husband owns a different local business, and I’ve contracted with the latter for a couple of jobs.
“She was in here the other night, buying something,” the clerk said. “I guess she noticed I had a red shirt on or something. And she said, ‘Are you REGISTERED TO VOTE?’ and I said, “I sure am.’ And she said, “You’re voting for Romney, right?’ I guess she assumed I was because I’m white, and I had a red shirt. And I told her, ‘No, I’m not voting for Romney. Are you kidding?’
“Well, she totally flew off the handle. She started talking about business regulations [on her husband's business] and all the rules he had to follow under the Obama administration, and all the fines he’d face if he didn’t.
“And I said, ‘Lady, if he has some rules he has to follow, he needs to take care of business. All of us have to follow rules. He needs to figure that out.
“She lost it. She started shouting and yelling. And as she walked out the door, she delivered her parting shot: ‘You all ARE A BUNCH OF COMMUNISTS!’ ”
Now, I’m not going to get into the woman’s name, or the name of her husband’s business. But the specific regulations the woman was talking about were enacted under the Bush administration in 2008. Their implementation was delayed until 2010 so that the industries affected would have 2 years to figure out how to comply.
And now, the woman is blaming Obama for regulations that the Bush Administration apparently felt strongly enough about, health and safety wise, to enact. I honestly don’t know if she’s lying about who’s to blame, or if she simply doesn’t know the regs were enacted in 2008, or if she does know that but doesn’t realize Obama wasn’t president then.
There is not ONE iota of proof that a Romney administration would feel ANY differently about said regulations. But that gal sure believes it would . . . and wrongly.
October 15, 2012 - 6:23 PM
This sounds made up. More of your efforts to paint anyone who would support Romney as radical or unhinged.
“If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run away from.” – Barack Obama 2008
Chuck,
I didn’t make it up.
And if you cannot prove something is untrue, try. Way to carry the water Chuck.
Yep Chuck. Dan makes the “businesswoman” talk the way leftwingers’ caricatures have conservatives act. Dan says my jury duty story is fake. THIS story is fake.
Actually, I emailed Chuck a news article from 2010 about the regulations he’s claiming I made that story up about.
No question about it: enacted under Bush, in effect under Obama, blame to Obama.
Since when would a made up story matter to a RWer? I guess it would depend on who’s making it up.
“Way to carry the water Chuck.”
Chuck’s hernia-repair will cost him a fortune. Hope he has health insurance.
The tendency of folk to label others as communist, socialist, etc w/o having any idea what the ideology actually entail was reinforced over the last couple of days, for me.
I have received a number of chain-emails parroting Jeff Foxworthy “You may be a redneck.”
Earlier, they ended in “If you find this offensive or racist and won’t forward it. You probably may be a communist, socialist, etc.”
Last couple of days, I got a number of anti-Islamic / anti-Obama versions ending:
“10. Your cousin is president of the United States .
You may be a Muslim
11. You find this offensive or racist and won’t forward it.
You probably are a Muslim.”
In defense of Jeff Foxworthy, Snopes says it was not written by him — http://www.snopes.com/politics/humor/foxworthy.asp
What’s with folk? We are halfway between full-moons.
Here’s a myth for you—-bipartisan Mitt. In one of the more brazen lies told by Mitt Romney in debate number one, he touted his “bipartisan” record as Governor of Mass. where he claimed he wortked aqcross the aisle to get things done. In fact, he and the legislature had a stormy relationship and in four years he issued 800 line item vetoes, 707 of which were overridden by the legislature. Even Repuiblicans in that legislature dispute Romney’s claim of bipartisanship and working with Democrats.
http://www.politicususa.com/romneys-800-vetoes-governor-belie-claim-bipartisan.html
From CNN; Do Facts Matter?
Realclearpolitcs has Obama up by 20% in MA. That tells you what they think of the job he did there!
And when Romney claims he even balanced the Massachusetts budget, he fails to note that it’s required that the governor of MA file a balanced budget…no magic here.
