It was a disaster, a quagmire, a nightmare, and the American government should have never gotten us involved… But, some short term goals have been met and now they’re getting ready to start pulling out, which is at least moderately good news… I speak, of course, of General Motors.
Rufus F.
Rufus is a likeable curmudgeon. He has a PhD in History, sang for a decade in a punk band, and recently moved to NYC after nearly two decades in Canada. He wrote the book "The Paris Bureau" from Dio Press (2021).
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on Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence.
on Weekend Plans Post: On a Plane to IcelandNice! Me and my family were in Iceland this past June. The spot we parked when visiting the Blue Lag…
on The Mandate That Wasn’tIt's amazing how 15 million people managed to enter the country illegally through that closed southe…
on Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024I'm not assuming they're harmless; avoiding harm was not the option the electorate chose for us. The… on Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024Entirely possible but less likely than with an administration of no-nonsense dedicated and capable f…
on Weekend Plans Post: On a Plane to IcelandSounds awesome (again) ... going to the thermal electric site? That sounded cool. I have to go to th…
on Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024Yep. Paying for sex with escorts probably only scratches the surface. on Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024Then show me the mushroom cloud. Russia has lots of open space. They've pulled out of the test-ban t… on Open Mic for the week of 11/18/2024If they really wanted to prove they still had nukes they should test one. They could test as many as…
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Let’s see the UAW turned their back on their brothers/sisters in the USW back in the 60-70’s when Big Auto started buying foreign steel because it was ‘cheaper.’ “The hell with American steel,” they said.
Well, guess what, the shoes on the other foot. So, it’s the “hell with the UAW,” I’ll buy Ford or foreign but I sure as hell will never buy Obama moters!Report
@Robert Cheeks, Baby steps, Bob. Governments are very seldom any good at running companies. So GM being in a hurry to rid themselves of the ‘government motors’ tag is not bad news.Report
Sorry Rufus. This does not agree with conservative talking points and fears, therefore it is not happening. And The Economist is a liberal rag. hell people probably think drudge is an asshole there so its all propaganda.Report
Hahaha so I usually try to guess the authors of “Off the Cuff” posts before I check. I had this one pegged as Kuznicki for sure.Report
Well, at least the auto bailout didn’t kill anybody, and the government withdrawal is starting a lot sooner.Report
@Katherine,
Is that really the best rational you can come up to support Obama’s UAW bailout? The gov’t will get out of GM and then the UAW can ruin the rest of the company with their wage extortion.Report
@Scott,
A truly moral UAW would donate its labor in support of the investing class that is the true backbone of America.Report
@Mike Schilling,
If you want something novel, how about letting the market determine their wages instead of letting the union extort wages for folks who at most have a high school education.Report
No, it was just an off-the-cuff comment inspired by the comparison. The best rationale I know of is the sheer scope of the number of jobs that would have been lost – not just in Detroit, but in dealerships across the country – if GM had gone under. I don’t like the auto bailout, not at all. The idea of government holding shares in a private, for-profit company that competes with other companies the government regulates disturbs me. But I think the recession would have been far worse if they hadn’t done anything. The fact that Canada’s Conservative government also helped bail out the auto companies supports this assessment.Report
@Katherine,
So the fact that the Canadian gov’t supported the bailout shows that it really was a good idea? That rationale is just as bad as your first one. Even a “conservative” Canadian gov’t is going to prop up their socialist system and not let the beloved unions suffer the fate they deserve.Report
The Conservatives don’t like the unions at all.Report