Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Congress / Kotz / Politics / The Economy Deja Vu: Corker Emits Crazy Talk Over Auto Industry
Posted by Pete Kotz on Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 5:16 AM
Corker was at it again yesterday when President Obama rejected the bailout plans of Chrysler and GM and forced GM chairman Rick Wagoner to resign. As a service to you, dear reader, we at Pith will attempt to translate:
"Firing Rick Wagoner is a sideshow to distract us from the fact that the administration has no progress to announce today. The administration is hoping the media and the public will stay focused on Wagoner and fail to notice that negotiations have not progressed since December."Translation: Yeah, I know, Wagoner ran his company into the ground. And if you hear him talk, he has all the charisma of a garden salad. Not exactly the guy to right a ship. But Obama's been in office two months! Two damn months! And he hasn't fixed the auto industry yet? What's this guy doing, smoking Newports and watching the NCAA tournament?
"The administration is pursuing much of what we pushed for in December, but the delay of several months has increased the severity and sent billions of taxpayer dollars down the drain. Now any investment is likely unrecoverable and we are putting more and more jobs ...at risk in a politically charged environment."Translation: By politically charged, I mean people like me who are standing on the sidelines bitching. He should have accepted a deal he didn't like because... well... I'm not quite sure. Then again, I'm going to bitch no matter what he does. Did I mention this was a politically charged environment?
"With sweeping new power the White House will be deciding which plants will survive and which won't, so in essence, this administration has decided they know better than our courts and our free market process how to deal with these companies."Translation: It's okay if private interests invest in a failing company and want some say in how that company is managed. That's just good business. But government? Are you kidding me? I know I've said in the past that government should operate like a business. But this is different. Way different. I mean, when did we decide to stop blindly throwing money around? That's, like, socialism. Or something they'd teach you at Harvard Business School. Bob Corker does not abide.
"This is a marked departure from the past, truly breathtaking, and should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise."Translation: Remember that chill you felt last fall when free enterprise damn near collapsed? Well, this an ideological chill, which is way chillier. Me, I bought a parka used for driving sled dogs. I know you can't afford that, but you should at least consider getting a windbreaker. If there's one thing chillier than free market collapse, it's some pointy-head president trying to stop the free market from collapsing. Am I the only one seeing this?
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Check Kleinheider, Kotz: after all of his mockery of the administration, Corker is also saying he has "put a marker down" to save the GM assembly plant in Spring Hill. I hope the voters hold him accountable for the loss of thousands of jobs when GM saves plants in states that have been more supportive of Obama's approach to General Motors.
Spring Hill is about to become Flint, Tennessee, and you can thank Bob Corker for that.
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And last night Rachel Madow outpointed that Corker had noooo problem at all with government interfering with a union contract or government forcing autoworkers to take lower salaries. This sent no chilly wind his way. Quite different when the tempest reaches the board room and C-Suite. That's when the Rs squeal and grab their parkas.