The right wingers go crazy
Or maybe just lazy
They forget past history
But it’s no mystery
Just read the paper
Not much labor
It’s all right there
If you really care
But that’s too much trouble
It’s easier to mumble
That Muslum Obama
Is responsible for alla.
When I saw the headline I thought I would open and find a detailed list of things that were someone else’s fault that our country was experiencing. What did I get nothin. Funny when all the pinko’s discuss what our problems are in the country you notice it is always someone besides President Obama’s fault. Empty chair just as Clint described. Funny there 4 years and he is absolutely innocent.
Things they blame on George Bush…and other myths. The current administration’s performance!
Dan, I don’t mean the regulations were made up. I mean the anecdote itself, about the woman and the clerk, sounds made up.
‘Funny there 4 years and he is absolutely innocent.”
Yeah, right. You have no idea what people think, but compared to Mitt Romney the guy’s a saint. “Pinko,” now there’s a term I haven’t heard since the 1950′s. Backs up Dan’s assertion that Tea Partiers are the modern-day Birchers.
Chuck, I made up nothing. You made up your charge.
Swingle is complaining
Yet no examples for explaining.
Just name calling and insulting
Ole James is exulting
Gloating about nothing
Just GOP bull erupting.
You should talk Sandi. It’s a miracle you haven’t drowned in the Kool-Aid. And you actually talk about someone else carrying the water. What a joke.
Thanks for caring Art. I do have health insurance, though like most other things relating to personal finance and comfort, it isn’t as good as it was before Obama. You guys love to tell people to ask yourself if you are better off now than you were four years ago. Well, my salary is less, my employer has furloughed employees, my health benefits don’t cover as much but I pay more for them, my retirement is no longer fully funded AND I have to pay a larger percentage of it than I used to, so no, I am not better off than I was four years ago. And you guys say I’m carrying the water? I’m not sure how you guys can walk upright under the weight of the water (lies) you carry for the current CinC.
By the way Sandi, some of us are not the only ones who could stand to work on reading comprehension. I neither said nor tried to prove Dano was telling a lie. I said it sounds like it was made up.
“If you don’t have a record to run on, you paint your opponent as someone to run from.” – Barack Obama 2008
Sorry for the bad rhyming
But with this phone I’m trying
To eliminate the typos
From my expressario
With small short phrases
That allow for gazing
The letters I am typing
So that my writing
Is not so frightning.
Takes one to know one Chuck! The difference here is I am not the one teaching and pretending not to have a bias as big as a Mack Truck.
WTF, in what realm is something “made up” not a lie?
Sandi,
How come you weren’t in here defending your boyfriend Dan Rad yesterday? He needed it.
“it isn’t as good as it was before Obama”
Do you know how I know that’s baloney? Because Bush mismanaged the bubble so badly that it exploded in his face before he and his cohorts could ride safely into the sunset. They actually had to begin the bailouts or the economy would have collapsed harder and earlier. Obama merely continued what Bush had started so now HE gets the blame for not shoveling the elephant dung fast enough? My, what a selective memory you have.
Perhaps I’ll rephrase for you Dan. In my opinion, your story sounds made up.
Okay Sandi. Perhaps the distinction is too subtle for you, but there is a difference in saying someone is lying and saying that a story doesn’t sound believable.
“Perhaps I’ll rephrase for you Dan. In my opinion, your story sounds made up.”
I have to say, Chuck, that it’s pretty arrogant of you to think that I care. Seriously.
Sorry Art. Didn’t realize you were cashing my paychecks, paying my insurance premiums and contributing to my retirement. Maybe the groundwork was laid under Bush, but the factual, honest answer to the question “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”, for me is no.
Suzie proving her mental age is 13 once again. Pitiful.
Have it your way Chuck. Pitiful.
Richard that rhyming was a crimein’. Whew.
Art I think the Tea Party has a problem with out of control spending. Birchers were just anti-communist in general. The calling of Tea Party Birchers came from Hoffa Jr, parroted by our man Dan.
Thanks for the laugh though Chuck. The idea that you think you can be “subtle” is funny.
Barack Obama – “Now Hillary, you’ve been a good and loyal Secretary of State. Now when the bus gets here, I’ll give you a push and you just throw yourself right under it.”
Chuck is saying that Obama’s done nothing
Yet Osama is rotting and the economy is rising
The Tea Party cried wolf of inflation and deficit
Yet Bernanke’s been true, a hero give credit
Obama reappointed while republicans rejoinded
Yet the market exploded from frightful to loaded
Pension funds are growing even while robbed and exploited
By governors who needed all the money made
To balance budgets of which they are bragging.
Libya the reps Ricans complained was a war not proclaimed
Yet McCain and Graham complained not enough was done
But Obama won with .not a troop lost or plane undone.
In spite of projections interest rates and inflation
Remain minimal while Obama lowered taxes with creation
Of jobs not public but private inspite of GOP intrepidation.
Obama passed what all others never could
Even Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, or Johnson
Health care so needed, so wanted
We nowhere air so better to breathe
in spite of objections from those so greedy.
Gas prices so low that coal mines are slow
Yet sales to China continue to show
Obama’s trade acumen is mighty
From S Korea and India Latin America and the Pacific
In spite of Europe falling a flitter.
Obama saved GM and Chrysler
With jobs that Mitt would have sent asunder.
To have turned a recession so great and obsessive
In a time shorter than the Depression
Took management and style hard work and effort
While the GOP sought on ly an election
Chuck, Obama can run on all he has gone
He’s saved our bacon while the reppublicans were making
TEA party chatter and conservative blather
That’s been wrong in practice both in the past and present wrong in practice and wrong in action
The GOP has selected Mitt Romney who ca not decide
Whether leat or right. He flops and flips in moving his lips
But has not an answer except elect me President.
Well you kept answering Dan.
Chuck it must bug Dan. He made 4 comments and they all were him defending his “story” to you.
#4 Given the number of stories that YOU make up, why should we care what you think. Story sounds true to me, given the rabid foaming at the mouth we see from right wingers on this blog.
It is a trauma for Chuck and others
That all they can claim is defeat Obama
Not Romney is true or great , or average
Not one thing can they proclaim
Of Mitt’s great fame except was a part
Of the investment banker disaster
Even Susie proclaims that Mitt was not her man
Too Mormon, too liberal, too fancy
Yet true to their form they only have scorn
And derision and hate yet to Mitt they relate
In spite of the fact he is all over the map
With no foreign policy and words of atrocity
That proves he’s no leader, no backbone either
Just a want to be President, with no credibility or presence.
What’s made up? That some ignorant business man blames Obama for regulations the federal government has in place? To keep their workers and the public safe? Who’s to say he doesn’t tell his harpy of a wife he’s working late keeping up those damn communist federal regulations while he’s really just staying away from psycho wife.
Or that crazy lady believes you have to be a communist to vote for Obama?
Heck I know a business that has a sign overhead that says “Obama is a Communist, just ask a Russian.” WTF does that mean? What if I said anybody that votes for Romney is a Nazi? There. Now we have a clear choice between the candidates. Vote for the Communist or vote for the Nazi. Or better yet, don’t vote. (If you’re thinking about voting for the Nazi.)
Sarcasm font off.
Stewart on Fox’s spin on the VP debate: “Joe Biden was an angry, demented, drunk old crazy person who mopped the floor with our guy.”
Cold n play. If you have not seen it American
Crossroads has put out a video claiming
Obama is a Russian spy. A treasonous piece of s&*^ that should have Rove put in jail for the rest of his days. Unbelievable.
“Maybe the groundwork was laid under Bush…”
Progress!! Now if you can admit your dislike of Obama is based upon the fact he hasn’t cleaned up this “groundwork” fast enough to suit you…
Art you are so right. The WIngers on hate
Can’t even say a good word
About Bush yet they proclaim
His policies under Romney will work.
At least Bush was a likable fellow. Even Boehner could not say that for Romney.
Bush lite poliocy without the likeability.
Yea vote for Mitt.
I looked up the video RBCPA. Didn’t watch it but got a pretty good idea of the concept. Crazy.
People will believe anything. How is Romney getting the senior vote? By telling them he’s going to take care of them. Leave their kids to fend for themselves in the “free market” for their health care. Might as well say the next generation is going to be the victims of eugenics. That’s one way to deal with the 47%.
“As long as it doesn’t affect me, I don’t care.” It’s disgraceful. What has happened to our country?
Art, where have you been. I’ve been shouting that. Obama promised he knew what it would take to “fix” the economy. He claimed the middle class needed “help right now”. He said he would cut the deficit in half in one term. Just like Col. Harvey on the Andy Griffith show, Obama claimed to have the cure for what ails ya! So far he hasn’t delivered on any of it.
Are you serious RB CPA? If Obama has done so much, how come every one of his ads is about how bad Romney is? How come every debate topic here is about how bad Romney/Ryan are? Where are the ads ballyhooing Obama’s accomplishments. Oh I forgot. They’re the same place as Obama’s accomplishments – squarely in the imagination of liberals.
The fact is Obama and his insecure cheerleaders are doing exactly what he said in 2008. In case you’ve forgotten:
“If you don’t have a record to run on, you paint your opponent as someone to run from”
gdad, please reference a story I’ve made up. But I will give you this. I wouldn’t expect you to care what I think. I could give less than a tinker’s damn what you think. However, apparently you do. You continue to respond, though I would attribute it more to your fears about the coming election rather than caring what I think. I think it just troubles the insecure liberals to have Obama’s lack of performance pointed out to them. He’s been a great big load of underwhelming fizzle, hence all the negative ads.
The fact is, Obama is up against the antithesis of liberalism – someone who was successful. Your bi-polar argument about Romney simply doesn’t hold water. He hasn’t done anything, but he’s too much of a successful of a rich, robber baron to relate to the “common man.” He’s a multi-millionaire/ governor but he hasn’t accomplished anything? Really?
The truth is, you guys are scared to death of the fact that the race is neck and neck and the momentum seems to be with Romney, at least for the moment. By now I’m sure you expected to be up 8 to 10 points, just like in ’08. Instead you find yourself in an actual race and with it, you have no choice but to face the painful realization that the people who are disillusioned with Obama, the conservatives and all the others who are just generally tired of more broken promises from Washington are not some small fringe element, but instead at least match you in number. It has you freaked out, hence the need to paint everyone who disagrees with you as unstable.
Chuck, Obama should clean up 8 years of Bush in 4? With the GOP dead-set on denying him ANY victory? Even you aren’t that naive, or maybe you are.
Even Jon Stewart admitted Romney cleaned the Idiot’s clock two weeks ago.
“A lot of people were wondering what 0bama was writing during the debate. Our secret camera captured the text.”
(Camera shot over 0bama’s shoulder showing text) “I am SO getting owned by this guy. Where are the exits?”
Nervous half-laughs followed from tehaudience.
To deny the deliberate obstruction of Congress is the reason that Obama has not “accomplished” what he promised is to deny the sun. It is not credible to ignore the lack of leadership of those other 435 people in Washington at the very time this nation needed them the most.
I listened to Mike Lofgren, a true veteran of the DC GOP trenches yesterday and read his article last night and it is patently true that the TP/R’s have taken over the asylum and like all inmates have no clue how to do anything but tear it down. The Plutocracy and cockroaches will be the victors and you folks must be so proud to have handed it to them.
“Denial is more than a river”. Pretending that getting rid of Obama will fix anything is just partisan lies at their finest. Romney has no plan, but that is fine with you. Romney lies and flip-flops like a trained animal and that is fine with you. The nation is hurting and that is fine with you, because you want the foxes back in charge of the hen-house. You are partisans first and patriots when it is convenient. Just what America needs.
This just shows, when someone asks who you are voting for, the correct answer is, “None of your business.”
Richard Beason Certified Public Accountant,
You are a looney-tune, dude. The American Crossroads ad is a 007 James Bond-style spoof! They aren’t being serious, and any rational and coherent person watching the ad knows this. What a sanctimonious blowhard you are. Where was your outrage over the ads showing Paul Ryan pushing a wheelchair bound elderly woman to her death over a cliff? Where was your outrage at the ad that blamed Romney for the death of a man’s wife from cancer?
“He (Obama) continues to spend millions of dollars perpetuating falsehoods,” says Hillary Clinton, “So shame on you, Barack Obama!”
#46 Wait, suzie, you know that Jon Stewart is “just” a comedian, right? Snicker, snicker.
So, anyway, if you’re quoting Stewart on the prez debate then I assume you’ll agree with him on his vice prez comment? Of course you will.
Chuck,
President Obama has a huge list of accomplishments to tout, and he’s been doing so.
He turned the economy around. The recovery is not as robust as anyone would like, but it’s on par with the Reagan recovery, even though the recession Reagan faced was nowhere near as severe as the Great Recession.
He saved the American auto industry, which is now once again profitable and is actually hiring new workers for the first time in more than a decade.
The stock market was in a free-fall. It’s now near a five-year high.
Osama bin Laden was brought to justice (after Bush retasked the unit assigned to bring him down).
Obama passed health care reform that will give Americans unprecedented security from being ruined by unexpected health care costs, and unprecedented ability to get health care coverage that is not linked to their jobs, freeing millions of Americans to make the leap into entrepreneurship.
Obama accomplished all of this with the active and unyielding opposition of the Republican Party, which opposed any proposal to strengthen the economy, even proposals that they supported in the past (even proposals to help veterans get jobs).
He also accomplished this despite the fact that Republicans nearly provoked another global financial crisis with their irresponsible and unprecedented gamesmanship on the debt ceiling increase – which led to the downgrading of America’s credit rating. That incredible stunt successfully stalled the recovery and nearly plunged us back into recession.
Had Republicans not obstructed the American Jobs Act, credible economists believe we would have created 1 million to 2 million additional jobs this year.
Republicans would rather see America fail than Obama succeed. Not one of them deserves re-election.
matt – The ad went well beyond a spoof. It indicated the President of the USA was a Russian spy. Rove went too far with this one. He should be locked up.
matt, by the way, justifying an ad by citing other ads which you did not like is not an argument. That is like stealing because someone else did. Stupid.
Hey Chuck,
I feel for you, seriously. Many are in the same boat you’re in. Many are in worse ones — I’m talking about the unemployed. Probably you would agree they are even worse off than you.
Ask yourself this, and honestly. Is it possible you’d be worse off (unemployed) if both rounds of stimulus hadn’t gone through? The likelihood is a big fat yes. The first round to a great degree eased a HUGE liquidity problem in the markets. Had the first round (Bush) not occurred, there was an enormous possibility that millions of Americans’ paychecks would have stopped (because a large proportion of employers, especially the bigger ones, borrow short-term money to meet payrolls). Can you imagine what the scene in a supermarket would have been like then? It would have been uglier than anything else you and I have seen in our lifetimes. The economy was still stalled — but not frozen solid — after that, however. The second round of stimulus (Obama) was necessary. It was just enough for an anemic recovery.
Then the GOP got the House and they have waged war on everything Obama has tried. Any proposal from him or the Dems in Congress has been DOA. That is the big problem. It’s the bigger culprit to why you are feeling worse off than 4 years ago.
Blame it on Obama if you wish, but you have been manipulated to believe that, by Republicans in Congress whose stated goal (in 2010) was to make sure the president served only one term.
If you vote against him, you’re doing the bidding of the guys who made sure you’re feeling worse off. They planned it that way, assuming that you wouldn’t be able to see the reality.
If you’re worse off, put the blame where it belongs. On the Republicans, who have been completely transparent in their efforts to stifle the economic recovery in some effort to prevent Obama’s reelection. They’re traitors to the country they swore to serve.
I think I know where Chuck lives. As Jon Stewart so brilliantly said:
“The biggest problem with the denizens of Bullsh*t Mountain is they act like their sh*t don’t stink. If they have success, they built it. If they failed, the government ruined it for ‘em. If they get a break, they deserve it. If you get a break, it’s a handout and an entitlement. It’s a baffling, willfully blind cognitive dissonance.”
How’s the weather up there, Chuck?
“The ad went well beyond a spoof. It indicated the President of the USA was a Russian spy. Rove went too far with this one. He should be locked up.”–Richard(Dick) Beason Certified Public Accountant
Like I stated earlier, you are just a sanctimonious blowhard. I’d say that is obvious. The ad is an obvious spoof of 007 and it is bending over backwards making sure people know it is supposed to comical. This is very much unlike the two Democrat ads that depict Paul Ryan killing an old woman and a man blaming Romney for his wife’s death. Hmmm, playfully suggesting the president is a Russian spy or accusing Romney of murder… It appears that not only are you a looney-tune Dick, you are a hypocrite as well.
Stand up, Chuck!!
http://youtu.be/C2mzbuRgnI4
Chuck,
Your thoughts and perspective are so well presented, you’ve captured the attention of BOTH dans’ combined efforts to counter. It appears to me that they are trying to “help” you think … The best they could muster is written by dano, who suggests that he “feels for you”, although going on to say, …and now I am para-phrasing dano… “the unemployed have it worse than you do”. Neither dan has, or can, effectively refute anything you’ve written through-out this thread.
Obama promised to be the most “transparant potus”…ever. Obama’s stimulus plan was a shamble. To para-phrase the potus, “the shovel-ready jobs he promised…didn’t materialize…”, and then he and the other fat cats on his “jobs” committee enjoyed a big chuckle amongst themselves….and amongst us as well, because his little group chuckle was caught…on video and audio. Hmmm. I just thought of something. Maybe Obama’s lack of transparancy (in my opinion) is NOT as bad as I thought…
Speaking of Obama’s transparancy, lets remember his little “arm-touch and whisper” …as he told medvedev, “tell putin to be patient…I’ll have more flexibility…after the election..” Have we heard anyone in the main stream media write anything objective on that? No. Both dans are fully entrenched in fomenting the mantras of the main stream media.
Romney is not going to be whispering to Medvdev…”go tell Vladimer…”. Romney knows how to creat jobs.
Obama stifles jobs.
If our “fear” is so palpable, why are you right wingers on here lying and distorting enough to jeopardize your mortal souls? The jig is up. Obama is not the problem. Congress is. Romney is just as big a liar as you claim Obama is. Romney is just as incapable of a solution as you claim Obama is. Romney’s solutions are what got us here and you all hate Obama so much you are willing to double down on them. Unbelievable.
Dan Radmacher
Just what help did Ford or Toyota of America get from Obama who “saved the American auto industry”?
Ford and Toyota of America account for over 1/3rd of the auto industry market share and GM and Chrysler account for less than 1/4.
So Obama saved the auto industry when 75% of the manufacturers that make up the market share received no government assistance? I don’t think so.
And GM has NOT paid the $ back, that is another myth. The treasury is still holding 50 MILLION GM shares of stock which are worth today about 1/3rd what the Treasury gave to obtain them.
That claim giving credit to Obama is just about as nonsensical as the rest of them you made. Let me know when Gitmo gets closed…..
See Chuck? Frank believes Obama is truly a spy. You may think the ads are a spoof. I think they are treasonous. At the very least sedition.
Frank of course nails it with, “but he pwomised”! Do you want to talk about Bush promising to cut the deficit in half? Do you want to talk about Bush keeping us safe? Do you want to talk about Bush’s campaign promises? No, of course you don’t. You want to pretend only Obama did not keep his word. Never mind the obstructive and destructive Congress that Chuck is more than well aware of but also floating on denial, he cannot acknowledge.
You people are so lacking in credibility, that you embarrass anonymous people. How sad is that? Friends like you are just what conservatives need IMO.
matt, seriously, using someone’s actions (ad) to justify your own (Rove’s) is not an argument. Try again.
Chuck, when all you’ve got in praise of Romney is that he is a businessman, then yo really don’t have an argument for his election. Jon Huntsman and Bill Kristol have both come out and firmly stated that being a good businessman is no credential for being a President. We had an MBA as President for 8 years and it lead to the 2008 collapse of the world economy. Mitt’s resume is exceedingly thin when it comes to Presidential qualifications and the one item he is proud of (his business acumen) is detrimental.
Mitt’s lack of credentials is obvious through his flip flops on all his policies.
BobH, do you seriously believe that Ford didn’t benefit from the GM-Chrysler bailout? Most of their suppliers would have gone out of business without it. Where would Ford be then?
Ford’s CEO said at the time that if GM and Chrysler went under, Ford couldn’t survive either because, as Dan notes, their common suppliers all would have gone out of business.
Obama saved the American car industry. Romney would have let it go bankrupt.
Dan CASEY (not Dan Radmacher whom the post was addressed to):
Did YOU answer the question? How much bailout money did Ford or Toyota of America get? Cat got your tongue?
If there is demand for the end product then those suppliers would have not gone anywhere Dan.
GM should have gone into bankruptcy which would have allowed it to get out of costly UNION contracts and to re-emerge as a leaner and better company as opposed to supporting the very processes that led it to the brink of bankruptcy in the first place (which is what the bailout did). Should a company have to pay $25 per hour for someone to attach lug nuts just because it is a union job?
As long as the demand for the product was there, the GM suppliers would have just supplied wherever the demand ended up.
Free market works Dan. It is not the role of government to prop up businesses to continue work processes that drove them to the brink of bankruptcy.
Obama did NOT save the auto industry. That is ridiculous and has more holes than the average slice of swiss cheese.
In 2011, the full year analysis shows:
GM 19.4%
FORD 16.5%
TOYOTA 12.6%
CHRYSLER 10.5%
HONDA 9.7%
Where are you getting your numbers BobH?
http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/2011/1202_u_s_markets_share_for_the_top_five_automakers/
http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html#autosalesA
Poor BobH. The Dans are ganging up on him.
“We had concluded that if GM or Chrysler … went into free fall, they could have taken down the industry AND the U.S. economy from a recession into a depression. … All of us would have been in real trouble.” Alan Mulalley, CEO of Ford
Obama saved the automobile industry, and kept the nation from plunging into a Depression. That’s not me saying that, that’s the CEO of Ford.
#70 So, contrary to what Bob H claimed, GM and Chrylser actually have MORE of the auto business than Ford and Toyota.
Rmoney’s saying he would have let them go under. What he actually would have done is tough to say.
Ford survived the economic collapse because their CEO, Alan Mulally, came on board in 2006 (from Boeing, where he was an engineer initially, then worked up through management and into executive positions) and saw the horrid shape that Ford was in at the time, possibly the weakest of the Big-3 at the time. He began massive restructuring of the company. At the time, they were losing market share, and money, at an alarming rate. And, they also killed off the Taurus name, for no reason that made any sense considering it was a best-seller.
He immediately mortgaged all of Ford’s assets, for over $23 billion, to give the company a cushion to endure a recession and to re-work the company from the ground up. At the time, the move was seen as a desperation play by a failing company…now, it’s regarded as what saved Ford from bankruptcy because they were on the upswing by the time the recession actually hit and had more of a buffer o survive the downturn. He overaw the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors in 2007, shedding those units that were losers for the brand (Tata had to get a bailout from the UK for them later). He also dumped Volvo and Astin Martin, and reduced the share in Mazda…getting the company to focus more on the core brands of Ford and Lincoln (Mercury was killed off, it was essentially nothing but re-badged Fords anyway). He even sold off all but one corporate jet, and drove to DC from Detroit in a Ford electric hybrid for a hearing.
Ford’s leadership before the collapse saved them. While GM still has a larger market share in the US than Ford, Ford has seen their market share increase each year from 2008 through 2011…while GM is still below their 2008 &2009 marks, though improved from 2010. Chrysler has rebounded from a low in 2009, but remains below their 2008 level. Part of the flip in market share is that consumers are buying a lot more of the smaller company’s cars…like Hyndai, Kia, Nissan, Subaru, etc…vehicles that are more often than not actually assembled in the US now, and especially in the case of Kia and Hyundai, with vastly improved quality, lower prices, lots of features, and indurstry-leading warranties.
Ford, to their credit, put in a ton of effort into their car lineup…recognizing that it was sorely neglected for far too long. They have now completely reinvented their entire line-up with vehicles that people want, that are feature-packed, with great designs, and that are fuel-efficient to boot. But, even with all that, had GM and/or Chrysler actually folded and shut their doors, the lag time before new operations could have emerged would have crippled numerous part and component suppliers, hindering Ford and everyone else in the process…since many suppliers are not exclusive to any particular brands or countries of origin (i.e., my car’s transmission is German, made by Mercedes, even though it’s a Ford).
But, Ford and Toyota did actually get government money…so did BMW and Harley-Davidson.
http://www.emptywheel.net/2011/08/23/the-other-auto-bailout-ford-toyota-and-harley-davidson/
And, Ford also got a substantial amount in a DOE loan program for energy efficiency, which they have utilized for development of the Eco-Boost line of engines and for retooling a number of their plants.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120112/BUSINESS0102/201120601/Ford-not-GM-or-Chrysler-got-federal-loans-to-retool-plants
Bob H is just being silly now. It is the pattern. He has decided to believe all would have been better if they had declared bankruptcy, stiffed creditors and that the corollary industries would all have just hung on until it all shook out. Explains the “low effort” voter thing all over again.
The reality is that there is not one free market economy nation on earth. ALL are mixed economies and governments. Looking for some pie in the sky purity is to deny what free markets even are. Even their “father” Adam Smith, well knew their vices. Too bad BobH is floating on denial too.
OtherJOhn, the new Fords are some of the best looking vehicles on the road. I’m seriously considering a Fusion this summer…everyone I know who has one, loves it.
Kristen, my sister bought one and she does indeed love it.
Kristen, the new design on the Fusion is pretty darn sweet…a big step up from the outgoing model. I was set on the new Focus once I saw its redesign, but if we needed a larger car, I would have tried to wait for the new Fusion. I got a 2012 Focus in January, and it’s simply amazing. The fuel mileage I get far exceeds the EPA estimates…I average 33-34 with the normal daily driving, and typically hit 40+ for highway-only…with the 5-speed (rated 26/36). We’re trying to stretch a few extra years out of our 2003 Escape (really shouldn’t be difficult, just need to do some maintenance work by spring that should keep it going several more years, at least), but will replace it with one of the new Escapes for sure. Our past experiences with GM and Chrysler products have turned us away from them, probably as long as we live.
Oh, and I need to add, the new Fusion is being made in Michigan…the outgoing model was made in Mexico. Some of the money Ford got went to retooling the plants in Michigan that produce the Focus, Fusion, and Mustang…among others. Escape production was moved from near Kansas City, MO to Louisville, KY.
sandi,
you must be confusing me with another post. I never said “bush pwomised”, or, “Bush promised” anything. Therefore, the premise of your whole post…, goes….POOF! which is what most of your stuff does, anyhow.
hey cold p,
You appear to be a smart person, whaddiya think Obama meant? What does Obama need to be “more flexible” about with the Russians? I sure don’t think obama’s a spy. I think he’s a lib.
#712 Poor Bob H disappeared after AGAIN posting wrong information. Happens almost every time he shows up.
Frank, you are just a little slow on the uptake, eh? No news there.